Studio: international art (16.1899)

Some Drawings by Steinlen

plied by the architects. Such experiments deserve
the fullest encouragement, and they have been
amply justified in the present case. It is only in
bringing modern design to bear directly upon
ordinary production that any aesthetic growth can
be effected in the commercial world, and thereby
upon the public taste.

Without wishing to ascribe to a dominant artistic
influence the credit due to the architects them-
selves, we may safely say that the building affords
one of the happiest examples of the influence of
the " Arts and Crafts " movement upon architecture.
It proves, indeed, that the danger of such an influ-
ence degenerating into a cult is not a grave one,
that it has, in fact, emerged from the experimental
stage and taken its place as a wholesome and potent
stimulus to design. Seen from a broader stand-

point as a factor in the modern rebuilding of
London, the Passmore Edwards Settlement fully
justifies its being, and gives, according to Mr.
Ruskin's demand, something that compensates us
for the lost space of light and air; " an expressive
picturesque object, a friend whose aspect, changing
with the seasons, becomes interwoven with our
daily associations and is hailed with delight after
absence ; not—as it too often happens—a shadow
upon our life ; a grim mass of lifeless stone or brick
oppressing us with its tedious and persistent gloom."
It must at least be felt that such sincere and
thoughtful architecture is in harmony with the
ideal presented by Mrs. Humphry Ward in her
inaugural address to the residents, " the building
up of that true tolerance which lies in the passion-
ate mutual respect of free individualities."

s

OME DRAW-
INGS BY
STEINLEN.

BY STEINLEN

Few draughts-
men there are who
have so much attraction
for the public as Steinlen.
Every one admires and un-
derstands him ; he claims the
attention of all eyes, and
boasts powers of fascination
which none can resist. Others
there may be who have
greater artistic prestige; but
Steinlen has- got at the heart
of the people. For he is at
once strong and tender, and,
above all things, human.
Hence he becomes compre-
hensible to all. This is a
quality which may perhaps
tend to lower rather than to
raise him in the estimation of
those who hold that art should
ever remain a mystery re-
served for the elect, an appan-
age of the fit and few—that
is to say, themselves ! How-
ever it be, this gift of Stein-
len's is incontestably a great
gift; and his merit is the
more remarkable in that, to
obtain his effects, he makes