New-York tribune., 1907-01-13

| AUhyp never letting himself When in
his twenties. he is deeply impressed with "the
glorious works Of art" he sees In Venice and
Florence. he speaks of being particularly struck
with the exquisitely elaborate finish of most Of
the leading works by whatever master" and he
goes on to say to his father you Will easiIv
understand that under the influence OF sueb
feelings. felt the greatest possible reluctance to
sketch In the hasty manner in which one does
when travelling; Stunned the idea of an
preaching Nature in a manner which seemed tn
me disrespectful" Leighton would have bean =
greater artist If he had sometimes allowed nat
ure SO to shake his soul and set it aiaune as 70
make him paint with a freer. broader brush
His devotion to elaborate finish ultimately he
trayed him
The point is unconsciously exposed by Ruski,
in the warm tribute that he paid to that pietnra
Of "Cimabues Madonna Carried in Procession
Through the Streets of Florence" which Ieipb-
ton painted in 1855. "In the picture before ne -
says the critic, "in the background IS the Church
of San Miniato. strictly accurate In every de-
tail; on top of the wall are oleanders and pInks
as carefully painted rs the church: the arcbi
lecture of the shrine the wall is studied f-o-
thirteenth century Gothic, and painted with as
much care as the pinks; the dresses of the fe
ures, very beautifully designed. are painted with
as much care the faces: that is to saw all
things throughout with as much care as tho
painter could bestow." This. which Is meant ~
be praise, is really but another way of SAVING
that Leighton built his pictures up piece bv
piece. and sacrificed the light and shade Of life
to an ideal of balance which. IL often impressive
from strictly academic point Of view. never
theless left his work considerably below the
highest level He was a scholarly and often
felicitous designer. He knew how to I'LL a given
space with charming arrangement of line and
form But when he came to the crucial task Of
animating his pattern, of fusing line and form
with light and color into a rich. vitaIized unit
he experienced something like paralysis Of the
will and produced an immobiIe tableau rather
than episode from life. Mrs. Darlington SAYS
that his synpathies were adverse to the more
sensuOus qualities in painting" and that he had
almost aversion to any process which OBJ
tanned effects through roughness and inequality
of surface" In other words. he never knew the
beauty that is to be got out of pigment for its
own sake. and substituted for strength a kinG II
dry impeccabIe elegance
He was not unaware of his limitations He
rejected not with mock modesty. but with the
fervor of an inner conviction. the arniabIe as
sertion of Ruskin that he had enormous
power" He came himself nearer to the truth
when he wrote to his father saying: "I think
however you may expect me to become eventu-
ally the best craftsman in my country" But
even here there qualifications to be noted
Talking with Mrs Darlington once about a
study of Etty's. in which the craftsmanship
failed to please him. he said: st know that I
am a prig about drawing" It seems almost
cruel but it is none the less true that Leighton
without knowing it. grazed. in this remark, a
serious defect in his own craftsmanship, Civ
ing unfortunate word to use against him
His draWins is often prigyish- IL wants the ease
the abandon, the bold precision. and, above all.
the rich personal quality which you are bound
to find in even the slightest sketch Of a great
master Of drawing. Some OF his floral studies
charming IN their exquisite deIicacy and
finish Now and then, as in the Sketch of Su-
biaCo," which Mrs. harrington reproduces, he
struck an even fuller note But Leighton's line
IS not, the whole. thing in itself individual
and beautiful II tells rather as part OF fabric
of design in his painted work. as an element
ton-not as an element with a charm OF its
own.
What. then. accounts for his success? IT Is
something to which we have more than once
referred at length In The Tribune but which
we may now express In passage quoted by
Mrs Darlington from Swinburne- I've al owe
much TO Leighton" says the poet, @for the
selection and Intention of his subjectS-aIways
noble, always beautifuEand these are always
worthy OF q great and grave art" There we
he kew IN