Part 2 (2/2)

C. G. Lewis was both a line and mezzotint engraver. He was probably Landseer's favourite engraver, and his name is best known in a.s.sociation with that artist's pictures. Born 1808; died 1880.

When John Pye engraved his first Turner picture, ”Pope's Villa,” in 1811, that famous artist expressed his unqualified approval when he said, ”If I had known there was anyone in this country who could have done that, I would have had it done before,” and on more than one occasion he mentioned Pye's engravings as ”the most satisfactory translations of my colour into black and white.” An adequate interpretation of Turner's pictures requires a masterly appreciation of the gradations and balance of tone which suggest both colour and s.p.a.ce; and to merit such expressions of satisfaction from the great artist himself was proof of John Pye's artistic power and skill.

He began his career as an engraver about the year 1800 after a short apprentices.h.i.+p with James Heath, a clever and practical man, who was quick to perceive the ability of his apprentice.

John Pye was a recognised authority on the pictorial effect of colour, and it was said that during his long and eminently useful life ”no engraver did more than he to spread a knowledge of the sound principles of landscape art.” He was frequently consulted by his fellow artists, and without even a suggestion of professional jealousy, he was ever ready with his advice and, if need be, practical help. The following copy of a letter--now in the Swansea Art Gallery--gives some idea of the esteem in which his opinion was held by contemporary artists:--

_Monday._

_To J. Pye, Esq._

Thursday night, at half-past five, if you please. I hope that day will be convenient to you. I should like, if possible, to see you here by daylight, as your opinion is always valuable to me, and I have some few things to show you.--Your faithful servant,

Ed. Landseer.

Pye was long known in art circles as the ”Father of landscape engraving,”

and he certainly succeeded, as no other engraver has done, in his translation of colour values and suggestion of aerial perspectives.

Turner's paintings were his favourite subjects, and his interpretations of them are brilliant in expression, and charged with the very essence of artistic feeling.

His life and work indicated a progress as distinct as it was far reaching.

”And still the work went on, And on, and on, and is not yet completed.

The generation that succeeds our own Perhaps may finish it.”

It has been through the efforts of these men and others who, though less influential, were not less skilful perhaps, or less earnest, that English engraving, in its daring innovations and substantial improvements, has far outstripped that of other countries. By them its reputation has been built up and enhanced, so that ”its influence is conspicuously visible in the principles and history of Art.”

CHAPTER V

_ETCHING_--EARLY RECORDS--DESCRIPTIVE--REMBRANDT'S INFLUENCE--WENCESLAUS HOLLAR.

_MEZZOTINT_--INVENTION--DESCRIPTION--ARTISTIC QUALITIES--DILETTANTI ART--A MODERN MEZZO ENGRAVER

”By its very character of freedom, by the intimate and rapid connection which it establishes between the hands and the thoughts of the artists, etching becomes the frankest and most natural of interpreters.”--Lalanne.

It has been a.s.serted, and not without some show of reason, that of all the reproductive arts etching stands pre-eminent as a medium of pictorial expression wherein perfect freedom of drawing is retained.

It has found considerable favour with artists, because it enables them to reproduce their own works with ease and rapidity, and without any perceptible loss of expressive power.

=Early Records.=--The first account of the art of etching comes from Dutch sources, but whether or not it had its birth in Holland is a matter of pure conjecture. It was certainly cradled in the Low Countries, and finding the time and conditions of art congenial there, flourished abundantly. A book bearing the t.i.tle, _A Book of Secrets_, was published in England in 1599. It was a translation from the Dutch, and described ”A method of engraving with strong waters on steel or iron.” The art of etching must have been known in Holland some time previous to the date of this publication.

It was an unfortunate tendency which led the early etchers, or at any rate etchers of the latter part of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to practise a style of execution in direct imitation of the work of the graver. Their productions were robbed of their peculiar character and charm, their directness and completeness of representation.

=Descriptive.=--The practical phase of the etcher's work claims a more than pa.s.sing interest from the earnest reader. A carefully polished sheet of copper is covered with an acid resist in the form of a thin coating of wax or some similar composition. When this has been blackened by the smoke of a candle, or by any other suitable means, the drawing is made with steel points. The bright sheen of the copper exposed by each stroke of the point or etching needle will show the progress of the work very distinctly. The etching mordant is poured over the drawing thus made, when the exposed parts of the plate will be corroded or etched away until sufficient depth is obtained. These are, of course, but the bare outlines of the process, yet they will suffice to ill.u.s.trate the facility and simplicity of its operations.

Because it is so admirably adapted for light and sketchy drawings, etching has been described as a kind of summary of pictorial expression, and in some respects such a description fits it perfectly; yet, for a just appreciation of its merits, it will be needful to put aside the idea that it is little more than a sketchy framework. It is true that some of the finest etchings have been executed with the fewest possible lines and without any pretence of elaboration, yet tone and texture may be fully expressed though not actually realised. Hence the term sometimes so aptly applied to etching when it is referred to as ”the stenography of artistic thought.” It is upon this principle of limitation that the chief merits of the etcher's art rests,--a system of pictorial representation which does not always produce illogical and inartistic interpretation or the imperfect transcription of light and shade. It may be frequently characterised by a certain amount of caprice in its execution, but it is nevertheless capable of producing form and expression of a very high character. Albert Durer, who possessed a most remarkable artistic versatility, etched a number of plates; but they can scarcely be regarded as successful examples of his work, for, like other artists of his time, he endeavoured to imitate the productions of the graver with his etching needle. It was altogether a futile experiment, if indeed it can be regarded as an experiment, and Durer's etchings show but little of that rare power and technical skill for which he was justly famous in other phases of graphic art.

=Rembrandt's Influence.=--Rembrandt, who was said to be ”The greatest artistic individuality of the seventeenth century,” manifested a deep and lasting enthusiasm for the art of etching,--an enthusiasm which was abundantly displayed in the marvellous diversity of form by which he reproduced the characteristic grace and delicate modelling of his pictures. His graver and etching needle possessed the same spirited touch as his brush, and when ”with his own hand he presented his bold principles of light and shade,” he almost invariably combined strength of expression with great facility of invention.

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