Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-18

he succeed. All the lust Of the eye. the
delight in the material world, all the
beauty of the earth and the glory or the
sky" that moves men to expression IN
paint, seemed to have been as nothing 70
him. He used art to chastise itself HIS
strange, dilated vision reveals nature as
though the judgment were at hand. Oh,y
in two pictures. think, does earthS
love entr-these the THE Awakend Con-
science" and THE Hireling Shepherd"
Controversy Still RACES.
Today controversy still runs round the
question who was the stronger power OF
the three great artists who founded the
pre-raphaelite brethren. but the opinion
among the keener students of the period is
that it was Hunt. Apart from the noble
and beautiful works of art that he Great
ed, he will live as the inspirer of other
paintings still finer. Subtract his inf1u-
ence from the movement and 1t would
have been something very different. II
for a little Rosseu gave poetry to Mill
ais, Hunt lit within him a flame of in
tensity that gave that period of his art
it's Utmost heart. There are those who
say that Holman Hunts greatest works
are Millais' Autumn Leaves and
"Ophelia.''
1t is a very old story now, but I wonder
how many. people today realize the sort
of abuse that was poured upon Hunt,
Millais. and others of the brethren dur
ing their early struggles. I have by me
words Of the London Times critic publish
ed May Ii, 1851. He dealt with the Royal
Of Hunt and Millais glibly
enough. These young artists he wrote.
have unfortunately become notorious by
addicting themselves to an Anticipated
style and an affected simplicity in paint
ing. We can extend no liberation to a
m Imitation
style. false perspective and crude color
Of remote antiquity. We want not to see
what Fusti termed drapery snapped in
stead Of folded faces bloated into
colors borrowed from the jars in drug
gist's shop, and expression forced into
caricature. The morbid infatuation
which sacrifices truth. beauty and gen.
uine feeling to mere eccentricity deservs
no quarter at the hands of the public"
Holman Hunts picture was Valentine
Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus." 1t was
not until 1854 that he exhibited 1.-The
Light of the oWrld'' along with 1.-The
Awakend Conscience" at the Royal
Academy.
Popular With Copyists.
The vergers of st. Paurs Cathedral
will tell you that there are far more
applications to copy 1.-The Light of the
World than to copy the Watts pictures
in the nave. London, or at least the
floating London population that finds its
way into ST. Paurs. is now paying its
tribute of reverence or curiosity to the
work Of the newly dead. The crowds
in front Of the picture in the south aisle,
where it is seen in glazing cross-lights
that are rather disturbing. are large and
curiously miscellaneous even for crowds
of trippers. AS I stood there for a quar-
ter of an hour this afternoon l heard
around me French, German and .Ameri-
can, as we'll as several unrecogniZed
tongues, and all these foreign people
seemed to have heard that Holman Hunt
was dead. There were few English, and
the few there were showed no special
interest in the picture, which does not
proclaim the painters name. What they
were interested in was the fact of the
crowd. The inevitable copyist, a lazy
in a mourning hat, camped close to the
outer wall, had need of all her copyIst's
stoicism to work in that pressing throng.
For one person, who looked at the pic
ture there were ten who looked, and
looked long. at the bright initial stages
of her picture-the copy of a copy. Just
then her work seemed in special way
an act of service.
The burial of Mr.. Hunts ashes in the
artists corner. of ST. Paul's was only
fitting. for the great cathedral has al
ways been the burial place for our great
painters-Reynolds, Lawrence, Turner.
West, Millais. Barry, Dance, Opie, Fuseli.
Landseer and Leighton lie there. There
are monuments. too, in the crypt of
artists, who are buried elsewhere, but
whose memory is thus brought before us.
Richmond. Frank Holl. Caldecott are
among them. Van Dyck. the greatest of
all, was buried in ST. Pauls, and the site
Is marked for a monument that has still
to be erected.