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,,outdoor ,,sketching  ,four ,talks     
,given before the ,art ,institute of    
,chicago  ,the ,scammon ,lectures1 #aiad
  by  ,f4 ,,hopkinson ,,smith  ,with    
,illustrations by the ,author           
,illustration3 ,part of the ,site of the
 ,marshalsea ,jail1 ,london      ,new   
,york ,charles ,scribner's ,sons        
,copyright1 #aiae1 by ,charles          
,scribner's ,sons     ,contents         
,page    ,i4 ,composition         #c    
,,ii4 ,mass               #ci  ,,iii4   
,water-,colors       #ge   ,,iv4        
,charcoal          #aai                 
,illustrations   ,part of the ,site of  
the ,marshalsea ,jail1 ,london          
,frontispiece                           

,,facing                                
,,page  ,under the ,willows1            
,cookham-on-,thames                     
#hd  ,the ,george and ,vulture ,inn1    
,london                     #acf        
,diagram of ,charcoal ,technic          
#adb     ,,composition   ,my chief      
reason for confining these four talks to
 the outdoor sketch is because ,i have  
been an outdoor painter since ,i was    
sixteen years of age2 have never in my  
whole life painted what is known as a   
studio picture evolved from memory or   
from my inner consciousness1 or from any
 one of my outdoor sketches4 ,my        
pictures are begun and finished often at
 one sitting1 never more than three     
sittings2 and a white umbrella and a    
three-legged stool are the sum of my    
studio appointments4  ,another reason is
 that1 outside of this ability to paint 
rapidly out-of-doors1 ,i know so little 
of the many processes attendant upon the
 art of the painter that both my advice 
and my criticism would be worthless to  

even the youngest of the painters       
to-day4 ,again1 ,i work only in two     
mediums1 water-color and charcoal4 ,oil 
,i have not touched for many years1 and 
then only for a short time when a       
student under ,swain ,gifford 7and this1
 of course1 many1 many years ago71 who  
taught me the use and value of the      
opaque pigment1 which helped me greatly 
in my own use of opaque water-color in  
connection with transparent color and   
which was my sole reason for seeking the
 help of his master hand4  ,a further   
venture is to kindle in your hearts a   
greater love for and appreciation of    
what a superbly felt and exactly        
rendered outdoor sketch stands for--a   
greater respect for its vitality1 its   
life-spark2 the way it breathes back at 
you1 under a touch made unconsciously1  
because you saw it1 recorded it1 and    
then forgot it--best of all because you 
let it alone2 my fervent wish being to  
transmit to you some of the enthusiasm  
that has kept me young all these years  

of my life2 something of the joy of the 
close intimacy ,i have held with        
nature--the intimacy of two old friends 
who talk their secrets over each with   
the other2 a joy unequalled by any other
 in my life's experience4  ,there may be
 those who go a-fishing and enjoy it4   
,the arranging and selecting of flies1  
the jointing of rods1 the prospective   
comfort in high water-boots1 the creel  
with the leather strap1 every crease in 
it a reminder of some day without care  
or fret--all this may bring the flush to
 the cheek and the eager kindling of the
 eye1 and a certain sort of rest and    
happiness may come with it2 but--they   
have never gone a-sketching6 ,hauled up 
on the wet bank in the long grass is    
your boat1 with the frayed end of the   
painter tied around some willow that    
offers a helping root4 ,within a stone's
 throw1 under a great branching of      
gnarled trees1 is a nook where the      
curious sun1 peeping at you through the 
interlaced leaves1 will stencil         

,japanese shadows on your white         
umbrella4 ,then the trap is unstrapped1 
the stool opened1 the easel put up1 and 
you set your palette4 ,the critical eye 
with which you look over your brush case
 and the care with which you try each   
feather point upon your thumbnail are   
but an index of your enjoyment4  ,now   
you are ready4 ,you loosen your cravat1 
hang your coat to some rustic peg in the
 creviced bark of the tree behind1 seize
 a bit of charcoal from your bag1 sweep 
your eye around1 and dash in a few      
guiding strokes4 ,above is a changing   
sky filled with crisp white clouds2     
behind you1 the great trunks of the many
 branched willows2 and away off1 under  
the hot sun1 the yellow-green of the    
wasted pasture1 dotted with patches of  
rock and weeds1 and hemmed in by the low
 hills that slope to the curving stream4
  ,it is high noon6 ,there is a         
stillness in the air that impresses you1
 broken only by the low murmur of the   
brook behind and the ceaseless song of  

the grasshopper among the weeds in      
front4 ,a tired bumblebee hums past1    
rolls lazily over a clover blossom at   
your feet1 and has his midday lunch4    
,under the maples near the river's bend 
stand a group of horses1 their heads    
touching4 ,in the brook below are the   
patient cattle1 with patches of sunlight
 gilding and bronzing their backs and   
sides4 ,every now and then a breath of  
cool air starts out from some shaded    
retreat1 plays around your forehead1 and
 passes on4 ,all nature rests4 ,it is   
her noontime4  ,but you work on3 an     
enthusiasm has taken possession of you2 
the paints mix too slowly2 you use your 
thumb1 smearing and blending with a bit 
of rag--anything for the effect4 ,one   
moment you are glued to your seat1 your 
eyes riveted on your canvas2 the next1  
you are up and backing away1 taking it  
in as a whole1 then pouncing down upon  
it quickly1 belaboring it with your     
brush4 ,soon the trees take shape2 the  
sky forms become definite2 the meadow   

lies flat and loses itself in the fringe
 of willows4  ,when all of this begins  
to grow upon your once blank canvas1 and
 some lucky pat matches the exact tone  
of blue-gray haze or shimmer of leaf1 or
 some accidental blending of color      
delights you with its truth1 a tingling 
goes down your backbone1 and a rush     
surges through your veins that stirs you
 as nothing else in your whole life will
 ever do4 ,the reaction comes the next  
day when1 in the cold light of your     
studio1 you see how far short you have  
come and how crude and false is your    
best touch compared with the glory of   
the landscape in your mind and heart4   
,but the thrill that it gave you will   
linger forever6  ,or come with me to    
,constantinople and let us study its    
palaces and mosques1 its marvellous     
stuffs1 its romantic history1 its       
religions--most profound and            
impressive--its commerce1 industries1   
and customs4 ,come to revel in color2 to
 sit for hours1 following with reverent 

pencil the details of an architecture   
unrivalled on the globe2 to watch the   
sun scale the hills of ,scutari and     
shatter its lances against the fairy    
minarets of ,stamboul2 to catch the     
swing and plash of the rowers rounding  
their caiques by the bridge of ,galata2 
to wander through bazaar and market1    
dotting down splashes of robe1 turban1  
and sash2 to rest for hours in cool     
tiled mosques1 which in their very decay
 are sublime2 to study a people whose   
rags are symphonies of color1 and whose 
traditions and records breathe the      
sweetest poems of modern times4  ,and   
then1 when we have caught our breath1   
let us wander into any one of the patios
 along the ,golden ,horn1 and feast our 
eyes on columns of verd-antique1        
supporting arches light as rainbows1    
framing the patio of the ,pigeon        
,mosque1 the loveliest of all the patios
 ,i know1 and let us run our eyes around
 that ,moorish square4 ,the sun blazes  
down on glistening marbles2 gnarled old 

cedars twist themselves upward against  
the sky2 flocks of pigeons whirl and    
swoop and fall in showers on cornice1   
roof1 and dome2 tall minarets like      
shafts of light shoot up into the blue4 
,scattered over the uneven pavement1    
patched with strips and squares of      
shadows1 lounge groups of priests in    
bewildering robes of mauve1 corn-yellow1
 white1 and sea-green2 while back       
beneath the cool arches bunches of      
natives listlessly pursue their several 
avocations4  ,it is a sight that brings 
the blood with a rush to one's cheek4   
,that swarthy ,mussulman at his little  
square table mending seals2 that fellow 
next him selling herbs1 sprawled out on 
the marble floor1 too lazy to crawl away
 from the slant of sunshine slipping    
through the ragged awning2 that young   
,turk in frayed and soiled embroidered  
jacket1 holding up strings of beads to  
the priests passing in and out--is not  
this the ,east1 the land of our dreams8 
,and the old public scribe with the gray

 beard and white turban1 writing        
letters1 the motionless veiled figures  
squatting around him--is he not ,baba   
,mustapha8 and the soft-eyed girl       
whispering into his ear none other than 
,morgiana1 fair as the meridian sun8    
,so1 too1 in my beloved ,venice1 where  
many years ago ,i camped out by the side
 of a canal--the ,rio ,giuseppe--all of 
it1 from the red wall1 where the sailors
 land1 to the lagoon1 where the tower of
 ,castello is ready to topple into the  
sea4  ,not much of a canal--not much of 
a painting ground1 really1 to the       
masters who have gone before and are    
still at work1 but a truly lovable1     
lovely1 and most enchanting possession  
to me their humble disciple4 ,once you  
get into it you never want to get out1  
and once out you are miserable until you
 get back again4 ,on one bank stretches 
a row of rookeries--a maze of hanging   
clothes1 fish-nets1 balconies hooded by 
awnings and topped by nondescript       
chimneys of all sizes and patterns1 with

 here and there a dab of vermilion and  
light red1 the whole brilliant against a
 china-blue sky4 ,on the other is the   
long brick wall of the garden--soggy1   
begrimed1 streaked with moss and lichen 
in bands of black-green and yellow      
ochre1 over which mass and sway the     
great sycamores that ,ziem loved1 their 
lower branches interwoven with cinnobar 
cedars gleaming in spots where the      
prying sun drips gold4  ,only wide      
enough for a barca and two gondolas to  
pass--this canal of mine2 only deep     
enough to let a wine barge slip through2
 so narrow you must go all the way back 
to the lagoon if you would turn your    
gondola2 so short you can row through it
 in five minutes2 every inch of its     
water-surface part of everything about  
it1 so clear are the reflections2 full  
of moods1 whims1 and fancies1 this wave 
space--one moment in a broad laugh      
coquetting with a bit of blue sky       
peeping from behind a cloud1 its cheeks 
dimpled with sly undercurrents1 the next

 swept by flurries of little winds1 soft
 as the breath of a child on a mirror2  
then1 when aroused by a passing boat1   
breaking out into ribbons of            
color--swirls of twisted doorways1      
flags1 awnings1 flower-laden balconies1 
black-shawled ,venetian beauties all    
upside down1 interwoven with strips of  
turquoise sky and green waters--a       
bewildering1 intoxicating jumble of     
tatters and tangles1 maddening in       
detail1 brilliant in color1 harmonious  
in tone3 the whole scintillating with a 
picturesqueness beyond the ken or brush 
of any painter living or dead4  ,these  
are some of the joys of the painter     
whose north light is the sky1 whose     
studio door is never shut1 and who often
 works surrounded by envious throngs1   
that treat him with such marked         
reverence that they whisper one to      
another for fear of disturbing him4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,and now for a few practical hints born 
of these experiences2 and in giving them

 to you1 remember that no man is more   
keenly conscious of his limitations than
 the speaker4 ,my own system of work1   
all of which will be explained to you in
 subsequent talks1 one on water-color   
and the other on charcoal1 is1 ,i am    
aware1 peculiar1 and has many drawbacks 
and many shortcomings4 ,i make bold to  
give these to you because of my fifty   
years' experience in outdoor sketching1 
and because in so doing ,i may encourage
 some one among you to begin where ,i   
have left off and do better4 ,the       
requirements are thoughtful and         
well-studied selection before your brush
 touches your canvas2 a correct         
knowledge of composition2 a definite    
grasp of the problem of light and dark1 
or1 in other words1 mass2 a free1 sure1 
and untrammelled rapidity of execution2 
and1 last and by no means least1 a      
realization of what ,i shall express in 
one short compact sentence1 that it     
takes two men to paint an outdoor       
picture3 one to do the work and the     

other to kill him when he has done      
enough4         99       99       99    
99       99  ,before entering on the    
means and methods through which so early
 a death becomes permissible ,i shall   
admit that the personal equation will   
largely assert itself1 and that because 
of it certain allowances must be made1  
or rather certain variations in both    
grasp and treatment will necessarily    
follow4  ,while1 of course1 nature is   
always the same1 never changing and     
never subservient to the whims or       
perceptive powers of the individual1    
there are painters who will aver that   
they alone see her correctly and that   
all the world that differs from them is 
wrong4 ,one man from natural defects may
 see all her greens or reds stronger or 
weaker than another in proportion to the
 condition of his eye4 ,another may     
grasp only her varying degrees of gray4 
,one man unduly exaggerates the         
intensity of the dark and the opposing  
brilliancy of the lights4 ,another      

eye--for it is largely a question of    
optics1 of optics and temperament--sees 
only the more gentle and sometimes the  
more subtle gradations of light and     
shade reducing even the blaze of the    
noonday sun to half-tones4 ,still       
another1 whether by the fault of        
over-magnifying power or                
long-sightedness1 detects an infinity of
 detail in nature1 and is not satisfied 
until each particular blade of grass    
stands on end like the quills of the    
traditional porcupine1 while his brother
 brush strenuously asserts that every   
detail is really only a question of     
mass1 and should be treated as such1 and
 that for all practical purposes it is  
quite immaterial whether a tree can be  
distinguished from a farm-house so long 
as it is fluffy enough to be indistinct4
  ,these defects1 sympathies1           
tendencies1 whatever one may call them1 
only prove the more conclusively that   
there are many varying standards set up 
by many minds4 ,that which can easily be

 proved in addition is that many a false
 standard owes its origin as often to a 
question of bad digestion as of bad     
taste4 ,they also show us that no one   
man or set of men can rightfully lay    
claim to holding the one key which      
unlocks the mysteries of nature1 while  
insisting that the rules governing their
 use of that key must be adhered to by  
the rest of the world4  ,there are1     
however1 certain laws which control     
every pictured expression of nature and 
to which every eye and hand must submit 
if even a semblance of expression is to 
be sought for4 ,one of them is truth4   
,in this all schools concur1 each one   
demanding the truth1 or at least enough 
of it to placate their consciences when 
they add to it a sufficient number of   
lies of their own manufacture to make   
the subject interesting to their special
 line of constituents4 ,among these ,i  
do not class the lunatics who are to-day
 wandering loose outside of charitable  
asylums especially designed for         

disordered and impaired intellects1 and 
whose frothings ,i saw at the last      
,autumn ,salon4  ,but to our text once  
more1 taking up the first requirement2  
namely1 selection4  ,by selection ,i    
mean the cutting out entire from the    
great panorama spread out before you    
just that portion which appeals to you  
and which you want to have appeal to    
your fellow men4  ,speaking for myself1 
,i have always held that the most       
perfect reproductions of nature are     
those which can be selected any day1    
under any condition of light1 direct    
from the several objects themselves1    
without arrangement and fore-shortenings
 or twistings to the right and to the   
left4 ,nothing1 in fact1 seems to me so 
astounding as that any human mind could 
for an instant suppose that it can      
improve on the work of the ,almighty4   
,if it is a street1 and if you wish to  
express its perspective1 and the bit of 
blue sky beyond1 with a burst of        
sunlight illumining the corner1 the     

figures crowded against the light1      
forming a mass in themselves1 and it    
interests you at a glance1 sit down and 
study it long enough to find out what   
feature of the landscape impressed you  
at first sight4 ,if1 as you look1 the   
first impression becomes weakened1      
perhaps it is because the immediate     
foreground1 which at the first glance   
was clear1 is now dotted with           
passers-by1 thus obscuring your point of
 interest1 or a cloud has passed over   
the sky1 lowering the whole tone1 or the
 group of figures across the light has  
dispersed1 exposing the ugly            
right-angled triangle of the flat wall  
and street level instead of the same    
lines being broken picturesquely with   
the black dots of heads of the crowd    
itself4 ,in a moment it is no longer a  
composition of the same power that      
struck you at first4 ,perhaps while you 
sit and wait the scene again changes1   
and something infinitely more           
interesting1 or the reverse1 is evolved 

from the perspective before you4 ,and so
 it goes on1 until this constantly      
changing kaleidoscope repeats itself in 
its first aspect1 until you have fairly 
grasped its meaning and analyzed its    
component parts4 ,or until either the   
effect that first delighted you1 or the 
subsequent effect that charmed you still
 more1 becomes a fixed fact in your     
mind4 ,that1 then1 is the picture that  
you want to paint and that you are to   
paint exactly as you saw it4 ,and if you
 can reproduce it exactly as you did see
 it1 ten chances to one it will impress 
your fellow men4 ,the trouble is that   
when you sit down to paint it you are so
 often lost in its detail that you      
forget its salient features1 and by the 
time you have finished and blocked up   
the immediate foreground with figures   
that did not exist when you were first  
thrilled by its beauty1 you have either 
painted its least interesting aspect1 or
 you have filled that street so full of 
lies of your own that the policeman on  

the beat could not recognize it4  ,of   
course1 while all nature is interesting1
 there are parts of nature more         
interesting than other parts1 and since 
the skill of man is inadequate to       
produce its more humble effects1 if ,i  
may so express it1 the painter should be
 on the lookout for her dramatic air1 in
 order that when she is reproduced she  
may add that touch to her many          
qualities1 thus meeting the painter     
half-way4 ,even in the perspective of a 
street1 nature1 in profound             
consideration of the devotee under his  
umbrella1 often gives him a deeper      
touch--one wall perhaps in sudden       
brilliant light1 while the vista of the 
street is in gloom made by a passing    
cloud1 she constantly calling out to the
 painter as he works3 ,watch me now and 
take me at my best4  ,or change this    
picture for an instant and note1 if you 
please1 the flight of cloud shadows over
 a mountain slope or the whirl of a wind
 flurry across a still lake4 ,there are 

moments in all phenomena like these     
where a great man rising to the occasion
 can catch them exactly1 as did         
,rousseau in the golden glow of the     
fading light through the forest1 or     
,corot in the crisp light of the        
morning1 or ,daubigny in the low        
twilight across the sunken marshes where
 one can almost hear the frogs croak4   
,selection1 then1 preceded by the       
deepest and closest thought as to       
whether the subject is worth painting at
 all1 becomes necessary1 the student    
giving himself plenty of time to study  
it in all its phases2 time enough to    
walk around it1 reviewing it at         
different angles2 noting the hour at    
which it is at its best and happiest1   
seizing upon its most telling           
presentment--and all this before he     
begins even mentally to compose its     
salient features on the square of his   
canvas4 ,you can turn1 if you choose1   
your camera skyward and focus the top of
 a steeple and only that4 ,it is true1  

but it is uninteresting1 or rather      
unintelligible1 until you focus also the
 church door1 and the gathering groups1 
and the overgrown pathway that winds    
through the quiet graveyard4 ,so a      
picture can be true and yet very much   
like a slip cut from a newspaper4 ,for  
some men cut thus into nature1          
haphazard1 without care or thought1 and 
produce perhaps a square containing an  
advertisement of a patent churn1 a      
railroad timetable1 and a fragment of an
 essay on art4 ,cut carefully and with  
selection1 and you may get a poem which 
will soothe you like a melody4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,as to the value of the laws which      
govern the perfect composition1 it is   
unquestionably true that a correct      
knowledge of these laws makes or unmakes
 the picture and establishes or ruins   
the rank of the painter4 ,no matter how 
careful the drawing1 how interesting the
 subject1 how true the mass1 how subtle 
the gradations of light and shade1 how  

perfect the expression of the figures1  
or how transparent the atmosphere of a  
landscape1 a want of this knowledge will
 defeat the result4 ,on the other hand1 
a good composition--one that carries1 as
 the term is--one that can be seen      
across the room1 if properly composed   
will instantly excite your interest1    
even if upon near inspection you are    
shocked by its crudities and faults4 ,i 
don't know what it is1 says a painter1  
but it's good all the same4  ,after your
 selection has been made1 the next thing
 is to search for its centre of         
interest4 ,when this is found it is     
equally important to weigh carefully the
 quality of this centre of interest in  
order to determine whether1 as has been 
said1 the subject is worth painting at  
all4 ,my own rule is to spend half the  
time ,i am devoting to my sketch in     
carefully weighing the subject in its   
every detail and expression4         99 
99       99       99       99  ,many    
men1 ,i am aware1 have endeavored to    

prove that there are eight or ten       
different forms of composition4 ,my own 
experience and investigation are1 of    
course1 limited1 but so far ,i have only
 been able to discover one1 namely1 the 
larger mass and the smaller mass3 the   
larger mass dominating the centre of    
interest1 which catches your eye        
instantly at first sight of a picture1  
and the smaller or less interesting     
object which next attracts your eye1 and
 so relieves the vision and spares you  
the monotony of looking at a single     
object long and steadily1 thus fatiguing
 the eye and dissipating the interest4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,having determined upon the quality of  
the subject-matter and fixed its centre 
interest in pleasing relation to the    
whole1 the next step is to confine      
yourself to all that the eyes see at one
 glance and no more1 or1 in other words1
 that portion of the landscape which you
 could cut out with the scissors of your
 eye and paste upon your mind4 ,that    

which you can see when your head is kept
 perfectly still1 your eye looking      
straight before you1 only seeing so     
high1 so low1 and so far to the right   
and left1 without a strain4 ,the great  
sweep of vision1 a sweep covering a     
hundred subjects perhaps1 is obtained by
 turning the eyes up or down or         
sideways4 ,but to be true--that is1 to  
see one picture at a time--the eye      
should be fixed like the lens of a      
camera1 the limit of the picture being  
the range of the eye and no more4 ,a    
departure from this rule not only       
confuses your perspective but crowds a  
number of points of interest into the   
square of your canvas1 when there is    
really only one centre point before you 
in nature2 and this one point you must  
treat as does the electrician in a      
theatre who keeps the lime-light on the 
star of the play4         99       99   
99       99       99  ,another          
requirement is rapidity of execution4 ,i
 am not speaking of figure-drawing4 ,i  

can well understand why the model grows 
tired1 although the crude lay figure may
 not1 and why the constant workings over
 and again upon the figure subject1 the 
mosaicing 7if ,i may coin a word7 of the
 different points of the figure during  
the different hours of the day and the  
different days of the week deep into the
 canvas1 may be necessary4  ,i am       
speaking of outdoor1 landscape work1 for
 which only four hours1 at most1 either 
in the morning or in the afternoon1 can 
be utilized4 ,in this four hours nature 
keeps comparatively still long enough   
for you to caress her with your brush1  
and if you would truly express what you 
see1 your work must be finished in that 
time4 ,i can quite understand that to   
the ordinary student this is a          
paralyzing statement1 but let us analyze
 it together for a moment and ,i think  
that we shall all see that if it were   
possible for a human hand to obey us as 
precisely as a human eye detects1 the   
results on the canvas would be          

infinitely more valuable1 first1 because
 the sun never stands still and the     
shadows of one hour are not the shadows 
of the next2 and second1 because this   
moving of the sun is affecting not only 
the mass but the composition of the     
picture1 one mass of buildings being in 
light at ten o'clock and again in shadow
 at eleven4 ,it is also affecting its   
local color1 the yellow of the afternoon
 sunlight illumining and graying the    
silver-blue of the shadows1 thus        
weakening the force of positive shadows 
scattered through the composition4 ,of  
course1 to be really exact1 there is    
only one moment in any one of the hours 
of the day in which any one aspect of   
nature remains the same1 but since we   
are all finite we must do the best we   
can1 and four hours1 in my experience1  
is all that a man can be sure of4  ,we  
have1 of course1 the next day to        
continue in1 but then the landscape has 
changed4 ,that delicate1 transparent1   
gauzy cloud screen that softened the sky

 light was1 under the northwest wind of 
yesterday1 a clear1 steely gray-blue1   
and the sun shining through it made the 
sunlight almost white and the shadows a 
neutral blue2 to-day the wind is from   
the south and a great mass of soft      
summer clouds1 tea-rose color1 drift    
over the clear azure1 each one of which 
throws its reflected light on every     
object over which they float4 ,the half 
you painted yesterday1 therefore1 will  
not match the half you must paint       
to-day1 and so if you will persist in   
working on your same canvas you go on   
making an almanac of your picture1 so   
apparent to an expert that he can pick  
out the ,monday1 ,tuesday1 and          
,wednesday as you daily progressed4 ,if 
you should be fortunate enough to work  
under ,italian skies1 where sometimes   
for days together the light is the same1
 the skies being one expanse of soft1   
opalescent blue1 you might think under  
such influence it would be possible for 
you to perform the great almanac trick  

successfully in your sketch4 ,but how   
about yourself8 ,are you the same man   
to-day that you were yesterday8 ,if so1 
perhaps you might also find yourself in 
exactly the same frame of mind that     
existed when your sketch was half       
finished4 ,but would you guarantee that 
you would be the same man for a week8   
,i believe we can maintain this position
 of the necessity of rapid work in      
out-of-door sketches by looking for a   
moment at the product of the best men of
 the last century1 some of whom ,i have 
already mentioned4 ,take ,corot1 for    
instance4 ,corot1 as you know1 spent    
almost his entire life painting the     
early light of the morning4 ,an analysis
 of his life's work shows that he must  
have folded his umbrella and gone home  
before eleven o'clock4 ,my own idea is  
that many hundreds of his canvases1     
which have since sold at many thousands 
of francs1 were perfectly finished in   
one sitting4 ,this cannot be otherwise  
when you remember that one dealer in    

,paris claims to have sold two thousand 
,corots4 ,these one-sitting pictures to 
me express his best work4 ,in the larger
 canvases in which figures are          
introduced--notably the one first owned 
by the late ,mr4 ,charles ,a4 ,dana1 of 
,new ,york1 called ,apollo1 ,i          
believe--the treatment of the sky and   
foreground shows careful repainting1 and
 while the mechanical process of the    
brush1 shown by the over and under      
painting1 the dragging of opaque color  
over transparent1 may produce certain   
translucencies which the more forcible  
and direct stroke of the brush--one     
touch and no more--fails to give1 still 
the whole composition lacks that        
intimacy with nature which one always   
feels in the smaller and more rapidly   
perfected canvases4  ,note1 too1 the    
sketches of ,frans ,hals and see what   
power comes from the sure touch of a    
well-directed brush in the hand of a man
 who used it to express his thoughts as 
other men use chords of music or        

paragraphs in literature4 ,a man who    
made no false moves1 who knew that every
 stroke of his brush must express a     
perfect sentence and that it could never
 be recalled4 ,really the work of such a
 master is like the gesture of an       
actor--if it is right a thrill goes     
through you1 if it is wrong it is like  
that player friend of ,hamlet's who     
sawed the air4  ,this quality of the    
stroke1 by the by1 if we stop to analyze
 for a moment1 is the stroke that comes 
straight from the heart1 tingling up the
 spinal column1 down the arm1 and       
straight to the finger-tips4 ,ole ,bull 
had it when his violin echoed a full    
orchestra2 ,paderewski has it when he   
rings clearly and sharply some note that
 vibrates through you for hours after2  
,booth had it when drawing himself up to
 his full height as ,cardinal ,richelieu
 he began that famous speech1 ,around   
her form ,i draw the holy circle of our 
faith--his upraised finger a barrier    
that an army could not break down2      

,velasquez1 in his marvellous picture in
 the ,museum of the ,prado in ,madrid of
 ,the ,topers 7,los ,borrachos72 ,frans 
,hals1 in almost every canvas that his  
brush touched2 and in later years our   
own ,john ,sargent1 in many of his      
portraits1 but especially in his direct 
out-of-door studies1 shows it2 as do    
scores of others whose sureness of touch
 and exact knowledge have made their    
names household words where art is loved
 and genius held sacred4  ,and with this
 ability to record swiftly and surely   
there will come a certain enthusiasm1   
fanned to white heat when1 some morning1
 trap in hand1 you are searching for    
something to paint1 your mind entirely  
filled with a certain object 7you       
propose to paint boats if you please1   
and you have walked around them for     
minutes trying to get the best view and 
deciding upon the all-important best    
possible composition7--when1 turning    
suddenly1 you face a mass of buildings  
and a sweep of river that instantly put 

to flight every idea concerning your    
first subject1 and in a moment a new    
arrangement is evolved and you are      
working like mad4 ,it is only under this
 pressure of enthusiasm that the best   
work is produced4         99       99   
99       99       99  ,the coming       
landscape-painter will be a four-hour   
man1 of thorough knowledge1 one who has 
most intimate and close acquaintance    
with nature1 one who can select and then
 seize the salient features of the      
landscape1 at a glance arranging them   
upon the square of his canvas1 in other 
words1 composing them1 the basis being  
the most expansive and most picturesque 
grouping of the several details of the  
subject1 extracting at the same moment1 
at the same instant1 with one sweep of  
his eye1 the whole scheme of local      
color1 and then surely1 clearly1        
lovingly1 and reverently making it      
breathe upon his canvas for other souls 
to live by4         99       99       99
       99       99  ,and how noble the  

ambition6  ,in our present civilization 
some men are moved to philanthropy1 some
 to science1 some to be rulers of men4  
,some men are brimful and running over  
with harmonies that will live forever4  
,other men's hearts beat in unison with 
the symphonies of the spheres1 and      
,homer and ,milton and ,dante become    
household words4 ,you seek another      
expression of the good that is in you4  
,you will be painters and sculptors4    
,color1 form1 and mass are to you what  
the pen1 the sword1 and the lute are to 
those others who have gone before1 or   
are now around you4 ,your mission is as 
distinct as theirs1 and it is as        
imperative that you should fulfil it4   
,paint what you see and as you see it4  
,nothing more nor less4 ,see only the   
beautiful1 and if you cannot reach that 
content yourself with the picturesque4  
,it is a first cousin but once removed4 
,,mass   ,the difference between        
composition and mass is that a          
composition is a mere outline of pen or 

pencil1 each object taking its proper   
place in the square of a canvas1 while  
mass is the filling in between these    
outlines either of varied color or in   
lights or darks1 their gradations but so
 many guides to the spectator's eye     
marking not only its perspective1 form  
and atmosphere1 but1 if skilfully done1 
telling the story of your subject at a  
glance4  ,to do this the student must   
find the lightest light and darkest dark
 in the subject before him and1 having  
found it1 adhere to it to the end of his
 work4 ,for as the sun dominates the sky
 and earth so do its rays dominate parts
 of the whole1 making more luminous than
 the rest only one object upon which its
 light falls4 ,to make this more        
explicit it is only necessary to look at
 an egg upon a white table-cloth4 ,here 
is a natural object devoid of local     
color except in reflected lights1 and   
yet you will find that where the round  
of the egg reflects the light the       
highest light is found1 while in the    

edge of the shadow1 where the egg turns 
into the round--between that high light 
and the reflected light from the        
table-cloth1 ,i mean--is found its      
darkest dark4 ,but only one portion of  
that shadow1 a point as large as the    
point of a pin1 is the darkest dark4    
,everything else is gradation1 from the 
highest light to the lowest light1 the  
lowest light being almost a shadow2 and 
from its darkest dark to its lightest   
dark the lightest dark again being      
almost a light4  ,in landscape art these
 problems are greatly simplified4 ,the  
sun is always the strongest light1 and  
whatever comes against it1 church tower1
 rock1 palace1 or ship under full sail1 
is the darkest object4 ,in addition to  
this there is always some one point     
where the outdoor painter can find a    
lesser supplementary light and near it a
 lesser supplementary dark4 ,moreover1  
throughout the rest of the composition  
these same lights and darks are echoed  
and re-echoed in constantly decreasing  

gradations4  ,you may apply these same  
tests everywhere in nature4 ,even in a  
gray day1 when the sun is not so        
positive a factor in distributing light1
 and the shadows are so subtle that it  
is difficult to discover them1 there is 
always some mass of foliage1 the silver 
sheen from an old shingled roof1 the    
glare of a white wall1 which marks for  
the composition its lightest light1     
while a corresponding dark can always be
 found somewhere in the tree-trunks1    
under the overhanging eaves1 or in the  
broken crevices of the masonry4  ,so it 
is with every other expression of       
nature4 ,even on a ,venetian lagoon1    
where the sky and water are apparently  
one 7not really one to the quick eye of 
an expert1 the water always being one   
tone lower than the sky--that is1 more  
gray than the overbending sky7--even in 
this lagoon you will find some one      
portion of the surface lighter than any 
other portion2 and in expressing it your
 eye first and your brush next must     

catch in the opalescent sweep of        
delicious color under your eye its exact
 quantity of black and white4 ,by black 
and white ,i mean1 of course1 that      
excess or absence of pure color which   
when translated into pure black and     
white would express the meaning of the  
subject-matter1 as one of ,raphael      
,morghen's engravings on steel gives you
 the feeling and color in his masterly  
rendering of ,da ,vinci's ,last ,supper4
  ,in my judgment one of the great      
landscapes of modern times is the       
picture by the distinguished ,dutch     
painter1 ,mauve1 known as ,changing     
,pasture1 which is now owned by ,mr4    
,charles ,p4 ,taft1 of ,cincinnati4     
,here the factor of mass is carried to  
its utmost limit4 ,sky one mass2 flock  
of sheep another mass2 and the          
foreground1 sweeping under the sheep and
 beyond until it is lost in the haze of 
the distance1 another mass1 or1 if one  
chooses to put it that way1 another     
broad gradation of a section of the     

picture3 the highest light being some   
infinitesimal speck in the diaphanous   
silver sky1 the strongest dark being    
found somewhere in the foreground or in 
the flock of sheep4  ,by a strict       
adherence to this law of one supreme    
light and one supreme dark does ,mauve's
 work1 as it were1 get back from and out
 of his canvas1 as from the record of a 
phonograph into which some soul has     
breathed its own precise purpose and    
intent4  ,so1 too1 does nature often    
call out to you fixing your attention1  
often shrouding in shadow the           
unimportant in the landscape1 while high
 up above the gloom it holds up to your 
gaze a white candle of a minaret or the 
bared breast of an ,alpine peak         
reflecting the loving look of a tired   
sunbeam bidding it good-night4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,to accent the more strongly the value  
of this dominant light even though it be
 treated in very low gradation1 ,i      
recall that a year ago the art world was

 startled by the sum received for a     
medium sized picture of some coryphees  
painted by ,degas1 now an old man over  
eighty years old--a subject which he    
always loved and1 indeed1 which he has  
painted many times4 ,some thirty years  
ago1 when he was comparatively a young  
man1 ,i saw1 at the ,bartholdi          
exhibition in ,new ,york1 a picture by  
this master of these same coryphees1 two
 figures standing together in the flies 
resting their weary1 pink1 fishworm legs
 as they balanced themselves with their 
hands against the wabbling scenery4 ,it 
was a wholly gray picture1 and almost in
 a monotone1 and yet the flashes of     
their diamond earrings1 no larger than  
the point of a pin1 were distinctly     
visible1 holding their place in1 if not 
dominating1 the whole color scheme4     
,again1 in that marvellous portrait of  
,wertheimer1 the bric-a-brac dealer1 if 
you remember1 the eye first catches the 
strong vermilion touch on the lower lip1
 and then1 knowing that a master like   

,sargent would not leave it isolated1   
one finds1 to one's delight and joy1 a  
little swipe of red on the tongue of the
 barely discernible black poodle        
squatting at his feet4 ,had the red of  
the dog's tongue predominated1 we should
 never have been thrilled and fascinated
 by one of the great portraits of this  
or any other time4  ,this is also true  
in other great portraits--in1 for       
instance1 the pictures of ,rembrandt1   
,vandyck1 and ,frans ,hals1 especially  
where a face is relieved by the addition
 of a hand and the white of a ruff4     
,somewhere in that warm expanse of the  
face there can be found a pinhead of    
color1 brighter and more dominating than
 any other brush touch on the canvas4   
,it may be the high egg-light in the    
forehead1 or the click on the tip of the
 nose1 or a fold of the white ruff2 but 
slight as it is and unnoticeable at     
first1 because of it not only does the  
head look round as the egg looks round  
when relieved by the same treatment1 but

 the attention is fixed4 ,unless this   
had been preserved1 the eye would have1 
perhaps1 rested first on the hand1      
something foreign to the painter's      
intention4  ,recalling again the law of 
the high light and strong dark1 and     
referring again to the value of the     
skilful manipulation of light and shade 
forming the mass thereby expressing the 
more clearly the meaning of a picture1  
,i repeat that1 while the eye is always 
caught by the strongest dark against the
 strongest light1 it is next caught by  
the lesser supplementary light and      
lesser supplementary dark2 and then1 if 
the painter is skilful enough in the    
management of the remaining lesser      
lights and darks1 the eye will run      
through the gradations to the end1      
rebounding once more to the greater     
light and dark1 exactly in the order    
intended by the painter2 thus unfolding 
to the spectator little by little1 quite
 as a plot of a novel is made clear1 the
 story which the painter had in his own 

mind to tell4 ,this is effected purely  
and entirely by the correct             
accentuations of the explanatory lights 
and darks4 ,one mistake in the          
management--that is1 the accentuating of
 the third light1 if you please1 instead
 of the second--will not only confuse   
the eye of the spectator1 but may       
perhaps give him an entirely different  
impression from what was intended by the
 painter1 just as the shifting of a     
chapter in a novel would confuse a      
reader2 and this1 if you please1 without
 depending in any way upon either the   
drawing or the color of the accessories4
  ,i can best illustrate this by        
recalling to your mind that marvellous  
picture of the so-called literary school
 of ,england1 a picture by ,luke ,fildes
 known as ,the ,doctor and now hanging  
in the ,tate ,gallery in ,london1 in    
which the whole sad story is told in    
logical sequence by the artist's        
consummate handling of the darks and    
lights in regular progression4          

99       99       99       99       99  
,you will pardon me1 ,i hope1 if ,i     
leave the more technical details of my  
subject for a moment that ,i may discuss
 with you one of the peculiarities of   
the so-called art-loving public of      
to-day1 notably that section which      
insists that no picture should tell a   
story of any kind4  ,to my own mind this
 picture of ,luke ,fildes reaches       
high-water mark in the school of his    
time1 and yet in watching as ,i have    
done the crowds who surge through the   
,tate ,galleries and the ,national      
,gallery1 it is an almost every-day     
occurrence to overhear such contemptuous
 remarks as ,oh1 yes1 one of those      
literary fellows1 drop from the lips of 
some highbrow who only tolerates        
,constable because of the influence his 
example and work had on ,corot and other
 men of the ,barbizon school4  ,another 
section lose their senses over pure     
brush work4  ,a story of ,whistler--one 
he told me himself--will illustrate what

 ,i mean4 ,jules ,stewart's father1 a   
great lover of good pictures and one of 
,fortuny's earliest patrons1 had invited
 ,whistler to his house in ,paris to see
 his collection1 and in the course of   
the visit drew from a hiding-place a    
small panel of ,meissonier's1 of a      
quality so high that any dealer in      
,paris would have given him #cj1jjj for 
it4  ,whistler would not even glance at 
it4  ,upon ,stewart insisting1 he       
adjusted his monocle and said3 ,oh1 yes1
 very good--snuff-box style4  ,this     
affectation was to have been expected of
 ,whistler because of his aggressive    
mental attitude toward the work of any  
man who handled his brush differently   
from his own personal methods1 but saner
 minds may think along broader lines4   
,if they do not1 they have short        
memories4 ,even in my own experience ,i 
have watched the rise and fall of men   
whose technic called from the           
housetops--a call which was heard by the
 passing throng below1 many of whom     

stopped to listen and applaud2 for in   
pictures as in bonnets the taste of the 
public changes almost daily4 ,one has   
only to review several of the schools1  
both in ,english and in ,continental    
art1 noting their dawn of novelty1 their
 sunrise of appreciation1 their high    
noon of triumph1 their afternoon of     
neglect1 and their night of oblivion1 to
 be convinced that the wheel of artistic
 appreciation is round like other       
wheels--the world1 for one--and that its
 revolutions bring the night as surely  
as they bring the dawn4  ,not a hundred 
years have passed since the broad1      
sensuous work of ,turner1 big in        
conception and big in treatment1 was    
followed by the more exact painters of  
the ,english school1 many of whom are   
still at work1 notably ,leader and      
,alfred ,parsons1 both ,royal           
,academicians1 and of whom some         
contemporaneous critic insisted that    
they had counted the leaves on their    
elm-trees fringing the polished water of

 the ,thames4 ,they1 of course1 had only
 been eclipsed by the broader brushes of
 more recent time1 men like ,frank      
,brangwyn and ,colin ,hunter1 who have  
yielded to the pressure of the change in
 taste1 or of whom it would be more just
 to say1 have set present taste1 so that
 to-day not only the afternoon of night1
 but the twilight of forgetfulness1 is  
slowly and surely casting long shadows  
over the more realistic men of the      
eighties and nineties4  ,what will      
follow this evolution of technic no man 
can predict4 ,the lessons of the past1  
however1 are valuable1 and to-day one   
touch of ,turner's brush is more sought 
for than acres of canvases so greatly   
prized twenty years after his death4    
,and this is not alone confined to the  
old realistic ,english school4 ,in my   
own time ,i have seen ,verbeckoeven     
eclipsed by ,van ,marcke1 ,bouguereau1  
,cabanel1 and ,gerome by ,manet1 and    
,sir ,frederick ,leighton by ,john      
,sargent--a young ,david slaying the    

,goliath of ,english technic with but a 
wave of his magic brush--and1 last and  
by no means least1 the great ,french    
painter ,meissonier by the equally great
 ,spanish master ,sorolla4  ,i am       
tempted to continue1 for the success of 
these men in the fulness of the sunlight
 of their triumph1 realists as well as  
impressionists1 was wholly due to their 
understanding of and adherence to the   
rules of selection1 composition1 and    
mass which form the basis of these      
papers1 and which despite their         
differences in brush work they all      
adhered to4  ,in the late half of the   
preceding century ,meissonier received  
#ff1jjj for his ,friedland1 a picture   
which cost him the best part of two     
years to paint1 and the expenditure of  
many thousands of francs1 notably the   
expense attendant upon the trampling    
down of a field of growing wheat by a   
drove of horses that he might study the 
action and the effect the better4 ,forty
 years later ,sorolla received #bj1jjj  

for two figures in blazing sunlight     
which took him but two days to paint1   
the rest of his collection bringing     
#bej1jjj1 the whole exhibit of one      
hundred and odd pictures having been    
visited by #aej1jjj persons in          
thirty-two days4 ,and he is still in the
 full tide of success1 pre-eminently the
 greatest master of the out-of-doors of 
modern times1 while to-day the work of  
,meissonier has fallen into such        
disrepute that no owner dares offer one 
of his canvases at public auction except
 under the keenest necessity4 ,the first
 master expresses the refinement of     
extreme realism1 or rather detailism2   
the other is a pronounced impressionist 
of the sanest of the open-air school of 
to-day4 ,how long this pendulum will    
continue to swing no one can tell4 ,both
 men are great painters in the widest1  
deepest1 and most pronounced sense2 both
 men have glorified1 ennobled1 and      
enriched their time2 and both men have  
reflected credit and honor upon their   

nation and their school4  ,meissonier   
could not only draw the figure1 give it 
life and action1 keep it harmonious in  
color1 perfect in its gradations of     
black and white1 but he had that        
marvellous gift of color analysis which 
reproduces for you in a picture the size
 of the top of a cigar-box every tone in
 the local and reflected light to be    
found1 say1 in the folds of a cavalier's
 cloak1 the pleats no wider than the    
point of a stub pen4  ,all this1 of     
course1 ,sorolla ignores and1 ,i am     
afraid1 knowing the man personally as ,i
 do1 despises4 ,what concerns the great 
,spaniard is the whole composition alive
 in the blaze of the sunlight1 the glare
 of the hot sand and the shimmer of the 
blue1 overarching sky1 beating up and   
down and over the figures1 and all      
depicted with a slash of a brush almost 
as wide as your hand4 ,the first        
picture1 the size of a tobacco-box1 you 
can hold between thumb and finger and   
enjoy1 amazed at the master's knowledge 

and skill4 ,the other grips you from    
afar off as you enter the gallery and   
stand startled and astounded before its 
truth and dignity4 ,in the first        
,meissonier tells you the whole story to
 the very end4 ,in the second ,sorolla  
presents but a series of shorthand notes
 which you yourself can fill in to suit 
your taste and experience both of life  
and nature4  ,whether you prefer one or 
the other1 or neither1 is a matter for  
you to decide4 ,you pay your money or   
you don't1 and you can take your choice4
 ,the future only can tell the story of 
the revolution of the wheel4 ,in the    
next decade a single ,meissonier may be 
worth its weight in sheet gold and      
layers of ,sorollas may be stored in    
attics awaiting some fortunate auction4 
,what will ensue1 the art world over1   
before the wheel travels its full       
periphery1 no man knows4 ,it will not be
 the hysteria of paint1 ,i feel assured1
 with its dabbers1 spotters1 and        
smearers2 nor will it be the litters of 

the cub-ists1 that new breed of artistic
 pups1 sponsors for ,the girl coming    
down-stairs1 or ,the stairs coming down 
the girl1 or ,the coming girl and the   
down-stairs1 it makes no difference     
which1 all are equally incoherent and   
unintelligible2 but it will be something
 which1 at least1 will boast the element
 of beauty which is the one and only    
excuse for art's existence4 ,i may not  
live to see ,meissonier's second dawn   
and ,i never want to see ,sorolla's     
eclipse1 but you may4 ,you have only to 
remember ,turner's second high noon to  
be assured of it4         99       99   
99       99       99  ,and just here it 
might be well to consider this question 
of technic1 especially its value in     
obtaining the results desired4 ,while it
 has nothing to do with either          
selection1 composition1 or mass1 it has1
 ,i claim1 much to do with the way a    
painter expresses himself--his tone of  
voice1 his handwriting1 his gestures in 
talking1 so to speak--and therefore     

becomes an integral part of my          
discourse4 ,it may also be of service in
 the striking of a note of compromise1  
some middle ground upon which the       
extremes may one day meet4  ,to make my 
point the clearer1 let me recall an     
exhibition in ,new ,york1 held some     
years ago1 when the bonnets were five   
deep trying to get a glimpse of a       
picture of half a dozen red prelates who
 were listening to a missionary's story4
 ,many of these devotees went into      
raptures over the brass nails in the    
sofa1 and were only disappointed when   
they could not read the monogram on the 
bishop's ring4 ,later on1 a highly      
cultivated and intelligent ,american    
citizen was so entranced that he bought 
the missionary1 story and all1 for the  
price of a brown-stone front1 and       
carried him away that he might enjoy him
 forever4  ,one month later1 almost     
exactly in the same spot hung another   
picture1 the subject of which ,i forget1
 or it may be that ,i did not understand

 it or that it had no subject at all4   
,if ,i remember1 it was not like        
anything in the heavens above1 or the   
earth beneath1 or the waters under the  
earth4 ,in this respect one could have  
fallen down and worshipped it and       
escaped the charge of idolatry4 ,with   
the exception of a few stray art        
critics1 delighted at an opportunity for
 a new sensation1 it was not surrounded 
by an idolatrous gathering at all4 ,on  
the contrary1 the audience before it    
reminded me more of ,artemas ,ward and  
his panorama4  ,when ,i first exhibited 
this picture in ,new ,york1 he said1 the
 artists came with lanterns before      
daybreak to look at it1 and then they   
called for the artist1 and when he      
appeared--they threw things at him4     
,for one picture a gentleman gave a     
brown-stone front2 for the other he     
would not have given a single brick1    
unless he had been sure of planting it  
in the middle of the canvas the first   
shot4 ,the first was ,vibert's realistic

 picture so well known to you4 ,the     
other was an example of the modern      
,french school or what was then known as
 advanced impressionists4  ,i shall not 
go into an analysis of the technic of   
the two painters4 ,i refer to them and  
their brush work here because of the    
undue value set upon the way a thing is 
done rather than its value after it is  
done4  ,speaking for myself1 ,i must    
admit that the value of technic has     
never impressed me as have the other and
 greater qualities in a picture--namely1
 its expression of truth and the message
 it carries of beauty and often         
tenderness4 ,i have always held that it 
is of no moment to the world at large by
 what means and methods an artist       
expresses himself2 that the world is    
only concerned as to whether he has     
expressed himself at all2 and if so1 to 
what end and extent4  ,if the artist    
says to us1 ,i scumbled in the          
background solid1 using bitumen as an   
undertone1 then ,i dragged over my high 

lights and painted my cool color right  
into it1 it is as meaningless to most of
 us as if another bread-winner had said1
 ,i use a ,singer with a straight       
shuttle and ,no4 #fj cotton4 ,what we   
want to know is whether she made the    
shirt4  ,art terms are1 however1        
synonymous with other terms and in this 
connection may be of assistance4 ,to    
make my purpose clear we will suppose   
that technic in art is handwriting4     
,composition1 the arrangement of        
sentences4 ,details1 the choice of      
words4 ,drawing1 good grammar4 ,mass1 or
 light and shade1 contrasting           
expressions giving value each to the    
other4 ,i hold1 however1 that there is  
something more4 ,the author may write a 
good hand1 spell correctly1 and have a  
proper respect for ,lindley ,murray1 but
 what does he say8 ,what idea does he   
convey8 ,has he told us anything of     
human life1 of human love1 of human     
suffering or joy1 or uncovered for us   
any fresh hiding-place of nature and    

taught us to love it8 ,or is it only    
words8  ,it really matters very little  
to any of us what the handwriting of an 
author may be1 and so it should matter  
very little how an artist touches the   
canvas4  ,it is true that a picture     
containing and expressing an idea the   
most elevated can be painted either in  
mass or detail1 at the pleasure of the  
painter4 ,he may write in the ,munich   
style1 or after the manner of the       
,duesseldorf ready writers1 or the      
modern ,french pothook and hanger1 or   
the antiquated ,dutch4 ,he can use the  
,english of ,chaucer1 or ,shakespeare1  
or ,josh ,billings1 at his own good     
pleasure4 ,if he conveys an intelligible
 idea he has accomplished a result the  
value of which is just in proportion to 
the quality of that idea4  ,to continue 
this parallel1 it may be said that      
extreme realism is the use of too many  
words in a sentence and too many        
sentences in a paragraph2 extreme       
impressionism1 the use of too few4      

,neither1 however1 is fundamental1 and  
art can be good1 bad1 or indifferent    
containing each or combining both4      
,realism1 or1 to express it more        
clearly1 detailism1 is the realizing of 
the whole subject-matter or motive of a 
picture in exact detail4 ,impressionism 
is the generalizing of the              
subject-matter as a whole and the       
expression of only its salient features4
  ,the extreme realist or detailist of  
the ,ruskin type has for years been     
insisting that a spade was a spade and  
should be painted to look like a spade2 
that a spade was not a spade until every
 nail in the handle and every crack in  
the blade became apparent4  ,the more   
advanced would have insisted on not only
 the fibre in the wood1 but the brand on
 the other side of the blade1 had it    
been physically possible to show it4    
,in absolute contrast to this1 there    
lived a man at ,barbizon who maintained 
that a spade was not a spade at all1 but
 merely a mass of shadow against a low  

twilight sky1 in the hands of a figure  
who with uncovered head listens         
reverently2 that the spade is merely a  
symbol of labor2 that he used it as he  
would use a word necessary to express a 
sentence1 which would be unintelligible 
without it1 and that it was perfectly   
immaterial to him1 and should be to the 
world1 whether it was a spade or a      
shovel so long as the soft twilight1 and
 the reverent figures wearied with the  
day's work1 and the flat waste of field 
stretching away to the little village   
spire on the dim horizon line told the  
story of human suffering and patience   
and toil1 as with folded hands they     
listened to the soft cadence of the     
angelus4  ,which of these two methods of
 expression is correct--,ruskin or      
,millet8 ,are there any laws which      
govern1 or is it a matter of taste1     
fancy1 or feeling8 ,is it a matter of   
individuality8 ,if so1 which individual 
by his methods tells us the most truths8
 ,let us endeavor to analyze4  ,i whirl 

through a mountain gorge and catch a    
glance through a car-window--an         
impression4 ,in the darkness of the     
tunnel it remains with me4 ,i see the   
great mass of white cumuli and against  
them the dark cedars1 the straggling    
foot-path and steep cliffs4 ,i am       
impressed with the sweep of the cloud   
form pressing over and around them4     
,with my eyes closed ,i paint this on my
 brain1 and if ,i am great enough and   
wide enough and deep enough ,i can      
subdue my personality and forget my     
surroundings1 and when opportunity      
offers ,i can express upon my canvas the
 few salient facts which impressed me   
and should impress my fellow men4 ,if it
 is the silvery light of the morning1 ,i
 am ,corot2 if the day is gone and      
across the cool lagoon ,i see the ripple
 amid the tall grass catching the fading
 color of the warm sky1 ,i am ,daubigny2
 if a gray mist hangs over the hillside 
and the patches of snow half melted     
express the warmth and mellowness of the

 coming spring1 ,i am our own ,inness4  
,perhaps1 however1 ,i am not content4 ,i
 am overburdened with curiosity4 ,i say 
to myself3 ,what sort of trees1 pine or 
cedar8 ,i think1 pine1 but ,i am uneasy 
lest they should be hemlock4 ,were the  
rocks all perpendicular1 or did not     
detached bowlders line the path8 ,about 
the clouds1 were they not some small    
cirri beneath the zenith8 ,my memory is 
so bad--and so ,i stop the train and go 
back4 ,just as ,i expected4 ,the trees  
were spruce and the rocks were          
grass-grown and full of fissures1 and so
 ,i begin to paint and continue4 ,i get 
the bark on the trees1 and the foliage  
until each particular leaf stands on    
end1 and the strata of the cliffs1 and  
the very sand on the path4 ,i crowd into
 my canvas geology1 botany1 and the laws
 governing cloud forms4  ,being an      
ordinary mortal1 my curiosity1 my       
telescopic eyes1 my magnifying-glass of 
vision1 my love of truth1 my positive   
conviction that it is a spruce and      

should not be painted as a pine1 except 
through rank perjury1 all these forces  
together have undermined my impression  
or1 like thorns1 have grown up and      
choked it4 ,being honest1 ,i am ready to
 confess that before returning to the   
spot ,i was in doubt about the pine4    
,but ,i am still ready to affirm that   
what ,i have labored over is the exact  
counterfeit and presentment of nature1  
and equally willing to denounce the     
public for not seeing it as ,i do4 ,i   
forget that ,i have been a boor and a   
vulgarian--that ,i have been invited to 
a feast and that ,i have pried into     
mysteries which my goddess would veil   
from my sight2 that ,i have had the     
impertinence to bring my own personal   
advice into the discussion2 that ,i have
 insisted that fissures1 and leaves1 and
 sand1 and infinite detail were         
necessary to this expression of nature's
 sublimity4  ,is it at all strange that 
the impression which so charmed me as ,i
 saw it from my car-window has faded8   

,nature unrolled for me suddenly a poem4
 ,for symbols she used a great mass of  
dark1 sturdy trees against a majestic   
cloud1 a rugged cliff1 and a straggling 
path4 ,i have ignored them all and      
insisted that truth was mighty and must 
prevail4 ,i am a realist and paint      
things as they are4 ,not so4 ,i am an   
iconoclast and have broken my god and   
cannot put together the pieces4 ,i have 
sacrificed a divine impression to a     
human realism4  ,suppose1 however1 that 
the painter who had this glimpse of     
nature before entering the tunnel was no
 ordinary man1 but a man of steadfast   
mind1 of firm convictions1 of a sure    
touch1 with an absolute belief in       
nature1 and so reverential that he dare 
not offer even a suggestion of his own4 
,he has seen it2 he has felt it2 it has 
gone down deep into his memory and      
heart4 ,the cloud1 the cliff1 the mass1 
the path--that is all4 ,and it is       
enough4 ,the annoyances of the day1 the 
seductions of fresh impressions of newer

 subjects1 the weakness of the flesh do 
not deter him4 ,with a single aim1 to   
the exclusion of all else1 and with a   
direct simplicity1 he records what he   
saw1 and lo6 we have a poem4 ,such a man
 was ,courbet1 ,corot1 ,dupre4  ,but one
 would say3 ,that may answer for        
landscape3 what about the               
figure-painter8 ,let us counsel         
together4  ,a man only rises to his own 
level4 ,in art1 as in music and         
literature1 he only expresses himself4  
,each selects his own method4 ,the      
school of ,meissonier is not content    
with a few grand truths simply          
expressed4 ,they want a multitude of    
facts2 they must tell the story in their
 own way4 ,they are the ,dickens and    
,walter ,scott of art4 ,it is iteration 
and reiteration4 ,my cardinal must not  
only have red stockings1 says ,vibert1  
but they must be silk2 every detail must
 be elaborated4 ,very well1 what of it8 
you say4 ,what do you criticise1 the    
drawing8 ,no4 ,the color8 ,no4 ,the     

composition8 ,no4 ,does the painter     
express himself8 ,perfectly4 ,what then8
 ,just this4 ,he expresses himself too  
perfectly4 ,at first ,i am delighted4   
,the story is so well told--the well-fed
 prelates2 the half-sneer2 the cynical  
smile2 the earnest missionary telling   
his experience4 ,but the next           
day8--well1 he is still telling it4 ,by 
the end of the week the enjoyment is    
confined to allowing him to tell it to a
 fresh eye1 and that eye another's1 and 
watching his pleasure4 ,at the end of   
the year it becomes a part of the       
decoration of the wall4 ,you perhaps    
feel that the frame needs retouching1   
and that is all the impression it makes 
upon you1 except as would an old        
timepiece with the mainspring gone4 ,the
 works are exquisite and the enamelling 
charming1 but it has been four o'clock  
for forty years4  ,in the library1      
however1 hangs an etching which you     
often look at2 in fact1 you never pass  
it without noticing it4 ,two figures1 a 

wheelbarrow1 a spade1 a stretch of      
country1 a spire pencilled against a    
low-tone sky2 and yet1 somehow1 you hear
 the tolling of the bell and the        
whispered prayer4 ,ah6 but you say this 
has nothing to do with the treatment2 it
 is the subject4 ,one moment4 ,the      
missionary's story is as full of pathos 
and of human suffering and courage as   
the ,angelus1 and at first as profoundly
 stirs our sympathy2 but1 in one1       
,vibert has monopolized the             
conversation2 he has exhausted the      
subject2 he has told you everything he  
knows4 ,nothing has been omitted2 nails1
 monograms1 and all2 there is nothing   
left for you to supply--he is not so    
complimentary4 ,but ,millet has taken   
you into his confidence4 ,he says3      
,come1 see what ,i once saw4 ,do you    
ever remember any such couple working in
 the field8 ,and you immediately1 and   
unconsciously to yourself1 remember just
 such a bent back and reverent1         
uncovered head4 ,where1 you cannot tell1

 for the picture comes to you out of the
 dim lumber-room in your brain where you
 store your old memories and faint      
impressions of bygone days and sad      
faces4  ,but if he added1 ,see1 my      
peasant wears a woollen jacket trimmed  
with worsted braid1 your impression     
would immediately fade4 ,you might      
remember the jacket1 but the braid1     
never4 ,but for this it would have been 
delightful for you1 although            
unconsciously1 to add your own sweet    
memory to the picture4  ,another        
impression choked to death with         
unnecessary realism4  ,but be you       
realist or impressionist1 remember that 
a true work of art is that which has    
pleased the greatest number of people   
for the longest period of time2 that the
 love of beauty indicates our highest   
intellectual plane1 and that if you will
 express to your fellow sinners burdened
 with life's cares something of the     
enthusiasm of your own life1 and will   
assist them to see their mother earth   

through your own eyes in constantly     
increasing beauty--you having by your   
art1 in your possession1 the key to the 
cipher1 and interpreting and translating
 for them--you will confer upon them one
 of the greatest blessings which fall to
 their lot on this mundane sphere4      
,,water-,,colors   ,color1 if you stop  
to think1 is really the decorative touch
 which ,god gives to the universe4 ,it  
would have been just as easy to make    
everything gray--every rose but the     
shadow of itself--every tree and rock   
and cloud a monotone of gradation4      
,instead of that1 everything we look at1
 from a violet to an overbending sky1 is
 enriched and glorified by millions of  
color tones as infinite in their        
gradation as the waves of sound and     
light4 ,even in the grayest days1 when  
the clouds are bursting into tears and  
the whole landscape is desolate as the  
barrenest and bleakest of mountain      
sides1 these infinite gradations of     
color permeate and redeem its           

barrenness1 and to the true painter fill
 it with joy and beauty4  ,there are    
many of us1 however1 who are not true   
painters and to whom the most exquisite 
of color schemes are but dull results4  
,many of us walk around our galleries   
passing the best pictures in silence2   
others ridicule what they cannot        
understand4 ,even our own beloved ,mark 
,twain1 whose heart was always open to  
the best and warmest of human           
impressions1 and who expressed them in  
every line of his pen1 when led up to   
one of ,turner's masterpieces1 ,the     
,slave ,ship1 a glory of red1 yellow1   
and blue running riot over a sunset sky1
 the whole reflected in a troubled sea1 
remarked to his companion3 ,very        
wonderful6 ,seen it before4 ,always     
reminds me of a tortoise-shell cat      
having a fit in a plate of tomato soup4 
,the education of such barbarians       
belongs to our generation and should be 
taken up by those of us who know or     
think we do4 ,for true color is as great

 an educator as true music4 ,this       
knowledge of color harmony1 this        
matching and contrasting of different   
colors1 but very few men and women      
possess4 ,when they do1 it is generally 
inherited and thus a natural gift4 ,the 
rest of the world wear blue and purple1 
or orange and green1 entirely ignorant  
of the harmonies of nature even as      
bearing on their domestic surroundings4 
,for myself1 ,i have always held that   
the most perfect harmonies required in  
either wall decoration1 furniture1 dress
 goods1 or any other fabrics that color 
enters into1 have their exact           
counterpart in some color tones of      
nature--that the russet-browns and      
yellows of autumn2 the contrasting      
opalescent hues of a morning sky1       
rose-pink1 pale blue1 or delicate       
tea-rose yellow2 the gloom of a forest  
with its yellow-grays and blue-grays1   
the gray-green moss of the lichens1 the 
brown of the tree-trunks1 the black and 
gray hues of the rocks1 all these1 if   

carefully studied and analyzed and      
reproduced1 would make beautiful        
anything in the world from a bonnet to a
 chateau4 ,to illustrate3  ,several     
years ago an intimate friend of mine1 a 
distinguished architect of ,new ,york1  
the late ,mr4 ,bruce ,price1 in         
designing a number of cottages at       
,tuxedo sought in vain for some color   
mixture current in the paint-shops with 
which to cover the outside of his       
buildings4 ,all schemes of browns1      
olive-greens1 colonial yellow with white
 trimmings and the reverse1 ,pompeiian  
reds1 slate-grays1 and dull yellows     
resulted in making spots of the houses1 
so that the effect he wished to produce1
 that of the houses being merged into   
the forest1 was lost4 ,mr4 ,price was   
not only an architect1 but he was an    
artist as well4 ,he had little skill    
with his brush1 but he had that innate  
good taste1 with a keen eye to discern  
the subtle gradations in color1 that    
only needed change of occupation to make

 him a painter4 ,one day1 looking at a  
new bare wooden cottage--unpainted as   
yet--in contrast to a mass of foliage in
 the early autumn before the leaves had 
begun to turn1 in which the yellow-grays
 one often sees predominated1 he        
suddenly thought to himself3 ,the       
tree-trunks and underbrush do not stand 
out2 they are all of one piece1 each    
keeping its place1 while my house--as he
 rather inelegantly but forcibly        
expressed it--sticks up like a sore     
thumb4 ,later1 this very clever man made
 an analysis of the local color in these
 several grays1 and his subsequent      
matching and combining of these         
different tints resulted in the exact   
tones of the forest before him1 and when
 this was completed and the house       
painted you felt should you enter the   
front door that the leaves must be over 
your head4  ,bringing the discussion    
down to more practical details1 really  
to the palettes which we hold in our    
hands1 the question then naturally      

arises as to how best to express true   
local color1 with its varying blues1    
yellows1 and reds1 and especially its   
varying grays4  ,in my own experience ,i
 find grays to be the prevailing tones  
everywhere in nature4  ,i find also that
 the great masters of modern art1       
particularly the school of #ahcj1 known 
as the ,barbizon school1 and represented
 by such men as ,rousseau1 ,corot1      
,daubigny1 ,diaz1 and ,millet1 and later
 by men who in some degree represent    
that school1 but to my mind have done   
work equally good--even ,montenard and  
,cazin--that all these masters have     
loved1 sought for1 and expressed in     
their work this all-prevailing quality1 
the gray4  ,a few very simple rules for 
testing the power1 presence1 and quality
 of the prevailing gray in nature are so
 easily learned and so convincing in    
their application that once applied they
 are never forgotten4  ,take1 for       
instance1 a morning in late spring or   
early summer1 when all nature is dressed

 from tree-top to grass-blade in a suit 
of vivid green4 ,to a tyro with so      
dangerous a weapon as a color-box1 there
 is nothing that will really bring down 
this game but some explosive composed of
 indigo and ,indian yellow1 or ,prussian
 blue and light cadmium--perhaps the    
strongest mixture of vivid raw green4   
,now1 pluck a single leaf from a near-by
 branch1 hold it close to one eye1 and  
with this as a guide note the difference
 in color tones between it and the      
leaves on the tree from which you       
plucked the leaf and which you had      
believed to be a vivid green4 ,to your  
surprise1 the leaf itself1 even with the
 sun shining through it1 is many tones  
lower and grayer than the color of the  
near-by branch as depicted on your      
paper1 while the near-by branch1 in     
comparison1 pales into a sable          
gray-green1 which you could perhaps get 
with yellow ochre1 blue-black1 and a    
touch of chrome-yellow4  ,it does not   
seem to me that ,i can better illustrate

 this quality of the gray than by       
rapidly going over some of the works of 
,george ,inness lately on exhibition in 
,new ,york--certainly to me the most    
marvellous examples of the power of a   
human mind to harmonize the subtle      
colorings of nature4 ,i select ,inness  
not only because he is to me one of the 
great landscape-painters of his day1 but
 because he chooses a very wide range of
 subjects1 from early morning to        
twilight1 expressing these truthfully1  
absolutely1 perfectly1 so far as local  
color is concerned--that is1 of course1 
as ,i see through either my own         
spectacles or ,inness's2 but1 then1     
remember1 our eyes may need repair4     
,when these canvases are analyzed we    
find in the range of color nothing      
stronger than yellow ochre in yellows1  
than light red in reds1 and1 with hardly
 an exception1 blue-black for blues4    
,indeed1 his usual palette1 as does     
,mauve's and ,cazin's1 seems to me to be
 only yellow ochre and blue-black1 and  

with these two colors he expresses the  
whole range of the color scheme in      
nature1 with the varying lights of day  
and night1 except in depicting sunsets4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,after the salient features of a        
landscape have been analyzed and        
recorded in color1 the more subtle      
qualities are to be detected and        
expressed4 ,the most important of these 
is the time of day4 ,to an outdoor      
painter--an expert examining the work of
 another expert--the hour-hand is       
written over every square inch of the   
canvas4 ,he knows from the angle of the 
shadows just how high the sun was in the
 heavens1 and he knows1 too1 from the   
local color of the shadows whether it is
 a silvery light of the morning1 the    
glare of noontime1 or the deepening     
golden glow of the afternoon4 ,in fact1 
if you will think for a moment1 the     
shadow of an overhanging balcony upon a 
white wall is a perfect sun-dial for    
him1 and this test can be indefinitely  

applied to every part of the picture4   
,the next is the temperature3 how hot or
 how cold it was--what month in the     
year8 ,it is unnecessary for ,inness to 
cover his ground with snow to make his  
picture express a certain degree of     
cold1 neither is it necessary for       
,montenard to fill his ,provencal roads 
with clouds of dust to show how hot they
 are4 ,this is done by the opalescent   
tones of the sky1 by the values         
expressed in reflected lights and in the
 illuminated shadows1 so that you feel  
in looking across one of ,inness's      
fields of brown grass just how late is  
the autumn and just how cool it has     
been1 and in looking down one of        
,montenard's roads you realize how      
useless would be an overcoat4           
,illustration3 ,under the ,willows1     
,cookham-on-,thames  ,in this connection
 let me say that all nature is          
interesting and all nature is beautiful1
 but all nature1 as ,i have said1 is not
 paintable4 ,the interior of a railroad 

station1 for instance1 is interesting1  
as giving you certain mechanical        
results1 construction1 but it is not    
picturesque--that is1 paintable--unless 
one could treat it as ,pennell does1    
contrasting the black cars and          
locomotive with a puff of white steam1  
giving the vistas with the perspective  
of track1 and a centre mass of people   
adding an idea of movement and color4   
,above all1 the outdoor painter should  
get the character and feeling of the    
place he portrays on his canvas4 ,if in 
,spain1 his picture must look like      
,spain4 ,the air must be transparent1   
the architecture clean-cut against the  
azure4 ,if it be ,holland1 the          
atmosphere must be moist1 the air like a
 veil1 and with all this there must be  
nothing in the work that will be        
mistaken for the smoke-laden air of     
,england4 ,only thus1 by this fidelity  
to the very nature and spirit of a      
place1 can the picture be made to       
express the essence of its life1 which  

is really the heart of the whole        
mystery4  ,coming at last to our text1  
,water-,colors--the art of depicting    
nature on a sheet of white paper by     
paints diluted with water--it will be   
well to remind you that the art goes    
back to almost prehistoric times4 ,a few
 weeks ago1 in the library of ,mr4      
,jesse ,carter1 director of the         
,american ,academy in ,rome1 ,i saw one 
of the earliest water-colors in         
existence4 ,it was painted upon a sheet 
of slate1 and1 although some thousands  
of years old1 still retained its color  
and remarkable brilliancy4 ,the subject 
was a group of figures1 the centre      
object being a girl of wonderful grace4 
,the present art of water-color         
painting1 with a sheet of white paper as
 background instead of the permanent    
stone1 is1 however1 but little more than
 one hundred and fifty years old1 and   
owes its existence largely to the men of
 the ,english school4  ,mr4 ,c4 ,e4     
,hughes1 in his delightful book on      

,early ,english ,water ,color1 confined 
this ,english school to the men born    
between the years #agbj and #ahbj4  ,in 
this group he places the great          
,gainsborough1 who from #agfj to #aggd  
worked in charcoal and water-color on   
tinted paper1 which he said he loved to 
dash off of an evening1 and which       
dazzled the fine ladies and gentlemen   
who frequented the select watering-place
 of ,bath1 where he was then living4    
,then came ,robert ,cozens1 the brothers
 ,sanby1 ,thomas ,hearne1 ,thomas       
,malton1 ,samuel ,scott1 and a few      
others1 all known as the                
eighteenth-century painters4  ,these    
were succeeded by ,thomas ,girtin1 who  
was born in #agge and died at           
twenty-seven years of age2 and the great
 ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner1 who first saw the 
light in the same year1 and on the day  
on which all great ,englishmen should be
 born--namely1 ,april #bc--;a day       
dedicated to ,st4 ,george and the       
birthday of ,william ,shakespeare4      

,girtin and ,turner worked together4    
,girtin1 measured by the standard of    
to-day1 was an extreme impressionist1   
leaving behind him sketches dashed in   
with an appearance of freedom which     
,peter ,de,wint and ,david ,cox might   
have envied when in after years they    
were at the height of their power4      
,turner1 on the contrary1 devoted his   
time to acquiring that triumphant grasp 
of detail which caused him to be known  
in his earlier life as an extreme       
realist4  ,the change in ,turner's      
work--the broader brush--came in his    
later years when oil became his medium  
of expression1 in which1 no doubt1 his  
ability to note and yet sacrifice all   
unnecessary detail was a potent factor4 
,a list of ,englishmen greatly prized in
 their day now follows4 ,such men as    
,john ,varly1 ,gilpin1 ,glover1 ,william
 ,havell 7all of whom during some part  
of their careers were members of the    
first ,water ,color ,society formed in  
,england1 in #ahjd1 which body still    

survives in the old ,water ,color       
,society whose rooms are still open on  
,pall ,mall ,east7 rose into prominence1
 their works finding places both in     
private and public collections4  ,this  
society was in turn succeeded by the    
,new ,society of ,painters in ,miniature
 and ,water ,colors1 which came into    
being in #ahjg and went out of existence
 in #ahab--;a victim1 says ,hughes1 of  
the condition of public apathy which    
brought about in the same year a        
reconstruction of the older organization
 under the joint title of the ,oil and  
,water ,color ,society1 and which eked  
out a precarious existence until the    
birth of the association now known as   
the ,royal ,institute for ,painters in  
,water ,colors4  ,other names now       
confront us1 among them two men1 ,david 
,cox and ,peter ,de,wint1 who in their  
day were considered masters of the      
medium4 ,these last struck a new note in
 water-color1 or rather a new technic in
 its handling4 ,what ,ruskin1 the       

realist1 in his ,modern ,painters       
describes as blottesque was at that time
 looked upon by both teachers and       
students as the one and only means by   
which white paper could be properly     
stained4 ,this method1 to quote from a  
loyal believer in the ,english          
transparent school1 and whose enthusiasm
 is delightful1 was the laying on of the
 color in washes which filled certain   
definite spaces indicated by a          
pen-and-ink outline4  ,these washes     
would indicate1 say1 a distant tree with
 a preliminary tint and a subsequent    
elaboration2 he would do it all in one  
process1 giving his blot an irregular   
edge and allowing the color to          
accumulate where the shadows required   
it4 ,his elaborative touches elsewhere  
were of the same nature4 ,they were     
brush blots as distinct from washes4 ,to
 this1 ,i think1 we may attribute on    
analysis the freedom of handling        
which--though each man has his          
distinctive method--is characteristic of

 both ,cox and ,de,wint4 ,if we add to  
these two methods of using the brush a  
third--its manipulation as though it    
were a pen--we shall have all the fluid 
processes on one or the other of which  
the beauty of all modern water-color    
drawings depends4 ,a fourth process is  
rubbing the color into the grain of the 
paper4 ,a fifth--a supplementary one--is
 scratching out4 ,last is the ignominy  
of the stipple--the wetting of the brush
 in the mouth1 a technic entirely       
dependent upon the quantity of saliva   
the student can spare for his work4     
,almost every early wash water-color in 
existence can be classified according to
 the employment in its making of some or
 all of these means4  ,in later years1  
especially in the last half of the      
eighteenth century1 we have ,copley     
,fielding2 ,prout1 with his picturesque 
sepia drawings1 the detail of his       
architecture in brown ink2 ,harding2    
,bonnington1 really a great man2        
,clarkson ,stanfield2 ,rowbotham2 ,david

 ,roberts2 ,james ,holland2 ,cattermole1
 who declined a knighthood and whose    
intimates were ,dickens1 ,disraeli1 and 
,thackeray2 and so on down to the men of
 to-day1 who are so well and ably       
represented in the annual exhibitions of
 the ,royal ,academy and the present    
,english ,water ,color ,societies4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,as for our own progress in the art1 the
 subject1 of course1 is too well known  
for long discussion4 ,our oldest        
society1 the ,american ,water ,color    
,society1 held its first public         
exhibition in the ,national ,academy of 
,design in ,new ,york in #ahfg1 a date  
always remembered by me with infinite   
pride and pleasure1 for upon the walls  
of the smallest room close up under the 
roof was hung my first exhibited        
water-color--the only one of my three   
the hanging committee were good enough  
to accept4 ,two years later--,i am happy
 to say--in #ahfi1 ,i was elected a     
member1 and ,i am further happy to say  

that ,i am still in good standing and in
 high-hanging1 and have so continued    
from that day down to the present       
time--a trifle of some forty-six years4 
,as to my compatriots1 ,i can truthfully
 say that its membership covers some of 
the great water-colorists of our own or 
any other time1 both here and           
abroad--men entirely free to do as they 
pleased1 working in anything and all    
things so long as1 to use their own     
expression1 they get there1 handling    
body color1 in a veil of silver-gray as 
an overwash or squeezed in chunks from a
 tube2 undertones of charcoal gray1     
overtones of pastel--anything for       
quality4  ,their names are legion3 the  
late ,e4 ,a4 ,abbey1 ,walter ,palmer1   
,chase1 the late ,robert ,blum1 ,f4 ,s4 
,church1 ,cooper1 ,curran1 ,eaton1      
,farrer1 the two ,smillies1 ,childe     
,hassam1 ,keller1 ,murphy1 ,nicoll1     
,potthast1 the late ,henry ,smith1 etc41
 etc4  ,these are but a haphazard choice
 of the men whose work shows the widest 

ranges in selection1 composition1 mass1 
and technic1 and who1 in the world of   
water-color painting1 are masters of the
 medium4  ,as to our progenitors1 the   
,english water-color school--and ,i make
 the statement with every respect for   
their high accomplishments--while ,i    
believe we are indebted to them for the 
very existence of the art itself1 ,i    
must say that our own men and art-lovers
 the world over would have been vastly  
benefited had these ,englishmen allowed 
themselves a little more freedom in     
their methods and not followed so       
blindly the traditions of their past4   
,that we broke away so early is as much 
a question of race as of training4 ,the 
last idea that enters the heads of our  
own men is that they want either to     
paint or to draw like somebody else4    
,they all want to paint like themselves1
 or they do not want to paint at all4   
,they are so many art sponges4 ,they go 
abroad1 wander about the ,grosvenor and 
the exhibitions1 run over to ,paris and 

haunt the ,salon and shops1 and so on to
 ,munich and ,berlin1 picking up a      
technical touch here or a new idea of   
grouping or mass or color scheme there1 
and then1 having thoroughly absorbed it 
all1 return home and use whatever suits 
them2 but a slavish imitation of any one
 ,english1 ,french1 or ,german          
master--never2 neither do they follow   
any other brush at home4 ,they do not   
believe in each other sufficiently to   
pay the highest form of                 
flattery--imitation4  ,nor do many of   
them find their subjects abroad--a habit
 practised these many years by your     
humble speaker1 whose only excuse is    
that he must paint1 no matter where he  
is1 and that his life in the summer-time
 is dominated by his two children1 both 
exiles1 and more exactingly still in    
late years by two little grandboys who  
have not as yet crossed the ocean4 ,no1 
these young ,american painters1 with    
hardly an exception1 find their subjects
 at home1 and they choose wisely4  ,and 

just here it can be said that if we are 
ever to have a school that will leave   
its impress on the art of the world1 the
 task will be the easier if our men find
 their subjects at home--if they will   
show our own people the beauty1 dignity1
 and grandeur of the material that lies 
under their very eyes1 and also teach   
those fellows on the other side to      
respect us1 both because we can paint   
and because we have the things to paint 
from4 ,with a mountain and river scenery
 unrivalled on the globe2 with          
rock-bound coasts breaking the full     
surge of an ocean2 with forests of      
towering trees compared to which in     
girth and height the trees of all other 
lands are but toothpicks2 with plains   
ending in films of blue haze and valleys
 sparkling with myriads of waterfalls2  
with every type of the human race       
blended in our own1 or distinct as are  
the woodman of ,maine and the soft-eyed 
mulatto of ,louisiana2 with a history   
filled with traditions most             

romantic--,aztec1 ,indian1 and negro2   
with women who move like ,greek         
goddesses and children whose faces are  
divine1 why go away from home to find   
something to paint8 ,winslow ,homer     
never did1 and that's why his work will 
live when the painters of ,egyptian     
harems1 ,spanish dancers1 and ,dutch and
 ,venetian boats and palaces are        
forgotten4  ,to take a specific example 
or two1 what subject1 for instance1 is  
more worthy of a great master's brush   
than ,homer's ,undertow1 two            
half-drowned young bathers locked in    
each other's arms1 the two beachmen     
dragging them clear of the mighty1      
blue-green wave curving behind them8    
,here is a subject of almost weekly     
occurrence on our coast4 ,who ever      
thought of painting it before8 ,and that
 marvellous picture of ,the ,cotton     
,pickers4 ,this1 to me1 was the first   
clear note ,homer had sounded4 ,the     
,prisoners to the ,front1 painted just  
after the war1 was a strong1 realistic  

picture1 true and forceful in color and 
composition1 and1 of course1 admirable  
in drawing1 but that was all4 ,it told  
its story at once1 and having heard it  
to the end you acknowledged its truth   
and went away content4 ,but ,the ,cotton
 ,pickers left something more in your   
mind4 ,the gray dawn of the morning     
dimly lighted up a field of cotton1 the 
negro quarters on the horizon line2     
dotted here and there1 bending over the 
bolls1 were groups of negroes1 singly   
and in pairs1 filling their bags2 in the
 foreground walked two young negro      
girls1 the foremost a dark mulatto--the 
whole story of ,southern slavery written
 in every line of her patient1          
uncomplaining face4  ,this picture alone
 placed ,homer in the first rank of     
,american painters of his day1 and he   
has never lost this place1 for not only 
was the picture all it should be in     
composition and mass1 but1 unlike many  
of ,homer's pictures of an earlier      
period1 it was deliciously gray and cool

 in tone4 ,it places him also in the    
front rank of the painters of our time4 
,jules ,breton never gave us anything   
more pleasing1 and never anything       
stronger in drawing1 more true to life1 
or more poetic in conception and        
treatment4 ,i mention ,breton because1  
of the men on the other side1 he is the 
only one who affects1 so to speak1 a    
similar line of subjects4 ,breton loves 
his peasants and paints them as if he   
did4 ,homer loved his subjects entirely 
in the same spirit4 ,how unequally the  
two men have been rewarded you all know4
 ,an all-wise ,american who some years  
ago offered #dj1jjj for a ,breton at    
auction could not at the time have been 
induced to give one-tenth of that amount
 for a ,homer2 and yet1 for vigor1      
truth1 sentiment1 and technic--yes1     
technic1 for this picture was superbly  
painted--,the ,cotton ,pickers1 in my   
judgment1 will outlive the other if the 
time should ever come when              
picture-buyers think for themselves4    

,the ,englishman1 on the other hand1 is 
the hardest man to pull out of a groove4
 ,what has been is good enough for him1 
whether in architecture1 art1 politics1 
or government4 ,any one who objects1 or 
seeks to improve or to point out a new  
and different way1 is anathema4 ,it is  
hardly more than twenty years ago that  
,john ,sargent1 whose works are often   
the strongest drawing card in the annual
 exhibitions1 was ignored by the jury of
 the ,royal ,academy4  ,a slap-dash sort
 of a painter1 my dear boy4 ,most       
dangerous to allow his things to come   
in4 ,no drawing1 you know1 no           
finish--altogether out of the question4 
,so spoke a ,royal ,academician when the
 question was broached4  ,whistler never
 found a vacant spot1 no matter how     
high1 where he could hang even a #aj x  
#ad4  ,a mountebank in paint1 my dear   
sir4 ,think of giving him a place       
alongside of ,sir ,frederick ,leighton6 
,impossible6 ,absolutely impossible6    
,that the ,luxembourg exhibited his     

portrait of his mother1 and that the art
 critics of ,europe voted it one of the 
greatest portraits of modern times1 made
 no difference4 ,these ,royal wiseacres 
knew better4 ,some of them still think  
they know better1 a fact easily         
ascertained when you walk through the   
,exhibition1 as ,i do every summer1 and 
have continued to do for the past thirty
 years4  ,and this adherence to         
tradition is not confined entirely to   
technic--,i refer now to many of the    
,english painters of to-day--but appears
 in their choice of subjects as well4   
,it is the subjects which have been     
successful--that is1 which have been    
sold--that must be painted over and     
over4 ,anything new is a departure1 and 
a departure from the standard in the    
selection of a subject is as dangerous  
as a departure in the cut of a coat or  
the color of one's gloves--or was as    
dangerous until ,sargent1 ,abbey1 ,frank
 ,brangwyn1 and men of that ilk smashed 
the current idols and taught men a new  

religion4 ,a small congregation1 it is  
true1 but big enough for them to gather 
together to sing hymns of praise and    
pray for better things4  ,let me        
illustrate what ,i mean by conforming to
 the standard4 ,three years ago ,i was  
painting near a village1 an hour from   
,paddington--a lovely spot on the ,river
 ,thames4 ,this quaint settlement is one
 of those little1 waterside1            
old-fashioned-inn places1 all drooping  
trees1 punts1 millions of roses1        
tumble-down cottages1 stretches of      
meadows with the silver thread of the   
,thames glistening in the sunlight4     
,there is also a bridge1 a wonderful old
 brick bridge1 stepping across on three 
arches1 mould-incrusted1 blackened by   
time1 masses of green rushes clustered  
about its feet--a most picturesque and  
lovable bridge1 known to about everybody
 who has ever visited that section of   
,england4  ,i had been there for a week1
 making my headquarters at the ,white   
,hart1 when my attention was attracted  

to a man across the river--it is quite  
narrow here--a painter1 evidently1 who  
seemed to be surrounded by a collection 
of canvases4 ,he went through the same  
motions every day1 and then my curiosity
 got the better of me and ,i went over  
to see him4  ,spread out on the grass   
lay eight canvases1 all of one size1 and
 each one containing a picture of the   
old brick bridge4  ,but why eight all   
alike8 ,i asked in astonishment4        
,because ,i can't sell anything else4 ,i
 am known as the ,sonning ,bridge       
painter4 ,i've been at it for twenty    
years4  ,it is with this sort of thing1 
either in the selection of a subject1 in
 its treatment1 or in its handling1 that
 ,i have but little sympathy1 even      
though the great ,ruskin1 in speaking of
 this same ,english water-color school1 
the one ,i have catalogued for you1     
insists that it is the only true school 
of landscape which has yet existed1 an  
appreciation which is followed by the   
outburst that from the last landscape of

 ,tintoret1 if we look for life we will 
pass at once to the first landscape of  
,turner4 ,it is1 of course1 only one of 
,ruskin's dictatorial statements1       
admirable when written1 because it was  
read and approved by a class who knew no
 better and who accepted his words as   
other blind devotees obeyed the ,delphic
 ,oracle--statements1 however1 which are
 rejected by many of to-day who think   
for themselves and who think clearly1   
having the world's work spread open     
before them from which to judge4  ,once 
in wandering around the ,academia of    
,venice1 taking in for the fiftieth time
 ,titian's masterpiece1 ,i came across  
an ,englishman who had paused in his    
walk and was adjusting his long-distance
 telescope--a monocle glued just under  
his left eyebrow4 ,mistaking my         
red-backed sketch-book for a ,baedeker1 
he said1 in an apologetic tone3  ,pardon
 me--,i've left mine at home--but will  
you be good enough to tell me what ,mr4 
,ruskin says about that picture8        

99       99       99       99       99  
,that ,i have personally refused to     
follow either ,mr4 ,ruskin or the       
example of the men he places on so high 
a pinnacle--,i am now referring entirely
 to their technic--is due to my having  
painted all my life out-of-doors1 the   
best place in which a man can study     
nature at close range4 ,this experience 
has taught me that weight and solidity  
are as important in the rendering of a  
natural object as air and perspective1  
and that the staining of paper with     
washes of transparent color does not and
 cannot give them4  ,nor can any        
brilliant light1 a crisp1 snapping      
light--a glint of the sun's rays1 for   
instance1 on the break of the surf1 or  
on the round of a glossy leaf1          
reflecting like a mirror the opaque     
sky--ever be achieved by careful working
 around the edges of an unwashed speck  
of paper--the transparent man's only    
means of expressing a high light4  ,nor 
will a single dab of ,chinese white     

produce the effect of it1 should it be  
the only dab of opaque white in the     
composition4 ,the result in this case is
 still worse1 for if transparent color  
has any value when uniformly distributed
 it is in the expression of air and     
perspective4 ,the dab1 then1 is         
instantly out of plane1 as it comes     
nearer to the eye than the transparent  
wash about it1 and the illusion of      
distance is accordingly lost4  ,but     
another and quite a different thing     
occurs when the opaque color forms part 
of the whole1 the two systems blending  
each with the other4 ,to illustrate1 my 
own experience has taught me that in    
nature whatever the sun shines upon is  
opaque4 ,the facade of a cathedral1 for 
instance1 facing a sky where the rays of
 the sun strike it full is opaque1 while
 the angles of the architecture1 casting
 shadows large and small into which sink
 the blue reflections of the sky or the 
reflected lights from near-by objects1  
are invariably transparent4         99  

99       99       99       99  ,and now 
for my own system and the reasons why ,i
 have abandoned all other systems4 ,and 
in giving them to you ,i want to repeat 
what ,i said in the beginning of this   
course1 that ,i do not ask you students 
to follow in my footsteps if your       
predilections1 training1 and innate     
consciences lead you to a different view
 of treatment4 ,many of you may not like
 my work at all1 and you certainly have 
a large following1 especially among the 
younger men and women who have advanced 
ideas4 ,many of you hold to the opinion 
that water-color men should stick to    
their trade and not encroach upon the   
oil painters in their technic4 ,and many
 of you may at heart prefer1 nay1 even  
delight in1 the broad1 loose washes of  
the early ,english school4  ,there may  
be a few of you1 however1 who have open 
minds free from prejudice and free from 
the traditions of the past1 and who are 
dissatisfied with the want of virility1 
if ,i may so express it1 shown in       

pictures painted on white paper1 and    
with successive washings1 and may       
accordingly see something in my own     
methods which may encourage you to      
follow in the path which ,i have cleared
 and which ,i humbly trust will lead to 
infinitely better results than ,i have  
so far achieved4  ,and in this you must 
have the courage of your opinions and be
 prepared for criticisms4 ,those who are
 against me are more numerous than those
 who are for me and my methods4  ,only  
last month a distinguished ,new ,york   
daily paper1 in reviewing a recent      
exhibition1 said3  ,there really is     
nothing left to say about ,mr4 ,smith's 
water-colors4 ,they appear with such    
unfailing regularity and are always so  
much the same4 ,nothing in the present  
collection will surprise those who know 
his work--and who does not8 ,the        
artist's facility is undiminished1 his  
industry untiring1 but to look for any  
fresh inspiration in his work or a hint 
of anything but a conventional vision   

has long been a vain hope4  ,i should be
 discouraged if ,i thought that this was
 the last word on my work4 ,i know      
better1 because ,i am making a          
collection of such criticisms1 showing  
the rating of our several painters4     
,these summings up of mine will be      
extremely valuable as marking the       
changing taste of the public2 for ,i    
have never supposed that either ill will
 or downright ignorance formed the basis
 of current criticism4 ,the critics are 
merely expressing the trend of public   
opinion4 ,it is not new to our age4     
,diaz1 so one story goes1 once came     
stumping 7he had lost one leg7 into     
,millet's cottage at ,barbizon fresh    
from the ,salon4 ,millet had been       
painting nudes--the most exquisite bits 
of flesh-painting seen for many a day1  
and as modest as ,chabas ,september     
,morn4  ,what do they say of my things8 
asked ,millet4  ,that you are still     
painting naked women1 replied ,diaz4    
,millet was horrified4  ,i paint naked  

women6 ,i never painted one in my life4 
,hence ,the ,angelus and ,the ,sowers   
and the other masterpieces of clothed   
peasants4  ,in #ahbe ,constable writes  
in answer to a scurrilous attack made on
 his so-called puerile efforts3         
,remember the great were not made for   
me1 nor was ,i for the great4 ,my       
limited and abstractive art is to be    
found under every hedge and in every    
lane1 and therefore nobody thinks it    
worth while picking up4 ,my art flatters
 nobody by imitation3 it courts nobody  
by smoothness3 it tickles nobody by     
politeness3 it is without either        
fol-de-rol or fiddle-de-dee4 ,how can ,i
 hope to be popular8  ,ruskin's attack  
on ,whistler is another case in point4  
,a lawsuit followed and ,whistler       
recovered one farthing damages1 and had 
the effrontery to dangle it under the   
great critic's nose that same night at a
 reception where they both met1 followed
 by the remark3  ,beat you1 old man4    
,even ,mr4 ,thackeray went out of his   

way in his art notes to belittle and    
ridicule ,sir ,thomas ,lawrence because 
he lacked what he called the virility of
 his progenitors and associates4        
99       99       99       99       99  
,and now for my own system4  ,i use a   
heavy1 gray charcoal paper1 which is    
made by ,dupre  ,company1 ,no4 #ada     
,faubourg ,st4 ,honore1 ,paris1 and     
which costs about ten cents per sheet1  
measuring about #dj x #cj inches each4  
,this paper is evenly ribbed but without
 the intermittent bands seen often in   
the lighter charcoal paper1 known as    
,michelet1 sold everywhere in our own   
art stores4 ,dupre will send this paper 
to anybody who applies for it4  ,this   
paper ,i wet on both sides and          
thumb-tack over an oil canvas the size  
of the picture to be painted4 ,it dries 
tight as a drum1 and the canvas backing 
protects it from puncture or other      
injury4  ,on this surface ,i make a full
 and complete drawing in charcoal of the
 subject before me1 not in outline1 but 

in strong darks1 jet-black1 many of     
them--a finished drawing really1 in     
charcoal1 which could be signed and     
framed4 ,this is then fixed by a spray  
of alcohol and gum shellac1 thrown by   
means of a common perfume atomizer1 the 
whole apparatus costing less than one   
,american dollar4  ,on this ,i begin my 
color scheme in both opaque and         
transparent color1 recognizing the      
natural facts already explained to you1 
that is1 the skies and high lights being
 solidly opaque1 the shadows being      
equally transparent4 ,this process      
requires certain modifications to be    
made in the darks of the original       
drawing4 ,the dense black shadow under  
the eaves of a roof1 for instance1 are  
not in nature as black as the charcoal1 
but perhaps a rich1 warm brown4 ,if the 
ground is in sunlight1 it is a dull1    
golden yellow and reflects the yellow   
glow of the sand beneath4 ,or it may be 
a blue reflection1 or even of a reddish 
tone4 ,these hard blacks then must be   

glazed in such a way as to preserve the 
power of the shadow obtained by means of
 the under charcoal1 and yet keep it    
transparent 7all shadows being          
transparent7 and at the same time       
preserve its true and proper tint4      
,this glaze is done by using the three  
semi-opaque primary pigments--found in  
every color-box--namely3  ,light red1   
,cobalt-blue1  ,yellow ochre4  ,these   
colors1 of course1 form the basis of all
 intermediate tones1 and from them all  
intermediate tones can be made4  ,these 
three colors are at the same time       
semi-opaque1 their opacity being just   
sufficient to tint the hard black of the
 coal1 while never clogging or muddying 
its transparency4  ,so it is with the   
millions of other tones in the whole    
composition1 when such perfectly        
transparent colors as brown madder1     
,indian yellow1 and indigo are used as a
 glaze1 altering and modifying the      
undertone of charcoal to any desired    
tint and at the same time preserving the

 all-important thing--its transparency4 
,in conclusion1 let me say that ,i fully
 recognize that ,i am addressing        
students whose training enables them to 
understand perfectly this explanation1  
and that further instructions are       
therefore unnecessary4  ,one thing1     
however1 may be accentuated1 and that is
 the use of plenty of clean water4      
,another is that you should keep your   
palettes separate4 ,for myself1 ,i make 
use of a common white metallic          
dinner-plate1 known as iron-stone china1
 costing another ten cents1 for my      
sky-palette1 squeezing the color-tubes  
in a row around its edge and my ,chinese
 white below them on one side toward the
 bottom4 ,for my transparent palette1 ,i
 use an ordinary moist sixteen-pan      
color-box1 being always careful never to
 blur it with even a brush stroke of    
body color 7,chinese white72 and for my 
opaque work1 an oval white metal        
palette1 with thumb-hole1 and           
indentations around its edge into which 

,i squeeze the contents of my moist     
water-color tubes1 my ,chinese white    
being heaped up in a little mound near  
my thumb4  ,the result may be seen in   
some of the illustrations accompanying  
this text4     ,,charcoal   ,before     
going into the value of charcoal as a   
medium in the recording of the various  
aspects of nature in black-and-white1 it
 will be wise to review the several     
mediums in general use1 namely1 etching1
 pen and ink1 lithographic crayon1 and  
charcoal gray in connection with        
,chinese white2 it will be well1 also1  
to note the various mechanical processes
 in use for the reproductions of these  
drawings on white paper4  ,those of you 
who have seen the early illustration in 
,harper's ,magazine of the late fifties 
will recall the work of ,porte ,crayon  
7,colonel ,strother71 drawn on wood by  
the artist and engraved by such men as  
,a4 ,v4 ,s4 ,anthony and ,john ,sartain4
 ,you will also recall how some         
twenty-five years later an effective and

 marvellous change took place in the    
quality of these reproductions1 being by
 far the most unique and rapid in the   
history of any art of the century4 ,in  
less than ten years1 between #ahgf and  
#ahhf1 came this sudden awakening to the
 necessity of better work from the      
burin1 followed by an enormous          
commercial demand for such results1     
until by common consent the ,american   
engraver first rivalled and then        
surpassed the world4 ,if we search for  
the cause we find that1 like many other 
inventions developing others of still   
greater importance1 as the telegraph    
developed the telephone1 electric light1
 and the phonograph1 this marvellous    
change is due entirely to the discovery 
and possibility of photographing direct 
from the original upon the boxwood      
itself1 producing with an instant's     
exposure a complete reproduction of the 
original drawing1 with all its texture1 
gradation1 and quality1 not only doing  
away entirely with the intermediate     

draftsman1 as was the case with ,porte  
,crayon's work1 but obtaining a result  
impossible to the most skilful of the   
artists on wood of his day4  ,another   
important feature in the discovery was  
the possibility of reducing a drawing to
 any size required1 thus fitting it     
exactly to the necessities of the       
printed page4 ,before these discoveries1
 as you well know1 from the time of     
,albert ,duerer down to ,linton and     
engravers of his school1 the original   
drawing of the painter was redrawn by   
the use of lead-pencil1 ,chinese white1 
and ,india-ink washes upon the wood     
itself1 giving as close an imitation as 
possible of the original4 ,some         
painters--illustrators1 if you please1  
in those early days--in fact1 made their
 original designs direct upon the wood4 
,the effects of light and dark were then
 cut out in lines1 curved or otherwise1 
with suitable cross-hatchings1 as the   
necessity of the drawing required1 or   
left comparatively untouched4  ,it is   

not my purpose to discuss here the      
different merits of the different       
schools4 ,there are varieties of opinion
 regarding the excellence of the line   
compared with the technic in the modern 
school of engravers4 ,by the modern     
school ,i mean the work of such men as  
,cole1 ,yuengling1 ,wolff1 ,french1     
,smithwick1 and others4 ,i refer to them
 that ,i may accent the stronger the    
medium which is the subject-matter of   
this talk1 namely1 charcoal1 in the hope
 that those of you who propose to make  
reproductive illustrations your         
life-work may be tempted to make use of 
charcoal as a medium through which to   
express your ideas and ideals4  ,but    
before embarking on this phase of my    
subject it may be interesting for a     
moment to go a little deeper into the   
earlier stages of this marvellous change
 from boxwood to zinc4 ,i remember      
distinctly the beginnings of an         
organization well known in ,new ,york1  
and perhaps to many of you1 as the ,tile

 ,club1 to which organization ,i can    
conscientiously say as much credit is   
due for this revival in wood-engraving  
as to any other4 ,not that good         
wood-engravers did not exist before its 
time1 and not because it contained      
wood-engravers1 for the club did not    
have the name of one among its          
membership1 but as containing a group of
 painters who for the first time in aid 
of the art of wood-engraving in this    
country lent their names and brushes to 
an illustrated magazine4 ,up to that    
time there had been a wide gulf existing
 between the ordinary draftsman on wood 
and a painter4 ,this did not proceed    
from the prevalence of a certain disease
 among the painters1 known at the       
present time as an enlarged head1 but   
from the fact that no artist accustomed 
to free-hand drawing and at liberty to  
wander all over his canvas at will would
 bring himself down to working through a
 magnifying-glass1 a necessity1 often1  
in transferring a drawing to wood4      

,with this discovery1 however1 of making
 available even the roughest drawing1   
the simplest blot in color or a scratch 
in charcoal1 and photographing its exact
 textures upon a wooden block1 the      
camera reducing it in size and thus     
perfecting it1 the artist immediately   
took the place of the draftsman1 and at 
the same time introduced into the work  
an artistic quality1 a dash1 a vim and  
spirit entirely unknown before4  ,three 
things were needed to utilize this      
marvellously useful discovery3 first1 a 
painter of rank2 second1 an engraver who
 could express the textures and technics
 of the several artists--that is1       
reproduce the exact values of an        
original in wash1 an original in        
charcoal1 or an original in oil2 and    
third1 a magazine with sufficient       
capital1 taste1 and intelligence to     
reproduce these results upon a printed  
page4 ,we had the painters1 and the     
engravers developed rapidly4 ,the third 
requirement1 of taste and intelligence1 

was found in ,mr4 ,a4 ,w4 ,drake1 then  
art director of ,scribner's ,monthly1   
and1 after its merging into the         
,century1 the distinguished art director
 of the ,century ,magazine4  ,when the  
,tile ,club was formed in ,new ,york it 
consisted of a group of men 7,i was its 
scullion for seven years1 its entire    
life1 and1 being thus an honored        
servant1 was familiar with its many     
affairs7 who represented at the time the
 leading spirits of the different       
schools3 ,william ,m4 ,chase1 ,arthur   
,quartley1 ,swain ,gifford1 ,a4 ,b4     
,frost1 ,george ,maynard1 ,frank ,d4    
,millet1 ,alden ,weir1 ,edwin ,a4       
,abbey1 ,charles ,s4 ,reinhart1 ,elihu  
,vedder1 ,william ,gedney ,bunce1       
,stanford ,white1 ,augustus             
,saint-,gaudens1 and one or two others4 
,the club was limited to eighteen       
members1 there being twelve painters and
 six musicians4 ,if ,i am not very much 
mistaken1 not a single painter of this  
group had ever drawn upon a wooden      

block1 and yet each one of them1 as the 
records of our periodicals have shown1  
was admirably qualified for illustrative
 work4 ,at the time1 the illustrations  
in ,harper's and ,scribner's1 compared  
with the illustrations of to-day1       
reminded one of the early primers of the
 ,new ,england schools1 with their      
improbable trees and impossible animals4
  ,i remember distinctly the first      
meeting of the ,tile ,club1 in which the
 subject of drawing for ,scribner's     
,monthly was first mooted1 and ,i do not
 believe ,i overestimate the importance 
that the position of the club1 taken at 
that time1 has had and still has--not as
 a club1 for it was dissolved some years
 back--in the influence its personal art
 has wielded upon the printed pages of  
the day4  ,the first magazine article   
was the account of a trip that we made  
down on ,long ,island1 illustrated by   
the club1 entitled ,the ,tile ,club     
,abroad1 each man choosing his own      
medium--oil1 charcoal1 water-color1     

etc42 the results of which were         
published in the then ,scribner's       
,magazine1 and engraved by a group of   
men who afterward placed the art of     
wood-engraving in ,america side by side 
with the best efforts ever obtained by  
the ,english and ,german periodicals1   
and one of whom1 ,yuengling1 took the   
gold medal of excellence both in ,paris 
and ,munich4  ,with this difference in  
textures1 the difference between a      
drawing in charcoal and one made in oil1
 it became necessary to invent new modes
 of expression with the burin4 ,a simple
 line which might express the round of  
the cheek or the fulness of the arm1 and
 which would answer for the uniform     
drapery of the old school1 would not    
serve to explain the subtle quality of  
one of ,quartley's moonrises or the     
vigor and dash of one of ,chase's       
outdoor figures sketched in oil4  ,so it
 came about that in searching to express
 these new qualities1 never before seen 
upon a block1 the technic of the new    

school was developed4  ,the next        
important result was the creating not   
only of a new school of wood-engraving1 
but of an entirely distinct department  
for art workers1 the school of the      
illustrator2 and so we have ,abbey1     
,reinhart1 ,quartley1 and1 later1       
,church1 ,smedley1 ,dana ,gibson1 and   
dozens of others whose names will       
readily come to your minds and of whose 
careers ,i have already spoken4  ,but   
the burin was too slow1 even in the     
hands of the skilful engraver1 for the  
necessities of the hour4 ,it was also   
too expensive2 a drawing which a        
magazine would pay the artist #ej for   
would often cost #bjj to engrave in the 
hands of a master like ,yuengling or    
,cole4 ,again photography was called    
into use4 ,the straight process1 so     
called1 of the phototype printer1       
reproducing a pen-and-ink line drawing  
on a zinc plate which could be          
immediately run through a ,hoe process1 
was perfected4 ,you all remember1       

doubtless1 an illustrated daily         
published in ,new ,york1 called ,the    
,daily ,graphic1 illustrated by this    
process4 ,this process1 however1 was    
only possible where pen-and-ink drawing 
or a very coarse lead-pencil drawing was
 used in making the original1 because it
 was necessary that spaces of white     
should exist between each separate line 
or mass of black4 ,this process1        
however1 utterly failed in all          
,india-ink drawings4 ,where these       
drawings covered the white of the paper1
 if ever so delicately1 the result was a
 dense black upon the plate4  ,then came
 a race between all the inventors       
interested in such discoveries1 both    
here and abroad--a race to perfect a    
process which would produce from such   
wash drawings an exact reproduction upon
 the printed page1 giving all the       
gradations of the original and doing    
away not only with the draftsman but    
with the wood-engraver4 ,to ,professor  
,vogel1 of ,berlin1 ,i believe--although

 an ,american1 ,ives1 claims it1 and    
some say justly--is due the credit of   
perfecting what is known as the         
half-tone1 or screen process3 many      
others claim that ,herr ,meisenbach     
first perfected this most important     
discovery4  ,as the wash drawing had no 
lines1 and as it is absolutely necessary
 that photo-printing should have        
lines--that is1 clean spaces of black   
between white--these lines were supplied
 by laying a sheet of plate glass over  
the drawing upon which the lines were   
cut by a diamond and through which the  
original could be clearly seen4 ,of     
course1 the light falling upon the edges
 of these several diamond cuttings made 
little points of brilliant white between
 which the several blacks and whites    
could be seen4 ,this1 without going very
 much further into the mechanical       
details1 is the basis of the half-tone  
process4  ,while this had its value1 it 
had also its demerits1 one of which was 
the total extermination of the ,american

 wood-engraver1 except for a few men    
like ,timothy ,cole1 whose genius and   
skill made it possible for them1 by the 
excellence of their work1 to survive the
 great difference between twenty cents a
 square inch for transferring on zinc   
and twenty dollars a square inch for    
engraving on wood4  ,there are1 however1
 results in the half-tone process which 
,i hold are infinitely superior to the  
work of any wood-engraver of the old    
school4 ,while it is true that there is 
no really positive rich dark for any    
part of the composition--for1 of course1
 the light specks are everywhere1 thus  
lightening and graying the dark--and    
while we lose by such defects the       
richness of wood-engraving1 we also get 
the exact touch of the artist in no more
 and no less a degree1 particularly no  
less4 ,how often have ,i seen an        
exquisite drawing of ,abbey's or ,du    
,maurier's almost ruined by the slipping
 of the burin the one-thousandth part of
 an inch6 ,how infinitely superior are  

the originals of ,john ,leech's immortal
 caricatures in ,punch to the           
reproductions1 all because the shadow   
line under an eye1 or that little dot   
which denotes the difference between    
amusement and curiosity in the          
expression of a face1 has been cut away 
the thousandth part of a hair-line6 ,the
 processes of the half-tone1 however1   
are ever accurate and the reproduction  
given you is exact--with the foregoing  
restrictions4  ,then again1 in landscape
 effects and in some portraits1 the     
uniformity of tone1 the certainty of    
every touch being reproduced1 the exact 
balancing from dark to light1 all result
 in better work than can be done by the 
ordinary engraver4  ,and yet1 with all  
the half-tone's advantages1 ,i must     
admit that ,yuengling's head of the     
,professor and many of his wood-cuts in 
an illustrated edition of ,sir ,launfal1
 published some years ago1 and much of  
the work of such masters as ,cole1      
,wolff1 ,yuengling1 and others1 stand as

 monuments for all time to the skill of 
hands that no process will ever excel1  
for they put into it that something     
which the bath of vitriol will never    
furnish1 a bite of the acid of their own
 genius4  ,since these earlier days a   
new departure has been made1 until now  
reproductive processes have been brought
 to such perfection that there is hardly
 any texture or color scheme that can   
not be matched4 ,note1 if you will1     
,howard ,pyle in color--rich in yellows 
and reds1 with black and white spaces as
 an enrichment4 ,note also ,a4 ,i4      
,keller's transparent work in charcoal  
gray4 ,note particularly the            
reproductions in the magazines of ,f4   
,walter ,taylor's drawings in charcoal1 
in which the very texture of the coal is
 preserved4 ,and1 if you will permit me1
 note the half tones of my own charcoal 
drawings now on exhibition in the       
adjoining gallery4 ,so perfect is the   
reproduction that one is careful not to 
smudge his fingers in turning the leaves

 of the publication in which they are   
printed4  ,this being the case 7and the 
printers must be thanked as well for    
their share in the results71 ,i         
earnestly hope that some of my brother  
illustrators--the more the merrier--will
 seriously consider the value of        
charcoal as a medium for illustrative   
work4 ,there is no subject1 ,i assure   
you1 that the sun shines on or its light
 filters into1 or any phase of nature1  
be it rain or storm1 fog1 snow1 or mist1
 including marines1 figures1 sunrises   
and sunsets1 blazing heat and cool1     
transparent shadows1 that cannot be     
visualized by it4  ,i hold1 too1 that by
 its use qualities can be obtained      
impossible to be found in either        
etchings1 lithographic crayon1 wash1 or 
pen and ink--especially the velvet of   
its black4  ,charcoal is the unhampered1
 the free1 the personal individual      
medium4 ,no water1 no oil1 no palette1  
no squeezing of tubes or wiping of      
tints2 no scraping1 scumbling1 or other 

dilatory and exasperating necessities4  
,just a piece of coal1 the size of a    
cigarette1 held flat between the thumb  
and the forefinger1 a sheet of paper1   
and then let go4 ,yes1 one thing        
more--care must be taken to have this   
forefinger fastened to a sure1 knowing1 
and fearless hand1 worked by an arm     
which plays easily and loosely in a     
ball-socket set firmly near your        
backbone4 ,to carry out the metaphor1   
the steam of your enthusiasm1 kept in   
working order by the safety-valve of    
your experience1 and regulated by the   
ball-governor of your art               
knowledge--such as composition1 drawing1
 mass1 light and dark--is then turned   
on4  ,now you can let go1 and in the    
fullest sense1 or you will never arrive4
 ,my own experience has taught me that  
if an outdoor charcoal sketch1 covering 
and containing all a man can see--and he
 should neither record nor explain      
anything more--is not completely        
finished in two hours it cannot be      

finished by the same man in two days or 
two years4  ,for a drawing in charcoal  
is really a record of a man's           
temperament4 ,it represents             
pre-eminently the personality of the    
individual--his buoyancy1 his perfect   
health1 the quickness of his gestures4  
,all these are shown in the way he      
strikes his canvas--compelling it to    
talk back to him4 ,so also does it      
record the man's timidity1 his want of  
confidence in himself1 his fear of      
spoiling what he has already done1      
forgetting that a nickel will buy him   
another sheet of paper4  ,courage1 too1 
is a component part--not to be afraid to
 strike hard and fast1 belaboring the   
canvas as a pugilist belabors an        
opponent1 beating nature into shape4    
,illustration3 ,the ,george and ,vulture
 ,inn1 ,london  ,as for the potterer and
 the niggler1 the men and women whose   
stroke goes no farther back than their  
knuckles1 ,i may frankly say that       
charcoal is not for them4 ,the blow is a

 sledge blow going from the spinal      
column1 not the pitapat of a jeweller's 
hammer elaborating the repousse around a
 goblet4  ,remember1 too1 that the fight
 is all over in two hours--three at the 
outside--the battle really won or lost  
in the first ten minutes1 if you only   
knew it3 when you get in your first     
strokes1 really defining your           
composition and planting your big high  
light and your big dark4 ,it is all     
right after that4 ,you can taper off on 
the little lights and darks1 saving your
 wind1 so to speak1 sparring for your   
next supplementary light and dark4      
,remember1 too1 that when the fight is  
over you must not spoil what you have   
done by repetition or finish4 ,let it   
alone4 ,you may not have covered        
everything you wanted to express1 but if
 you have smashed in the salient        
features1 the details will look out at  
you when you least expect it4 ,there are
 a thousand cross lights and untold     
mysteries in ,rembrandt's shadows which 

his friends failed to see when his      
canvas left his studio4 ,it is the      
unexpressed which is often most         
interesting4 ,meissonier tells his story
 to the end4 ,so do ,vibert1 ,rico1 and 
the whole realistic school4 ,corot gives
 you a mass of foliage1 no single leaf  
expressed1 but beneath it lurk great1   
cavernous shadows in which nymphs and   
satyrs play hide-and-seek4  ,remember1  
also1 that just as the blunt end of a   
bit of charcoal is many1 many times     
larger than the point of an             
etching-needle1 so are its resources for
 fine lines and minute dots and         
scratches just that much reduced4 ,it is
 the flat of the piece of coal that is  
valuable1 not its point4  ,as to what   
can be done with this piece of coal1 ,i 
can but repeat1 everything4 ,that there 
are some subjects better than others1 ,i
 will admit4 ,for me1 ,london1 its      
streets and buildings1 come first1      
especially if it be raining2 and there  
is no question that it does rain once in

 a while in ,london1 making the wet     
streets and sidewalks glisten under its 
silver-gray sky1 little rivulets of     
molten silver escaping everywhere4 ,when
 with these you get a background--and ,i
 always do--of flat masses of quaint    
buildings1 all detail lost in the haze  
and mist of smoke1 your delight rises to
 enthusiasm4 ,nowhere else in the world 
are the values so marvellously          
preserved4 ,you start your foreground   
with1 say1 a figure1 or an umbrella1 or 
a cab1 expressed in a stroke of         
jet-black1 and the perspective instantly
 fades into grays of steeple1 dome1 or  
roof1 so delicate and vapory that there 
is hardly a shade of difference between 
earth and sky4 ,or you stroll into some 
old church or cathedral1 as ,i did last 
summer when ,i found myself in that most
 wonderful of all ,english churches--and
 ,i say it deliberately--,st4           
,bartholomew's the ,great1 over in      
,smithfield4  ,other churches have ,i   
studied in my wanderings2 many and      

various cathedrals1 basilicas1 and      
mosques have delighted me4 ,i know the  
color and the value of tapestry and rich
 hangings2 of mosaics1 porphyry1 and    
verd-antiques2 of fluted alabaster and  
the delicate tracery of the arabesque2  
but the velvety quality of ,london soot 
when applied to the rough surfaces of   
rudely chiselled stones1 and the soft   
loveliness gained by grime and smoke1   
came to me as a revelation4  ,this rich 
black which1 like a tropical fungus1    
grows and spreads through ,st4          
,bartholomew's interior1 hiding under   
its soft1 caressing touch the rough     
angles and insistent edges of the       
,norman1 is what the bloom is to the    
grape1 what the dark purpling is to the 
plum1 mellowing from sight the          
brilliancy of the under skin4 ,and there
 are wide coverings of it1 too1 in this 
wonderful church1 as if some master     
decorator had wielded a great coal and  
at one sweep of his hand had rubbed its 
glorious black into every crevice1      

crack1 and cranny of wall1 column1 and  
arch4  ,certain it is that no other     
medium than the one used could give any 
idea of its charm4 ,neither oil1        
water-color1 nor pastel will transmit   
it--no1 nor the dry-point or bitten     
plate4 ,the soot of centuries1 the fogs 
of countless ,novembers1 the smoke of a 
thousand firesides were the pigments    
which the ,master ,painter set upon his 
palette in the task of giving us one    
exquisitely beautiful interior wholly in
 black-and-white4  ,so it was in the    
,temple when ,i was searching for ,mr4  
,thackeray's haunts4  ,what of          
alterations1 scrapings1 patchings up1   
and fillings in have taken place in     
these various courts and their          
surroundings1 ,i did not trouble myself 
to find out4 ,nothing looks new in      
,london after the fogs and soot of one  
winter have wreaked their vengeance upon
 it4 ,whether the facade is of brick1   
stone1 or stucco depends entirely on the
 thickness of the soot1 packed in or    

scoured clean by winds and rains1 or    
whether the surface is ebony or marble1 
as may be seen in many of the statues on
 ,burlington ,house1 where a head1 arm1 
or part of a pedestal chair has been    
kept white by constant douches4  ,as for
 me1 ,i was glad that these old haunts  
of ,mr4 ,thackeray and his characters   
are even blacker to-day than they might 
have been in his time4 ,for the soot and
 grime become them1 and ,london as well1
 for that matter4 ,a great              
impressionist1 this smoke-smudger and   
wiper-out of detail1 this believer in   
masses and simple surfaces1 this        
destroyer of gingerbread ornaments1     
petty mouldings1 and cheap flutings6    
99       99       99       99       99  
,and now for a few practical data as to 
my own way of handling the coal1 which  
may be of value as coming from one who  
has profited these many years by its    
infinite possibilities4  ,illustration3 
,diagram of ,charcoal ,technic  ,the    
paper is the same ,i use in my          

water-colors1 a delicate1 gray1         
double-thick charcoal paper1 laid in    
parallel ribs1 if ,i may so express it1 
and having sufficient body and tooth to 
catch and hold the faintest touch or the
 strongest stroke of the coal4 ,the gray
 of this paper serves as the middle tone
 of the drawing1 the different          
gradations of black in the coal giving  
the darks and the careful use of white  
chalks the high lights4  ,these         
gradations are obtained by the use of a 
few simple processes1 by which various  
textures can be given1 starting1 for    
instance1 from or near the foreground1  
where the grit of the charcoal is used  
to bring the nearer details into clear  
relief1 the several larger gradations   
and textures giving aerial perspectives 
being produced by a broad sweep of the  
hand1 forcing the grit of the coal into 
the crevices of the paper1 the result   
being what ,i may term the first plane  
or nearest atmospheric value2 the house 
a square away1 if you please--provided  

the subject is a street--being the      
second plane4  ,beyond this1 farther    
down the street1 is found1 it may be1   
another house or other object4 ,now try 
your thumb1 rubbing your hand-smoothed  
charcoal into a finer and closer mesh3  
and for the still more atmospheric      
distances down this same street1 use    
next a rag1 then a buckskin stomp1 and  
last of all a stiff paper stomp1 each in
 turn producing a more atmospheric gray 
as the distances fade--the last1 the    
paper stomp1 being as soft as a wash of 
,india ink4 7,see diagram47  ,all these 
you may say are tricks4 ,they are--my   
own tricks1 or rather use of the means  
which lay at my hand1 which long        
experience has taught me to employ1 and 
which any one of you will no doubt      
better in your own handling of the coal4
  ,these planes being secured1 any light
 higher than the prevailing rubbed-in   
tone can be wiped out clean to the grain
 of the paper by a piece of ductile     
rubber4 ,any darker dark1 of course1 can

 be obtained by retouching with the     
coal4  ,the chalk now comes into play   
for skies1 broad sunlight effects1 or   
crisp1 sparkling lights4 ,the whole work
 is then fixed1 as ,i have already      
explained1 by the use of gum shellac and
 a common perfume atomizer4  ,and with  
this condensed statement ,i must bring  
this my last talk to a close1           
remembering as ,i do that ,i have been  
addressing a body of students who are   
already familiar with one or more       
mediums1 and who1 with these few spoken 
memoranda and a finished drawing before 
them1 will solve at a glance mysteries  
baffling to the layman4          99     
99       99       99       99   ,,by ,f4
 ,,hopkinson ,,smith   ,,felix ,o',,day4
  ,,the ,,arm-,,chair ,,at ,,the ,,inn4 
,,kennedy ,,square4  ,,the ,,tides ,,of 
,,barnegat4  ,,the ,,romance ,,of ,,an  
,,old-,,fashioned ,,gentleman4          
,,colonel ,,carter',s ,,christmas4      
,,forty ,,minutes ,,late4  ,,the ,,wood 
,,fire ,,in ,no4 #c4  ,,the ,,veiled    

,,lady4  ,,the ,,under ,,dog4   ,,in    
,,dickens',s ,,london4   ,,enoch        
,,crane4 ,a novel planned and begun by  
,f4 ,hopkinson ,smith and completed by  
,f4 ,berkeley ,smith4   ,,charles       
,,scribner',s ,,sons