DOI article:
Finberg, Alexander Joseph: The wood-cuts of T. Sturge Moore
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21214#0040
The Wood-Cuts of T. St urge Moore
and publishers of those days, so Ricketts, ably
supported by his friend and fellow-student, Charles
Hazlewood Shannon, decided to become his own
editor and publisher. In the summer of 1889
these two bold adventurers launched the first
number of “ The Dial,” to the horror and amaze-
ment of “The Saturday Review” and “ Magazine
of Art,” and
soon after-
wards issued
an edition of
“ Daphnis and
Chloe,” illus-
trated with
thirty-six
woodcuts and
decorated with
numerous in-
itial letters de-
signed and
engraved by
themselves —
the first of
what they
called the Vale
Publications.
I hope on
another occa-
sion to be able
to write more
in detail of the
wood-cuts of
these two great
and original
artists, but no
article on
Sturge Moore’s
engravings
would be complete without some acknowledg-
ment of the stimulus and guidance his work
had received from their bold initiative. It is a
great pleasure to me to be able to add, for the
credit of artists in general, who are not usually
supposed to abound in humility or gratitude, that
Moore himself is always the first to acknowledge
with the utmost generosity and unselfishness how
much he owes to the encouragement, teaching,
and criticism of Ricketts and Shannon.
An announcement made in 1893 shows that it
was proposed that Moore should make his first
bow to the public in the double guise of poet and
artist. A volume of “ First Poems and Woodcuts ”
was announced for publication early in March
1894, but it was never issued. It was decided to
34
keep the two arts separate. A portfolio entitled
“ Metamorphoses of Pan and other Woodcuts,,r
containing ten original engravings, was published
in June 1895. The edition was limited to twelve
portfolios, but even this small edition was too large-
for the immediate public demand, for I believe-
only two copies were sold in the first ten years of
its publication.
The apathy of
the public to-
wards this first
harvest of
Moore’s gifted
and original
work is amaz-
ing, and I
should have
treated it as
incredible if I
had not myself
witnessed it.
But the public
is so much at
the beck and
call of inter-
ested middle-
men, that an
artist who does
not go out of
his way to ad-
vertise and
puff his wares,
who is con-
tent, as Sturge
Moore is, to
launch his
work silently
on the stream
of time, can even nowadays almost completely
avoid the notice of the public.
But in spite of the coldness with which Moore’s
portfolio of woodcuts was received on its first
appearance, I believe that in time it will take its
place among the finest products of graphic art in
this country. The designs have something of the
imaginative fervour and sweep of Blake’s best
work, but they have a grace, tenderness, and
delicate sense of humour of which we find no trace
in Blake’s artistic work. As an artist Blake dwelt
ever in an invisible world of his own, peopled
mainly with memories of bad line engravings of
the works of Michael Angelo. His art very seldom
came in contact with the visible world, with the
men and women and natural objects which we
“THE CENTAUR’S FIRST LOVE ” (AN UNPUBLISHED WOOD-CUT). DESIGNED
AND ENGRAVED BY T. STURGE MOORE
and publishers of those days, so Ricketts, ably
supported by his friend and fellow-student, Charles
Hazlewood Shannon, decided to become his own
editor and publisher. In the summer of 1889
these two bold adventurers launched the first
number of “ The Dial,” to the horror and amaze-
ment of “The Saturday Review” and “ Magazine
of Art,” and
soon after-
wards issued
an edition of
“ Daphnis and
Chloe,” illus-
trated with
thirty-six
woodcuts and
decorated with
numerous in-
itial letters de-
signed and
engraved by
themselves —
the first of
what they
called the Vale
Publications.
I hope on
another occa-
sion to be able
to write more
in detail of the
wood-cuts of
these two great
and original
artists, but no
article on
Sturge Moore’s
engravings
would be complete without some acknowledg-
ment of the stimulus and guidance his work
had received from their bold initiative. It is a
great pleasure to me to be able to add, for the
credit of artists in general, who are not usually
supposed to abound in humility or gratitude, that
Moore himself is always the first to acknowledge
with the utmost generosity and unselfishness how
much he owes to the encouragement, teaching,
and criticism of Ricketts and Shannon.
An announcement made in 1893 shows that it
was proposed that Moore should make his first
bow to the public in the double guise of poet and
artist. A volume of “ First Poems and Woodcuts ”
was announced for publication early in March
1894, but it was never issued. It was decided to
34
keep the two arts separate. A portfolio entitled
“ Metamorphoses of Pan and other Woodcuts,,r
containing ten original engravings, was published
in June 1895. The edition was limited to twelve
portfolios, but even this small edition was too large-
for the immediate public demand, for I believe-
only two copies were sold in the first ten years of
its publication.
The apathy of
the public to-
wards this first
harvest of
Moore’s gifted
and original
work is amaz-
ing, and I
should have
treated it as
incredible if I
had not myself
witnessed it.
But the public
is so much at
the beck and
call of inter-
ested middle-
men, that an
artist who does
not go out of
his way to ad-
vertise and
puff his wares,
who is con-
tent, as Sturge
Moore is, to
launch his
work silently
on the stream
of time, can even nowadays almost completely
avoid the notice of the public.
But in spite of the coldness with which Moore’s
portfolio of woodcuts was received on its first
appearance, I believe that in time it will take its
place among the finest products of graphic art in
this country. The designs have something of the
imaginative fervour and sweep of Blake’s best
work, but they have a grace, tenderness, and
delicate sense of humour of which we find no trace
in Blake’s artistic work. As an artist Blake dwelt
ever in an invisible world of his own, peopled
mainly with memories of bad line engravings of
the works of Michael Angelo. His art very seldom
came in contact with the visible world, with the
men and women and natural objects which we
“THE CENTAUR’S FIRST LOVE ” (AN UNPUBLISHED WOOD-CUT). DESIGNED
AND ENGRAVED BY T. STURGE MOORE