Art in America: A Critical and Historial SketchBenjamin, S. G. W. (Samuel Greene Wheeler)
History
Art in America: A Critical and Historial Sketch
Benjamin, S. G. W. (Samuel Greene Wheeler)
Art, American
Among the resident artists of New York who have recently studied abroad,
Louis C. Tiffany, a follower of the French school, holds a prominent
position. He has done some very clever things in landscape and _genre_
from subjects suggested by his trip to the East, and has succeeded
equally in oil and water colors, and is now giving a preference to
American subjects, and also turning his attention to the pursuit of
decorative art. He is essentially a colorist, to whom the radiant tints
of the iris seem like harmoniously chorded strains of music. William
Sartain, a pupil of Bonnât and Yvon, has also proved himself an
excellent colorist, and shows vigor and truth of drawing both in figure
and architectural perspective, as well as pleasing composition in work
which he has done abroad.
The new phase into which our landscape art is passing under foreign
influence is well indicated by the paintings of Charles Miller, a
graduate of the Munich school, who is inspired by a stirring, breezy
love for nature, especially for her more intense and vivid effects,
strong contrasts of light and shade, glowing sunsets, and masses of dun
gray clouds rolling up in thunderous majesty and gloom over landscapes
fading off into the infinite distance. As a draughtsman Mr. Miller is
less interesting than in rendering such effects as we have suggested
with broad, free handling, in which he is often very successful. He is a
poet moved by a powerful imagination, idealizing what he sees, and
possessed of a memory similar to that of Turner; and thus some of his
most striking canvases are the result of a tenacious memory allied to a
vigorous observation. Some of his canvases suggest the landscapes of
Constable.
[Illustration: "THE PROFESSOR."--[THOMAS EAKINS.]]
[Illustration: "THE GOOSE-HERD."--[WALTER SHIRLAW.]]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account