DOI issue:
No. 386 (May 1925)
DOI article:Mourey, Gabriel: The art of Mr. W. S. Horton
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21402#0271
THE ART OF MR. W. S. HORTON.
BY GABRIEL MOUREY. a a a
MR. W. S. HORTON was born at
Grand Rapids, U.S.A., and first
studied at the Chicago Art Institute and
the National Academy of New York, but it
was in France, under Jullian, that he began
to evolve his own style. He came to Paris
about the year igco, and exhibited first
at the Artistes Francais and afterwards
at the Societe Nationale des Beaux-
Arts. Since 1913 he has reserved most of
his work for the Autumn Salons. He
has had one-man shows from time to time
at such galleries as the Bernheim, the
Georges Petit and the Durand-Ruel, and
has also taken part in exhibitions of various
societies of artists to which he belongs. a
Since Mr. Horton's painting is char-
acterised by a decided preference for fresh
and vibrating colour, and since he seeks
similar effects of light and atmosphere to
those sought after by the Impressionists,
one might well enquire whether he
himself is not to be classed as an Impres-
sionist. But I think not, for one may
easily discover in his art other pre-
occupations, which seem to dominate him.
In the first works he exhibited this very
sincere artist showed himself above all
concerned with the representation of
nature and life after the most sound and
traditional manner. The reality of things
was, if not all he cared about, at least his
main concern, and he was always careful
to abstain from certain technical excesses
which the neo-Impressionists allowed
themselves—such as the much-debated
principle of tonal division, which they
adopted to give more luminous depth
to their canvases. To put the matter in
BY GABRIEL MOUREY. a a a
MR. W. S. HORTON was born at
Grand Rapids, U.S.A., and first
studied at the Chicago Art Institute and
the National Academy of New York, but it
was in France, under Jullian, that he began
to evolve his own style. He came to Paris
about the year igco, and exhibited first
at the Artistes Francais and afterwards
at the Societe Nationale des Beaux-
Arts. Since 1913 he has reserved most of
his work for the Autumn Salons. He
has had one-man shows from time to time
at such galleries as the Bernheim, the
Georges Petit and the Durand-Ruel, and
has also taken part in exhibitions of various
societies of artists to which he belongs. a
Since Mr. Horton's painting is char-
acterised by a decided preference for fresh
and vibrating colour, and since he seeks
similar effects of light and atmosphere to
those sought after by the Impressionists,
one might well enquire whether he
himself is not to be classed as an Impres-
sionist. But I think not, for one may
easily discover in his art other pre-
occupations, which seem to dominate him.
In the first works he exhibited this very
sincere artist showed himself above all
concerned with the representation of
nature and life after the most sound and
traditional manner. The reality of things
was, if not all he cared about, at least his
main concern, and he was always careful
to abstain from certain technical excesses
which the neo-Impressionists allowed
themselves—such as the much-debated
principle of tonal division, which they
adopted to give more luminous depth
to their canvases. To put the matter in