The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-24

A great deal OF attention has been paid
lately. not only by French but by English
artists, to the various methods OF color print
Ing. We have had the dainty little etchings.
Just touched with color. OF NJ. Rafael: the
more elaborate color etchings Of Mortimer
henpes, and the color impressions from wood
blocks OF Mr. Nicholson. one OF the BeggarstafT
brothers (which. after all. are scarcely removed
from monotints) and the much more elaborate
and decorative work OF Mr.. patton. But there
Is an exhibition at present on view In London
which shows US color prints struck from etched
plates BY method which has carried this ne
art to It's ultimate degree. Mr. Theodore Rous-
sci. whose work they arc. Is a painter who has
lone been before the British public As men,
Der OF the New English Art Club in its earlier
days he attained considerable distinction as
ono OF the most earnest OF that little band OF
impressionsts who ~ one time seemed as
though they were going to make for them
selves a distinct niche in English art Lately,
however. he has forsaken his old comrades.
and. as q collection OF his paintings on exhibit
ton at one Of the Goupf galleries shows very
clearly. has gone far beyond them to tho ex-
tent OF receiving serious consideration. not
unmingled with admiration. from the critics
But delightful as are these Impressions OF at
mosphere and harmon ious color, even moro
interest attaches to his color prints. exhibited
at another OF Messrs. Goupil's galleries There
are only thirty Of them. including many prints
OF tho same subject in different stages, but
they form In themselves q striking little show
TWAS a dificult task that Mr.. Roussel had
set himself. but he seems to have carried II to
triump plant conclusion. He has adopted, he
Gays. no fewer than nineteen different kinds OF
Rroupds and aqua tInts In order to give the
requisite texture to the various portions OF his
h ANtu ia No. III.
than thirty different kinds OF colored inks.
made chiefly from powdered colors with few
metals added The results OF several years Of
experiments are now shown in the pleasant
little room OF Goupi.'s. around which they
hang. As In his paintings. color 10 here
the chief. II not tho only. concern
They range from an elaborate plate
entitled Summer" which is shown in some
six or seven states. but which must have take n
an extraordinary nun Der Of printinrs. for in
It's hnal state IL Is as luscious and opulent in
color as an oil painting. to tho dainty little
Window Through . Window" printed on
white paper ana relying chiefly on it's etched
and drypoin, lines. with but a touch or two Of
red or green introduced IN the flowers " ich
stand on the distant windowsill seen on the
other side Of the street through tho window OF
the room in which the spectator Is supposed to
be standing.
But Mr.. Roussel does not rest satisfied with
the production OF the color etching itself. He
has theories rs to mounting II and framing it
when 1t is complete his mounts. Therefore
are themselves printed in colors from copper
plates. and the frames are covered with etched
patterns, printed in colors. The effect Is not
so happy as II ought to be. There Is poverty
Of invention in the etched frame designs and a
lack Of truo decorative feeling. while tho
mounts tend to obscure rather than to illus
trate the etchinEs they surround. On the
whole. however. Mr.. Roussel has carried the
art OF color printing a step further than any OF
his com peers. tho only question being whether
he has not carried 1t triGs too far.
H. r. c.