DOI Artikel:
Thovez, Enrico: Artistic photography in Italy
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27086#0156
ITALY
flowers. With these simple elements, skilfully disposed, M. Rey
puts a delightful picture before our eyes. Here again it is the
light, rather than the design, which plays the principal part. That
portion which is in shadow is exquisite in its nuances and marvellous
in tone, and the face is enveloped in air and light. We are made
to feel the sweet intimacy of the closed and silent room by the
irresistible skill whereby the artist conceals his art ; for he must
have studied everything deeply to produce such a result, which may
well be described as perfect.
UEnfant a la cage depicts a child reaching up the wall with a piece
of bread in his hand, trying to get at a bird-cage. This little bit
of genre is happily invented and delicate in tone—a most agreeable
study in whites and greys. In strong contrast we have the
Communiantes, veiled, and walking through the glade, fringed by
tall cypress trees, under the soft light of the spring sunshine. One
will at once perceive the beauty of the decorative silhouette formed
by the setting, and the skill with which, here as always, M. Rey
introduces the expressive elements of the faces by eliminating every-
thing which might be superfluous and take up space unnecessarily—
a method of procedure which, from the days of the Primitives to
those of the Pre-Raphaelites, was ever the secret of those masters,
who aimed at expressiveness and suggestion.
I must close this brief review of M. Rey’s work by drawing attention
to his portrait of a lady who is examining an engraving through a
lorgnon. This photograph shows that, enamoured as he may be
of the costumes of other days, the artist does not despise the life
of to-day, and when occasion arises knows how to treat it with
equal delicacy. Here he gives us a “ harmony in light tones ”—
something suggestive of Lavery and of Boldini.
But, as I have already remarked, the works to which I have drawn
attention are but samples. M. Rey’s output is very large, and
many other works deserve to be reproduced here. But even were
that possible, there would always be the risk of giving an incomplete
idea of the man and his work, for the reason that he is constantly
seeking new worlds to conquer !
M. Giacomo Grosso is something more than the well-known portrait
painter, several times a medallist at the Salon, and one of the best and
perhaps the most popular of Italian artists. He is also a dis-
tinguished amateur photographer, as the two portraits now repro-
duced will serve to testify. With him there is no anxiety about his
milieu : in his photographic portraits he follows the path dear to the
artist he loves so passionately—Rembrandt. Like him, he seeks to
i. 6
flowers. With these simple elements, skilfully disposed, M. Rey
puts a delightful picture before our eyes. Here again it is the
light, rather than the design, which plays the principal part. That
portion which is in shadow is exquisite in its nuances and marvellous
in tone, and the face is enveloped in air and light. We are made
to feel the sweet intimacy of the closed and silent room by the
irresistible skill whereby the artist conceals his art ; for he must
have studied everything deeply to produce such a result, which may
well be described as perfect.
UEnfant a la cage depicts a child reaching up the wall with a piece
of bread in his hand, trying to get at a bird-cage. This little bit
of genre is happily invented and delicate in tone—a most agreeable
study in whites and greys. In strong contrast we have the
Communiantes, veiled, and walking through the glade, fringed by
tall cypress trees, under the soft light of the spring sunshine. One
will at once perceive the beauty of the decorative silhouette formed
by the setting, and the skill with which, here as always, M. Rey
introduces the expressive elements of the faces by eliminating every-
thing which might be superfluous and take up space unnecessarily—
a method of procedure which, from the days of the Primitives to
those of the Pre-Raphaelites, was ever the secret of those masters,
who aimed at expressiveness and suggestion.
I must close this brief review of M. Rey’s work by drawing attention
to his portrait of a lady who is examining an engraving through a
lorgnon. This photograph shows that, enamoured as he may be
of the costumes of other days, the artist does not despise the life
of to-day, and when occasion arises knows how to treat it with
equal delicacy. Here he gives us a “ harmony in light tones ”—
something suggestive of Lavery and of Boldini.
But, as I have already remarked, the works to which I have drawn
attention are but samples. M. Rey’s output is very large, and
many other works deserve to be reproduced here. But even were
that possible, there would always be the risk of giving an incomplete
idea of the man and his work, for the reason that he is constantly
seeking new worlds to conquer !
M. Giacomo Grosso is something more than the well-known portrait
painter, several times a medallist at the Salon, and one of the best and
perhaps the most popular of Italian artists. He is also a dis-
tinguished amateur photographer, as the two portraits now repro-
duced will serve to testify. With him there is no anxiety about his
milieu : in his photographic portraits he follows the path dear to the
artist he loves so passionately—Rembrandt. Like him, he seeks to
i. 6