DOI Heft:
No. 256 (August 1914)
DOI Artikel:Moore, William: Notes on some younger Australian artists
DOI Artikel:An ''opal room'' designed by Mr. Kemp Prossor
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21210#0230
An "Opal Room" by Mr. Kemp Prossor
"A CORNISH FISHING VILLAGE BY HAYLEY LEVER
the pages of costly editions
is one explanation why
it is not more widely
known in London.
Mr. Will Dyson, who
is a brother-in-law of
Lindsay, is another black-
and-white artist who stands
out in the ruck. His
cartoons in the " Daily
Herald" are too well
known to Londoners to
need particular mention
here. An English writer
says that these cartoons
are "without question the
most masterly and the
most suggestive satirical
comment on public affairs
now appearing in this
country." I have thought
the same thing myself,
but from a fellow-
countryman such a eulogy
some ways the most remarkable artist that the might perhaps have appeared exaggerated,
country has produced. His weekly cartoon and
jokes in the "Bulletin" have a grim humour that A N "OPAL ROOM" DESIGNED
rarely fails to grip and he has shown his capacity /\ j^y MR KEMP PROSSOR.
for invention in his journalistic work by being / %
the first to exploit the comic possibilities of During the last few years Mr. P. Kemp
the Australian native bear. But it is as an illus- Prossor has been doing work of great value in domes-
trator that his work will be known in the future, tic decoration—work that deserves to be highly
His resourcefulness in treating a wide variety of sub- praised for its expression of a personal conviction
jects is extraordinary. Some of his best work, such and its absence of conventionality. One of the
as Pollice Verso in the Melbourne Gallery, is in greater merits of his effort is its freedom from the
pen and ink, but he also does illustrations in mono- domination of traditional style ; he does not limit
chrome wash, and water-colour. He has illustrated the scope of his practice by accepting or adopting
an edition de luxe of the poems of Hugh McCrae, any of the recognised mannerisms in design, he aims
one of the most promising of younger writers in the rather at the creation of a decorative system which
Commonwealth, and he completed a set of a will allow him full scope for the explanation of his
hundred drawings for a new edition of the temperamental inclinations and for the display of
" Satyricon of Petronius" issued by the Ralph his artistic feeling. In all the rooms he has
Strauss Press. A set of drawings which may cause designed his main purpose has been the working
a stir in the art world is about to be used for out of schemes of colour in which the complete
an edition de luxe of the " Memoirs of Casanova." effect has been arrived at by the careful adjust-
The artist is now engaged on a series of illustrations ment of tint to tint and tone to tone and by
for one of Shakespeare's comedies and Gay's making every detail play its right part in the
Beggar's Opera. While objection has been made development of the central intention. The "Opal
to the audacity of some of Lindsay's illustrations, Room," which is illustrated here, shows charac-
which are sometimes treated with Rabelaisian teristically what are his principles and his methods,
freedom, there is no denying the freshness of his how he calculates his colour proportions and how
conceptions and the skill with which he gives a he applies his colour accents so as to explain the
touch of life to the most trivial incident. The fact motive he has chosen, and how he keeps his whole
that most of Lindsay's best work is confined to scheme in exact relation without ever allowing it to
210
"A CORNISH FISHING VILLAGE BY HAYLEY LEVER
the pages of costly editions
is one explanation why
it is not more widely
known in London.
Mr. Will Dyson, who
is a brother-in-law of
Lindsay, is another black-
and-white artist who stands
out in the ruck. His
cartoons in the " Daily
Herald" are too well
known to Londoners to
need particular mention
here. An English writer
says that these cartoons
are "without question the
most masterly and the
most suggestive satirical
comment on public affairs
now appearing in this
country." I have thought
the same thing myself,
but from a fellow-
countryman such a eulogy
some ways the most remarkable artist that the might perhaps have appeared exaggerated,
country has produced. His weekly cartoon and
jokes in the "Bulletin" have a grim humour that A N "OPAL ROOM" DESIGNED
rarely fails to grip and he has shown his capacity /\ j^y MR KEMP PROSSOR.
for invention in his journalistic work by being / %
the first to exploit the comic possibilities of During the last few years Mr. P. Kemp
the Australian native bear. But it is as an illus- Prossor has been doing work of great value in domes-
trator that his work will be known in the future, tic decoration—work that deserves to be highly
His resourcefulness in treating a wide variety of sub- praised for its expression of a personal conviction
jects is extraordinary. Some of his best work, such and its absence of conventionality. One of the
as Pollice Verso in the Melbourne Gallery, is in greater merits of his effort is its freedom from the
pen and ink, but he also does illustrations in mono- domination of traditional style ; he does not limit
chrome wash, and water-colour. He has illustrated the scope of his practice by accepting or adopting
an edition de luxe of the poems of Hugh McCrae, any of the recognised mannerisms in design, he aims
one of the most promising of younger writers in the rather at the creation of a decorative system which
Commonwealth, and he completed a set of a will allow him full scope for the explanation of his
hundred drawings for a new edition of the temperamental inclinations and for the display of
" Satyricon of Petronius" issued by the Ralph his artistic feeling. In all the rooms he has
Strauss Press. A set of drawings which may cause designed his main purpose has been the working
a stir in the art world is about to be used for out of schemes of colour in which the complete
an edition de luxe of the " Memoirs of Casanova." effect has been arrived at by the careful adjust-
The artist is now engaged on a series of illustrations ment of tint to tint and tone to tone and by
for one of Shakespeare's comedies and Gay's making every detail play its right part in the
Beggar's Opera. While objection has been made development of the central intention. The "Opal
to the audacity of some of Lindsay's illustrations, Room," which is illustrated here, shows charac-
which are sometimes treated with Rabelaisian teristically what are his principles and his methods,
freedom, there is no denying the freshness of his how he calculates his colour proportions and how
conceptions and the skill with which he gives a he applies his colour accents so as to explain the
touch of life to the most trivial incident. The fact motive he has chosen, and how he keeps his whole
that most of Lindsay's best work is confined to scheme in exact relation without ever allowing it to
210