New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-05-24
RICHARD WILSON.
The First Formal Biography OF a
Charming Painter.

s- which American collectors have
JIG a. English art Of the eighteenth CEN
iaheH ,eer very largely concentrated upon
hu'S .c-s Of portrai,ure, such as Gainsbor-
l' .,o1-Dalds and Romney- Frequently, how
eus"' cong the pictures of this period that
eva .ssed through the auction room or have
b@', g been placed before The public, there
~ ,aer Observed examples % the work OF
I = Wilson. classical landscapes Illustrating
,.1+ct-tpl il nc; powerful gift. Have these
excited mach curiosity? Il is doubtful
-, has never been one Of the yviGly popu-
.,,,es Of British painters. Essayists and
EMS have paid their compliments to him
.t,, enough but with no great energy.
- recently ne has become a subject of more
.-nnathetic discussion AS the fashionable
- for the English school of his time has de
: mod tht dealers have beer at greater pains
.-i-c forward souvenirs OF that school, and
-z-1eoD has Tro1tec by the movement Mr.
4r.+eber's book about him appears at the right
o-,e7, ius- when collectors are beginning 10
.--r.-e VIII increased fervor for his pictures
n are e-ra.eful for :he book because il is the
e-t exhaustive monograph Wilson which
- f,-su issued. BIZ; i must be confessed that
-. a--hor has not particularly distinguished
t.ros.If rs Is G.sCurslve and philosophical,
.rnr o,.r his pages with dispositions clogging
y. r7oc-ees q that brief narrative of facts
u,i-h Is al that the records permit the biog-
he- 70 frame or the other hand, Mt
Flo her has a good sense of the genuine sub
canoe n ms theme. and his well Illustrated lit
80 volume may easily serve to stimulate in
te-est IL q painter who deserves to be better
hrcv-n The son Of a Welsh clergyman, Wilson
srrears 10 have begun life under fairly favor
abe auspices. He came up 10 London in his
,,eers and went 70 study with Thomas Wright
=. no-tra5t painter. He had natural faculty,
and was sooE fitted to attack the art of por-
f-a5t15re with reasonable skill, but for some OBJ
srurs reasoI. lie could not exercise In this field
She imaginative qualities which he was to ex-
ploi. to such good purpose in landscape He
was IL nc wise qualified to rival Gainsborough
cr REYNOLDS. Tie exact cause and mode of his
entrance tntC Landscape art are not known An
tfat cal bo SAID Is that we presently find him in
l.alv Painting the pictures which have since
made him famous. MI Fletcher recalls a story
NJ his STAY IN Venice. IT is said that he was
Va:Tns once IL ZuccarelIis studio, and was so
impressed with the scene unfoIded before him
through 5he studio window that he set TO work
70 REPRODUCE his impression In artistic shape
When ZuccarelE al last entered he was so
struck with the picture that he advised Wilson
% devote himself in future entirely to land
scape" 81 this might have happened after
wilson had, matter of fact, done consid-
erat]e work II Landscape. The point 10 the
anerdote lies n It's suggestion that while Will
SCI was C,asslCa! painter a builder of COM
POSITIONS embracing ruined temples and the like
r. Was &: bottom realistic observer of nature.
That 4 Is thai accounts for the vitality of his
at
There Is story Of his standing once with
HC-Dolds near the waterfall at TERM, and ex-
canning Well done, water, by c. He had
70 cher words, veritablc passion for the sights
and sounds e the living world IN his interTre-
tatCn Ct them he was governed by precedent
, II has beea called the English Claude but the
Th-ase does not denote Grass imitation. IL is
scre just 10 consider him as having beer
t7adly Influenced not only by Claude, but by
Sa,Tator Rosa ana POussn He did not copy
hem but their rather academic and monu-
melta. conception OF landscape commended itself
20 rs taste. Like Claude and Poussin he gave
70 truth an envelope Of lofty and on the whole
tCrTnal 6es-SE j may lie added, too that he
g aped the violent and nlelotranatic tincture
e Sa-yatC-'s elective but rather specious style.
Is own s..ls, though not significant OF sheer
genus, thcceh not brilliantly indjvidualized, has
Ct accent OF distinction. Wilson is refined and
g-aoefuI- There is a kind OF pure elegance
atC-t his WORK You would never call him a
great artist but neither would you think OF
c1ssiLg hin with the mediocrities He is a
t7e FAINTER q The minor sort. His contempt
r2-ss dc -ot ..ltoccther neglect him bot neither
dc hey F-E' Inn steady and generous support
Attc- br.et T"-.od OF success he feIl upon evil
Gays. Ia--ly his was due Il the fact that hand
aIie IL and rf- had Vet made