Evening star., 1908-01-18
A RI N VOTES.

About seventy prints and twenty Illus
trated books. drawn from the c. s. Noyes
collection. form a comprehensive exhbi
ton of the work of the Hiroshige. which
is set forth in the upper hall Of the Lii
brary Of Congress.
Western art and western landscape
painters In particular owe much to the
print makers of Japan. and yet, strange
as 1t may seem. 1t is said that the first
Ckioye artist who attempted to make in
terpretatIons of landscape derived his in
spiration from some rude western wood
cuts which found their way into his coun-
try through the little Dutch colony at
Nagasaki. about ITO. Be that az 1t may.
however. the japanese people for many
centuries have been deeply imbued with
the love OF nature. Their great festivals
are the times of blossomlng. and their
poems are chiefly addressed to the flowers.
Beauty to the Japanese has always been
regarded as sufficient cause for rejoicing.
and by those who are native born. ii Is
said, that the great sights Of the land are
not the cities and temples. but the sea
and the mountains. the roadway vistas,
light.
Hiroshige I (so-called to distinguish him
from his pupils who took his name) was
one Of the greatest masters of the Ukioye
school. and by some declared chief among
the worlds landscape painters. Born In
1796, he early displayed an aptitude for
drawing. and when only fifteen deter
mined to adopt art as profession. After
studying for some years under Toyohfro
he started out for himself, and making a
failure Of the theatrical style. then In
vogue. removed to Kyote and published a
set of views of the old capital of the
mikado. This established his reputation.
and he returned to Yedo with assured sue
ly his own. With few excursions into
caricature he gave his entire time to the
transcription Of landscape. Some of the
most notable Of his productions are the
set Of Views on the Tokaido." that re-
markable road along which in former
days the life of Japan used to pass. and
a series Of Scenes in Yedo." but in many
instances the less famous prints are
equally as attractive He was particu-
larly fortunate in rendering subtle effects
rain, mist. snow and moonlight, and
fro.n his work 1t is believed Whistler drew
much inspiration. To understand or ap-
preciate any Japanese prints one must
approach them In a very different atu-
simply a kind Of pictorial language. and
intended primarily for the edification and
delight of the common people, In them
all detail Is eliminated and resort made to
a kind of pictorial shorthand, which
pushes aside superfciality and depends
the truth and beauty displayed In many
of these landscapes of H!roshige must
manifest itself to all. None, indeed. could
| fail to realize the appeal made by the
print entitled. Evening Snow at Horii.
or OF that which gives view Of the sea
by moonlight at Kamaido. The "Mussel
Gatherers'' is interesting, especially II II
can be contrasted mentally with a picture
of similar scene painted In France many
years later by Homer Martin. The treat
ment of snow scenes, OF masses OF bios
SONS. and Of similar subjects of extreme
delicacy. is notable. and the grouping OF
| figures worthy of remark. In color the
later prints are cruder than the earlier
ones, which are altogether charming. and
| the pupils work will not be found up to
the standard of the masters, but all are
| interesting and worthy of careful con-
| sideration.
Thomas Rowlandson has also been re-
Gently placed on exhibition at the Library
| of Congress. To degree 1t Is interesting
| to be able to pass directly from one OF
these exhibitions to the other, inasmuch
as both the Japanese print-maker and
| the English caricaturist resorted to some
what similar methods Of expression-both
were obliged to be brief and to the
point. And yet the spirit OF the
art is very different-the object Of the
the other to provoke mirth. The
drawings Of Rowlandson are original,
clever and droll. but even when they are
| serious In intent they are not beautiful.
THOMAS ROW10nQSOn was DCTn III Olu
| Jewry, London. in 1856. the same year as
Cruikshank. When sixteen years Of age
he went to Paris at the invitation of an
aunt to study art, and when few years
later he returned to London he was en-
rolled as a student at the Royal Acad-
emy. For some time he painted por-
traits. but in 1854. after squandering at
cards the fortune his aunt had left him,
he forsook all other work for caricature.
which was exceedingly lucrative. 1t takes
a peculiar bent of mind to be an accom-
plished caricaturist, and this ROwlandson
had. He could draw. 1t is said. before he
could write, and covered the margins OF
his books when at school with caricatures
of his teachers and fellow students. He
was also, 1t might be said. the product of
his age. The general public today. ac-
cepting in lieu OF more poignant mirth
the Sunday coiored supplements. would
find little that was entertaining in the
grotesque funniness of Rowlandson' 8
drawings. Today most of our caricatur-
lists are turned political cartoonists. and
we look, naturally. for a more significant
humor 1t was Rowlandson's custom to
make his drawings with a reed pen and
color them with water color in fiat tints-
thus likewise they were reproduced either
by etching or engraving, and, Ii desired,
colored by hand. They give interesting
phases Of social life of the period in which
he lived, and show, together with accom-
plished craftsmanship, keen insight into