DOI Heft:
No. 283 (October 1916)
DOI Artikel:Stodart-Walker, Archibald: The art of Joseph Crawhall
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24575#0022
The Art of Joseph Craw hall
HE ART OF JOSEPH
CRAWHALL. ' BY A.
S T O D A R T WALKER.
On the death of Joseph Crawhall I was given the
opportunity, in the columns of a London daily, of
reflecting upon one of those curious anomalies that
find most marked expression in the estates of Art:
presenting the case of this distinguished craftsman
as probably the most outstanding example in
recent years. Literature, full of strange contradic-
tions in its personal elements, does not afford a
case so anomalous. I cannot recall any writer of
the first rank that had not a recognition among
those busy with the politics of letters. Even such
an exotic artist as Francis Thompson, with an
appeal to an audience that must have been very
limited, was on the lips of critic and public alike.
Joseph Crawhall, regarded by many of his brother
workers in Art as the most gifted exponent of his
craft, was hardly a name to many who sat in the
seats of authority, and to many of those who took
more than a summary interest in the Arts. To
his co-workers, to men like Sir James Guthrie,
Mr. Lavery, Mr. Walton and others, he was some-
thing of "a religion," if the expression may be
begged to serve fitly the mental and emotional
attitude.
Mr. Lavery wrote to me "I believe Crawhall
to have been the truest artist of the Glasgow men,
and, as far as I know, the best in England.
Certainly his influence was greater than Whistler's,
and he exemplified the latter's definition of finish
in a manner that the Master himself did not always
reach. I cannot remember the precise words used
by Whistler, but they were to the effect that a work
of art was complete when the means taken to
bring about the result had disappeared." Others
have paid their tribute in terms as enthusiastic and
backed by equal conviction, and I am sure that
Joseph Crawhall, troubling himself little as to the
destiny of the prizes offered by the self-constituted
authorities, and caring nothing for the rhetorical
appreciation of fools, would regard this apprecia-
tion of a fellow-worker, whose judgment he valued,
as fit enough reward for his sensitive and selective
efforts in the craft of fine art.
The work of Crawhall, however, is not difficult
to comprehend even by the crowd. For such
superb artistry it is indeed curious how easily
understood it is by the man who has only looked
upon Nature with his own naked vision and has
" white drake "
16
water-colour by joseph crawhall
HE ART OF JOSEPH
CRAWHALL. ' BY A.
S T O D A R T WALKER.
On the death of Joseph Crawhall I was given the
opportunity, in the columns of a London daily, of
reflecting upon one of those curious anomalies that
find most marked expression in the estates of Art:
presenting the case of this distinguished craftsman
as probably the most outstanding example in
recent years. Literature, full of strange contradic-
tions in its personal elements, does not afford a
case so anomalous. I cannot recall any writer of
the first rank that had not a recognition among
those busy with the politics of letters. Even such
an exotic artist as Francis Thompson, with an
appeal to an audience that must have been very
limited, was on the lips of critic and public alike.
Joseph Crawhall, regarded by many of his brother
workers in Art as the most gifted exponent of his
craft, was hardly a name to many who sat in the
seats of authority, and to many of those who took
more than a summary interest in the Arts. To
his co-workers, to men like Sir James Guthrie,
Mr. Lavery, Mr. Walton and others, he was some-
thing of "a religion," if the expression may be
begged to serve fitly the mental and emotional
attitude.
Mr. Lavery wrote to me "I believe Crawhall
to have been the truest artist of the Glasgow men,
and, as far as I know, the best in England.
Certainly his influence was greater than Whistler's,
and he exemplified the latter's definition of finish
in a manner that the Master himself did not always
reach. I cannot remember the precise words used
by Whistler, but they were to the effect that a work
of art was complete when the means taken to
bring about the result had disappeared." Others
have paid their tribute in terms as enthusiastic and
backed by equal conviction, and I am sure that
Joseph Crawhall, troubling himself little as to the
destiny of the prizes offered by the self-constituted
authorities, and caring nothing for the rhetorical
appreciation of fools, would regard this apprecia-
tion of a fellow-worker, whose judgment he valued,
as fit enough reward for his sensitive and selective
efforts in the craft of fine art.
The work of Crawhall, however, is not difficult
to comprehend even by the crowd. For such
superb artistry it is indeed curious how easily
understood it is by the man who has only looked
upon Nature with his own naked vision and has
" white drake "
16
water-colour by joseph crawhall