Studio: international art (28.1903)

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THE STUDIO

R. FRANK BRANGWYN'S you write about somebody because his performances
LANDSCAPES AND STILL- appeal to you, it certainly does seem a refme-

LIFE BY SELWYN IMAGE ment of sclueamishness t0 Pul1 y°m"self up and

stop because you also happen to know and to like
The Editor of The Studio has asked me to the performer. A man must indeed be a nerveless
write the article which is to accompany these repro- creature if, in such a case, he has not grit enough
ductions of Mr. Brangwyn's landscape and still- to be reasouably honest and to keep his head,
life work, and very gladly
I have accepted the invita-
tion. Very gladly, let me
say, for two reasons : first
of all, because I greatly
admire Mr. Brangwyn's
work; and, secondly, be-
cause for many years now
Mr. Brangwyn has been a
friend of mine.

To some readers, of
course, this latter may ap-
pear a reason not for
my writing, but for my
desisting. A friend must
be prejudiced, they will
say; he will look at a
man's work through rose-
coloured spectacles; sup-
posing there are sides of
the work which are not
admirable, these he will
avoid or slide over. Even
if he is competent to write
at all, he is necessarily
handicapped when it is a
friend he is set to write
about. He is certain both
to be disingenuous, and
to be over-lavish in his
appreciation.

The criticism is natural,
for there has been too
good ground for it; yet
assuredly it need not
stagger a man. If you
write about somebody
simply because he is your

friend, well, you had better "the valley of the tiber" from the oil-sketch by frank brangwyn
think twice over it; if (In the possession of L. P. Gilbert, Esq.)

XXVIII. No. 119.—February, 1903.