700 



PAINTING 



Turner <li<l not mnnif.-M nmcli p.-ruinal inde|>end 

 ence until IIP liml lir-i studied mi. I imiiat<-d tin- nl<l 

 master*, particularly Clnudc. Indeed, he is much 

 mure clunely connected with the past than with tin- 

 future of landscape painting, lit- h.id tin- dee|>est 

 n-MMvl fur the older niast^m, whom he Imtli studied 

 anil imitated, yet he founded no school and bos 

 hail little influence on the art of England and none 

 on that of continental Knmpe. Constable, on the 

 other hand, who during hi- lifetime was a le*a 

 celebrated artist, ha* had a very far-rer.ching in- 

 Itucnce. The freshness and originality of his view of 

 nature, lew |ioeticAl anil imaginative than Turner-, 

 I'n! nearer to rustic reality, determined the future 

 direction of that French rustic school which in it- 

 turn liaa influenced all the schools of Knro|)e. 

 Whilst England has had her poet landscape- 

 painter in Turner, France ha* had hers in ('mot. 

 a painter of at leant e<|iial celebrity, though of 

 much narrower range. Like Turner, ( 'orot founded 

 hi- art on the study of Claude, but won public 

 favour late in life by a delicacy of sentiment 

 which was his own. His subjects were pimple and 

 his effect* chosen so as to avoid strong colouring, 

 but he conipotted beautifully and wan a master of 

 quiet grays, |wxle yellow's, and In-own*. 



Since the middle of the 19th century landscape- 

 painting, both in oil and wiiter-colour, has lieen 

 actively pursued all over Europe. Every class 

 of scenery- has found its interpreters. Scotland has 

 been painted effectively by Horatio MacCulloeli, 

 Sam ISougli, Mr Peter Graham, Mr Colin Hunter, 

 and many others. A severely accurate and scientific 

 spirit was imported into Knglish landsea|>e by Mr 

 Cooke and Mr Brett. The Krench landsca|>e o'f the 

 present day is usually marked by simplicity of sub- 

 ject, breadth of treatment, and truth of tone, with- 

 out much accuracy of detail. Marine painters in 

 all countries appear to concentrate their attention 

 more than their predecessor* upon the sea itself, 

 and both English, French, ami American artists 

 have produced remarkable studies of wave*. 



A (ketch of the history of painting seems to 

 require a brief outline of the sects which have 

 divided artiste. The chief of these liave been the 

 Classic*, the Romantic*, the HealUts, the Pre- 

 Raphaelite*, and the Inipreiwionist*. The classical 

 aim was the pursuit of the ideal, which was be- 

 lieved to be one and to have been attained by 

 Raphael ; this school was represented by the 

 French painter Ingres. The Romantics if wired 

 freedom from the classical restraint, and liberty 

 to illustrate all literature and all history that 

 interested them in their own way; their great 

 man was Hug-one Delacroix. Tin- doctrine of the 

 Realist* is tin- right to represent parsons and thing* 

 a* they are without beautifying them h\ idealisa- 

 tion. This doctrine wax at one time represented 

 by the French painter Con rlM-t; but. in fact, there 

 was a great deal of downright realism long Wore 

 his time, as we find it in YdttfOM, Rembrandt, 

 Teniers, Ostade, Hogarth, and many others, who 

 have redeemed the ugliness of a subject by the 

 intelligence of their treatment and the force of 

 :h"ir execution. Even in the case of Courlwt 

 himself we now easily see that, although he affected 

 to take nature exactly as it is. he displayed the 

 wilfulne** and the style of an artist. English Pie- 

 KaphaelitUm was not alone in it* return to the 

 painstaking imitation of detail which marked the 

 practice of Raphael'* predecessors. Like, the con- 

 tinental movement* in the same direction, it was 

 a return to patient analysis, and hod a disciplinary 

 value; but the accumulation of artistic experience 

 was too much for it. After Titian, Velasquez, and 

 Reynold*, it is not possible to bind down the art 

 of painting permanently to the minute practice of 

 the early matters. Intellectually the movement 



wa* of more importance, as it favoured the choice 

 of noble subject*. Impressionism asserts the im- 

 portance of visual troth us opposed to mere truth of 

 fact, andaihinis that painting ought not to represent 

 what i.v, but what ii/i/nurs. Impressionism is also 

 opposed to the abstiact rendering of this or that 

 quality; it requires a synthesis of all visible qualities 

 as they strike the pye together. The Impressioni-l- 

 claim several great artist*, especially Turner and 

 i '.nstable, a* their predecessors. They are equally 

 np|Hised to the detail of the minute painters and to 

 the hart), clear, linear definition of the classical 

 schools. There can be no doubt that theoretically 

 they have right on their side, but in practice their 

 art is often unsatisfactory, as it requires the happiest 

 and most rapid sketching to be successful, with 

 great certainty in selection and perfect truth of 

 tone. 



The present state of the art of painting is one of 

 complete freedom from all the former restraint* of 

 religious or classical authority. The fine arts are 

 as free as the sciences, and, although less exclusively 

 devoted than men of science to the pursuit of natural 

 truth, contcni]K>rary jMiinters at least refer to nature 

 for everything. The consequence is a i>ervading 

 freshness in the modern schools, and it is also 

 certain that manual skill has never been so general 

 as it is now. On the other band, the intensity of 

 the commercial struggle amongst the great multi- 

 tude of artists is certainly not favourable either to 

 learning or to refinement, and it is doubtful whether 

 painting makes any advance in taste and culture 

 corresponding to the increase of its productiveness 

 or the extension of it- fields of study. 



Chronology. The extent of the "subject renders 

 laconic treatment necessary. Archaic Greek draw- 

 ing, marked by want of proportion, especially 

 in thickness of limits, lasts in vase-painting 

 throughout the 6th century B.C. and later. In 

 5th century better drawing on many vases ; in 

 4th century it is often learned and beautiful, as 

 on Camirus vase (British Museum ), contemporary 

 with Protogenes. Attitudes then easy and grace- 

 ful, faces shown in all positions ; 5th and 4th 

 centuries B.C. golden age of antique pointing, 

 including Apollodorus, Zeuxis, Parrbasius, Apelles, 

 Polygnotus, and Micon. Romans imported Greek 

 pictures and took up painting by imitation. Roman 

 painter Lndius (Augustan age) anticipated Claude 

 in choice of subjects. Paintings preserved at Her- 

 culaneum and Pompeii, and in baths of Titus, 

 belong nearly to Christian era, some earlier, others a 

 few years later. Pompcian painting shows interest 

 in ordinary life and in landscape. Classical art is, 

 in feeling and principle, prolonged for six centuries 

 in the service of Christianity. 



The middle ages are divided by AVoltmann into 

 (1) Early, from <00 to 950 A.D. ; (2) Romanesque, 

 from 950 to 1250 A.D. ; (3) Gothic, from li'.Miio 1400 

 A.D. Thus the three periods are 250, 300, and 150 

 yearn. Throughout these ages, speaking generally, 

 the human motive of art is religious, and its 

 artistic motive is ornament. In the middle ages 

 figure design began again from a barbarous infancy, 

 it lieing necessary for the representation of religious 

 personages. From 8th to 13th century childish 

 drawing and gaudy colouring prevailed throughout. 

 Europe. In 13th some partial improvement takes 

 plnce, and in 14th the advance is remarkable when 

 Claes Sluter carved his life-like statues. Brothers 

 Van Eyck (q.v.) born in this century. 



The 15th centurv is the time of transition from 

 the art of the middle ages to an improved craft of 

 drawing and painting preparatory to the Renais- 

 sance. Improvement simultaneous in Flanders 

 and Italy. Van Eyck's work known in southern 

 Euroj>o, his influence only technical, and soon died 

 out in Flanders itself. Roger van der Weyden 



