The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-05-14
SOME NEW hooks.
Bono Useful Information About the Graphic
Arts.

Arts.
That the mass of nominally educated per-
sons should I've Rrotesquely ignorant about the
spocnc aims. fundamental limitations. and
characteristic capabilities OF the several
graphie arts, would be astounding but for
tho still more surprising truth that until
recently not only poets and professional
men Of letters who arc artists in verbal cx-
prossion. have been commonly inattcntve to
tho linear and pictorial arts. but that even
painters in oil have been found to know
but little about wnter-color painting. and next
TO nothing about etching dry point or tho
various kinds of engraving. 1t IL moro
than century since Lcssing published
THE Laoco6n." yct in that long interval
what Englishmen OF literary genius. with the
exceptions Of William Blake. Tom Hood,
Thackeray William Black, Browning. and
William Norris have evincod. we will not
say capacity for good work in, but an appre-
citation of. other media and methods of artistic
Interpretation than their own. 1t il not unfit
ting therefore Though il seems to us that
William Morris was still moro worthy of
the honor) that tho treatise on The Graphic
Arts prepared by Mr.. PHILIP GILBERT HAMER-
TON, and now reprinted by Roberts Brothers.
should be inscribed to Mr.. Robert Browning.
who has Internationally shown clear appre-
hension, not only Of poetry and music, but also
OF those sister agencies by which truth and
beauty receive linear. pictorial. plastic. or
architectural embodiment.
The remarkably lucid exposition OF the
graphic arts in particular which Mr.. Hamerton
has here given us will do much to provoke II
recognition of the Importance of the knowledge
thus made accessible to all those who desire to
Secure the wide range Of ENJOYMENT resulting
from large and thorough cultivation OF the
mind. That no such treatise rs the present.
which offers authentic definitions in accurate
and effective language. and thus commends
itself To the general reader no less than to the
specialist. has been heretofore forthcoming, is
owing to the fact that graphic artists have as
rule been no less narrow than men Of let
tiers. and that. up to the present generation.
no English masters of linear and pictorial ex-
presson-with the exception of Sir Joshua
Reynolds and a few others-have been compe-
tent To convey notions OF their own specialties
in precise and felicitous words
The object OF this treatise is in short to pro-
mote the open mindedness which was such
conspicuous feature of the Italian Renaissance.
and which is so admirably illustrated by him
who was at once draughtsman, painter, scup-
tor architect. and poet. Michael Angelo. Mr..
Hamerton does not deny the soundness Of tho
economical doctrine that division OF labor is
good for mechanical production. but he dis
putos tuD pTOUIlcty vi upDlyilp IL III lHb Htlu
Of artistic work. He feels perfectly certain
that the concentration of all the faculties upon
one art prevents the mind from seeing the arts
In their true relation to each othcr-that a
painter, for instance, hard at work every day
at his own specially. is much exposed to the
danger OF narrowing his perceptive faculties to
the limited range of qualities visible on his
own canvases. Tho author has aimed. ac-
cOrdingy. in this book, to show how much
light the several varieties of graphic art
throw upon each other. and to point
eut many close analogies. which at first
sight might not be suspected. between pro-
ecsscs apparently very different. Not indeed
that the variety Of processes is so great as it
appears to be. for. although the range of
graphic art in its dealings with nature is ex-
tensive. yet its technical repertory s cir
eumscribed. As the author puts 1t torsely in
his preface: " All painting whatever is founded
upon one of the two opposite principles of
transparency or opacity; all engraving what
ever is founded upon line mass and all
the graphic arts together are founded either
upon naturalism or some kind OF convention
alism which records in an intelligibe and con-
venient manner the results of human observa-
ton"
Such being the points of essential agree
ment in all the modes of graphic art, however
widely at first sight they may seem to differ
the reader should be prepared for the lesson
brought home to him by this volume that we
ought not to despise any form of art which has
been practsed by great men. IT. indeed. we
are conscious of liability to wrong judg-
ment about any particular art. we have a ready
means OF correcting n mistake by tho SIM pie in
duiry whether the process we feel inclined to
despise has been adopted by great artists II it
has been practised by them. not u nero
experiment. but as pursuit. Mr.. Hamerton
suggests that in our hasty censure of it we are
probably denouncing the absence Of some quail
ity which is by no means Indispensable to the
exposition OF artistic ideas. He cites as one
example the simple and primitive looking art
OF drawing with a common pen and writing ink
upon common white paper. Here we have a
method of artistic expression which is not
highly esteemed. but which yet calls for re-
spectful consideration when we remember that
II was practised by many of the greatest artists
who ever lived. including Raphael. Titan and
Michael Angelo. when we come" says Mr.
Hamerton. to look into the matter we find that
the pen. though 1t does not offer any soft lux
ury to the sense of sight, is one of the best
instruments for the expression OF firm. decided
substantial knowledge. and that is why those
great men used it,"
Again. the lead pencil is sometimes des pissed
because it is given to beginners. yet it was
employed habitually by Turner in the full
maturity OF his TALENT and its predecessor
the silver point. was constantly in the hands
of the old masters. We are reminded also
that not many years ago water-colOr paint
ing was so greatly moderated in France
that no critic would treat 1t seriously. but
assumed 1t to be an art RELOCATED 10 young
ladies, and which could not possibly deliver the
ideas of thoughtful men. In point Of fact,
however. it has been employed by men
OF great learning in artistic matters,
and OF indisputable genius. 1t appears too
that woodcuts. though popular enough NJ adj
iunets to journalism and scientific literature
are looked down upon by the aesthetic taste Of
the day. Yet that woodcuts. though they may
be abused in commerce as photography H. have
fine artistic capabilities must be inferred from
the fact that the art was encouraged by such
masters as Albert DGrer and Hans Holbein.
who. though they did not themselves cut the
block, drew upon il for the craftsman. You
may say. indeed, that il you could have an
original drawing by Dhrer or Holbcin before
the knifp pf the tnnnhaI "a Ia,