Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-12-01
THE OLD E.!s X a u RS
THEIR ART m TIE WORKING or
STEEL PLATES a LOST ONE
Its Downfall Was BrounIlt Abont by
tIie Introduction and Perfection Of
Phofosraphy-The work of Muller
and Morghen-

PhOtoaraphy-The work Of muller
and Morghen.
Twenty-Five or more u ars ago, when
no self respecting citizen would have ven
tnred to invite his friends into d parlor7
not adorned with specimens Of the aIleg
cd art OF more or less incompetent steel
engravers 1.-The Pilgrims Progress,
.'The Guardian Angel" diminutive and
irritating children offering loayes of
bread to preposterously grateful and rag
ged poor such works of art as these
adorned the walls Of 90 out Of every 100
houses 1t was depressing from an artis-
tic point of view, but this feeble imita-
ton testified TO the supremacy Of the mo-
bic art Of steel engraving, OF which the
masters were an inspired few. The en-
grayed atrocities have vanished from the
walls, and along with them the truly
beautiful specimens of the art have
grown TO be less and less highly priced,
except by the connoisseur. Steel engrav-
ing has come to be one of the lost arts.
In few years all its followers will have
passed away, and the good engravings
now extant will even more distinctly be
come merely interesting subjects for the
collector rather than for the admiration
of the many.
Steel engravers have not yet found
their occupation gone entirely. The old
men who once engraved pictures of ambi-
tious size and scope now. toil-such Of
them as are leftover the details of
bank notes. 1t is the one living branch of
steel engraving, one worthy en-, agh in its
way, for the work Is beautiful, but one
which will never win the admiration once
showered on huge copies Of great pic
lures To the general public the figure
rather than the design of a bank note is
of Importance, and few stop to note the
delcacy of the lines, the grace Of the
composition, all engraved, very likely,
with loving care by some old man whose
pride in his art remains, although the
glory of it has gone forever.
This branch of engraving has reached
a higher development in America than
anywhere else. The delicacy of the work
is sometimes extreme and gives an idea
of the standing of the artist in the days
when his skill was put to higher uses.
The old men are growing fewer every
year. For the special profession of bank
note engraving young men are being
trained to take their places, but for the
broader work. as it used to be carried on,
there will be no successors. The old en-
gravers are the last of their ancient
guild. and with them the art of steel en-
craving as it relates to large pictures
will die
But, narrow as is their field, 1t is inter-
esting to find that these old artists recog
nize one another's work by the minute
details of the bank note or stock certif-
cate. Much of it is done by geometric
lathe in the hands of apprentices, but the
touch of the true artist is perceptible to
his brother, just as it is possible to de-
tect in a moment the style of painter.
There is always infinite pathos about
the idea of the worlds losing anything
beautiful 1t once possessed. 1t does not
matter whether or not there has come
something to take its place-the sadness
Is there. As matter of fact steel en-
craving has passed away because some
thing as satisfactory and far cheaper
has been discovered. Photography is
a good enough substitute for the inferior
work which was so familiar a quarter of
a century ago. The rage for etching
also helped TO overthrow steel engrav-
ing from it's position of security. but the
downfall was brought about chiefly by
the invention of photography. The plates
engraved by really good workers cost a
large sum of money and an amount of
time dsproportionate even to the high
price. Muller spent six years in perfect
ing his ''Sistine Madonna" and the price
paid for it rewarded his time at less
rate than that of an ordinary dry goods
clerk of today.
Such works were, indeed, labor of
love- and to them there attached senti
mental interest that can never cling
around the photograph which has driven
the engraving from the field. An ordina-
ry photographer-tha is, man with no
special artistic inspiration-can produce
the beautiful work which hangs in the
place of those once honored copies Of
great pictures. OF course. steel engrav
ings are still bought and sold and still
hang in the houses of artistic people, but
those who buy are in the main collectors.
The general public no longer looks at the
old time favorites. To take up some vol
ume of good art journal of % years ago
and compare it with recent issues is to
meet forcble reminder of the way in
which taste has changed. "A quarter of a
century ago the pages of such volumes
were filled with steel engravngs and
nothing else, while now dashing color eff
fects, daring Studies in charcoal, fill
page after page.
The position in the art world of the
great engravers is quite beyond dispute
There is 40 question of whether or not
there is general interest in their manner
of work.
The value of their engravings is fixed
and their service to the world is beyond
question. Were it not for Morghen we
might have had no idea of the beauty of
Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper" The
true spirit of art has been nobly preserv-
ed by such engravers and their followers.
and there is about their work a charm
which fashion cannot affect.
But these works are too high priced for
the public TO know much of them, and ev-
cry year will increase their value. For
an engraving. il it is to be perfect, must
be printed at the time the plate Is made.
Copies made after many years are. from
the point OF view of the connoisseur,
worthless. Again. many plates have been
retouched by some clumsy hand and thus