Page 44 - The Studio First Edition - April 1893

The Applied Arts

the two Degas, and in a second-hand sort of way,
the pictures of M. Segantini, and M. Raffaelli. URRENT NOTES ON THE
The painting of M. Segantini, however, is mechani- APPLIED ARTS.
cal to the last degree, and shows none of that
delight in oil paint which characterises most great THE magnificent tapestry woven by
work, but the result is dignified and personal. The C hand by Messrs. Morris & Co. after
bulk of the French work, and with the exception of Mr. Burne-Jones' cartoon, " The Star of Bethle-
Mr. Guthrie, all the Glasgow work, strikes me as hem," has become a household word among
restless and unscholarly ; its intention is certainly artists and connoisseurs. The same firm are
more artistic than the work that we shall soon be at present engaged upon a series of tapestries,
seeing in Burlington House ; but the affectation of by the above-named designer, for the walls of a
the primitive man becomes infinitely tedious, and private house at Stanmore. The dado, represent-
I am absolutely convinced that oil paint was never ing fawns in a thicket, on the branches of which
meant to be the raw material for the manufacture hang shields emblazoned with the arms of the
of hearthrugs. On the whole the Grafton Gallery several knights of the Round Table, is already
teaches one this lesson, that whenever a modern finished and placed in position. The pieces for
painter is wise enough to dip into the rich ex- the upper part of the wall are still in hand, and we
perience of the past and assimilate those traditions may expect to see at any rate a portion of the work
which were the basis of its achievements, his work, at the ensuing Arts and Crafts Exhibition next
now in the twilight of the nineteenth century, will autumn. It will be remembered that one of the
possess all the charm of novelty that belonged to cartoons—viz., that respecting the " Vision of the
Veronese and Titian at the dawn of the fifteenth ; Holy Grail "—appears, very much reduced it is
but when novelty itself has been the goal of his true, in the recently-published monograph on
ambition, it has defeated its own end, and in the Edward Burne-Jones by Mr. Malcolm Bell.
result is stale from its beginning. One of the latest productions of Messrs. Morris
CHARLES W. FURSE. & Co. is a diagonal woollen tapestry distinguished
as the " Trail." The unit of the pattern is as
At the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, Mass., simple as can be—a conventional leaf and a single
there is now on exhibition a selection of original spray of flowers ; yet the richest result is obtained
drawings by Hokusai, the great master of the by the simple but effective device of varying the
Ukioye or Popular School of Painting in Japan. colour of the woof threads, so that the flowers are
The examples exhibited number 172 in all, and are alternately red, white, and pink. The general
mostly from the large and excellent collection of colour of the web is warm green in several tones.
Dr. Bigelow. The catalogue contains a scholarly Another object is a walnut-wood settle with painted
introduction on the works of Hokusai by Prof. decoration—an art, by the way, which is not culti-
Fenollosa, and each exhibit is, moreover, fully vated nearly so much as it might be in these days.
criticised, and its probable date of execution as- The motif of the design is a vine which winds
signed. It forms a really valuable and lucid guide about over the panels of the canopy-back of the
to those desirous of studying the characteristics seat. There are introduced also tulips, carnations,
which distinguish the work of that great artist at and other flowers—all treated in what may be
different periods of his long life. Why do not the described as the Morris-Persian manner.
English collectors of Hokusai's works give the Cabinets and sideboards too, from Mr. Jack's
public here a similar opportunity of seeing their designs, may be seen at Messrs. Morris & Co.'s.
treasures ? One sideboard is of oak, enriched with carving and
So many British artists have visited Japan in open panel-work. Another is elaborately inlaid
recent years that the Japanese Brethren of the throughout, the pattern in some parts being accen-
Brush are beginning to return the compliment. tuated with white and black beside the different
One of them, Mr. R. Isayama, has quite settled shades of brown woods, and in other parts scarcely
down at 12 Paulton Square, Chelsea, and is devot- perceptible through the delicate combination of
ing himself to the study of European portrait-paint- mahogany and Italian walnut.
ing, a branch of art in which the West undoubtedly At every turn, in fact, one comes across some
surpasses the East. Calling on Mr. Isayama the object of notice : here a table with dainty mar-
other day, we found him engaged in finishing some quetry top, there a cabinet gleaming with mother-
delightfully quaint drawings in the purest Japanese of-pearl inlay, or there again a hanging or cushion
style, a commission from the Japan Society of rich with silk and gold embroidery; not to mention
London, for their first volume of Transactions and countless smaller articles of vertu.
Proceedings which will be issued shortly by Messrs. Messrs. Jeffrey & Co. have an unusually large
Trubner & Co., and promises to be a most inter- assortment of new wall-papers this season. Mr.
esting work. " It has been a difficult task," said Lewis F. Day's designs are always one of the
the Japanese artist, "for I have been studying your features of the goods of this firm. The " Vatican "
methods so earnestly that I had to make an effort pattern, with lilies and artichoke and other foliage,
to keep to the canons of my native art. The Japan and the " Siena," another floral pattern—less sug-
Society insisted that the drawings must be purely gestive, however, than the former of natural forms
Japanese, and so I have made them—just as if I —are both of them instances of Mr. Day's best
had never seen a European picture." manner. But he has surpassed himself in the
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