Skip to main content

Full text of "Modern etching and engraving"

See other formats


MODERN  ETCHING 
AND  ENGRAVING 

Edited  by  Charles  Holme 

n  i^ 


OFFICES  OF  ,THE  STUDIO,'  LONDON, 
PARIS,  NEW  YORK  MCMII 


ERINDALE 

COLLEGE 

LIBRARY 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

AN  editor,  when  reviewing  an  important  work  which  has  just  been 
brought  to  completion  under  his  guidance,  cannot  but  be  sensible  of 
the  disparity  existing  between  a  thing  done  and  a  thing  sketched 
out  vividly  in  projects — in  "  enchanted  cigarettes  "  as  Balzac  called 
unrealised  schemes ;  for  in  books,  as  in  all  other  works  of  art,  many 
unexpected  difficulties  and  disappointments  interpose  between  con- 
ception and  execution,  limiting  the  scope  of  the  aim  in  view,  and 
lowering,  more  or  less,  the  quality  ot  craftsmanship.  The  fact  that 
several  modern  workers  of  repute  are  unrepresented  amongst  the 
illustrations  is  one  cause  of  regret  ;  the  large  but  unavoidable  reduc- 
tion in  size  of  many  of  the  illustrations  is  another  ;  also  it  is  felt 
that  the  absence  of  the  raised  line  of  the  original  plates  causes  a  loss 
of  distinction  in  the  half-tone  plates,  which  no  amount  of  care  in  the 
selection  of  paper  and  in  the  printing  could  entirely  remedy.  There 
are,  however,  other  sides  of  the  question  in  the  light  of  which  the 
very  faults  of  the  volume  become  virtues  ;  and,  in  spite  of  inevitable 
shortcomings,  the  hope  is  entertained  that  the  publication  will  add 
something  to  the  general  knowledge  of  the  subject  of  etching  and 
will  give  an  impetus  to  the  revival  of  interest  in  one  of  the  most 
delightful  and  personal  forms  of  artistic  expression. 
THE  Editor,  having  received  much  valued  sympathy  and  help  from 
many  quarters,  desires  to  express  his  cordial  thanks  to  his  foreign 
correspondents,  to  the  artist-contributors,  and  also  to  the  various 
publishers  who  have  sanctioned  the  reproduction  of  copyright 
etchings,  especially  to  Mr.  C.  Klackner  and  Mr.  Frederick  Keppel 
of  New  York  and  London,  Mr.  R.  Gutekunst  of  London,  Messrs. 
Frost  and  Reed  of  Bristol,  M.  E.  Sagot,  M.  C.  Hessele  and  M. 
Andre  Marty  of  Paris,  and  Messrs.  Amsler  and  Ruthardt  of 
Berlin.  The  American  Section  owes  much  to  Mr.  J.  M.  Bowles, 
of  New  York,  and  to  the  historical  notes  supplied  by  Mr.  Louis  A. 
Holman,  of  Boston. 


TABLE  OF  LITERARY  CONTENTS 


MODERN  ETCHING  AND  ' 
ENGRAVING  IN 

GREAT  BRITAIN      - 

AMERICA- 

FRANCE    -        -        -        - 

GERMANY 

AUSTRIA   -         -         - 

HUNGARY 

HOLLAND 

BELGIUM  -        -         -        - 

DENMARK  &  NORWAY - 

FINLAND  -        -        -        - 

ITALY         -        _        -        - 

SWITZERLAND 


By  A.  L.  Baldry 
„  Will  Jenkins 
„  Gabriel  Mourey 
„  Dr.  Hans  W.  Singer 
„  Wilhelm  Scholermann 
„  Anthony  Tahi 
„  Ph.  Zilcken 
„  Fernand  KhnopfF 
„  Georg  Brochner 
„  Count  Louis  Sparre 
„  Dr.  Romualdo  Pantini 
„  Professor  Robert  Mobbs 


ETCHERS  AND  ENGRAVERS : 
INDEX  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


BRITISH  SECTION. 

Baker,  Oliver,  R.E. 
Ball,  Wilfrid,  R.E. 
Bayes,  A.  W.,  R.E. 
Bolingbroke,  Minna,  R.E. 
Brangwyn,  Frank 
Burridge,  Fred.,  R.E. 
Burridge,  Fred.,  R.E. 
Bush,  R.  E.  J.,  A.R.E. 
Bush,  R.  E.  J.,  A.R.E. 
Cameron,  D.  Y.,  R.E. 
Cameron,  D.  Y.,  R.E. 
Cash,  John,  F.R.I.B.A. 
Charlton,  E.  W.,  A.R.E. 
Copeman ,  Constance  G. ,  A.  R 
Crawford,  Susan  F.,  A.R.E 
Dicksee,  Herbert,  R.E. 
Dalgliesh,  T.  Irving,  R.E. 
East,  Alfred,  A.R.A. 
East,  Alfred,  A.R.A. 
Ellis,  Tristram,  A.R.E. 
Finnic,  John,  R.E. 
GofF,  R.,  R.E. 
Goolden,  Fred.  W. 
Haig,  Axel  H.,  R.E. 
Hartley,  Alfred,  R.E. 
Herkomer,  Prof.  H.  von,  R. 
Herkomer,  Prof.  H.von,  R, 

AMERICAN  SECTION. 

Aid,  George  C. 
Backer,  Otto  H. 
Bauer,  W.  C. 
Beal,  W.  Goodrich 


Plate 

25 

j> 

52 

>» 

9 

>> 

7 

>) 

46 

>> 

28 

>> 

29 

» 

13 

It 

14 

ty 

32 

>» 

33 

» 

S3 

)> 

4 

•E.„ 

34 

J) 

2 

>> 

47 

» 

40 

» 

15 

it 

16 

a 

41 

>> 

3S 

» 

17 

)) 

31 

» 

12 

9) 

II 

A.„ 

5 

A.„ 

6 

Plate 

12 

)) 

6 

>j 

3 

}) 

18 

Herkomer,  Prof.  H.  von,  R.  A. 
Hole,  William,  R.S.A.,  R.E. 
Holroyd,  Charles,  R.E. 
Holroyd,  Charles,  R.E. 
Huson,  Thomas,  R.I.,  R.E. 
Kiddier,  William 
Knight,  Joseph,  R.I.,  R.E. 
Legros,  Prof.  A.,  R.E. 
Menpes,  Mortimer,  R.E. 
Meyer,  A.  C,  A.R.E. 
Murray,  J.  G.,  A.R.E. 
Paton,  Hugh,  A.R.E. 
Phillips,  L.  B.,  A.R.E. 
Pott,  Constance  M.,  R.E. 
Raalte,  H.  B.  van,  A.R.E. 
Raalte,  H.  B.  van,  A.R.E. 
Reason,  R.  G. 
Robertson,  Arthur,  A.R.E. 
Robinson,  Sir  J.  C,  C.B. 
Roller,  George,  R.E. 
Rowe,  T.  Trythall 
Short,  Frank,  R.E. 
Sloane,  Mary  A.,  A.R.E. 
Slocombe,  Fred,  R.E. 
Waterson,  David,  A.R.E. 
Waterson,  David,  A.R.E. 
Watson,  C.  J.,  R.E. 


Plate    8 

38 
21 
22 

39 
44 
10 

I 

30 

23 
24 

48 

27 

19 

20 

54 
26 

51 

49 
42 

45 

3 

43 

36 

37 
18 


Burleigh,  Sydney  Richmond,  Plate   1 7 
Duveneck,  Frank  „      21 

Getchell,  Edith  Loring  „      20 

Ho  vend  en,  Thomas  „      16 

5 


American  Section — continued. 


Lathrop,  W.  L. 
Lewis,  Arthur  A. 
MacLaughlan,  D.  Shaw 
Merritt,  Anna  Lea 
Mielatz,  C.  F.  W. 
Moran,  Peter 
Moran,  Thomas 
Oakford,  Ellen 
Parrish,  Stephen 

FRENCH  SECTION. 

B6jot,  Eugene 
Bejot,  Eugene 
Besnard 

Bracquemond,  Felix 
Chahine,  Edgar 
Chahine,  Edgar 
Dupont,  R. 
Dupont,  R. 
Helleu,  P. 
HeUeu,  P. 
Huard,  Charles 
Jeanniot 
Lafitte,  A. 
Leheutre,  G. 


Plate 


Plate 


» 
>> 


9 

24 

II 
19 

25 
7 
8 

4 
5 


25 
26 

20 

27 

17 
18 

13 

15 
6 

7 
3 

19 

22 

2 


Pennell,  Joseph 

Plate   13 

Piatt,  Charles  A. 

„      22 

Piatt,  Charles  A. 

»      23 

Rix,  Julian 

„      15 

Stetson,  Charles 

Walter 

„       10 

Weber,  Otis  S. 

„       14 

Whistler,  James 

McNeill 

»         I 

Whistler,  James 

McNeill 

51               2 

Lepere,  Auguste 
Lepere,  Auguste 
Lepere,  Auguste 
Lepere,  Auguste 
Monvel,  Bernard  de 
Paillard,  Henry 
Paillard,  Henry 
Robbe,  Manuel 
Robbe,  Manuel 
Schuller,  J.  Charles 
Steinlen 
Steinlen 
Viala,  E. 


Plate  8 
10 
II 
12 

5 
9 

H 
I 

4 

16 

23 
24 
21 


GERMAN  SECTION. 

Fischer,  Otto 
Fischer,  Otto 
Gambert,  Otto 
Graf,  Oscar 
Graf,  Oscar 
Halm,  Peter 
Hegenbart,  Fritz 
Hegenbart,  Fritz 
lilies,  Arthur 

Kalckreuth,  Leopold  Count 
6 


Plate  22  Klinger,  Max 

„  24  Klinger,  Max 

„  1 1  Kollwitz,  Kathe 

„  5  Leistikow,  W. 

„  6  Liebermann,  Max 

„  23  Meyer-Basel,  C.  T. 

„  19  Meyer-Basel,  C.  T. 

„  20  Overbeck,  Fritz 

„  25  Pankok,  Bernhard 

„  4  StaufFer,  Karl 


Plate  12 

13 
16 

I 

18 
8 

9 
21 

17 
15 


German  Section — continued. 

Stuck,  Franz                           Plate  lo 

Thoma,  Hans                             „  3 

Ubbelohde,  Otto                       „  2 


Ubbclohde,  Otto 
WolfF,  Heinrich 


Plate     7 
»       14 


AUSTRIAN  SECTION. 

Cossmann,  Alfred 
Cossmann,  Alfred 
Cossmann,  Alfred 
Jettmar,  Rudolph 
Lopienski,  Ignaz 


Plate 


3 

Orlik,  Emil 

Plate 

7 

4 

Orlik,  Emil 

» 

8 

5 

Schmutzer,  Ferdinand 

yy 

2 

10 

Schmutzer,  Ferdinand 

M 

9 

6 

Unger,  William 

»> 

I 

HUNGARIAN  SECTION. 


Aranyossy,  Akos  F. 

Plate     4 

Raiischer,  lajos 

T^ndsinger,  Zsigmond 

9 

Raiischer,  Tajos 

Landsinger,  Zsigmond 

„       10 

Sz6kely,  Arpad 

Olgyai,  Viktor 

I 

Sz^kely,  Arpdd 

Olgyai,  Viktor 

2 

Tahi,  A. 

Plate 


DUTCH  SECTION. 


Bauer,  M. 

Plate 

^ 

Nieuwenkamp, 

W. 

0. 

J- 

Plate 

6 

Becht,  Ed. 

>^ 

9 

Reicher,  A.  F. 

» 

4 

Bosch,  E. 

»> 

II 

Witsen,  W. 

» 

2 

Gravesande,  Storm  van 

)) 

10 

Zilcken,  P. 

» 

7 

Houten,  Miss  B.  G.  van 

» 

3 

Zwart,  W.  de 

n 

I 

Koster,  A.  L. 

» 

8 

BELGIAN  SECTION. 


Baertsoen,  A. 

Plate 

7 

Mar6chal,  F 

Plate  10 

Cassiers,  H. 

I 

Meunier,  H. 

»        5 

Coppens,  0. 

9 

Romberg,  M. 

„        4 

Danse,  A. 

2 

Rysselberghe,  T.  van 

>»      II 

Gailliard,  F. 

3 

Titz,  L. 

w        8 

KhnopfF,  Fernand 

13 

Wytsman,  R. 

6 

Laermans,  E. 

12 

DANISH  SECTION. 


FrOlich,  Lorenz 

Plate 

lO 

Liind,  Soren 

Plate  II 

Hansen,  H.  N. 

3 

M5nsted,  Peter 

7 

Hou,  Axel 

2 

Niss,  Thorvald 

»        4 

Krause,  E. 

9 

Schwartz,  Frants 

„        12 

Kroyer,  P.  S. 

I 

Schwartz,  Frants 

»      13 

Locher,  Carl 

5 

Skovgaard,  Niels 

»        8 

Liibschitz,  J. 

6 

NORWEGIAN  AND  FINNISH  SECTION. 

Edelfelt,  A.  Plate 
Edelfelt,  A.  „ 

Flodin,  Hilda  „ 

Flodin,  Hilda  „ 

Gallon,  A.  „ 

Nordhagen,  J.  „ 


8 

Sparre,  Count  Louis 

Plate 

5 

TO 

Sparre,  Count  Louis 

» 

9 

4 

TheslefF,  Ellen 

i> 

3 

6 

Zorn,  Anders  L. 

» 

I 

7 

Zorn,  Anders  L. 

)j 

2 

II 

ITALIAN  SECTION. 

Beltrami,  Luca  Plate  1 1 

Biseo,  Cesare  ,,  6 

Chessa,  C.  „  2 

Fattori,  G.  „  9 

Fortuny,  Mariano,  Jun.  „  15 

Grubicy,  Vittore  „  4 

Kienerk,  Giorgio  „  10 

Miti-Zanetti,  G.  »  7 


Nomellini,  P. 
Savardo,  Dino 
Sezanne,  Augusto 
Turletti,  C. 
Vegetti,  Enrico 
Vetri,  Paolo 
Vitalini,  Francesco 


Plate 

8 

>> 

13 

>» 

14 

>> 

12 

» 

5 

» 

I 

» 

3 

SWISS  SECTION. 

Amiet,  Cuno  Plate  8 

Beaumont,  Pauline  de                „  4 

Burnand,  Eugene                       „  10 

Forel,  Alexis                              „  9 

Muyden,  E.  van                        „  i 


Muyden,  E.  van 
Muyden,  E.  van 
Piguet,  R. 
Ravel,  Edouard 
Vallet,  E. 


Plate     2 


» 

3 

a 

6 

» 

7 

a 

S 

MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  By  A.  L. 
BALDRY. 


N  exact  definition  of  etching  is  not  easy.  In 
the  narrowest  sense  of  the  term  it  would  pre- 
sumably be  limited  only  to  work  which  is 
scratched  with  a  pointed  tool  upon  a  metal 
plate,  to  line  drawings  upon  copper  which, 
when  rubbed  with  ink,  will  give  an  impression 
on  paper.  If  this  definition  is  accepted,  there 
are  but  two  kinds  of  etching,  that  in  which 
the  lines  made  by  the  point  are  deepened  and 
strengthened  by  being  bitten  in  with  an  acid  which  will  eat  away 
the  copper,  and  that  known  as  "  dry-point,"  in  which  there  is  no 
accentuation  of  the  lines  by  the  use  of  the  acid.  From  plates  treated 
in  either  of  these  ways  prints  can  be  obtained  which  have  character- 
istic technical  qualities  and  reproduce  exactly  the  original  touches  of 
the  tool ;  and  these  prints  are  probably  entitled  to  be  regarded  as 
illustrations  of  the  purest  form  of  the  etcher's  art. 
BUT  it  is  questionable  whether  it  is  quite  permissible  to  draw  so 
sharp  a  line  between  etching  and  other  kinds  of  engraving.  There 
are  processes  allied  to  it  which  differ  from  it  only  in  minor  details, 
and  there  are  others  in  which  it  actually  plays  some  part  in  producing 
the  final  result.  It  is  better  to  make  the  definition  as  broad  and 
-comprehensive  as  possible,  and  not  to  insist  upon  distinctions  which 
only  hamper  the  etcher's  activity.  That  the  workers  themselves 
desire  full  freedom  to  express  their  ideas  in  any  way  that  suits  them 
best  is  proved  by  the  readiness  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Painter- 
Etchers  to  encourage  all  forms  of  engraving  which  give  opportunities 
for  the  display  of  originality  of  invention  and  accomplishment.  One 
of  the  rules  of  this  society  declares  that  "  all  forms  of  engraving  on 
metal,  whether  by  the  burin,  the  etching-needle,  by  mezzotint  or 
aquatint,  or  by  whatever  other  form  (of  engraving)  the  artist  may 
choose  as  a  means  of  original  expression,  are  understood  to  be  in- 
-cluded  in  the  term 'painter-etching.'"  This  inclusiveness  is  no  doubt 
due  in  some  measure  to  the  anxiety  of  an  exhibiting  association  to 
make  its  shows  attractive  and  varied,  but  it  comes  also  from  an  ob- 
vious desire  on  the  part  of  the  artists  themselves  to  be  allowed  a  free 


British 

choice  as  to  the  particular  technical  method  which  will  best  interpret 
them. 

INDEED,  if  such  a  society,  founded  professedly  to  develop  the  art 
of  etching  and  to  popularise  it  among  all  lovers  of  interesting  accom- 
plishment, were  to  attempt  any  exact  regulation  of  executive  processes, 
it  would  lose  the  greater  part  of  its  authority  and  would  practically 
destroy  its  right  to  existence.  Its  real  mission,  which  it  seems  from 
the  first  to  have  judiciously  recognised,  is  to  gather  together  all  men 
who  take  an  intelligent  view  of  their  artistic  responsibilities  and  to 
bestow  approval  upon  all  types  of  production  which  are  plainly 
inspired  by  a  legitimate  desire  to  break  away  from  the  beaten  track* 
To  ignore  anything  which  bore  the  stamp  of  serious  originality 
would  be  as  mistaken  a  piece  of  policy  as  to  extend  encouragement 
to  mechanical  and  commercial  substitutes  for  the  artist's  work* 
Every  man  who  has  something  fresh  to  say  is  entitled  to  a  hearing  ; 
it  would  be  foolish  to  try  and  silence  him  because  he  does  not  use 
exactly  the  same  idioms  as  his  predecessors,  or  because  he  happens  to 
have  hit  upon  an  idea  which  had  not  occurred  to  them. 
OF  all  the  experts  who  have  given  an  opinion  on  the  question  of 
terminology,  perhaps  the  most  catholic  in  his  views  is  Professor  von 
Herkomer.  He  declared,  in  one  of  the  lectures  which  he  delivered 
during  his  tenure  of  the  Slade  Professorship  at  Oxford,  that  he  is 
disposed  to  apply  the  term  "  etching "  to  every  form  of  work  on 
metal,  whether  bitten  with  acid  or  indented  with  a  burin  or  needle^ 
so  long  as  this  work  in  its  character  strictly  represents  the  freest 
expression  of  an  artistic  nature.  He  would  make  the  distinction 
between  what  is  and  what  is  not  properly  called  etching  a  matter  of 
esthetic  sentiment  rather  than  of  technical  manner,  and  he  would 
exclude  from  the  category  of  etchings  all  laboriously  wrought  plates^ 
even  though  the  methods  of  working  followed  in  them  might  conform 
absolutely  to  executive  precedents.  At  the  same  time  he  admitted 
that  there  is  no  measurement  and  there  are  no  rules  by  which  thc: 
right  thing  can  be  recognised  off-hand.  Personal  feeling  must 
necessarily  play  an  important  part  in  the  guidance  of  the  men  wha 
practise  this  subtle  art,  and  it  must  equally  have  a  supreme  influence 
over  people  who  are  honestly  anxious  to  understand  what  maybe  the 
type  of  production  that  has  the  strongest  claim  upon  their  apprecia- 
tion. Of  course  there  can  be  no  precise  standard  if  so  much  scope- 
is  allowed  to  individual  conviction,  and  inevitably  there  must  be  con- 
flicts of  taste  on  many  more  or  less  vital  questions,  but  there  is  in 
these  very  conflicts  something  stimulating  and  encouraging  to  th^ 
active  mind. 


British 

IF  we  accept,  as  a  basis  ror  argument,  the  Professor's  broad  statement 
as  to  the  comprehensiveness  of  etching  and  adopt  his  standpoint  with 
regard  to  the  functions  of  the  art,  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  there  is 
within  the  artist's  reach  no  executive  device  which  is  at  the  same 
time  capable  of  giving  so  much  enjoyment  to  producer  and  observer, 
and  so  full  of  exciting  possibilities.  The  etcher's  successes,  the 
achievements  of  a  man  who  has  secured  for  once  an  absolute  agree- 
ment between  mind  and  hand,  are  exquisite  things  which  will 
fascinate  every  intelligent  thinker,  because  the  process  by  which 
they  have  been  brought  into  existence  is  one  that  allows  the  most 
complete  realisation  of  great  imaginative  ideas.  It  abounds  with 
subtleties  which  are  infinitely  suggestive  to  the  possessor  of  the  true 
artistic  temperament,  and  it  will  lead  him  on  to  heights  of  expres- 
sion unattainable  by  any  other  mode  of  practice.  So  many  ways  of 
arriving  at  his  results  are,  moreover,  open  to  him  that  he  need  never 
fear  that  he  will  be  hampered  by  the  unresponsiveness  of  the  medium ; 
the  limitations  which  he  has  to  fear  are  those  of  his  own  personality ; 
nothing  will  check  his  progress  more  than  any  inability  on  his  part 
to  perceive  the  direction  in  which  he  should  turn  in  his  striving 
after  success. 

BUT,  at  the  same  time,  etching  in  all  its  form  is  an  uncertain  art,  or 
rather  it  is  uncertain  when  it  is  used  by  an  artist  who  is  ambitious. 
If  its  processes  are  made  mechanical  and  kept  in  regular  sequence  by 
a  code  of  rules,  it  will  give  only  mechanical  results  which  will  satisfy 
no  one  but  the  man  who  is  cursed  with  commonplace  instincts  and  an 
unimaginative  nature.  It  will  cease  to  be  spontaneous  and  will 
become  merely  mannered  and  pedantically  correct,  losing  thereby 
some  of  its  noblest  qualities  and  gaining  nothing  but  an  aspect  of 
superficial  completeness.  In  the  hands,  however,  of  an  artist  who 
willingly  risks  failures  in  the  hope  that  he  may  achieve  something 
of  memorable  importance  it  is  capable  of  endless  surprises,  for  it  will 
vary  strangely  in  response  to  his  moods.  Its  results  may  be  fantastic, 
exaggerated,  contrary  to  all  precedent,  but  even  when  they  are 
obviously  wrong,  they  will  be  neither  tame  nor  stupid,  and  when 
they  are  right  they  will  probably  be  exquisitely  attractive.  At  least 
they  will  never  have  the  smug  and  soulless  perfection  of  mechanism 
which  the  unaspiring  craftsman  is  content  to  attain. 
THE  reasons  for  this  uncertainty  are  to  be  sought  partly  in  the 
temperament  of  the  etcher,  and  partly  in  the  technical  complexities 
of  the  art  itself.  The  first  essential  for  success  is  enthusiasm,  a  love 
of  the  work  for  its  own  sake,  and  a  resolve  to  be  daunted  by  no  diffi- 
culties   that  may    arise  to    hamper    the    worker's    progress.      The 

3 


British 

enthusiast,  when  the  fit  is  on  him,  will  attack  cheerfully  the  most 
complicated  problems,  and  will  triumph  over  them  by  sheer  brilliance 
of  inspiration  and  strength  of  will,  but  even  a  momentary  slackening 
of  his  determination,  or  the  slightest  yielding  to  a  feehng  of  dis- 
couragement, will  suffice  to  put  him  hopelessly  off  the  right  track 
and  to  involve  him  in  a  maze  of  perplexities  from  which  there  is 
no  escape.  Even  when  his  enthusiasm  is  at  its  highest,  there  may 
come  difficulties  which  he  cannot  surmount,  and  he  has  to  confess 
himself  beaten.  Some  etchers,  indeed,  profess  to  regard  their  art  as 
one  that  is  made  up  of  accidents,  happy  and  unhappy,  and  to  find  its 
very  unexpectedness  a  source  of  delight.  But  such  an  attitude 
towards  it  is  a  little  too  fanciful ;  there  is  beyond  doubt  a  very  con- 
siderable amount  of  knowledge  of  its  peculiarities  to  be  obtained  by 
serious  study,  and  there  are  many  practical  details  which  can  be 
reduced  to  order  by  a  man  who  makes  reasonably  methodical  investi- 
gations. How  he  applies  his  practical  knowledge  must,  of  course, 
depend  upon  himself.  If  he  is  of  a  wavering  temperament  and 
inclined  to  stray  about,  he  may  meet  with  more  than  a  fair  proportion 
of  accidents,  but  if  he  has  a  passably  stable  disposition  he  will  know 
well  enough  what  lapse  in  his  own  judgment  has  caused  him  to  fail, 
or  what  keying  up  of  his  nervous  energies  has  brought  success  within 
his  grasp. 

IF,  then,  the  personality  of  the  etcher  has  so  much  to  do  with  the 
character  of  the  plates  that  he  executes,  it  is  possible  to  give  the 
English  school  credit  for  the  possession  of  an  unusual  number  ot 
members  who  are  liberally  endowed  with  the  right  mental  qualities. 
During  the  last  few  years  there  has  been  produced  in  this  country 
a  very  considerable  amount  of  etched  work  which  satisfies  all  the 
necessary  conditions  of  spontaneity,  originality  and  sympathy  with 
nature,  and  has  besides  a  large  measure  of  admirable  technical 
strength.  Some  of  this  work  is  worthy  to  rank  with  the  best  that 
has  come  from  any  school,  much  of  it  is  decidedly  above  the  average, 
and  even  among  those  examples  which  have  to  be  reckoned  as 
failures  there  is  unquestionable  evidence  of  well-intentioned  effort  to 
avoid  the  easier  commonplaces  that  content  the  mere  journeyman 
engraver.  Of  course  the  good  things  have  to  be  sifted  out  of  a  mass 
of  stuff  which  makes  no  pretence  of  being  original  in  even  a  minor 
degree,  but  quite  enough  of  them  can  be  found  to  repay  the  trouble 
of  investigation. 

ONE  excellent  point  which  must  be  noted  about  our  native  school 
at  its  best  is  that  it  covers  a  very  wide  ground.  The  variety  of 
invention  which  is  shown  by  the  men  who  belong  to  it,  and  their 

4 


British 

readiness  to  seize  upon  all  kinds  of  material  that  seems  susceptible 
of  artistic  treatment,  are  worthy  of  the  highest  praise.  They  do  not 
merely  follow  in  the  track  of  one  or  two  masters,  nor  are  they 
content  simply  to  repeat  what  others  have  done ;  their  obvious  desire 
is  to  give  fair  play  to  their  own  independence  of  thought  and  their 
particular  individualities  of  expression.  Even  those  etchers  who 
plainly  reflect  the  practice  of  the  teachers  from  whom  they  received 
their  grounding  of  technical  knowledge  show  in  a  number  of  cases 
that  they  are  capable  of  giving  new  readings  of  the  facts  that  they 
have  learned.  Generally,  indeed,  there  is  to  be  perceived  a  whole- 
some spirit  of  originality  which,  despite  occasional  aberrations,  has 
called  into  existence  an  array  of  sound  and  interesting  works  of  art 
illustrating  with  complete  adequacy  most  of  the  worthier  applications 
of  the  craft  of  etching. 

IT  is  in  figure  drawing,  perhaps,  that  English  etchers  are  least 
successful.  We  have  no  one  in  this  country  who  approaches 
M.  Paul  Helleu  in  graceful  elegance  of  design  and  supple  freedom 
of  expression,  and  certainly  none  of  our  artists  can  be  compared  to 
him  as  a  brilliant  exponent  of  what  is  most  attractive  in  the  modern 
type  of  humanity.  Nor  have  we  a  master  like  Mr.  Anders  Zorn  who 
combines  in  perfect  proportion  certainty  of  draughtsmanship  and 
masculine  confidence  in  the  use  of  the  best  devices  of  etching.  But 
at  least  we  can  claim,  by  virtue  of  his  long  residence  amongst  us, 
M.  Legros  as  one  of  our  chief  art  leaders,  and  we  can  point  to  an 
important  group  of  younger  Englishmen  who  owe  to  his  example 
and  instruction  some  of  the  best  qualities  of  their  practice.  Such 
artists  as  Mr.  W.  Strang,  Mr.  Charles  Holroyd,  Mr.  Gascoyne,  and 
others  who  were  trained  by  M.  Legros  at  the  Slade  School  or  at 
South  Kensington,  take  high  rank  in  this  country  and  illustrate  in 
their  methods  of  working  some  decidedly  original  views  about  the 
application  of  aesthetic  principles. 

THEN  there  is  another  group  of  the  pupils  and  followers  of  Professor 
von  Herkomer,  which  includes  several  of  the  most  prominent  of 
present-day  workers  in  various  forms  of  engraving.  The  Professor 
himself,  by  his  own  performances  as  an  etcher  and  a  mezzotinter,  and 
by  his  invention  of  a  process  of  "  plate  painting,"  which  makes 
possible  the  exact  reproduction  of  an  artist's  own  handiwork,  has 
earned  an  indisputable  right  to  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the  most 
versatile  and  capable  masters  of  the  craft,  and  by  his  ability  as  a 
teacher  he  has  made  upon  the  art  of  this  country  a  mark  which  can 
never  be  effaced.  He  has  done  much  to  simplify  the  complicated 
processes  of  etching  by  ingenious  adaptations  of  the  older  technicalities; 

5 


British 

he  has  devised  various  short  cuts  to  results  which  were  previously 
attainable  only  by  prolonged  and  often  uncertain  labour  ;  and  he  has 
imparted  to  others  a  full  share  of  his  well-directed  and  intelligent 
enthusiasm.  From  these  two  groups  is  coming  annually  a  great  deal 
that  is  very  significant  and  decidedly  promising  artistically. 
INDEED,  though  there  arc  among  the  etchers  of  figure  subjects 
only  a  few  who  are  entitled  to  be  placed  in  the  first  rank,  the  list  of 
capable  craftsmen  who  deserve  to  be  seriously  considered  is  by  no 
means  a  small  one,  and  it  is  in  its  way  thoroughly  representative. 
There  are  Mr.  Mortimer  Menpes,  Mr.  Jacomb  Hood,  Mr.  R.  W. 
Macbeth,  Mr.  D.  A.  Wehrschmidt,  Mr.  Norman  Hirst,  Mr.  A.  W. 
Bayes,  Mr.  George  Roller,  Mr.  William  Hole,  Miss  Cormack, 
Mr.  E.  G.  Hester,  Mr.  J.  C.  Webb,  Mr.  J.  B.  Pratt,  Mr.  Macbeth- 
Raeburn,  and  others  whose  understanding  of  different  forms  of 
engraving  is  displayed  in  a  long  series  of  plates,  some  original  and 
some  reproductions  of  pictures.  Every  now  and  again  there  comes 
from  one  or  other  of  these  artists  something  of  real  excellence, 
something  to  remind  us  that  the  great  ideals  which  were  respected 
in  past  generations  are  still  being  kept  alive,  and  that  the  desire  for 
admirable  achievement  is  as  active  as  ever. 

THE  number  of  etchers  who  occupy  themselves  principally  or 
entirely  with  landscapes  and  studies  of  architectural  motives  is 
notably  large,  and  their  record  is  memorable  for  its  compre- 
hensiveness and  for  its  revelation  of  true  sympathy  with  nature. 
Much  of  the  work  which  comes  into  this  class  is  inspired  by 
unusual  understanding  of  refinements  of  line  composition  and  by 
a  delightful  appreciation  of  subtleties  of  atmospheric  effect,  and  is 
especially  happy  in  its  translation  of  gradations  of  tone  and  colour 
into  suggestive  black  and  white.  What  may  be  called  the  common- 
place view  of  nature,  with  its  exaltation  of  trivial  detail  and  its 
neglect  of  decorative  arrangement  and  fine  adjustment  of  masses 
of  light  and  dark,  is  not  often  taken  by  the  men  who  can  be 
regarded  as  representative  of  our  landscape  etchers.  They  aim  by 
preference  at  a  nobler  treatment  of  the  motives  which  they  select, 
and  if  they  fail  it  is  because  they  chance  at  times  to  attempt  what 
is  beyond  their  powers  of  expression.  Theirs  is  the  honourable 
failure  which  can  be  forgiven  readily  enough  on  account  of  the 
splendid  ambition  which  prompted  the  effort ;  it  does  not  come 
from  want  of  courage  or  from  a  disposition  to  be  satisfied  with  little 
things. 

BUT  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  collect  instances  of  the  fortunate 
realisation  of  really  great  intentions.     In  the  work  of  Mr.  Frank 
6 


British 

Short,  with  his  excellent  draughtsmanship  and  sound  sense  of  style> 
Mr.  F.  V.  Burridge,  with  his  large  freedom  of  touch,  Mr.  D.  Y. 
Cameron,  Mr.  E.  W.  Charlton,  Mr.  C.  J.  Watson,  Mr.  Wilfrid  Ball,. 
Mr.  Thomas  Huson,  Mr.  Alfred  Hartley,  Sir  J.  C.  Robinson,. 
Colonel  GofF,  Mr.  R.  E.  J.  Bush,  and  Sir  F.  Seymour  Haden,  the 
combination  of  sensitive  study  and  strong  expression  is  wholly 
fascinating ;  and  a  not  less  correct  appreciation  of  the  etcherV 
mission  in  the  art  world  is  to  be  credited  to  artists  like  Mr.  T.  Irving 
Dalgliesh,  Mr.  Fred  Slocombe,  Mr.  J.  G.  Murray,  Mr.  Oliver  Baker,. 
Mr.  Alfred  East,  Mr.  John  Finnie,  Mr.  Arthur  Robertson,  Mr. 
Lawrence  B.  Phillips,  Mr.  F.  Laing,  Miss  C.  M.  Pott,  Mr.  H. 
Van  Raalte,  Mr.  T.  T.  Rowe,  Miss  C.  G.  Copeman,  Mr.  David 
Waterson,  Miss  M.  A.  Sloane,  Mr.  H.  R.  Robertson,  Miss  M. 
Bolingbroke,  Mr.  F.  W.  Goolden,  Miss  C.  M.  Nichols,  Mr.  W. 
Kiddier,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Knight.  Then  there  are  men  like  Mr  W. 
Hole  and  M.  Legros,  who  handle  landscapes  and  figure-subjects  with 
almost  equal  power.  In  all  directions  can  be  found  good  things 
which  are  worthy  of  attention  from  all  students  of  contemporary  art 
history  and  from  all  lovers  of  unaffected  and  earnest  endeavour. 
IT  is  an  encouraging  sign  that  there  should  be  now  among  the 
members  of  the  English  school  a  widespread  belief  in  the  importance 
of  a  generous  interpretation  of  the  technical  responsibility  of  the 
etcher.  Every  worker  is  at  liberty  to  choose  the  mode  of  practice 
that  suits  best  his  point  of  view  and  will  aid  him  most  satisfactorily 
to  convey  his  impression  of  nature  to  other  people.  He  is  not 
rigidly  bound  down  to  observe  narrow  rules,  and  he  need  not  fear 
that  he  will  be  denied  recognition  because  he  is  impatient  of  all 
restrictions  likely  to  limit  his  freedom  of  expression.  Many  of  the 
older  conventions  have  disappeared,  and  with  them  the  pedantic 
insistence  upon  the  idea  that  every  one  who  might  have  the  will 
and  the  ability  to  strike  out  for  himself  a  new  way  apart  from  the 
beaten  track  must  necessarily  be  a  heretic  and  an  unbeliever.  This- 
widening  of  opportunity  has  not,  however,  led  to  anything  like 
extravagance.  The  sincerity  of  the  better  type  of  artists  who 
practise  the  craft  is  quite  beyond  question  ;  they  have  not  relaxed 
in  the  smallest  degree  their  respect  for  Nature's  authority,  and  plainly 
they  value  their  freedom  most  because  it  helps  them  to  realise 
something  of  her  infinite  variety. 

A.  L.  Baldry. 


iU'lM 


■^' M^^,7f^^M^^' 


"IN  WEST  PRINCE'S  STREET  GARDENS, 
EDINBURGH."  FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY 
SUSAN  F.  CRAWFORD,  A.R.E. 

Plate  a 


British 


Plate  3 — "a  roadway  in  flanders" 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  MARY  A.  SLOANE,  A.R.E. 


^ 


■A 

i 

.  1 

- 

■/ 

ik 

'.[.-- 

PwlillE^iL  V  iji  ^ 

4=; 

< 

■■ 

...  ■  ^ 

Plate  4 — "the  slipway" 


FROM    the   etching   BY   E.   W.    CHARLTON,   A.R.E. 


British 


AT 


'•  vftJdJiKV  t-V  .Vmi  ifci-g- 


•     "  '•^iic      ''^^  -': 


"STUDY  OF  AN  ARAB  HEAD."  FROM 
THE  HERKOMERGRAVURE  BY  PRO- 
FESSOR H.  VON  HERKOMER,  R.A. 

Plate  5 


British 


Plate  6 — "wild  weather 


FROM    THE    DRY-POINT    BY    PROFESSOR    H.    VON    HERKOMER,    R.A. 


Plate  7 — "  in  the  furrowed  land 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    MINNA    BOLINGBROKE,    R.E. 


British 


"JOHN  PHILLIP,  R.A." 
FROM  THE   ETCHING 
BY  A.  W.  BAYES,  R.E. 
Plate  9 


British 


Plate  io — "  the  cloud  " 


FROM    THE    MEZZOTINT   BY   JOSEPH    KNIGHT,    R.I.,    R.E. 


Plate  i  i — "  an  essex  stream 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  ALFRED  HARTLEY,  R.E. 


^'v. 


<gaC^:5^,^ 


"WESTMINSTER  ABBEY."    FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  AXEL  HERMAN   HAIG,  R.E, 


British 


"EVENING,  MOUSEHOLE  HARBOUR" 
FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  REGINALD 
E.  J.  BUSH,  A.R.E. 

Plate  13 


w    < 


09 


British 


Plate  17 — "dordrecht' 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  R.  GOFF,  R.E. 


Plate  18 — "vespei 


FROM    the    DRV-POINT    BY    C.    J.    WATSON,    R.E. 


s 

W 

o 

K 

fe 

< 

tf 

w 

S 

>^ 

< 

« 

< 

^ 

« 

a. 

o 

^ 

a: 

> 

C/D 

c/: 

ffl 

cs; 

. 

w 

DC 

Q 

5 
1 

2 

H 

<  K 

O  O 

CQ  H 

w 

W 

E 

w 

H 

X 

z    H 


British 


^^■^''^jitsib. 


•>..--;^-        ■-■  -..^^-.        ■    ^S^,,^.;:.^-, 


"THE    PHILOSOPHER."      FROM 
THE    DRY-POINT  BY   H.  B.  van 

RAALTE,  A.R.E. 

Plate  20 


British 


"NIGHT."       A   DRY-POINT 
STUDY    OF    A    HEAD    BY 
CHARLES  HOLROYD,  R.E. 
Plate  21 


as    >« 
as    O 


(4 
H 

CI. 


-<i 


z 

o 

tfl 

H 

« 

(ij 

a 

s 

o 

hJ 

K 

O 

X 

> 

D 

h 

X 

H 

W 
H 

0:i 
< 

oo 

>< 

U 

pa 

Q 

o 

< 

z 

hJ 

hJ 

X 

u 

> 

H 

td 

(4 

X 

U 

H 

X 

3 

h 

1 

•? 

O 

a 

(I. 

H 

•< 

U 

CU 

British 


"GUN  AND  SHOT  WHARF,  SOUTH- 
WARK."  FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY 
CONSTANCE  M.  POTT,  R.E. 

Plate  27 


:f 


i 


r    ■>-' 


.„^;>fc 


w 

X 

H 

00 

h— 4 

u 

.^ 

H 

o 

< 
k) 

X 

P, 

fe< 

w 

L-  oi 

X 

MARS 
IDGE, 

,>  Oi 

W  cti 

as  D 

H  m 

S  Q 

O  W 

Ci^  D^ 

^  fc< 

^     >H 

W  CQ 

H     ^ 

(n  O 

<  Z 

O  -- 

Z  X 

<  o 

J  H 

::     W 

"THE  MILL  IN  THE  WIRRAL."    FROM  the  etching  by  FRED.  BURRIDGE,  R.E. 


British 


Plate  30 — "on  the  moors" 


FROM    THE    MEZZOTINT    BY   A.    C.    MEYER,    A.R.E. 

(jBv  termission  of  the  Publishers,  Messrs.  Frost  and  Reed,  Bristol) 


^  l\Lo«. 


•«*- 


Plate  31 — "whitby  harbour" 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  FRED  W.  GOOLDEN 


o 


o 

W 
W 

o 


o 


X 

X  " 


•I 


ROSLIN."    FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  D.  Y.  CAMERON,  R.E. 


British 


Plate  34 — "  every  little  helps  a  little  "    from  the  etching  by  Constance  g.  copeman,  a.r. 


I 


Plate  35 — "a  bend  in  a  mountain  stream'  from  the  mezzotint  by  john  finnie,  r.e. 

(By  permission  of  the  Publishers,  Messrs.  Frost  and  Reed,  Bristol) 


British 


Plate  36 — "the  little  copse" 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    DAVID    WATERSON,    A.R.E. 


Plate  37 — "a  piping  shepherd" 


FROM   THE    MEZZOTINT   BY    DAVID   WATERSON,   A.R.E. 


u 

a 


I 


o 


o 

^  O 


CQ  W 


eo 

CO 

bl 
H 

•< 
•J 


W  PQ 
DC  K 
O 

l-H 

Oh 
W 

5  ^ 


O 


D 

Q 


I 


British 


Plate  39— "drizzle" 


DRAWN,  ETCHED,  AND  ENGRAVED  BY  THOMAS  HUSON,  R.E. 


Plate  40 — "the  hill  side' 


FROM    the    DRY-POINT    BY    T.    IRVING    DALGLIESH,    R.E. 


I 


CO    S 

Tf     O 

OS 
H 


w 

H 

.-I 


British 


%■.: 


Plate  44 — "  on  the  way  to  port  " 


FROM    the    etching    BY   WILLIAM    KIDDIER 


^^■;- 

m^ 

i 

\ 

Plate  45 — "  old  battersea  bridge 


FROM  the  AQUATINT  BY  FRANK  SHORT,  R.E. 


British 


"A  DOCKYARD  ON  THE  THAMES" 

FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY   FRANK 

BRANGWYN 

Plate  46 


British 


Plate  47 — "  the  king  " 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    HERBERT    DICKSEE,    R.E. 

{By  fermission  of  the  Publishers,  Messrs.  Frost  and  Reed,  Bristol) 


Plate  48— "  on  the  grand  canal,  venice" 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    L.    B.    PHILLIPS,    A.R.E. 


O 


O 

72 


w 
o 

u 

w 

o 

o 

o 
>^ 

CQ 
O 

DC 
O 

H 


British 


"PORTRAITS  OF  THE  LATE  CECIL 
RHODES."      FROM  THE   ETCHINGS 
BY  MORTIMER  MENPES,  R.E. 
Plate  50 


o 

w 

:^  DC 

1— 1 

H 

o 
o 

1— 1 

P^ 

i^ 

fc 

o 

w 

PQ 

u 

• 

Cci 

<: 

[J:^ 

;d 

w  « 

Oh 

DC 

^ 

O 

o 

c/: 

O 

H-1 
< 

cj 

O  H 

1— , 

Q 

yj 

P^ 

^ 

CT) 

U 

0:^  >^ 

w 

< 

P3 

< 

^ 

C? 

PQ 

U 

;?; 

W 

H 

;z 

H 

;z; 

D 

H 

O  W 

cq 


H 

< 


W 


.J 


< 

Q 

M     0^ 

PQ 

fc 

S 

J 

< 

5 

< 

>H 

W 

m 

^ 

o 

.. 

^ 

>^ 

^  X 

^  u 

ffl  H 

:; 

w 

^52^^^ -^^Sr^-'  r  ''f^'V^-■'^ 


S  DC 

0^  <  S 

c/:  ^  a, 

CO  ^ 

O  ffl 

s  ^  ■ 

X  S 


British 


"A  STREET  IN  PERUGIA.'VFROM 
THE   ETCHING    BY  R.  G.  REASON 
Plate  54 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  AMERICA.  By  WILL 
JENKINS. 


HE  many  and  varied  artistic  possibilities  of  line 
have  each  year  been  more  intelligently  practised 
by  the  American  artist  and  better  appreciated 
by  the  general  public,  and  a  brilliant  school  of 
wood  engravers  followed  by  a  yet  more  brilliant 
school   of  pen   draughtsmen   whose    work   has 
appeared   in  well  printed  periodicals    of  large 
circulation,  has  produced  a  better  public  taste  and 
a  rapidly  increasing  interest  in  the  graphic  arts. 
A  DEFINITE  revival  of  interest  in  etching  means  a  move  towards 
raising  the  standard  of  public  taste  by  a  wider  diffusion  of  things  of 
real  beauty  and  of  sufficient  monetary  value   to   prompt    a  careful 
consideration  of  their  merits.     Again,  a  good  etching  besides  being  a 
thing  of  beauty  is  always  an  intellectual  treat ;  it  is  so  "  autographic," 
so  closely  characterised  by  the  artist's  actual  touch  that  the  student 
of  it  is  almost  able  to  feel  the  charm  of  the  studio  circle  and  to 
understand  something  of  such  a  subtle  atmosphere. 
MR.  WHISTLER  has  said  that  "  in  Art  it  is  criminal  to  go  beyond 
the  means  used  in  its  exercise."     This  is  a  canon  which  he  has  not  only 
preached  but  conscientiously  practised,  and  by  so  doing  he  has  exerted 
very    great   influence  on    the  work   of  American  etchers.     Many- 
sided  worker  and  enthusiast,  he  has  by  sheer  virtuosity,  coupled  with 
jiobility  of  conception  and  conscientiously  serious  aims,  triumphantly 
reached  and  maintained  a  higher  position  as  an  etcher  than  any  artist 
of  his  time.     He  has  not  reached  his  position  without  opposition.     It 
has  been  given  to  few  modern  artists  to  meet  such  unfair  and  bitter 
criticism  from  the  highest  in  authority  (at  one  time  in  England)    as 
he  has  in  years  past  had  to  battle  against.     Now  happily  his  great- 
ness is  fully  acknowledged,  and  no  modern  artist  can  justly  claim  so 
many  appreciative  and  devoted  admirers.     He  has  earnestly  striven 
with  the  greatest  devotion  to  his  ideals,  unhampered  by  weakness  of 
conception  or  lack  of  power,  to  express  the  full  realisation  of  any 
message  he  has  desired  to  impart.     To  the  artist  or  connoisseur  his 
works  are  the  highest  examples  of  lofty  purpose  and  graceful  poetic 
expression  in  modern  etching.     Equally  versatile  as  painter,  etcher  or 
lithographer,  he  seizes  with  supreme  and  masterly  grace  the  innermost 


American 

character  of  his  subjects,  and  powerfully  projects  his  statements  with 
invariable  refinement  and  by  the  most  economical  and  effective  means. 
He  is  sometimes  almost  epigrammatic  in  his  manner  of  saying  so 
much  with  so  few  lines  or  touches,  and  his  work  glows  with  the 
dramatic  intensity  of  rich  masses.  It  is  now  more  than  forty  years, 
since  the  "  French  Series " — The  Cabaret^  The  Unsafe  Tenement^ 
and  others — were  followed  by  the  better  known  "  Thames 
Series,"  each  plate  of  which  is  a  veritable  gem  of  "  portraiture  "  of 
the  picturesque  river  subjects  of  that  time.  These  first  groups,, 
masterly  as  they  are,  were  but  the  beginning  of  the  most  remarkable 
number  of  plates  produced  by  any  modern  etcher,  to  which  year 
by  year  he  has  added  something  from  many  and  diverse  motives. 
Shipping,  buildings,  figures,  portraits,  canals,  docks,  streets  of 
London,  Paris,  Venice,  Holland,  Belgium,  or  the  French  Provinces, 
have  all  been  subject  to  the  magic  of  his  touch.  The  total  number  of 
pages  here  available  for  American  work  would  not  afford  sufficient 
space  for  even  a  briefly  annotated  catalogue  of  his  important 
achievements  in  etching,  to  say  nothing  of  the  other  branches  of 
art  in  which  he  has  with  so  much  distinction  exerted  his  personality. 
Happily  he  is  to-day  as  vigorous  and  as  active  a  force  in  art  as  ever. 
IN  the  foremost  group  of  American  painter-etchers  stands  the  work 
of  Charles  A.  Piatt.  Distinguished  alike  for  vigorous  brilliancy  and 
richness  of  effects,  it  shows  that  he  has  every  variety  of  technical 
means  at  his  disposal,  and  is  a  master  of  each  in  some  special  way. 
Exceptionally  gifted  with  versatility,  he  has  employed  his  skill  in  many 
different  directions. 

STEPHEN  PARRISH  is  an  etcher  whose  work  teems  with  interest 
regardless  of  the  particular  subject  dealt  with.  Whether  he  is 
rendering  the  clear  sunlight  of  Pennsylvania  or  the  deeper  notes  of 
the  lower  Canadian  Provinces,  his  style  is  always  full  of  interest  and 
rich  in  every  line  and  mass.  No  American's  work  shows  more 
forcibly  how  their  country  abounds  in  good  subjects.  There  is  a. 
certain  paucity  of  native  subject  in  the  work  of  most  American 
painters  and  etchers,  probably  due  to  lack  of  example  such  as  the 
European  artist  has  constantly  at  his  elbow.  If  the  European  be 
painting  this  or  that  phase  of  a  landscape,  he  can  with  little  trouble 
study  masterly  examples  and  traditions  of  how  to  solve  his  problems.. 
He  may  see  how  Daubigny  did  this  or  Rousseau  that ;  how  carefully 
Constable  studied  the  various  stages  of  the  growth  of  a  tree  from 
month  to  month  throughout  the  seasons,  or  with  what  decisive 
strength  he  painted  a  cloud  form  or  a  bit  of  foreground.  The 
American  etchers  have  had  to  look  for  technical  example  in  work 


American 

based  on  subjects  foreign  to  their  own  country,  and  have  in  conse- 
quence greatly  neglected  possibilities  nearer  at  hand.  Mr.  Parrish  is 
one  of  the  men  who  has  been  able  to  both  see  and  feel  the  greatness 
of  the  old  master-etchers,  and  to  grasp  their  technical  methods  with 
sufficient  understanding  to  enable  him  to  practise  on  any  theme  with 
equal  force  and  enthusiasm. 

THAT  brilliant  pen-draughtsman  illustrator.  Otto  Bacher,  has 
practised  etching  with  accomplished  skill  and  with  a  simplicity 
of  execution  which  gives  his  work  unusual  force  with  no  lack  of 
effectiveness.  His  Venice  plates  are  among  the  best  performances 
by  any  American.  His  grip  of  locale  and  ability  to  manage  with 
ease  the  complicated  groupings  of  boats,  masts,  cordage  and  the 
dazzling,  fascinating  undulation  of  water  reflections  in  brilliant  sun- 
light, have  enabled  him  to  produce  plates  that  are  never  lacking  in 
either  pictorial  or  technical  interest, 

FRANK  DUVENECK  is  an  artist  who  has  accomplished  many 
important  plates.  Versatile  to  a  degree  both  as  painter  and  etcher, 
he  has  a  masterly  command  of  line  and  is  always  able  to  express 
himself  with  intense  dignity  and  polished  grace  of  handling.  Much 
of  his  best  work  has  been  done  in  Italy. 

SEVERAL  members  of  that  talented  family,  the  Morans,  have  found 
a  distinguished  position  as  painter-etchers.  Thomas  Moran  may  be 
styled  the  artistic  discoverer  of  the  beauties  of  the  south-west  of 
America.  His  dramatic  pictures  of  the  Yellowstone  Region  have 
earned  him  an  unique  position  in  American  art.  A  dreamer  like 
Turner,  he  has  painted  Venice  and  the  Orient  with  imaginative 
fervour.  His  etchings  are  conspicuous  for  technical  facility  and 
rhetorical  force.  His  line  has  a  wonderful  quality  of  nervous 
vitality  that  adds  interest  to  all  his  plates.  Peter  Moran  has 
also  devoted  himself  to  the  south-west,  and  has  painted  much  from 
the  picturesque  life  of  the  Pueblos.  In  most  of  his  work  animals  are 
an  important  part  of  his  subject.  His  landscapes  with  cattle  are 
happily  rendered  and  conspicuous  for  good  drawing.  The  late 
MRS.  NIMMO  MORAN  also  attained  a  position  of  distinction 
as  an  etcher.  Her  work  is  a  striking  example  of  how  much  can  be 
accomplished  with  simple  undisguised  line,  softened  only  by  such 
mellowness  as  the  paper  and  the  glow  of  rich  inks  will  give. 
WALTER  L.  LATHROP  is  an  etcher  who  knows  how  to  make 
the  most  of  line,  and  in  handling  it  to  show  much  versatile  grace 
and  variety.  His  splendid  series  of  Connecticut  country  landscapes 
are  teeming  with  both  technical  interest  and  the  charming  atmosphere 
of  a  picturesque  native  locality. 

s 


American 

JOSEPH  PENNELL  has  not  only  shown  his  ability  as  an  etcher, 
but  also  as  a  writer.  As  a  black-and-white  draughtsman  few  men 
have  equalled  his  output  for  the  past  twenty  years.  At  the  last 
Paris  Exhibition  the  only  gold  medal  of  the  ist  class  awarded  in  the 
American  section  fell  to  him  as  an  etcher. 

MRS.  ANNA    LEA    MERRITT   first   attained  distinction    as   a 
portrait  painter,  and  afterwards  as  the  writer  of  the  life  of  her  late 
husband,  Henry  Merritt,  artist  and  author.     She  turned  her  attention 
to  etching  as  a  means  suited  to  the  illustration  of  her  own  work.     She 
has  executed   many   charming   plates,    principally    portraits   of  dis- 
tinguished men  and  women  of  the  time,  with  an  occasional  plate  ot 
river   scenery,   landscape,   or   interpretations   of  her  own   paintings. 
Her  vigorous  portraits  of  Miss  Ellen  Terry  and  a  large  head  of  Mr. 
Leslie  Stephen  are  striking  examples  of  good  etching. 
ELLEN  OAKFORD  has  done  much  that  is  good  in   landscape 
etching  ;  strong  in  tonality,  her  work  has  much  of  the  subtle  glowing 
charm   of    moist  growth    and    outdoor    atmosphere.      More    of  an 
exponent  of  painty  masses  than  of  flowing,  sparkling  lines,  her  work 
is  always  satisfying  and  charming  in  its  own  especial  way. 
ESSENTIALLY  a  practitioner  of  the   briUiant  uses  of    Hne,    the 
work   of  Edith  Loring  Getchell  is  vigorous,  original  and  effective 
without  affectation.     She  has  practised  dry-point  with  much  success, 
and  found  her  motives  in  Holland  and  France,  as  well  as  in  her  own 
New  England  scenery.     Her  hand  is  particularly  sympathetic  to  all 
that  is  beautiful  in   foliation   and   growth  of  trees,  atmospheric  or 
climatic  conditions  of  light,  and  those  subtleties  of  nature  best  adapted 
to  expression  with  the  point. 

D.  SHAW   MACLAUGHLAN  is  an  accomplished    young  artist 

who  first  studied  in  the  usual  academic  courses,  but  has  found  in  the 

art  of  etching  a  form  of  expression  far  more  suited  to  his  artistic 

bent.     Deeply   conscious  of  the  towering  greatness  of  Rembrandt, 

Durer  and  the  older  masters  of  line,  he  has  set  himself  the  task  of 

learning  all  in  his  power  of  the  good  that  appeals  to  him   in  the 

works  of  such  great  men.     It  follows  that  such   devoted  enthusiasm 

to  an  ideal  is  bound  to  produce  good  work;   Mr.  MacLaughlan  has 

proved  this  already  by  his  many  charming  and  vigorously  original 

plates.      A    well-known    exhibitor  both    in    America  and   Europe, 

honours  and  medals  have  already  begun  to  come  to  him.     In  such 

an  acomplished  artist  and  conscientious  student  of  good  etching,  great 

things  may  be  expected  from  his  clever  hand  in  the  years  to  come. 

ARTHUR   A.  LEWIS  is  another  young  artist  who  is  devoting  his 

talents  to  the  best  ideals  of  pure  etching.     Strong  in  his  use  of  line, 

4 


American 

he  is  also  most  happy  in  achieving  a  velvety  richness  in  his  work 
with  very  conscientious  and  clever  style  in  his  composition.  He  is  par- 
ticularly happy  with  figure  subjects.  Keenly  grasping  all  the  essentials, 
he  draws  them  with  charming  grace  and  striking  originality  of  style. 
GEORGE  C.  AID  strikes  a  modern,  graceful  note  in  his  work, 
permeated  with  much  artistic  thought  and  sympathy  with  nature. 
A  thorough  student  of  his  art,  he  has  most  consistently  studied  the 
subject,  and  practises  with  conviction  and  much  promise  for  the  future. 
IT  is  not  surprising  that  so  talented  a  water-colour  painter  and 
illustrator  as  Sidney  R.  Burleigh  should  turn  his  hand  to  etching 
with  conspicuous  success.  With  unusual  refinement  of  draughtsman- 
ship and  brilliancy  of  handling  such  as  he  possesses  in  all  mediums, 
Mr.  Burleigh  might  be  among  the  foremost  of  American  etchers. 
CHARLES  W.  STETSON  is  an  artist  who  is  exceptionally  gifted 
with  individuality  and  power  as  a  colourist.  More  strongly  imaginative 
than  most  men  of  his  school,  whatever  he  touches  is  at  once  marked 
with  those  indescribable  qualities  which  make  such  works  stand 
alone.  He  is  voted  a  "  genius  "  among  his  friends,  and  so  he  is  ;  no 
school,  no  teaching,  nothing  but  a  natural  fund  of  deep  originality, 
can  do  what  he  has  done  with  rich,  deep,  glowing,  radiant  colour. 
THE  late  Thomas  Hovenden,  who  reached  such  a  prominent  position 
as  a  painter  of  American  genre,  practised  etching  with  much  success. 
Essentially  an  exponent  of  character,  his  figure  plates  were  always 
handled  with  both  breadth  and  richness  of  detail. 
JULIAN  RIX  as  an  etcher  has  done  many  clever  plates,  always 
handled  with  much  fertility  of  line  expression  and  with  sympathy  for 
tone  and  rich  colour. 

W.  C.  BAUER  is  strong  in  his  grasp  of  landscape  drawing  in  all  its 
different  phases.  Dignified  in  composition,  with  an  intimate  know- 
ledge of  his  subjects,  his  plates  are  always  seriously  managed  and 
pleasing  in  final  effects. 

OTIS  WEBBER'S  work,  rich  in  tonaHty,  is  handled  with  a 
sympathetic  line  well  expressing  the  different  moods  of  nature. 
C.  F.  W.  MEILATZ  possesses  a  power  of  rendering  a  great  variety 
of  subject-matter  with  success.  Bulk  and  masses  of  architecture, 
characteristics  of  streets,  people  and  buildings,  he  sets  down  always 
with  grace  and  conviction. 

THE  late  W.  Goodrich  Beal  was  most  accomplished  in  his  land- 
scape plates  ;  every  tree,  rock,  hillside,  cloud,  or  bit  of  foreground 
found  conscientious  consideration  from  him  as  to  its  placing,  size, 
relation  and  character.  His  compositions  were  always  managed  with 
a  keen  grasp  of  the  relation  of  all  the  parts  to  his  motive. 


American 

J.  A.  S.  MONKS  has  done  excellent  work  with  the  etching  needle. 
A  brilliant  painter  of  landscape,  sheep  and  cattle,  his  etchings  are 
based  on  solid  knowledge  and  are  handled  with  skill  and  taste. 
EDMUND  H.  GARRETT,  painter,  author,  illustrator,  and 
designer,  has  devoted  himself  to  etching  as  a  means  of  illustrating 
a  certain  beautiful  series  of  books,  and  has  achieved  his  purpose  with 
marked  artistic  ability. 

R.  SWAIN  GIFFORD  has  done  many  excellent  plates,  as  has  also 
J.  D.  Smillie,  who  has  successfully  devoted  his  ability  to  many  pro- 
cesses— line,  soft  ground,  aquatint,  mezzotint,  and  dry-point.  One  of 
the  classes  at  the  National  Academy  is  employed  in  etching  from  life 
under  his  able  direction. 

THOSE  excellent  painters,  Robert  Blum  and  W.  Chase,  are  both 
accomplished  etchers,  but  have  produced  nothing  recently. 
ROBERT  F.  BLOODGOOD  has  done  some  very  artistic  plates,  two 
of  which  he  was  good  enough  to  contribute  to  this  number.  These, 
together  with  one  by  E.  H.  Garrett,  it  was  found  impossible  to 
reproduce  satisfactorily,  and  they  were  regretfully  omitted.  That 
clever  marine  painter,  Carlton  Chapman,  also  sent  some  excellent 
things,  as  did  Frederick  W.  Freer  and  J.  A.  S.  Monks,  all  of  which 
unfortunately  arrived  too  late  to  be  included. 

IT  is  not  possible  to  include  here  the  names  of  all  those  who  might 
justly  claim  mention  under  the  title  of  American  etchers,  neither 
would  it  serve  any  definite  purpose  to  do  so.  The  following  artists, 
in  addition  to  those  already  mentioned,  have  been  more  or 
less  prominent  as  etchers  at  various  times  in  the  past  decade, 
and  their  examples  and  teachings  will  be  a  powerful  influ- 
ence towards  the  revival  of  this  art,  a  revival  which  now  seems  more 
possible  than  was  the  case  a  few  years  ago. 

J.  M.  GAUGENGIGL,  Alfred  Brennan,  J.  W.  Twachtman, 
Charles  Corwin,  C.  A.  Vanderhoof,  Bernard  Walter  Priestman, 
George  L.  Brown,  T.  W.  Wood,  J.  M.  Falconer,  F.  S.  Church,  H. 
Farrer,  J.  C.  NicoU,  F.  Dielman,  H.  P.  Share,  Walter  Saterlee,  Otto 
Schneider,  B.  Lauder,  Hamilton  Hamilton,  Ernest  Haskell,  James  S. 
King,  J.  Lauber,  Samuel  Coleman,  Frank  Waller,  C.  Volkmar, 
Ernest  C.  Post,  C.  A.  Walker,  Charles  H.  Woodbury,  H.  D.  Murphy, 
W.  G.  Glackens,  W.  H.  H.  Bicknell,  Frank  Bicknell,  Sidney  Smith, 
H.  R.  Blaney,  G.  G.  McCutcheon,  Frank  Waller,  G.  D.  Clements, 
Elliot  Dangerfield,  Katherine  Lewin,  W.  H.  Skelton,  J.  Fagin, 
Krausman  Van-Elten,  J.  J.  Calaghan,  J.  G.  L.  Ferris,  Frank  M. 
Gregory,  J.  F.  Sabin,  W.  St.  J.  Harper,  Stephen  J.  Ferris,  Herman 
Hyneman,  W.  E.  Marshall,  C.  F.  Kimball,  Eric  Pape,  and  R.  Coxe. 

Will  Jenkins. 


American 


"CAMEO  NO.  I."  FROM  THE 
ETCHING  BY  J.  MCNEILL 
WHISTLER 

Plate  2 


American 


Plate  3 — "  a  wintry  evening  " 


FROM   THE   ETCHING    BY   W.    C.    BAUER 
(By  permission  of  Mr.  C.  Klackner) 


Plate  4 — "  twilight  " 


FROM    THE   ETCHING    BY    ELLEN    OAKFORD 

(By  permission  of  Mr.  C.  Klackner) 


'U 

^ 

^ 


American 


Plate  6 — "  lido,  Venice  " 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  OTTO  H.  BACKER 


Plate  7 — "  the  hour  of  rest  " 


FROM    THE    ETCHING   BY    PETER   MORAN 

(By  permission  of  Mr.  C.  Klackner) 


X 
O 


O  < 

o  6 

H  DC 


CO 

(I) 
h 

-) 


^ 


5: 


o 

z 

^^ 

X  z 

o  o 

H 

C/D 

M 

^ 

a 

W 

J-l 

DC 

C/D 

H 

Si 

h— t 

a 

^ 

C-H 

o 

J 

K 

< 

hll 

^ 

:: 

cn 

w 

W 

Q 
D 
H 

X 
< 
X 

•> 
1-^ 

u 

O 

CAD 

> 

03 

^ 


81 

I 


g 

X 
u 

H 
W 

X 

2  ^ 
?^  z 

-^  a 

w  an 

■J  O) 

a  o 
X  '-^ 
o  >^ 


I 


$ 


American 


Plate  14 — "  an  ebb  tide  " 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    OTIS    S.    WEBER 

{By  permission  of  Mr,  C.  Klackner) 


Plate  15 — "autumn  on  the  passaic  river' 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY   JULIAN    RIX 

(By  fermission  of  Mr.  C.  Klackner) 


American 


{By  permission  of  Mr.  C.  Klackner) 


"  DEM  WAS  GOOD  OLE  DAYS." 
FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  THE 
LATE  THOMAS  HOVENDEN 

Plate  i6 


American 


Plate  17— "study  of  a  head" 
from  the  etching  by  sydney  richmond  burleigh 


Plate  18 — "on  the  merrimac" 


FROM   THE   ETCHING   BY   THE   LATE   W.   GOODRICH    HEAL 
{By  permission  of  Mr.  C.  Klacktier} 


American 


Plate  ig — portrait  of  louis  agassiz 

FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  ANNA  LEA  MERRITT 


Plate  20 — "a  fisherman's  fortune' 


FROM   the   etching   BY   EDITH   L.    GETCHELL 
(By  Permission  of  Mr.  C.  Klacftner} 


American 


Plate  21 — ''  desdemona's  house 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  FRANK  DUVENECK 


Plate  22 — "  Williamsburg 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  CHARLES  A.  ii..».i 


{By  permission  of  Mr.  Frederick  Keppel) 


"THE  MARKET  SLIP,  ST.  JOHN,  N.B., 
AT  EBB  TIDE."  FROM  THE  ETCHING 
BY  CHARLES  A.  PLATT 

Plate  23 


< 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  FRANCE.  By  GABRIEL 
MOUREY. 


URING  the  past  few  years  engraving  on  metal 
in  France  has  been  going  through  an  evolution 
analogous  to  that  in  lithography.  Etching  in 
colour  is  gradually  and  almost  entirely  replacing, 
in  the  esteem  of  connoisseurs,  etching  strictly  so- 
called,  dry-point  etching  in  monochrome,  and 
the  work  done  with  the  burin  or  graver.  Nor 
has  it  been  otherwise  with  lithography ;  public 
taste  has  recently  veered  round  to  drawings  on 
stone,  of  which  the  more  or  less  audacious,  and  more  or  less  rich 
polychromatic  effects,  constitute  the  sole  merit,  so  that  the  studies  in 
monochrome  of  a  Steinlen  or  a  Willette  impress  many  as  belonging 
to  a  time  long  gone  by. 

IN  the  course  of  two  articles  on  Coloured  Etchings  in  France, 
which  appeared  in  "The  Studio"  for  February  and  March  1901,  I 
endeavoured  to  define  in  a  few  words  the  different  methods  followed 
in  the  technique  of  this  special  branch  of  art.  May  I  be  permitted 
to  revert  here  to  a  question  interesting  for  so  many  reasons  not 
only  to  artists  themselves  but  to  connoisseurs  and  collectors  ?  I 
was,  moreover,  at  considerable  pains  to  make  the  information  I 
gave  last  year  complete,  by  addressing  myself  to  the  man  who  is 
best  acquainted  in  France,  if  not  in  the  whole  of  Europe,  with 
the  secrets  of  etching  in  colour.  I  allude  to  Eugene  Delatre,  the 
engraver  and  printer,  son  of  Auguste  Delatre,  of  whom  Castagnary 
justly  said  that  if  he  had  lived  at  the  time  of  Rembrandt,  that  great 
etcher  would  not  have  had  to  take  impressions  of  his  engravings 
himself;  Auguste  Delatre,  to  whom  Felicien  Rops  wrote  that 
curious  treatise  on  Gravure  au  vernis  mou^  or  etching  on  a  soft 
ground,  which  serves  as  an  appendix  to  his  Eauforte^  Pointe-Seche 
et  Vernis  mou  (etching,  dry-point,  and  soft-ground  etching),  which 
every  etcher  or  engraver  ought  to  read. 

M.  EUGENE  DELAtRE  was,  with  M.  Charles  Maurin,  one  of 
the  first  engravers  to  yield  to  the  fascination  of  etching  in  colour  ; 
he  it  is  who  has  struck  off  the  greater  number  of  etchings  in  colour 
which  have  so  far  appeared,  for  at  the  present  day  artists  who  print 
their  own  etchings  are  quite  in  the  minority. 


French 

THERE  are  three  distinct  processes  of  etching  in  colour.  In  the 
first  only  one  plate  is  used,  the  colour  is  laid  on  in  the  manner 
known  as  a  la  poupee*^  and  the  number  of  impressions  that  may  be 
taken  is  practically  illimitable. 

IN  the  second  process  two  plates  are  used,  one  for  the  outline  and 
the  shadows,  the  other  for  the  colour  or  colours,  care  being  taken  to 
print  from  the  plate  with  the  colour  first,  and  that  with  the  outline 
and  shadows  last. 

IN  the  third  process  one  plate  is  required  for  each  colour,  and  as  many 
impressions  are  taken  as  there  are  plates ;  but  I  was  told  by  M.  Delatre 
that  with  four  plates  every  combination  of  colour  can  be  obtained. 
THERE  still  remains  the  so-called  monotype  process,  which  is,  as  is 
well  known,  a  painting  on  metal,  generally  on  copper,  which  is  passed 
through  the  press  before  the  colour  is  completely  dry.  It  would 
appear  that  monotypes  can  also  be  produced  on  zinc.  The  drawing 
is  done  with  lithographic  chalk,  and  similar  colouring  is  used  as  in 
etching  in  colour  a  la  poupee.  The  chalk  drawing  can  only  bear  the 
taking  of  five  or  six  impressions  at  the  most,  for  the  outlines  become 
more  and  more  eff^aced  in  each  proof. 

FOR  reasons  which  will  be  readily  appreciated  I  will  not  dwell 
longer  on  these  technical  questions.  Those  who  actually  practise 
any  craft  have,  of  course,  an  experience  impossible  to  an  outsider,  and 
the  critic  who  pretends  to  bring  his  personal  opinion  to  bear  on  the 
subject,  lays  himself  open  to  a  charge  of  pedantry.  And  after  all  what 
do  the  processes  employed  matter  ?  it  is  the  results  which  count,  the 
results  which  speak  for  themselves,  and  it  is  our  mission  to  state  what 
those  results  are.  The  art  of  the  engraver  is  indeed  of  all  the  graphic 
arts  the  most  involved  in  mystery,  the  most  unique,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  on  account  of  its  infinite  resources,  the  most  wide  reaching 
in  its  results.  What  a  gulf  yawns  between  the  style  of  a  Meryon  and 
a  Gaillard,  a  Lepere  and  a  Rops,  a  Jacquemart  and  a  Whistler,  a 
Braquemond  and  a  Helleu.  "Men  achieve  good  results,"  says  Felicien 
Rops  in  the  letter  to  Auguste  Delatre,  alluded  to  above,  "  by  the  use 
of  the  most  diverse,  the  most  opposite  means.  That  which  suits  one 
will  not  suit  another.  I  think  much  the  same  may  be  said  of  all 
dogmas,  academic  formulae  and  recipes  for  success  as  the  dictum  of  a 
celebrated  doctor,  who,  after  giving  it  due  trial,  declared  of  a  remedy 
for  cholera  that  it  was  excellent  for  masons  but  utterly  bad  for 
cabinet  makers." 
AMONGST  the  engravers  who  have  devoted  themselves  most  exclu- 

*  The  poupee  or  doll  is  a  bunch  of  rags  used  in  this  process. 


French 

sively  to  monochromatic  etching  a  first  place  must   be  given  to 
Auguste  Lepere.      I  have  no  fear  that  any  artist  or  connoisseur  will 
reproach  me  for  naming  him  as  one  of  the  masters  of  French  etching, 
if  not  the  master  par  excellence  of  the  day.     Lepere  is  incomparable 
in  his  knowledge  of  how  to  express  motion  and  life,  he  is  a  draughts- 
man of  the  highest  rank,  and  has  a  most  admirable  grasp  of  technique. 
Every  fresh  plate  engraved  by  him  proves  him  to  be  a  yet  more 
complete  master   of  his  craft,  and  shows  that  his   outlook  is  ever 
widening,  his  execution  ever  gaining  fresh  ease,  his  art  becoming 
ever  more  and  more  original  and  personal.     The  series  of  etchings 
he  brought  back  from  Holland  last  year  is  an   illustration  of  the 
constant  progress  I  have  described.     However  great  the  excellence 
attained  by  Lepere  in  his  wonderful  engravings  we  are  quite  sure  to 
find  him  taking  one  step  further  in  advance  in  his  next  productions. 
How  exquisitely  beautiful  are  his  views  of  Amsterdam  ;  what  life, 
what  go,  there  is  in  them  ;  what  decision  of  touch,  what  variety  of 
effect  in  the  biting  in  ;  what  intensity  of  colour  they  display. 
WE  discussed  so  recently  in  **  The  Studio  "  the  talent  of  M.  Edgar 
Chahine  that  it   is  not  desirable  to  say  more  here  than  is  necessary 
to  do  justice  to  the  more  recent   plates  of  that  very  original  artist. 
His  Portrait  of  Mdlle.  Dehair,  of  the   Comedie  Fran9aise,  which  is 
full   of  refinement  and  insight  into  character,  the  Feather  Boa  and 
yaby,  the  last  representing  the  exquisite  face  of  a  young  girl  leaning 
on  her  elbow  and  resting  her  chin  on  her  hands,  her  beautiful  light 
hair  crowned  by  a  big  grey  hat,  prove  him  to  be  endowed  with  the 
greatest  versatility.     But  however  sensible  he  may  be  of  the  charms 
of  the  women  of  the  day,  Edgar  Chahine  is  no  less  successful  in  his 
study  of  typical  scenes  in  popular  resorts. 

THERE  is,  perhaps,  less  sharpness  and  distinctness  about  the  Paris 
scenes  of  Eugene  Bejot,  but  they  are  even  more  pleasing.  He  excels 
in  catching  momentary  effects,  especially  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine, 
which  are  full  of  unexpected  surprises  in  colour  and  perspective. 
GUSTAVE  LEHEUTRE  is  another  artist  devoted  to  characteristic 
city  scenes  :  the  old  streets  and  quaint  old  houses,  &c.,  which  he 
sees  with  the  true  etcher's  eye,  with  the  dry-point,  so  to  speak,  and 
he  has  produced  a  number  of  etchings  full  of  charm.  A  conscientious 
draughtsman,  he  wields  the  etching  tools  with  a  delicacy  of  execution 
combined  with  a  decision  of  touch  which  often  result  in  the  pro- 
duction of  real  masterpieces.  How  delightful,  for  instance,  are  his 
Maison  de  Garde ^  Tanneries  a  Montargis,  U  Impasse  Gambey,  Troyes, 
Ecluse  du  Treport,  and  Bateaux  parisiens  a  Auteuil,  full  as  they  are  of 
audacious  effects  of  perspective. 


French 

HELLEU  is  as  ever  the  fascinating  wielder  of  the  diamond-point 
whom  we  all  know  so  well,  the  masterly  interpreter  of  the  grace 
:and  elegance  of  the  fashionable  woman  of  the  day.  We  are  never 
"weary  of  admiring  him,  for  he  is  always,  as  has  been  justly  said, 
«equal  to  himself;  nay,  even  superior  to  himself     What  could  be 

more  exquisite  than  his  recent  studies  of  the  Duchess  of  M ,  one 

of  the  great  ladies   of  the   English   aristocracy,   especially  that   of 

La  Duchesse  de  M Endormie,  with  her  favourite  fox  terrier  on  her 

knees;  or, to  quote  another  tx2im^\t,thtsi\xdiy  oi Mme. Madeleine C , 

full  of  typically  Parisian  distinction  ;  or,  again,  that  most  admirable 
scene  of  maternal  affection,  Jean  Helleu  embrasse  par  sa  Mere,  and 
Les  Saxes,  which  is  a  fitting  pendant  to  the  celebrated  dry-point 
called  the  Dessins  de  Watteau  au  Louvre. 

GREAT  indeed  and  full  of  strange  fascination  is  the  contrast  when 
we  turn  from  Helleu  to  consider  the  work  of  Steinlen,  full  as  it  is 
of  profound  melancholy,  even  tragedy  ;  for,  with  his  deep  insight 
into  the  life  of  the  people  of  Paris,  he  transports  us  into  the  very 
atmosphere  of  the  faubourgs,  revealing  the  vice  and  misery  under- 
lying the  brilliant  society  of  the  capital. 

STEINLEN  is,  in  my  opinion,  especially  successful  in  his  etchings 
in  black  and  white.  His  Amour eux  de  Village,  Pauvre  Here,  Le  Bouge, 
Rentree  du  Travail,  A  Concert  in  the  Street,  and  certain  of  his  land- 
scapes, such  as  the  Lffet  de  Soleil  couchant  sur  un  Pont,  are  especially 
noteworthy,  so  full  are  they  of  entrancing  charm.  These  etchings, 
in  fact,  simply  palpitate  with  truth  and  emotion  ;  their  drawing  and 
composition  are  alike  excellent. 

VERY  different  in  style,  but  equally  sincere  in  their  interpretation 
of  nature,  are  the  engravings  of  the  Dutchman,  M.  P.  Dupont,  who 
resides  in  Paris,  and  on  that  account  has  a  right  with  the  Armenian, 
M.  Chahine,  to  be  noticed  here. 

M.  DUPONT  has  assimilated  the  technique  of  the  German  masters 
in  engraving  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  with  rare  skill 
and  intelligence,  but  at  the  same  time  he  has  given  a  thoroughly 
personal  impress  to  his  own  work.  Except  for  one  Amsterdam 
scene,  the  Groote  Toren,  I  have  scarcely  seen  anything  of  his  but 
studies  of  horses — all  strong  dray  or  farm  animals — notably  The 
Fallen  Horse,  UOutillage,  and  the  Cheval  mangeant.  In  them  the  artist 
has  shown  himself  thoroughly  in  touch  with  his  subjects,  interpreting 
in  each  case  expression,  gesture,  attitude — in  a  word  the  special  ego 
of  every  one  of  his  models  with  a  really  touching  tenderness  ;  for 
his  horses,  whether  in  the  open  country  or  on  the  quays  of 
Paris,    are    full   of   individual  life  and  character.     M.    Dupont    is, 

4 


French 

in  fact,  an  artist  of  the  first  rank  and  his  name  deserves  to  be 
remembered. 

IN  his  etchings  in  black  and  white  and  in  colour  Charles  Huard 
continues  to  interpret  with  great  success  the  life  of  fisher  folk, 
sailors,  old  country  women,  and  other  types  of  provincial  life, 
observing  their  peculiarities  with  infinite  care.  His  Vieille  Femme 
reprisant  pres  d'une  fenetre  and  In  the  Snow  at  Bel- Air  are  amongst  the 
best  of  his  signed  works. 

M.  GASTON  EY'CHENNE  has  also  produced  some  studies  of 
animals  which  are  really  little  masterpieces.  His  L.a  Carpe,  Papillon 
jaune^  and  Petite  Panthere  are  specially  noteworthy.  He  is  a  thorough 
lover  of  delicate  and  subtle  effects  of  colour,  an  earnest  student  of 
nature,  and  everything  from  his  hand  has  a  permanent  charm  of 
its  own. — [As  we  go  to  press  we  have  heard,  with  the  greatest 
regret,  of  the  death,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-nine  years,  of  this 
very  talented  and  sympathetic  artist. — Editor.] 

M.  CHARLES  HOUDARD  confines  himself  more  and  more  strictly 
as  time  goes  on  to  the  effects  of  sunset,  in  which  he  has  attained  such 
wonderful  richness  of  colouring. 

M.  MULLER  is  an  artist  of  considerable  power  and  versatility. 
His  portraits  of  actresses,  especially  that  of  Cleo  de  Merode,  are  very 
quaint.  For  myself,  however,  I  prefer  his  Baigneuse  sous  les  Saules  ; 
Rue  St.  Vincent — a  winter  snow  effect  full  of  force  and  charm — Port 
du  Pollet,  and  his  Promenade  a  Hyde  Park,  etchings  in  colour  in 
which  he  has  obtained  effects  of  rare  delicacy  and  subtle  refinement. 
M.  CHARLES  MAURIN  is  one  of  the  very  few  artists  who  has 
attempted  to  treat  the  nude  figure  in  the  medium  of  etching.  His 
morning  and  evening  toilettes  of  young  girls,  his  studies  of  girls  or 
women  bathing,  chatting  together  in  deshabille  in  the  privacy  of 
their  own  rooms,  and  scenes  from  the  home  life  of  mothers  and 
children,  are  full  of  the  greatest  charm.  The  only  fault  I  have  to 
find  with  them  is  that  they  are,  perhaps,  too  precise  in  drawing  and 
in  colouring,  but  some  few  of  them  have  all  the  interest  of  the  most 
charming  genre  paintings,  notably  the  Ruban  de  Coi^ure,  Nouvelle 
education  sentimentale.  Premiere  Toilette,  and  the  Bain  de  lajillette. 
M.  MANUEL  ROBBE  possesses  in  the  very  highest  degree  the 
same  mastery  of  technique  as  M.  Charles  Maurin,  but  he  is  less 
perfect  as  a  draughtsman.  Some  of  his  signed  proofs  are  full  of 
incomparable  charm,  especially,  in  my  opinion,  those  in  which  there 
is  the  least  colour — La  critique,  for  instance,  in  which  a  young  woman 
is  standing  in  a  delightful  pose  in  front  of  an  easel.  The  Dame  a  la 
chaise  longue  also  pleases  me  greatly.     The  versatiHty  of  M.  Robbe's 

5 


French 

talent  is  just  as  clearly  displayed  as  in  his  scenes  of  intimate  home 
life  in  hjs  landscapes  with  figures,  such  as  the  Marche  a  Montmartre^ 
Dans  Je  Parc^  Lever  de  Lune,  the  Vieil  Arbre,  and  Aux  champs,  all  fine 
renderings  of  typical  outdoor  subjects  full  of  admirable  effects  of  light. 
THE  scenes  of  Parisian  life  of  M.  Richard  Ranft  are  full  of  humour 
and  imagination.  In  such  typical  works  as  his  Marche  a  la  Volatile 
and  La  Charrette  anglaise  he  delights  in  striking  schemes  of  colour, 
full  of  cheerful  harmony. 

M.  FRANCIS  JOURDAIN  continues  to  seek  his  effects  by 
contrasting  masses  of  d^k  tone,  achieving  ever  more  striking  and 
impressive  results,  but  at  the  same  time  always  retaining  the  decorative 
character  of  his  work.  As  an  etcher  in  colours  he  occupies  an  unique 
position,  and  1  know  nothing  more  charming  than  his  Femme  dans 
r Ombre,  Femme  lisant,  or  his  Femme  au  can^e,  the  last  a  charming 
study  in  grey  and  pink,  relieved  by  the  dull  gold  pf  the  hair  and  the 
soft  black  of  the  velvet  collar. 

M.  BERNARD  DE  MONVEL  has  produced  itltle  during  the  last 
year.  If  I  am  not  mistaken  only  two  plates,  namely,  the  Bar — one 
of  those  curious  studies  to  which  he  owes  his  celebrity — and  his 
Before  the  Storm,  which  resembles  a  little  too  much  his  Haleurs, 
although  the  colouring  is  different. 

THE  plates  engraved  by  M.  Eugene  Delatre  are  simply  perfect,  so 
wonderfully  strong  is  his  technique.  In  my  opinion,  it  would  be 
quite  impossible  for  any  one  to  attain  to  greater  delicacy,  refinement, 
softness,  and  depth  of  tone.  It  is  an  absolute  delight  to  turn  over  his. 
series  of  Landscapes,  vibrating  with  the  light  of  early  morning  with 
the  mists  of  the  dawn  still  clinging  to  them.  To  cite  but  a  few, 
how  charming  are  the  Entree  du  Village  de  Saint-yulien-le-Pauvre,  the 
Moulin  de  L'Epais,  the  Pommiers,  and  the  Brumes  sur  la  Sarthe,  Very 
different,  but  equally  striking,  are  the  Pont  Solferino,  a  night  effect, 
with  the  lights  reflected  in  the  humid  gloom  of  the  reddish  fog ;  and 
most  charming  are  the  two  studies  of  cats,  Moumoune  and  Marquis, 
whilst  in  the  Vieille  Femme  aux  Chats  is  displayed  in  an  equal  degree 
the  wonderful  insight  into  character  and  power  of  observation  which 
distinguish  so  many  fine  works  from  the  hand  of  M.  Eugene  Delatre. 
AMONGST  the  more  recent  plates  of  M.  Jacques  Villon,  all  of 
whose  work  bears  the  impress  of  distinction,  the  most  pleasing  are 
those  in  which  he  contents  himself  with  simple  effects  of  colour,  in. 
other  words  those  which  are  the  least  polychromatic.  Specially 
noticeable  are  his  Parisienne  seated  in  a  pink  armchair,  with  her  face 
turned  away  from  the  spectator,  the  whole  subject  veiled  in  a  kind  of 
grey  haze,  from  which  emerges  the  exquisitely  delicate  and  refined 

6 


French 

profile  of  the  young  girl,  and  that  most  dainty  study,  full  of  the 
elegance  of  the  Second  Empire,  Les  Premiers  Beaux  yours,  with  the 
figure  in  the  blue — such  a  ravishing  blue — costume  ;  very  amusing  too 
are  the  plates  to  which  the  artist  has  given  the  names  of  the  Negre 
en  bonne  Fortune,  the  Cabaret  de  Nuit,  and  the  Ombrelle  rouge, 
THE  impressionist  painter  M.  Dezaunay  endeavours,  with  marked 
success,  to  give  to  his  etchings  the  same  freshness  and  brightness  of 
colour  as  distinguish  his  canvases.  His  studies  of  Breton  women, 
such  as  the  Paysanne  de  Rosporden,  the  Petite  mendiante  de  Pleyben,  and 
the  Femme  etjillette  de  Ploogastel  Daoulas,  are  simply  delightful. 
TO  M.  Dubuc  we  owe  some  very  powerful  studies  in  etching  of  sea 
effects.  Now  he  renders  with  rare  skill  in  his  Mourillon  the  gleam- 
ing luminous  Mediterranean,  as  a  scintillating  stretch  of  blue  water, 
now  he  becomes  tragic  and  grand  in  his  Vaisseau  de  Guerre,  3.  mighty 
man-of-war,  breaking  the  huge  waves  of  the  ocean  at  night,  with  its 
smoke  trailing  behind  it  and  its  lamps  all  aglow. 
EQUALLY  highly  must  be  commended  the  landscapes  of  M.  E. 
Viala,  etchings  in  black  and  white,  or  very  slightly  tinged  with 
colour.  They  are  all  characterised  by  broad  masses  of  tone,  and 
there  is  about  them  a  certain  mystery  reflecting  their  artist's  peculiar 
mode  of  looking  at  nature.  The  plate  called  Humbles  Terres  is  a 
noteworthy  example  of  M.  Viala's  special  excellences. 
M.  ROUX-CHAMPION  sees  his  subjects  in  a  less  romantic  and  less 
cheerful  light.  His  Pardon  is  one  of  his  most  successful  efforts,  and, 
in  my  opinion,  there  is  much  to  admire  in  the  colouring  of  the  Robes 
rouges,  the  Moulin,  and  the  pleasing  impressionist  view  of  the  Jardin 
du  Luxembourg. 

M.  HENRI  PAILLARD,  the  illustrator  of  Bruges  la  morte,  is 
evidently  not  very  much  in  love  with  the  process  of  etching  in 
colour.  His  Quais  de  la  Seine,  however,  is  a  very  pleasing  plate,  but 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  artist  is  more  at  home  in  black  and  white 
engraving. 

M.  L.  PI  VET'S  Coq  is  a  successful  bit  of  decorative  work  in 
harmonious  colouring  ;  M.  Schuller  in  his  Deux  Coqs,  and  M.  J. 
Angelvy  in  the  two  plates  called  Debuts  and  Fin  d'un  Maraudeur,  have 
turned  the  resources  of  polychromatic  etching  to  very  good  effect 
in  their  renderings  of  animals. 

MANY  other  works  deserve  recognition  and  examination,  full  as 
they  are  of  interest  alike  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  artistic  and  of 
their  technical  value.  I  must  be  content,  however,  with  mentioning 
the  fine  studies  of  women  by  M.  Gaston  Darbour,  especially  the 
Parisienne  in  a  red  dress  looking  at  a  drawing  ;  the  Dame  au  Hibou ; 


French 

the  Inter leur  forain  a  la  Foire  de  Neuilly  by  M.  Betout,  displaying 
considerable  observation  and  skill  of  execution;  the  exquisite  Scene 
d'Interieur  of  M.  V.  Dupont,  in  which  a  mother  is  seated  sewing  near 
her  child  perched  in  a  high  chair;  the  fine  studies  of  flowers  by 
Mdlle.  Voruz,  which  are  perhaps  rather  too  Japanese  in  style  ;  the 
series  of  typical  inhabitants  and  scenes  from  the  street  by  Sunyer, 
notably  the  Place  de  r  Ahreuvoir  a  Montmartre^  Groupes  as  sis  au  Luxem- 
bourg^ which  recall  not  very  happily  the  manner  of  Steinlen ;  the 
landscapes  of  M.  A.  Lafitte,  such  as  Soira  Onival ;  the  Promenade  apres 
la  Course  by  M.  R.  Canals,  a  characteristic  Spanish  scene ;  the  land- 
scapes of  the  south  of  France  by  M.  Ralli-Scaramang,  which 
vibrate  with  life  and  character ;  the  studies  of  women  by  M.  E. 
Roustan,  interesting  although  the  execution  is  rather  feeble;  and  the 
Pay  sage  du  Bourbonnais  of  M.  P.  Maud.  Lastly,  1  must  not  omit  to 
mention  especially  the  recent  engravings  in  colour  of  M.  Auguste 
Delatre,  the  Solitude  Marais^  the  beautiful  Moonlight  Effect  in  Scotland^ 
and  above  all  the  Storm  Effect^  a  magnificent  etching  in  black  and  white, 
in  which  this  master  in  engraving  has  attained  to  a  tragic  grandeur 
truly  admirable. 

WHAT  rich  and  varied  results  have  been  achieved  in  this  new  art  ot 
etching  in  colour,  how  many  artists  of  widely  differing  temperaments 
have  been  enticed  to  produce  by  its  means  works  stamped  with  their 
own  individuality !  In  the  collections  of  engravings  and  museums  of 
the  future  an  important  place  will  be  occupied  by  etchings  in  colour. 
French  engravers  may  well  pride  themselves  on  having  widened  the 
field  of  monochromatic  engraving  on  metal,  and  of  having  revived  the 
art  of  polychromatic  etching ;  in  a  word,  of  having  converted  it  into  a 
prolific  and  supple  process,  lending  itself  to  an  infinite  variety  of 
expression,  and  capable  of  being  adapted  to  every  kind  of  artistic 
temperament,  every  peculiarity  of  style. 

IN  conclusion,  let  us  off^er  our  best  thanks  to  M.  Ed.  Sagot  and  M. 
Charles  Hessele,  the  owners  or  publishers  of  the  various  etchings, 
reproductions  from  which  form  the  illustrations  of  this  article. 

Gabriel  Mourey. 


French 


(By  permission  oj  M.  Ed.  Sagot) 


"L'IMPASSE  GAMBEY,  TROYES."     FROM 
THE  ETCHING  BY  G.  LEHEUTRE 

Plate  2 


French 


''IN  THE  SNOW  AT  BEL-AIR."     FROM 
THE  ETCHING  BY  CHARLES  HUARD 
Plate  3 


(By  permission  of  M.  Hessele) 


"choosing  a  good  proof."    from  the  coloured  etching  by  MANUEL  ROBBE. 

fBy  termissiouc/ M.  Ed,  Sagot.} 


O 
u 
Q 

a 

o 
o 


> 

O 

Q 
Q 

S 

CQ 


^ 


i^' 


5  k:j  ^ 

w  5 
Q  Pr 


W 


W 


<  O 


"jean   HELLEU   EMBRASSE  par  SA  M^RE."    from  the  dry  point  by  P.   HELLEU. 


French 


By  permission  oj  M.  Ed.  Sagot) 


"LA    MAISON    NEUVE."     FROM 
THE  ETCHING   BY  A.  LEPERE 

Plate  8 


French 


Plate  9 — "  Amsterdam 


FROM   THE   ETCHING    BY    HENRY    PAILLARD 


amsterdam  " 
Plate  10 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY   AUGUSTE    LEPERE 

{By  permission  of  M.  Ed.  Sagot) 


"at  AMSTERDAM."    FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  A.   LEpIrE. 


(By  Periitissicii  of  M.  lid.  Sa^ol.) 


French 


quartier  de  la  bievre ' 
Plate  12 


FROM  THE   ETCHING   BY  AUGUSTE   LEP^RE 

(By  permission  of  M.  Ed.  Sagot) 


««    TrtTT      " 


TOIL 

Plate  13 


FROM   THE   ENGRAVING    BY    R.    DUPONT 

{By  permission  of  M.  Ed.  Sagot) 


French 


Plate  14 — "  bassins  de  la  villette,  le  jour  " 


FROM   THE    ETCHING    BY    H.    PAILLARD 


'the  fallen  horse" 
Plate  15 


FROM  THE  ENGRAVING  BY  R.  DUPONT 

(By  permission  of  M.  Ed.  Sagot) 


"MLLE,  DELVAIR  OF  THE  COMEDIE  FRANCAISE."    FROM  the  etching  by  EDGAR  CHAHINE. 


French 


{By  permission  oj  M.  Ed,  Sagot) 


"MARKET  DAY  — AVENUE  DE 
CLICHY."  FROM  THE  ETCHING 
BY  EDGAR  CHAHINE 

Plate  i8 


o  w. 

<  X 
2    H- 


I 


^9 


< 


o 


-5; 

te; 


O 


< 
< 


an 
K  pq 

w  o 


W 

PQ 

D 


I 

a 

_i 
z 
o 
o 

:e 

> 
m 

<o 

I- 
< 
o 

CO 
O 

z 
I 

CO 


French 


"PAUVRE  HERE.    A  STUDY 
IN    POVERTY."     FROM  THE 
ETCHING   BY  STEIN LEN 
Plate  23 


French 


"A    CONCERT    IN     THE 
STREET."        FROM    THE 
ETCHING  BY  STEINLEN 
Plate  24 


X 


w 
o 


> 


W 

-a 
o 

D 

>^ 

O 
g 

X 

o 


,i 


I 


'VIVE  LE  TSAR!"    FROM  THE  etching  by  FELIX  BRACQUEMOND 

(By  Permission  of  M.  A.  Marty.) 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  GERMANY.  By  HANS  W. 
SINGER. 


HERE  was  a  renaissance  of  etching  in- 
Germany,  as  of  most  of  the  other  forms  of 
art,  during  the  last  quarter  of  last  century. 
Among  the  men  who  plied  the  point  seriously 
before  then,  and  still  remain  in  the  foremost 
ranks,  C.  A.  Meyer-Basel  and  P.  Halm  are- 
perhaps  the  best.  Both  are  known  by  a  large- 
number  of  delicate  landscapes,  showing  views 
of  Suabia,  the  northern  boundary  lines  of 
Switzerland  around  Lake  Constance,  and  similar  regions,  seen  with  an^ 
eye  which  does  not  feel  attracted  to  landscape  in  its  aspects  of 
grandeur  or  in  its  romantic  phases,  but  which  loves  nature  pure  and 
simple,  even  if  it  be  but  a  few  steps  beyond  the  gates  of  a  city. 
OF  the  two  Halm  has  some  special  claims  upon  our  interest,  even- 
above  Meyer-Basel.  He  has  with  excellent  fidelity  and  grace  repro- 
duced the  work  of  other  artists,  and  designed  ornamental  work.  One 
of  the  best  proofs  of  his  abilities  in  this  direction  is  to  be  found  in  the 
magnificent  volumes  dealing  with  the  collections  of  Frederic  the- 
Great,  which  were  on  exhibit  in  the  German  Pavilion  of  the  Paris 
Exhibition  of  1900.  Moreover  Halm  is,  after  a  fashion,  in  spite  of 
his  comparative  youth,  the  Nestor  of  modern  etching. 
FOR  it  was  he  who  gave  technical  instruction,  as  a  friend,  to  Karl 
Stauffer-Bern,  and  on  the  path  upon  which  Stauffer  led  there  after- 
wards followed  Klinger.  To  Klinger's  genius,  again,  as  well  as 
to  his  success,  which  called  forth  a  widespread  interest  in  the  art,  the- 
recent  revival  is  due. 

STAUFFER  commenced  as  a  portrait-painter  and  etcher.  He  was 
a  sculptor  at  heart,  but  unfortunately  he  did  not  find  that  out  much 
before  the  calamity  befell  him  which  ended  his  life.  The 
wearisome,  torturing  process  of  elaborating  his  own  ideal,  of  finding, 
the  direction  in  which  his  technical  talent  and  the  bent  of  his^ 
genius  lay,  was  all  evolved  on  the  field  of  etching.  He  had  a  keen 
eye  for  form,  loved  to  follow  each  slight  elevation  and  depression,  and 
continually  sought  for  the  best  means  towards  a  full  and  conscientious 
expression  of  form.  This  caused  him  first  to  drop  the  strong  line  in^ 
etching,  then  to  relinquish  the  point  altogether  and  to  take  up  the* 


German 

graver  in  its  place.  But  he  did  not  use  it  in  the  mannered  fashion  to 
ivhich  the  thoughtless  successors  of  Mercuri  and  Toschi  had  reduced 
it.  He  gave  up  the  set  "  system  "  and  used  the  graver  w^ith  as  much 
freedom  as  etchers  do  the  point.  The  difference  in  effect  is  that 
the  quality  of  his  delicate  line  helps  him  to  obtain  effects  of  pre- 
cision and  "  colour  "  that  the  point  and  bitten  line  do  not  yield.  As 
an  attainment  in  the  direction  of  superb  "  modelling,"  such  plates  as 
Stauffer's  portrait  of  his  mother  and  the  reclining  nude  model,  have 
rarely  been  surpassed. 

KLINGER,  originally  an  etcher  in  true  spirit,  underwent  transforma- 
tions like  Stauffer,  but  has  lived  to  complete  them.  He,  too,  in  the 
•end  has  become  a  sculptor  at  heart.  When  he  v^as  young  the 
exuberance  of  his  fancy  impelled  him  to  take  to  etching  and  pen  drawl- 
ing, for  he  had  more  ideas,  all  struggling  to  be  put  to  the  test,  than 
he  could  comfortably  have  painted.  From  the  standpoint  of  the 
connoisseur  of  etching  pure  and  simple,  Klinger's  earliest  w^ork,  such 
as  the  sets  on  Ovid  and  the  fable  of  Cupid  and  Psyche,  are  the  most 
pleasing.  They  are  tantalisingly  full  of  odd  fancies,  but  this  "literary" 
character  is  nevertheless  kept  in  the  background.  The  latter  series, 
such  as  the  Story  of  a  Love,  Story  of  a  Life,  On  Death,  are  over- 
whelming as  lucubrations  of  a  mind  that  must  be  taken  seriously. 
Yet  he  is  beginning  to  neglect  his  style,  owing  to  the  earnestness 
with  which  he  endeavours  to  enforce  what  he  has  to  say.  The  latest 
series,  above  all  the  Brahmsphantasie,  considered  as  pure  art,  show  a 
decline.  His  powers  as  a  draughtsman  are  as  great  as  ever,  his  fancy 
-as  vivid  and  powerful  as  before,  yet  his  craft  has  fallen  off  lamentably. 
He  combines  on  one  plate  methods  that  lack  harmony.  He  keeps 
the  desired  effect  in  view,  and  makes  for  it  without  considering  the 
character  of  his  medium.  Now  that  Klinger  has  turned  sculptor 
altogether,  he  has  lost  the  patience,  conscientiousness,  and  lightness  of 
hand  which  characterised  the  early  period  of  his  career. 
OF  the  men  whom  he  particularly  impressed,  Greiner,  Kolbe,  Dasio, 
and  Hofer,  none  but  Dasio  has  devoted  much  time  to  engraving  and 
-etching.  Dasio  has  done  notable  work  ;  but  he  has  allowed  himself 
to  be  carried  away  by  a  sort  of  spirit  of  romance  which  delights  in 
parading  a  degree  of  culture  greater  than  he  really  possesses.  And 
in  presenting  his  allegories,  his  philosophical  sets,  he  has  neglected 
to  devote  sufficient  time  to  the  technical  part  of  his  art  and  to  his 
draughtsmanship. 

THERE  are  no  schools  of  etching  in  Germany,  any  more  than  there 
formerly  were.  More  men  apply  themselves  to  it,  and  the  quality  as 
well  as  quantity  of  work  produced  is  very  much  higher  than  it  was 


German 

some  twenty-five  years  ago.  Yet  every  one  goes  his  own  way,  more 
or  less.  Much  of  the  work  is  interesting.  It  shows  us  painters 
striving  after  aims  similar  to  those  they  have  already  achieved 
with  the  brush.  Upon  the  whole,  very  few  men  etch  from  an  etcher's 
standpoint  pure  and  simple.  Among  them  the  Dresden  artists  Unger, 
Fischer,  and  Pietschmann  are  in  the  lead.  Their  work  runs  more  than 
any  other  upon  the  lines  that  legitimate  etching  has  followed,  since 
the  days  of  Callot  ;  it  is  most  like  that  of  their  English  comrades. 
They  have  a  true  sense  of  the  value  of  power  and  line.  They  employ 
the  simple  straightforward  process,  and  do  not  fritter  away  time  with 
experiments  in  search  of  new  effects.  Fischer  has  produced  some 
very  beautiful  landscapes,  sketches  from  the  banks  of  the  Elbe,  from 
the  shores  of  the  Baltic  at  Bornholm  or  Riigen,  and  from  the  heights 
of  the  Silesian  Mountains.  There  are  few  among  us  that  have  so 
much  sense  for  a  simple,  grand  style  as  he. 

THE  Hamburg  artists  are  the  very  reverse.  They  studied  from 
books  all  the  methods  and  tricks  of  the  trade.  They  have  produced 
not  very  many,  but  very  clever  plates,  and  display  dextrous  feats  such  as 
other  etchers  have  arrived  at  only  after  years  of  work.  Yet  this  is  the 
best  one  can  say  of  Eitner,  lilies,  Kayser,  &c.  Perhaps  they  have 
been  too  apt,  too  clever.  They  have  sucked  the  orange  of  etching  and 
seem  to  have  found  it  dry  very  soon,  for  they  have  almost  given  it 
up  already.  Serious  art  presupposes  earnest  work ;  that  is  beyond 
dispute.  The  man  who  gets  no  help,  who  has  to  find  out  the  ways 
and  means  all  for  himself,  generally  produces  the  most  lasting  work, 
and  sticks  to  what  he  has  learned.  These  Hamburg  artists  have  found 
life  too  easy. 

AT  Berlin  we  find  the  two  best  reproductive  etchers — we  may  safely 
say  it — in  allEurope,A.  Kriiger  and  K.Koepping.  Koepping'setchings 
of  Rembrandt,  Frans  Hals,  and  Miinkacsy  have  gained  him  world-wide 
fame.  There  is  nothing  to  equal  it.  He  preserves  not  only  the 
•character  of  the  painter's  work,  but  images  even  the  quality  of  the 
brush  work,  nay,  even  the  state  of  preservation  of  the  picture  before 
}iim.  Both  Kriiger  and  Koepping  have  attempted  original  work, 
but  have  failed  to  attract  as  much  applause  with  it  as  with  their  other 
productions. 

AT  Berlin,  too,  we  find  Max  Liebermann,  certainly  a  most  interesting 
artist.  If  we  admit  that  such  a  thing  as  plein-air  or  impressionist 
etching  is  feasible  we  must  admit  that  Liebermann  has  attained  to  it. 
Such  plates  as  the  Cart  in  the  Downs,  the  Girl  Herding  Goats,  th.^.  Beer- 
garden  in  Rosenheim,  the  Dutch  Girls  Sewing  in  a  Little  Garden,  are 
astonishing  and  interesting  enough.  I,  for  my  part,  prefer  a  number 


German 

of  delicate  dry-points  on  zinc  by  Liebermann,  little  Dutch  views, 
which  betray  a  fine  sense  of  the  beauty  of  the  materials  employed. 
LEISTIKOW,  of  Berlin  also,  turns  etching  into  an  altogether  decora- 
tive art,  just  as  he  does  painting.  His  style,  far  removed  from 
naturalism,  is  very  personal  and  engaging,  from  the  fact  that  he  simpli- 
fies not  only  the  colours  but  also  the  forms  of  nature. 
THE  work  of  Mrs.  KoUwitz  is  the  last  one  would  expect  from  a 
woman.  There  is  all  but  brutal  realism  in  her  delineation  of  the 
lowest  types  of  humanity  Yet  such  powerful  creations  as  the 
weird  dance  about  the  Guillotine  are  wonderfully  impressive.  Unfor- 
tunately most  of  her  plates — the  series  on  the  Weavers,  the  Riot,  &c., 
— savour  too  much  of  politics. 

AT  Karlsruhe  there  are  Thoma  and  Kalckreuth,  who  have  etched  a 
good  deal.  What  interests  us  in  their  plates  is  the  painter,  or  rather 
the  artist,  whom  we  know  through  his  paintings.  They  have  not  as 
yet  turned  out  work  that  adds  any  important  new  touches  to  their 
characteristics  as  we  already  know  them.  It  is  the  same  with  the  late 
Leibl,  or  with  Stuck,  or  with  Menzel  even.  We  would  not  care 
to  miss  their  etchings,  and  yet  when  we  pass  judgment  on  these  artists, 
our  opinion  of  their  etchings  will  not  weigh  heavily  with  us.  Stuck, 
perhaps,  of  all  the  five  touches  us  nearest.  His  Pool  in  a  T^rout  Stream 
is  a  beautiful  plate,  making  the  most  of  a  wonderful  technique. 
Before  leaving  Karlsruhe  mention,  at  least,  should  be  made  of 
Walther  Conz. 

MUNICH,  once  upon  a  time  the  undoubted  metropolis  of  German  art, 
strange  to  say,  has  never  given  birth  to  a  school  of  etchers  in  any  way 
comparable  with  that  of  its  painters.  One  of  the  most  interesting  among 
the  younger  men,  Heinrich  Wolff,  received  a  call  to  Konigsberg, 
just  when  he  was  beginning  to  be  known.  He  has  done  portraits 
principally,  and  has  used  the  roulette  in  an  extremely  interesting  way. 
Hegenbart,  who  has  just  begun  to  work  upon  this  field,  promises  to 
succeed  excellently,  when  we  keep  in  mind  what  he  has  already 
achieved  with  his  first  few  plates.  He  has  done  delicate  line  work, 
slightly  too  reminiscent  of  pure  pen-and-ink  drawing,  but  he  has  also 
completed  some  excellent  surface  work,  notably  the  Ready  for  Flight. 
THOSE  etchers  who  prefer  to  employ  surface  techniques,  and  aim 
at  the  pictorial  chiaroscuro  of  the  painters,  are  either  Munich  men 
or  traceable  to  Munich  influence.  They  are  all  landscapists,  and  I 
should  place  Gampert,  with  his  fine  moorland  scenes,  at  the  head  of 
the  list.  Graf  approaches  him  closely ;  so  does  Pankok,  who 
employs  mezzotint,  whereas  the  other  two  use  aquatint  and  soft  ground 
etching  preferably.      The  "  Worpswede "    artists,  Mackensen  and 


German 

Overbeck  would  fall  within  or  near  to  this  category,  at  least  as 
regards  their  aim  if  not  their  technique,  which  is  principally  pure 
line  etching  depending  upon  the  help  of  the  printer  and  of  retroussage 
for  the  tonality. 

THERE  are,  of  course,  also  line  landscape-etchers  such  as  Ubbelohde, 
who  has  produced  beautiful,  sunny  work,  with  sweeping  strokes,  great 
delicacy,  and  a  well  thought  out  translation  of  the  surfaces  in  nature 
into  a  scheme  of  line.  Rasch  and  Hagen,  of  Weimar,  as  well  as 
Hirzel,  who  is  at  the  same  time  a  well-known  book-plate  etcher,  show 
more  or  less  similarity  to  Ubbelohde. 

PERHAPS  I  ought  not  to  pass  by  Geyger  and  R.  Muller,  and 
Vogeler,  the  latter  of  whom  has  produced  a  number  of  well-known 
plates — but  they  are  affected  and  singularly  weak  in  sentiment. 
Geyger  is  remarkably  skilful ;  but  this  has  led  him  into  so  great  a 
degree  of  over-finish  that  some  of  his  later  work  is  almost  painful  to 
behold.  R.  Miiller's  absolute  want  of  fancy  or  refined  conception 
unfortunately  render  his  technically  excellent  plates  as  devoid  of 
interest  as  photogravures. 

THESE  are  the  names  of  the  greater  part,  though,  of  course,  not  all 
of  the  modern  German  etchers.  Upon  the  whole  they  will  bear 
comparison  with  those  of  other  countries  well  enough.  If  there  is 
not  so  much  feeling  for  purity  of  style  in  evidence  as  there  might  be, 
this  is,  perhaps,  somewhat  counterbalanced  by  the  great  variety 
and  freshness  to  be  found  in  German  work  of  the  day.  There 
has  been  less  of  imitation  and  more  of  originality  in  recent  German 
etching  and  engraving  than  in  any  of  the  other  forms  of  German  art. 

Hans  W.  Singer. 


o 

:? 

^^ 

X 

o 

H 

w 

w 

s 

H 

^ 

O 

^ 

D^ 

o 

fc 

^ 

h— ( 

^ 

H 

CA 

00 

^ 

5 

O 

J 

J 

(J 

^ 

f 

>^ 

OQ 

German 


Plate  2 — "  a  gusty  day  " 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  OTTO  UBBELOHDE 


Plate  3 — "an  idyll" 


FROM    THE    DRY-POINT    BY    HANS    THOMA 


German 


"THE  REAPERS."  FROM  THE 
ETCHING  BY  LEOPOLD  COUNT 
KALCKREUTH 

Plate  4 


German 


"IN  THE  ORCHARD"     FROM  THE 
AQUATINT  BY  OSCAR  GRAF 
Plate  5 


'  IN      TJ^3      BAVAHIAIT      MOoHLAUU 


stuoio 


w 

DC 

«^  n  < 
C^  ^  ^ 

c^  o 


German 


Plate  8 — "in  hessia" 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    C.    THEODOR    MEYER-BASEL 


Plate  g — "near  starnberg" 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    C.    T.    MEYER-BASEL 


German 


"A  POOL  IN  A  TROUT  STREAM."     FROM 
THE  ETCHING  BY  FRANZ  STUCK 

Plate  io 


German 


Plate  it — "a  river  scene  after  sundown' 


FROM  the  etching  BY  OTTO  GAMPERT 


Plate  12— "adam  and  eve,  satan  and  death"' 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    MAX    KLINGER 


-M~,,i^-^ .— 


15: 


V^ 


as 
z 

w 

X 

O       M 


German 


Plate  i6—  "  dance  in  a  gin-shop" 

from  the  soft-ground  etching  by  kathe  kollwitz 


Plate  17 — "the  violinist 


FROM    THE    MIXED    ETCHING    BY    BERNHARD    PANKOK 


o 


a  ^ 

X''^ 


O 


9  DC 
<  X 


German 


"ART  AND  MAMMON."      ETCHED  AND 
AQUATINTED  BY  FRITZ    HEGENBART 
Plate  19 


•:^"- 


'ready     fok     fli 


F"RCil      THE 


^SSeiTeS     mezzotint     bv    fbitz     heoenbart 


sitioio 


German 


"ROCKS  ON  THE  ISLAND  OF 
RUGEN."     FROM  THE    AQUA- 
TINT BY  OTTO  FISCHER 
Plate  22 


German 


f  1^. 


"THE  READER."     FROM  THE 
ETCHING  BY  PETER  HALM 

Plate  23 


German 


Plate  24 — "  breakers  ' 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY   OTTO    FISCHER 


Plate  25 — "returning  home  in  the  snow" 


FROM    the    DKY-POINT    BY    ARTHUR    ILLIES 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  AUSTRIA.  ByWILHELM 
SCHOLERMANN. 


;ODERN  Art  in  Austria,  properly  speaking,  is 
but  a  young  though  rapidly-growing  plant  of 
recent  cultivation  and  success.  Its  "  nativity," 
if  I  may  be  allowed  to  use  the  term  in  its 
twofold  sense,  scarcely  dates  back  more  than 
half  a  decade.  Even  as  late  as  1896,  when  the 
great  International  Exhibition  of  Graphic  Art 
took  place  at  Vienna,  Austrian  etchers,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  engravers  of  the  old  masters, 
were  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  if 
we  find  that  the  noblest  branch  of  the  graphic  arts,  which,  perhaps, 
above  all  others  is  based  upon  severe  and  time-honoured  tradition — 
the  work  of  the  steel  point  upon  the  copperplate — has  not  ranked 
foremost  among  the  latter  productions  of  Austrian  artists. 
THERE  may,  perhaps,  be  found  still  another,  and  even  more  psycho- 
logical explanation  to  account  for  this.  The  average  talent  of  the 
Austrian  artist — his  artistic  temperament — lies,  on  the  whole,  in  a 
different  direction.  It  is  in  the  free  development  of  fancy  and  taste, 
in  the  happy  adaptation  of  form  and  colour  to  decorative  purposes, 
that  he  generally  finds  the  best  opportunity  for  developing  his  powers. 
He  is  a  born  decorator.  Severe  and  penetrative  artistic  conceptions 
are  not,  as  a  rule  his  strongest  side  ;  but  he  delights  in  multi- 
coloured pageants — a  field  not  altogether  encouraging  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  gentle  and  patient  art  of  etching. 

MOREOVER,  that  essentially  modern  phase  of  etching,  which, 
while  uniting  the  hard  and  digging  scrape  of  the  burin  or  the  lighter 
stroke  of  the  dry  point  with  a  variety  of  dainty  colour  schemes,  has 
contributed  so  largely  to  the  perfection  of  colour-printing  of  late — 
a  process  so  successfully  initiated  by  French  artists  of  high  rank — this 
new  process  of  coloured  etching  has  not,to  my  knowledge,  been  hitherto 
practised  to  any  extent  by  living  painter-etchers  in  Austria.  Yet  the 
movement  seems  even  in  Vienna  to  gain  ground  by  degrees,  though 
limited  for  the  present  to  reproductive  engraving. 
WILLIAM  UNGER,  though  not  an  Austrian  by  birth,  has  taken 
up  his  abode  in  the  Austrian  capital,  and  holds  a  professorship 
at  the  Vienna  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.     His  etchings,  after  the  old 


Austrian 

Dutch  and  Flemish  masters,  Rembrandt  and  Rubens  in  particular, 
are  universally  appreciated,  though  it  must  be  admitted  that  they  are 
not  all  of  equal  strength  and  value,  some  of  his  numerous  plates 
failing  to  do  full  justice  to  the  breadth  and  spirit  of  the  originals, 
while  others  are  extremely  good.  His  large  plate  after  Titian's 
painting  of  the  so-called  Himmlische  und  Irdische  Liebe  (Profane  and 
Divine  Love)  may  be  named  among  his  most  successful  transmuta- 
tions of  colour  into  the  mellow  effects  of  the  mezzotint  plate. 
PROFESSOR  UNGER  is  generally  regarded  as  the  senior  etcher 
and  tutor  of  a  generation  of  gifted  "juniors."  In  fact  he  has  inspired 
quite  a  number  of  younger  men  to  work  with  the  engraver's  tools, 
and  it  would  appear,  from  the  entirely  independent  way  in  which 
several  of  his  pupils  and  friends  have  developed  in  different  directions, 
that  his  tuition  and  advice  have  not  exercised  any  restrictive  influence 
upon  the  individuality  of  the  talents  placed  under  his  care,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  have  been  helpful  in  allowing  free  scope  for  each  talent 
to  find  its  own  way  by  following  its  peculiar  inclinations. 
AMONG  the  younger  generation,  Mr.  Alfred  Cossmann,  a  pupil  of 
Unger,  has  been  developing  his  talent  in  a  decidedly  individual 
manner.  He  was  born  in  1 870  at  Graz  in  the  Steirmark,  and,  after 
studying  at  the  School  of  Arts  and  Crafts  of  the  Oesterreichische 
Museum  fur  Kunst  und  Industrie  in  Vienna — principally  in  the 
ceramic  department — he  began  etching  under  Prof.  Unger's  directions, 
and  has  now  been  working  independently  for  the  last  three  years, 
after  a  strict  course  of  technical  training  in  the  various  methods  of 
reproductive  engraving. 

IN  the  plate  entitled  A  Tumult — An  unlucky  Democrat,  the  artist  has 
taken  up  a  modern  theme.  There  is  suggestive  force  of  a  quite  ex- 
ceptional character  in  it,  a  hot  breath  of  feverish  agitation.  There  is, 
in  fact,  an  abundance  of  imaginative  expression,  which,  while  intensely 
true,  stops  only  just  short  of  caricature.  Work  of  this  kind, 
thoroughly  modern  in  spirit  and  cut  out  from  life  in  this  earnest 
manner,  is  deserving  of  attention  not  merely  from  a  technical  point 
of  view,  but  in  a  higher  and  broader  sense.  This  young  artist  is,  in 
my  opinion,  gifted  with  more  than  talent.  There  is  an  element  of 
strong  human  sympathy  in  him,  mingled  with  that  scarcely  percep- 
tible ironical  vein  which  marks  the  artist  of  genius. 
COSSMANN  employs  a  variety  of  technical  methods,  combining 
them  as  the  subject  may  require.  The  above-mentioned  plate  was 
etched  completely,  and  then  the  aquatint  was  put  in  for  background, 
middle  tones  and  some  pieces  of  the  clothes  and  hair. 
ANOTHER  artist  of  uncommon  parts,  Mr.  Ferdinand  Schmutzer, 


Austrian 

member  of  the  Secessionists,  has  of  late  been  very  successful.     He 
studied  some  years  in  Paris,  where  his  strong  sense  of  the  picturesque 
was  rapidly  developed  together  with  that  fine  feeling  for  the  relative 
values  of  light  and  shade  and  broken  lights  which  marks  the  born 
painter-etcher.     His  newest  plates  are  excellent,  some  being  of  un- 
usually large  dimensions.     He  has  of  late  turned  to  portrait  etching, 
and   gained   a  gold   medal    at  the    Paris  and  Dresden  Exhibitions. 
Schmutzer  also  made  the  experiment  of  etching  the  figure  of  a  lady 
just  about  to  mount  a  horse,  nearly  half  life  size,  perhaps  the  largest 
plate  in  existence.     This  may  be  noted  for  a  curiosity,  though  the 
practical  and  artistic  value  of  such  tours  deforce  seems  questionable. 
SCHMUTZER  is  certainly  a  very  strong  etcher,  with  an  excellent 
sense  of  atmospheric  effect  and  harmonious  design   quite  in  unity 
with  his  fixed  purpose  and  uncompromising  vigour  of  performance. 
He  has  studied  well    the  old    masters,  entering   deeply  into  their 
secrets,  but  nevertheless  remaining  true  to  himself.     Old  masters,  in 
cases  like  these,  instead  of  depriving  the  younger  men  of  their  per- 
sonality, have  a  peculiar  power  of  widening  their  range  of  vision. 
This  is  the  case  with  Schmutzer,  and  we  may  look  forward  to  his 
future  work  with  increased  interest  and  confidence. 
EMIL  ORLIK  is  already  well  known  to  readers  of  The  Studio.. 
He  is  to-day,  take  it  all  in  all,  perhaps  the  most  skilful  all-round 
draughtsman    among    the    Austrian    artists    as    a    body.      He    is 
gifted   with  a  capacity   for   changing  from  one  mood,  manner  or 
method  into  another  with  a  nervous,  quick  mental  receptivity  quite 
marvellous.     He  knows  no  limits,  no  prejudices,  no  preferences.     If 
he  makes  up  his  mind  to  take  in  the  spirit,  say,  of  the  art  of  Japan, 
he  feels  and  draws  and  paints  or  lithographs  like  a  Japanese.     The 
varieties  of  his  technical  methods  are  at  once  subtle  and  free,  delicate 
and  strong,  and  he  very  seldom  repeats  himself. 
OF  the  work  of  Mr.  Rudolf  Jettmar  as  an  etcher  and  draughtsman 
I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  speaking  on  a  former  occasion  (see 
The    Studio,  Vol.   xix.  No.   85).     His   imagination   seems   to   be 
perpetually  at  work  in  a  free,  fantastic  spirit  of  mind,  forming  and 
dissolving  forms  like  strains  of  music  without  end.     He  is  a  native  of 
Galicia,  having  been  born  at  Krakau  in  1867.     He  has  studied   in 
Vienna,  Karlsruhe,  Italy,  and  Leipzig,  and  in  1897  returned  to  Vienna, 
as  a  member  of  the  Vereinigung  bildender  Kiinstler  Oesterreichs. 
THE  art  of  engraving  proper  has  been  traditionally  practised  among 
Austrian  artists  for    generations,  and   so  we  find    also    among    the 
modern  men  some  very  able  artists  using  line  engraving  as  a  medium 
for  the  interpretation  of  the  touch  of  the  painter's  brush,  reduced 


Austrian 

to  the  simple  gradations  of  black  and  white.  The  reproductive 
engraver  represents  for  the  fine  arts  what  the  translator  does  for 
literature  :  he  must  be  above  all  an  interpreter.  He  must  penetrate 
into  the  centre  of  another's  personality  and  also  into  the  technical 
spirit  of  the  original — that  peculiar  medium  of  individual  expression 
so  frequently  overlooked,  yet,  in  truth,  inseparable  from  any  art 
worthy  of  the  name. 

AMONG  the  contemporary  reproductive  etchers  and  engravers,  the 
Polish  artist,  Mr.  Ignaz  Lopieiiski  has  attained  a  high  standard  of 
technical  execution,  combined  with  a  very  delicate  artistic  feeling 
for  what  may  be  termed  the  soul  of  the  picture  he  is  translating. 
LOPIENSKI  was  born  at  Warsaw  in  1865.  He  began  his  studies 
at  first  as  a  sculptor  and  medallist  in  Vienna  under  the  direction  of 
Professor  Bengler,  then  at  the  Ecole  des  Arts  Decoratifs  in  Paris, 
whence  he  returned  to  Vienna,  and  finally  again  to  Warsaw. 
HE  is  above  all  an  interpreter  of  his  native  land,  that  low  desert 
plain  of  wild  flat  country,  where  the  poor  peasant  people  are 
still  held  in  serfdom  by  the  rich  landowners,  those  broad  spaces  of 
wilderness,  with  ill-fed  horses  and  starving  vegetation,  commonly 
known  by  the  name  of  Poland,  comprising  parts  of  the  Russian, 
German,  and  Austrian  Empires.  The  plate  here  given,  entitled 
^  Winter  Night,  is  engraved  after  a  painting  by  another  Polish  artist. 
Prof.  Wierusz-Kowalski.  It  shows  a  wide  expanse  of  snow  in 
a  moonlit  winter's  night,  rendered  more  lonely  still  by  a  few 
^torm-torn  pines  and  firs,  looming  spectre-like  against  the  sky,  with 
its  twinkling  stars  half  extinguished,  as  it  were,  by  the  glaring 
reflection  of  the  snow.  The  ground  shows  the  footprints  of  a  pack 
of  hungry  wolves  assembled  in  the  background,  as  if  holding  a  sort 
of  council.  The  solitary  beast  in  the  foreground,  with  his  tail  drawn 
in,  is  sniffing  up  into  the  starry  heavens,  and  one  may  just  faintly 
discern  his  warm  breath  like  a  vapour  against  the  still,  icy-cold  air. 
There  is  a  weird  loneliness  in  the  scene  which  words  fail  to  give. 
THE  masterful  technique  of  the  plate  in  question  is  evident.  There 
are  unity  and  concentration,  combined  with  elaborate  execution, 
though  by  no  means  any  over-minuteness. 

IN  conclusion,  we  may  say  that,  although  experiments  outside  the 
sphere  of  black  and  white  do  not  yet  figure  among  the  achievements 
of  Austrian  etchers,  yet  what  they  give  is  good  genuine  work. 
Whatever  the  results  of  their  efforts  in  the  old  medium,  they  are 
deserving  of  our  earnest  attention. 

WiLHELM    SCHOLERMANN. 


Austrian 


^/ 


"PORTRAIT."     FROM  THE  [ETCHING 
BY  WILLIAM  UNGER 

Plate  i 


Austrian 


"PEASANT  GIRL  SEWING" 
FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY 
FERDINAND     SCHMUTZER 
Plate  3 


Austrian 


Plate  3 — "a  chicken" 

from  the  etching  by  alfred  cossmann 


Plate  4 — "a  tumult — an  unlucky  democrat" 


FROM   the    etching    BY   ALFRED    COSSMANN 


Austrian 


"THE   WATCHMAN."     FROM   THE 
ETCHING  BY  ALFRED  COSSMANN 
Plate  5 


55 


I— ( 
O 

< 

o 

O 


o  >. 

o 
w  a: 


DC 
O 


< 


Austrian 


Plate  7 — "admonition" 

from  the  etching  by  emil  orlik 


Plate  8 — "  wind  on  the  plain — the  coming  of  autumn  " 

from  the  etching  by  emil  orlik 


Austrian 


"READING    THE     NEWS" 
FROM  THE    ETCHING  BY 
FERDINAND  SCHMUTZER 
Plate  9 


Austrian 


i^T"  ^'M 


"THE  CLIFFS."     FROM  THE  ETCHING 
BY  RUDOLPH  JETTMAR 
Plate  io 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  HUNGARY.  By  ANTHONY 
TAHI. 


HE  etching,  especially  the  coloured  etching, 
can  have  no  history,  boast  no  tradition,  with 
a  people  whose  whole  artistic  deveopment  is 
still  so  recent  as  that  of  the  Hungarians.  In 
those  countries,  however,  where  modern  art  has 
attained  its  greatest  height,  such  as  England, 
France,  and  Germany,  the  line  engraving, 
together  with  the  far  inferior  steel-plate,  has 
held  the  field  the  longest.  The  whole  tendency 
of  art  has  been  so  strongly  opposed  to  pure  line,  that  really  it  is  no 
wonder  such  a  process  as  etching,  demanding  as  it  does  eminently 
efficient  treatment  and  handling  should  have  been  altogether  neglected 
by  many  artists. 

WITH  the  birth  of  a  richer,  a  more  highly-coloured  vision,  and 
particularly  since  our  artists  began  to  abandon  their  rigid  bias  and 
no  longer  scorned  to  interest  themselves  in  all  varieties  of  artistic 
work,  the  graphic  arts — etching,  lithography  and  occasionally  xylo- 
graphy— once  more  came  into  favour. 

CERTAIN  it  is,  so  far  as  Hungary  is  concerned,  that,  from  one 
cause  and  another — the  difficulties  of  the  process,  and  notably  the 
indifference  of  the  public — the  number  of  artists  who  have  applied 
themselves  to  colour-etching  is  still  quite  insignificant.  Our  artists 
are  greatly  to  blame  for  this  state  of  things,  for  the  majority  of  them 
make  light  of  everything  save  easel-work,  and  think  nothing  else 
worth  their  notice. 

WHILE  in  other  countries,  such  as  England,  Belgium,  France  and 
Germany,  etching-Associations  have  been  in  existence  for  nearly 
twenty-five  years  past,  with  the  happiest  results ;  while,  moreover, 
the  public  taste  has  been  stimulated  and  raised  by  the  publication  of 
admirable  reproductions  of  this  class  of  work,  we  in  Hungary  have 
been  absolutely  without  anything  of  the  sort  until  last  year,  when  a 
"  Graphic  Club  "  was  founded ;  and  up  till  now  it  has  produced 
no  tangible  results. 

THE  poor  figure  we  cut  in  regard  to  the  graphic  arts  must  be 
largely  attributed  to  the  fact  that  Hungary  has  really  no  art-market 
of  its  own,  and  that  it  lies  remote  from  all  the  international  art  centres. 


Hungarian 

AS  I  have  already  observed,  the  number  of  Hungarian  artists  engaged 
in  producing  original  etchings  is  very  small.  Most  of  these  are 
painters,  who  recognise  the  necessity  of  expressing  themselves  in 
more  than  one  artistic  medium,  and  of  having  more  than  one  outlet 
for  their  energies. 

WHEN,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  since,  the  writer  of  these  lines 
desired  to  learn  the  technique  of  etching,  there  was  in  the  whole 
country  only  one  man  capable  of  giving  him  practical  instruction 
therein.  This  was  the  copper-engraver  Jeno  Doby,  at  present  the 
doyen  of  Hungarian  etchers ;  for  he  has  abandoned  line  engraving 
and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  etching.  Still,  even  now  he 
cannot  give  up  the  graver  :  thus,  his  etchings  are  marked  by  a  strong 
and  well-disciplined  sense  of  line.  His  original  etchings  are  very 
few.  Doby  occupies  the  Chair  of  Etching  at  the  Budapest  Applied 
Art  School,  where  among  his  pupils  were  B.  Chabada,  A.  Szekely, 
and  Edvi-Illes. 

ETCHING  owes  much  also  to  Professor  Lajos  Raiischer  of  the 
Budapest  Polytechnic,  who  by  his  example  has  aroused  and  fostered 
a  love  of  the  art  among  many  of  the  young  artists  studying  under 
his  guidance.  At  first,  especially  in  his  views  of  Budapest,  the 
architect  betrayed  himself  by  his  stiff,  precise  drawing  of  the  archi- 
tecture, and  his  subordination  of  the  picturesque  side  of  his  scenes ; 
but  soon  these  blemishes  were  overcome,  and  his  fine  natural  style 
asserted  itself  with  effect,  especially  in  his  aquatints,  which  are  full  of 
expression.  A  notable  feature  of  all  his  plates  is  the  care  he  bestows 
on  his  subject  in  order  to  bring  out  its  entire  value. 
ZSIGMOND  LANDSINGER'S  first  etching  was  Arnold  Bocklin's 
Heiliger  Hain,  which  he  did  in  Florence. 

HERE  too  originated  the  Portrait  of  ^ocklin,  that  energetic  and 
powerfully  designed  life-size  plate,  which  so  characteristically  and 
vividly  reproduces  the  head  of  the  genial  Swiss  Painter.  The  inti- 
mate friendship  which  sprang  up  between  Bocklin  and  Landsinger 
resulted  also  in  the  production  of  another  plate,  Fafner  der  Drache, 
executed  by  Bocklin  himself  as  a  monotype.  Landsinger's  etchings 
are  conspicuous  for  thorough  mastery  of  material,  and  for  dainty  yet 
forceful  handling  of  flesh  tints. 

VIKTOR  OLGYAI  studied  under  William  Unger  in  Vienna  and 
under  Theodore  Alphonse  in  Paris.  As  he  originally  intended  to 
devote  himself  entirely  to  the  graphic  arts,  and  only  later  took  up 
oil-painting,  his  technical  knowledge  of  etching  is  remarkable.  He 
is  pre-eminently  a  draughtsman,  and  though  his  plates  are  finely 
toned,  the  most  notable  thing  about  them   is  their  sense  of  line. 

2 


Hungarian 

Some  of  his  best  works  are  contained  in  an  album  of  ten  plates 
•entitled  "  Winter,"  and  other  notable  ones  are  The  Oak,  The  Mill, 
and  Way  of  Cypresses. 

ALADAR  EDVI-ILLES  is  an  admirable  water-colourist,  this 
being  clearly  seen  in  his  etched  plates,  which  are  remarkable  for  the 
strong  tone  he  infuses  into  his  colours.  In  his  Cemetery  the  colour 
in  the  warm  autumnal  foliage  is  very  happily  realised,  while  his 
powerful  treatment  of  the  storm-laden  sky  makes  the  whole  plate 
really  dramatic. 

A  MANIFOLD  and  an  eminently  rich  talent  was  that  of  Akos  F. 
Aranyossy,  who  died  all  too  young  a  few  years  since.  He  studied 
in  Munich  with  Raab  and  treated  with  equal  certainty  figures  and 
landscapes  alike.  In  his  Portrait  of  Bishop  Bubics  the  delicate 
■careful  modelling  of  the  flesh  is  particularly  noticeable  ;  while  in 
his  plates  entitled  The  Washerwoman  and  Geese  it  is  the  water  that 
•chiefly  attracts  one's  attention.  His  premature  death  was  a  heavy 
loss  to  Hungarian  etching. 

ON  the  plates  by  Arpad  Szekely  the  draughtsmanship  is  con- 
spicuous ;  moreover  he  shows  an  obvious  desire  to  impart  strong 
tone  to  his  method.  He  strives,  often  with  success,  to  treat  the 
various  aspects  of  nature — soil,  water,  cloud,  or  vegetation — each 
in  its  own  particular  manner.  The  motives  he  especially  affects 
may  perhaps  be  considered  to  demand  more  colour  in  their  treatment, 
•consequently  there  is  often  a  certain  lack  of  harmony  between  the 
:subject  and  its  realisation  in  his  plates. 

ERNO  BARTA  in  his  various  plates  shows  a  decided  talent  in 
the  direction  of  the  mezzotint.  His  manner  is  powerful  and  deep 
and  warm  in  tone.  Perhaps  he  would  be  still  more  successful  were 
Jiis  modelling  somewhat  simpler  and  broader. 

BELA  CHABADA  concerns  himself  chiefly  with  the  reproduction 
of  the  works  of  modern  Hungarian  artists,  who  have  found  in  him 
a  most  capable  and  intelligent  interpreter.  His  original  mezzotints 
are  marked  by  a  misty  delicacy  which  is  most  attractive. 
OTHER  of  our  artists  who  have  applied  themselves  to  etching  are 
Kalman  Dery,  Henrik  Pap,  and  Jozsef  Rippl-Ronai,  the  latter  a 
pupil  of  Kopping  and  of  Raab.  Latterly  he  has  been  devoting  his 
energies  exclusively  to  lithography,  which  of  recent  years  has  been 
gaining  more  and  more  adherents  among  artists. 

Anthony  Tahi. 


"  FEBRUARY."     FROM  THE  ETCHING 
BY  VIKTOR  OLGYAI 

Plate  i 


< 

H 

O 

o 

o 

K 

(^ 

[Xh 

o 

H 

^ 

^ 

■■     a 

^4 

^ 

> 

o 

>^ 

•^ 

ffl 

C/J 

o 

K 

z 

C/2 

1— I 

W  ffi 

Di 

o 

b  H 

5   w 


^  < 

<  < 

<  < 

O  H 

J  O 
O  0^ 


I 

.5S 


o 


> 

W 
O 

o 

o 
g 

X 


c/) 
O 

< 

O 

g 

s 

o 

W 
DC 


8: 

I 


!33 


IS 

«  2  "" 

§  Q 

H  pQ 


;3 


ti5 


w 

H 
< 

a. 


H    <^ 


8: 

* 


< 

5 
<: 
o 
z 

X 

1 

H 


I 


o 

- .  ;^ 

<< 

H  p 

^^ 


(4 

< 


5i 


< 
i-l 


tc 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  HOLLAND.  By  PHILIP 
ZILCKEN. 


URING  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, etching,  which  had  flourished  so  splendidly 
in  Holland  in  Rembrandt's  time,  was  almost 
completely  abandoned.  About  1850  some 
painters — Mollinger,  Jan  Weissenbruch  and 
Roelofs — made  a  number  of  interesting  plates, 
which  nevertheless  lacked  the  free  and  artistic 
treatment  that  makes  etchings  so  delightful. 
IT  was  the  well-known  Austrian  etcher,  Unger, 
who  once  during  a  sojourn  in  Holland  induced  Josef  Israels,  Mauve, 
and  some  other  painters  of  the  same  group,  to  varnish  copper-plates, 
and  to  make  on  them  rapid  or  more  elaborate  improvisations,  many 
of  which  have  all  the  charm  of  the  subtlest  etchings.  Most  of  these 
plates  are  exceedingly  rare,  and  they  cause  regret  that  those  refined 
artists  did  not  oftener  practise  this  delicate  art. 
C.  STORM  VAN  GRAVESANDE,  whose  work  of  this  kind  is 
well  known,  lived  at  that  time  in  Belgium,  where  he  worked  under  the 
guidance  of  Felicien  Rops.  He  rapidly  gained  so  great  a  reputation 
that  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton,  in  his  book  on  Etching  and  Etchers, 
devoted  a  considerable  number  of  pages  to  this  painter-etcher. 
Hamerton  says  of  him,  in  1876,  speaking  of  his  print,  Au  bord 
du   Geins,  pres  a^Abcoude :    "  This  is    one    of   the    most  perfect 

ETCHINGS    PRODUCED    BY    THE    MODERN    SCHOOLS,    SO    PERFECT    INDEED, 
THAT     IF     I     WERE     RESTRICTED    TO    THE     POSSESSION     OF     SIX    MODERN 

ETCHINGS,  THIS  SHOULD  BE  ONE  OF  THEM."  Storm  vau  Gravesande 
has  produced  a  great  many  plates ;  actually  about  four  hundred.  In 
recent  years  he  has  abandoned  pure  etching  and  has  devoted  himself 
almost  entirely  to  "  dry-points."  In  this  class  of  work  I  think  his 
most  typical  prints  are  to  be  found.  In  them  he  succeeds  in  expressing 
perfectly  the  slow-flowing  waters  of  the  placid  Dutch  streams,  the 
quiet  surface  of  the  Laguna  of  Venice,  and  sometimes  the  rough 
^waves  of  the  North  Sea  beating  upon  the  sandy  lowland  beaches. 
With  but  a  few  lines  he  expresses  much,  and  his  work  supplies  a 
very  complete  survey  of  Holland's  picturesque  landscape. 
STORM  VAN  GRAVESANDE  takes  a  place  apart  in  this  school 
of  etching.     He  has  worked   chiefly   in   Holland,  but  lived  many 

G  I 


Dutch 

years  in  Belgium  and  Germany,  and  it  was  only  a  few  years  ago  that 
he  returned  to  his  native  country. 

ISRAELS  has  kept  up  his  etching  in  recent  years,  and  a  good 
number  of  prints  of  his  exist.  They  are  all  true  etchings,  in  the 
sense  that  they  consist  of  pure  line-work,  sometimes  carried  out 
direct,  sometimes  elaborated  in  different  states.  This  great  artist  has 
interpreted  in  this  way  some  of  his  favourite  subjects — luminous  and 
harmonious  interior  effects,  and  bright,  brilliant  beach  scenes,  with 
fishermen's  children  playing  on  the  sands.  All  these  works  betray 
a  personal,  expressive  technique,  with  masterly  contrasts  of  light  and 
shade,  and  are  full  of  intense,  penetrating  feeling. 

JAMES  MARIS,  when  he  commenced  etching,  made  about  four  very 
small  plates — a  bridge,  a  couple  of  mills,  and  a  print  showing  a  sketch 
of  his  wife  and  his  eldest  daughter.  These  plates  have  all  the  qualities, 
of  similar  ones  by  Rembrandt.  The  delicate  and  expressive  drawing,, 
the  few  well-placed  lines,  are  quite  masterly.  Mauve  made  more  plates, 
many  of  which  are  lost,*  among  them  some  little  gems  containing 
all  his  personal  qualities  of  feeling,  tone,  and  expressive  drawing. 
MATTHEW  MARIS  executed  at  that  time  one  very  small  plate — 
now  exceedingly  rare — a  girl  with  a  lamb  and  a  baby  ;  but  year& 
afterwards  he  undertook  to  make  a  reproduction  of  the  celebrated 
"  Semeur,"  by  Millet. 

IN  order  to  train  himself  again  in  etching  he  then  commenced  a 
number  of  plates,  but  he  himself  considers  these  remarkable  prints — 
that  have  already  attained  high  prices — mere  essays  of  little  or  na 
importance.  The  plate  after  the  "  Semeur  "  is  a  marvellous  interpreta- 
tion^ not  a  mere  copy^  of  a  masterpiece,  by  a  genius,  and  in  this  respect 
it  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  plates  ever  produced. 
Maris  has  added  his  own  individual  feeling  to  the  grand  conception, 
of  Millet,  and  thus  (a  rare  event)  two  artists  of  the  same  high  rank 
have  collaborated  in  creating  a  work  of  unique  quality. 
JONGKIND,  at  the  same  epoch,  made  his  well-known  rapid,, 
expressive,  and  characteristic  views  of  Honfleur  and  Le  Havre,  and 
his  lively  sketches  of  Paris  and  Holland.  But  modern  Dutch  etching 
owes  its  renown  chiefly  to  the  younger  masters,  who  have  devoted  a 
great  part  of  their  time  to  this  art,  such  as  Bauer,  Witsen,  Dupont,. 
Miss  van  Houten,  and  others.  Since  1889  they  have  regularly 
exhibited  their  works  at  the  Great  Paris  Exhibitions,  at  Chicago,, 
Venice,  and  in  Germany,  with  much  success,  while  in  1900  they^ 
made  a  striking  "  hit "  at  the  Exposition  Universelle. 

*  The  New  York  Public  Library  contains  the  only  existing  complete  collection  of  these^ 
2 


Dutch 

HERE  it  happened  that  the  Dutch  section  of  engraving,  with  about 
twenty-four  exhibitors,  obtained  a  number  of  awards  as  considerable 
as  countries  like  England,  Germany,  and  the  United  States,  that  had 
twice  as  many  representatives,  whilst  one  of  the  three  chief  awards 
in  this  section  fell  to  Bauer. 

EXCEPT  Josef  Israels,  the  celebrated  artist  who  has  now  attained  his 
seventy-sixth  year,  but  whose  youthfulness  is  as  great  as  fifty  years 
ago,  the  painter-etchers  are  "  younger  "  artists,  all  of  them  between 
thirty  and  forty  years  of  age,  and  not  one  of  them  devotes  his  whole 
time  to  etching.  They  all  paint  as  well  as  etch,  and  to  this  is 
certainly  due  the  fact  that  their  etched  work  has  qualities  of  a  very 
genuine  character. 

BAUER  is  a  remarkable  type  in  modern  art.  Since  his  early  youth 
he  has  had  what  Theophile  Gautier  calls  ia  nostalgie  de  VOrient^  and 
he  has  scarcely  painted  anything  else  but  scenes  in  Constantinople, 
Cairo,  or  Hindustan.  Nearly  every  year  he  spends  about  six  months  in 
travelling  in  Eastern  countries,  and  he  sees  those  countries  (as  he  once 
wrote  to  me)  "  not  as  they  are,  but  as  they  were  a  couple  of  hundred 
years  ago."  And  he  succeeds  in  expressing  his  vision  ! 
NUMEROUS  are  now  his  etchings,  consisting  of  about  200  small 
plates,  rapid  and  slight — though  perfectly  complete — sketches,  and 
several  large  prints,  like  his  Procession^  The  ^een  of  Saba,  Aladdin, 
Morning  on  the  Ganges,  The  Persian  Feast,  &c.  &c.,  well  known  to 
collectors  of  etchings. 

BAUER  has  all  the  qualities  that  characterise  the  real  etcher,  and 
when  viewing  his  works  one  is  frequently  reminded  of  Rembrandt, 
because  he  has  an  analogous  habit  of  composition,  the  same  simple 
contrasts  of  light  and  shade,  the  same  easy,  subtle  execution  in  simple, 
direct,  never-hesitating  lines.  Bauer  having  a  very  personal  indi- 
viduality, no  other  Dutch  or  foreign  etcher  can  be  compared  to  him. 
Gifted  as  he  is  with  a  talent  for  composition,  and  strong  imagination 
and  expression,  he  takes  very  high  rank  amongst  modern  etchers. 
CONSIDERABLE  impulse  was  given  to  the  art  o^  etching  in 
Holland  when  the  Dutch  Etching  Club  was  created  in  1880. 
Yearly  exhibitions  were  held,  and  an  annual  portfolio  was  issued  by 
the  club.  This  impelled  some  of  the  younger  painters,  who  would 
otherwise  have  abandoned  etching,  to  apply  themselves  to  it. 
AS  the  secretary  of  the  Etchers'  Club,  I  have  been  in  a  position 
to  follow  closely  for  the  past  twelve  years  the  brilliant  and  remarkably 
"sincere"  development  of  Dutch  etching.  In  using  the  word 
"  sincere,"  I  mean  that  in  Holland  every  serious  artist  takes  his 
own    course     quietly,    without    any    idea    of    imitation.      It    is    a 

3 


Dutch 

characteristic  of  Dutch  artists  that  they  work  in  their  own  way, 
following  their  own  personal  convictions,  without  paying  attention  to 
outside  influences.  And  the  result  is  individuality. 
AMONG  such  artists  Willem  Witsen  and  P.  Dupont  are  notable  types. 
WITSEN  is  the  painter  of  the  sluggish  Dutch  waters  of  Amsterdam 
and  Dordrecht,  reflecting  the  old,  picturesque,  many-coloured 
buildings,  often  dreary  and  gloomy,  but  always  full  of  charm.  Of 
all  the  subjects  chosen  for  his  water-colours  he  makes  etchings,  and 
they  are  as  thoroughly  elaborated  as  his  other  work.  Adding  some- 
times sulphur  tints  he  obtains  powerful  efl!ects,  never  abandoning  a 
plate  before  having  completely  expressed  in  it  the  effect,  the  colour, 
and  the  harmonious  tone  he  seeks.  For  him  every  one  of  his  plates 
must  be  a  work  of  art. 

DUPONT,  who  began  his  career  with  rapid,  expressive  etchings 
after  nature,  chiefly  views  of  Amsterdam  and  its  surroundings,  has 
entirely  changed  his  manner  in  recent  years. 

NOT  satisfied  with  the  brilliant  effects  achieved  in  his  etched  plates, 
he  tried  his  hand  some  years  ago  at  engraving.  This  work  of  his 
attracted  considerable  attention  at  the  Paris  Exhibition  in  1900.  He 
has  since  continued  this  most  difficult  work  with  increasing  success, 
and  now  he  is  working  on  portraits,  one  of  which,  that  of  Steinlen, 
is  worthy  of  particular  mention.  He  still  etches,  but  these  plates  are 
for  him  mere  preparatory  studies  for  his  engravings.  Being  young, 
admirably  gifted,  and  full  of  endurance  and  energy,  much  can  be 
expected  from  him  in  the  future. 

MISS  B.  VAN  HOUTEN,  though  little  known,  is  a  most  striking 
etcher,  too.  She  is  a  niece  of  the  marine-painter  Mesdag,  and  so,  from 
her  early  youth,  she  has  lived  in  an  artistic  milieu.  When  her  studies 
were  finished,  she  began  to  make  some  large  plates  after  masterpieces, 
by  Corot,  Delacroix,  Courbet  and  Dupre.  After  the  last-named 
artist  she  made  a  very  beautiful  plate,  so  carefully  and  conscientiously 
elaborated  that  it  gives  exactly  the  tone,  and  the  values,  of  the 
original.  In  this  fine  plate  nothing  is  left  to  chance,  but  every  touch 
is  interpreted  with  rare  and  delicate  skill.  Miss  Van  Houten  has 
also  completed  about  a  hundred  original  plates. 

THESE  plates  show  great  strength  and  vigour.  When  she  etches 
birds,  tulips,  sunflowers,  or  interior  effects  or  heads,  she  works  with 
deeply  bitten,  broad,  strong  lines.  Such  work  could  easily  pro- 
duce black,  heavy  prints,  but  her  delicate  sensibility,  her  intense 
feeling  for  the  things  interpreted,  save  it  from  that  evil,  and  her 
plates  always  express  marvellously  the  tender  substances  of  flower- 
petals,  the  soft  plumage  of  birds,  and  the  aerial  distances  in  landscapes. 

4 


Dutch 

TO  add  a  few  words  about  myself,  I  have  completed  during  the 
last  twenty  years  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  plates,  of  which  about 
two  hundred  are  reproductions  after  the  Marises,  Mauve,  Israels, 
Alfred  Stevens,  Rembrandt,  Vermeer  of  Delft,  &c.  &c.,  while  others 
are  exclusively  original  landscapes,  most  of  them  after  nature,  and 
studies  in  dry-point  after  models,  and  a  few  portraits. 
THE  artists  I  have  mentioned  are  the  principal  figures  in  modern 
Dutch  etching.  Around  them  are  working  a  good  number  of  others, 
of  various  but  real  merit.  My  space  being  limited,  I  must  content 
myself  with  a  mere  sketch  of  their  various  characteristics. 
AMONG  the  painters  who  have  made  many  good  and  interesting 
etchings,  mention  must  be  made  of  W.  de  Zwart,  a  clever  and 
brilliant  landscape  and  figure-painter,  whose  expressive  etchings  are 
numerous. 

TOOROP  has  done  in  the  last  few  years  some  extremely  delicate 
dry-points,  chiefly  figure  studies.  His  etchings,  like  everything  he 
produces,  are  very  striking  and  personal. 

JAN  VETH,  one  of  our  most  distinguished  portrait-painters,  has 
done  many  lithographs  of  celebrated  Dutch-men,  and  also  some  fine 
etchings,  of  uncommon  feeling  and  ability. 

I  MUST  not  forget,  in  this  too  short  and  too  rapid  enumeration, 
Etienne  Bosch,  who  produced  a  great  many  plates,  mediaeval 
subjects  and  views  of  Holland  and  Italy,  among  which  the  view  of 
Sorrents  is  excellent  in  style  and  composition. 

MISS  ETHA  FLES  has  done  some  "pure"  etching,  such  as  her 
Staircase  at  Rothenburg.  Ed.  Karsen,  the  somewhat  Maeterlinck-like 
painter  of  gloomy,  almost  fantastic,  Dutch  dwellings,  has  done  some 
plates  of  very  peculiar  and  subtle  interest.  Ed.  Becht  has  made  some 
important  soft-ground  etchings,  among  which  his  Rising  Moon  is  a 
very  interesting  plate  done  by  means  of  a  rarely  used  process. 
REICHER  is  a  painter  who,  besides  a  couple  of  very  carefully  made 
plates  after  Breitner  and  after  M.  Maris,  has  drawn  original  land- 
scapes and  some  still-life  subjects  of  striking  directness  of  execution. 
W.  O.  J.  NIEUWENKAMP  was  one  of  the  first  Dutch  painters  who 
went  to  Java.  Having  a  very  personal  style,  he  brought  from  there 
some  characteristic  and  interesting  views. 

A.  KOSTER,  after  doing  some  views  of  the  Pyrenees,  applied 
himself  to  Dutch  landscape,  and  reproduced  views  of  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Hague  and  Limburg,  rendering  the  character  of  those 
parts  of  Holland  in  a  remarkably  truthful  manner. 
AND  now  to  complete  this  short  sketch,  I  must  add  the  names  of 
some  etchers  of  merit  who  have  done  a  number  of  important  plates 


Dutch 
after  our  ancient  and  modern  masters,  but  scarcely  ever  any  original 
work. 

IN  the  first  place,  Van  der  Weele,  a  painter  in  the  style  of  Mauve, 
has  done  some  very  harmonious  and  lovely  interpretations  after  that 
master.  Some  originals  of  his  are  of  very  good  quality,  for  instance 
The  Dead  Lamb  and  Pigs  Drinking.  The  same  can  be  said  of  the  little 
views  of  Haarlem  and  surroundings  by  Graadt  Van  Roggen,  a  hard 
worker  who  has  also  made  very  elaborate  and  carefully  treated  repro- 
ductions after  J.  Maris,  Vermeer,  &c.,  which  display  much  patient 
labour. 

PROFESSOR  C.  DAKE,  of  Amsterdam,  has  made  a  number  of 
important  plates  after  Mauve,  Israels,  Maris,  Mesdag,  &c.,  in  a  broad 
manner,  full  of  ability,  that  have  met  with  great  popularity. 

Ph.  Zilcken. 


Dutch 


Plate  i — "evening" 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    W.    DE    ZWART 


Plate  2 — "a  study  of  dutch  houses" 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY   W.    WITSEN 

{By  permission  of  Mr.  E.  van  Wisselingh) 


Dutch 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    MISS    B.    G.    VAN    HOUTEN 


Plate  4 — "  la  rue  du  jerzual  a  dinan  " 


FROM   THE   ETCHING   BV   A.   F.    REICHER 


Dutch 


{By  i>trmission  of  Mr.  E.  van  Wisselingh) 


"LEAVING  THE  MOSQUE" 
FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY 
M.  BAUER 

Plate  5 


Dutch 


*'k  DUTCH  CHURCH."     FROM 
THE    ETCHING    BY   W.    O.    J. 
NIEUWENKAMP 
Plate  6 


Dutch 


"PAUL  VERLAINE  IN  THE  ACT  OF 
WRITING."  FROM  THE  ETCHING 
BY  P.  ZILCKEN,  AFTER  A  SKETCH 

BY  J.  TOOROP 

Plate  7 


Dutch 


Plate  8 — "in  the  limburg  hills" 


FROM   THE   ETCHING    BY   A.   L.    KOSTER 


Plate  9 — "  an  old  cottage  " 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  E.  BECHT 


Dutch 


''VESPERS."  FROM  THE 
ETCHING  BY  STORM  VAN 
GRAVESANDE 

Plate  io 


Dutch 


"THE  BAY  OF  SALERNO" 
FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY 
E.  BOSCH 

Plate  ii 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  BELGIUM.  By  FERNAND 
KHNOPFF. 


ELGIAN  etchers  held  an  Exhibition  in  1901  in 
the  Galleries  of  the  Cercic  Artistique  at  Brussels, 
at  which  were  received  examples  of  the  work  of 
all  artists  interested  in  etching  whether  with  the 
dry-point  or  what  the  French  call  eau  forte. 
IN    holding    this    remarkable    Exhibition    the 
primary  aim  of  the  Belgian  Society  of  Etchers 
was  to  celebrate  the  fifteenth  anniversary  of  its 
foundation,  and  to  prove  the  success  of  its  efforts  to  recover  the 
position  it  formerly  held  under  the  management  of  Felicien  Rops. 
TO  found  in  Belgiuman  International  Society  of  Etchers  was  the  great 
ambition  of  Rops ;  but  his  success  had  been  long  delayed  by  material 
difficulties.   He  did,  however,  at  last  manage  to  constitute  the  Society, 
and  it  was  decided  to  issue  an  album  with  a  portfolio  of  etchings,  the 
first  number  of  which  appeared  in  1875. 

HER  Royal  Highness  the  Countess  of  Flanders  had  accepted  the 
position  of  Honorary  President  of  the  International  Society  of  Etchers, 
and  the  two  plates  she  successively  published  in  the  album  deservedly 
rank  among  the  best  of  the  many  fine  etchings  which  appeared  in 
that  publication. 

THE  greater  number  of  those  who  exhibited  at  the  Salon  of  the  Society 
of  Etchers  were  painters  as  well  as  etchers,  and  it  was  very  interest- 
ing to  note  the  great  variety  of  their  styles.  Some  few  had  insisted 
on  going  through  what  might  almost  be  called  a  classic  training, 
mastering  to  begin  with  every  traditional  process  of  the  craft.  Others 
had  endeavoured  to  adapt  the  processes  of  etching  to  their  own  par- 
ticular mode  of  painting;  yet  others  had  set  to  work  to  discover  new 
methods,  using  their  etching  tools  in  a  haphazard  way  and  trying 
experiments  in  biting  in  on  grounds  never  before  used ;  whilst  others 
contented  themselves  with  merely  transferring  some  study  to  copper. 
THE  etchings  of  M.  Baertsoen  take  rank  amongst  the  most  remark- 
able of  the  works  exhibited.  They  are  characterised  by  broad  masses 
of  light  and  shade,  and  their  execution  is  thoroughly  suited  to  the 
effect  of  chiaroscuro  which  it  was  evidentlv  the  aim  of  the  artist  to 
produce.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  now  and  then  something 
almost  coarse  and  harsh  about  the  execution,  but  this  very  peculiarity 

H  I 


Belgian 

results  in  the  better  distribution  of  the  ink  when  the  impressions  are 
being  struck  off,  and  enables  M.  Baertsoen  to  secure  effects  by  the 
retroussage  on  which  he  sets  such  store  and  turns  to  such  good  account, 
without  going  to  the  extremes  indulged  in  by  so  many  of  his  fellow 
etchers. 

MESSIEURS  WYTSMAN  and  Van  Rysselberghe,  on  the  other 
hand,  appear  to  scorn  to  avail  themselves  of  the  too  skilful  aid  of  the 
printer,  and  when  their  well-prepared  and  carefully-executed  drawings 
have  been  reproduced,  they  have  all  the  value  of  conscientious  work. 
In  his  etchings  M.  Wytsman  gives  proof  of  his  thorough  study  of 
the  landscape  scenery  of  Brabant,  and  delights  in  representing  the 
noble  and  dignified  lines  of  the  grand  masses  of  forest  trees  character- 
istic of  the  undulating  country  districts.  M.  Van  Rysselberghe,  too, 
in  his  portraits  and  sea-pieces  avoids  all  superficial  expedients,  and 
endeavours  in  every  case  to  faithfully  interpret  his  subject. 
IT  is  qualities  similar  to  these  which  give  value  to  the  works  of 
Messrs.  Coppens  and  Bartholome.  M.  Ensor  has  already  won 
considerable  reputation  as  an  engraver,  and  his  etchings  of  sea-pieces 
and  landscapes,  inspired  by  the  scenery  of  Ostende  and  its  neigh- 
bourhood, are  remarkable  for  a  delicacy  of  touch,  which  does  full 
justice  to  the  subtle  effects  of  silvery  light  so  characteristic  of  the 
Belgian  sea-board. 

THE  works  of  Messrs.  Laermans  and  Delaunois  are  remarkable  for 
their  very  crude  appearance.  The  etchings  of  M.  Laermans,  indeed, 
give  the  impression  of  having  been  engraved  with  the  aid  of  a  very 
old  nail,  while  those  of  M.  Delaunois  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
bitten  in,  but  to  have  been  vitriolised.  For  all  that,  however,  the 
engravings  of  both  these  celebrated  artists  have,  so  far  as  art  essentials 
are  concerned,  the  same  fine  qualities  as  their  paintings.  It  is  the 
same  with  the  Antwerp  master,  M.  Hens,  whose  sea-pieces,  in  spite  of 
their  somewhat  rough  execution,  are  full  of  luminous  brightness,  and 
attracted  special  attention  at  the  Exhibition  of  the  Society  of  Etchers. 
MESSRS.  Heins,Gailliard,Mignot,  Romberg,  Titz,  and  H.  Meunier 
have  all  brought  to  bear  upon  their  work  with  the  etching  needle 
that  same  facility  of  execution  which  they  have  gained  by  practice 
in  making  drawings  for  book  illustration  or  in  designing  posters. 
LASTLY,  there  is  only  one  Belgian  painter-etcher  who  cultivates 
exclusively  the  process  known  as  dry-point,  and  that  one  is  the  writer 
of  these  notes,  who  has  engraved  in  that  medium  several  drawings 
or  studies  in  outline  or  shade. 

IN  his  "  History  of  the  Fine  Arts  in  Belgium  "  Camille  Lemonnier 
defines  very  accurately  that  which  specially   distinguishes   Messrs. 

2 


Belgian 

G.  Biot  and  A.  Danse,  who  may  be  said  to  be  at  the  present  time 
the  two  engravers  by  profession  who  dominate  the  Society  of  Etchers  : 
"  FROM  the  very  first  time  he  exhibited,  Biot  manifested  those 
qualities  of  distinction  and  grace  which  have  since  gradually  developed 
into  a  completed  individual  style  of  great  distinction.  Delicacy, 
balance,  and  simplicity  of  effect,  grace  of  sentiment,  with  something 
of  timidity  and  reserve  in  the  general  scheme,  these  are  the  salient 
features  of  an  art  which  is  at  the  same  time  pleasing  and  severe, 
modifying  classic  stiffness  by  its  contact  with  a  grace  altogether 
modern." 

"THE  art  of  Danse,  on  the  contrary,  is  comparatively  coarse,  passion- 
ate, feverish.  The  hasty  dashiness  of  the  sketch  is  retained  even 
in  his  completed  work  ;  he  loves  tones  which  clash  with  one  another, 
unrelieved  black,  sharp  effects  of  light,  rugged  execution.  Of  the 
school  of  J.  B.  Meunier,  on  whose  style  he  formed  his  own,  he 
has  retained  nothing  but  the  decision  of  stroke  of  the  burin,  with  a 
certain  grasp  of  the  processes  employed  and  some  skill  of  handling. 
With  him  the  etching  needle  is  almost  always  pressed  into  the  service 
as  supplementary  to  the  graver  or  burin  ;  it  is  it  which  gives  to  his 
plates  their  sharpness  of  line  and  richness  of  tone  ;  even  to  his  most 
severely  correct  engravings  it  lends  a  certain  capriciousness  which 
would  be  repudiated  by  those  who  use  the  burin  pure  and  simple." 
M.  DANSE,  however,  is  not  content  with  producing  a  vast  number 
of  engravings,  he  also  aspires  to  forming  engravers;  and  whilst  he  was 
Professor  of  Drawing  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Mons  in  1871  he 
founded  a  school  of  engraving  in  that  town  at  his  own  expense.  From 
this  school  issued,  amongst  others,  Messrs.  Lenain,  Bernier,  L. 
Greuze,  and  Luc'q,  with  M^"^^-  Weiler,  Wesmael,  L.  Danse,  and 
Mme.  Destree-Danse,  the  two  last  named  the  daughters  of  the  master. 
M.  LENAIN  may  justly  be  said  to  take  first  rank  amongst  contem- 
porary line-engravers.  He  handles  the  rigid  graving  tool  with  ease 
and  subtlety,  resulting  sometimes  in  the  production  of  effects  more 
varied  than  those  to  be  obtained  in  etching.  A  long  study  of  the 
masterpieces  of  French  engraving  has  done  much  to  aid  him  in 
the  development  of  his  peculiar  excellence — delicacy  of  execution. 
Moreover,  a  certain  indefinable  natural  instinct,  the  result  of  his 
nationality,  has  led  him  to  interpret  well  the  grand  production  of 
>he  painters  of  the  Flemish  Renaissance,  and  he  has  begun  a  series 
of  fine  engravings  after  the  works  of  Rubens. 

THE  works  of  the  engraver,  F.  Marechal,  of  Liege,  have  already 
been  criticised  in  the  Studio  in  an  article  published  two  years  ago, 
and   in   another  article  which   came    out    in   the    same    magazine 


Belgian 

in  1898,  under  the  heading,  "  Some  Artists  of  Liege,"  the  remarkable 
art-talent  of  M.  A.  Rassenfosse,  the  faithful  friend  and  devoted 
disciple  of  the  extraordinary  genius  Felicien  Rops,  was  commented 
upon  with  considerable  appreciation,  and  attention  was  drawn  to 
his  profound  knowledge  of  all  the  processes  of  the  engraver's  craft. 
TWO  other  artists  of  Liege,  Messrs.  Donnay  and  De  Witte,  have 
attracted  attention  by  some  etchings  full  of  originality  and  character. 
AMONGST  the  engravers  who  have  turned  their  attention  to 
taking  impressions  in  colour  must  be  named,  as  especially  successful, 
M.  Q.  DE  SAMPAYO,  an  artist  of  Portuguese  extraction,  who  may 
be  fitly  included  in  this  article  on  living  Belgian  engravers  on  account 
of  his  having  studied  under  M.  Rassenfosse  and  produced  most  of 
his  work  in  Brussels.  M.  De  Sampayo  has  himself  carefully  super- 
intended the  translation  into  colour  of  his  etchings,  and  with  the 
aid  of  M.  Van  Campenhout,  the  skilful  printer  to  the  Society  of 
Etchers,  he  has  coloured  several  delicate  plates  a  la  poupee. 
IT  was  also  by  means  of  this  process  that  the  plates  of  Messrs. 
Romberg,  Coppens,  Gaudy,  and  those  of  the  author  of  these  notes 
were  coloured,  whereas  those  of  Messrs.  Titz  and  Schlobach  were 
printed  and  coloured  by  what  is  known  as  the  super-position  process, 
that  is  to  say,  by  the  use  of  a  succession  of  several  plates,  each 
marked  with  the  most  minute  care  and  capable  of  bearing  as 
many  as  three  colours,  provided  those  colours  are  very  strictly 
deliminated.  No  doubt  this  process  is  decidedly  easier  for  the 
printer,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  certain  that  greater  delicacy 
and  subtlety  of  colouring  can  be  obtained  by  the  process  a  la  poupee, 

Fernand  Khnopff. 


Belgian 


:^^l^i^^btr^ 


"A  DUTCH  WINDMILL" 
FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY 
H.  CASSIERS 

Plate  i 


Belgian 


"A  ROMAN  OUTCAST."  FROM  THE 
ENGRAVING  BY  A.  DANSE,  AFTER 
THE  PAINTING  BY  E.  WAUTERS 

Plate  2 


Belgian 


Plate  3 — "three  shots  for  a  penny" 

from  the  etching  by  f.  gailliard 


Plate  4 — "  fantasia 


FROM    THE    DRY-POINT    BY    M.    ROMBERG 


Belgian 


Plate  5 — " a  bleak  landscape " 


FROM    THE   ETCHING   BY    H.    MEUNIER 


Plate  6 — "a  stormy  evening,  brabant" 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  R,  WYTSMAN 


N 
D 


o 

C/D 


o 

o 
w 

H 


o 
o 
w 

oc  o 


Si 


Belgian 


Plate  lo — "  a  bridge  over  the  meusE 


FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY  F.  MARECHAL 


Plate  ii — "nocturne 


FROM   the   engraving   BY   T.   VAN    RYSSELBERGHE 


/ 


/ 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  DENMARK  &>  NORWAY. 
By  GEORG  BROCHNER. 


LTHOUGH  the  Danish  Society  of  Etchers  this 
year  celebrates  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its 
foundation,  and  although  Denmark  boasts  two 
veteran  etchers  of  more  than  sixty  years'  stand- 
ing, it  is,  broadly  speaking,  only  during  the 
last  decade  that  Danish  painters  have  taken 
to  etching,  a  fact  no  doubt  connected  with 
the  attention  bestowed  upon  the  etchings  of 
Carl  Bloch,  both  in  his  lifetime  and  more 
especially  after  his  death.  During  the  last  few  years,  however, 
etching  has  become  extremely  popular  with  a  number  of  Danish 
artists,  amongst  whom  one  or  two  have  even,  at  least  for  the  time 
being,  laid  aside  the  brush  and  taken  to  the  etching  needle  instead. 
I  believe  that  all  Danish  etchers  are  painters,  and  that,  without  any 
significant  exceptions,  they  only  do  original  work,  so  that  of  what 
may  be  called  "  professional "  etchers  Denmark  has  none.  It  can  under 
these  circumstances  be  no  matter  of  surprise  that  much  of  what  is 
characteristic  of  their  work  in  oil — be  it  for  good  or  be  it  for  evil — 
also  influences  the  nature  and  the  quality  of  their  etchings,  in  choice 
of  subjects,  in  temperament  and  in  other  respects.  Thus  landscapes 
and  seascapes,  figure  subjects  and  homely  interiors,  predominate; 
imaginary  subjects  arc  dealt  with  comparatively  rarely,  and  with 
many  artists,  honest,  sober  work  is  more  in  vogue  than  striking 
effectiveness  or  technical  subtleties.  Danish  etchings  may  not 
always  impress  the  beholder  greatly  at  first  sight  or  at  a  cursory 
inspection  ;  not  so  much,  probably,  as  will  those  hailing,  for  instance, 
from  England  and  France,  but  due  appreciation  of  that  love  of 
nature,  of  that  sincerity  and  delicate  study  which  many  of  them 
betray,  will  not  be  long  withheld. 

TO  the  skill,  talent  and  unusual  energy  of  Carl  Locher,  Danish 
etching  is  greatly  indebted.  For  three  years  Locher,  then  already  a 
man  turned  forty  and  boasting  an  excellent  reputation  as  a  marine 
painter,  studied  in  Berlin  under  Professor  Hans  Meyer,  and  had  it  not 
been  for  Lochcr's  guidance  few  of  his  confreres  would  probably  have 
taken  to  the  etching  needle.  At  the  courses  which  Locher  subse- 
quently  arranged,    celebrities  like  Anna  and    Michael   Ancher  and 


Danish 

Kroyer  were  amongst  his  pupils,   and  I  believe  it  was  a  matter  of 
general  regret  when  he  brought  his  teaching  to  a  close.     Locher  was 
also  the  first  in  Denmark  to  produce  large  etchings,  and  that  some  of 
these  are  not  more  widely  known  outside   his  own  country  is  no 
doubt  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  plates,  in  order  to  ensure  the 
absolute  limitation  of  the  issues,  were  in  several  instances  destroyed. 
IT  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  here  that  "  The  Studio,"  in 
its  selection  for  reproduction,  has  wished  to  give  most  prominence 
to  work  in  which  the  line  has  been  allowed  its  full  sway  as  against 
too  much  "net  work"  or  "tone."     In  one  or   two    instances  the 
etchings  have  unfortunately  been  received  too  late  to  allow  of  their 
being  reproduced.     I  should  also  like  to  take  this  opportunity  of 
acknowledging  the  courtesy  extended  to  me,  not  only  by  the  artists, 
but  also  by  the  publishing  firms  of  Winkel  and  Magnussen  and  Stender. 
LORENZ  FROLICH  divides  with  Vilhelm  Kyhn  the  honour  of 
being  the  Grand  Old  Man  in  Danish  Art,  not  only  as  a  painter  but 
also  as  an  etcher.     I  believe  the  immense  span  of  sixty-three  years 
lies  between  Frolich's  first  etching  and  his  most  recent  one,  which 
no    one    would  suspect    of    being    the  work   of  an    octogenarian. 
His  right  hand  has  not  yet  by  any  means  lost  its  cunning,  and  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  animal  life  is  aptly  demonstrated  in  this  little 
etching — in  the  innate  bad  temper  of  the  smaller  dog  and  the  good- 
natured,  half  playful  indifference  of  the  larger.    It,  however,  illustrates 
but  one  side  of  Frolich's  art,  for  he  has  etched  a  number  of  charming 
illustrations — religious     {The   Lord^s   Prayer)^    poetical     (Cupid  and 
Psyche)  and  historical.     These  show  him  as  a  designer  of  the  highest 
rank,  full  of  imagination  and  power,  and  the  possessor  of  a  never-failing 
sense  of  the  beautifiil.     His  contours  are  especially  exquisite,  one  might 
almost  say  invariably  so,  but  the  details  do  not  always  seem  to  have 
interested  him  much,  and  I  believe   mechanical   ground-work   has 
in  some  cases  been  resorted  to.     In  this  latter  respect  he  differs  from 
his  old  friend,  that  most  delightful  and  talented  of  landscape  painters, 
VILHELM  KYHN,  who  prefers  responsibility  for  the  entire  effect 
himself,  leaving  nothing  to  the  mercy  of  the  printer.      Kyhn  has 
done  a  great  number  of  etchings,  none  very  ambitious  in  dimensions 
and  some  almost  diminutive  in  size,  but  most  of  them  possessed  of 
that  charm  which  is  essentially  peculiar  to  Kyhn,  arising  out  of  a 
deep,  one  is  tempted  to  say  tender,  life-long  love  of  nature,  of  sincere 
study,  of  a   susceptible    temperament,    and    supported  by    a  well- 
schooled,  and  at  times  consummate,  technique. 

IT  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  clever  painters,  Anna  and  Michael 
Ancher,   have  not  devoted   more  attention  to  the  etching  needle. 


Danish 

The  former's  Old  Woman  Reading  is  very  attractive,  and  her  husband's^ 
Three  Fishermen  is  entirely  characteristic  of  this  painter's  art.  No' 
one  is  so  familiar  with  the  hardy,  weather-beaten  Skaw  fishermen^ 
as  he,  and  it  goes  without  saying  that  his  studies  are  admirable^ 
He  has  handled  his  needle  with  both  skill  and  discretion  ;  and  it 
is  a  pity  that  it  has  not  been  allowed  to  perpetuate  more  of  his  trusty 
friends. 

PROFESSOR  OTTO  BACHE,  the  eminent  animal  painter,  has 
only  just  made  his  debut  as  an  etcher,  but  the  outcome — Two  Dogs 
Heads — augurs  well.  The  wonderful  verve  and  force  and  the  keen, 
observant  study  which  distinguish  so  much  of  his  work  in  oil  and 
with  the  pencil,  will  no  doubt  stand  the  Professor  in  good  stead  as 
an  etcher. 

H.  N.  HANSEN  has  a  wider  scope,  and  a  more  pregnant 
imagination  than  any  other  Danish  etcher.  He  has  of  late  years 
almost  left  off  painting,  and  has  done  some  admirable  work  with 
the  needle,  full  of  individuality  and  invention.  True  that  his  line  is 
at  times  somewhat  erratic  and  that  a  good  deal  of  the  effect  in 
such  cases  is  due  to  tone,  but  the  result  is  often,  more  often  than 
not,  singularly  happy,  and  some  of  his  etchings  possess  a  warmth 
and  a  colour,  a  poetic  and,  in  some  cases,  an  almost  plastic  beauty 
only  rarely  met  with.  The  fine  powerful  head  of  his  Florentine 
will  bear  out  this.  In  his  most  recent  etching,  Potiphars  Wife,  the 
treatment  is  more  delicate,  and  a  happy  blending  of  refinement 
and  humour  is  observable  in  it.  Some  of  his  etchings  charm  by 
their  classic  beauty  {Firenze,  for  instance),  others  by  their  generous 
humour  (Don  Bartolo)  ;  others  again,  and  perhaps  the  best  of  them, 
by  the  fulness  of  their  poetic  mood  and  their  great  decorative 
effect  (The  Cestius  Pyramid  in  Rome,  Wild  Flies  the  Hawk,  The  Old 
Mill,  and  many  others). 

SIGVARD  HANSEN  also  in  his  etchings  demonstrates  his  preference 
for  the  snow-covered  landscape,  and  he  depicts  a  wintry  scene  ably 
and  effectively. 

PROFESSOR  HASLUND  only  now  and  again  takes  up  the  needle 
at  long  intervals.  His  work  is  on  a  small  scale,  but  his  line  is  good 
and  true,  and  animal  Ufe  is  his  favourite  domain. 
PROFESSOR  FR.  HENNINGSEN  has,  numerically,  perhaps  even 
less  to  his  credit,  but  one  or  two  little  figure  motifs  of  his  are  very 
deftly  done. 

AXEL  HOU  has  etched  for  a  considerable  number  of  years.  He  is 
entirely  self-taught,  has  experimented  a  good  deal,  and  always  makes 
his  own  needles  and  other  requisites.     His  line  is  in  some  of  his 


Danish 
work  both  strong  and  characteristic,  and  his  effect  is  solely  obtained 
by  etching.  His  portrait — portraits  are  his  favourite  subjects — of 
N,  Hansen-Jacobsen,  the  well-known  Danish  sculptor,  now  living  in 
Paris,  is  not  only  of  much  merit  as  a  likeness — portraying  as  it  does 
Jacobsen  in  an  appreciative  manner,  and  underlining  the  powerful 
individuality  of  his  model — but  it  is  a  capital  etching  effectively 
designed.  The  introduction  of  some  of  the  sculptor's  work  is  done 
with  discretion  and  skill. 

PETER  ILSTED  must  be  counted  amongst  the  best  of  Danish 
etchers,  and  it  is  interesting  to  see  how  closely  his  work  with  the 
needle  resembles  his  work  in  oil.  He  is  often  inclined  to  go  much 
into  detail,  but  in  spite  of  this  he  becomes  neither  sleek  nor  insipid. 
In  his  "  Interiors,"  of  which  the  Luxembourg  has  recently  secured 
one,  the  simplicity  of  motif  and  the  singleness  of  colour  tend  to 
produce  an  effect  of  chaste  refinement,  lacking  a  little  perhaps  in 
freshness,  but  telling  their  own  tale  with  an  earnest  and  charming 
sincerity.  These  qualities  one  finds  again  in  his  etchings,  most 
pronounced  perhaps  in  Girl  at  the  Piano,  although  I  prefer  his 
portrait  of  his  father. 

E.  KRAUSE  is  a  young  etcher  of  much  promise,  and  it  was  quite 
by  chance  that  he  became  one.  His  work  is  possessed  of  a  very 
pronounced  picturesqueness.  There  is  warmth  in  his  tone  and  he 
is  a  very  clever  draughtsman.  He  favours  old-time  buildings  of 
topographical  interest  and  beauty,  and  he  prefers  sombre  night  or 
late  evening  effects,  which  are  mostly  rendered  by  the  aid  of  line- 
work,  now  and  again  sustained  by  a  little  tone.  His  'The  Six  Sisters — 
six  old  houses  in  Copenhagen  just  demolished — illustrates  in  an  ideal 
manner  "a  harbour  city."  The  dark,  rolling  clouds,  the  waning 
light  mirrored  in  the  row  of  old  windows  and  in  the  wet  pavement ; 
the  effective  silhouette  of  masts  and  rigging  standing  out  black 
against  the  nocturnal  sky,  and  the  cluster  of  seamen  and  dock-hands  in 
the  foreground,  combine  to  render  admirably  the  exact  mood  of  the 
picturesque  scene. 

KROYER'S  portrait  of  himself  affords  ample  proof  of  what  the 
artist  can  do  as  an  etcher  should  he,  as  it  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped  he 
will,  again  find  time  and  inclination  to  busy  himself  with  the 
etcher's  needle.  His  lightness  of  touch,  his  freedom  and  subtlety  of 
treatment,  are  evidenced  in  this  portrait,  in  which  he  has  relied  solely 
on  the  line,  which  is  clever  throughout,  although  perhaps  here  and 
there  a  little  capricious.  The  likeness  is  excellent — frank,  genial 
straightforward.  His  portrait  of  0/d  Kyhn — what  an  ideal  artist's 
head  it  is,   with  the  beautiful  eyes  and   the  long  white  hair  and 

4 


Danish 

beard ! — is  delightful,  and  his  etching  of  Grieg  and  hts  Wife,  done 
from  his  picture  bought  by  the  National  Gallery  of  Sweden,  is  in  its 
best  impressions  simply  admirable,  but  much  of  its  effect  and  tone 
depends  upon  the  printing. 

ADOLPH  LARSEN  has  of  late  years  become  a  very  skilful  etcher; 
he  is  careful  and  painstaking,  a  little  timid  perhaps,  and  deficient  in 
temperament,  in  spite  of  which,  however,  he  has  several  very  good 
landscapes  and  interiors  to  his  credit.  He  is  probably  best  in  some  of 
his  landscapes,  in  which  the  chaste,  rarefied  light  of  an  evening  sky 
has  been  rendered  with  much  sincerity  and  feeling.  There  is  also  a 
very  clever,  although  not  altogether  pleasing,  portrait  of  himself,  and 
if  his  extreme  conscientiousness  were  only  coupled  with  a  little  more 
breadth  and  warmth  he  would  no  doubt  attain  to  still  better  results. 
CARL  LOCHER  I  have  already  mentioned  as  one  of  the  pillars  it 
not  the  head  corner-stone  of  the  art  of  etching  in  Denmark.  He 
combines  a  carefully  trained  technique  with  an  open  eye  for  the 
picturesque  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  his  subject,  which  is  nearly 
always  the  sea,  in  its  many  and  varied  moods.  There  is  a  convincing 
breadth  and  "  go  '*  in  his  wave-treatment,  and  the  mirroring  in  the 
receding  breakers  is  done  with  a  master's  hand.  In  his  best  work — 
it  varies  considerably  in  merit — Locher  has  proved  himself  an  etcher 
of  very  high  rank  indeed. 

SOREN  LUND  is  very  adequately  represented  by  his  etching  of 
The  Old  Horse — an  illustration  to  a  well-known  Danish  verse.  The 
toilsome  life  of  the  poor  old  lonely  horse  has  run  its  course,  and  the 
Man  with  the  Scythe — an  aerial  and  phantastic  mower — is  ready  for 
him.  Within  a  small  compass  Lund  has  produced  quite  a  weird  and 
pathetic  effect,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  line  work  is  good  and 
solid. 

J.  LUBSCHITZ  is  an  enthusiastic  etcher,  who  has  given  much 
time  and  study  to  his  art,  both  at  home  and  in  Paris.  He  has 
invented  a  light  varnish,  and  his  positive  process  claims  to  be  an 
improvement  on  Hamerton's ;  there  is  also  a  special  Liibschitz 
needle.  In  some  of  his  etchings  he  confines  himself  entirely  to  dry- 
point,  in  others  partly  so,  as  for  instance  the  sky  in  his  recent  large 
marine,  exhibited  at  this  year's  Danish  Royal  Academy — a  striking 
and  effective  seascape,  the  largest  original  Danish  etching  yet  pub- 
lished. Liibschitz  is  a  strong  believer  in  the  supremacy  of  the  line, 
and  unaided  by  tone  printing  he  has  produced  excellent  atmospheric 
effects.  Influenced  by  Tolstoy,  Liibschitz  decided  to  go  in  for 
larger  etchings,  which  might  gladden  the  hearts  and  embellish  the 
houses  of  the  people,  and  this  he  has  succeeded  in  doing  to  the  full. 

5 


Danish 

I  believe  it  is  owing  to  his  initiative  that  men  like  Professor  Bache, 
Professor  Jerndorff  and  Professor  Henningsen  have  taken  to  etching, 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  sore  disappointment  to  him  that  Professor 
Hans  Tegner,  the  famous  pen-and-ink  draughtsman,  of  Holberg  and 
Andersen  fame,  did  not  persevere. 

IT  would  have  been  a  matter  of  considerable  surprise  had  not  Peter 
Monsted  proved  himself  an  accomplished  etcher,  inasmuch  as  he  is 
an  admirable  draughtsman,  and  handles  his  brush  with  the  utmost 
virtuosity.  The  accompanying  landscape  proves,  however,  that  he 
has,  and  few  Danish  etchers  arc  capable  of  producing  a  finer  effect 
than  Monsted.  It  has  been  laid  at  his  door  that  he  was  somewhat 
lacking  in  sincerity;  be  this  as  it  may,  one  does  not  feel  it  in 
his  etchings.  In  these,  too,  he  shows  with  what  skill  he  handles 
trees,  singly  or  in  clusters,. naked  or  in  the  fulness  of  their  summer 
garb,  against  an  often  well-chosen  atmospheric  motifs  or  stagnant 
water  in  pond  or  ditch.  He  accounts  in  the  deftest  manner  possible 
for  the  triple  effect  of  what  appears  on  the  bottom  through  the 
cloudy  transparency  of  the  water,  of  what  is  mirrored  in  the  water, 
and  of  what  may  be  floating  on  its  surface. 

THORVALD  NISS'S  Danish  Landscape  is  thoroughly  characteristic 
of  this  highly  gifted  painter's  art.  It  gives  much  of  his  dash  and 
boldness  and  of  that  directness — of  that  instinctive  directness — with 
which  he  knows  how  to  render  the  exact  mood,  and  often  an  awkward 
mood,  of  the  subject  before  him,  be  it  land  or  sea.  His  treatment  is 
effective  and  convincing,  although  he  is  not  by  any  means  above 
taking  liberties,  from  the  strict  etcher's  point  of  view  ;  but  in  all  his 
work  there  is  personality  and  manliness,  which  fully  condone  for  any 
merely  academic  shortcomings.  When  in  his  happy  mood  Niss 
stands  head  and  shoulders  above  most  of  his  fellows,  and  the  National 
Gallery  of  Copenhagen,  as  well  as  one  or  two  private  collections, 
are  indebted  to  his  brush  for  some  of  their  finest  landscapes  and, 
more  especially,  marine  subjects. 

TOM  PETERSEN  has  a  fine  sense  of  the  charm  of  quaint  old-time 
views,  several  of  which  he  has  treated  with  very  fair  success. 
FRANTS  SCHWARTZ  one  might  be  tempted  to  call  the  aristocrat 
amongst  Danish  etchers  ;  he  is  self-contained  and  complete,  possessed 
of  a  thorough  control  of  the  technique.  He  has  done  a  great  many, 
over  a  hundred,  etchings,  the  majority  of  which,  perhaps,  are  rather 
intended  for  the  collector's  portfolio  than  for  a  more  or  less  indis- 
criminating  public.  He  often  favours  dry-point,  and  in  some  of 
his  work  confines  himself  entirely  to  this  method.  In  many  of  his 
studies  he  demonstrates  the  keenness  of  his  power  of  observation,  at 

6 


Norwegian 

other  times  he  shows  how  well  he  is  able  to  compose  a  picture. 
In  The  Annunciation  the  figure  of  Mary  is  charmingly  simple  and 
maidenly,  and  an  excellent  effect  is  produced  by  comparatively  small 
means,  a  few  lines  sufficing  for  the  soft  folds  of  her  garments  and 
kerchief.  The  Three  Kings  aptly  illustrates  that  passage  of  Heine 
which  has  been  chosen  for  a  motto.  It  is  decorative  and  harmonious 
in  its  arrangement ;  and  there  is  much  dead-man's  dignity  about  the 
three  skeleton  kings. 

IN  Niels  Skovgaard's  Looking  at  the  Snow  the  contrast  between  the 
children  within  and  the  wintry  landscape  without  is  cleverly  and 
simply  told. 


NORWAY. 

AT  the  eleventh  hour  some  admirable  etchings  were  received  from 
JOH.  NORDHAGEN,  the  well-known  Norwegian  etcher.  Our 
arrangements  were,  however,  so  far  advanced  that  we  are  only  able  to 
reproduce  one,  the  Portrait  of  a  Gentleman,  an  original  work,  in  which 
the  attention  given  to  detail  does  not  detract  from  its  power  and 
effectiveness.  The  forehead,  the  eyes,  and  the  eyebrows,  for  instance, 
are  perfect  studies,  and  the  masterly  treatment  has  endowed  this 
interesting  head  with  an  almost  plastic  beauty. 

NORDHAGEN,  who  received  the  gold  medal  for  etchings  at  the 
Paris  Exhibition  of  1900,  has  studied  under  Professor  Karl  Koepping 
in  Berlin,  and  he  has  not  only  done  a  number  of  original  etchings — 
studies  of  heads  being  his  favourite  subjects — but  he  has  with  his 
needle  reproduced  the  works  of  several  prominent  Norwegian  painters 
and  of  Rembrandt.  We  much  regret  the  inadequate  and  cursory 
manner  in  which  we  are  compelled  to  deal  with  such  a  prominent 
artist. 

THE  brilliant  work  of  ANDERS  L.  ZORN  has  been  so  frequently 
illustrated  and  favourably  criticised  by  "  The  Studio  "  that  it  is 
unnecessary  to  dwell  further  upon  it  here.  Two  admirable  and 
characteristic  examples  of  his  etchings  are  illustrated,  namely,  Maja 
and  A  Mother. 

Georg  Brochner. 


Danish 


"PORTRAIT  OF  P.  S.  KROYER.     FROM 
THE  ETCHING  BY  HIMSELF 

Plate  i 


<  I 


X   5 


^g 


2 

H 

2 

U 

1^ 

u 

s»^ 

X 

> 

H 

8 

S 

.<s 

o 

•S 

1 

^ 

■«», 

^ 

2. 

W 

z 

H 

Z 

w 

« 

o 

1-1 

(l4 

5J 


'& 

O 

B 

i-I 

^ 

a 

z 

< 

U} 

ix 

a 

n 

o 

u 

0 

< 

z 

1— > 

z 

X 

w 

o 

t/3 

H 

z 

u 

X 

d) 
X 

z 

H 

^ 

S 

K 

o 

O 

OS 

H 

(!• 

cu 

J 

D 

H 


Danish 


%. 


"DANISH  LANDSCAPE."     FROM  THE 
ETCHING  BY  THORVALD  NISS 

Plate  4 


Danish 


Plate  5 — "  off  the  coast  " 


FROM   the   etching   BY   CARL   LOCHER 


Plate  6 — "  bollemosen,  efteraar  '' 


FROM    THE    ENGRAVING    BY   J.    LUBSCHITZ 

(By  permission  of  Messrr.    V.    Winkel  and  Magnussen) 


Danish 


"A  RISING  WIND."     FROM 

THE  ETCHING  BY  PETER 

MONSTED 

Plate  7 


Danish 


Plate  8 — "looking  at  the  snow" 

FROM   the   engraving    BY   NIELS    SKOVGAARD 


./ 


^ 


*^.   •'^L. 


^  -^ 


Plate  9 — "the  six  sisters" 


^2^iiiifiiii^iMiiiiifittHiii 


from  the  engraving  by  e.  krause 


Danish 


^^^¥^^)l#v^^'^^   "-^^o-^K 


Plate  io — "  dogs  at  play  "    from  the  etching  by  lorenz  frolich 


Plate  ii — "the  old  horse" 


FROM  the  etching  BY  SOREN  LUND 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  FINLAND.  By  COUNT 
LOUIS  SPARRE. 


I  have  already  remarked  in  my  article 
in  the  special  number  of  the  Studio  on 
Pen-and-ink  Drawings,  art  of  every  kind 
is  in  its  infancy  in  Finland.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  with  regard  to  etching,  which  would 
appear  to  be  behind  every  other  branch  of 
art  production  in  that  country.  In  fact,  the 
first  etching  of  native  origin  did  not  appear 
there  until  fifteen  years  ago.  The  author  of 
this  new  departure  was  Victor  Westerholm,  an  artist  of  first 
rank,  who  had  previously  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the 
practice  of  painting.  The  art  of  etching  was,  in  fact,  little  under- 
stood or  appreciated  by  the  public  ;  indeed,  it  really  seemed  some- 
times as  if  artists  themselves  took  but  a  very  lukewarm  interest  in 
it.  By  slow  degrees,  however,  a  taste  for  etchings  has,  so  to  speak, 
filtered  into  Finland,  thanks  chiefly,  it  is  true,  to  the  influences, 
brought  to  bear  on  that  land  by  other  countries,  notably  Sweden, 
its  nearest  neighbour,  where  the  art  of  etching  is  held  in  very 
high  esteem. 

NOW  many  artists  of  Finland  appear  to  be  quite  passionately 
devoted  to  the  etching  needle  and  the  biting  in  acid,  and  even  have 
their  own  presses  set  up  at  home,  so  that  they  may  strike  off  their 
proofs  for  themselves. 

I  FANCY  Edelfelt  was  the  first  to  follow  the  example  of  Westerholm 
and  use  etching  as  a  medium  for  expressing  his  art-impressions,  and 
by  dint  of  continuous  work,  combined  with  his  usual  mastery  of 
handling  and  refinement  of  taste,  he  has  succeeded  in  producing 
admirable  results,  and  adding  considerably  to  the  many  fine  examples 
of  his  skill  already  given  to  the  world. 

GALLEN  also — whose  vivid  imagination,  supple  talent,  and  natural 
skill  of  execution  are  unsurpassed  by  any  of  his  fellow  countrymen 
— has  already  produced  a  very  great  number  of  comparatively  fine 
etchings.  He  handles  his  etching  needle  and  bites  in  his  plates  with 
much  the  same  ease  as  he  displays  in  dashing  off  a  sketch,  painting  a 
fresco,  cutting  an  engraving  on  wood,  or  carving  a  piece  of  furniture. 
His  versatility  in   dealing  with  different  mediums  of  expression   is 

K  I 


Finnish 

really  extraordinary.  Now  he  accentuates  every  tiny  detail,  giving 
the  minutest  attention  to  every  corner  of  his  etching  plate,  then  his 
manner  suddenly  becomes  broad  and  full  of  force.  Moreover,  he  can 
also,  when  he  chooses,  adopt  a  light  and  elegant  style,  displaying  a 
truly  surprising  delicacy  of  touch,  as  in  the  ex-libris  of  Professor 
Tikkanen. 

THE  etchings  of  Simberg  are  marked  by  a  similar  originality  and 
individuality,  by  an  equal  power  of  quaint,  sometimes  even  grotesque, 
imagination,  as  are  his  paintings  and  his  drawings.  One  of  the  very 
finest  examples  of  Simberg's  peculiar  talent  and  originality  of  con- 
ception is  his  Peasant  at  the  Gate  of  the  Kingdom  of  Death ;  but  the 
charming  little  work  is  more  than  that,  it  is  a  typical  expression  of 
the  grave  and  speculative  character,  with  its  predilection  to  melan- 
choly, of  the  people  of  Finland.  The  Garden  of  Death  is  a  phantasy, 
alike  grotesque  and  humorous. 

MISS  HILDA  FLODIN  is  an  artist  who,  though  still  quite 
young,  gives  promise  of  very  considerable  talent.  Full  of  eager 
ardour  for  work,  she  is  unwearying  in  the  production  of  paint- 
ings, drawings,  and  etchings,  everything  she  sets  her  hand  to  being 
marked  by  real  intelligence  and  true  art-feeling.  There  is  something 
alike  broad  and  forcible  in  her  style  of  plying  the  etching  needle, 
and  some  of  her  work  recalls  that  of  the  best  masters  of  the  past. 
She  draws  well  and  accurately,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  increased 
mastery  of  technique  is  really  all  she  needs,  so  that  there  is  no  doubt 
of  her  soon  remedying  her  faults  of  execution,  by  dint  of  earnest  and 
continuous  study. 

THE  etchings  of  Miss  Ellen  Thesleff  display  the  same  delicacy  of 
touch  as  do  her  drawings.  Her  Finnish  Landscape — Winter  repro- 
duced here  is  full  of  refinment  and  charm. 

ETCHING,  properly  so-called,  is  at  present,  with  few  exceptions, 
the  only  mode  of  engraving  on  metal  practised  by  the  artists  of 
Finland.  Etching  in  colour  has  not  hitherto  been  attempted,  and 
the  so-called  "  soft  ground  "  etching,  mezzotint  and  "  tutti  quanti  " 
processes  are  still  unbroken  ground,  awaiting  their  pioneers.  So 
virile  and  ready  of  expansion,  however,  is  the  new-born  art  of 
Finland,  that  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  hope  that  in  these  directions 
also  it  will  prove  itself  ere  long  worthy  of  the  attention  which  was 
attracted  at  the  Great  International  Exhibition  at  Paris  in  1901  by 
the  work  of  artists  of  Finnish  extraction. 

Louis  Sparre. 


Norwegian 


{By  permission  of  Mr.  R.  Gutekunst) 


"MAJA."     FROM  THE  ETCHING 
BY  ANDERS  L.  ZORN 

Plate  i 


Norwegian 


(By  permission  of  Mr.  R.  Gutekunst) 


"A  MOTHER."  FROM  THE 
THE  ETCHING  BY  ANDERS 
L.  ZORN 

Plate  2 


Finnish 


Plate  3 — "Finnish  landscape — winter" 

FROM    the    etching    BY    MISS    ELLEN    THESLEFF 


Plate  4 — "a  good  book" 


FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY    MISS    H.    FLODIN 


Q 

O 

hJ 

It. 

<; 

Q 

CI 

h) 

z 

S 

Oi 

en 

Q 

M 

S 

O 

>. 

ca 

CQ 

"? 

o 

W 

;<!; 

X 

u 

H 

o 

U 

3 

U 

1 

X 

<o 

H 

M 

S 

H 

o 

-t" 

0:: 

J 

Uh 

cu 

><  z 


I 


Finnish 


"  FINNISH  LANDSCAPE  " 
FROM  THE  ETCHING  BY 
AXEL  GALLEN 

Plate  7 


< 

tfl      SB 

o    '^ 
O    s 

b 
H 
W 

H 


X 


o 


H 

■< 

J  PQ 


en 


Finnuh 


"PORTRAIT   OF   A    GENTLE- 
MAN."   FROM  THE  ETCHING 
BY  J.  NORDHAGEN 
Plate  ii 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  ITALY.  By  ROMUALDO 
PANTINI. 


LTHOUGH  the  scope  of  this  article  does  not 
include  defunct  artists,  it  seems  fitting  neverthe- 
less to  recall  the  names  of  some  of  them. 
Antonio  Fontanesi,  Tranquillo  Cremona,  Tele- 
maco  Signorini,  are  three  names  famous  in  the 
reformation  of  Italian  art.  They  devoted 
themselves  with  as  much  ardour  to  etching  as 
to  the  solution  of  the  other  great  art  problems, 
notably  the  plein-air  theory.  And  as  they  were 
real  artists  in  all  they  did,  the  technical  expression  of  their  engravings 
was  equal  to  that  realised  in  their  canvases.  Fontanesi  was  especially 
devoted  to  landscape  motives,  and  did  not  remain  indifferent  to  the 
influence  of  the  French  school  of  1830  ;  while  Cremona's  fine,  bold, 
broad  touch  gave  originality  and  delightful  freedom  to  his  plates. 
Signorini  was  essentially  graceful  and  realistic.  His  literary  leanings 
inclined  him  naturally  to  book  illustration  ;  but  his  best  work  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  album  of  twelve  etchings  dedicated  to  the  "  Mercato 
Vecchio  "  of  Florence. 

AKIN  to  the  sentiment  or  Cremona  was  that  of  Mose  Bianchi  and 
Luigi  Conconi,  also  of  Milan.  But  Bianchi,  while  in  his  little 
etchings  seeming  to  follow  the  same  motives  and  the  same  methods 
as  the  master,  reveals  complete  independence  in  his  large  Monaca  de 
Monza,  after  one  of  his  own  paintings. 

LUIGI  CONCONI'S  decorative  breadth  is  conspicuous  in  his 
impressions  of  ancient  Roman  arches  ;  he  rises  to  even  greater  heights 
in  his  finely  suggestive  etching  Solitudine,  Mention  must  also  be  made 
of  other  two  Milanese  artists — of  noble  but  very  diverse  tempera- 
ment.    I  refer  to  Grubicy  and  Beltrami. 

VITTORIO  GRUBICY  is  a  master,  a  leader,  alike  in  etching,  in 
teaching,  and  in  propagandism.  Starting  from  the  logical  conception 
that  many  effects  of  Nature — whose  loveliness  largely  consists  in  the 
vigorous  contrast  of  its  chiaroscuro — can  be  expressed  adequately  in 
black-and-white,  he  has  executed  in  Holland  and  in  the  Alps  a 
number  of  etchings  possessing  a  certain  special  note  of  melancholy. 
LUCA  BELTRAMI  is  at  once  a  most  gifted  architect  and  a 
historiographer  of  art ;  but  his  severer  studies  have  not  prevented 

L  I 


Italian 

him  from  devoting  himself  assiduously  to  the  eau-forte,  some  of  his 

works  of  this  kind  having  been  greatly  praised  in  the  Paris  Salons, 

His  little  etching,  Dans  r atelier  de  Pascal  is  a  marvel  of  luminous 

treatment,  and  among  other  good  things  of  his  must  be  named  the 

Rue  de  Chartres,  which  well  illustrates  his  genial  versatility. 

IN  Turin  there  is  quite  a  group  of  etchers,  all  well  known  in  Paris 

as  able  "  translators "  of  canvases.     The  two  admirable  eau-fortists. 

Carlo  Chessa  and  Celestino  Turletti,  figure  in  the  splendid  volume 

wherein  Giuseppe  Giacosa  has  described  the  landscapes  and  recalled 

the  dark  tales  of  the  Castelli  Valdostani  and  Canavesani.     This  portly 

volume  is,  like  the  large  edition  of  the  "  Medusa  "  (poems  by  Arturo 

Graf),  one  of  the  most  beautiful  books  published  in  Italy  for  years 

past ;  it  is  well  illustrated  by  original  etchings  and  edited  by  M.  Roux» 

THIS  noble  branch  of  engraving  is  cultivated  by  many  Venetian  artists, 

prominent  among  them  being  Cesare  Laurenti  and  Giuseppe  Miti- 

Zanetti. 

MARIANO  FORTUNY,  Junr.,  one  of  our  finest  artists,  who  still 

exhibits    in    the    Spanish   Salons,   is    also    working    in    Venice,    his 

best  things    being    his  strange  but  luminous  studies  of  the  female 

nude. 

PROFESSOR  COLOMBI,  of  Bologna,  has  produced  several  etchings 

after  his  own  genre  paintings,  displaying  consummate  certainty   of 

touch  and  a  wonderful  sense  of  perspective. 

AUGUSTO  SEZANNE,  also  a  Bolognese,  has  done  a  fresh  and 

luminous  aquatint,  styled  Springtime — a  charming  thing  full  of  feeling 

and  decorative  spirit. 

IN  Florence  there  is  no  School  of  Etching,  but  the  city  boasts  one 

young  exponent  of  the  art,  Giorgio  Kienerk,  whose  dry-points  are 

marked  by  agile  and  nervous  grace. 

GIOVANNI     FATTORI,    however,    despite    his    advanced  age, 

remains  an  eminent  master  of  our  Italian  etchers.      His  rapidity  of 

impression,  sureness    of  movement,  and    boldness    of  outline,   give 

him  a  place    quite    apart  from,  and   far   above,   the  others.      The 

Tuscan  Campagna,  or  the  desolate  Roman  plains  and  marshes  with 

artillery  horses  figuring  therein,  form  his  favourite  subjects  ;  and  his 

broad  vision  of  the  battles  of  1859  serves  to  reassert  and  reaffirm  those 

technical  qualities  which  go  to  make  him  our  foremost,  if  not  our 

only,  military  artist. 

WITH      Fattori     studied     G.     Viner,      G.     Micheli    and    Plinio 

NomcUini,    the   last-named    of   whom    has   acquired   much   of  his 

master's  energy  of  conception,  while  retaining  a  distinct  personality. 

The  mysterious  formation  of  his  clouds  and  his  waves  are  especially 

2 


Italian 

to  be  remarked,  while  his  keen  vision  of  reality  and  his  sense  of 
poetic  significance  are  plainly  seen  in  many  of  his  works. 
THERE  exists  in  Rome  a  "  Reale  Calcografia  " — or  Royal  School  of 
Etching — subsidised  by  the  Government,  which  employs  numerous 
artists  and  craftsmen  who  produce  original  work  or  reproduce  the 
canvases  of  famous  artists.  But,  unhappily,  the  principal  object  of 
this  Royal  Institution  is  to  invest  the  modern  etching  with  the 
studied  uniformity  of  the  old  engravings.  Some  evidence  of  revival 
was  seen  last  year,  when  in  the  prize  competitions  for  etchings  of 
national  character,  we  had  from  Biseo  his  vigorous  conception  of 
the  heroic  battle  of  Dogali. 

CESARE  BISEO  has  done  other  etchings  for  the  "  Reale  Calco- 
grafia " — notably  views  of  the  Palatine  and  the  Coliseum — in  a  style 
the  technique  of  which  recalls  Piranesi,  but  with  more  sense  of 
atmosphere  and  poetry.  His  etchings  show  proof  of  diligent  study 
and  acute  observation. 

FRANCESCO  VITALINI,  since  the  exhibitions  last  year  in 
Rome,  Venice  and  London,  has  gained  wide  popularity  by  the  highly 
delicate  sense  of  colour  displayed  in  his  Roman  etchings  ;  and,  to 
avoid  confusion,  it  is  well  to  draw  attention  to  his  wholly  original 
and  personal  technique. 

OTHER  Roman  artists  working  in  the  medium  of  the  eau-forte  are 
Professor  Maccari  and  Pio  Joris,  also  Filibcrto  Petiti  and  Signor 
Rossini,  all  of  whom  were  worthily  represented  at  the  recent  Black- 
and-White  Exhibition  ;  also  Giulio  Ricci,  a  Bolognese  etcher,  who 
handles  his  graver  with  great  delicacy  and  suggestiveness.  Dino 
Savardo,  of  Padua,  and  Enrico  Vegetti,  of  Milan,  are  two  young 
men  well  deserving  of  notice. 

PAOLO  VETRI  carries  on  at  Naples  the  tradition  of  his  kinsman 
Domenico  Morelli.  With  great  conscientiousness  he  has  reproduced 
in  eau-forte  the  picture  of  the  Maddalena^  and  the  suggestive  and 
original  King  Lear,  with  which  tew  Italians  are  acquainted.  He 
is  also  thinking  of  reproducing  on  copper  all  the  works  of  his 
revered  master. 

ROMUALDO    PaNTINI. 


Italian 


Plate  i — "king  lear 


'^••'7 


ETCHED  BY  PAOLO  VETRI,  AFTER  D.  MORELLI 


Plate  2— "castello  di  graines 


FROM   THE    ETCHING   BY   C.   CHESSA 


Italian 


Plate  3 — " castelfusano 


FROM   THE   COLOURED   ETCHING    BY    FRANCESCO   VITALINI 


Plate  4 — "evening' 


FROM    THE   ETCHING    BY   VITTORE    GRUBICY 


Italian 


Plate  5 — "  in  the  temple" 


FROM    the   etching    BY    ENRICO   VEGETTI 


Plate  6— ••  studies  of  animals 


FROM   THE   ETCHING   BY   CESARE   BISEO 


Italian 


Plate  7 — "  in  a  Venetian  lagune  " 

FROM    THE   aquatint    BY    G.    MITI-ZANETTX 


Plate  8 — "  a  stormy  day  in  tuscany  " 


FROM   THE   ETCHING   BY   P.    NOMELLINI 


w 

X 

H 

Oi 

u 

^ 

% 

o 

►J 

X  ^ 

cu 

fc  « 

o 

^  H 

oo  fi, 

M 

;^  d 

l-H 

o   ^ 

0^  o 

<;  g 

og 

<  H 

^    W 

k;. 

^m 

SdM 

'-'^nHp 

^ 

t 

"1^" 

■■"# 

5: 


Italian 


Plate  14 — "  springtime  " 


FROM    THE    AQUATINT    BY    AUGUSTO    SEZANNE 


Plate  15 — "sunlight  in  a  dark  lagune  =' 


FROM  THE  etching  BY  MARIANO  FORTUNY,  JUN. 


MODERN  ETCHING  ^  ENGRAV- 
ING IN  SWITZERLAND.  By 
ROBERT  MOBBS. 


BRUN,  in  his  valuable  chapter  on  "Les  Arts 
plastiques  dans  la  Suisse  allemande  "  in  "  La 
Suisse  au  XIX"^  Siecle,"  touches  upon  the 
relation  of  such  living  Swiss  artists  as  Robert 
Leemann,  Charles  Theodore  Meyer,  Albert 
Welti  and  Hermann  Gatiker  to  the  remark- 
able revival  of  interest  in  etching  which 
characterised  the  latter  half  of  last  century. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  and  other 
Swiss  artists  have  contributed  in  no  inconsiderable  degree  to  the 
development  of  etching  not  only  in  their  own  country  but  also  in 
Germany,  and  that  their  work  will  compare  favourably  with  the 
best  that  has  been  accomplished  in  this  branch  of  late  years  in  any 
other  country. 

FOREMOST  in  this  group,  and  fitly  serving  as  a  typical  example 
of  modern  Swiss  etchers,  stood,  till  some  thirteen  years  ago, 
that  erratic,  original,  powerful  Swiss  artist  Charles  Stauffer  of 
Bern.  His  death  was  a  widely  felt  loss  to  Swiss  art.  To  convince 
ourselves  of  StaufFer's  greatness  as  an  etcher  we  have  only  to  study 
his  characteristically  beautiful  portrait  of  his  mother,  or  those 
portraits  of  Gustave  Freytag,  Conrad  Ferdinand  Meyer  and  Adolphe 
Menzel  which,  as  M.  Brun  says,  "  have,  in  their  plastic  rather  than 
pictorial  effect,  never  been  surpassed."  Stauffer  utilised  every 
means  at  his  disposal,  except  the  aquatint,  obtaining  wonderful 
results.  He  has  left  behind  him  one  or  two  albums  of  etchings  of 
rare  value,  containing  work  of  extraordinary  beauty  and  technical 
perfection. 

WHEN  we  turn  from  this  artist  to  Albert  Welti  we  are  confronted 
by  quite  another  variant  of  the  Swiss-German  type  of  artistic  tem- 
perament. Endowed  with  a  rich,  inventive,  and  in  some  sense 
sombre  imagination,  and  possessing  a  marked  predilection  for  sym- 
bolic and  philosophic  conceptions,  his  work  bears  the  stamp  of  a 
strongly  accentuated  individuality,  and  occupies,  in  some  sense,  a  place 
apart. 

IN  the  treatment  ot  the  portrait,  Balmer  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the 
greatest    living  Swiss  etchers.     We   regret   that   examples    of  this 

M  I 


Swiss 

artist's  achievements,  as  well  as  those  of  one  or  two  other  artists, 
have  come  to  hand  too  late  for  reproduction  in  this  Number.  We 
hope,  however,  that  we  shall  have  the  opportunity  of  referring  at 
length  to  their  work  in  the  pages  of  "  The  Studio."  Balmer's 
etchings  reveal  a  patient  dwelling  upon  the  subject  till  it  has 
yielded  up  the  innermost  secret  of  its  distinctive  character  and 
beauty.  If  ever  an  artist's  work  was  expressive  of  himself  and  his 
best  self,  Balmer's  is.  His  portraits  of  women  and  children  reveal 
the  working  of  an  artistic  temperament  as  sensitive  as  it  is  powerful. 
We  have  under  our  eyes  an  aquatint  by  this  artist,  the  tone,  shading 
and  character  of  which  are  admirable. 

IF  the  artists  of  Swiss-German  origin  have  contributed  not  a  little 
to  the  development  of  etching,  their  fellow  workers  in  the  French- 
speaking  part  of  the  country  have  been  by  no  means  behindhand. 
The  etchings  of  Eugene  Burnand  and  Evert  Van  Muyden  possess 
the  qualities  of  acknowledged  masters  in  this  branch  of  art.  It 
was  a  happy  day  for  Mistral  when  he  lighted  upon  such  an  illus- 
trator as  Eugene  Burnand,  for  all  that  could  be  done  by  means  of 
**  eau-forte "  to  evoke  the  characteristic  beauty  of  Proven9al 
landscape,  and  to  interpret  the  poet's  great  work,  this  artist  has 
accomplished. 

IN  another  domain  Evert  van  Muyden's  etchings  of  animal  life  in  a 
wild,  sylvan  environment  reveal  an  extraordinarily  nervous  vigour  of 
treatment  and  concentration  of  expression,  and  a  remarkable  know- 
ledge and  observation  of  the  character  and  ways  of  "  our  brothers 
the  animals." 

RADOLPHE  PIGUET'S  album  of  etchings,  dealing  with  subjects 
chosen  from  the  National  Exhibition  opened  in  Geneva  a  year  or  two 
ago,  is  a  delightful  contribution  to  national  art.  M.  Piguet  has 
obtained  marked  success  in  dealing  with  the  portrait.  If  he  lacks 
the  deeper  feeling  and  power  of  the  Swiss-German  masters  to  whose 
work  we  have  referred,  his  portraits  reveal  great  skill  as  far  as 
execution  is  concerned,  and  are  graceful  and  captivating. 
IT  is  a  matter  for  regret  that  Edouard  Ravel  has  not  been  able  to 
devote  more  time  to  etching,  for  the  plates  he  has  already  executed 
are  of  rare  quality  and  promise. 

LIKE  Charles  Giron,  Gustave  Jeanneret  has  for  many  years  devoted 
himself  to  the  painting  of  Swiss  landscape  and  national  types,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  landscapists  in  this  country.  Though  pre- 
eminently a  painter,  he  has  also  turned  his  attention  to  other  processes. 
ALL  who  are  acquainted  with  present-day  Swiss  painting  have  felt  the 
charm  of  Mile.  Pauline  de  Beaumont's  impressive  landscapes.    She  has 


Swiss 

brought  to  etching  the  same  patient  study  and  delicate  sensitiveness, 
and  with  the  happiest  result.  Her  treatment  of  the  pensive  moods 
and  quiet  aspects  of  Nature  is  always  true  and  effective. 
WE  should  like  to  dwell  at  length  upon  the  really  remarkable 
achievements  of  Alexis  Forel,  for  his  UAbside  de  Notre  Dame  de  Paris, 
A  Gust  of  Wind,  Morbihan,  and  certain  other  of  his  landscape  etchings, 
are  masterpieces. 

MOST  of  the  artists  we  have  touched  upon  up  to  the  present  have 
long  been  before  the  public,  and  have  had  their  due  and  well-merited 
meed  of  praise.  The  work  of  the  rising  school  of  Swiss  artists  calls 
for  an  equally  just  appreciation,  not  only  because  it  holds  in  itself  the 
promise  of  the  future,  but  because  it  is  expressive  of  a  new  departure, 
a  fresh  and  most  interesting  development  of  Swiss  Art.  The 
members  of  this  school,  such  artists,  for  example,  as  Bieler,  Hodler, 
Vautier,  Wieland,  Amiet,  Giacometti,  Berta,  Vallet,  Dunki,  Baud 
Rehfous,  and  others,  are  of  widely  differing  artistic  temperaments  ; 
they  are  intense  individualists,  with  "  a  personal  vision  of  things " 
which  is  dearer  to  them  than  the  formulas  of  the  past,  and  with  but 
one  bond  of  union,  viz.,  the  endeavour  to  produce  an  Art  that 
shall  be  national  not  merely  in  subject,  but  in  essence,  spirit,  and 
treatment. 

AMONGST  the  surest  signs  of  the  vitality  of  this  school  may  be 
mentioned  the  unremitting  search  of  its  members  for  a  more 
adequate  expression  of  the  artistic  faith  that  is  in  them,  their  frank 
delight  in  their  "  metier,"  and  the  versatility  of  their  gifts.  Whether 
we  turn  to  Amiet  with  his  power  of  extracting  the  character  of 
things  without  deforming  it  ;  to  Hodler  with  his  rude,  but  vigorous 
workmanship  and  old  Swiss  temper  ;  to  Edouard  Berta,  with  his 
distinction  in  handling  a  subject,  and  his  exquisite  visual  sensitiveness 
to  colour  ;  to  the  robust  talent  and  personal  note  of  Hans  Wieland  as 
displayed  in  his  fine  lithographic  plates  and  powerful  drawings ;  to 
Dunki's  splendid  treatment  of  military  subjects  ;  or  to  Vallet's 
characteristic  portraits  of  the  Swiss  peasant,  we  see  signs  of  vitality, 
sincerity,  and  promise  in  the  rising  school  of  Swiss  artists. 
WE  cannot  conclude  this  article  without  referring  to  the  work  of 
Giovanni  Giacommetti,  one  of  Segantini's  best  pupils.  Devoted 
with  a  kind  of  natural  piety  to  the  study  of  the  aspects  of  Nature  in 
his  native  Grisons,  he  has  already  given  us  interpretations  of  mountain 
landscape  in  which  the  austere  character  of  his  subject  is  rendered 
with  indisputable  originality  and  feeling. 

ONE  of  the  finest  etchings  we  have  had  under  study  is  by  this 
artist.     The  subject  of  it  is  Segantini  on  the  Evening  of  his  Death.     In 


Swtss 

this   work  the    pupil   has  rendered  worthy   homage    to    the   great 

master. 

THE  modern  Swiss  artist  is  turning  with  zeal  to  many  branches  of 

art,  and  seeking  to  realise  as  complete  a  conception  as  possible  of  his 

vocation  and  its  requirements. 

Robert  Mobbs. 


Swiss 


"A  BEAST  OF  PREY" 
FROM  THE  ETCHING 
BY  E.  VAN  MUYDEN 

Plate  i 


w  z 

X  w 

H  Q 

ss 

gs 

•J 

tn    2 

< 

=      > 

H  ,: 

S  w 

Z 

<  O 

s  :^ 

o  ^ 

<  H 

-    W 

•till'     /f-i     UN 


•5 


03 


1  ^ 

HI  - 

H  X 

1-!  ^ 


J 

^ 


Swiss 


"THE  BEST  OF  FRIENDS" 

FROM    THE    ETCHING    BY 

R.  PIGNET 

Plate  6 


o 

£ 

o 

H 

M 

X 
H 

O 

O 

< 

o 
I-) 

o 

b 
O 

Q 
H 


4 


o 

«    " 

c 

t. 

u 

J 

H 

=  .  w 

U 

CU 

^  X 

<  o 

X  ^ 

^^ 

CQ  ^ 

g  X- 

9  w 

s  J 

.< 

^O 

t-2 

odc 

H  p 

c^  H 

D  w 

^W 

<  K 

=:    H 

Co 


^;  4  i>i  '  < 


;•  -^ 


-v*!. 


^^T 1 71974 


NE 

485 

H6 


Holmey  Charles^   ed« 

Wodern  etching  and  engraving 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
CARDS  OR  SUPS  FROM  THIS  POCKET 

ERINDALE  COLLEGE  UBRARY