Studio: international art (54.1912)

Helen Hyde

finished etching, called Totty, representing a little It shows a charming young Japanese motner
girl seated on a doorstep. proudly holding up a chubby baby to the ad-

It did not please her. It seemed to her flat, miring gaze of a second young Japanese woman,
lifeless; something was lacking. Half-uncon- A tiny branch—a mere suggestion—of wistaria
sciously she took a bit of colour from her box, and cuts the upper edge of the picture, in true Japanese
laying it on the plate, pressed this upon paper, fashion. Despite the Japanese accessories of dress,
and lo ! Totty had come to life! Delighted with &c, the sentiment of the whole is distinctly
the effect, she threw off a number of impressions, Western, not Oriental. It is interesting to know
varying the colours with astonishingly good result, that this picture was awarded a first prize, on the
And thus she entered upon a new and significant strength of excellent handling of a particularly
phase of her art. difficult brush—for it is by the merits or demerits

Having given so much time and study to the of skilful brushwork that Japanese pictures are
Asiatics as seen in America, she longed to know chiefly valued.

them in their far-off Eastern homes. So when the The great popularity enjoyed by this first public
coveted opportunity of a year's visit to Japan venture encouraged Miss Hyde to follow the
came it was seized with alacrity. A year's sojourn custom of some of the Japanese artists of last
in Japan ! Such the plan ! But as with so many century, and reproduce her composition in the
others who have come to this fascinating country, form of a colour-print. It was thus that she
the year has been many times multiplied. entered a field of art which has since made her

As was to have been expected, the peculiar famous. The step was not an easy one, for she
•charm of the country soon cast its spell over her. was confronted at the outset by many new
Her eye was intoxicated with the manifold mechanical details and difficulties. But her
beauties about her, and she determined to study enthusiasm carried her safely through all the
these not only as found in nature, but their breakers. She bravely learned the various steps of
expression in art by the great masters as well. the Japanese process of colour-prints, which differs

With this object in view, she asked Kano somewhat from that in vogue in the West. The
Tomanobu, the last of
the great Kano school of
painters, to become her
teacher. He consented
to do so, and for two
years she devoted herself
to the task of acquiring
the Japanese method of
wielding the brush. This,
as is well known, is quite
different from our own,
and presents many diffi-
culties to foreigners. But
day after day she worked
hard, sitting, as is the
fashion in Japan, on the
dainty white mats of the
floor, and earning well-
merited praise from her
gentle old teacher.

Her reward came
when, at the expiration of
two years, Tomanobu
asked her to paint a
kakemono for the annual
spring exhibition. She
did so, calling her picture

A Monarch of Japan. "the greeting" (wood-engraving in colours) by helen hyde

52