The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-02-03

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literary treasure house.
FOREIGN OPINION OF AMERICAN |
WOOD-ENGRAVIN
Wood Engraving in America is the
subject of the leading article in late
number of the great French art periodic.
al Tart The paper is written by Mr..
j. Cumyns Carr, the London editor of
TART and is illustrated with thirteen
wood.cuts from Scribner's Monthly, and
one from st. Nicholas.
We translate what the writer says af.
ter speaking of the progress ofengraving
in England and France:
"Let us observe the particular and en-.
tirely independent movement which has
recently been developed in America.
Every one who has seen the illustrated
magazines of the United States must
know that wood.engraving in the United
States has made progress which it
would be an injustice not to recognize.
The drawings, usually of small dimen.
sions, have allowed the engraver to de.
vote himself to giving the greatest posi-.
BILE perfection to refined delicacy of exc.
Cution. In that country, they have at
tempted, with remarkable success, to
. reproduce also oil and water.Color paint.
ings, as we'll as the grain and touch of
crayon drawings. The feeling of abso-
lutte fidelity inspired by these expert
ments, gives to the reproduction of line
drawings, all the charms of the most
exquisite delicaCy and the most ire
proaChable truth.
. "Thanks to the courtesy of the propri-
, etors of Scribner's Monthly Magazine
s and St. Nicholas, we can place before our
: readers specimens of the various styles
of American engraving. 1t will be seen
that they reproduce almost all the effects
e which art is capable of ofrendering. Some
J. belong to the old orthodox method so
If long followed by the artists of all schools.
r In others we see an attempt to reproduce
. the lines of an old drawing, as in the
# Head of Christ by Leonardo. A por.
IS trait of Mr.. Whistler, by himself, shows
j. the cleverness of the engraver in repro
) ducing the touch of an oil painting Two
portraits, those Of President Lincoln and
St the poet Bryant, show how FIR drawings
,r in red or black Crayon may be initiated.
n ut is worth while to remark that ex.
p periments 30 various and of 30 bold a
e e. character, have given rise to numberless
=, controversies, even among the American
engravers themselves. Mr. Linton, an
English engraver, now many years in
America, and one of the best masters Of
the old orthodox style, has always reso-
10 lutely opposed such widening of the re-
n sources of the art, He lately published
g. in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine an
Q, article in which he states what he calls
ia the true principles of wood.engraving
- He did not fail to denounCe, in energet,
10 ic terms, the liCence of the masters of the
c. new school. According to Mr., Lintopr
le the wood.engraver has no right to al
It tempt to initiate the different styles oi
., artistic production. The talent used for
" this end is pure waste the only healthy
" conception of engraving says Mr. Lin.
g, ton, is that which submits the drawing
g. of the artist to a series of necessary
70 transformations, according to the special
at at conditions of the engraVer'; but it is
~ q easy to see that Mr.. Linton and his ad.
c. versaries are talking about different
o. matters. If wood.engraving could be
\ looked upon as an independent artistic
= expression, some of Mr.. Linton's argu
!, ments would be inControvertible. i
IL IL wood could be used like copper to ex
"a press original ideas, we would soon see
i artists invent a method of using this
n mode of engraving, which should be in
of harmony with the material. But it is
~ ~ certain that wood has hardly ever been
ID ID too technical character TO allow it to be
Of used by the original draughtsman; wood
~ engraving, in fine, has always been, and
g is still, with some few exceptions, an ar
~ of reproduction. From the start, il
of clearly tends to take on purely imita
~ tive character. II this is it's real desti
- nation, nothing should legitiGately op
-, pose the introduction of new processes
-, of imitation. 1t remains evident tha
~ ~ every effort in this direction should bt
- ~ governed by what is possible, gra tins
ID the conditions which we have enumerat
~, ed. The resources of wood-engravinl
20 are limited. Perhaps the young Ameri
~ can school have not sufficiently consid
cred this truth. Nevertheless, these ex
periments, taken all together, have beer
interesting and happy. Their success il
due in great measure, to the respeC
the engraver has for the original, ant
ne the sCrupulous care he has taken to re
,i. produce its qualities"
If. The following are the pictures repro
"a duced in Tart: from st. Nicholas, {
~ drawing by Mrs. Mary HalloCk Foote
le BY the Fish Nets engraved by Col.
is from SCribner's Monthly, O'Donovan'
C. relief tile Portrait of a Member Of th'
10 Tile Club engraved by Frederick Juen
filing Wyatt Eaton's portraits of Olive
ne Wendell Holmes, William Cullen Bryan
ry and Abraham Lincoln, all engraved by
ne Cole James A. M. Whistler's portrait o
!, himself, engraved by Frederick Jueng
~ ling; Leonardo da Vinci'e Head o
1t Christ E. A. Abbey's The Griffin a
b. Work. portrait of Modjesko from
6 photograph Walden Pond drawing
o. by Homer Martin, Italian Fisherman
}, Hut on the Pacific Coast by Mrs. Mar!
s, Hallock Foote, and Whistler's 'Th
sst White Lady all engraved by Cole
H. Home Sweet Home, the birth place o
~ Howard Payne by F. Hopkinson Smitl
10 and R. Swain Gifford's On the Edge o
o, the Orchard both engraved by F.
Id King.
W.