The History of Modern Painting, Volume 3 (of 4): Revised edition continued by the author to the end of the XIX centuryMuther, Richard
History
The History of Modern Painting, Volume 3 (of 4): Revised edition continued by the author to the end of the XIX century
Muther, Richard
Painting -- History
_Albert Moore_ is to be noted as the solitary "painter" of the group: a
very delicate artist, with a style peculiar to himself; one who is not
so well known upon the Continent as he deserves to be. His province,
also, is ancient Greece, yet he never attempted to reconstruct classical
antiquity as a learned archæologist. Merely as a painter did he love to
dream amid the imperishable world of beauty known to ancient times. His
figures are ethereal visions, and move in dreamland. He was influenced,
indeed, by the sculptures of the Parthenon, but the Japanese have also
penetrated his spirit. From the Greeks he learnt the combination of
noble lines, the charm of dignity and quietude, while the Japanese gave
him the feeling for harmonies of colour, for soft, delicate, blended
tones. By a capricious union of both these elements he formed his
refined and exquisite style. The world which he has called into being is
made up of white marble pillars; in its gardens are cool fountains and
marble pavements; but it is also full of white birds, soft colours, and
rosy blossoms from Kioto, and peopled with graceful and mysterious
maidens, clothed in ideal draperies, who love rest, enjoy an eternal
youth, and are altogether contented with themselves and with one
another. It might be said that the old figures of Tanagra had received
new life, were it not felt, at the same time, that these beings must
have drunk a good deal of tea. Not that they are entirely modern, for
their figures are more plastic and symmetrical than those of the actual
daughters of Albion; but in all their movements they have a certain
_chic_, and in all their shades of expression a weary modernity, through
which they deviate from the conventional woman of Classicism. Otherwise
the pictures of Albert Moore are indescribable. Frail, ethereal beings,
blond as corn, lounge in æesthetically graduated grey and blue,
salmon-coloured, or pale purple draperies upon bright-hued couches
decorated by Japanese artists with most æsthetic materials; or are
standing in violet robes with white mantles embroidered with gold, by a
grey-blue sea which has a play of greenish tones where it breaks upon
the shore. They stand out with their rosy garments from the light grey
background and the delicate arabesques of a gleaming silvery gobelin, or
in a graceful pose occupy themselves with their rich draperies. They do
as little as they possibly can, but they are living and seductive, and
the stuffs which they wear and have around them are delicately and
charmingly painted. It is harmonies of tone and colour that exclusively
form the subject of every work. The figures, accessories, and detail
first take shape when the scheme of colour has been found; and then
Albert Moore takes a delight in naming his pictures "Apricots,"
"Oranges," "Shells," etc., according as the robes are apricot or orange
colour or adorned with light ornaments of shell. Everything which comes
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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