The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-27
NEW YORK WATER COLOR CLUB.
second Notice.

iiihetci iic TO- EVEN DtlOTc Ohe dPpiooshco
near enough to study the individual pictures
their aggregate effect communicates an ex-
hilaration; for bigness Of feeling, directness
OF expression and spontaneous force carry
their message even from distance. And
the nearer view sustans tho impression.
lIc nanipulates the medium with ex-
traordinary skill but no trick is involved,
The skill directly follows from his method OF
attack. and the main feature OF that is the
concentrated intensity with which he rvets
ms attention on some one aspect or mood OF
the scene, brushing all trivalities aside in his
straight keen realization of the essentials,
which. once powerfully realized, he renders
with that quick correspondence Of eye and
hand that intuition and practice have
made Pc. sible. One may be the more
assured that this is the secret Of his strength
by studying an early example. Wreck on
the English Coast" painted as far back as
1881. In the middle distance bark il toss
ing helplessly against background Of
misty sea and heavy slate-colored sky, while
over the tumult of waves in front life
boat is approaching Sln his rendering of
the wreck and laden sky one can see how
the painter has been aroused. but equally
we can see that he has not yet mastered the
art of simplification. of instinctively dis
covering the essentials, in the way he has
treated the waves in front. They have
tremendous energy of movement, but their
surface is overlaid with the scum and swirl
OF foam, rendered with such laborious
precision that it has the stiff crimped ap-
pearance of n curled wig In this elabora-
ton of detail much of the main significance
Of the scene is lost 1t is chiefly by compar-
ing this example with the later ones that we
realize its comparative defects; and discover.
as the artist himself has done, that intensity
OF purpose logically leads TO that directness
which involves simplifcation.
What strides he had made toward this
even as early az 1885 may he seen In the
"Cockfght." The object Of definition Is
the victorious bird. st Frightening his throat
to crow Of triumph. his figure all the more
starkly distinct that the plumage has been
torn from his back. and a mere residuum
Of tail feathers fan themselves out ridcu-
lousy from the stump OF flesh. Below
him lies his adversary. a mass OF limp
plumage. draggled and dusty while the
stir Of dust and floating feathers il st III
surrounding the group. II is an extraor-
binary bit Of impressionistic painting
most complete and vivid
We need not to be reminded how important
a part is played by the white paper in
Homer's water colors; how the paper is
the top note in the scale Of light to which
he keys all the other tones but there Is a
striking example here in A Land Mark
n rambling old house. white or dove gray
according as it catches sun or shadow
standing at the summit Of greenish-
yellow knoll with a sky behind it Of slaty
blue. How the glare and heat of tropical
sunshine are expressed For the scene il
in Bermuda, and this penet rating. per-
vasive light we discover TO be suggested
by few tones. washed broadly in, skill
fully chosen and juxtaposed so as to in
erase by illusion the actinic qualities OF
the white paper.
Similarly. in 'Saguenay River-Grand
Discharge" the succession Of rolling crests
that ride down the rush Of water. forced
up from below by the pressure and speed
is mainly the paper in reserve; shaded in
the hollows with thin wash of reddish
brown. II is in this way that the artist
secures an energy and snap that no amount
of OVERLAPPING with white pigment could
produce. There l. certainly another reason
which makes this method 30 stirring to the
sense psychological one. II is the re-
suit Of the picture having been clearly and
completely comprchended in the artist 5
brain before brush is put to paper. He
sees his picture completed before he starts
to paint, and then marches straight and
swiftly to his conclusion; and the conscious
ness Of such comprehensive and immediate
achievement acts as stimulus to our own
Imagination. His masterful enthusiasm is
contagious.
A. a consequence Of execution following
so rapidly and surely upon the conception.
there is never a tired or fumbled passage
in the picture and the colors are always
pure, sparkling and translucent - gem
like. How beautiful is Homcr's sense
of color appears. perhaps, most markedly
in his rendering of water; especially in
the liquid depths of blue and green, tones
that in nature reappear in the crcvasses
of glacier. but which in their grandest
| beauty must be sought for in the ocean,
since then to tone are added the further
charms of movement and transparency
And with what absoluteness of suggestion
he renders these qualities-in most i'm
pressive manner. TO be sure. in his oil
paintings. but in the water colors with
closely personal expression OF himself
that gives them their particular value.
For 1t would be impossible to get closer
to the workings and the preferences OF tie
artists mind than through these water
colors. No interval of time or barrier OF
technical bewilderments separates us from
! the moment of his inspiration. IL and
| himself-his artistic entity l mean-are
! intimately revealed.
Among pictures Of the sea is Charles II
| Woodbury's From the Gill;" quite beau
! tiful in color, but with little suggestion of
| liquidity and movement. On the other
| hand, in Ben Fosters Small Point, Maine. -
| the tumultuousness Of the water as il
swrls In and out between the low, Jagged
rocks. seethed into foam and tossing hecks
of spray, IL admirably rendered, while
| there is humidity in sea and sky fine
expression OF wind and weather. Nor
can one fail to be struck with Robert Ar
thurs virilc treatment of the ocean sweep
! ing in large eddies round some isolated
crags Of dark rock; yet the slide down of
! the water in front, ~ II ii would escape
| from the frame. is hardly satisfactory.
Sunny and spontaneous, smacking de-
| lightfully of the open air, is THE Boat
| Yard, provincct own" by RhOda Holmes