New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-11
THE CHRONICLE OF ARTS.
PEN DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS.
A NOTE, on Mr.. ABBEY's ILLUSTRATIONS TO
THE COMEDIES OF sHAREsPEARE-NEws
FROM THE GALLERIEI

FROM THE GALLERIES.
From Alderman Boydelrs Shakespeare Gallery
to The Comedies Of shaespearc Illustrated by Edwin
Abbey what a road have men travelled Yet the
significance Of the transition is apparently not appre
oated to-day and 1t is perhaps worth while to Inquire
why. Mr.. Abbey been recognized widely, but not
always ntellgently. The sympathetic response 10 all
the appeals he makes has come from circle esotcnc
and limited How many persons In the vast audience
TO which Harpers Magazine is introducing the Illus
tratlons to the comedies from month 10 month ASK
Mr.. Abbey for anything than clever picture
II the absence OF any discussion Of the subject IN
its larger relations is correctly interpreted, his pc
cuiar character Illustrator has yet to be as
covered 10 the great Of readers.
Perhaps the very fact that his audience is composed
so largely OF readers has something TO do with the
general apathy touching his work. The reader pure
and simple distinguished from the art amateur ITO
whom the painter goes for appreciation Is without te
special knowledge which Is so helpful to under
standing Of special form Of art like pen drawing
| Consequently he accepts Mr. Abbey on his literary
side alone. But the particular virtue OF Mr.. Aooey
is, that than any Of his predecessors, he com
bnes literary feeling with technical aptitude. poetic
cairvoyance with the fashlonlng power Of the artist
He is separated from Boydes group Of painters, and
from Independent Illustrators like Dorc, BY more than
gulf, by differences In tradition, point OF view.
style, ability, and public. For 1t Is the Tune
that produces the man and Mr. Abbey would very
probably have been considered supernuous In Boy
delrs day BOydeI is in That Is to say, Mr.
Abbey above all things artist of the last dc cades
of the nineteenth century, critical adventurous, I'M
satisfied with any traditions those OF which visual
proof be obtained. The who worked for Boy
dell gave their public conveniOnalized Shakespeare
Mr.. Abbey knows that however sleepy his public may
be his only chance Of keeping 1t awake
lies in giving 1t unconventional Shakespeare
He is new man whichever side he may DO
taken. 1t IS this which makes him the more
49, oh
OF his work is considered alone, when his literary SYM
patty is marked it is tempting to regard him as an
of playgoer of the Shakespearean era some
wanderer from Ezabethan alleys" endowed by con-
sanguinity with the unmstakable note Of the tme'
A moments reflection throws the light OF the nine
teenth century upon him. discoses him reconsrucfins
Shakespeare with the aid OF recent Investigations
| in art architecture, costume AID decoration
1t las been said Of Greek art that it excels all
others because it gives the thing represented as 1t
| ought 10 be. The Greek ideal was to impress man
with the essential tuthlf the report differed from
nature the answer was: Nature should be that way
| In his relation TO Shakespeare's comedies, Mr.
| Abbey shows himself an Elzabethan by his IN
| sight into their spirit, modern by MS
| ability to interpret them TO moderns' ana Il
Greek by his faculty Of Interpreting them
as they ought to be. As playgoer In shakespeare
| day he must have caught :" the something magical
that was in air. but must have seen very dlneehe
| spectacle from that which he presents to u.s. The
| latter he could have found only by projecting mms9h
into the times and places represented in the plays oy
visiting let us say, for example the venice Oh ohy
| lock- the Venice which Shakespeare Is not Known ~
| lave visited but which he desired his auditors 10
| imagine with him. 1t is curious that this idea was
never turned TO any substantial account by shake
spearean Illustrators prior to Abbey 1t is not so
curious that thousands Of readers should never
have seized it, For the majority Of shakespearean
students. If such they may be called, consider thcr
author as first and foremost playwright, as dehzeh
Of that "unsubstantial fairy place." the theatre
where nothing is what II pretends TO be, and where
Mr. Cmmmles and his real pump would be an in
trusIOn Lately. enerprisng theatrical managers nave
striven to make their revivals authentic (and' aas
Mr. Crummes is invading the melOdramatic stage) but
may be srmised that their efforts have been toward
truth not for the sake Of truth alone, but for the
cake If the show almost entirely in the spirit
| tho pubic has met Mr. Abbey. His pictures are new
| unconventional beautiful. But they authenic2
The public never asks this question. 1t does not know
| how rich an answer it would get If 1t did.
In the ve-y nature Of things scenic directions In
Shakespeare are as slight they few, so an Illus
traitors latitude is bounded only BY the unes Of time
| and plac As Mr.. Lang remarks there Is no
| local color, in the Merchant Of Venice Local
color is detail and Shakespeare was too busily en-
gagged upon the mighty outlines OF his work to nger
over details. Mr.. Abbey nger over them, and ne
does so with profit. Venice Itself Is there for him TO
| study the Venice of to-day to be sure but Venice
| with so many OF her ancient monuments and water
| ways surviving that Shylocks background can by
the right man, be accurately fixed. The paintings OF
Carpacco and Gentle Belni there Also to reveal
something Of the color and animation OF old venetian
life Moving easily among his materials, Mr.. Abbey
has selected with peculiar felicity. lie is convincing
on All points and in picture like that OF shyOck's
| famous scene In Me first act of the Merchant he
teaches a degree OF verisimitude which, in its way.
| makes as deep an impression any modern stage
| oft no hay
| far appeared and it Is not too much to say that
| Mr. Abbey has given to each one more distinctive
character than it has known before in black and
| white Illustration.
| And this brings up the question as to how
| far tie black and white artist In general
and Mr. Abbey in particular can succeed In rendering
tie mere surface OF the shakespearean pageant One
side Of that pageant-the side OF glitter ard warmth
and thousand changing hues-is shut out from him by
| the very restrictions Of his medium Without co ors
who could hope to mirror In perfection that splendid
| nroeession But within the limits OF his art Mr..
Abbey comes very perfection. His articles are
numberless and sure As far as pen can do 1t MS
pen shows the form and pressure OF shakespearean ufe
lis texture its exhaustless play Of light and shadow
His stye very delicate aud refined, and although he
| appears to owe less TO Verge than do most Of ms
colleagues he has Nierges skill in the exquisite de-
neation OF details whether in architecture or trap
| pings lie has flaws OF course. Even the prince OF
| modern pen drughtsmen must nod at times and be
ty OF so confused piece OF drawing as that In the
arm of Antpholus In the illustration for Scene /, Act
Ill OF the Comedy of Errors similar flaws. due as
this one Is 10 pushing the resources of the pen too far
| are I, be met with and agan-but not often.
This task Of Illustrating the comedies of shakespeare
assumes then, when all things are considered, the
| character Of an epoch making work. 1t marks tile
| final and crushing defeat Of the od-fashoned Illus
traitors The old order chanSeth and giveth place TO
| the new For years bore with Dore. lie had
| Imagination and neutrality-suspicious. qualtes-and
80 .I tbe courage u deal with serious authOrs-Dantc
| md tultol Eut docs he really Illustrate those
| authors? His mannerisms overwhelmed him. HIS
d.uinrs fo- Dante constitute DOrc gallery, not u
| 1g.a'..'Ha struck the happy