DOI issue:
Nr. 245 (August 1913)
DOI article:Ciolkowska, Muriel: A Canadian painter: James Wilson Morrice
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21159#0200
Janies Wilson Mornce
that we moderns are so poor, that to be able to
pay Peter we must always rob Paul, and that
feeling can only be rendered at the expense of
finish.
Study of Mr. James Wilson Morrice’s art leads
to the conclusion that his mind is exceptionally
free from any preoccupations of this nature or any
desire to catch attention by tricks of procedure.
So much ease and independence of manner com-
bined with so much accomplishment is rare. Here
is neither affectation of gaucherie nor ostentation of
virtuosity. Here the process is simple and honest,
albeit never maladroit nor naive. Ingenuousness
may have charm but it has its limitations, and its
excess is just as superfluous as is excess of ability.
One is so impressed by the balance between art
and craft in Mr. Morrice’s pictures that one cannot
imagine them in any other form. His smallest
sketch is in this sense as definite and satisfying as
are any of his larger canvases. There is finality in
everything he does, and this finality is not conveyed
by elaboration but by the equilibrium of all those
elements which make a picture as distinct from a
mere painting. Many other pictures at the galleries
in Paris and elsewhere, seen by the side of his,
appear slipshod or heavy, crude or laborious, forced
or awkward, loud in colour or monotonous. There
is not the faintest suggestion of effort in any of his
paintings. The colouring is fresh and direct—
subdued and reserved withal, but never fatigued, its
manipulation is supple, there is no sign of hesitation,
and the composition is visibly selected without
being too recherche.
Mr. Morrice differs widely from many of his
contemporaries in so far that he is never haunted
by theories. His work has progressed without any
trace of abrupt transition or reversion of manner.
Surrounded, as we are nowadays, by revolution,
incoherence, dissension and disintegration, one
resorts to the settled, calm work of this artist
thankfully, finding there the tranquillity of a
soul in harmony with nature, and the quiet assur-
ance of one who has never fumbled for his path.
Mr. Morrice’s gifts have expressed themselves
principally in landscape and in some figure-painting.
He approaches both subjects with equal freedom,
feeling, simplicity and originality of interpretation.
Unity of tone is attained without blurring or other
“THE BEACH AT MERS ”
180
BY JAMES WILSON MORRICE
(By courtesy of Messrs. W. Marchant and Co., Goupil Gallery)
that we moderns are so poor, that to be able to
pay Peter we must always rob Paul, and that
feeling can only be rendered at the expense of
finish.
Study of Mr. James Wilson Morrice’s art leads
to the conclusion that his mind is exceptionally
free from any preoccupations of this nature or any
desire to catch attention by tricks of procedure.
So much ease and independence of manner com-
bined with so much accomplishment is rare. Here
is neither affectation of gaucherie nor ostentation of
virtuosity. Here the process is simple and honest,
albeit never maladroit nor naive. Ingenuousness
may have charm but it has its limitations, and its
excess is just as superfluous as is excess of ability.
One is so impressed by the balance between art
and craft in Mr. Morrice’s pictures that one cannot
imagine them in any other form. His smallest
sketch is in this sense as definite and satisfying as
are any of his larger canvases. There is finality in
everything he does, and this finality is not conveyed
by elaboration but by the equilibrium of all those
elements which make a picture as distinct from a
mere painting. Many other pictures at the galleries
in Paris and elsewhere, seen by the side of his,
appear slipshod or heavy, crude or laborious, forced
or awkward, loud in colour or monotonous. There
is not the faintest suggestion of effort in any of his
paintings. The colouring is fresh and direct—
subdued and reserved withal, but never fatigued, its
manipulation is supple, there is no sign of hesitation,
and the composition is visibly selected without
being too recherche.
Mr. Morrice differs widely from many of his
contemporaries in so far that he is never haunted
by theories. His work has progressed without any
trace of abrupt transition or reversion of manner.
Surrounded, as we are nowadays, by revolution,
incoherence, dissension and disintegration, one
resorts to the settled, calm work of this artist
thankfully, finding there the tranquillity of a
soul in harmony with nature, and the quiet assur-
ance of one who has never fumbled for his path.
Mr. Morrice’s gifts have expressed themselves
principally in landscape and in some figure-painting.
He approaches both subjects with equal freedom,
feeling, simplicity and originality of interpretation.
Unity of tone is attained without blurring or other
“THE BEACH AT MERS ”
180
BY JAMES WILSON MORRICE
(By courtesy of Messrs. W. Marchant and Co., Goupil Gallery)