DOI Heft:
No. 199 (October, 1909)
DOI Artikel:Mr. Brangwyn's tempera frieze at the new London offices of the Grand Trunk Railway
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20968#0056
Mr. Brangwyn s Tempera Frieze
i
boundaries, is never
made hesitant by
them. There is
throughout an effect
of world-drama. The
contact of the Modern
World with the Old
World, the strife of
the world of modern
energy, of the bridge-
fa uilders and the
makers of the great
highways of com-
merce, of the engineer
and of the strong arm
of labour, of the navvy
and the woodman,
with the bewildered
braves and Red Indian
warriors, is stated with
an epic force and with
a right use of colour
that rouse the vast
significance of it all.
Here is the over-
whelming conquest of
the barbarous West
by the civilized man,
armed with the might
i........ and dominion of
science and skill and
the will to do. This
great conquest is
sketch for frieze shown with the vast sKETCfI FQR FRIEZE
by frank brangwyn, a.r.a. landscape of Northern by frank brangwyn, a.r.a.
America for back-
ground. From the great heights of table-lands, with poetic surety, and turned it into an epic of
from the mighty waterways, from the thunder of large forms and telling colour,
the Falls of Niagara, from the vast gorges that are Mr. Brangwyn's grip of the technique of every
■called canons, the artist has filched their majesty human calling that he essays to interpret into terms
and their poetic sense, and set these things upon of paint, is seen here to full advantage. His
his painted surface. Through it all, dominating engineer needs no label, his woodsman no tag.
all, is the glorification in the victory of man's There is never the need for a " book of the words."
handiwork; the steam and smoke of railway engines, There is no baffling symbolism; no elaborate story-
the smite of axes swung by brawny arms that clear telling. And so, here, he has seen the significance
the huge trees from the track, the building of of this great commercial and scientific conquest of
the wide spanning bridges—pride in the splendour the wilds of Canada with the quick imagination
of man's achievement in subduing and controlling and eyes of a poet; and recorded these things with
to his own ends the stern forces of nature. Mr. the hand of a master.
Brangwyn's art has leaped above the mere narrative His very sketches in chalk, the rough notes of
statement and photographic accuracy of the Grand his studio, all bear witness to the directness of his
Trunk Railway's panorama from ocean to ocean ; vision, the force of his intention. In every one of
he has stated the majestic significance of the them is evidence of that dramatic grip of the
company's triumphs in terms of colour employed general motive that impels his art to utter in
34
i
boundaries, is never
made hesitant by
them. There is
throughout an effect
of world-drama. The
contact of the Modern
World with the Old
World, the strife of
the world of modern
energy, of the bridge-
fa uilders and the
makers of the great
highways of com-
merce, of the engineer
and of the strong arm
of labour, of the navvy
and the woodman,
with the bewildered
braves and Red Indian
warriors, is stated with
an epic force and with
a right use of colour
that rouse the vast
significance of it all.
Here is the over-
whelming conquest of
the barbarous West
by the civilized man,
armed with the might
i........ and dominion of
science and skill and
the will to do. This
great conquest is
sketch for frieze shown with the vast sKETCfI FQR FRIEZE
by frank brangwyn, a.r.a. landscape of Northern by frank brangwyn, a.r.a.
America for back-
ground. From the great heights of table-lands, with poetic surety, and turned it into an epic of
from the mighty waterways, from the thunder of large forms and telling colour,
the Falls of Niagara, from the vast gorges that are Mr. Brangwyn's grip of the technique of every
■called canons, the artist has filched their majesty human calling that he essays to interpret into terms
and their poetic sense, and set these things upon of paint, is seen here to full advantage. His
his painted surface. Through it all, dominating engineer needs no label, his woodsman no tag.
all, is the glorification in the victory of man's There is never the need for a " book of the words."
handiwork; the steam and smoke of railway engines, There is no baffling symbolism; no elaborate story-
the smite of axes swung by brawny arms that clear telling. And so, here, he has seen the significance
the huge trees from the track, the building of of this great commercial and scientific conquest of
the wide spanning bridges—pride in the splendour the wilds of Canada with the quick imagination
of man's achievement in subduing and controlling and eyes of a poet; and recorded these things with
to his own ends the stern forces of nature. Mr. the hand of a master.
Brangwyn's art has leaped above the mere narrative His very sketches in chalk, the rough notes of
statement and photographic accuracy of the Grand his studio, all bear witness to the directness of his
Trunk Railway's panorama from ocean to ocean ; vision, the force of his intention. In every one of
he has stated the majestic significance of the them is evidence of that dramatic grip of the
company's triumphs in terms of colour employed general motive that impels his art to utter in
34