DOI Heft:
Nr. 115 (October 1902)
DOI Artikel:Little, James Stanley: A cosmopolitan painter: John Lavery, [1]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19877#0021
John Lavery
But the Glasgow men, unlike certain "schools" of or three decades, that among the citizens of
recent years, rarely incurred the reproach of paint- Glasgow men were to be found who, from one
ing by syndicate. The bond which held them cause or the other, became the possessors of, or
together was, in truth, somewhat more definite than in any case offered, in the way of loan exhibitions,
that which united the so-called Barbizon painters ; temporary hospitality to, the works of those French
but their habitat, so far as a body of globe-trotters and Dutch painters, who since the comparative
can be said to have had one, was not, as in the decline of art in Great Britain—a decline which
case of the Newlyn school, let us say, a small, out- may be said to date from the time when the race
of-the-way village. On the contrary, it was one ot of giants terminating with Constable came to an
the most progressive and intellectual cities ot the end, a decline which was not arrested until Cecil
British Empire. Undoubtedly the fact, well known Lawson made his appearance—had kept alive on the
to every one who has concerned himself about the Continent the finest traditions of art, did exercise
art development of our country during the last two a distinct influence, and obviously a stimulating and
elevating one, over that remarkable
coterie of painters loosely banded to-
gether in that busy city of commerce
on the banks of the Clyde.
It is to be noted, however, that in
the case of John Lavery, at all events,
the naturalistic ideals of Bastien Lepage,
the painter answerable for the Newlyn
School, were the ideals earliest followed
rather than the more idealistic realism
of the Romanticist School. Lavery's
earlier work may be said to have shown
distinctly the influence of the French
painter. At the present time there
hangs in the dining-room of his house
in Cromwell Gardens, sentinelled on
either hand by works of different
periods, a picture representing a
bridge, in which the flat treatment
and somewhat depressing colour-
ing ot the British phin-air school is
conspicuously exemplified. This work
represents spring, but, frankly, it is spring
without its joyousness and sparkle. It
is astonishing to the present writer how
different was the impression created by
works of this period when seen by him
at the time they were painted. In 1885
the impression they left on the mind
was not only agreeable, they moved one
to enthusiasm. Still, the reason is not
far to seek. They marked a distinct
breaking away from those worn out
conventions which, during the previous
quarter of a century, had satisfied the
current taste of the great bulk of artistic
amateurs in this country; when mere
prettiness, the superficial treatment of
a few stereotyped effects, was the begin-
ning and end of the landscape painter's
„v mH\ t ave ry aim. On either side of this picture,
; FRAULEIN HERTHA VON G. BY JOHN LAVERY
But the Glasgow men, unlike certain "schools" of or three decades, that among the citizens of
recent years, rarely incurred the reproach of paint- Glasgow men were to be found who, from one
ing by syndicate. The bond which held them cause or the other, became the possessors of, or
together was, in truth, somewhat more definite than in any case offered, in the way of loan exhibitions,
that which united the so-called Barbizon painters ; temporary hospitality to, the works of those French
but their habitat, so far as a body of globe-trotters and Dutch painters, who since the comparative
can be said to have had one, was not, as in the decline of art in Great Britain—a decline which
case of the Newlyn school, let us say, a small, out- may be said to date from the time when the race
of-the-way village. On the contrary, it was one ot of giants terminating with Constable came to an
the most progressive and intellectual cities ot the end, a decline which was not arrested until Cecil
British Empire. Undoubtedly the fact, well known Lawson made his appearance—had kept alive on the
to every one who has concerned himself about the Continent the finest traditions of art, did exercise
art development of our country during the last two a distinct influence, and obviously a stimulating and
elevating one, over that remarkable
coterie of painters loosely banded to-
gether in that busy city of commerce
on the banks of the Clyde.
It is to be noted, however, that in
the case of John Lavery, at all events,
the naturalistic ideals of Bastien Lepage,
the painter answerable for the Newlyn
School, were the ideals earliest followed
rather than the more idealistic realism
of the Romanticist School. Lavery's
earlier work may be said to have shown
distinctly the influence of the French
painter. At the present time there
hangs in the dining-room of his house
in Cromwell Gardens, sentinelled on
either hand by works of different
periods, a picture representing a
bridge, in which the flat treatment
and somewhat depressing colour-
ing ot the British phin-air school is
conspicuously exemplified. This work
represents spring, but, frankly, it is spring
without its joyousness and sparkle. It
is astonishing to the present writer how
different was the impression created by
works of this period when seen by him
at the time they were painted. In 1885
the impression they left on the mind
was not only agreeable, they moved one
to enthusiasm. Still, the reason is not
far to seek. They marked a distinct
breaking away from those worn out
conventions which, during the previous
quarter of a century, had satisfied the
current taste of the great bulk of artistic
amateurs in this country; when mere
prettiness, the superficial treatment of
a few stereotyped effects, was the begin-
ning and end of the landscape painter's
„v mH\ t ave ry aim. On either side of this picture,
; FRAULEIN HERTHA VON G. BY JOHN LAVERY