Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-11
ART NOTES.

Mr.. Moser began his art talk on "Out-
door sketching' at the Corcoran School,
last Monday afternoon. by declaring that
there, was fundamentally little difference
between outdoor and indoor sketching.
and that unless student could correctly
draw cup and saucer on a table, he
should not attempt, or expect to be able, to
draw tree by, the roadside. A sketch, he
Insisted, was not careless drawing, a few
lines or colors jotted down indiscriminate-
ly, but rather a thoughtful study OF struc-
lures and values. On the other hand. how
ever, he warned his listeners to avoid SUI
perfiuous detail. to picture what they saw
and not what they thought they ought to
see. He laid special stress upon the inn
portance of correct values, and urged the
students to make sure of these before they
passed on to minutiae, explaining the
method he himself pursued toward this
end, and relating the little incident in his
own experience which taught him the me-
cessity for such study. Mr.. Moser drew
largely upon his own experience for illus
trations and told without hesitation Of his
failures and difficulties as well as the eff
forts which led to success, for, as he said,
that was the way he had learned, and pos
sibly the incidents might prove helpful and
studies under the tuition of German in
Structor. who kept him for weeks drawing
flowers in pen and ink with the precision
of line engravings This style of work
was not. however to his liking. and while
he did it under compuision, he wOrShiped
in secret the illustrative work of Harry
Fem. and put forth all his efforts in his
leisure hours to initiate it both In spirit
and in fact TIE height of his ambition
was then to be able to create such works
of art as were to be found in Picturesque
America, and wherever he went his sketch
book was carried and put to use. Then fol-
lowed a period of practical. hurried work
for q newspaper followed by season or
more of study in New York, when, accord
ing to his own statement, ne discovered
how much he had to learn. At that time,
and ever since. Mr.. MoSer studied the best
works of the best men and learned some
thing from each one. And this ne ear
nestiy counseled his hearers to do. At this
point he paid his colleague. Mr.. Brooke. a
high tribute, speaking in terms OF unstint-
ed praise of the sketch book which he
brought back from Holland some years
fngs which in every way conform to the
ideal requirements Hof both outdoor and
indoor sketches and are simple. spirited
and strongly constructed. He urged vehe-
mently upon the students the Importance
of selecting simple subjects ana the Fltai
necessity of being thorough: and. In con,
clusion, he warned them that the royal
road to success in art was not only, as Sir
Joshua Reynolds has said, by keeping
eyerlastfngly at it,s but by adding to per-
sistent effort, tirelesss enthusiasm.
e
That Mr.. Moser practices what he breaches
all who know him will be more than ready
to testify, for it may be safely said that no
painter finds more solid enjoyment in his
work than he. This to large extent shows
in his pictures, and is the cause of their pop
ularity and his success. Livingin Washington
for many years, and entirely identified with
the local fraternity. Mr. Moser has won rec
ognition in the foremost art centers of this
country One of his water colors was re-
Gently accepted and entered in the first
class by the International jury for the st.
Louis exposition, two hang In the Pennsyl-
vania Academy's present notable exhibition,
and these same two he has been solicited to
send, free OF expense, to the Chicago Art
Institutes approaching exhibition. That
these marks of appreciation are subStan-
TALLY merited nothing could testify better
than the picture which Mr. Moser finished
this week 1t Is a cloud effect In the noun
tains, and was begun last summer at Lake
Placid. In the foreground. to the right. Ii
{. dark green hillside, beyond which White
Face mountain looms up against the clOuded
sky. To the left is the lake, across which
black storm cloud Is trailing shower OF
rain. Behind the mountain the light ID con-
centrafed. and back of each tier Of bIIlowy
clouds there is q feeling of distant radiance.