DOI Heft:
No. 324 (March 1920)
DOI Artikel:Green, A. Romney: John Houghton Bonnor: An appreciation
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21360#0022
JOHN HOUGHTON BONNOR: AN APPRECIATION
CARVED AND GILT OAK ALTAR
RAIL FOR LINCOLN CHURCH,
CEYLON. BY J. H. BONNOR
nature which is so clearly expressed in all
his handiwork. a a a a
Besides his extreme unworldliness and
his great versatility, I am inclined to
attribute the slow growth of his reputation
to his remarkable sanity as a craftsman. I
am quite unqualified myself to write
about the examples of his work here illus-
trated in the language of the professional
art critic; but I can well imagine that
some art critics, after a very casual inspec-
tion of his work or of these illustrations,
would turn away with the remark that this
sort of thing may be very nice but that
it has so very often been done before.
They will say, perhaps, that it is “ reminis-
cent ” rather than “ original ” or “ distinc-
tive/' but let us consider this objection. 0
If there is any absolute standard of
excellence in a particular art, that standard
will presumably have been approached by
every great master of that art, each from
his particular angle. His angle, his start-
ing-point, what ** originality ” he has,
will be more apparent in his earlier ex-
perimental work than in his mature
achievements ; unless, like so many great
artists, he has relied from the outset less
on his own originality than on the strength
of a really living tradition. In the more
communal and so often anonymous arts
of the past much of the finest work was
certainly produced in the strength of such
a tradition by men who either had no
very striking originality or did not think
it worth while to express it. And not only
' /. ( '[' r ,j
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MURAL TABLET IN MARBLE, WITH
ENAMEL INLAY, FOR CHURCH,
WARWICK. BY J. H. BONNOR
CARVED AND GILT OAK ALTAR
RAIL FOR LINCOLN CHURCH,
CEYLON. BY J. H. BONNOR
nature which is so clearly expressed in all
his handiwork. a a a a
Besides his extreme unworldliness and
his great versatility, I am inclined to
attribute the slow growth of his reputation
to his remarkable sanity as a craftsman. I
am quite unqualified myself to write
about the examples of his work here illus-
trated in the language of the professional
art critic; but I can well imagine that
some art critics, after a very casual inspec-
tion of his work or of these illustrations,
would turn away with the remark that this
sort of thing may be very nice but that
it has so very often been done before.
They will say, perhaps, that it is “ reminis-
cent ” rather than “ original ” or “ distinc-
tive/' but let us consider this objection. 0
If there is any absolute standard of
excellence in a particular art, that standard
will presumably have been approached by
every great master of that art, each from
his particular angle. His angle, his start-
ing-point, what ** originality ” he has,
will be more apparent in his earlier ex-
perimental work than in his mature
achievements ; unless, like so many great
artists, he has relied from the outset less
on his own originality than on the strength
of a really living tradition. In the more
communal and so often anonymous arts
of the past much of the finest work was
certainly produced in the strength of such
a tradition by men who either had no
very striking originality or did not think
it worth while to express it. And not only
' /. ( '[' r ,j
1-KNIGHT
IEUTEN/ NTCOEOf fEL
)PTH-[7-:NC7 51 -fiP E P
h- SON'^'Err///.PD-LE
f'TO Dfi:Ddi ' FPAi :r\i-
|P ECE r/ED; PS: THE
f/,/T<N£fl:SEPTJ-;/
^'Tnp.p rr/f
TOY/1
OENT
16
MURAL TABLET IN MARBLE, WITH
ENAMEL INLAY, FOR CHURCH,
WARWICK. BY J. H. BONNOR