DOI Heft:
No. 340 (July 1921)
DOI Artikel:Finberg, Alexander Joseph: The etchings of F. L. Griggs
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21393#0033
THE ETCHINGS OF F. L. GRIGGS
" THE QUAY." BY
F. L. GRIGGS, R.E.
which the artist delights himself by looking
back at a past now gone beyond all hope
of recovery. 00000
The elements of expression in his work
then are buildings and places. Nature
and man's work are to him what the human
figure has been to most artists. This
choice gives his work a different orientation
from that of nearly all the popular art of to-
day and of the past. It quietly ignores
our politics, our insane worship of money,
our debased ideals of art and literature, as
we know in our heart of hearts they deserve
to be ignored. And in this turning away
from finite things, this opening of the heart
to the infinite, these beautiful visions are
entirely in harmony with the best thoughts
of our wisest men. To us to-day man is
no longer the centre of the universe, the
hero of existence, as he was in the glow
and pride of the Renaissance. Man we
now know is complete only in the universe
of thought, feeling and circumstance ; in
the society of his fellow workers and
sufferers, and as a moment in that Nature
which surrounds him. 000
To have expressed so much in his
etchings proves that Mr. Griggs is no
inconsiderable artist. " But is he a great
etcher {" I may be asked. Such a
question seems to me as foolish as most
of the questions put by current art-
criticism. Etching is only one of the many
forms of artistic expression; it is not
merely a handicraft with its own little
tricks and trade secrets. That Mr. Griggs
is a born etcher is proved by the quality
of his line, by his evident pride and joy
in the material he works in. What he has
to say could be said in no other way than
" THE QUAY." BY
F. L. GRIGGS, R.E.
which the artist delights himself by looking
back at a past now gone beyond all hope
of recovery. 00000
The elements of expression in his work
then are buildings and places. Nature
and man's work are to him what the human
figure has been to most artists. This
choice gives his work a different orientation
from that of nearly all the popular art of to-
day and of the past. It quietly ignores
our politics, our insane worship of money,
our debased ideals of art and literature, as
we know in our heart of hearts they deserve
to be ignored. And in this turning away
from finite things, this opening of the heart
to the infinite, these beautiful visions are
entirely in harmony with the best thoughts
of our wisest men. To us to-day man is
no longer the centre of the universe, the
hero of existence, as he was in the glow
and pride of the Renaissance. Man we
now know is complete only in the universe
of thought, feeling and circumstance ; in
the society of his fellow workers and
sufferers, and as a moment in that Nature
which surrounds him. 000
To have expressed so much in his
etchings proves that Mr. Griggs is no
inconsiderable artist. " But is he a great
etcher {" I may be asked. Such a
question seems to me as foolish as most
of the questions put by current art-
criticism. Etching is only one of the many
forms of artistic expression; it is not
merely a handicraft with its own little
tricks and trade secrets. That Mr. Griggs
is a born etcher is proved by the quality
of his line, by his evident pride and joy
in the material he works in. What he has
to say could be said in no other way than