Studio: international art (13.1898)

Eleanor F. Brickdale

admirable mural decoration, Summer^ is perishing with bells round the rim, bells that jingle Lieber
by smoke, and where Mr. Harold Speed's Autumn Augustin when the water boils. Miss Brickdale
is just completed. Whether Miss Brickdale is to may possibly have seen Mr. Byam Shaw's de-
receive a commission to carry out the work has lightful picture of the same subject—certain
not been announced; probably, if so, a few details details of the costume suggest his influence; but
would need modification, notably in the scale of all the same she has not given us a paraphrase of
the animals in the foreground. This trick of his idea, but a very adequate and delightful inter-
reducing the scale of her quadrupeds may be seen pretation of the story that witches one in middle-
in the charming group of Hans Andersen's Princess age as fully as it did in the nursery. Technically
and the Swineherd, which we reproduce. It has speaking, one feels that less attempt to model the
no doubt been done of set purpose, but *' piggies " flesh would be better, the convention of black and
the size of white rats require a good deal of in- white is apt to suggest " dirty " rather than rose-

HEADPIECE BY ELEANOR F. BRICKDALE

genious defence when the average man in the red faces when too many lines are used for the

street raises his not unsupported objections. cheeks and the neck. These criticisms, whether

Be that as it may, Miss Brickdale displays in well- or ill-founded, do not affect the very high

this same drawing so much vigour, and such an appreciation which the design merits, and it is one

admirable power of telling a story, that it would be that will hold its own despite them,
easy to forgive her the " five little pigs " for the The illustration for the old ballad, " Sir Lan-

sake of the rest. The swineherd himself, kissing celot du Lake," which is reproduced on the opposite

the princess with almost brutal force, is drawn page, strikes one as less mature. The use of solid

(despite somewhat doubtful details of his left arm) blacks is not quite mastered ; indeed, the black horse

with an enormous amount of vitality ; indeed it of the knight to the right is only deduced by Socratic

would not be easy to find a passage in current methods after some study as to what the patches

literature which tells a story so well. He is no in question cannot be intended to represent. It

lay figure, no stage tenor, but an old-world lover is always a difficult problem to mix conventions,

whose passion is by no means reciprocated by Pure outline with solid blacks in masses as Mr.

the greedy little princess grudgingly paying her Beardsley used it, or bold outline with very little if

toll of one hundred kisses for the magic pipkin any solid blacks in the foreground, as Mr. Walter
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