The Portland daily press., 1883-03-13

Ihose VINO nave attended the Herkomer
exhibition in Motley Block express themselves
as more than pleased with the choice specl
mems of Mr. Herkomers work which the soci-
ETY. has succeeded in bringing to Portland
Inaf he is an accomplished artist in every
sensa OF the word, no one who is at all familiar
With the work OF the best of our modern paint
ers and engrayers can for moment question.
a master Of the various processes of engrav-
ing many of which call for the utmost delicacy
OF touch, he as painter, handles the brush
with force and dexterity, and with
knowledge Of effect possessed by no more
painters at the present day than can be count
ed on the fingers ends. Mr.. Herkomer Is prob
ably better known In this country as an en-
graver, than as painter, and as such he is
here represented more fully than by works in
color. It.would be difficult to say in which
method of engraving he is most successful but
we can say without hesitation that in either
OF the pure processes employed by him the, re-
suits are more satisfactory than where he has
worked in mixed method. Pure mezzotint
and line engraving, or are so en-
tirely different in their effect that they can
rarely be mixed without one or the other suf-
1ering thereby. We do not believe that
mezzotint was ever made in which the
etched line is introduced, that would not have
been better had the full resources of mezzotint
been brought to bear and the bitten line omit
ted, and the sama will apply to etching where
mezzotint is employed In this connec-
ton we would invite comparison to No. IS.
The Poachers Fate and No. 4, The Caller
Harriu ~, %ha ;va1 NIT
Nos and IL pure mezzotint, and No. 16,
pure line. 1t would be difficult to conceive of
more beautiful piece of execution in the pure
mezzotint process than No. 2. The Head
Master of Trinity College 1t could not be
improved by the introduction of cut or bitten
lines, and we think that mezzotint would
prove discordant note in the portrait of The
Meister, yet the the mixed process might be as
reasonably used in these cases as in those al
ready referred to. Another method to be con-
demned as good art is the printing Of plates in
different colored inks switch belongs in the.same
category with, monotypes and other studio ex-
periments, all well enough within the four
walls of the artists ganctum, but which ought
never to be placed on exhibition as legitimate
work.
There is one phase of Mr.. Herkomer's art
that deserves special commentator here, and
indeed we may say the same of nearly all En-
glish art, and that is its high moral tone.
French art has of late years become disgust
ing, for the frequency with which the nude
figure is thrust before the public in the guise
of Venuses, Nymphs, Truths" Preparing
for the Bath, and SO on ad infnitim, ad nau-
seam. 1t is refreshing to see the better senti-
ments in the human heart appealed to; and
Mr.. Herkomer in all his work does this. For
example, omit what sadly tender story is told
to us in the Blind Shepherd No. 7. (The best of
the smaller etchings we think) you feel the
tenderness and delicacy of the touch of the
daughters hands as they rest upon the bosom
and shoulders of the blind old man, as he
gazes vacantly before him. But we will not
dwell further upon the works in black and
white, else we shall not have space to say
what we want to regarding the portraits in oil
and water color, three in number. lie, John
Ruskin (water COLOR Archibald Forbes, war
correspondent of the London Times, and the
Assists own father. Mr.. Ruskin's portrait as
showing how much may be done in water color
is an admirable piece of work, but as Mr..
Herkomer has shown us how much more can
be accomplished in oil, in the other two pic
lures. we see no good reason why the former
method should ever be employed Tin portrait
ure) 1t is difficult to determine which of the
two portraits in oil is the better, but we
think taking everything into consideration
that of Mr. Forbes must be awarded the first
place. 1t is certainly as we'll painted as the
other, and much more simple and complete in
arrangement. As piece of strong character
painting we know of but one living painter
who can equal it. Leon Bonnat, and but one
American painter who ever approached it.
William Morris Hunt. The painting of the
head in the portrait of the artists father is as
near perfect as it can be, but the back
ground against which it is opposed is simply
terrible The planes hanging on the right
over the shoulder ale perhaps well enough,
but the chisels, bits, ETC., on the other side
are so many distracting elements in the har-
mony Of the whole, if their places were sup
piled by simpler back ground, the force of
the picture wculd be much enhanced. The
only excuse for there being there at all would
be for the purpose of conveying more wildly
to the spectator the occupation of the subject,
but this is needless as it is well enough ex-
pressed by the tools in his hands. In closing
we must commend the admirable manner in
which the hanging committee have arranged
the pictures.