DOI Heft:
No. 113 (August, 1902)
DOI Artikel:Watson, Walter R.: Miss Jessie M. King and her work
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19876#0190
Jessie M. King
i- .-Jl-:_A
x dent, and her success
( <*>■\ jjjftjb^** 1$!$) ¥ JL *; : as an artist. Miss King's
u^rZHTrLi.J Hp F ' •ffcfoiQ^.-Jf**/'/: c....-!sl..........wML deep and artistic love of
Nature brooks no inter-
• j i\/ 'fefl r ■' ference. Like a person
i fK - living in this world, but
I Iff I l/flt \ \ not of it, Nature has for
a /ft / 111 i \ ii\ ^ her a symbolism and a
I / f ' i 1 11 1 \k \ a '
I i\ t'.-, I |.y | jrM i\ I meamngwhich comes only
I / ye rVfMX'%Jf i\ 8 to those who unreservedly
«/ f "itri ' ' \t yield themselves to Na-
il/ ' I FlrH » i \M ture's influence, and pry
9 ' ''LLJ I l \ yfi&i loving eyes into the
I I Vfe* •. \ secrets of her working. To
/\ ^ 1 >' t>y „x. ! \ this artist, a rose-bush is
IX ■<f-' l/\ J A not a plant bearing flowers,
(ifir^l^-^^jPy^Vl t'— :■ jjifj but a bower whose green
columns bearing coloured
book-cover by jessie m. king lights make a palace where
bright beings walk dreamily
about; a bird is a messen-
that their misconception of her aims was patent to ger bearing words of import for her alone ; the
her. Her work being unlike that of the ordinary changes of the day each tell their tale: and, to her,
artist, and not bearing the hall-mark of an estab- beasts and birds are friends whose lack of words
lished tradition in things that are neither individual yet leave nothing to be comprehended. Hence,
nor artistic, was naturally condemned by judges when Miss King found herself called upon, as an
taught to believe that a student's business was to almost first essay of her powers, to illustrate
be neither individual nor artistic. Strange as it Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book," the fact that
may seem, she was encouraged in her attitude by the animals spoke and Mowgli understood their
those directly responsible for her education; and speech, was to her no matter of wonder, for she
they have no cause to regret their encouragement, had long been in closest sympathy with Nature,
Better a gold medal lost than an artist spoiled, and had listened to the language of the woods, and
good it is that in Glasgow, at least, gold medals communed where he who had not the secret had
are no longer to appraise artistic value. A good found nothing but silence. And this intense love
student is rarely a good prize-winner. To study of Nature is translated into the language of line
nature at first hand, and by contact, is to see by an imaginative conception, and a poetry and
Nature with eyes directly
opened upon her secrets ;
whereas, to succeed as a
faithful follower of a stilted
tradition which disallows
the personal equation is
to put on spectacles be-
longing to other men, and
to study impressions of
nature as seen through
other men's eyes.
Miss King would per-
sist in seeing things and
representing them entirely
with her own vision, and
absolutely in her own way.
Hence her failure as a
South Kensington stu- "the twa corbies" by jessie m. king
178
i- .-Jl-:_A
x dent, and her success
( <*>■\ jjjftjb^** 1$!$) ¥ JL *; : as an artist. Miss King's
u^rZHTrLi.J Hp F ' •ffcfoiQ^.-Jf**/'/: c....-!sl..........wML deep and artistic love of
Nature brooks no inter-
• j i\/ 'fefl r ■' ference. Like a person
i fK - living in this world, but
I Iff I l/flt \ \ not of it, Nature has for
a /ft / 111 i \ ii\ ^ her a symbolism and a
I / f ' i 1 11 1 \k \ a '
I i\ t'.-, I |.y | jrM i\ I meamngwhich comes only
I / ye rVfMX'%Jf i\ 8 to those who unreservedly
«/ f "itri ' ' \t yield themselves to Na-
il/ ' I FlrH » i \M ture's influence, and pry
9 ' ''LLJ I l \ yfi&i loving eyes into the
I I Vfe* •. \ secrets of her working. To
/\ ^ 1 >' t>y „x. ! \ this artist, a rose-bush is
IX ■<f-' l/\ J A not a plant bearing flowers,
(ifir^l^-^^jPy^Vl t'— :■ jjifj but a bower whose green
columns bearing coloured
book-cover by jessie m. king lights make a palace where
bright beings walk dreamily
about; a bird is a messen-
that their misconception of her aims was patent to ger bearing words of import for her alone ; the
her. Her work being unlike that of the ordinary changes of the day each tell their tale: and, to her,
artist, and not bearing the hall-mark of an estab- beasts and birds are friends whose lack of words
lished tradition in things that are neither individual yet leave nothing to be comprehended. Hence,
nor artistic, was naturally condemned by judges when Miss King found herself called upon, as an
taught to believe that a student's business was to almost first essay of her powers, to illustrate
be neither individual nor artistic. Strange as it Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book," the fact that
may seem, she was encouraged in her attitude by the animals spoke and Mowgli understood their
those directly responsible for her education; and speech, was to her no matter of wonder, for she
they have no cause to regret their encouragement, had long been in closest sympathy with Nature,
Better a gold medal lost than an artist spoiled, and had listened to the language of the woods, and
good it is that in Glasgow, at least, gold medals communed where he who had not the secret had
are no longer to appraise artistic value. A good found nothing but silence. And this intense love
student is rarely a good prize-winner. To study of Nature is translated into the language of line
nature at first hand, and by contact, is to see by an imaginative conception, and a poetry and
Nature with eyes directly
opened upon her secrets ;
whereas, to succeed as a
faithful follower of a stilted
tradition which disallows
the personal equation is
to put on spectacles be-
longing to other men, and
to study impressions of
nature as seen through
other men's eyes.
Miss King would per-
sist in seeing things and
representing them entirely
with her own vision, and
absolutely in her own way.
Hence her failure as a
South Kensington stu- "the twa corbies" by jessie m. king
178