Studio: international art (82.1921)

THE ETCHINGS OF F. L. GRIGGS.
BY ALEXANDER J. FINBERG. a

WHEN I think of the kind of artist
who is hailed by the crowd as a
heaven-sent genius and superman, I feel
inclined to congratulate Mr. F. L. Griggs
on not having achieved a reputation of this
sort. But though he has not gained an
unenviable notoriety, he enjoys a reputa-
tion as an etcher of which he' may deser-
vedly be proud. He has only produced a
small number of plates; he has never
been puffed by the Press, nor have the
dealers conspired to force up the prices
of his works in the auction mart; yet his
work is known and warmly admired by all
artists and collectors who take an intelli-
gent interest in the art of engraving. If
his name is still unknown to the general

public, he has a circle of sincere and dis-
criminating admirers, composed of those
who know good work when they see it,
and who love his work for the good they
themselves have found in it. 0 a
The chief enemies Mr. Griggs and all
sincere artists of the present day have to
contend with are, I think, those critics who
assert that no artist can express deep
emotion without all kinds of exaggeration,
emphasis, and distortion. These writers
seem honestly to believe that an artist can
have no feeling unless he tears a passion
to tatters, " o'erdoes Termagant and out-
herods Herod." For my part, I think
they are greatly mistaken. It is only the
man who has never felt deeply who thinks
that exaggeration and distortion are the
necessary signs of deep feeling. All the
great artists and poets not only feel every-

12

" MORTMAIN." BY
F. L. GRIGGS, R.E.