New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-12-11
ENGLISH MEZZOIIN1S.

! The exhibition at the Knoedler Gallery
| Giscloses the English engraver of the
golden age in full dress so to say. raising
his craftsmanship TO its highest powe~
n the service Of the great portrait paint
ers Of his time The subOrdination Of
these masters is one Of the curious cpl
sodes IN the annals OF the graphic arts.
s is shown in a review printed in an
other column to-day of Mr.. Thomas's in
teresting book on French Portrait En-
craving" there were men Of the early
French school who were distinctly orig
inaI artists upon copper, working in the
field Of portraiture on almost equal terms
with the masters Of the brush. \ similar
originality was not absolutely unknown
In eighteenth century England. but. on
rhe whole, the engravers OF that time
and place were content to employ their
renarka BILE technique upon reproductive
rIates. How could they have helped
themselves? Gainsborough and Sir
Joshua We're at the height Of their fame,
and the brilliant tradition they estab-
Iished was brilliantly sustained by Rom
ney. Hoppner, Raeburn and Sir Thomas
Lawrence. The influence Of the group
was overwhelming. One engraver after
another might make his occasional in
dependent excursions, but sooner or later
he was bound TO return to the task OF
putting the portraits Of Reynolds and the
rest into black and white If this re-
stricted the maker Of meszotints to q
| subsidiary role he could at least restore
/ the balance by giving to his work IN
/ trinsic qualities Of the highest beauty.
| He could translate color into tones OF
velvet and silver, he could give Won
derful transparency to the depths OF a
bosky background. and in his treatment
Of form, as in his handling Of drapery, he
! could use a charm Of line and a subtlety
in the meditation OF his limited scale
by dint OF which a work IN black and
white took on richer and more varied
glow. Much depended in this art Of his
upon the making Of a good impression,
/ the pulling Of a proof which would pre-
serve every last minutest effect OF the
! scraper You see what this means IN
the KnoedIer exhibition, which Is full
/ Of magnificent impressions. The tones
/ in some Of these plates fairly vfbrate,
/ they are at once SO pure, SO strong and
/ SO fresh. And yet, no matter how brave
an effect was sought by these engravers,
they were true to a certain measure OF
suavity, Of elegance. Nothing could be
statelier than one Of their portraits, and,
bv the same token, nothing could De
more gracious, more exquisite. It Will
be. we suppose. for the proud loneliness
! Of their feminine subjects that the elgh-
/ teerth century men, painters and en-
pravers will forever be most popular,
! and II IS quite as Il should be that the
present collection should consist largely
I oP portraits of the great ladies' OF the
/ Georgian era. Yet we never tire OF re-
-1inding our readers that the male por-
traits Of the period are among its noblest
/ productions It was characteristic OF the
leading painters that while they wreaked
themselves with special enthusiasm upon
the tall beauties Of the court. they vel
coined opportunities TO portray the
/ Kings men, and used those chances 70
/ snIendid purpose. Look, for example, AT
! SIR Joshua's portrait OF Sir Geof-
FREY Amherst. which we reproduce from
| the first state Of the mezzotfnt by
James Watson. It shows with what
vfgor the school handled a virile sub
1ect, and, by the way. it is interesting
| ~ contrast this with the more formal
male portraits of France, The more
robust and unconventional military type
Of England seems almost always to have
moved the artists Of that country to
greater freedom Of touch.