DOI Heft:
No. 381 (December 1924)
DOI Artikel:Grimsditch, Herbert B.: Mr. Arthur E. Vokes's portraits of children
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21400#0337
MR. ARTHUR E. VOKES'S PORTRAITS OF CHILDREN
" MASTER PETER SMITH." WATER-
COLOUR BY ARTHUR E. VOKES
(By courtesy of W. H. Smith, Esq.)
The spirit, however, should dominate
the matter, in this as in every form of art,
and here, too, Mr. Vokes does not fail us.
One is sensible that he has seen all the
interesting qualities in each child, that
he has observed sympathetically and set
down truthfully the results of his ob-
servation. Naturally, children are not the
most tractable of models, but their very
intractableness, while it adds to the
difficulties of the painter, increases his
opportunity of giving us something inter-
esting. And these young people, as de-
picted by the brush of Mr. Vokes, by no
means give the impression that they are
all cast in the one mould : they are not
the children of Dickens at his worst, or
of Dean Farrar or Mrs. Frances Hodgson
Burnett. One can well imagine any of
them being wilful or noisy on occasion,
and getting into scrapes, yet withal the
fresh innocence of childhood looks out
from their candid eyes, unspoiled by
contact with the world. 000
Apart from his portraits in oil and
water-colour, Mr. Vokes works in the
plastic medium, and here again, in such
things as the bronze head of The Son
of Evelyn Stainton, Esq., he has admirably
fixed the essential qualities of childhood.
Among other works of sculpture may be
mentioned a bronze relief panel in memory
of the singer, Gervase Elwes, made for
the village of Billing, which is a re-
strained and subtly expressed example of
this class of work. a a e> a
In the intervals between his commis-
sions for portraits, it is Mr. Vokes's
delight to go out into the country and
paint landscapes. Examples of his land-
scape painting were given in colours in
The Studio for August 1919, and April
1924, and to look at these or at such a
thing as the water-colour Evening, is to
know that he is possessed of true poetic
feeling. Trees lend themselves to poetry
under most atmospheric conditions, and
this artist well knows how to turn their
potentialities to account. 000
Taking a general survey of Mr. Vokes's
work, one feels that it is eminently sound
and refined, uncompromising in the facing
of difficulties, and that on these founda-
tions he is capable of building himself an
edifice which will endure, a 0 a
" MISS PATRICIA SMITH." WATER-
COLOUR BY ARTHUR E. VOKES
(By courtesy of W. H. Smith, Esq.)
317
" MASTER PETER SMITH." WATER-
COLOUR BY ARTHUR E. VOKES
(By courtesy of W. H. Smith, Esq.)
The spirit, however, should dominate
the matter, in this as in every form of art,
and here, too, Mr. Vokes does not fail us.
One is sensible that he has seen all the
interesting qualities in each child, that
he has observed sympathetically and set
down truthfully the results of his ob-
servation. Naturally, children are not the
most tractable of models, but their very
intractableness, while it adds to the
difficulties of the painter, increases his
opportunity of giving us something inter-
esting. And these young people, as de-
picted by the brush of Mr. Vokes, by no
means give the impression that they are
all cast in the one mould : they are not
the children of Dickens at his worst, or
of Dean Farrar or Mrs. Frances Hodgson
Burnett. One can well imagine any of
them being wilful or noisy on occasion,
and getting into scrapes, yet withal the
fresh innocence of childhood looks out
from their candid eyes, unspoiled by
contact with the world. 000
Apart from his portraits in oil and
water-colour, Mr. Vokes works in the
plastic medium, and here again, in such
things as the bronze head of The Son
of Evelyn Stainton, Esq., he has admirably
fixed the essential qualities of childhood.
Among other works of sculpture may be
mentioned a bronze relief panel in memory
of the singer, Gervase Elwes, made for
the village of Billing, which is a re-
strained and subtly expressed example of
this class of work. a a e> a
In the intervals between his commis-
sions for portraits, it is Mr. Vokes's
delight to go out into the country and
paint landscapes. Examples of his land-
scape painting were given in colours in
The Studio for August 1919, and April
1924, and to look at these or at such a
thing as the water-colour Evening, is to
know that he is possessed of true poetic
feeling. Trees lend themselves to poetry
under most atmospheric conditions, and
this artist well knows how to turn their
potentialities to account. 000
Taking a general survey of Mr. Vokes's
work, one feels that it is eminently sound
and refined, uncompromising in the facing
of difficulties, and that on these founda-
tions he is capable of building himself an
edifice which will endure, a 0 a
" MISS PATRICIA SMITH." WATER-
COLOUR BY ARTHUR E. VOKES
(By courtesy of W. H. Smith, Esq.)
317