Los Angeles herald., 1890-04-29
The Engravings Shown by
the Ruskin Club.
An Event of More Than Usual
Interest.
A Fine Collection of the Work of
American Artists.
A Part of the Display That Was Made at
the Paris Exhibition and Won
Several Premiums.

The Ruskin Art Club, an organization
with considerable membership among
the cultured ladies of this city, is giving
its first annual exhibition. A large room
on the ground floor of the Crocker build
ing. on Broadway, near the city hall, has
been fitted up for the occasion in appro-
pirate style. The floor is covered with
rugs, and the walls, where net covered
with pictures, have been hung
with flags and tapestry and decorated
with leaves and flowers. The general
effect of the room and it's furnishing
is appropriately artistic. A small ad-
mission fee is charged to pay expenses,
and number of members of the club
are present to receive guests and to show
them about the exhibition. The pic
lures have been carefully listed and
handsome souvenir catalogue has been
printed, which is on sale in the room.
The display consists almost entirely
of wood engravings, the work of the
American Society of Wood Engravers.
About half of these constitute the COL
lection which was displayed at the Uni
versal Exhibition at Paris as the work
of American wood engravers. The 9TH
ers are additional pieces of work by
members of the society, together with
few from the wood engravers of Gin
cinnati. There are altogether 22S en-
cravings in the collection.
Wood engraving as a fine art is en-
titled to special consideration and study
for Americans, as it received it's first
great impetus in recent times in this
country, and is now almost distinctivelv
an American line of work. An evidence
of this appears in the fact that the col
lection which was displayed at the
Worlds Fair, and which is now shown
here, carried off about all the prizes and
honors which were given to that depart
ment of art. The American Maga-
zine," which, for the artistic merit of
its pictures, has no equal in the world,
led the way and made wood engraving a
fine art, as it had been in the days of
Albert Durer. 1t is only within the last
eight or ten years, however, that the
artist and the engraver have come to be
united in one and the same person in
wood engraving, as in etchings. El-
bridge Kingsley is an example of man
who approached the work from the
standpoint of an artist, and
Frank French, one who came from
the side of the engraver. Early in the
eighties, Mr.. Kingsley, painter, began
to engrave his own work for the maga-
zines, and about the same time Mr..
French, who was already famous as an
engraver of others work for the "Cen-
tury" and other magazines, began to do
original work. Mr.. Kingsley received
the gold medal at the Paris Exposition.
There are ten of his pictures in this col
lection, all remarkable for their perfec-
ton of detail and their breadth and
strength in general effect. The club also
shows one of Mr.. Kingsley's plates,
which reveals to the eye with the aid OF
microscope the marvellous delicacy of
the work.
The artists represented in the display
are w. M. Aikman, Victor Bernstrom,
W. B. Classon, T. Cole, H. Davidson,
John P. Davis, Frank French, Thomas
Johnson, F. S. King, Elbridge Kingsley,
G. Kruell, Albert NJ. Lindsay, R. Mul-
Ter, Caroline A. Powell, S. G. Putnam,
J. G. Smithwick, R. Standenbaur, J. :
Tinkey, Robert Varley, F. Wellington,
Henry Wolf, Edith Cooper, w. J. Dana,
n mfnsmann A. 6 Soz%sn2 SeSss esGsgS sgs
Miss Minna Williams.
The display is open in the evenings,
the room being well lighted by cleo
tricity. 1t will continue through the
week and will attract large number of
visitors. The room was well filled with
an appreciative crowd of people during
most OF the day yesterday.