DOI Heft:
No. 367 (October 1923)
DOI Artikel:Rogers, Grace Evelyn: The work of Mr. C. P. Helck
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21398#0211
THE WORK OF MR. C. P. HELCK.
BY GRACE E. ROGERS. a 0
MR. HELCK, a young American
artist, came over to England from
New York for the first time some four
years ago, when he made the acquaintance
of Mr. Frank Brangwyn, R.A., from
whom, as his work betrays, he derived
much artistic stimulus.
An indefatigable traveller, as well as an
untiring worker and student of Nature,
Mr. Helck possesses, however, the saving
insistent instinct of painting only what
inspires him directly as an artist, regardless
of the demands of picture-dealer and
public taste alike; and of deriving his
inspiration straight from life and selecting
the essentials which are the outcome of
individual vision and temperament. He
will thus, no doubt, steer clear of the
danger into which many enthusiasts are
led, sometimes unsuspectingly, of sub-
merging their own identity and subse-
quently paying the penalty of imitation
by failing ever to realise or express them-
selves. 0 a 0 a 0
For surely the artist’s value lies pre-
cisely in his particular speech. In these
days especially, when art has evolved
from pure symbolic intention or tran-
scended those limitations enforced by
traditional codes or formulae, which laid
stress upon the universal rather than the
individual utterance, it is incumbent upon
the individual that his speech be true to
himself, that, in looking at life, he per-
“PORT OF BARCELONA”
BY C. P. HELCK
“ THE AQUEDUCT, MERIDA "
BY C. P. HELCK
ceives what he himself can call his own,
the interpreting of which constitutes not
only the very essence of, but the reason
for, his art. 0 0 ' 0 0 0
And artists, ever like children, perhaps,
pass their days with miracles taking place
around them ; or again, as miracle-workers
transvaluing values, discovering those in-
tangible essences from which they weave
their magic spells with subtle alchemy,
producing magical effects from scenes and
occurrences viewed with eyes endowed
with super-sensual sight; things felt,
seen, heard and created and expressed
anew as indeed each individual only can
himself express. 0000
They are ever fulfilling their mission as
artists, even if it sometimes be in what the
prosaic mind might call the pursuit of
illusion or the winging of some flight of
fancy. Yet of reality what can we term
most real i Says Euripides : “ Are we not
disquieted in vain by cheating dreams i ”
From his tour in North Spain, Mr.
Helck has returned with few sketches of
dancing maidens, orange groves and bac-
chanalian revels, scenes which, making
appeal to the average taste, many artists
paint regardless of the true austere reserve
peculiar to the Northern Spanish spirit,
which Mr. Helck has captured faithfully.
In his prodigious number of studies he
has unerringly portrayed the land of
lowering skies, of bare expanses of red and
barren earth, and a peasantry with small
sympathy for weakness — taciturn, frugal
and severe. The few examples reproduced
convey Mr. Helck’s predilection for broad,
191
BY GRACE E. ROGERS. a 0
MR. HELCK, a young American
artist, came over to England from
New York for the first time some four
years ago, when he made the acquaintance
of Mr. Frank Brangwyn, R.A., from
whom, as his work betrays, he derived
much artistic stimulus.
An indefatigable traveller, as well as an
untiring worker and student of Nature,
Mr. Helck possesses, however, the saving
insistent instinct of painting only what
inspires him directly as an artist, regardless
of the demands of picture-dealer and
public taste alike; and of deriving his
inspiration straight from life and selecting
the essentials which are the outcome of
individual vision and temperament. He
will thus, no doubt, steer clear of the
danger into which many enthusiasts are
led, sometimes unsuspectingly, of sub-
merging their own identity and subse-
quently paying the penalty of imitation
by failing ever to realise or express them-
selves. 0 a 0 a 0
For surely the artist’s value lies pre-
cisely in his particular speech. In these
days especially, when art has evolved
from pure symbolic intention or tran-
scended those limitations enforced by
traditional codes or formulae, which laid
stress upon the universal rather than the
individual utterance, it is incumbent upon
the individual that his speech be true to
himself, that, in looking at life, he per-
“PORT OF BARCELONA”
BY C. P. HELCK
“ THE AQUEDUCT, MERIDA "
BY C. P. HELCK
ceives what he himself can call his own,
the interpreting of which constitutes not
only the very essence of, but the reason
for, his art. 0 0 ' 0 0 0
And artists, ever like children, perhaps,
pass their days with miracles taking place
around them ; or again, as miracle-workers
transvaluing values, discovering those in-
tangible essences from which they weave
their magic spells with subtle alchemy,
producing magical effects from scenes and
occurrences viewed with eyes endowed
with super-sensual sight; things felt,
seen, heard and created and expressed
anew as indeed each individual only can
himself express. 0000
They are ever fulfilling their mission as
artists, even if it sometimes be in what the
prosaic mind might call the pursuit of
illusion or the winging of some flight of
fancy. Yet of reality what can we term
most real i Says Euripides : “ Are we not
disquieted in vain by cheating dreams i ”
From his tour in North Spain, Mr.
Helck has returned with few sketches of
dancing maidens, orange groves and bac-
chanalian revels, scenes which, making
appeal to the average taste, many artists
paint regardless of the true austere reserve
peculiar to the Northern Spanish spirit,
which Mr. Helck has captured faithfully.
In his prodigious number of studies he
has unerringly portrayed the land of
lowering skies, of bare expanses of red and
barren earth, and a peasantry with small
sympathy for weakness — taciturn, frugal
and severe. The few examples reproduced
convey Mr. Helck’s predilection for broad,
191