Pre-Raphaelitism and the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood . e we overruled by the habits of ourgrandfathers, the cultivated classes of to-day would nothave escaped the vice of deep drinking, or be as temperateas they undoubtedly are. Wild revolt shows itself in the art of our day in theform of Impressionism. The name of Impressionist as representing a class ofmodern artists is, it must be owned, a widely bewilderingone, for in a collection of works to which artists thusdesignated contribute, are to be found productions ofvery varying types. The term might have been appliedto every artist even in my
Pre-Raphaelitism and the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood . e we overruled by the habits of ourgrandfathers, the cultivated classes of to-day would nothave escaped the vice of deep drinking, or be as temperateas they undoubtedly are. Wild revolt shows itself in the art of our day in theform of Impressionism. The name of Impressionist as representing a class ofmodern artists is, it must be owned, a widely bewilderingone, for in a collection of works to which artists thusdesignated contribute, are to be found productions ofvery varying types. The term might have been appliedto every artist even in my earliest youth, for no oneever dismissed any part of his work without self-inquiry whether his achievement gave the impression of the object represented, but then the quality was onlyconsidered to be of value after many other excellencieshad made a foundation for the redeeming grace to formcolour and expression. When we Pre-Raphaelites werecharged with exaggeration in our key of colour, and weretold that our pictures had all the hues of the rainbow,. .///«// L/fr/Hr /^n^nwui^ Gf .J<:. TBI PUbLr- XVII PRE-RAPHAELITE BROTHERHOOD 471 we replied that the brown shadows of old professors did notgive the impression of open-air effect which we had beensurprised to discover while searching for the truth beforeNature herself We registered prismatic hues because wefound that each terrestrial feature mirrored the blue skyand the tints of its neighbouring creations ; and we main-tained that while a part of our picture by itself mightappear over-coloured, it was consistent in the impressionit gave of truth. I cannot understand the correctness ofthe term Impressionist as representing the paramountend of art. Undoubtedly many of the works classedby the public as impressionistic have no evidence of sobercommon - sense ; they are without perspective, correctform, or any signs of patient drilling and suggest suspicion that the workman never dulysubmitted himself to persistent
Size: 1441px × 1733px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondonmacmillancol
