. Art and artists of our time . tAvinkles in the others candle-light effect in this picture is one of those feats-of-skill Avhich are always sure ofapplause from the general public, but which have long ceased to interest artists, or connois-seurs, because they express nothing beyond what is attainable by the patient application ofmechanical skill. All depends however, upon Avhat is the object of the artists skill, andwhether he rests in the exercise of a merely mechanical facility, or produces effects that arebeautiful in themselves. A Van Schendel. or any one of his many imitators, b
. Art and artists of our time . tAvinkles in the others candle-light effect in this picture is one of those feats-of-skill Avhich are always sure ofapplause from the general public, but which have long ceased to interest artists, or connois-seurs, because they express nothing beyond what is attainable by the patient application ofmechanical skill. All depends however, upon Avhat is the object of the artists skill, andwhether he rests in the exercise of a merely mechanical facility, or produces effects that arebeautiful in themselves. A Van Schendel. or any one of his many imitators, becomes verytiresome Avith his eternal market-scenes, Avhere puppet-like figures from the fashion-plates of the period are engaged in examining some improbable market-AvOmans Avooden carrots, II.—15 ** 226 ART AND ARTISTS OF OUR TIME. bages, or fish, by the light of torches or lanterns managed with theatrical it is not the subject itseK we tire-of, it is only of Van Schendel, and his way of dealing. A SECRET. FROM THE PICTURE BY GEORGE HOM. with his really picturesque material, of which a Rembrandt would make something weshould never tire-of if it were to hang before our eyes a life- long. And so even a minor ART AND ARTISTS OF OUR TIME. 227 painter, like the one whose picture we are at present considering, may turn a merely mechan-ical effect to good account, and give us all an honest pleasure by illuminating with his candle-light two human faces all aglow with the answering light of youth and innocent is only as tricks, that effects such as we have been discussing are not considered worthadmiring by people of mature taste. They become admirable in proportion as they servesome purpose higher than a display of merely mechanical skill. It is a trick, by which theeyes of a portrait are made to follow us round the room: it is a noble art, by which the eyesof a portrait are made to look into ours with an answering human look, especially if
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