Studio: international art (86.1923)

MR. RUTHERSTON'S PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

Then, too, he has painted many silk
panels, such as the Women on the Sea-
shore—belonging to Major M. H. Salaman
—for the decoration of private houses. It
is in such paintings as these, it seems to
me, that Mr. Rutherston best combines his
qualities as a draughtsman, a colorist and,
above all, as a designer. In this category,
too, should be placed his fan designs, for he
is splendidly equipped for this art: his
humour and inventiveness weave patterns
of classical rhythm delightfully suited to
their purpose, and unique in the history
of the fan. a 0 0 0 0

Illustrations in a book are, I think, more
often a curse than a blessing; still, there
are certain artists who have a sense of the
fitness of things, respect the printed page,
andlove books and all that goes to the making
of a book. They are rare. Too often the
work of illustration is entrusted to the

young artist who is just emerging from the
student stage: some priceless classic is
handed to him for his first " job,” and
later we find our old friends, those
characters we have known and loved for
years, decked out in absurd motley,
posturing and undignified, and we say :
Give us plain books ; and, if they must be
republished in attractive forms, let the
attractions be on the cover, the end-
papers — anywhere, in short, but in the
book, 000000
But, as I have already said, there are
a few, just a few, artists who can be
trusted to make the coloured and illus-
trated book more valuable to the world
than the plain book. And Mr. Rutherston
is one of these few. He has done quite
recently a number of small books and is
now engaged on one or two more im-
portant sets of illustrations, and I am

"THE EAST CLIFF, BEER.” PEN
AND WATER-COLOUR DRAW-
ING BY ALBERT RUTHERSTON
(In the possession of St. John
Ervine, Esq.)

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