DOI issue:
Nr 76 (July 1899)
DOI article:Baldry, Alfred Lys: The work of W. Reynolds-Stephens
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19232#0093
The JVork of WReynolds-Stephens
DETAIL OF CHIMNEY-PIECE. PART OF A METAL MOULDING
BY W. REYNOLDS-STEPHENS
before other people the visible proofs of his never
ending speculations. The wider the ground he
covers the more important the lesson he has to
teach, and the more significant is the display of
his personality. If he carries his investigations to
their logical extreme and alternates between paint-
ing, sculpture, design, and those other forms of
craftsmanship that call for sound appreciation of
practical details, he provides what is actually a
personal commentary on the art opportunities of
his time, and throws the light of his own indi-
viduality upon the many phases of artistic belief.
He shows us, indeed, how in the mind of one
careful thinker the whole range of aesthetic oppor-
tunity can be analysed, and how each special
device can be employed to give the right expression
to each one of his intentions.
It would, perhaps, be difficult to find a more
instructive instance of the unrest of a nature domi-
nated by the craving for a mastery over artistic
methods than is provided by the career of Mr. W.
Reynolds-Stephens. His experiences serve as a
kind of object lesson in versatility, and illustrate
effectively the resource of a man whose ambitions
are not narrowed down by considerations of com-
mercial expediency. Nothing akin to specialism
plays any part in the policy of his working life.
No idea of making himself a popular favourite by
constant repetition of the same formula, and by
harping so persistently on a single string that at
last he could gain recognition as the one exponent
of a particular harmony, has ever perverted the
sincerity of his professional effort. All roads seem
to him to be worth following if only they lead to a
goal important enough to justify the expenditure of
energy necessary for reaching it. He finds his
greatest pleasure in change of direction and in
variety of performance, not because an unstable
conviction urges him to be constantly running after
new fancies, but because he realises that there is
no type of production which is not worthy of the
attention of an artist who has sufficient judgment
to draw the right distinction between effective
76
triviality and sterling aestheticism. The common-
places of art do not attract him, for they offer him
no scope for invention, and the hum-drum routine
of the profession is distasteful because it leads at
best to merely mechanical proficiency without
vitality or originality. What he wants is room to
expand; and if, as he enlarges his borders, he can
make new discoveries, he grudges none of the
labour needed for turning them to full account.
This anxiety to make himself independent of
fashions in art was a very evident feature even of
ELECTRIC-LIGHT HOLDER AND SHADE
BY W. REYNOI.DS-STF.PHENS
DETAIL OF CHIMNEY-PIECE. PART OF A METAL MOULDING
BY W. REYNOLDS-STEPHENS
before other people the visible proofs of his never
ending speculations. The wider the ground he
covers the more important the lesson he has to
teach, and the more significant is the display of
his personality. If he carries his investigations to
their logical extreme and alternates between paint-
ing, sculpture, design, and those other forms of
craftsmanship that call for sound appreciation of
practical details, he provides what is actually a
personal commentary on the art opportunities of
his time, and throws the light of his own indi-
viduality upon the many phases of artistic belief.
He shows us, indeed, how in the mind of one
careful thinker the whole range of aesthetic oppor-
tunity can be analysed, and how each special
device can be employed to give the right expression
to each one of his intentions.
It would, perhaps, be difficult to find a more
instructive instance of the unrest of a nature domi-
nated by the craving for a mastery over artistic
methods than is provided by the career of Mr. W.
Reynolds-Stephens. His experiences serve as a
kind of object lesson in versatility, and illustrate
effectively the resource of a man whose ambitions
are not narrowed down by considerations of com-
mercial expediency. Nothing akin to specialism
plays any part in the policy of his working life.
No idea of making himself a popular favourite by
constant repetition of the same formula, and by
harping so persistently on a single string that at
last he could gain recognition as the one exponent
of a particular harmony, has ever perverted the
sincerity of his professional effort. All roads seem
to him to be worth following if only they lead to a
goal important enough to justify the expenditure of
energy necessary for reaching it. He finds his
greatest pleasure in change of direction and in
variety of performance, not because an unstable
conviction urges him to be constantly running after
new fancies, but because he realises that there is
no type of production which is not worthy of the
attention of an artist who has sufficient judgment
to draw the right distinction between effective
76
triviality and sterling aestheticism. The common-
places of art do not attract him, for they offer him
no scope for invention, and the hum-drum routine
of the profession is distasteful because it leads at
best to merely mechanical proficiency without
vitality or originality. What he wants is room to
expand; and if, as he enlarges his borders, he can
make new discoveries, he grudges none of the
labour needed for turning them to full account.
This anxiety to make himself independent of
fashions in art was a very evident feature even of
ELECTRIC-LIGHT HOLDER AND SHADE
BY W. REYNOI.DS-STF.PHENS