DOI issue:
No. 307 (October 1918)
DOI article:Finberg, Alexander Joseph: The recent work of Mr. H. Hughes-Stanton, A.R.A.
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24600#0015
The Recent IVprk of Mr. H. Hughes-Stanton, A.R.A.
are struggling for mastery, than at any pre-
vious time in the history of painting.
The chief characteristic of his work is its
eminent sanity and nice balance of qualities.
His style is broad without being empty or loose,
his colour is rich and harmonious without being
forced or untrue to Nature. The spacing and
general arrangement of his pictures are carefully
thought out, yet the science is seldom apparent,
and never obtrusive. In pictures like Poole
Harbour (in the Tuxembourg), Welsh Hills near
Barmouth (in this year's Royal Academy), and
the great snow scene in last year's Academy, he
indulges his love of massive and stately design,
while preserving all the accidental charm and
truthful look of a sketch done direct from Nature.
This happy combination in Hughes-Stanton's
work of science and natural ease, of learning and
instinct, labour and spontaneity, is too perfect
to be the result of anything but a purely per-
sonal gift. The artist must be doing something
which is absolutely true to his own nature and
inclinations. He must be expressing himself
freely and frankly, for if he were not there would
inevitably be more signs of effort, and the
presence of jarring notes would destroy the
harmony between desire and achievement.
This absence of jarring and conflicting elements
in his work no doubt accounts for that air of
serenity which forms one of the most potent
charms of all he does. And those who are
privileged to know the artist in private life
cannot help realizing how complete and sincere
his work is as an expression of his own nature.
His friends know him as a collector of pictures
and fine books, as one who takes a keen interest
in naval history and in everything that has to do
with the history of his beloved art, especially in
England. Those who know him as a lover of
knowledge and all forms of beauty, and who
admire his cultivated and well-balanced mind,
may perhaps be pardoned for thinking that the
man is even greater than his work.
As a young man his friends and acquaintances
seem to have realized that he was a born painter,
and their confidence in his powers induced them
" WINTER SUNRISE '
BY H. HUGHES-STANTON, A.R.A.
(In the possession of A. Percy Eccles, Esq.)
9
are struggling for mastery, than at any pre-
vious time in the history of painting.
The chief characteristic of his work is its
eminent sanity and nice balance of qualities.
His style is broad without being empty or loose,
his colour is rich and harmonious without being
forced or untrue to Nature. The spacing and
general arrangement of his pictures are carefully
thought out, yet the science is seldom apparent,
and never obtrusive. In pictures like Poole
Harbour (in the Tuxembourg), Welsh Hills near
Barmouth (in this year's Royal Academy), and
the great snow scene in last year's Academy, he
indulges his love of massive and stately design,
while preserving all the accidental charm and
truthful look of a sketch done direct from Nature.
This happy combination in Hughes-Stanton's
work of science and natural ease, of learning and
instinct, labour and spontaneity, is too perfect
to be the result of anything but a purely per-
sonal gift. The artist must be doing something
which is absolutely true to his own nature and
inclinations. He must be expressing himself
freely and frankly, for if he were not there would
inevitably be more signs of effort, and the
presence of jarring notes would destroy the
harmony between desire and achievement.
This absence of jarring and conflicting elements
in his work no doubt accounts for that air of
serenity which forms one of the most potent
charms of all he does. And those who are
privileged to know the artist in private life
cannot help realizing how complete and sincere
his work is as an expression of his own nature.
His friends know him as a collector of pictures
and fine books, as one who takes a keen interest
in naval history and in everything that has to do
with the history of his beloved art, especially in
England. Those who know him as a lover of
knowledge and all forms of beauty, and who
admire his cultivated and well-balanced mind,
may perhaps be pardoned for thinking that the
man is even greater than his work.
As a young man his friends and acquaintances
seem to have realized that he was a born painter,
and their confidence in his powers induced them
" WINTER SUNRISE '
BY H. HUGHES-STANTON, A.R.A.
(In the possession of A. Percy Eccles, Esq.)
9