DOI issue:
No. 281 (August 1916)
DOI article:West, W. K.: Some pastels by Mr. George Sheringham
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21262#0162
Some Pastels by George Sheringham
coherence of effect and such a judicious balance
of rightly related qualities, is a very com-
plete master over all the practical details of his
craft.
However, it is his steady progress in the
acquisition of this mastery that must be counted
as one of the most definitely encouraging charac-
teristics of Mr. Sheringham's career. From the
moment of his first appearance he was generally
recognised as an artist of real individuality and
unusual qualifications and as a man who, given the
right opportunities, was certain to go far. But in
his early promise there was, naturally, the element
of uncertainty whether he would be able to main-
tain in his subsequent activities the high standard
of originality he had set up—as, indeed, there
always must be in the case of a youthful genius
who has come before the world with a new message
to deliver. There was the danger that he might,
with what is after all only human fallibility, be
satisfied with his initial measure of success, that
he might become content to repeat himself,
and that he might, having gone so far, lose his
ambition to discover new directions in which his
art would expand and fresh ways of expressing
himself.
But to his infinite credit it must be said that
he has not for a moment relaxed his efforts to
make his work in all its many phases more con-
vincingly significant and more comprehensive in its
grasp of the most effective principles of decora-
tion. Nor has there been throughout the whole
series of his productions any sign of waning in
the abundant fertility of his imagination—all the
demands he has made upon it have been amply
met, though assuredly they have been as numerous
as they have been exacting. He is always seeking
new fields of design to explore, always setting
himself fresh problems in decoration, and always
adding to his experience in the use of his materials ;
year by year his art widens its range and becomes
more sure in accomplishment. And year by year,
too, his persistent study amplifies his knowledge
and enlarges his outlook; and it is in this persis-
tency in the pursuit of the unknown that lies the
secret of his progress. W. K. West.
9 ^
^^^■■■■■■■■■nffiHHIHHIl
"SAND" BY GEORGE SHERINGHAM
142
coherence of effect and such a judicious balance
of rightly related qualities, is a very com-
plete master over all the practical details of his
craft.
However, it is his steady progress in the
acquisition of this mastery that must be counted
as one of the most definitely encouraging charac-
teristics of Mr. Sheringham's career. From the
moment of his first appearance he was generally
recognised as an artist of real individuality and
unusual qualifications and as a man who, given the
right opportunities, was certain to go far. But in
his early promise there was, naturally, the element
of uncertainty whether he would be able to main-
tain in his subsequent activities the high standard
of originality he had set up—as, indeed, there
always must be in the case of a youthful genius
who has come before the world with a new message
to deliver. There was the danger that he might,
with what is after all only human fallibility, be
satisfied with his initial measure of success, that
he might become content to repeat himself,
and that he might, having gone so far, lose his
ambition to discover new directions in which his
art would expand and fresh ways of expressing
himself.
But to his infinite credit it must be said that
he has not for a moment relaxed his efforts to
make his work in all its many phases more con-
vincingly significant and more comprehensive in its
grasp of the most effective principles of decora-
tion. Nor has there been throughout the whole
series of his productions any sign of waning in
the abundant fertility of his imagination—all the
demands he has made upon it have been amply
met, though assuredly they have been as numerous
as they have been exacting. He is always seeking
new fields of design to explore, always setting
himself fresh problems in decoration, and always
adding to his experience in the use of his materials ;
year by year his art widens its range and becomes
more sure in accomplishment. And year by year,
too, his persistent study amplifies his knowledge
and enlarges his outlook; and it is in this persis-
tency in the pursuit of the unknown that lies the
secret of his progress. W. K. West.
9 ^
^^^■■■■■■■■■nffiHHIHHIl
"SAND" BY GEORGE SHERINGHAM
142