The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-11
SOME e BOOKS.
INA.
RresRAphaeliusm.

In two volumes to describe ~-Pre-Raphaelit-
ism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
CMacmillans). Concerning his subject he
may Justly say, "a great part Of 1t l was
The authors motive for writing this book
seems to have been profound dissatisfac-
ton with previous expositions Of the theme.
He has read those compositions, he tells us,
ID whole or In part, and most Of them he
exoepts the 'Life OF Sir John Everett Mil
laisS-have led him to aooept Sir Robert
W0lpole's opinion that written history
cannot by any possibility be true. Another
motive for the production Of the work be-
fore us was the conviction that the abso-
lutte necessity OF long a~ndlaborious train
Ing needs to be impressed by preoept as
we'll as by example on students Of pictorial
art. It used to DO generally taken for
granted, and is often assumed even now,
that q being endowed with original tastes
and aptitudes may, after sorSe ~perfunctory
essays In drawing and in the use Of color,
be happily inspired, whereupon he will be
able, In q few days Of rspt energy, to con-
vert his thoughts into a masterpiece. MIR.
Hunt says in his preface that pictures
arc not produced thus. Long years are
needed to train the eye and hand before
q man can represent on O fiat surface any
forms Of creation under the simplest con-
ditions; the difficulty grows in compound
ratio with intricate designs Of moving
figures, and the immature artists illus
tration Of 80 sublime a theme would tax
more than the extreme indulgence OF
the most partial friends The interest,"
Ing fact is recalled that Burne-J ones,
converting about the shortness OF human
life for the attainment Of maturity In art,
impulAvely declared to our author that
at least three hundred years were needed.
Though the exclamation was unpremedi-
tated, Mr.. Hunt can see foundation for
the estimate. He reminds us that the
Greeks, the Romans and the Italians eked
out their short span Of personal observa-
tion and experience by handing on their
ACQUIRED wisdom to their pupils, and by
thus extending individual life reached
more surely the goal Of their ambition.
The aim Of these volumes Is to convince
the reader that every student OF art In
tho past was loyal to his own nationality,
and that In these days men Of British
blood, whether OF insular stock or from
homes beyond the seas, should not subject
themselves to the influence Of masters
alien to the sentiments and principles OF
the great English poets and thinkers. Mr..
Hunt considers, indeed, that there was
cause for caution even In the days when
the sober, high purposes Of Continental
masters insured the cultivation Of correct
ness and respect for questions OF common
sense. Now, on the other hand, when these
qualities are ridiculed and put aside he
holds that there is far greater reason for
regarding foreign training as most perni-
oious and altogether to be Stunned by
students OF the race to which Chauoer,
Shakespeare, Milton and the great fathers
OF English pictorial art belonged.
1t is we'll known that Mr.. Hunt regards
the character Of a nations art as immeas-
urably more important than it is ordinarily
thought to be, both for it's own people and
for the whole world. That Is why he oc-
o~asionally treats the subjects In these
volumes with solemnity. He points out,
for example, in the preface that the CUES
ton, Who is truly an artist? is not a new
one. michael Angelo said that carrying
a box Of colors did not make a painter, and
In our day to Haunt trivial fancies into
dainty forms cherished by idle patrons as
the choicest examples Of taste cannot be
consistent with the high service which
art e called upon to render To lounge
about from studio to studio and confer
over the things that go Of best, or to
report the highest sum given in Paris for
an approved piece Of manipulation exc
cuted to suit the whim of a star Of the demi-
monde may be a step toward reaching
vulgar favor and %opulence, but the triumph
IL a miserable one. With no larger aspira-
ton than this astir, how will a people be
blest as were those to whom the artist gave
national talisman for the conquest Of igno-
rance and brutality?"
Mr.. Hunt, for his part, holds that art,
as Of old, should stamp a nations indi-
viduality; It should be the witness Of its
ife to all eternity. "To whom he asks,
sbut the artist is relegated the function Of
giving a tangible and worthy image Of
the national body and mind2 Who else may
select and uphold the visible sign Of that
beauty in his race which is most heroic,
physically and mentally? Who shall warn
the people from the cramping distortions
due to the ephemeral tastes Of the day, the
passion for such frivolities being the mark
Of the corruption Of original SIM In antique
nations, tbs true, deadly vanities, insidious
as tares, were so cherished, supplanting
the rue wheat and imperilling the Nigor
OF the race"
II It be true that all development has it's
root In q desire, our author submits that
man ought to keep a revered image in his
minds eye. If, however, a given nation
be too feeble spirited to evolve arts Of
design capable of rejecting their W
souls, let them bow to classical supremacy,
and by this tribute escape much evil. Mr..
Hunt maintains that had the Chinese 40
oepted the teachings Of Greek art they
never would nave tolerated the hideors
manning Of their women. So. too, II Euro
poans in later ages had cared for healthy
art q hundredth part as much as they pro-
fessed TO care, the distortions OF fashion
would nave been defed. Our author re-
calls that even in ancient times the artist
who marched in the van Of thought had
more than imaginary foes to overcome.
sXenophon, in the very days OF Phidias,
tells Of the wife Of Ischomaobua who. till
converted to wisdom by Socrates, made
use Of poisonous white lead and vermilion
ko haiohtan the charm Of her oomplexion