DOI Artikel:
The craft section at the New Gallery
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20778#0079
COP AND STAND IN SILVER AND IVORY, HOT-WATER JUG AND SPOON IN SILVER
DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY J. PAUL COOPER
It seems to be a law that
for one perfect specimen of
any object we must expect
to find ninety-nine that are
imperfect; in order to arrive
at what is good, we must
pass by a great deal that is
faulty and bad. The good
critic is he who accepts this
law and does not waste
himself over the errors of
the majority, but reserves
his energies for teaching
lessons where they can best
be learnt—from the good examples. In most
exhibitions of modern art, ninety-nine per cent, of
mediocre work is a fair estimate, and it is conse-
quently pleasing to find a miscellaneous collection
of artistic work in which there is much that is
interesting and deserving of praise.
This is the case in the Craft section of the New
Gallery Exhibition. We see here a collection
that has been carefully chosen or invited, but we
have to remember that it is a retrospective exhibi-
tion and not the immediately recent work of these
craftsmen. An equally good collection of exhibits
will consequently be less easy to procure when the
annual production of each worker will be asked
for, as is the case with the sculptors and painters
in the main portion of the New Gallery. Indeed,
a cavilling spirit might ask why this, the first craft
exhibition ever held under such auspices, is not
entirely composed of excelling work, and why
anything mediocre has been allowed to enter.
For many years Paris has
given recognition to the
position of artistic crafts by
incorporating in its art ex-
hibitions collections of craft
work such as we are now
considering; but England
(in the provincial towns no
less than London) has
always been chary of ex-
tending a hand of welcome
to what is not denomi-
nated as Fine Art. The
truth that “ Art is Decora-
tion”—so often forgotten
in the art annals of this
country — is aptly made
prominent by the magnifi-
cent Burne-Jones - Morris
tapestry which hangs in the
central hall of the gallery.
Apart from the interest
and sentiment in thus hav-
ing as a key-note of the
collection a remembrance
SILVER AND ENAMEL TRIPTYCH PRESENTED TO LORD DERBY WITH THE
FREEDOM OF THE BOROUGH OF PRESTON DESIGNED BY FLORENCE H. STEELE
The craft
SECTION AT
THE NEW
GALLERY.
Crafts at the New Gallery
55
DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY J. PAUL COOPER
It seems to be a law that
for one perfect specimen of
any object we must expect
to find ninety-nine that are
imperfect; in order to arrive
at what is good, we must
pass by a great deal that is
faulty and bad. The good
critic is he who accepts this
law and does not waste
himself over the errors of
the majority, but reserves
his energies for teaching
lessons where they can best
be learnt—from the good examples. In most
exhibitions of modern art, ninety-nine per cent, of
mediocre work is a fair estimate, and it is conse-
quently pleasing to find a miscellaneous collection
of artistic work in which there is much that is
interesting and deserving of praise.
This is the case in the Craft section of the New
Gallery Exhibition. We see here a collection
that has been carefully chosen or invited, but we
have to remember that it is a retrospective exhibi-
tion and not the immediately recent work of these
craftsmen. An equally good collection of exhibits
will consequently be less easy to procure when the
annual production of each worker will be asked
for, as is the case with the sculptors and painters
in the main portion of the New Gallery. Indeed,
a cavilling spirit might ask why this, the first craft
exhibition ever held under such auspices, is not
entirely composed of excelling work, and why
anything mediocre has been allowed to enter.
For many years Paris has
given recognition to the
position of artistic crafts by
incorporating in its art ex-
hibitions collections of craft
work such as we are now
considering; but England
(in the provincial towns no
less than London) has
always been chary of ex-
tending a hand of welcome
to what is not denomi-
nated as Fine Art. The
truth that “ Art is Decora-
tion”—so often forgotten
in the art annals of this
country — is aptly made
prominent by the magnifi-
cent Burne-Jones - Morris
tapestry which hangs in the
central hall of the gallery.
Apart from the interest
and sentiment in thus hav-
ing as a key-note of the
collection a remembrance
SILVER AND ENAMEL TRIPTYCH PRESENTED TO LORD DERBY WITH THE
FREEDOM OF THE BOROUGH OF PRESTON DESIGNED BY FLORENCE H. STEELE
The craft
SECTION AT
THE NEW
GALLERY.
Crafts at the New Gallery
55