DOI issue:
No. 351 (June 1922)
DOI article:French, Cecil: The later work of F. Cayley Robinson, A.R.A., R.W.S.
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21395#0314
LATER WORK OF F. CAYLEY ROBINSON, A.R.A.
“ THE WINTER EVENING.” OIL PAINT-
ING BY F. CAYLEY ROBINSON, A.R.A.
(In the possession of E. Drage, Esq.)
colours for the Book of Genesis, published
as colour reproductions by the Medici
Society. He was elected a member of the
New English Art Club, but, having contri-
buted to two of the exhibitions, he, wisely
as I think, tendered his resignation. Since
then, the “ Old ” Water Colour Society
has provided a sympathetic, and permanent,
setting to his efforts in that medium, while
his recent election to the Royal Academy
was one of the signs of the wider policy now
prevalent at Burlington House. a a
So much for the bare bones of Mr.
Cayley Robinson's professional career.
What of the informing spirit i The gain
in technical assurance, in breadth of
outlook, in controlled design, has been
very great; on the other hand, something
has inevitably gone. There are times
when, remembering the passionate
sincerity of the slowly produced, earlier
works, I have become suspicious of the
latter-day's accomplishment. Also—let it
be frankly admitted—obscurity has its
advantages, success its penalties. Exhibiting
bodies wish that their members should be
in evidence. In place of the all-absorbing
idea clamouring for embodiment through
the labour of many months, the successful
artist is faced with the question :—“ What
will do for such-and-such a society i ”
Sometimes the choice may go to a dis-
carded painting re-handled; almost
inevitably it must mean lesser intensity.
Among the later productions of Mr. Cayley
Robinson, I would not hesitate to assert
that something approaching the pot-boiler
—the skilful but uninspired exercise—
could not be found by the discerning. But
no artist, since the beginnings of art, has
been able to be always at his best, and the
best of the artist under consideration—
297
“ THE WINTER EVENING.” OIL PAINT-
ING BY F. CAYLEY ROBINSON, A.R.A.
(In the possession of E. Drage, Esq.)
colours for the Book of Genesis, published
as colour reproductions by the Medici
Society. He was elected a member of the
New English Art Club, but, having contri-
buted to two of the exhibitions, he, wisely
as I think, tendered his resignation. Since
then, the “ Old ” Water Colour Society
has provided a sympathetic, and permanent,
setting to his efforts in that medium, while
his recent election to the Royal Academy
was one of the signs of the wider policy now
prevalent at Burlington House. a a
So much for the bare bones of Mr.
Cayley Robinson's professional career.
What of the informing spirit i The gain
in technical assurance, in breadth of
outlook, in controlled design, has been
very great; on the other hand, something
has inevitably gone. There are times
when, remembering the passionate
sincerity of the slowly produced, earlier
works, I have become suspicious of the
latter-day's accomplishment. Also—let it
be frankly admitted—obscurity has its
advantages, success its penalties. Exhibiting
bodies wish that their members should be
in evidence. In place of the all-absorbing
idea clamouring for embodiment through
the labour of many months, the successful
artist is faced with the question :—“ What
will do for such-and-such a society i ”
Sometimes the choice may go to a dis-
carded painting re-handled; almost
inevitably it must mean lesser intensity.
Among the later productions of Mr. Cayley
Robinson, I would not hesitate to assert
that something approaching the pot-boiler
—the skilful but uninspired exercise—
could not be found by the discerning. But
no artist, since the beginnings of art, has
been able to be always at his best, and the
best of the artist under consideration—
297