DOI Heft:
No. 247 (October 1913)
DOI Artikel:Stodart-Walker, Archibald: The paintings of James Whitelaw Hamilton, A.R.S.A., R.S.W.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21208#0037
James IVhitelaw Hamilton, A.R.S.A., R.S.IV.
limitations of his colour media, lay claim to a dis-
tinction that cannot be denied him. His decora-
tive sense is powerful. He handles large masses
of foliage and rock with ease and a sense of finality.
Conscious of the beauties of detail, they never
obsess his vision, they never detract from the
force and grandeur of his masses. His ideal of
essentials is miles away from that of the Post-
Impressionists and others of their kidney, but he
eliminates everything that is uncalled for in a
decorative impression. In such a painting as his
Hillside Pastures we see all Mr. Hamilton’s ideals
focused in an impressive landscape. The great
masses of trees buttressing the summer upland, the
warm sun throwing gleams of light across the
speckled turf, the drifting clouds carrying the eye
onward and giving the imagination all that it
requires, the admirable drawing, the quantities so
excellently balanced, the sense of a varying
atmosphere—all unite to ensure an almost perfect
ensemble. In the Eyemouth Bay we have a
different note. Here we see more of the “flat-
ness ” of the purely decorative design. We have
none of the “roundness” of the Hillside Pastures.
Here everything is laid down as in a wall decora-
tion, everything well spaced but more determinable,
calling more to the concrete senses of drawing and
colour and less to the imagination, so forcibly
called into play in After Sundown, probably the
finest of Mr. Hamilton’s recent experiments in the
approximation of great masses to the intimacies of
domestic landscape, and reminding us of the work
of Mr. C. H. Mackie. These three landscapes
are “ evident ” enough ; they tell their own “ story ”
without much cataloguing. In such canvases as
Moorland and The Valley of the Dee the appeal is
more searching. There are no dramatic elements
to arouse the applause of those who love the
grandiose. Here we find a sensitive recognition
of the subtle beauties of landscape on the flat, as
sensitive as anything by Mr. James Cadenhead or
Mr. A. K. Brown. Here are assembled all the
ideals he has brought to his art of landscape
painting, revealing the artist in his search for
limitations of his colour media, lay claim to a dis-
tinction that cannot be denied him. His decora-
tive sense is powerful. He handles large masses
of foliage and rock with ease and a sense of finality.
Conscious of the beauties of detail, they never
obsess his vision, they never detract from the
force and grandeur of his masses. His ideal of
essentials is miles away from that of the Post-
Impressionists and others of their kidney, but he
eliminates everything that is uncalled for in a
decorative impression. In such a painting as his
Hillside Pastures we see all Mr. Hamilton’s ideals
focused in an impressive landscape. The great
masses of trees buttressing the summer upland, the
warm sun throwing gleams of light across the
speckled turf, the drifting clouds carrying the eye
onward and giving the imagination all that it
requires, the admirable drawing, the quantities so
excellently balanced, the sense of a varying
atmosphere—all unite to ensure an almost perfect
ensemble. In the Eyemouth Bay we have a
different note. Here we see more of the “flat-
ness ” of the purely decorative design. We have
none of the “roundness” of the Hillside Pastures.
Here everything is laid down as in a wall decora-
tion, everything well spaced but more determinable,
calling more to the concrete senses of drawing and
colour and less to the imagination, so forcibly
called into play in After Sundown, probably the
finest of Mr. Hamilton’s recent experiments in the
approximation of great masses to the intimacies of
domestic landscape, and reminding us of the work
of Mr. C. H. Mackie. These three landscapes
are “ evident ” enough ; they tell their own “ story ”
without much cataloguing. In such canvases as
Moorland and The Valley of the Dee the appeal is
more searching. There are no dramatic elements
to arouse the applause of those who love the
grandiose. Here we find a sensitive recognition
of the subtle beauties of landscape on the flat, as
sensitive as anything by Mr. James Cadenhead or
Mr. A. K. Brown. Here are assembled all the
ideals he has brought to his art of landscape
painting, revealing the artist in his search for