On this page

• Text (2)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    of Vandevelde would not suffice , perhaps , to qualify a restorer to handle all other sea pictures ; but if choice were made of one master ' s works to serve as the groundwork of investigation , perhaps no artist ' s are better than Vandevelde ' s for this purpose . Take another example , of a somewhat opposite kind , in the pictures of Rubens and Vandyke . It will be inferred that the pictures of Vandyke should serve as a study for a class of pictures painted on principles taught by Rubens . Rubens describes the process of laying on colours which he himself practised , thus : — " Begin by painting in your shadows lightly , taking

    particular care that no white is suffered to glide into them : white is the poison of a picture , except in the lights ; if once your shadows are corrupted by the introduction of this baneful colour , your tones will no longer be warm and transparent . It is not the same in the lights , they may be loaded as much as you think proper ; provided the tones are kept pure , you are sure to succeed in placing each tint in its proper place , and afterwards by a light blending of brush or pencil melting them into each other , without tormenting them ; and on this preparation may be given those decided touches which are the distinguishing marks of a great master . "

    The effects of these instructions may be traced in the works of Rubens ' s best pupil , Vandyke . The master furnished the style , the pupil perfected it ' , the master drew the fearless and flowing outline , the pupil , in his works , corrected it of some of its extravagances . A similar distinction may be seen in the colouring of the two painters ; Vandyke , for his great works , spread his palette with the slime colours as Rubens , laid on the tints by the same process , but more sparingly , using a smaller pencil , giving them

    the same pure unsullied look , never " breaking" nor " torturing" them ; every touch right to its purpose . The rule to be drawn from a knowledge of these two painters is the same as that drawn from Backhuysen ' s and Vandevelde ' s , i . e ., the necessity of an acquaintance with the most intricate and delicate pictures of each class . The process that would clean a picture by Rubens would ruin a picture by Vandyke , but the hand that has touched Vandyke without injury , will restore' Rubens without fear .

    Admitted the restorer should be guided in his operations by the study of set standards from each class of pictures , selected on the principle described , the difficulty of deciding on the proper picture would be very trifling . A little reflection would convince us that Adrian Ostade would include a host of Dutch painters of his class , from Isaac Ostade downwards . Even Teniers might be included in this class , for the simple reason that Teniers has a firmer , broader , and more durable touch than Adrian Ostade ; in other words , that one touch of the pencil by Teniers towards describing a Boor ' s face , would do the work of a score of small touches by Adrian

    Ostade . Now , though the effective single touch of the one might be worth the other ' s score , it would be twenty times more critical a task ( in the process of cleaning ) to ensure the safety of the more minute and intricate treatment . Tor the restorer to reckon a score of minute touches by Ostade to one dash of Teniers ' s brush would save from decay the works of the one and doubly preserve those of the other . It would be better to reckon fourscore touches to Ostade than to underestimate the number . It is the more necessary to do this , as the finer the touch the more likely it is to be disturbed , not only from its smallness but also because the colour laid on is thinner for fine articulations than for more decisive pencilling .

    No matter what the class of pictures under treatment by the restorer , theii safety can only be ensured by a full apprehension of the painter ' s peculiar and distinctive manipulation . If this be admitted of the sort of pictures referred to , which appeal for the most part to the senses only , how much more emphatically true is it of those works which appeal to the understanding . If there be danger , from ignorance , in the treatment of the works we have cited , how much greater must the danger be when the works of a Raphael arc at stake ? Those who have only tried their hands in the restoration of a Rubens , Vandyke , Teniers , or Ostade , would be very little in the secret of the rare qualities which raise the Italian so far above the Flemish ami Dutch painters as to reduce them , by comparison , to more caricaturists .

    Untitled Article

    CHAPTER V . AN IDEAL PROCESS OF PAINTING . Suppose for a moment we have the privilege of observing a superior artist at his work . A vase of flowers just brought in from the garden with all the freshness of the morning on the buds , leaves , and blossoms- —roses , white ami red , hyacinths , white purple and pink , soft , rich , deep tinted African marigolds and tall tulips , pure white , and striped with crimson and scarlet , and petals dusted with gold . Children sporting with a goat are delicately sculptured on the vase . The painter has completed his outline . The lines are faintly indicated , so as to be just perceptible ; being first drawn on a sheet of thin paper and traced through with a needle on to n panel , as smooth ami white as the paper itself .

    Sp reading Inn palette with pure white and lamp black , litiely ground , and selecting a few good sable pencils , the painter proceeds to relieve by shadows the vase , slab , and flowers from the flat surface . He accomplishes this with great nicety by the admixture of black and white ; realizing in form and texture every line distinction of character which the various subjects present , und doing tins so effectively that even the practised eye could scarcely detect an oversight or inaccuracy in the transcript . If it were possible to metamorphose the realities of the variegated flowers , marble slab , and antique

    vase into forms of driven snow , then would the representation bear strict resemblance to the original objects ; soft , delicate shadows , and every graceful and various quality having been rendered in perfect unison . Satisfied with his work thus far , the artist next arranges his light from the window of the studio , so as to let a sunbeam fall upon the prominent objects of the group . This change in the light makes it necessary to pass a tender shadow across the picture , so as to leave those parts on which the sunbeam falls the lighter by comparison . This management of the shadows is a refinement which may be pursued to a very intricate degree , but in this instance the track of sunlight would produce an effect simple to

    imagine . We observe some flowers in splendour , and others qmet , cool , and retired . The vase of flowers is placed just within the opening of a second chamber , which has only so much cool light diffused over it as serves to make the darkness visible , and this space forms a very effective and soft back-ground , an even contrast , neither too abrupt nor too dark . By this arrangement the whole group is relieved with great force and distinctness . The warm light searches the inmost depths of the open flowers , and peers through every little crevice , filling some with radiance , and fringing others with gold . Swarms of insects are seen sporting about , with fiery coats ,

    and wings of various hues , from the fierce and gorgeous dragon-fly to the minute ant ; and fresh , pearly drops of dew , fresh as if just fallen from the sky to disappear with the opening day , hang here and there , nestle in the bosom of the rose , glide down the satin surface of the tulip , and drop on to the cool , polished marble below , mingling with the mingled colours reflected from above . Each water drop is a little mirror , imaging in little something that is near it ; each flower , borrowing a tint from its neighbour , yields its own tint in return i the white rose looks more tender and more intense beside the hyacinth ' s deep blue , and the rich rose reflects its crimson blushes all around .

    The painter has succeeded in denoting the various forms composing his subject , in black and white . As at the commencement of the work he devoted his attention to the distinguishing characteristics of each particular form , so now , in the same methodical manner , he proceeds to particularise each colour and its variations . Thus , the rose has three or six shades of colour in its blossoms , from the whitish divisions of the young buds to the deep clefts of the mature flowers . The same transparent lake or carmine serves for all ; for he commences with the faintest blush , and then deepens each tint in succession down to the darkest crimson . This process is repeated for every flower and object in the picture . The most subtle tint is thus obtained , whether of blue , yellow , green , or red , including the reflected hues . The treatment which serves for the rose ,

    serves also for the hyacinth , marigold , tulip , and even tlie smallest leaf or sxh \ W . T \ yv \ = > \ Jac wt-saoat p-virvty , ^ re&tmess , richness , depth , brightness , transparency , and truth are ensured . The painter having first secured the true colour of each object , that is , its colour before receiving reflections , reserves the reflected hues for after consideration . The purple which the rose attracts from the hyacinth at its side , is obtained by a faint wash of blue , thus changing the tint , with every hue throughout . When the local colours and accidental tints are completed , the pointing is proceeded with . The borders of the flowers and edges of the leaves are tipped with sunlight , which also sparkles on the insects and gives a central light to the smooth stalks . Thoso parts which are of a heavy dead texture , not reflecting light , require retouching with opaque colour to distinguish them from the transparent .

    All these beautiful and various effects John Van Iluysuni could imitate so closely that the imitation seemed to have " motion and life , and almost an odour . " Whoever feels a pleasure ( and who docs not ?) in gazing at nature ' s loveliest and most innocent creations—" a group of beautiful flowers—will readily allow that to look on a picture hy John Van Iluysuni is the next best thing . " There is a feeling so happy in his conceptions of flowers , selected and disposed with the nicest susceptibility to their gentlest influences . He gives to each particular flower , hud , and plant , its peculiar character , unruffled hy accident . With profusion there is no repletion ; grace and simplicity are everywhere .

    It may be said that the process of painting a picture after the method particularized has never been pursued—that neither Van Iluysuni , Mignon , De Ileem , nor liaptiste , in fact , pursued such a process ; nay , that these painters worked to perfection by means quite different ; that their works are more natural , solid , and durable , than they would have been if so painted . Thewritcrhas seen a picture hy Van Iluysuni in ahalf effaced condition , painted on a white ground , in which the tulips and roses wen ; first perfectly formed in white and black . The more elaborate works of Van lluvsuni were thus worked

    up . Pictures painted in this manner areverysuseeptibleof injury , owin ^ to the extreme delicacy and thinness of the finishing transparent colours . For this reason it has been thought that a thorough acquaintance with the nature of a picture so hazardous to treat , would he the best standard to fix in the mind . There would he risk of destroying every beauty in a picture by Van Iluysuni , by use of solvents , which ini tf ht be safely employed in restoring a picture hy Baptiste . In a flower-piece hy Van Iluysuni , the faint and scarcely perceptible blush on the rose is almost as transient as a reflected hue . It is the sensitive eye alone that would he conscious of its presence , and only the delicatest handling that could venture on its surface . In a similar subject by Baptiste the corresponding tints would not , as in Van Uuysum , be produced by a transparent wash , but by opaque colour which the ordinary eye could not resist , nor the ordinary handling endanger .

    Untitled Article

    January 29 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 115

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 29, 1853, page 115, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1971/page/19/