DOI Heft:
No. 162 (September, 1906)
DOI Artikel:Studio-talk
DOI Artikel:Reviews and notices
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20715#0384
Reviews and Notices
essence of vague and tranquil mood, and he only
needs a few daubs of darkness and a blush of
brighter colour to accomplish it. And yet the
feeling for form, or rather the knowledge of con-
struction, gathered in years of realistic painting, is
never missing. It is there like the hush of silence
at the approach of night, even when it is almost
obliterated to the ordinary eye. A strange per-
sonality, this Charles Austin Needham, who required
forty years to discover the significance of his inner
life, and who in the midst of the rusty noises of
commerce developed a soul as dreamy and mj Stic
as that of Georges Rodenbach, the incomparable
poet of Bruges. The evolution of artistic indi-
viduality is often retarded in this country. Homer
Martin and Inness only began to “ paint ” during
the last quarter of their lives, and our “ young
painters ” are nearly all men of forty, so Needham,
at sixty-two, does not need to feel discouraged;
he has come comparatively early to his own. He
has found himself. He has learnt to paint one
thing well, and that invariably a masterpiece, a
vague interpretation of nature in her most primi-
tive moods, told in exquisite colour, whose har-
monies, to talk with Browning, “ drag up abysmal
bottom growths from our soul sea.” S. H.
REVIEWS AND NOTICES
The Drawings of Jean Francois Millet. With
Introductory Essay by LIjonce BfisriDiTE. (Lon-
don : Heinemann.) £2 2s. net.—These fifty-nine
facsimile reproductions of typical drawings by the
famous interpreter of modern French peasant life
needed no recommendation to ensure for them a
hearty welcome from all who are able to appreciate
their intrinsic beauty and educational value. The ac-
companying essay from the pen of the accomplished
conservator of the Luxembourg Museum, who in
many previous publications has proved his insight
into the essential qualities that differentiate one
artist from another, is, however, full of interest,
for, though it contains no new facts, it is full of
original criticism. M. Benedite has dealt with his
material in such a manner as to invest even
hackneyed details with fresh charm, for he calls
up many a vivid picture of Millet at every stage of
his career, as well as of those amongst whom his
lot was cast. The sober-minded, careful mother,
363
essence of vague and tranquil mood, and he only
needs a few daubs of darkness and a blush of
brighter colour to accomplish it. And yet the
feeling for form, or rather the knowledge of con-
struction, gathered in years of realistic painting, is
never missing. It is there like the hush of silence
at the approach of night, even when it is almost
obliterated to the ordinary eye. A strange per-
sonality, this Charles Austin Needham, who required
forty years to discover the significance of his inner
life, and who in the midst of the rusty noises of
commerce developed a soul as dreamy and mj Stic
as that of Georges Rodenbach, the incomparable
poet of Bruges. The evolution of artistic indi-
viduality is often retarded in this country. Homer
Martin and Inness only began to “ paint ” during
the last quarter of their lives, and our “ young
painters ” are nearly all men of forty, so Needham,
at sixty-two, does not need to feel discouraged;
he has come comparatively early to his own. He
has found himself. He has learnt to paint one
thing well, and that invariably a masterpiece, a
vague interpretation of nature in her most primi-
tive moods, told in exquisite colour, whose har-
monies, to talk with Browning, “ drag up abysmal
bottom growths from our soul sea.” S. H.
REVIEWS AND NOTICES
The Drawings of Jean Francois Millet. With
Introductory Essay by LIjonce BfisriDiTE. (Lon-
don : Heinemann.) £2 2s. net.—These fifty-nine
facsimile reproductions of typical drawings by the
famous interpreter of modern French peasant life
needed no recommendation to ensure for them a
hearty welcome from all who are able to appreciate
their intrinsic beauty and educational value. The ac-
companying essay from the pen of the accomplished
conservator of the Luxembourg Museum, who in
many previous publications has proved his insight
into the essential qualities that differentiate one
artist from another, is, however, full of interest,
for, though it contains no new facts, it is full of
original criticism. M. Benedite has dealt with his
material in such a manner as to invest even
hackneyed details with fresh charm, for he calls
up many a vivid picture of Millet at every stage of
his career, as well as of those amongst whom his
lot was cast. The sober-minded, careful mother,
363