New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-06-04
ARTISTIC CHAT.

~ *, 1910.
ARTISTIC CHAT. ,es
By FERNANDO ARMANT, AUTHOR OF "THE
PATRIoTs."
am wholly adverse to that extensive
school of critics whose boast consists in
ascribing to themselves alone the power
and intelligence to judge art matters.
Common sense suggests that any one
staring at terrific scene, another smiling
ON q pleasing love sketch, and one growing
enthusiastic at q mere glance of heroical
picture, are possessed of sufficient power
of comprehension to 60 along in the world.
The perception Of the true and beautiful
does not pertain to any special genius. The
gift Of it is impaired to all men by their
Creator, in varying degrees. Re6nementin in
education, keenness in the physical system.
and the moral elevation of the mind, natur-
ally or arti6cially, allow any one to discern
what is true, and to appreciate what is
beautiful.
My selection of Turner az q subject for
my first article was made with q view to
prove, by comparison, how far We are
sometimes brought to delusien as to our
own merits, by reading an assemblage of
technical terms signed by some popular
critic or author.
Whenever, for instance, have noticed
people assembled before Turner's paintings,
their amazement and bewilderment at his
dashing and dazzling coloring would De
unanimous. As soon, however, a. 3 gentle
man held by the surrounding crowd for
member of the press, would '1dvance and
apparently stare in awe and amazement
before painting, then that selfsame crowd
of eager denunciatcrs was instantly con :
verted to . weak and submissive flock Of
admirers and connoiseurs. a.
Yet. few of those voluntary snobs sus-
pected the system of all the critics, and
that is TO see the spontaneous effect Of o
painting on the public before they lavish
praise and rhetorical flourish on it.
Thus may be accounted for the unlimited
admiration awarded for some time to artists
whose fame sets down with the sun of the
morrow, or the indiscriminate negati0n of
tAe merits Of another, whose glory lasts
eternally a. the future that brings it.
A great artist, whose demise occurred in
Paris few years ago, may serve as .
striking illustration of the above-Corot.
Corot painted landscape in the soft re-
| ceding hues of dusk or clouded skies, and
these he was wont to poeticize by the addi-
tion of some NEUROLOGICAL or legendary
| figures. At first his paintings obtained q
deserved celebrity; for their composition
was charming, graceful and sentimental,
his brushwork was lightly spread IS q
delicate webb over the canvas, and his con :
trasts being softened by that mystic atmos-
phere in which he worked. The whole was
nice, pleasing and really poeticsL
The very game school of critics who for
merly felled Turner to the earth with the
rnightiest blows they could dispense, too X
up Corot as counterpart. ss o novel revel.
ator in art.
His paintings, they contended, were not
done up in massive layers of colOrs the
lines Of them were softened and harmonized
by their delicacy, and their misty atmo 8
phere was not a want of clearness, but the
real expression Of those silent poetcal hours
in nature, dawn and dusk.
The consequence among the public was,
that Coro;'s paintings became the fashion,
and he WAS known to paint as many as three
square yards of canvas day. How could
he do that properly9
His followers were numerous, from the
simple fact that his manner being eminently
| expeditions and devoid of any detail; in a
rush of the brush . painting in the Corot
manner, was q nuisance; and since Corot's
death hundreds of his paintings paid in
| thousands of dollars are not now worth a
dollar each.
Turner was treated as a madman. an d
bis paintings are now ackno Wledged as un :
paralleled, while Corot, made q demigod
for time, has left little more than colored
canvass. Yet, if the public, conscious Of
their own propensities, obedient to their
natural taste and rational with their indi-
vidual knowledge, had kept aloof from au-
thorized counselors, no doubt that hun
dreds of amateurs would not be at present
regretting their forced enthusiasm.
The true is in nature, the beautiful is in
divinity; and what in our feelings emanat-
ing from the soul most resembles it
taste-is the result of education and of COM
parison. It may be innate in some degree,
but it is not SO altogether; it progresses
Art, in It's splendor. is visible and attaina-
BILE to all; and it only requires an effort Of
the individual to perceive this truth. Ju-
dlcious criticism, that is. the careful re-
search of truth, of beauty, and in this; Of
perfection, or ideal, are the duties and mis-
sion of q critic.
Perfection has never preceded, bat al
ways followed study and application, hence
profess that our people, taking interest in
art, may become As conversant with the
knowledge pertaining to it as others better
served with stocked museums and pondered
criticisms. Also, l contend that we may,
without seeking elsewhere, see the rise,
growth and triumph of artists here, pro-
vided they seek the fundamental truth in
their endeavors-God and nature; and pro-
vided, also, they see the public growing at
tentive to their progress. Turner was the
originator of painting real in England,
Corot the result of hoaxing in France. Let
us seek among those striving here, if any,
dAaerva Onr affontinu anon