it. Neither Paris or London will use their newest patterns, one of
which, I understand, represents huntsmen and hounds in full chase
after a stag, careering all over a drawing-room carpet! In Paris, and
even more in England, taste has for some years been tending to demand
richness in substance, vagueness in pattern, quietness in color, for
all stuffs used in rooms. It is greatly to be regretted that the
great manufacturers of textile fabrics declined to participate in
the Centennial Exhibition, having concluded that their goods would
have too much protection in one sense, and not enough in others. It
would have excited astonishment in America to see what transformation
has been wrought in carpets and curtains, and it would be at once
recognized that the old fabrics, with their fixed scrolls, their
glare and glitter, have become barbarous. Messrs. Ward, of Halifax,
recently rolled out for me on a floor side by side the old patterns
and the new, and it was to the eye like passing from poppies to
passion-flowers. “Those blazing ones,” said Mr. Ward, “have gone out of
fashion in this country since the new schools of design began, and we
never sell a yard of them here; we made them for America until the last
tariff, and now the manufacture has ceased altogether.” The new curtain
stuffs have always an unobtrusive, almost a dead, ground of saffron,
or olive, or green, and on it flowing conventional leaves with some
heraldic form--as daisy, pomegranate, etc.--to supply spots of color;
and the carpets are of much the same character, with somewhat larger
forms.
These exquisite designs are universally recognized as results of
South Kensington. But there is one point where the results are less
satisfactory. The best designs, which include the human figure, have
still to be obtained from the Continent; and these being of especial
importance in pottery, the great porcelain factories say that their
needs cannot yet be met by English art schools. The truth is, there was
long an opposition in controlling quarters to permitting studies of the
female nude at South Kensington at all, though now the female students
have that privilege. In the male school the male nude is studied; but
still the students--those who mean to devote themselves to fine, as
distinguished from decorative, art--have to unite and employ female
models in rooms outside the school. It is as difficult to see what
benefit is secured by modesty, in thus placing a necessary study beyond
the regulation of the masters, who might preserve decorum, as it is
to find any advantage to religion gained by shutting the door to the
pictorial gospels of Raphael on Sunday and keeping open the door of the
gin-shop. Both the piety and the prudery are anomalous. The Zoological
and the Botanical Gardens, in London, the Dublin Museum, Hampton Court,
and Kew Gardens are all open on Sunday, while the museums and galleries
of the metropolis are closed: the Royal Academy has nude models of both
sexes, under the same Government which prohibits the like at South
Kensington. The queerest anomaly, however, existed until lately in the
Slade School of Art, at University College, where the vexed question
was settled by permitting the male pupils to have female models, and
the female pupils to have male models! This restriction of the ladies
to (nearly) nude models of the other sex was made in the interest of
propriety, as the masters felt disinclined to enter and instruct them
in the presence of a female model.
The former restrictions at South Kensington as to models fell heavily
upon the female pupils. The young female artists were not permitted
to see so much of their model as they would be required to reveal of
their own persons at one of her Majesty’s drawing-rooms. The late
head-master, Mr. Burchett, himself an able figure painter, knew well,
as all experienced figure painters in Europe know, that female models
are far oftener secured from vice by their occupation than exposed to
it, and that life schools are not inconsistent with decorum, under
proper management; and he (Mr. Burchett) made efforts, one of which
was to have the model encased in flesh tights, to secure for his
pupils the advantages so freely offered in Continental schools. But
his contrivances were stopped by threats of Parliamentary questions.
His successor has, however, secured to the female pupils the advantage
of the nude model of their own sex and male model with caleçon; and,
if he can now secure like privileges for the males, South Kensington
may some day be able to point to as high results in the direction of
the fine as in the ornamental arts. Until then young men of genius
will continue to prefer schools which are without such restrictions.
It can only be ascribed to the consummate care with which studies of
the antique are conducted, and to the full supply of the finest casts
offered by the museum, that decorative art itself at South Kensington
has suffered so little from the limitations referred to; for it is
certain that the human figure is the key to all other forms in nature.
It is certain, also, that the female form is the very flower of all
natural beauty--“the sum of every creature’s best,” as Shakspeare says
of Perdita--and no arrangements for art training can be considered
complete which do not include accessibility to such studies of the same
as are required, by those who have given evidence of their fitness to
interpret the sacred secrets of nature.
Beyond this there is no special deduction to be made from the method
of training at South Kensington, which as a school is steadily
improving. The following official memorandum of its regulations (with
which is given the names of its faculty) will show the large scope of
instruction included:
DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR ART, AND PRINCIPAL,
THOMAS ARMSTRONG.
_Head-Master_, J. SPARKES.
_Mechanical and Architectural Drawing_, H. B. HAGREEN.
_Geometry and Perspective_, E. S. BURCHETT.
_Painting, Free-hand Drawing of Ornament, etc., the Figure and
Anatomy, and Ornamental Design_, J. SPARKES, C. P.
SLOCOMBE, T. CLACK, F. M. MILLER.
_Modelling_, M. LANTERI.
_Etching_, A. LEGROS.
FEMALE CLASSES.
_Lady Superintendent_, MISS TRULOCK.
_Female Teachers_, MRS. S. E. CASABIANCA and MISS
CHANNON.
_Occasional Lecturers_: DR. ZERFFI, Historic Ornament;
E. BELLAMY, Anatomy; F. W. MOODY, the Figure, as
applied to Decoration.
1. The courses of instruction pursued in the School have for their
object the systematic training of teachers, male and female,
in the practice of Art and in the knowledge of its scientific
principles, with the view of qualifying them to impart to others
a careful Art education, and to develop its application to
the common uses of life, and to the requirements of Trade and
Manufactures. Special courses are arranged in order to qualify
School-masters of Elementary and other Schools to teach Elementary
Drawing as a part of general education concurrently with writing.
2. The instruction comprehends the following subjects: Free-hand,
Architectural, and Mechanical Drawing; Practical Geometry
and Perspective; Painting in Oil, Tempera, and Water-colors;
Modelling, Moulding, and Casting. The Classes for Drawing,
Painting, and Modelling include Architectural and other Ornament,
Flowers, Objects of still-life, etc., the Figure from the Antique
and the Life, and the study of Anatomy as applicable to Art.
3. The Annual Sessions, each lasting five mouths, commence on
the 1st of March and the 1st of October, and end on the last day
of July and the last day of February, respectively. Students can
join the School at any time, the tickets running from date to
date. The months of August and September, one week at Christmas,
and one week at Easter or Whitsuntide, are Vacations. The classes
meet every day _except Saturday_. Hours of Study: Day, 10 to 3;
Evening, 7 to 9.
4. In connection with the Training School, and open to the public,
separate classes are established for male and female students; the
studies comprising Drawing, Painting, and Modelling, as applied to
Ornament, the Figure, Landscape, and still-life.
FEES.
For classes studying for five whole days, including evenings: £5
for five months.
For three whole days, including evenings: £4 for five months.
For the half-day--morning, 10 to 1; or afternoon, 1 to 3: £4 for
five months.
To all these classes there is an entrance fee of 10_s._
_Evening Classes_: Male School: £2 per session.
Artisan Class: 10_s._ per session; 3_s._ per month.
Female School: £1 per session, three evenings a week.
No students can be admitted to these classes until they
have passed an examination in Free-hand Drawing of the 2d
Grade. Examinations of candidates will be held weekly, at the
commencement of each session, and at frequent intervals throughout
the year.
5. Students cannot join the School for a shorter term than _five_
months, but the students who have already paid fees for five
months may remain until the end of the scholastic year on payment
of a proportional fee for each month unexpired up to the 31st of
July in each year.
6. Classes for School-masters, School-mistresses, and
Pupil-teachers of Elementary Schools meet on two evenings in each
week. Fee 5_s_. for the session. Teachers in private schools or
families may attend the day classes on payment of a fee of £1 per
month.
7. The morning classes for Practical Geometry and Perspective are
open to all students, but they may be attended independently of
the general course on payment of a fee of £2 per session for those
classes.
8. Students properly qualified have full access to the collections
of the Museum and Library, either for consultation or copying, as
well as to all the School Lectures of the Department.
9. A register of the students’ attendance is kept, and may be
consulted by parents and guardians.
Nothing can exceed the care and devotion with which the great work of
South Kensington is carried on by both teachers and pupils. In walking
through the rooms with the head-master I could only marvel at the
indications unintentionally furnished by the pupils, from moment to
moment, of his intimate knowledge of their work and their progress,
however remote from such details he might be officially. In his room
he keeps all the works sent in by the pupils in competition for the
many valuable prizes offered by the school at each stage of progress,
and these are preserved in large albums, each marked with the young
artist’s name, so that by looking through it we trace the unfolding
in this or that direction of a human mind, from the first crude
geometrical drawing to mastery of the finer strokes of form and color.
The pupil applying for admission is not simply put in at one end of a
machine-like system to be turned out at the other, but a specimen of
his or her work is demanded, and a place assigned in accordance with it.
[Illustration: NETTLE IN ITS NATURAL STATE.]
[Illustration: NETTLE IN GEOMETRICAL PROPORTIONS.]
It was morally impressive to witness the large numbers of women who
have here found a field for the cultivation of their powers. In one
room--that of geometrical proportions--the students of both sexes
are taught together, and no doubt the co-educational system will
gradually creep from this to other classes, as it has to some extent
done in University College and other institutions. But the museum is
able to supply both schools with any quantity of models and aids. The
young female artists have excited the admiration of their teachers and
examiners by the remarkable perfection to which they carry ornamental
designs, especially such as may be derived from flowers, fruits, and
leaves. In one part of the museum there is a series of grottoes, filled
with all manner of ferns and other plants, which serve the double
purpose of adorning the room, from which they are seen through large
glass doors, and of supplying subjects for the study of decorative
foliation. They who see the beautiful combinations of these plants made
in the training schools will discover that their previous acquaintance
with some very common things has been very limited. In this study of
the geometrical capacities of plants for decorative purposes the
female pupils seem to excel. The exquisite art of one of them, Miss
Louisa Poole, enables me to present an example of this kind of work,
for which she recently received a gold medal. The subject of this very
clever piece of combination is the common nettle; and, even without the
beautiful colors with which Miss Poole’s original work was rendered,
these outlines she has drawn for me will perhaps enable the reader
to understand the kind of work by which this school has relieved
England of its former dependence on Paris and Lyons. It is but just,
however, to state that Miss Poole’s work, when exhibited, on occasion
of a distribution of prizes by the Duke of Richmond, was surrounded
by a score of similar sketches which had brought their designers
well-merited prizes. No one could examine them without perceiving that
the young artists have learned the main secret of ornamental art--that
nature is but an alphabet, which it is the task of the artist to
combine into words and sentences that shall convey human purpose and
thought.
Some of the best work done at South Kensington is the copying of rare
and beautiful specimens of ancient majolica and other wares. The
Rothschilds and other collectors gladly lend their choicest possessions
for this purpose, and the copies are of high value to this and other
museums. It is wonderful to observe with what refinement of taste and
with what sympathy some of the pupils enter into the subtle secrets
of the old masters of decorative work. The illustration of the Henri
Deux salt-cellar was made for me by Mr. William Broad, while a pupil
at South Kensington, from a work sent in by him to the Examiners. The
reproduction of Cherpentier’s rich and delicate colors in this young
artist’s original work was exceedingly fine. His design of the top of
the salt-cellar is given on the following page.
[Illustration: PLAN OF TOP OF HENRI DEUX SALT-CELLAR.]
It is quite certain that a peculiar excellence has been given to
the work of this institution by the atmosphere of general culture
surrounding it. Each pupil works amidst the splendors of ancient art,
amidst the shades of the great, and each lives in the presence of men
who to-day best represent the accumulated knowledge of the world. The
spirit tells more than the letter of instruction. Moreover, no art is
here studied in isolation: each is studied along with literature and
science; and, what is of great importance to thoroughness, all the arts
are studied in connection with their own history. Through the literary
works of such archæologists as William B. Scott, the ever-careful
teaching of Thomas Armstrong and Mr. Sparkes, and the practical labors
of such experts as Mr. Moody and Mr. Bowler, the pupil may study, by
theory and experiment, the evolution by which his task has come to
him, when and how great successes were attained, and so inherit the
vital spirit which of old quickened the flowers of beauty by which he
or she is at every moment surrounded. The pupil will realize here the
immortality of good work. He will see that an old blacksmith, ordered
to make iron grilles for Hampton Court garden, put such heart and soul
into his work that his four pieces must now be brought hither as a
monument of which Thor might be proud. Never was more beauty wrought in
iron than this by Huntington Shaw, of Nottingham, anno 1695. Under his
hand rose, shamrock, and thistle have grown on the metal so tenderly
that it would seem a breath might stir them, while from the Irish harp
in the centre one might almost listen for Æolian strains. But that
was done in a day when to work for a king was felt to be working for
God. And all through this museum shines the great fact that the best
work was never done merely for money, but for the altar, for love and
loyalty. It is a Museum of Civilization, where each work is a heart.
There sat a man doing his very best to advance the whole world; there
marched a brave invader of Chaos and Disorder; a reason worked through
him like that which turns a bit of mud into a lily. It is a supreme
joy to trace these footprints of the universal Reason. A flute-key
that wins one more soft note from the air; a pot flushed with some
more intimate touch of the sunlight; an ornament which detaches a pure
form from its perishable body--such things as these exhibit somewhat
finer than themselves, namely, man elect still to carry on the ancient
art which adorned the earth with grass and violet, and framed the
star-gemmed sky and the spotted snake. The student shall also learn
here the solidarity of genius. In distant regions of the world these
men worked at their several tasks, sundered by land and sea, but here
they are seen to have been members of one sacred guild, like that
described of old: “They helped every one his neighbor; and every one
said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged
the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote
the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it
with nails, that it should not be moved.” From manifold regions of
the world, through ages linked each to each by natural piety, their
works have come here to unite in one mystical symphony of excellence.
By the spirit that worked through them they are made members one of
another. Some little time ago the Professor of Political Economy at
Oxford formed a class of youths of both sexes, and said to them one
day: “There are two great distinctions between man and the lower
animals; one of them is the root of labor, the other is the root of
civilization. What are they?” The first was soon explained; the root of
labor is that the animal has only to seek his food to find it prepared
for him, and his clothing is made for him by nature, whereas man must
cook and modify his food, and make his clothing. The second puzzled all
in the class except one young maid, who said: “The root of civilization
is progressive desire. Give an animal all that satisfies its present
want--good shelter and food enough--it will never be restless, nor show
a further want; but satisfy man in any moment, he will want something
better the next. This craving for the better and the best leads on
to civilization.” But it is the combination of these various lines
of improvement which finally creates a civilization. Savages improve
on their own roads, but the Kaffir never borrows for his own hut any
advantage belonging to the hut of the Zulu, not more than the bee
borrows for its cell a hint from the bird’s nest. The savage has the
root but not the flower of civilization. But then each civilization in
turn is to a great extent special; the human race has a wider life,
into which all separate streams of blood are poured, and all arts
blend. By a higher law of evolution man’s moral and intellectual powers
are selected from the isolated tribes and nations through which they
have for ages been distributed. In this our museum men are taken as
varied pigments to make the study of Man.
“Man, one harmonious soul of many a soul,
Whose nature is its own divine control,
Where all things flow to all....
Man, oh, not men! A chain of linked thought,
Of love and might, to be divided not.”
Of all countries America is that to which mankind must look for the
fulfilment of those aspirations which are the creative force, carving
on the world the ideals of poetry and art. Each fine work will reflect
the culture of the race. Emerson has reminded us that for the best
achievement we must have instead of the Working-man the Man working,
and it were a pity if the great man’s countrymen should not realize
that whole work must be done by the whole man. In walking through the
school at South Kensington once, I met a young lady who had passed
several years in the schools at Philadelphia and the Cooper Institute,
but had never found what she required for her training until she
came here. The picture on her easel proved her to be an accomplished
artist, and her experience appears to me worth mentioning. The school
at Philadelphia, she said, was the best she had known anything of in
the United States, but when she was there it lacked trained teachers.
The teachers were artists in all but the art of teaching. She believed,
however, that the Philadelphia school, if associated with a good
collection, would turn out well. But of the Cooper Institute she was
not so hopeful. It was rather too philanthropic to be a good school of
art. The great aim was to qualify the pupils--girls particularly--to
make money. The pupils are urged on to the paying work rather than to
that which is excellent. It must be understood that these criticisms
are here detached from this lady’s pleasant plaudits to things in
America other than its schools of design, her experience of which was
that one with a high standard had no means of attaining it, while the
other, with more resources, had a low standard and aim. This lady’s
experience has been several times confirmed by American artists with
whom I have walked through the South Kensington Museum. One of the most
eminent of them said: “What a revolution it would cause in American art
to have some such museum as this in each large city! It would in each
case draw around it an art community, and send out widening waves of
taste and love of beauty through the country.”
These expressions, however, were used ten years ago, and it may be
hoped that to those now in the American institutions mentioned that
may appear a dim past. Within that period my own visits to the chief
schools of high art in New York have convinced me that their teaching
is of the highest character, while the resources for culture of
decorative art are slight.
If there be among the readers hereof one of those sensitive patriots
who resent the idea of borrowing any ideas or methods from the Old
World more modern than the Decalogue, I would submit even to him
whether it be not less humiliating to import European experience than
to export American brains. It is no dishonor for America to claim her
inheritance from the past; it is no degradation to recognize what
has been done as done, and not needing to be done over again; but it
may well be pondered by the patriotic whether the Coming Artist will
go abroad, or whether he shall find in his own country the resources
essential to his culture and his finest fruit.
DECORATIVE ART AND ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND.
[Illustration]
DECORATIVE ART AND ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND.
Michael Angelo was once commissioned to lead in the destruction of the
beautiful villas around Florence. He of all men! The expelled Medici,
now of papal dignity, were menacing the city. The first thought of the
great artist was to save the Campanile, and he covered that noble work
of Giotto with protecting wool-sacks. But the suburban villas must
not stand to give aid to the enemy, and at word of command he started
out, and for once the track of the great artist was indicated in the
destruction instead of in the creation of beautiful things. But he came
upon one house whose wall was covered with a beautiful fresco, and
he had not the heart to destroy it; the soul of the artist held back
the hand of the patriot, and in the field of desolation one mansion
remained standing alone--saved by the protecting genius of Beauty.