The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-04-21

some really good things havs writ
ten great los CT stuff. but ! have de-
struyeS rncss OF e. / think have some
IDEAS that the public may take kindly TO
l wrote novel Oxce. whtch now believe
20 have been good bat / aid not Think IL
he9 merit then. and 30 burned tx mp.
have two beoks under way now. how
ever, which I shall not eura up. Per
hzps / may some tim. wish I had
shstr complete them before 80 to Amer
scs next autumn
Il wonder II America win ike ny
lectures am preparing them very care
fuily. ard | think they may be worth
While. However. shall not give many OF
them
In the midst OF the ain Of converse
ton that followed. he grew quite ex-
cited m his comment on public erfti-
cizEn~ lt was plain 20 see that there
are moments when he does s--os accent
abuse phflosopnicalsy: when he for~ets
that II adTertises him 20 have his heart
cut out and held Up TO ridicaie by the
critics.
The ahsar5i;y OF moss Of the criti
cisrns" he exclaimed why win Tho
public persist in talking about art. Of
which II knows nothing The artists
Position In this year OF grace Is not a
lovely one-i am not speaking OF NY
self, but Of painters They can only
show their pictures in eeastiy galleries
where art is impossible; where a man.
TO get his canvas booked at all must
make, inrid. so that IL viii stand out
from the riot OF color on the wall. Or
else" he added bitterly. he may buy
very snowy frame. IL the frame Is
snowy enough. ! don't suppose what's on
the canvas matters much
And then" he went on, ''the public
Tiles through the gallery and passes
judgement. What right has IL TO pass
Judgment Whit does IL know about
artg Nothing-ahsoiuteIy nothing. No
mora than it does about steam engines.
And IL IL went TO an engine shop. do
You suppose that IL would glance crit
ically at the machines there and pass
judgement on them? OF course not IL
would take it's hat huinhly OF and.
bowling To the master mechanic. would
ask him TO say which machine was good
and why. Now, do not see why the
painter fellow should not be treated
quite as well as the engine fellow;
cannot see why the public in the paint
ers case considers IL its privilege to
ignoFantly save or siay him, while in
the mechanics case 1t waits respect
fully for some one TO come along who
knows. before IL ventures any view at
all.
efthaf slEfoSc tfiat all the ignorant
nonsense that is spoken and printed about
art helps make money for the men 1t
wrongs. Such stun has given me a no
toriety which has helped me greatly. /
realize that; but IL is not always pleas
ant"
Beardsley is very clever talker. His
lectures In America ought to be sue
cessfin lie is real artist Hubert
Herkomer. whose recent death was a loss
to thu ha1a re nj u,h
cism was greater. perhaps. than Ruskin's.
recognized Beardsley. lie wrote
Certainly he Is "a man of genius. and,
perhaps. as he is still very young, we
may hope that when he has expressed
his present mood completely he may
turn his thoughts into another channel
and see a better side of human life.''
As good characterization of Bearfsiey
as possible was written BY Herbert Small
Mr.. Beardsley had discovered" said
Mr.. Small. that pre- Raphaelitism
could be made as dashing and impn
dent as the most dashish and impudent
Partisan affiche, and remain pre-Ra-
rhaelitism stu. Add TO this Japanese
technique and an unparalleled eye for
black and white and we have an APP
Proclamation to Mr.. Beardsley's. man
ner. Many OF his women. with their
exquisite hands and their thick lips
consciousness; but they are usually hu-
man-humanity' stripped bara of every
thing but good manners-and they are.
always art. The truth seims TO be that
Mr.. Beardsley is oppressed by a pecu-
larry hideons phase OF the cyuicism OF
youth, which he prefers 10 express as
IL suits him. instead OF Initiating. like
other young men. the work OF the
schools. One may think as one chooses
OF Mr.. Beardsley's artistic morality.
His decorative scheme is meyer at fault
thanks to his magnificent treatment OF
his blacks and whites, which MIR. PEN
nell has praised so highly. and thanks
to his unequaied, rocking line"
At present he has done no color work
except in advertising posters. He has
a great respect for the advertising poster
He says 1t is one of the few forms OF
the art today which has a definite OBJ
ject. Book illustration. also. has an OBJ
tect. or course, but the average painting
Is. In his original opinion, without any
reason for existence. The painter makes
a picture OF horse because he does not
happen TO see COW. He has no especial
idea In Ii. and therefore his. work is use
less. But the advertising poster fills
useful place In the world. and is. there
FORE not to be scorned
In physique he Is almost Incredibly
frail His cheeks are white, his big
eyes are hollow and biue-ringed. and the
smooth thatch OF dark red hair (which
is one OF the Alterations which makes
you angry is conabed down on his fore
head, so that 1t exaggerates the excess
sive pailor and thinness OF his features.
At times you feel as IL you could
pouf.--blcw him away with a good. hard
breath but a moment later he says
thing SO thoughtful apd so brilliant that
you give up the idea, and forget his
bodily lightness In your admiration of
nfx marital weight