New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-07
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
AN ENGLISH PAINTER WHO JUST MISSED
THE HIGHEST GOAL.

FORD MADDOX BROWN. A Record OF WIS HIS I Nrs
and Work. BY Ford NJ Huener. WIN N ssa
merous Reproductions. octave, PIP. M ''''
Longmans. Green d Co.
Ford MADDOX Brown was an artist IN whom
greatness struggled vainly for expression. he
had noble ideas. the will to put them on canvas
md the patience to labor over them through
years But he could not find the way. His color
was limited In scale and lacked purity or TONE
lacked quality. His mpasto was apt TO be uhou'y
thick and even stringy. He never became 'ne
full master of his materials. Most OF all ne
failed to touch the highest plane OF design-the
plane upon which the selective instinct is raised
to the power Of divination and aids man 10
spontaneously mould his composition into lucio'
symmetrical lines. Brown rarely ned MS
space" with skill. Once in while. as In the
beautiful picture Of Elijah and the Widows
Son." he struck perfect balance. but ordinarily
he fell short of the standard erected in that fine
work. His famous decorations at Manchester
are in the strict sense not decorations at all.
but magnified easel pictures. and even as such
thew lack unity and completeness in the group
ing Yet when all these drawbacks nave peeh
considered there remains in the background
the stuff of true artistic greatness. the IN
sp:ration. the upward flight of imagination and
feeling Brown refused to identify himself with
the Pre-Raphaelte brotherhood when That
famous group was forming itself. He preferred
TO sympathize but remain outside 1t Is easily
understood The spiritual stature OF the man
was too high the moral nature too robust.
There was little in him of the morbid strain
which did Rossetti and his colleagues so much
HARM He thought sturdy thoughts and painted
them with the honest vigor Of man whose art
did not conflict with his common-sense.
Because he was Of so virile temperament and
produced pictures at once romantic and pro-
foundly real. profoundly human. the biography
written by his grandson will he welcome 1t Is
not a persuasive book. Brown was more en-
gaging personality. If his contemporaries are 10
be believed than Mr. Hueffer With the pest VIII
in the world. makes him out to be. But IL is IN
teresting 10 follow however bald the narrative,
his strenuous efforts to further mis- ambition He
was all for painting heroic things, and as OPP
portunties for such work are rarely common ne
made but slow progress. On the other hand,
such paintings as he did accomplish have mon
umental air. and before the Manchester frescoes'
or the famous Work the equally famous
"Cordelia's Portion" the student feels that ne
has encountered one of the strong indiNluuah'ies
of modern British art. His life suggests strange
speculations With his imagination his leeIne
for character his passion for historical ana
other splendid themes. would not the gilt oi d
masters technique have put him in the rank OF
the great masters? There seems something
wrong in the fate that could have given hihl' Ill
the long run. less brilliant fame than Rossetti'
who had not half so manly a mind To be sure.
Rossetti had the strange witchery OF genius. ana
that MADDOX Brown never had. Perhaps II ex-
plains his failure to reach the goal.
This volume has some good stories in 1t. but
they are not all concerned with the hero The
hest IL one which deals with Douglas Jerrold,
who Brown thought talked too much. II only
remember once" he writes. having heard him
(Jerrold) thoroughly extinguished Che was ac-
customed to say). and that was when he was
with myself and some one else-I can't remember
who 1t was-in a sort of low clearinghouse or beer
house, or something OF the sort. He was In par
ticular spirits and talking away more brilliantly
than ever so that II was quite impossible for any
one else to get word in, when all OF sudden,
drunken woman who had been asleep with
her head on the table. looked up full in his face.
in a muzzy. berry sort Of way and said: You
are a sanguinary fool and it so completely nab
bergasted Jerrod that he never spoke another
word In that place" There is an anecdote OF
Turner, prowling around disguised as one Brown.
and in his supposed secluson. unconscious that
MADDOX Brown spying him out and knew
who he was making extraordinary HERO
glyphic shorthand notes" Of cows. holding the
pencil in his fists downwards, as If 1t was dag
ger. instead of in his fingers" From the artists
journal there is this fragment: "Dined with Bill
Rossetti, and afterwards to Browning. where
was woman with large nose. Hope may
never meet her again." OF Rosseti himself
there are several picturesque sketches one OF
them showing him in a delightfully."- natural
frame Of mind and therefore valuable after
all the esoteric stuff that is printed about
him. He had promised to go with Brown
10 see Woolner's statue of Bacon, and 10
tactfully help tell the sculptor that the
statue was too short. "Rossetti said he would
come, but must be spokesman. az he funked It.
However while looking at the statue and
thinking how to begin. Rossetti who. by the
way had all along before sworn the statue was
perfect. blurts out. 4 say that chaps too short,
/ certainly think"
This volume has been needed. for MADDOX
Brown was and is to-day. an important figure In
the British school. The text has been reverently
but not too partially written and Mr.. Hueher
has the advantage of good pictorial accompani-
ment. The numerous paintings are reproduced In
perfectly executed plates. The book is bound
between covers which. if somewhat too delicate
for everyday use. are at least artistic.