The Coming of Night 
A Panel executed by William Fuller Curtis for Mr. Parker Mann s Library 
WILLIAM FULLER CURTIS, PYROGRAPHER 
By LEILA MECHLIN 
T HE medium through which an artist 
finds expression is on the whole of small 
significance save as its individuality is im¬ 
pressed upon the character of the utterance. 
It is immaterial to us today whether Praxite¬ 
les and Raphael spoke in marble or in pig¬ 
ment save in so far as the medium colored 
their expression. There is, however, an in¬ 
terest in the medium alone w'orthy of con¬ 
sideration, as each material has peculiar attri¬ 
butes and is specially adapted for the ren¬ 
dering of certain themes. 
Over eight hundred years ago in the Old 
World certain men with artistic tempera¬ 
ments developed step by step the art of 
painting. Pushing on beyond the border¬ 
land of past experience, these men created 
what they had never seen. They were the 
discoverers of a new medium, the pioneers 
of a new world. In a somewhat analogous 
way William Fuller Curtis has begun the 
development of the art of burnt wood, for, 
leaving behind the common usages of the 
craft, he has pushed on into the realm of 
the sculptor and the painter and created a 
new art. Neither in Europe nor America, 
in past ages nor today, has work of a similar 
character been done. 
Returning from a course of study abroad 
about ten years ago, he saw in the home of 
a friend a table and other articles of utility 
decorated by means of a hot point or a 
small flame, a process known as pyrogra- 
phy. They were cleverly done and novel. 
He became interested in the medium and 
determined to try it. At first his produc¬ 
tions were of the stereotyped character, but 
in 1894 he executed a semi-decorative, pic¬ 
torial panel, which, partly as a curiosity, was 
hung the same year in the Society of Wash¬ 
ington Artists’ Annual Exhibition. From 
then onward each new work has shown 
steady development, though each at the 
time of its execution marked the limit of his 
power. 
In the process of production Mr. Curtis 
pursues a method not unlike his fellow- 
artists of the brush. After carefully study¬ 
ing his theme and getting the general com¬ 
position well fixed in his mind, he draws it 
with great clearness and accuracy on the 
surface of the white wooden panel; then 
certain parts are carved, and the surround¬ 
ings cut away from others which are to be in 
bold relief. Finally the whole is modeled 
and shaded by the burning pencil. Each 
step is marked by thoroughness and pos¬ 
sesses individual interest, and for the artist 
critic it would be difficult to say which 
was the most attractive. Instead of a hasty 
sketch giving the construction of the design, 
Mr. Curtis’ pencil drawings accurately repre¬ 
sent the work as it will be when completed, 
every detail is shown, and no important 
feature is slightingly passed over ; the out¬ 
lines are direct and unequivocal and the 
shadows sculpturesque and significant. This 
work is seemingly lost in the application of 
the burning pencil, just as the drawing on 
the canvas is obliterated by the paint, but 
the pyrographer does not count this labor 
vain. It is indeed much as the painter uses 
his brush that Mr. Curtis handles his fiery 
little instrument, producing with it not only 
light and shade but effects of color and at¬ 
mosphere which are at the same time charm- 
29 1 
