Studio: international art (84.1922)

TURNER'S ETCHINGS

" WATER-MILL." ETCHING
BY J. M. W. TURNER, R.A.

self-conscious. It does not draw attention
to itself. It points beyond itself and is
charged with the maximum of meaning.
I confess that as I follow Turner's slow
unerring line, its " deliberate speed,
majestic instancy " fill me almost with awe.
Its " unhurrying chase, And unperturbed
pace " seem to make its powers of evoca-
tion only more wonderful. Nothing is
left to chance, nothing is scamped, and
nothing is overstated. The distant view
of the river and city in London from
Greenwich is merely one amazing instance
of the wealth of meaning that can be packed
into a few simple lines. In this plate as in
so many others the manual dexterity is
negligible. The effect seems to be pro-
duced by the power and weight of the
artist's mind and character. 0 0
The plates here reproduced, and others
like Norham Castle, Inverary Pier, Peat
Bog and Flint Castle, make all modern
etchings except the finest look amateurish,
pretentious, and feebly garrulous. To

find parallels to Turner's severe economy
of line we must look backwards to the un-
enlightened past: to Holbein's and Durer's
designs for woodcuts, to Mantegna's line
engravings, to Rembrandt's later scrip-
tural and landscape etchings. a a
Works of this kind appeal strongly only
to a few in each generation, for the many
want more of the small-talk of the etching-
needle, more fuss and flummery than
Turner has cared to give them. Perhaps
this is as it should be ; for the number
of impressions that were taken of these
etchings is small. They were never
published. Those which are now in
circulation are those which Turner had
printed apparently for his own enjoyment.
Exactly how many impressions there are
in existence I think it will be wiser for me
not to say. There are collectors who
value rarity more than quality; and I
want particularly to add some of these
etchings to my own collection before the
wealthy collectors annex them all.

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