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#0016
The Recent IVork of Mr. H. Hughes-Stanton, A.R.A.
"WELSH HILLS NEAR BARMOUTH " • BY H. HUGHES-STANTON, A.R.A.
to smooth his path and help him over the
difficulties of his early career. I remember
talking to him once about those years which
nearly all young artists have to go through
when they get their pictures rejected year after
year by the jury of the Royal Academy. Even
Hughes-Stanton had been through this bitter
experience, I found to my surprise, so I asked
him how he had managed to preserve his faith
in himself and keep his courage up through it all.
He replied that there had always been some
kind friend to pat him on the back and say,
" Never mind, my boy, the time will come-"
And once, as he told me, an old gentleman who
met him looking rather depressed after one of
these annual rebuffs, actually offered to give him
fifty pounds for the rejected picture without
even wanting to see it. I wish I could give the
name of this kindly and discerning patron.
It is evident, I think, that Hughes-Stanton's
work is an expression of his own personality.
Working thus from within, i.e. expressing only
10
those thoughts and feelings which pressed for
utterance, he has been saved from much of that
restless experimentation in divergent directions
in which so many artists of the day have wasted
their time and their powers. I happen to have
been reading the other day of the answer which
Turner once made to the question as to what
was the chief difficulty in an artist's career.
Turner's reply was, " My first difficulty was to
know what I wanted." Well, it seems to me that
Mr. Hughes-Stanton has always known what he
wanted. He has never tried to express anything
but his own thoughts and feelings. He has
been true to himself since first he began to paint
with the brushes and materials borrowed sur-
reptitiously from his father's studio. Time has
only freed him from that diffidence and shy self-
consciousness which accompany all first appear-
ances in public, and his steady years of labour
have brought ease and mastery to the beautiful
work which now seems to come so simply and
naturally from his accomplished hand.
"WELSH HILLS NEAR BARMOUTH " • BY H. HUGHES-STANTON, A.R.A.
to smooth his path and help him over the
difficulties of his early career. I remember
talking to him once about those years which
nearly all young artists have to go through
when they get their pictures rejected year after
year by the jury of the Royal Academy. Even
Hughes-Stanton had been through this bitter
experience, I found to my surprise, so I asked
him how he had managed to preserve his faith
in himself and keep his courage up through it all.
He replied that there had always been some
kind friend to pat him on the back and say,
" Never mind, my boy, the time will come-"
And once, as he told me, an old gentleman who
met him looking rather depressed after one of
these annual rebuffs, actually offered to give him
fifty pounds for the rejected picture without
even wanting to see it. I wish I could give the
name of this kindly and discerning patron.
It is evident, I think, that Hughes-Stanton's
work is an expression of his own personality.
Working thus from within, i.e. expressing only
10
those thoughts and feelings which pressed for
utterance, he has been saved from much of that
restless experimentation in divergent directions
in which so many artists of the day have wasted
their time and their powers. I happen to have
been reading the other day of the answer which
Turner once made to the question as to what
was the chief difficulty in an artist's career.
Turner's reply was, " My first difficulty was to
know what I wanted." Well, it seems to me that
Mr. Hughes-Stanton has always known what he
wanted. He has never tried to express anything
but his own thoughts and feelings. He has
been true to himself since first he began to paint
with the brushes and materials borrowed sur-
reptitiously from his father's studio. Time has
only freed him from that diffidence and shy self-
consciousness which accompany all first appear-
ances in public, and his steady years of labour
have brought ease and mastery to the beautiful
work which now seems to come so simply and
naturally from his accomplished hand.