DOI Heft:
Nr. 116 (November 1902)
DOI Artikel:Shaw Sparrow, Walter: The centenary of Thomas Girtin: his genius and work
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19877#0100
Thomas Givtin
art change, but art itself remains a compromise, and
the more earnestly we try to represent faithfully
what we see the more difficult is the task of finding
a compromise favourable to the aim in view, and
yet in sympathy with the fact that the multi-
tudinous variety of Nature has never yet been
made real by any pigments employed by men of
genius. Selection is necessary, omissions are
essential; and will any impressionist be bold
enough to contend that his work is as vivid and
yet as grey as a landscape framed by a window
pane ? Or has he captured the sun's light and
stored it up in paint ? Such contentions have been
made by hasty writers, but every thoughtful
painter knows that the most advanced work of the
present day is only an old tune played in a new
key and in a different time. And one may also
note here, as another thing favourable to a just ap-
preciation of Girtin's old-fashioned greatness, that
Time, as well as Nature, has frequently a sobering
influence on the most daring of advanced efforts.
Tones darken with age, the alleged outdoor light
within the paint dwindles, and instead of a Sisley,
let us say, a Sisley that once seemed an amazing
adventure in atmospheric truth and freshness, we
have a maturing Old Master. Poor Sisley ! To
end thus after such a stern fight to be something
quite different!
Girtin, again, the most daring pioneer of his time,
is now so old-fashioned to many persons, so staid
with years, and out of date, that casual students
do not perceive that his work should be regarded
in the light of a Sisley painting in an earlier
time, and within the limitations set by a different
convention. His passion for working out of doors
in all sorts of weather was equal to Sisley's; and
there can be no doubt that the results of it
in his work made him the forerunner of the im-
pressionists. This may be seen by anyone. Study
his drawings in the British Museum, examine the
" CAYNE WATERFALL, NORTH WALES " FROM THE STUDY BY THOMAS GIRTIN
(In the Print Room at the British Museum)
88
art change, but art itself remains a compromise, and
the more earnestly we try to represent faithfully
what we see the more difficult is the task of finding
a compromise favourable to the aim in view, and
yet in sympathy with the fact that the multi-
tudinous variety of Nature has never yet been
made real by any pigments employed by men of
genius. Selection is necessary, omissions are
essential; and will any impressionist be bold
enough to contend that his work is as vivid and
yet as grey as a landscape framed by a window
pane ? Or has he captured the sun's light and
stored it up in paint ? Such contentions have been
made by hasty writers, but every thoughtful
painter knows that the most advanced work of the
present day is only an old tune played in a new
key and in a different time. And one may also
note here, as another thing favourable to a just ap-
preciation of Girtin's old-fashioned greatness, that
Time, as well as Nature, has frequently a sobering
influence on the most daring of advanced efforts.
Tones darken with age, the alleged outdoor light
within the paint dwindles, and instead of a Sisley,
let us say, a Sisley that once seemed an amazing
adventure in atmospheric truth and freshness, we
have a maturing Old Master. Poor Sisley ! To
end thus after such a stern fight to be something
quite different!
Girtin, again, the most daring pioneer of his time,
is now so old-fashioned to many persons, so staid
with years, and out of date, that casual students
do not perceive that his work should be regarded
in the light of a Sisley painting in an earlier
time, and within the limitations set by a different
convention. His passion for working out of doors
in all sorts of weather was equal to Sisley's; and
there can be no doubt that the results of it
in his work made him the forerunner of the im-
pressionists. This may be seen by anyone. Study
his drawings in the British Museum, examine the
" CAYNE WATERFALL, NORTH WALES " FROM THE STUDY BY THOMAS GIRTIN
(In the Print Room at the British Museum)
88