DOI Heft:
No. 51 (June 1897)
DOI Artikel:Mourey, Gabriel: Fritz Thaulow: the man and the artist
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18389#0016
THE STUDIO
RITZ THAULOW_THE MAN while now one is satisfied with a scrap of Nature re-
AND THE ARTIST. BY Produced on the instant—just a momentary glimpse
GABRIEL MOUREY. as ^ were* Tne search after tmtn is closer and
keener than before; and the public intelligence,
In the general history of art the nine- which has grown deeper and better informed, is
teenth century might justly be styled the Age of capable of imagining the whole scene from the
Landscape. For this, I think, will be in times to fragment presented. It may, indeed, be urged that
come, if not its most undoubted claim to glory, at there is an undue partiality shown for too slight
least one of its most pronounced characteristics. and sketchy impressions. The public is sometimes
The constellation of landscapists whose work taken in by a few clever strokes of the brush, and
calls for admiration or esteem, or arouses interest thinks to discover depth of thought, where too
simply, is indeed innumerable. One may count often, alas ! there is nought but incompetence,
them by hundreds, each in his own fashion en- Whence springs this modern taste of ours for
deavouring—often in a limited and fragmentary landscape? Its causes are many and various,
manner, it is true, but nevertheless in a fresh and Apart from any question of aesthetics, and from a
original spirit—to grasp the mysteries of Nature. purely general point of view, the matter may be
Moreover, the world has grown larger. The explained psychologically in the need that exists
landscape-painter of the past was content
to look around him, and saw nothing
more than was contained within the
horizon of his birthplace, the little spot
where he had been reared, with ever the «;
selfsame trees, the selfsame stream and %
the selfsame hills. But with our modern \
facilities for rapid travelling the landscap-
ist of to-day scours the whole wide world,
seeking for new impressions, and finding
everywhere the wherewithal to satisfy his
passion for novelty. Attraction and
charm are in all around, and as he sees,
his observation grows keener and more
keen. The mere external aspect of things
no longer suffices for him ; his ambition is
to show us the very soul of the land,
quivering in its proper atmosphere; to
reveal the hidden meaning of its shape
and aspect; and with his sensitive nerves,
his highly trained eye, his education and
his reading, the modern landscape-
painter is admirably equipped for the
task he has set himself to perform.
The taste of the day is strangely in his
favour. Formerly no one would have
looked at the brief " notes," the studies of
particular effects, the bits of impressionism
which now are the delight of the amateur.
A picture, complete and finished in all ■ u<¥iwtl.„
1 ' 1 r from a photograph
respects, was what was wanted in the past; i'KITZ thaulow
XI. No. 51.—June, 1897.
RITZ THAULOW_THE MAN while now one is satisfied with a scrap of Nature re-
AND THE ARTIST. BY Produced on the instant—just a momentary glimpse
GABRIEL MOUREY. as ^ were* Tne search after tmtn is closer and
keener than before; and the public intelligence,
In the general history of art the nine- which has grown deeper and better informed, is
teenth century might justly be styled the Age of capable of imagining the whole scene from the
Landscape. For this, I think, will be in times to fragment presented. It may, indeed, be urged that
come, if not its most undoubted claim to glory, at there is an undue partiality shown for too slight
least one of its most pronounced characteristics. and sketchy impressions. The public is sometimes
The constellation of landscapists whose work taken in by a few clever strokes of the brush, and
calls for admiration or esteem, or arouses interest thinks to discover depth of thought, where too
simply, is indeed innumerable. One may count often, alas ! there is nought but incompetence,
them by hundreds, each in his own fashion en- Whence springs this modern taste of ours for
deavouring—often in a limited and fragmentary landscape? Its causes are many and various,
manner, it is true, but nevertheless in a fresh and Apart from any question of aesthetics, and from a
original spirit—to grasp the mysteries of Nature. purely general point of view, the matter may be
Moreover, the world has grown larger. The explained psychologically in the need that exists
landscape-painter of the past was content
to look around him, and saw nothing
more than was contained within the
horizon of his birthplace, the little spot
where he had been reared, with ever the «;
selfsame trees, the selfsame stream and %
the selfsame hills. But with our modern \
facilities for rapid travelling the landscap-
ist of to-day scours the whole wide world,
seeking for new impressions, and finding
everywhere the wherewithal to satisfy his
passion for novelty. Attraction and
charm are in all around, and as he sees,
his observation grows keener and more
keen. The mere external aspect of things
no longer suffices for him ; his ambition is
to show us the very soul of the land,
quivering in its proper atmosphere; to
reveal the hidden meaning of its shape
and aspect; and with his sensitive nerves,
his highly trained eye, his education and
his reading, the modern landscape-
painter is admirably equipped for the
task he has set himself to perform.
The taste of the day is strangely in his
favour. Formerly no one would have
looked at the brief " notes," the studies of
particular effects, the bits of impressionism
which now are the delight of the amateur.
A picture, complete and finished in all ■ u<¥iwtl.„
1 ' 1 r from a photograph
respects, was what was wanted in the past; i'KITZ thaulow
XI. No. 51.—June, 1897.