The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-06-09

one within the other. its lines f1owlng
following. opposing each the other IN
perfect harmony. But do not unbal-
ance the whole by attempting TO intro
duce the 18th petal when you find you
have shown but 49, You are not a flor
list giving an automatically correct rep
resentation of that particular rose, ask
ing the exact number of petals il might
possess. No, the artist in you is striv-
ing to express the feeling given by
that rOse-of perfect beauty OF form
and sense of color harmony-and that
is the art of il.
But rather than paint the simple
rose-be il ever 50 beautiful in its pure
singleness-take a huge bunch of the
glorious flowers. thrown carelessly into
a mass. then what a chance for the
artisti-the flow Of line. the juxta-
position of one glowing tint TO another.
the perfect harmony that Nature, for
once. rranges-attempt all this and
find for how little that petty 18th petal
counts or how even a single rose is
but a minor part.
Yet how often we find the uninitiated
seeking for that 18th petal never rising
TO the plane of the glorious whole.
"The artist looks at Natures flower
not with the charging lens that he
may gather facts for the botanist. but
with the light of one who sees in her
the selection Of brilliant tones and deli
cate tints suggestions Of future har-
monies.
HE does not cOnfine himself TO pur-
pose less copying, without thought,
each blade of grass, but, in the long
curve of the narrow leaf, corrected by
the straight stem he learns how grace
is welded 70 dignity how strength en-
hances sweetness. that elegance shall
be the result"
In all that is dainty and sweet he
finds hints for his own combinations.
and this is Nature, always his resource
and always at his service and to him
is naught refused.
This principle governs in all branch
es of pictorial Art. POrtraiture, still
life landscape.
Often one makes literal study of an
object or place, a color photograph. for
reference or study in lines other than
that of beauty. But in arranging pic
ture from the same much is modified
giving perhops a truer impression of
the subject than the literal study.
And that is my definition of true I'm
pressionism, and is where the true in
dividuaIity of the artist asserts itself.
/ recollect some small canvasses' of
Corot's in which the trees were ex-
pressed by a mass of silvery grey with
only few twigs and leaves in detail
and yet which so faithfully represent
ed the trees that felt their absolute
truth to Nature.
They were trees in whose branches |
one felt there might be songsters carol |
ing in the siIvery dawn-light that per- |
meated the whole canvas.
That was true Impressionism under
analysis What was it but few care
less brush strokes with a stronger
touch-an accent here or there-but
such strokes and such touches,
Again in a small water-color by
Turner in the National Gallery in Lon
don | recall the sense given of bigness,
of immense power expressed in
huge swell on the sea.
One felt the tremendous power of
that oncoming surge and the boundless
depth of water beneath it-all on a
bit of paper scarcely larger than your
hand.
The Art was in the perfect balance of
mass which was so considered it do
the picture, throwing into ut
ter fnsignificance the little boat tossing
helpIessly in the hollow, a minor de-
tail. suggestive but entirely secondary.
Then again simplicity is what should
be looked for.
In art il is the beautifully simple
that appeals to the highest in aesthetic
nature Puvis de Chevaunes is one of
the leading masters in this school.
Some of his huge decorations are
based on such lines of ultra-simplicity
that at first glace they seem to the
casual grOtesque But when one ar
rives at the dominating idea and finds
the true inwardness of his later work
he has to admire the knowledge and
greatness of the artist.
In many Japanese works of art one
finds a simplicity and feeling for line
balance and knowledge of color har-
mony that it might be well to study
and for the student to consider.
On a roll of paper, or perhaps the
narrow panel of a screen, one hnds an
idea expressed. subject shown with
such an apparent paucity of color and
of line that, until he tries TO
add one stroke or intensity single
color-tint he is apt to feel the decor
alton might be bettered-
But once attempt a change and the
tyro finds he has unbalanced perfect
and created that over
which the gods would weep.
On the other hand one finds among
some of the mastery paintings of the
Dutch School a wonderful attention to
detail. vet so considered they did not
conflict with the main idea of the pic
ture.
They were minor parts of a whole.
lending themselves to the building UP
of a picture, but never forcing them
selves beyond their secondary position.
Let us now recapitulate: First-In
a picture we look for draw
ing. Iine-balance and Placement of
masses.
Second-Color values. harmony of
tones purity of tints.
Third-SimpIicity. In that there be
no line in the picture not essential to
the perfect balance of the whOle-no
tint unduIy accented and not a detail
more than the subject may demand.
These are points that deal more di-
rectIy with the technical side of pic
ture and the others are more or less |