The sun., 1899-07-02
PEN And INK DRAWING.
Tho Important Place 1t Once Held, but Has
Loot, In Mngnzine Work.

The period between 1880 and 1890 Is very
interesting one in the history OF the illustrated
| magazine. In some respects IL seems to stand
| apart and have character Of its own Methods
, OF reproduction were undergoing vital changes
from the old style OF wood engraving, and the
| Introduction OF the mechanical reproduction
| OF line drawings by photography gave us a
| school OF pen draughtsmen. who rejoicing In
their newly acquired freedom. gave promise OF
rivallin. with the pen the best traditions of
| etching. No expense was spared in reproduce
| tion. Process companies and art editors ri
| vailed each othor in their efforts to secure the
| bcs: results Plates were made over and over
again in attempts more nearly to approach
qualities in the original drawing. Enthusiasm
and interest were In the air.
| In 1890 L. A. Abbey and Alfred Parsons be-
gan that artistic partnership which. starting
with the illustrations for THE English Lakes
and Their Genii." was destined to run so sue
cessfully for number of years. To this Pc
! riod belong the Abbey illustrations OF Her
! ricks Poems. The Old Songs" the Surrey
| papers. Judith Shakespeare. She Stoops to
Conquer and with George Boughton, the
=" Artist Stros in Holland" Perhaps ma
! jortty o! tho drawings were in pen and ink.
| and the results were in most cases SO frlicltous
that 1t liz difficult to account satisfactorily for
the almost complete disappearance Of pen and
'.
hart appeared in 1881 and 1882 with his
brilliant drawings for Tho English Mt
the Seaside" and In Cornwall with
an Umbrella to be- followed later by his
| drawings Of " French Political Leaders" Ger
man Political Leaders" and those for George
Parsons Lnthrop's Spanish Nistas" and
Charles Dudley Warmers Their Pilgrimage"
About this time the new century appeared on
the scene with brilliant little pen-and-ink
| drawing nf EIr,urv'g law
Looking through the volumes OF the succeed
ing years, one finds such pleasant surprises as
Mr.. Brennans drawings for an article on {" Cos
tunes in the Greek Play at Harvard" especial
| ly the " "Udipus in Despair' and those draw
ings for american Country Dwellings" (Cen-
tury. $50 and Chanty," some of which still
stand unrvalled as drawings Of architecture
The pen drawings by Harry Fem. Kenyon
Cox. W. II Drake. F. V. Du Mond o. H. Bacher
H. ID. Nichols and II. F. Farny each brought
their individual note Of character-coor line
| arrangcm ent. texture. One sometimes wonders
| to paraphrase Fitzgerald. what the winners
buy One-halt SO precious IA the goods they
| sold.' Any consideration Of pen and ink that
omitted joseph Pennell would be wofuly in
complete. and his is the golden thread which
weaves In and out the pages OF the Century as
one Rances through the bound volumes. To
mention "A Florentine Mosaic" the Tuscan
cities. the English cathedrals, and odd Chel-
sea" is merely to touch on few OF many
articles. all OF which he illustrated with fer
tility OF invention nothing short OF marvellous
| 1t would be interesting to know how high fu-
ture generations will place Mr. Pennell's work
In comparison with what has gone before and
with what follows but there Is little doubt that
he will be accounted one of the greatest mas
ters OF the pom OF all time.
Mr.. Pyes pen and ink drawing presents
! thrae distinct or mi nd IL Ia,
first Of these only which one finds in the Cen
| t'U'y or HnrpG's for the period OF 1SSO-8O so
that we are obliged to look elsewhere for any
thing representative OF his best work 1t is in
Pepper and Salt,""Th Wonder Clock" and
Robin Hood that sne finds those drawings
which have given him an international reputa-
tion and placed him so high that he has been
followed by an army Of imltators Whichever
way one turns he is confronted with limitations
of Mr. Pyes third manner in pen and ink. and
the artist himself. abandoning pen and Ink,
now works in oil or wash.
Mr. Smedley and Mr.. Sternsr two artists
whose pen and ink drawings were not only
much admired by artists for their special
qualities. but whose regulations are to a GER
tain extent based on their success with pen
aud ink and crayon have also abandoned thes 9
mediums. One seems justified in asking with
some pertinency. Why?
ants in the whole school OF pen and ink draw
ing. seems to have dropped illustration. as Mr.
Abbey has done. Charles Dana Gibson who's O
work began TO appear in the magazines about
1888. ID the only one Of the group who sticks
to his original medium. Thus. without any
apparent canse. unless it was the advent Of
CHI cap pen and ink drawings in the daily
papers. the magazines seemed to lose interest
in pen and ink as medium. Briiancy and
! ripip al ity mad. 70, fai N,,tN NS
work. There were many newcomers In the
field. following in the track OF the successful
ones. so that pen and ink drawing OF Itself
and without regard to quality. became the cas-
fly obtained article OF commerce. The growth
Of the country, and the multiplicity OF outside
interests forcing themselves on magazine read
ers. is responsible for some indifference Peo-
pie have less time in which to read magazines g.
less time to devote to studying and enjoying
them. Moro and more time is being devoted
to outdoor sports. and the development OF the
daily and Sunday papers and the introduction
of the cheap magazines, which seem to absorb
more and more time for their consideration.
are important factors in modifying the
public taste. All Of these things however,
do not explain the uninterestlng quality
of pen and ink drawing to-day. Perhaps
ono may find reason IN the cheapness
OF haf-tone process plates. Their cost Is
so low and their average excellence as repro
ductions Is so high when they are printed on
coated paper that, thanks to tho widespread
use of photographs instead OF drawings. all
periodicals look alike. One reason for this is
that the half-tone plate fails to render textures
If memory serves Alright. tho first process
plates OF drawings mot Photographic pub
lishcd by the Century werc made from draw
ings by F. Hopkinson Smith, and the absence
of texture came as shock to the eye habit
uated to volumes Of wood engraving at its
best Mr.. Drake and others have recently
made experiments in retouching or engraving z
haIf-tone plates with the idea OF giving some
variety Of texture to them.
Indian Isn't Going; Hasn't Even Started.