HOGARTH HOUSE, CHISWIGK 



candle," the Mecca to be reached is worth the pilgrimage, part 

 of which may be made by way of the river-side, and picturesque 

 Mall. 



It is to be feared, however, that lack of interest, due to changed 

 views of the mission of art, or, rather, to the circumstance that 

 nowadays many people deny art's claim to a mission at all, has 

 much to do with the defection of the pilgrims. 



The art critic of to-day looks askance at every modern picture 

 with a story. He often writes, openly or anonymously, in half 

 a dozen papers, varying his words but not his views, and thus 

 disseminates these among a wide public ; and so great is the power 

 of the Pre s, that by a light word he can make or mar a reputation. 

 The reputation of Hogarth is of course unassailable ; it has stood 

 the test of changing taste and fashion, but it can be temporarily 

 lowered, and eclipsed. 



For when the public is told that a painting with a story or a 

 message is to be despised, however admirable its technique ; that 

 an appeal to the intellect, or the emotions, is commonplace ; that 

 ' the painter is not to think, but to see, and record exactly what he 

 sees ; " when, on the other hand, the Post Impressionist claims 

 that an entire philosophy lies hidden in his unattractive perform- 

 ances ; when the Futurist asserts that the truth is veiled in certain 

 rhythmic scratches and blotches, of which the purport is too recon- 

 dite for the ordinary intelligence to grasp ; when, trusting to 

 native cleverness and facility, there are some, who, though they 

 profess to follow the great French Impressionists, yet neglect the 

 patient methods by which they arrived at breadth and brilliancy, 

 and offer merely dashing sketches as finished pictures ; when, in 

 an era of self-advertisement and wanton violation of the honoured 

 canons of art, strange, unwholesome productions from abroad 

 astonish the land of Turner and Reynolds, and are admired by 

 some it is surely wonderful that Hogarth should receive any 

 recognition at all ! For he is the prince of story-tellers ; his art 

 is all story, it is literary from beginning to end. Of him William 

 Sharp says : " Into the darkest work the artist has put meaning, 

 and there is instruction and sarcasm in all that he has introduced." 

 Therefore, whenever he duly subordinates details, and lets them 

 simply unfold themselves to the observer, bit by bit, without disturb- 

 ing the unity of the whole, is his picture any the worse ? 



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