Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-03
NOTES ABOUT ART.
Unreliable Coiors Used Extensively-A Duty
Artists Owe to Their Patrons.


Artists Owe to Their Patrons.
The fact that artists colors are of greatly
| varying degrees of permanency is one that is
| little known by picture dealers, and is only
too often totally disregarded by artists. Ger
tainly it would avail dealers very little In
deed to possess a thorough knowledge of the
respective merits of the various pigments,
but it is rather strange that an artisSwho is
| seeking to establish a reputation, and is paint
ing not only for to-day or tomorrow but for
the future also will use colors which he knows
will vanish in few years time, or If they do not
disappear altogether will so change that the
proper balance of his picture will inevitably be
destroyed. That this is q common occurrence
is well known TO those who have had ex-
p~erience with paintings for an extended period
of time, and the evil is one which it Is difficult
TO remedy: in fact it cannot be remedied
except by the artists themselves, who should
have too great regard for their own reputation
to use colors which are known to be fugitive.
The trouble is that colors wnich are most
pleasant to use and with which desirable effects
are most easily produced, are often the least
reliable. 1t is a great temptation for an artist
who is laboring TO produce some much sought
for effects to know that certain unsafe colors
would help him out of his present dif1culty,
and he is often very likely to lose sight of or
disregard the fact that their use is fatal to the
luGuIH o. HIS WOIk. IClulSS dlO ~ oRohCu
of as being keyed too high or too low, but what
must be said of one that Is not keyed at all.
And this is the condition of one in which the
colors used are not reliable; IL may De properly
balanced when just finished, but in all proba-
bility it never will be afterward, for the colors
are sure to fade unequally and destroy its har-
mony and unity. One may easily imagine the
result if supposing a certain tint to be conn.,
posed of the three elements, red, yellow and
blue, as in fact all tints must be, and then as
the blue fades the more quickly the two re-
maing elements form orange. and the more
the blue fades the brighter becomes the orange
tone; and then If the yellow fades first 1t leaves
a harsh, disagreeable purple tone where per-
haps formerly existed a delicate gray.
Many of what would be favorite colors with
our best artists they are compelled to reject
on account of their possessing this very unde-
sirable quality. Fellows and blues are the most
difficult to obtain in pigments which may be
relied upon to maintain their brilliancy. reds,
browns and blacks being usually perfectly safe,
as are also the dull, earthly yellows, such as the
oGhres and siennas: Ihere are some greens
others that are just as sure to fade disastrous
ly, and to landscape painters in particular the
procuring of desirable shades of this color
which can fairly be expected to remain as
when first used becomes a vexed question.
Perhaps no people have made greater efforts
to prepare a list of perfectly permanent colors
than the English, and yet their greatest land
scape painter was the most reckless man who
ever handled a brush with regard to this very
matter. Turner always used any and all pig
ments which pleased his FANCY without any re-
gard whatever to their lasting or other quail
ties. He. also used both water and oil colors
on the same work without any apparent
thought or care as to the probable result save
that it pleased him at the time. The effect of
this carelessness might easily have been fore
seen: his pictures have faded in every magma
Bile manner. and his larger and more heavily
painted works have cracked and split in every
direction. Turner has been regarded as the
greatest English %colorist, but If his reputation
depended upon the later appearance of some
of his works it would scarcely stand as high, so
greatly have they changed. 1t is a duty which
artists owe both to themselves and to those
who buy their works to reject all colors which
bear a Questionable reputation for permanent
cy. 1t is not enough that colors should be
pleasant to work with and produce pretty eff
money for pictures they expect, and rightfully
too, that they will possess the quality of dura-
bility, and artists should honestly make every
effort to give them what they pay for.