Modern Artists (Paperback)

Modern Artists Book Description

MODERN ARTISTS BY CHRISTIAN BRINTON YORK THE BAKER TAYLOR COMPANY 1908 COPYEIOHT, 1908, BY THE BAKEB TAYLOB COMPANY Printed In the United States of Ajtnerfca APROPOS TTT THILE the thrill of the modern spirit both in art and r r in life should obviously be the dominant note of the following pages, no conscious sacrifices have been made in behalf of any given theory or thesis. The aim has not been laboriously to trace the origin and development of certain more or less formative influences, but to reflect such tendencies in terms frankly specific and personal. Although, during the period covered, which embraces something over a century of production, the profile of art in general has yearly become more and more distinct, that which here takes prece dence is the persuasive magic of the artist himself. In order the better to picture those contagious forces which are to-day vitalizing art in all lands the selection has purposely been broad and eclectic rather than narrow or local. A number of characteristic figures not always the conventionally greatest or best known have thus been chosen from various countries, and the attempt has been made to give a sense of the individu ality of each man treated, md through the individual a feeling for the conditions and surroundings, aesthetic and social, of his actual or adopted home. The personal element and the ele ment of nationality will hence inevitably prove the constant factors in this series of interpretations. The former quality has long since won its title to consideration. It is as yet, how ever, only vaguely realised that the latter is one of the artists richest possessions. There are few more amiable fallacies than O MODERN ARTISTS thepretension that art should strive to be international and cosmopolitan, for in point of fact the men who have best suc ceeded in becoming so are those whose performances have most emphatically borne the particular stamp of time and place. Elusive though unmistakable, sensitive though innately un changeable, nationality is an element which should never, and indeed can never, be entirely overlooked. Every artist is in essence a nationalist. By freely expressing himself he cannot fail to suggest that larger heritage of which he shares but a slender portion. Though conforming to these general outlines, the present volume is not meant to be either speculative or sternly critical. It is frankly sympathetic and appreciative, and, in as far as possible, each man in turn has been permitted to plead his own cause through the facts of his life and the works of eye and hand. While it is true that the varied mani festations of nineteenth-century art may here be followed from chapter to chapter with sufficient accuracy, the individual him self will, it is hoped, always be found to stand the more firmly and humanly in the foreground of these sketches. Grateful acknowledgments are due the artists themselves whose efforts md achievements have been a continuous source of inspiration in the preparation of the ensuing pages, to owners whose paint ings are herewith reproduced, and to those editors who have already welcomed certain sections of the material in its early md fugitive form. vi CONTENTS PAGE JEAN-HOISTORE FRAGOISTABD ........ 3 Born Grasse, France, 5 April 1732 died Paris, 22 Au gust 1806 ANTOIKE WIERTZ .......... 25 Born Dinant, Belgium, 22 February 1806 died Brussels, 18 June 1865 GEORGEFREDERICK WATTS ........ 43 Born London, 23 February 1817 died London, 1 July 1904 ARNOLD BOCKLUST .......... 61 Born Basle, Switzerland, 16 October 1827 died Fiesole, near Florence, 16 January 1901 METJNTBR ......... 81 Born Etterbeek, Brussels, 12 April 1831 died Brussels, 4 April 1905 JAMES MclsTEiLL WHISTLER .........

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