The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-15
rWArrssART DISPLAYED.
collection Of His Paintings shown BY
,ne unyal Academy in London.

laura rs might be expected Is tne
s.rlo. Of pictures and drawings illustrating
,b.. 10 work of the late George Frederick
wo,,s A. Including the marble bust OF
C1,,te the a exhibits number 2is, and as
,bo only other things shown are sixty-six
,,,nples Of the art of the late Frederick
.,o.ly. and an deliberately fnished model
9 Thomas Brooks design for the national
memorial to Queen Victoria, the exhibition
a IN numerical way considerably smaller
than usual
Nevertheless. il may be safely predicted
.b,t this unusually small exhibition will
interest an unusually large numter OF peo-
,1e In the best sense that can be attached
10 tho words. Watts painted for the public;
and Art for arts sake, one Of the esoteric
Gar vhoops OF this specializing age, had
Tor him no meaning
Watts was capable OF spelling Art with
. small q, monstrous minimizing; and
this he did not because he moderated its
IMPORTANCE in any way, but because. he
could naturally spell air with small a.
and believe that air and art were eq ally
important TO mankind He ever expected
mankind to believe this and II not to-day
then certainly tomorrow.
Though personally the most modest or
man. no had as artist the most colossal OF
ambitions. In fact, ambition is here no
adequate description, for Watts had the
dohnite conviction that he was working for
The public Of all time, the public Of an I'M
limited future.
II will be remembered that he offered to
4scorate Euston Station at his own expense
to design and carry out cartoons TO be
placed in ono OF the great railway stations
Of London. where they could be seen by
millions Of people, 1t was his custom to
offer his pictures as gifts to nations never
doubling for a moment that these were
gifts well worthy Of nations acceptance.
surely there Ia something magnificent in
such convotionl
1t is hardly necessary to say that in all
this there was no trace of desire for self
advertisement. The simple, noble life or
Watts is well known. Honors came to him
unsought, and he refused them. He could
have made a considerable fortune, but did
not desire it. His pictures were not to be
treasured by collectors; they were TO be
heheld of mankind; they we're to serve the
human race as beacons,
He was a man with high vocational
preacher teacher, like the great Hebrew
prophets. In one sense he was greater.
for he had no special religion. His stand
point was purely ethical.
Well, he is dead, and the world is the
poorer; and the consciousness Of this makes
il somewhat difficult TO judge Of his work
as such. to dssociate 1t from the man
who was here so recently. Yet there is at
least one vexed question that the present
exhibition ought to set at rest
One of the newest schools OF critics.
appropriately called the ultra-technical
school. considers that Watts could not
paint For them painting is an end in itself.
and Watts did not put his paint on his can
vas in any OF the manners Of which they
approve as resulting in beauty Of the
plinted surface-a matter quite apart from
the. subject represented. Velasquez. for
Instance, and in modern times Whistler,
we're satisfactory as regards the beauty
of the painted surface.
Now. at the Royal Academy are nurner
ous carly works by Watts that make IL
evident that he, too. had sufficient talent
10 become quite satisfactory as a painter
Of the PAINTED surface. For example, there
is an Aurora dating from 1912, when
Watts was rs.
The somewhat bald description Of the
compiler Of the catalogue is; Small full
length figure Of partially draped female,
coating in the clouds. surrounded by
Amorine, It is fine color scheme of blue
and gold. with glazes Of tender rose and
puppies Save for its fine color and greater
refinement it might have been painted 10y
Etty-who was at least very skilful painter
and it is only one of numerous pictures
Plat are very well painted
But this Aurora and others OF the
early pictures have cracked. II YOU want
10 put your paint on slick and TO use trans
parent glazes you need lot of vehicle,
oils Of one kind and another and these in
driving, some at one rate and some at an.
other are likely to produce cracks.
The life Of n cracked picture is com.
pa1auyely short and in the sos il be-
came the object Of Watts to produce pictures
whose lives. for reasons already stated,
should not be comparatively short, Then
he got the purest and best colors he could
obtain and used very little oil or vehicle
Of any kind
You cannot make much slapdash with
colors thus prepared, but they will appear
70 your children's children and 70 their
remote posterity practically as they do
- y0ti. i II much AZ though Ee had PER
Bee, Photographic record Of Isaiah pour.
ing forth bis fiery soul in universal language
understood by all mankind.
And herein is the reply 70 those who hold,
especially with reference TO Watts. that
ailegoriea are not suitable subjects for the
PAINTER since they ought TO be expressed in
words. Some one has pointed out that this
argues the perfection Of language as an
instrument. as means Of expressions
whereas We all know that language fire.
qucntlv fails US when we desire 70 express
some -nh;lety of III ought or feeling But
even granting the perfection of language,
T. O. evident that given Ian gu sgeis under
stood only by a limited number Of persons,
and that an idea clearly expressed in paint
ing is Ineligible TO mankind.
Here is something written by Watts him
self about his allegorical paintings
The great majority Of these works must
oeregariedrather as hieroglyphics than as
anything else. certainly not as more than
symbols which all art was in the beginning
and which everything else is that is not
direct ~ connected with physical conditions.
In many cases the intention is frankly
mdacuc excuse for this, generally re-
Esrded as exasperatinE, being that it has
been found, not seldom, that the attempts