_APPRECIATIVE CRITICISM_--AN EDUCATIVE PRINCIPLE--AN
ANALYSIS--REALISM IN ART--A RETROSPECT
"Yet when we have said all our fine things about the arts,
we must end in a frank confession that the arts, as we know
them, are but initial. He has conceived meanly of the resources
of man who believes that the best age of production is past."
=Appreciative Criticism.=--The art of engraving, and particularly wood
engraving, has fully justified its existence, and the eminently popular
position which it has long held amongst the fine arts of the world.
Through the medium of the pictorial press it has diffused a knowledge
of the noblest principles of art, and has ever exerted a refining
influence even over inartistic minds. For this reason the lack of
knowledge concerning some of the essential qualities of engraving
as a pictorial art is somewhat remarkable. Even more so when it is
considered that never before in the history of the world has such a
wealth of illustrative art been produced and brought well within the
reach of its humblest patrons.
It is perhaps too much to expect, nor is it at all desirable, that
individual preference should be moulded to one common and fixed
standard. To some minds the picturesque, though perhaps undignified
paintings of the old Dutch masters, would appeal with greater success
than the wondrous light and shade of Turner's pictures. Or, again, the
astonishing technicalities and intricacies of German wood engraving may
stir up a deeper interest and enthusiasm than the simple yet expressive
productions of Thomas Bewick. Yet such a difference of opinion may exist
only in individual appreciation or taste. The appreciative faculties in
mankind are in the main identical.
=An Educative Principle.=--There is in human life an omnipotent and
omniscient educative principle which may, to some extent at least, be
rendered subservient to the human will, but which in other respects is
as certain in its results and impulses as the course of the planets.
Those who surround themselves with the beautiful in Nature and in
Art, whose minds are constantly in communion with the grand and noble
purposes they suggest, are infinitely more sensible to their manifold
beauties than those of their fellows who persistently disregard,
and even repel, artistic influences. Their appreciation of the full
significance of any artistic production is deeper, more sincere, and
more equable than is that of those who neglect the aspirations of the
finer fibres of their beings, and thus allow their higher faculties to
become blunted, and their judgments warped. "Verily unto him that hath
shall be given," etc.
The most independent and most penetrative imagination is not by any
means a free agent. Environment, mental culture, and natural temperament
are each controlling influences of variable power; yet there is much
truth in the philosophy which declares that "It is as easy to excite
the intellectual faculties as the limbs to useful action."
=The Artist's Purpose.=--A misconception of the artist's aim almost
invariably leads to a condemnation of his work. First of all discover
his purpose, and then decide upon the success or non-success of his
conceptions. The _style_ of their execution, _i.e._ the manner in which
various surfaces and textures are reproduced, is but a means to an end.
It is infinitely easier to assimilate a style once its objective has
been clearly comprehended.
=An Analysis.=--For obvious reasons, then, an analysis of the merits
and demerits of the engraver's art is not always a simple matter. His
work may be an acceptable pictorial record, though not in any sense
a picture from an artistic point of view. On the other hand, it may
possess artistic qualities in abundance, and yet be far from a truthful
record of an incident or scene.
=Realism in Art.=--It is frequently claimed for graphic art that when
it cannot faithfully imitate it is permissible for it to interpret.
Quite so; and it is in just such a light that engraving is or ought
to be regarded. A picture, whether illustrating a story or recording
an artistic impression, is never so great as when it enchants the
imagination with an ideal presence. Absolute realism is not always
desirable either in pictorial art or pictorial expression. No matter
how realistic it may be, it is a doubtful gain to introduce into the
composition of a picture a mass of detail which might only prove
disconcerting, and distract attention from the main issues of the
subject. The partial or complete isolation of a central idea often adds
to the vigour and general effectiveness of the whole. Rarely, indeed,
does it render it less picturesque. After all, it is not Nature so much
as Nature's expression which should be represented. Its infinity of
secondary effects, its superabundance of detail, may, often with
advantage, be left out.
=A Retrospect.=--While in this critical mood, it may be worth while
noting that the sincere and painstaking work of the old-time engravers
is deserving of some praise and an ever tolerant criticism. It manifests
incongruities and exaggerated metaphors which are at times painfully
unconventional or grotesque, yet they have a directness of representation
which admits of no doubt as to their meaning, and bear few traces of
a perfunctory art.
"Our arts are happy hits. We are like the musician on the lake whose
melody is sweeter than he knows, or like a traveller surprised by a
mountain echo whose trivial word returns to him in romantic
thunders."--Emerson.
INDEX
Ackland, Sir Thomas, 47.
Analysis, 68.
Ancient drawings, 1.
Antiquity of engraving, 2.
_Apocalypsio sue Historia_, 7.
Art representative, 3.
Artistic purpose, 68.
Artistic restoration, 63.
Arundel, Duke of, 41.
Assyrian antiquities, 4.
Audran family, 4.
Baillie, Captain, 46.
Baldine, Baccio, 20.
Bewick, Thomas, 9, 67.
_Biblia Pauperum_, 7.
Block books, 6.
Botticelli, Sandio, 20.
Cave dwellings, 1.
Caxton, William, 26.
Character, building up of, 52.
Chinese playing cards, 5.
Clever contrasts, 53.
Colour dissection, 64.
Commercial advantages, 13.
Comparisons, 12, 13.
Composition, 52, 53.
Concise expression, 52.
Constructive elements, 51.
Controlling influences, 68.
Cousins, Samuel, 47.
Criticism, appreciative, 66.
Dallaway, 26.
Dante, 20.
Degradation of tone, 54.
Details, combination of, 52.
Du Maurier, 60.
Durer, Albert, 8, 21, 24, 40.
Dutch masters, 67.
Educative principle, 67.
Egyptian monuments, 4.
Emerson, 1, 5, 69.
Engravers, early, 20.
Engravers, interpretation, 49.
Engravers, task, 48.
Engraving, English, 26.
Etching, 38.
Etching, Dutch records, 38, 39.
Etching, a summary, 40.
Etching, description, 39.
Etching, a stenography, 40.
Etching, pictorial and artistic value, 40.
Etching, light and shade in, 41.
Etchings, Hollar's, 41.
Evolution theory, 2.
Execution, 54.
Expression, 53.
Extraneous matter, 52.
Finiguerra, 18, 19, 21.
Formschneider, 7.
French engravers, 46.
French engraving, 23.
Gainsborough, 43.
Gemeni, Thomas, 26, 27.
German wood engraving, 6, 67.
German engravers, 22.
German portraits, 52.
Gilray, James, 33.
Goldsmith's _Deserted Village_, 33.
Goltzius, Henry, 24.
Greek art, 4.
Gutenberg, 21.
Half tone process engraving, 60, 61, 62.
Heath, James, 36.
Hieroglyphic figures, 4.
_Historia Virginis_, 7.
Historical records, 3, 50.
Hogarth, 28, 31, 32.
Hogenberg, Remigus, 27.
Holbein, Hans, 8.
Houbraken, 28.
Hound, The, 9.
Hudibras, 31.
Illustrator, The, 14.
Imaginary boundary, An, 51.
Imaginative instinct, 20.
Imaginative symbolism, 22.
Inartistic work, 49.
Inception of engraving, 1.
Incised drawings, 1, 2.
Intermediary values, 13.
Ink photo, 65.
Ink photo, expressive power, 65.
Ink photo, intensity of, 65.
Italian art, 22.
Italian engraving, 22.
Italian Niello, 18.
Jacobite sympathies, 32.
Justification, A, 66.
Kartenmacher, 7.
King of Terrors, The, 9.
Lalanne, 38.
Landscape engraving, 36.
Landseer, 35, 36, 47.
Lawrence, 35, 47.
Lewis, F. C., 35.
Leyden, Lucas van, 24.
Light and shade, 53.
Line process engraving, 59, 60.
Litzelburger, Hans, 9.
Louis XIV., 23.
Ludwig, von Sigen, 42.
Lutterell, 46.
Mannerisms, 22, 54.
Mantegna, Andrea, 20.
Merchant marks, 6.
Metal engraving, 9.
Metal engraving, invention of, 18.
Metal engraving, another account, 19.
Mezzotint engraving, invention, 42, 43.
Mezzotint engraving, qualities, 43, 44.
Mezzotint engraving, popularised, 43, 44.
Mezzotint engraving, described, 44.
Movable types, 7.
National characteristics, 21.
Nation's progress, mirror of, 4.
Nature's expression, 69.
Neolithic period, 3.
New Testament, 8.
Northcote's pictures, 33.
Nuremberg records, 7.
Outline, 49, 51-52.
Ornamental engraving, 18.
Palaeolithic period, 3.
Parker, Archbishop, 27.
Passe family, 27.
Payne, John, 28.
Perspective, 24.
Perspective, aerial, 54.
Perspective, linear, 54.
Photo process, 57.
Photogravure, artistic features, 64.
Photogravure, description, 65.
Photogravure, pictorial cards, 7.
Place, Francis, 46.
Pope's villa, 35.
Prehistoric artistic power, 3.
Prehistoric art, purpose of, 3.
Primeval engraver, 3.
Primeval man, 1.
Prince Rupert, 43, 46.
Process engraving, amplification of, 64.
Process engraving, artistic, 58.
Process engraving, commercial features, 58.
Process engraving, value of, 57, 58.
Progressive review, 23.
Progressive process, 57, 58.
Pye, John, 35.
Queen Elizabeth, 27.
Raimbach, 34, 35.
Raimondi, Marc Antonio, 21.
Raphael, 21.
Realism, 68, 69.
Religious illustrations, 7.
Rembrandt, 24.
Rembrandt's influence, 41.
Renaissance, 19.
Retrospect, 69.
Reynolds, 34, 43.
Rock, Jerome, 8.
Romney, 45.
Royal Sovereign, 28.
Screen effect, 60, 61.
Society of Arts, 47.
_Speculum Humanae Salvationis_, 7.
Stipple engraving, 33.
Strange, Robert, 32, 33.
Style, 68.
Symbolic figures, 4.
Technique, 22, 23.
Thirteenth century documents, 6.
Three colour process, 64.
Tone and texture, 49.
Translation, 17.
Tri-chromatography, 64.
Turk's Head, 34.
Turner, 35, 36, 37, 45, 67.
Untutored art, 2.
Vallerant Valliant, 43.
Venetian navigators, 5.
Vertue, 28.
Vesalius, 26.
Walpole, Horace, 28, 30.
West, 34, 45.
Wilkie, David, 35.
Wilson, 34.
Wood blocks, 5.
Wood engraving, 5.
Wood engraving, combination of lines, 14.
Wood engraving, justification of, 13.
Wood engraving, power of realisation, 14.
Wood engraving, pictorial and artistic effects, 14.
Wood engraving, renaissance, 9.
Wood engraving, variety of texture, 14.
* * * * *
_Printed by_ MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, _Edinburgh_
End of Project Gutenberg's Engraving for Illustration, by Joseph Kirkbride