DOI issue:
No. 49 (April, 1897)
DOI article:Mortimer Menpes' Japanese drawings
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18388#0175
Mr. Menpes Japanese Drawings
■J
artists who go there to paint, any monotony of need to respect those aesthetic obligations which
results is impossible. Each one seems to have have become the tradition of his country,
something different to say, and seems able to throw It is especially the absence of suggestion of any-
a new light upon the country and its people. Even thing sordid or ugly which makes all these pictures
the same painter in successive visits gives no hint and drawings that Mr. Menpes has gathered to-
of repetition. He surprises us by the freshness of gether so full of charm. There is nothing in them
his view, the novelty of his choice, and yet he has which we feel would be better omitted, or that we
only been painting exactly what he has had before would like to see discreetly softened off by a little
him. There is emphatically this hint of welcome gentle reserve. On the contrary, it is their strength
newness in the collection of pictures and drawings and reality that attracts our attention even before
which have resulted from the latest Japanese excur- we have had time to realise how much of beauty
sion of Mr. Mortimer Menpes. He has done much there is in the subjects with which they deal. As
excellent work already in this same part of the interpretations of character they are excellent, well
world, and he has shown us many interesting things understood and clearly expressed, and they have
as trophies of his travels. Yet he succeeds now in the particular appropriateness that comes from
attracting us in a new way, and adds quite a fresh judicious selection of the most suitable and signi-
type to the series of illustrations of Japan, which ficant material: Whether he is depicting the quaint
he, and many other artists,
have, during recent years,
been indefatigably compil-
ing.
What he has chiefly con-
cerned himself with this time
has been a certain aspect of
the life of the people. He
has been studying the Japan-
ese at work, at play, and in
some of their ceremonial
observances, and he has
painted them as he has seen
them at home. He presents
them vividly, among all their
most characteristic surround-
ings, and busy with various
occupations and sports.
How much picturesqueness
there is everywhere in the
country these studies show
in a manner that admits of
no question. Whatever a
native of Japan may be
doing he is, consciously or
unconsciously, a fit subject
for pictorial record. His
workshop provides him with
a background that is as
complete as any artist could
wish; his amusements are
always arranged so as to * •^"N^ \
afford as much delight for
the eye as relaxation for
mind and body ; and in the
ordinary commonplaces of
his life he never forgets the an archer by Mortimer menpes
169
■J
artists who go there to paint, any monotony of need to respect those aesthetic obligations which
results is impossible. Each one seems to have have become the tradition of his country,
something different to say, and seems able to throw It is especially the absence of suggestion of any-
a new light upon the country and its people. Even thing sordid or ugly which makes all these pictures
the same painter in successive visits gives no hint and drawings that Mr. Menpes has gathered to-
of repetition. He surprises us by the freshness of gether so full of charm. There is nothing in them
his view, the novelty of his choice, and yet he has which we feel would be better omitted, or that we
only been painting exactly what he has had before would like to see discreetly softened off by a little
him. There is emphatically this hint of welcome gentle reserve. On the contrary, it is their strength
newness in the collection of pictures and drawings and reality that attracts our attention even before
which have resulted from the latest Japanese excur- we have had time to realise how much of beauty
sion of Mr. Mortimer Menpes. He has done much there is in the subjects with which they deal. As
excellent work already in this same part of the interpretations of character they are excellent, well
world, and he has shown us many interesting things understood and clearly expressed, and they have
as trophies of his travels. Yet he succeeds now in the particular appropriateness that comes from
attracting us in a new way, and adds quite a fresh judicious selection of the most suitable and signi-
type to the series of illustrations of Japan, which ficant material: Whether he is depicting the quaint
he, and many other artists,
have, during recent years,
been indefatigably compil-
ing.
What he has chiefly con-
cerned himself with this time
has been a certain aspect of
the life of the people. He
has been studying the Japan-
ese at work, at play, and in
some of their ceremonial
observances, and he has
painted them as he has seen
them at home. He presents
them vividly, among all their
most characteristic surround-
ings, and busy with various
occupations and sports.
How much picturesqueness
there is everywhere in the
country these studies show
in a manner that admits of
no question. Whatever a
native of Japan may be
doing he is, consciously or
unconsciously, a fit subject
for pictorial record. His
workshop provides him with
a background that is as
complete as any artist could
wish; his amusements are
always arranged so as to * •^"N^ \
afford as much delight for
the eye as relaxation for
mind and body ; and in the
ordinary commonplaces of
his life he never forgets the an archer by Mortimer menpes
169