DOI issue:
No. 242 (May 1913)
DOI article:Stodart-Walker, Archibald: The recent paintings of E. A. Walton, R.S.A.
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21160#0293
E. A. Walton, R.S.A.
of the artist coming between Nature and the of such a master as Whistler it is to be feared that
canvas; in fact, we have the whole function of art, the lowness of tone and the thinness of paint will
the transcription of an experience on the higher deprive the future of the pleasure with which the
emotional plane in the hands of men who under- present has been graced.
stand the value oiplein-air and tonality in the reach- Of all painters of the present day I should name
ing to a harmonious note of glowing colour—to Mr. Walton as the one who has the greatest sense
a resplendent rhythm of design. of style in its widest sense. His splendid decora-
In considering Mr. Walton's later portraits we tive sense is of course the handmaiden of this
find that he has lost altogether that tendency to essential quality in all great art. Everything in the
browny-yellowness and occasionally muddiness of design, significant, relative, indicative, proclaims
texture which characterised the faces of some of the decorative stylist in his highest moment of
his earlier canvases, which, while giving in some spiritwalisation. There is passion and emotion in
cases an impression as if one were looking upon an his work, yet in all his glow and warmth and sense
old master, also gave the feeling of decay in the of life there is no feeling of anarchy, no leaving of
composition of the paint and inspired the prophecy Nature to its own devices. We have selection and
that in a few years the portraits would be, to use discrimination everywhere, and no passage, how-
a slang term, "as black as your hat." In his later ever attractive it may be to the painter, is ever
portraits we have more clarity, a greater freshness allowed to tyrannise over the harmony of the
of texture, an added warmth that will mature whole. A. S. W
into that richness which
time alone can produce
and which it is impos-
sible to reach from the
other end. I am of the
opinion that no picture can
be painted for the present,
and that often the very
qualities we dislike in a
modern portrait are the
qualities which permanence
demands. No one recog-
nises that fact more clearly
than Mr. Sargent and Sir
James Guthrie, and Mr.
Walton's latest efforts are
an emphatic acceptance of
it. There is every possi-
bility that we shall even-
tually find in the portraits
of these men that richness
and depth which make the
canvases of Raeburn and
Reynolds, Gainsborough
and Hoppner so popular to-
day ; whilst as to those men
who paint as if to-day were
all time we may find that
their portraits have sunk to
that dead nothingness
characteristic of a horde of
mediocrities of the past
whose work disfigures the
walls of many of our private „ , .
J . "THE PORTFOLIO (OIL) BY E. A. WALTON,. R.S.A.
houses. Even in the case (DMoma Gallery, Royal Scottish Academy)
270
of the artist coming between Nature and the of such a master as Whistler it is to be feared that
canvas; in fact, we have the whole function of art, the lowness of tone and the thinness of paint will
the transcription of an experience on the higher deprive the future of the pleasure with which the
emotional plane in the hands of men who under- present has been graced.
stand the value oiplein-air and tonality in the reach- Of all painters of the present day I should name
ing to a harmonious note of glowing colour—to Mr. Walton as the one who has the greatest sense
a resplendent rhythm of design. of style in its widest sense. His splendid decora-
In considering Mr. Walton's later portraits we tive sense is of course the handmaiden of this
find that he has lost altogether that tendency to essential quality in all great art. Everything in the
browny-yellowness and occasionally muddiness of design, significant, relative, indicative, proclaims
texture which characterised the faces of some of the decorative stylist in his highest moment of
his earlier canvases, which, while giving in some spiritwalisation. There is passion and emotion in
cases an impression as if one were looking upon an his work, yet in all his glow and warmth and sense
old master, also gave the feeling of decay in the of life there is no feeling of anarchy, no leaving of
composition of the paint and inspired the prophecy Nature to its own devices. We have selection and
that in a few years the portraits would be, to use discrimination everywhere, and no passage, how-
a slang term, "as black as your hat." In his later ever attractive it may be to the painter, is ever
portraits we have more clarity, a greater freshness allowed to tyrannise over the harmony of the
of texture, an added warmth that will mature whole. A. S. W
into that richness which
time alone can produce
and which it is impos-
sible to reach from the
other end. I am of the
opinion that no picture can
be painted for the present,
and that often the very
qualities we dislike in a
modern portrait are the
qualities which permanence
demands. No one recog-
nises that fact more clearly
than Mr. Sargent and Sir
James Guthrie, and Mr.
Walton's latest efforts are
an emphatic acceptance of
it. There is every possi-
bility that we shall even-
tually find in the portraits
of these men that richness
and depth which make the
canvases of Raeburn and
Reynolds, Gainsborough
and Hoppner so popular to-
day ; whilst as to those men
who paint as if to-day were
all time we may find that
their portraits have sunk to
that dead nothingness
characteristic of a horde of
mediocrities of the past
whose work disfigures the
walls of many of our private „ , .
J . "THE PORTFOLIO (OIL) BY E. A. WALTON,. R.S.A.
houses. Even in the case (DMoma Gallery, Royal Scottish Academy)
270