Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-08
ART AND THE ARTISTS.
Short Glossary Of the Words People Gem
orally Do Not Know the Meaning OF.

ny hs criucs ana connoiseeurs are not gener-
ally understood-in fact, are very often misap-
pretended. Art and artists have language Of
their own which the world should know, even
though it does not feel. For instance, what anna
teur, though he has pretty taste for art can ap-
preciate the delicate shape Of meaning when
the artist or the real art lover talks of the
sweetness" Of q painting. It is q term which
wholly fails in denoting that which it is used
to designate, for it merely expresses a certain
clearness and exactness of color and drawing
which is agreeable to the eye, and does not re-
fer in the least to the sentiment or feeling of
the picture. as many suppose. There is a
wholly mistaken idea Of the italian word
'chiaro- oscuro," whice has no single reference
to the shadows OF a picture, but refers equally
to the light and the shade and their
proper distribution on the canvas so as to pro
duce an effect pleasurable to the eye. With
careful attention to this attribute Of the work,
the ''chiaro-oscuro" becomes artistically strik-
ing, Perspective" Is another Of such words
as become hopelessly mixed up in the minds of
most persons. In point Of fact, the "perspec-
tive" Of work usually means to the average
minds that which should be expressed, and
certainly with more clearness, by the word
distance" Again and again we hear of
Some canvas, representing a stream or
from US, that 'the perspective is good" or
'how fine the perspective is!'' &c. Now the
perspective" in a landscape in which is no
road and no stream but merely q valley with
ranges of mountains forming background,
may be quite as fine. In the first quite fine
effect of distance has been produced, in the
second the "aerial perspective" by means of
blending outlines and colors and arranging
direct and reflected lights, s>ades and shadows
has been markedly effected SO that each
part has its requisite degree of tone and
color, diminishing in strength as the OBJ
InNfG ronQ6a N no ..ay 1icta
the whole assumes the blush gray of the
atmosphere. Only the ardent students of nature
succeed in this. Linear perspective" only
appears in architectural designs, although it
must be as carefully understood to draw a
peasants cottage as the castle of a king. 1t is
merely mathematical study. In close con-
nection with this is what we call atmosphere"
atmospheric effect" ''air," by which is meant
that the objects represented in a picture seem
well detached one from the other, as well az
eye can measure space between them:
landscape painters succeed in giving hns
charm to their work. The density and
transparency of air is only attained by long ex-
perience amid nature. When the atmospheric
effect" softens local colors and renders them
more or less characteristic we then technically
speak of it as the ''tone' of q picture. Now,
the .'local color is that which belongs to every
particular object irrespective of all accidental
influences; but how little Of it is ever depicted
in a painting must be plain to every one who
will think for a moment how few things are
painted in direct light, and what is the effect
in nature of the "chiaro-oscuro" with its half
lights" its reflected lights" its shadows"
and its aerial perspective Not even in
opportunity to paint the exact ''local color"
"Still life" is the technical expression for in
animate objects. Values is a modern word.
We say "his appreciation Of values is marked"
&C., meaning that the artist, through long ex-
perience, has come to know exactly how to pro-
duce certain effects of light and shade by lay
ing one tone directly beside another, so that all
he wishes to express is brought out to the ut
termost. The softening of these tones and
values we call mellowness, and the word is quite
as applicable to a modern picture as one grown
rich in tone by age.
Manner" :'style," and ''handling" are three
words much used; the first may signify one of
two things, either any peculiarly of habit and
the general mode Of treatment in the design or
the peculiar mode of using the brush, by which
alone the artist may be ofttimes detected and
even the school to which he belongs or be-
longed. In the word manner" are really en-
bodied the two latter words, style and
handling" which are merely the ideal and
mechanical parts of his work. Technique" is
a word lately adopted and merely means the
mode of work, as does handling"
Breadth" is term in art parlance which
has no reference to the size of pic
ture. 1t suggests either in a large or small
canvas freedom of ''handling" unembar-
raised by multiplicity of detail, largeness
of mind to conceive and power to do. The
most careful finish" does not preclude
breadth" but unless consummately managed
hides it, for labored effects are indicative of
small narrow compass OF thought. The bane
of modern art is the attention to technique
rather than to the ideal, the spiritual concep-
ton of a subject, for the latter independent of
fhn fhnr ic <6a ri Ia
conveys an understanding Of the artists inven-
ton, creation and intention. So We say 1.-The
motif is commonplace or pure. There is
one word which expresses the structural ar
rangement OF the picture, composition" 1t
includes both the design and the color, and is
really governed by certain absolute laws as,
for example, making lines which will flow away
from or toward point of interest, producing
gradual harmony Of color centering there, and
more than all containing an element which is
satisfying. Accidental light" is term by
which is meant a light not accounted for by the
prevalent effect, as place in q room lit "by
two long rays through the hinges chink," or by
candlelight or moonlight. "Scumbling'' is
a technical word for softened effect made
by lightly glazing with semi-transparent
color that portion Of the picture which is too
bright or too hard, but unlike glazing, it only
partially adheres to the body color s.Acade-
mic" Is word reviewers love and has three
Specifications. We call figure academic"
Wnen IL Is drawn a little less than half the size
of nature and when the attitude il conven-
tional and we also employ the word when the
artist has posed a figure with taste and skill
but suggesting no voluntary action on the part
of the model, and in third manner is the
word used when q figure is drawn or painted
from the nude, with the obvious reason of
studying the human form.
These are but q few Of the most commonly
misjudged words or phrases, and they appear
with clocklike regularity in most reviews and
critiques OF exhibitions and collections.
Saturday night Chas. Wise and Ned Apsley,
while crossing the lake at Cadillac Mich, on
the ice, walked into an air hole and were
drowned. Sunday morning their bodies were
found clasped in each others arms.
The big strike of the coal handlers at Du-
luth has come to an end. The men refused to
be assessed for the expenses of hiring speak
ers and halls, and were compelled to meet in
the open air. Sunday night ii was decided to
apply for work at the reduced rates.
The crew OF the Dublin Ureland) university
has challenged the Yale crew to q race, pro-
vided the latter 60 to England this year. Yale
sentiment is in favor Of accepting the chal-
lenge.
RoYA1