DOI issue:
No. 355 (October 1922)
DOI article:Baldry, Alfred Lys: The paintings of Mr. W. E. Webster, R.I., R.O.I
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21396#0214
THE PAINTINGS OF MR. W. E. WEBSTER
notoriety by departing sensationally from
what has hitherto been regarded as the
right direction in art. 000
Therefore, the artist who in the modern
surrounding of incoherent experiment re-
mains true to sane tradition has a very
strong claim to attention. He offers to
the public a type of work of which they,
at all events, are not tired, and he affords
to the people who think seriously about
aesthetic questions the opportunity to
compare the art which accepts the authority
of the past with that which is frankly
anarchical in its intention. 000
For the purposes of such a comparison
the paintings of Mr. W. E. Webster are
particularly valuable, as in them an
essentially modern touch of freshness
and unconventionality is combined with
a sincere observance of the principles
which were established by the masters in
the past. He does not overweight himself
with ponderous subjects; he chooses
motives which give him opportunities to
display an attractive daintiness of fancy and
a thorough command over technical re-
finements, and he is guided in all he does
by a firm belief that to strive for beauty is
an obligation which he cannot evade.
Certainly he has the power to make con-
vincing subjects apparently slight by giving
to them the charm that comes from culti-
194
' VANITY." OIL PAINTING BY
W. E. WEBSTER, P.I., R.O.I.
notoriety by departing sensationally from
what has hitherto been regarded as the
right direction in art. 000
Therefore, the artist who in the modern
surrounding of incoherent experiment re-
mains true to sane tradition has a very
strong claim to attention. He offers to
the public a type of work of which they,
at all events, are not tired, and he affords
to the people who think seriously about
aesthetic questions the opportunity to
compare the art which accepts the authority
of the past with that which is frankly
anarchical in its intention. 000
For the purposes of such a comparison
the paintings of Mr. W. E. Webster are
particularly valuable, as in them an
essentially modern touch of freshness
and unconventionality is combined with
a sincere observance of the principles
which were established by the masters in
the past. He does not overweight himself
with ponderous subjects; he chooses
motives which give him opportunities to
display an attractive daintiness of fancy and
a thorough command over technical re-
finements, and he is guided in all he does
by a firm belief that to strive for beauty is
an obligation which he cannot evade.
Certainly he has the power to make con-
vincing subjects apparently slight by giving
to them the charm that comes from culti-
194
' VANITY." OIL PAINTING BY
W. E. WEBSTER, P.I., R.O.I.