San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1889-07-18
DID NOT KNOW ART.
Shakespeare Evidently Was Not ramiiias
with Paintcrs and Painting.

with Paintcrs and Painting.
Considering the universal character
OF Shakcspeare's knowledge, II scemi
at first curious that he should have
displayed no very intimate acquaint
anco with tho actual art OF paint
ing. This Is tho moro striking
whom We recollect how much ho knew
Of the details and positive techni
que OF nearly every other profession,
calling or handicraft under tho sun,
His familiarity with them, as shown
by the use Of purely professional
phrases and trade words, has given
birth 10 o host OF profound treatise!
wherein tho writers have striven X
demonstrate that the poet must in Q
sort, have served an apprenticeship
to a dozen different trades. His en-
tire accuracy in these respects is un
doubted, and is testified TO by masters
and exports. On this ground It hai
been attempted to provo that In turn
he practiced as lawyer, q surgeon, Q
PHI ysician, a horse dealer, butcher. O
soldier, q sailor, farmer, gardener,
a school master and heavens knows
what besides; whilst travellers have de-
clared that unless he had himself Wis.
tied many OF the countries he describes,
and been familiar with their lon.
guages, he could never have alluded
as he does 10 their numerous min ute
characteristics.
am not aware, however, that any
one has been bold enough to assert
that he was a painter or artist, as we
understand the term. Nor Is this won.
derful, perhaps, seeing, as ! have
hinted, that we look in vain through
his pages for ranythingmore than quite
superficial knowledge of the use Of the
palette and brushes. Indeed the words
palette and brush nowhere occur, nor
do those Of easel, maulstick or any
Of the paraphernalia Of the studio.
And this, repeat, Is rather singular,
for if the art, with tho means and ma
terials for practicing it, were uncom.
mon in England in 6hakespeare's day,
they. could scarcely have been so In II
ally, Germany, Flanders or France;
and he was SO conversant with the
habits of continental nations that one
would have thought the artists life
and its surroundings would not have
escaped him in detail. Yet he never
even mentions the painters brush, il
is always his "pencil;" and although
we know that the word popularity ex-
presses the instrument by which ar
tistic work Is produced, II Is at least
odd that the poet avoids the use of It's
literal synonym, especially remem-
bcring tho vast scope Of his vocabulary.
The artist CYmon Of Ath-
ens) talks no 'shop," tells nothing
the difficulty Of getting tho sort Of
heads he wants. Nothing is revealed
as to the technique, or the system Of
printing the canvas, or laying in this
or that color flrst-or what, in q word
the process and progress OF the work
have been, as, / submit, might fairly
have been expected. Neither Is any
further clew offered as to the nature Of
the subject, nor any hint as to its d.
mensions; but later on, when tho pa-
tron Timon sees it, he commends il,
and in spicing his admiration with
some philosophic moralizing, pays O
just tribute TO the noble ert thus:
Painting Is welcome
Painting Is almost the natural man;
For since dlshonor trafics with mans nature.
He Is but outsideI these penciled figures arc
Even such as they give out like your work;
And you shall flnd I like II.
If this significant promise was
never performed, it was Master Paint
er's own fault, and he was rightly
served. In the last act Of the play we
discover what he really is; and II our
heaven gifted "Swan OF Avon" in
tended to typify in him the artistic
character generally, we can only say
his opinion of was not high: Would
it be terrible heresy to add that 1t
also betrays the shallowness Of his &c
quaintance, If not with the art of
painting, at least with its professorsf
Tho scene Is too long TO quote, but il
is little less than O libel upon the
whole community to have It exem-
plified in the person Of such mean,
contemplate, fawning sycophant as
the painter shows himseik.-Magazine