Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-08
PAINTING 4 PORTRAIT
Discussion Of the Art by HUI
bert vos.
USUAL WAY OF JUDGING
Should Be Much More in the Picture
Than the Likeness.
WHAT A PAINTER SHOULD KNOW
If His Work is to Live, He Must
Prepare Himself for It by Years Of
Patient and Intelligent Labor.
WHAT A PAINTER SHOULD KNOW

Patient and Intelligent Labor.
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
NEW YORK. February Z, 1907.
When asked Hubert Vos. himself cell
ebrated artist. who are the greatest paint
ers of the present generation he said 1t was
impossible to answer such a question, just
as 1t would be impossible to say who are
the greatest statesmen, authors or actors,
it being entirely a matter OF taste and judg-
ment. for there Is no standard by which
men may be measured.
Every year new men are springing up"
continued Mr.. Vos, land often those of
established reputation fail to keep up to
the quality of their former work. There
are great painters, too, with only local rep
utations, when they might easily win inter-
national honors. Take Cab. .el Ferrier, for
example. The public in the United States
never heard of him. yet he is one of the
greatest painters in the world ana has won
the highest distinction in France. where he
lives. Everybody who goes to the theater
has fair appreciation Of the merits of an
actor or play. but some of the richest and
see the difference between a bad picture
and a good one.
Formerly portrait painting was limited
to royal families and great personages, but
today 1t Is so common that thousands of
artists make their living with canvas and
brush, and portraits in oil of more or less
merit may be found hanging on the walls
of the house of almost every well-to-do
family. The price of portraits has also adj
vanced. Portrait artists cannot live in at
ties. They must live in the same atmos-
phere as the men and women they paint.
Attic artists can paint beggars, dogs. cows
and forest and woodland scenes, but not
portraits.
Judging of Likenesses.
Portrait painting when 1t reaches the ex-
cellence of art is probably the highest of
arts But all portrait painting is by no
means art. Most people look in a portrait
only for likeness. That Is all they can judge
by and it makes them say This portrait is
good or This portrait is bad A portrait
to be work Of art must be a work Of art
independent of the likeness. That reminds
me of one of the best definitions Of art:
Art is not what you paint, but how you
paint it. The how means the Technique,
and the technique is Influenced by schools,
times and fashions.
"In this country the art most in fashion
at the present day is the sketchy, the i'm
pressionistic fashion. not so much for the
taste of the people as Tor the convenience
telephone. hustling life the artist
has caught the get-rich-quick microbe. 1t
suits him, and very often his sitter, to give
in bold strokes the vivid expression of his
restless disposition; and 1t Is very often
truer than the refined and dreamy portraits
we have seen. which We admire in Euro
pean galleries. s-Rt, -, e.f:.
trait painting" continued Mr.. Vos. 1.-The
one is a true expression Of our modern.
busy ways: 1t leads to nervous. vivid,
sketchy but nearly always superficial ex-
preston. The other is fed by the dreamy
fields of art, repose, thought, love-. passion
and drudging patience 1t takes longer,
grasps deeper, and. in my humble opinion,
lasts longer. In order to combine the two
the true artist will develop and finish his
work in his sanctum sanctorum. where he
Is able to forget and where he is surrounded
by "reminiscences of the world of art. While
he may compose his portraits in the sitter's
own atmosphere. he must take his work to
his den to develop the how" the art, the
technique and to suit his artistic ambition.
eff an artist wishes to express in the
modern impresSionistic manner "a reduced
expression, 1 would call it, a face or an at
titude, it can only be successfully carried
out by one who has the whole artistic al
phabet at his fnger-tips, and who, after
drawing, winds up the still-life part OF his
portrait in loose and nervous impression.
This is how he should go to work.
Subject Must Be Studied.
"Supposing the artist has middle-aged
man-say a prince of industry, or a great
capitalist, or a public man to paint. First,
he has to study his man, the animal side:
his second study is to find out to what type
he belongs; the sedate, the nervous, the
ferer, etc. Next, what is the portrait for,
or who is the portrait for? Is It to hang in
bank, an Office, the dining room, the par
lor, the club. in bachelor quarters. OF is it
fnr tho tn QvhhitQd a
tiers in different towns and countries? Is it
for the wife, for the children or for the
public. All these different dispositions may
claim a different technique or different
pose The same for a woman, the same
for child. And after all this is done he
will have to take 1t into his studio and
make it into art.
IA great many artists" said Mr. Vos,
"have learned only one tune by heart and
sing that same tune for every proposition
that is presented to them. Other artists,
again, will paint for the gallery for a lit
tie coterie Of their brother artists, without
the slightest respect for the individuality
of the sitter. To be sure that the likeness
you are paying for at the price of a work
made name for himself in his profession
For when the likeness is outgrown the
work of art ought to remain and make your
investment-safe.
Before an artist attempts to paint for
the public he Should as in every other pro-
fession, first graduate; which means not
he has to compete with thousands and
thousands of equally gifted students. The
artist who will produce imperishable art is
one out Of a hundred thousand; The por-
trait painter if especially gifted that way,
should study for several years the draw
ing and painting of the nude, still-life,
landscape painting, architectural drawing.
composition, expression; 'ascetica,' etc. He
must develop his eye for color in order to
be able to paint in different keys: the light,
the dark. the rich. the sober. the vague.
select. the pose, the composition and the
color scheme; the background and the
technique. which is most appropriate to
his subject, or, at least, to the interpreta-
ton most suited for the circumstances.
More than a likeness is required.
Sitter and Painter.