DOI issue:
No. 74 (May 1899)
DOI article:Some pictures by Byam Shaw
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19231#0287
Some Pictures by By am Shaw
people goodnaturedly and kindly what are the
influences by which their lives are swayed. He is
scarcely a moralist, and is certainly not a mere
jester; possibly he would be best defined as a close
observer of human nature, who has in learning to
analyse not forgotten his capacity for humour.
There is an emphatic vein of humour running
through this collection of his pictures, humour of
the same kind that is so evident in his larger
canvases, Love's Baubles, Truth, and Love the
Conqueror. The series in Messrs. Dowdeswell's
galleries illustrates subjects taken from the writings
of British poets, and in many cases . his selection
has obviously been made with the intention of
working out an idea that would lead him in the
direction of smiles rather than tears. Other
motives have been chosen because of their
dramatic possibilities, and some few give even a
hint of tragedy, but on the whole the atmosphere
of the exhibition is one of fanciful variety, and its
tone is light rather than severely didactic. The
pictures, as a rule, deal not so much with actual
incidents as described in the poems as with motives
suggested by some single line or phrase, and their
significance comes more from the artist's ability lo
carry on a train of thought that has been started by
a slight hint than from a deliberate effort on his
part to realistically reproduce a word-picture
already set down by the writer of the poem. A
quite characteristic instance of this manner of
working is afforded by the panel which illustrates
the line, Love that wastes our little schoolgirl's time,
in which an apparently unpromising subject is
developed so that it suggests many subtle reflec-
tions, and provides quite a complete dissertation on
the futile dreams of half-fledged femininity. The
group of men in a club-room, For Gods sake, do
something, is another wide commentary, a social
problem stated in paint forcibly and appropriately ;
and of the same class is A Woman's Protest. The
Lady of Shallot panel is attractive mainly for its
insight into the spirit of the poem, and for the
manner in which it sounds truly and clearly the
note that rings through the verbal imagery ; and
The Brook is not only a pleasant illustration, but
plays prettily on the dominant idea of an ever-
flowing stream of life.
Something of the charm of these pictures is cer-
tainly due to the manner in which Mr. Shaw has painted
them, to the curious combination of realism and
But never see my heart is breaking for a little love—(christina rossetti) by byam shaw
(By permission of Messrs. Dowdeswell &• Dowdeswell)
264
people goodnaturedly and kindly what are the
influences by which their lives are swayed. He is
scarcely a moralist, and is certainly not a mere
jester; possibly he would be best defined as a close
observer of human nature, who has in learning to
analyse not forgotten his capacity for humour.
There is an emphatic vein of humour running
through this collection of his pictures, humour of
the same kind that is so evident in his larger
canvases, Love's Baubles, Truth, and Love the
Conqueror. The series in Messrs. Dowdeswell's
galleries illustrates subjects taken from the writings
of British poets, and in many cases . his selection
has obviously been made with the intention of
working out an idea that would lead him in the
direction of smiles rather than tears. Other
motives have been chosen because of their
dramatic possibilities, and some few give even a
hint of tragedy, but on the whole the atmosphere
of the exhibition is one of fanciful variety, and its
tone is light rather than severely didactic. The
pictures, as a rule, deal not so much with actual
incidents as described in the poems as with motives
suggested by some single line or phrase, and their
significance comes more from the artist's ability lo
carry on a train of thought that has been started by
a slight hint than from a deliberate effort on his
part to realistically reproduce a word-picture
already set down by the writer of the poem. A
quite characteristic instance of this manner of
working is afforded by the panel which illustrates
the line, Love that wastes our little schoolgirl's time,
in which an apparently unpromising subject is
developed so that it suggests many subtle reflec-
tions, and provides quite a complete dissertation on
the futile dreams of half-fledged femininity. The
group of men in a club-room, For Gods sake, do
something, is another wide commentary, a social
problem stated in paint forcibly and appropriately ;
and of the same class is A Woman's Protest. The
Lady of Shallot panel is attractive mainly for its
insight into the spirit of the poem, and for the
manner in which it sounds truly and clearly the
note that rings through the verbal imagery ; and
The Brook is not only a pleasant illustration, but
plays prettily on the dominant idea of an ever-
flowing stream of life.
Something of the charm of these pictures is cer-
tainly due to the manner in which Mr. Shaw has painted
them, to the curious combination of realism and
But never see my heart is breaking for a little love—(christina rossetti) by byam shaw
(By permission of Messrs. Dowdeswell &• Dowdeswell)
264