DOI Heft:
No. 387 (September 1924)
DOI Artikel:Redworth, William Josiah: The later work of Maurice Greiffenhagen, R.A.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21400#0144
LATER WORK OF MAURICE GREIFFENHAGEN, R.A.
it does so by design and not by mental
suggestion. a a a a a
Maurice Greiffenhagen's art has been
evolved logically, step by step to culminate
in this simple aesthetic creed. A most
sincere and devoted artist, he has sought
ever for the truest method of expressing
pure artistic ideals, and by a process of
refining away all extraneous qualities he
has grown — as it were — out of the
emotional and romantic atmosphere of his
earlier work into the loftier regions of pure
decoration. This is confessedly the result
of a great admiration for the simple un-
clouded beauty of the work of the Primi-
tives—those devoted craftsmen to whom
the very limitations of the then known
methods of painting were a blessing in
disguise. They entertained the angel un-
awares — simple colours placed sweetly
one against the other with an instinctive
sense of decorative value. It is because
the artist feels this to be the true language
of the painter that his latest work has the
exquisiteness of the old altar pieces and
wall-paintings. It is pure craftsmanship,
the outcome not of inspiration but of
knowledge, and a rebuke to the inspired
inginu whose turbulent ecstasies can dis-
pense with drawing. Inspiration is no
"MISS PEARL HOOD" BY
MAURICE GREIFFENHAGEN, R.A.
124
" THE MESSAGE." BY MAURICE
GREIFFENHAGEN, R.A.
doubt a fine thing, but knowledge is
surer, a a a a a a
To visit Mr. Greiffenhagen in the quiet
of his studio and hear him discourse of
these things, is to be acutely conscious of
his sincerity and unassuming modesty.
Having arrived at his conclusion he is
eloquent—" Art is beauty of design."
Moral reflections, intellectual profundities,
spiritual esctasy—these things are a part
of life, but the painter's business is to give
beauty to the eye. This has always been
his aim, and however much of romance
there may be in his subject the funda-
mental purpose is pattern. Even in the
restricted sphere of portraiture this is
evident. a a a a a
All true artists carry with them their
own atmosphere. Set them to paint any
subject and it will be bathed in this
atmosphere. We call it " style," and Mr.
Greiffenhagen's work is full of style.
Look at the magnificent Women by a Lake,
how big it is : the breadth of the modelling
and the fine disposition of the light and
shade. The slumbrous glow of the colour
—soVenetian and yet so full of the painter's
personal style. A fine static quality that
suggests sculpture, a technical steadiness
and weight the reverse of the loose flimsy
handling so often mistaken for skill. The
painting is fine rather than brilliant, and
it does so by design and not by mental
suggestion. a a a a a
Maurice Greiffenhagen's art has been
evolved logically, step by step to culminate
in this simple aesthetic creed. A most
sincere and devoted artist, he has sought
ever for the truest method of expressing
pure artistic ideals, and by a process of
refining away all extraneous qualities he
has grown — as it were — out of the
emotional and romantic atmosphere of his
earlier work into the loftier regions of pure
decoration. This is confessedly the result
of a great admiration for the simple un-
clouded beauty of the work of the Primi-
tives—those devoted craftsmen to whom
the very limitations of the then known
methods of painting were a blessing in
disguise. They entertained the angel un-
awares — simple colours placed sweetly
one against the other with an instinctive
sense of decorative value. It is because
the artist feels this to be the true language
of the painter that his latest work has the
exquisiteness of the old altar pieces and
wall-paintings. It is pure craftsmanship,
the outcome not of inspiration but of
knowledge, and a rebuke to the inspired
inginu whose turbulent ecstasies can dis-
pense with drawing. Inspiration is no
"MISS PEARL HOOD" BY
MAURICE GREIFFENHAGEN, R.A.
124
" THE MESSAGE." BY MAURICE
GREIFFENHAGEN, R.A.
doubt a fine thing, but knowledge is
surer, a a a a a a
To visit Mr. Greiffenhagen in the quiet
of his studio and hear him discourse of
these things, is to be acutely conscious of
his sincerity and unassuming modesty.
Having arrived at his conclusion he is
eloquent—" Art is beauty of design."
Moral reflections, intellectual profundities,
spiritual esctasy—these things are a part
of life, but the painter's business is to give
beauty to the eye. This has always been
his aim, and however much of romance
there may be in his subject the funda-
mental purpose is pattern. Even in the
restricted sphere of portraiture this is
evident. a a a a a
All true artists carry with them their
own atmosphere. Set them to paint any
subject and it will be bathed in this
atmosphere. We call it " style," and Mr.
Greiffenhagen's work is full of style.
Look at the magnificent Women by a Lake,
how big it is : the breadth of the modelling
and the fine disposition of the light and
shade. The slumbrous glow of the colour
—soVenetian and yet so full of the painter's
personal style. A fine static quality that
suggests sculpture, a technical steadiness
and weight the reverse of the loose flimsy
handling so often mistaken for skill. The
painting is fine rather than brilliant, and