DOI Heft:
Nr. 44 (November 1896)
DOI Artikel:Studio-talk
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17298#0155
Studio- Talk
proper knowledge of the limitations of the one or characteristic of the man that he can pursue his
the possibilities of the other. work with energy, no matter how unpropitious the
circumstances.
A notable point in his early career is that he did
many drawings on wood for mechanical purposes, Unfortunately Henry had a serious illness which
and even designed circus bills, waxwork advertise- for some time militated against his doing any art
ments, &c, for the public hoardings. After work whatever. But in February of 1893 he went
this experience he had time to devote himself with Mr. E. A. Hornel to Japan, and there the
to the more ambitious desires of picture paint- two artists made a stay of some eighteen or
ing, and for a time studied and executed a nineteen months, which were productive of a
number of pictures at Brig o' Turk, a locality number of interesting studies of life, its customs,
in the Highlands of Scotland, where were settled landscape, and the many incidents of its festivals
at that time a number of artists, such as Crawhall, and tea gardens. The work he did in Japan
Walton, and Guthrie, who have all been closely is all instinct with an excellent perception in
allied in their artistic sympathies. the realisation of material which in its picturesque-
- ness was a revelation to him. Many of his Japanese
The first large picture I remember of Henry's subjects were painted in water-colour, of which
was a landscape entitled Head of Holy Loch, ex- medium, as I have said, Henry is a very capable
hibited in 1882. The work showed excellent tonal exponent. Several of these drawings he has ex-
qualities, a reticent colour scheme, though the hibited, but so far not as a collection which, no
subject was one of flat lands and water in strong doubt, will come by-and-by ; and one which I
sunlight. The picture of Henry's, however, about would recall is A Japanese Belle, reproduced in
this period that displayed more uncommon qualities The Studio of December 1894.
than any of his other work
was a landscape of trees,
the foreground filled with
long bulrushes and grass,
the whole scene lit with
strong autumn sunlight.
The full colour and deco-
rative yet true feeling of
the work was quite excep-
tional in so young a
painter. About 1883
Henry's art underwent a
change, for at this time he
seemed to strive more for
a purely decorative than
natural interpretation of
nature in his landscapes,
and during these years he
did a number of pictures
which were practically ex-
periments, and he ulti-
mately destroyed them.
What result he has ar-
rived at in his work of
to-day, and what success
he has had, is due entirely
to these experiments
which, while not alto-
gether successes, were not
entire failures, and it is "the mushroom gatherer" by george henry, a.r.s.a.
143
proper knowledge of the limitations of the one or characteristic of the man that he can pursue his
the possibilities of the other. work with energy, no matter how unpropitious the
circumstances.
A notable point in his early career is that he did
many drawings on wood for mechanical purposes, Unfortunately Henry had a serious illness which
and even designed circus bills, waxwork advertise- for some time militated against his doing any art
ments, &c, for the public hoardings. After work whatever. But in February of 1893 he went
this experience he had time to devote himself with Mr. E. A. Hornel to Japan, and there the
to the more ambitious desires of picture paint- two artists made a stay of some eighteen or
ing, and for a time studied and executed a nineteen months, which were productive of a
number of pictures at Brig o' Turk, a locality number of interesting studies of life, its customs,
in the Highlands of Scotland, where were settled landscape, and the many incidents of its festivals
at that time a number of artists, such as Crawhall, and tea gardens. The work he did in Japan
Walton, and Guthrie, who have all been closely is all instinct with an excellent perception in
allied in their artistic sympathies. the realisation of material which in its picturesque-
- ness was a revelation to him. Many of his Japanese
The first large picture I remember of Henry's subjects were painted in water-colour, of which
was a landscape entitled Head of Holy Loch, ex- medium, as I have said, Henry is a very capable
hibited in 1882. The work showed excellent tonal exponent. Several of these drawings he has ex-
qualities, a reticent colour scheme, though the hibited, but so far not as a collection which, no
subject was one of flat lands and water in strong doubt, will come by-and-by ; and one which I
sunlight. The picture of Henry's, however, about would recall is A Japanese Belle, reproduced in
this period that displayed more uncommon qualities The Studio of December 1894.
than any of his other work
was a landscape of trees,
the foreground filled with
long bulrushes and grass,
the whole scene lit with
strong autumn sunlight.
The full colour and deco-
rative yet true feeling of
the work was quite excep-
tional in so young a
painter. About 1883
Henry's art underwent a
change, for at this time he
seemed to strive more for
a purely decorative than
natural interpretation of
nature in his landscapes,
and during these years he
did a number of pictures
which were practically ex-
periments, and he ulti-
mately destroyed them.
What result he has ar-
rived at in his work of
to-day, and what success
he has had, is due entirely
to these experiments
which, while not alto-
gether successes, were not
entire failures, and it is "the mushroom gatherer" by george henry, a.r.s.a.
143