The Washington herald., 1908-02-09
JUST FOUR PORTRAITS
INTERPRETIVE PAINTING BY BRITISH
ARTIST AT THE COSMOS CLUB.

Stimulated by the encouragement and
the hearty invitation Of certain Washing
ton friends Mr.. Ernest Moore, portrait
painter of Sheffield and London. has taxi
en- up his quarters at the Cosmos Club
where. for the edification of the elect and
the delight of all who see. hang four note
worthy examples of his work in por-
traiture
The four pictures which, if they were
separated and hung in crowded gal
lery, would still attract attention by the
unusual quality which they possess, hang
in the dining-room of the club, where tie
light by which they must be viewed is
not any too good, but there is no mistak-
ing them. at the first glance. for ordinary
pictures. Instead. here is a quality Of
humanness-if one may be allowed the
expression-which draws one to them
and you sit before them with antieipa-
tion more than a little exercised In spiri,
as TO the message which these portraits
convey
For here is the work of a man who
thinks of a portrait of a human being
as something more than a mere likeness
OF face. OF course, there is no stop
ping the casual visitor who is taken to
see these paintings from exclaiming. as
soon as he sees the portrait of Ambassa-
dor James Bryce. why, that is Mr.
Bryce. isn't it?" But such is the pro-
nOunced character Of Mr.. BryCe's exter-
nal features that any newspaper artist
could perhaps do as much. What / am
trying TO say is that there is something
back OF these portraits; these faces are
not mere masks of flesh and tinted skin
that look out at you from the canvas
specifically; they take you-almost in
decently. such is the ruthless uncoveTing
of their pTivacy-behind the scenes and
there is more than little Of biography,
interpreted by a sensitive mind in each
one OF these paintings.
II is plain that the artist has been in
love with his work and that besides a
bold technique and a thorough knowledge
Of his art, as such, he has been possess
ed Of something of the Sherlock Holmes
spirit which Is not 10 be satisfied with
appearances as they seem, bat must look
below the surface; see not only such
character as is written in the face and
between the eyes, but also behind the
face; so that he ignores supercfcialties
and goes to the heart OF things.
do not mean that these portraits have
anything spiritual or-as the word is
used-subtle. about them. You shall find
no spirit OF destheticism here. The four
portraits are all of men-men who have
done things in the world and, as BELTS
their subjects, they are boldly material
strong in execution, really speaking
nkenesses. - II one may make shift to use
Il term that has been much abused,
There is not much pOther here about
backgrounds OF environment indeed, this
artist seems not 20 need the aid Of Access
soTies to express his meaning. Sir Henry
Irving and Mr.. James Bryce stand there
simply. and YOU must read what the art
ist has written in tie face without any
adventitious aid The Duke Of Norfolk
has some Of his geWgaws about him, and
he sits in his seat Of Office. but this is so
small a part of the man that YOU shall
read his soul beside these things. rather
than with them. And the same is true Of
the Rt Hon. Stuart WoTtley beneath
whose conventional fTock coat YOU have
TO search for the history he wraps up in
himself
One thing you shall note. too and that
is that Mr. Moore can see and can pOT-
tray what the human hand has 10 tell.
The message Of the hand is sometimes
as potent as the message Of the eyes.
and in three of these remarkable portraits
the artist has made intelligent and fine
use OF his powers And all four Of these
portraits have about them a sympathetic
quality which comes from the help given
by the sitters 20 the artist. Willingly or
unWillingly, it would seem that each of
these men has given mp. for the time be
ing, his real personality. his inward self.
There is no conscious posing; no striving
for effect. 1t is as if there had been
and painted. there IS no embaTrassm
al is open. frank kindly. and intelligent,
OF the four portraits, I think. perhaps,
that one Will be struck first by the ad-
mirable thTee-leugths figure of Sir Henry
Irving. LII D.. because he is certainly
the best-knOWn character Of the four,
and his face-by reason Of his calling as
a player-has been so widely circulated
I'm various aspects This portrait was
made at the request or the Sheffield Press
Club, and the journalist who sees Il must
feel an added pride in his avOcation. in
that his brothers of the guild have been
able 10 provide for the creation of this
II is the most striking, the most realistic
portrait of the noted painter that I have
ever seen. II is fine-eVen a beautiful
face-that of Henry Irving mobile SEN
sirive. stamped in every ineament with
high intelligence and lofty thought Here
You can see him, three-quarters face the
lips "a tTihe compressed, as they were
wont TO be-when they were not lo0sed in
converse tiOn-Which with him was a de-
light, but which 10 those who heard him
seemed an art. Here is that fine high
forehead. like the dome of a cathedral;
the deep-set eyes that vet could flash
their light beyond the oyerhanging eve
brOws. the sensitive lips, so painted here
that you can almost fancy you see the
corners of the mouth twitch sensitively
as they did in life when the thoughts
that crowded on him sought expression
and were held in leash. The hair is iron
gray, IL fails back well from the brow,
except one thin, long lock that straggles
fOrward-fit symbol of a man full OF big
projects and impatient of details
How do you propose TO paint me?"
the sitter asked when the first request
for sittings was made. Don't paint me
as an actor he went on, hurriedly,
paint me as a man." 1t was evident that
he was impatient of the Hamlets and the
Richelieus which, excellent in them
selves, no doubt, as aracter-studies,
could. after all show but one aspect of
him-aud that not the real one. Paint
NE as a mani" And here he is-simply a
man. wearing conventional garb of black.
his arms hanging carelessly at his side.
But you never stop TO notice his garb or
his arms or his fgure-it is the face that
holds you-grips you with sense of
power. and did You not know that this
was the foremost player of his time you
should-reading the soul of the man in
his face-say that here was a leader of
men in some intellectual battle.
The picture was painted partly at Mar
gate and partly in London at the time
when Irving was studying the part of
RoheSDieTTe. and il WAS the last UOrfraft