DOI Heft:
No. 56 (November, 1897)
DOI Artikel:Tomson, Arthur: The work of William Estall
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18390#0107
77/6' IVork of Willi a in Est all
ft'
■s4
STUDY IN LEAD PENCIL
adequately the clear, gem-like quality of December
sunlight such as I have seen rendered in a little
water-colour by Estall, or the languorous blue tones
of summer moonlight that give half the poetry to
several of Estall's more important works.
Nothing would be more interesting than a
summary of the different ways in which different
artists have accomplished their ends : how some
have painted their masterpieces out in the open
air, while others have done their work in the
seclusion of a studio and from notes remarkable
in their brevity. That Corot did most of his
work out of doors is an astonishing fact; that
a style so serene should have been developed
under circumstances so disturbing seems almost
miraculous; yet so it was. The advantage of the
two methods cannot be discussed; they depend
mainly on questions of temperament. The placid
and unexcitable person may work where he likes,
whilst he of nervous temperament must work where
he can. Mr. Estall finds the environment of four
walls more conducive to deliberate thought than
any place, however suggestive, that there may be
in the open air ; and when one takes into consider-
BY WILLIAM ESTALL
ation the peculiar character of his work, one cannot
but see that in his choice of a workshop there are
advantages. He paints mostly from pencil studies
and with the help of an excellent memory, and it
is for this reason, perhaps, that there is so great
a sense of unity in his designs. He has only just
the material before him necessary for the develop-
ment of his artistic ideas, and he is saved from any
combat with the importunate appeals of ever-
changing nature. Some of Estall's pencil studies
I have, by the courtesy of their owners, been
allowed to use as illustrations to this article. I
deem myself fortunate in this, for it seems to me
that they will put my readers on closer terms of
intimacy with the artist's exquisite handicraft than
any reproduction of a finished picture, of which
the conception alone can be given on so reduced a
scale. These drawings are not only beautiful and
elaborate exercises in the use of the pencil, but
they are proofs of the untiring zeal with which
the artist seeks for the more dignified and there-
fore the more decorative truths in nature. To
Estall as an animal painter, since animals in such
subjects as he chooses often take an important
81
ft'
■s4
STUDY IN LEAD PENCIL
adequately the clear, gem-like quality of December
sunlight such as I have seen rendered in a little
water-colour by Estall, or the languorous blue tones
of summer moonlight that give half the poetry to
several of Estall's more important works.
Nothing would be more interesting than a
summary of the different ways in which different
artists have accomplished their ends : how some
have painted their masterpieces out in the open
air, while others have done their work in the
seclusion of a studio and from notes remarkable
in their brevity. That Corot did most of his
work out of doors is an astonishing fact; that
a style so serene should have been developed
under circumstances so disturbing seems almost
miraculous; yet so it was. The advantage of the
two methods cannot be discussed; they depend
mainly on questions of temperament. The placid
and unexcitable person may work where he likes,
whilst he of nervous temperament must work where
he can. Mr. Estall finds the environment of four
walls more conducive to deliberate thought than
any place, however suggestive, that there may be
in the open air ; and when one takes into consider-
BY WILLIAM ESTALL
ation the peculiar character of his work, one cannot
but see that in his choice of a workshop there are
advantages. He paints mostly from pencil studies
and with the help of an excellent memory, and it
is for this reason, perhaps, that there is so great
a sense of unity in his designs. He has only just
the material before him necessary for the develop-
ment of his artistic ideas, and he is saved from any
combat with the importunate appeals of ever-
changing nature. Some of Estall's pencil studies
I have, by the courtesy of their owners, been
allowed to use as illustrations to this article. I
deem myself fortunate in this, for it seems to me
that they will put my readers on closer terms of
intimacy with the artist's exquisite handicraft than
any reproduction of a finished picture, of which
the conception alone can be given on so reduced a
scale. These drawings are not only beautiful and
elaborate exercises in the use of the pencil, but
they are proofs of the untiring zeal with which
the artist seeks for the more dignified and there-
fore the more decorative truths in nature. To
Estall as an animal painter, since animals in such
subjects as he chooses often take an important
81