OTES ON THE 
 5ST-IMPRESSIONIST 
 PAINTERS 
 
 GRAFTON GALLERIES, 1910-11 
 
 BY C. J. HOLMES 
 
 ONE SHILLING NET 
 



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTES ON THE POST- 
 IMPRESSIONIST PAINTERS 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 https://archive.org/details/notesonpostimpreOOholm 
 
NOTES ON THE 
 POST-IMPRESSIONIST 
 
 : : painters : : 
 
 GRAFTON GALLERIES, 1910-11 
 
 BY C. J. HOLMES 
 
 PHILIP LEE WARNER 
 38 ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 
 
 I9IO 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 NOTES ON THE PICTURES 19 
 
 CONCLUSION 37 
 
PREFACE 
 
 These hasty notes, in their original form, were 
 made for my own use, in case I should ever 
 be called upon to revise certain theories of 
 modern art which I had tentatively put forward 
 before seeing any “Post-Impressionist” painting. 
 By printing the notes separately, I hope to 
 gain the advantage of preliminary criticism : 
 incidentally, too, they may be suggestive to a 
 few of the many visitors to the Grafton Galleries. 
 
 C. J. H. 
 
 December , 1910. 
 
■ 
 
 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 In surveying the exhibition as a whole, two or 
 three facts assume particular prominence. In 
 the first place it is undeniable that the effect of 
 the collection is stimulating, even if we cannot 
 at the moment diagnose the exact source of the 
 stimulus we receive. And in the arts, 1 am 
 inclined to think that a stimulus of any kind is 
 healthy. Art, like all other products of the 
 active human mind, stagnates in surroundings of 
 unbroken quiet. The stress of some great 
 national struggle, the outburst of the rejoicing 
 spirit when that stress is taken away, hatred for 
 the faults of a corrupt age, healthy emulation of 
 contemporary genius, the pressure of poverty — 
 all these have served their turn as a stimulus to 
 great minds, and the stirring of the thoughts 
 occasioned by the introduction of a new form of 
 art must be counted with them. Half a 
 century ago the art of Japan began, first in 
 Paris and later all over Europe, to widen the 
 painter’s horizon ; now that the whole art of the 
 East is being more thoroughly studied, we see 
 that we are only at the beginning of the change 
 it may ultimately effect. And I think the art of the 
 Post-Impressionists may perhaps be most easily 
 
 7 
 
approached from the Oriental side. A thousand 
 yearsago its principles of deliberate simplification, 
 of “ synthesis,” of avoiding effects of strong 
 chiaroscuro, of obtainin g decorative effect by flat 
 colour and strong outlines, were part of the 
 common artistic tradition of China ; they persist 
 to-day in Japanese colour-prints. Even before 
 this Oriental influence reached Europe as the first 
 wave of the rising flood, similar principles 
 had found expression in the paintings of 
 Daumier. He yields to none of these moderns 
 either in simplicity or in strength, while by his 
 kinship to the great general tradition of European 
 art his work retains those serviceable decora- 
 tive qualities which more recent painting has 
 so often been compelled to sacrifice. 
 
 1 This absence of decorative quality is commonly 
 |! the strongest ground of objection to the Im- 
 pressionists ; but the accusation should not be 
 pushed too far or made universal. It may be 
 fairly urged that the rough strokes of pigment 
 in an example of Claude Monet’s best time are 
 much less pleasant to the eye than the enamelled 
 surface and finished brush-work of a Terborch ; 
 there is no doubt, too, that the Frenchman 
 would look crude and clumsy in general aspect 
 also, if he were introduced into a company of 
 well chosen Old Masters. But place your 
 Monet and your Terborch in a sunny modern 
 drawing-room. The Dutchman, for all his 
 largeness of design and refinement of detail, 
 will seem a spot of shadow among the bright 
 flowers, the gay china, and dainty fabrics, while 
 the Monet will at once take his place naturally 
 
in their midst, as one of many things flashed 
 with happy colour. 
 
 We too often speak as if the word “ decorative ” 
 were almost as limited in its meaning as the 
 word “ vermilion,” as if it connoted some single 
 gamut of tones and colours, from which the 
 least deviation would be attended with fatal 
 results. Nothing really could be farther from 
 the truth. In the days when the general 
 decoration of houses was sober, when windows 
 were neither so many nor so large as we like to 
 have them now, the general scale of tones 
 employed by the old masters was appropriate 
 enough, and it remains appropriate for many 
 parts of an ordinary modern house. But the 
 drawing-room and the boudoir of to-day im- 
 peratively demand lighter, brighter schemes of 
 colour, and this demand the Impressionists and 
 their modern followers in some degree fulfil. A i 
 water-colour by Turner or a fan by Conder 
 may supply the need still better, for in their 
 cases we have to make no deductions for clumsy 
 use of material ; but, so far as working in oil 
 paint is concerned, the Impressionists were 
 pioneers, not only in the field of expression, but 
 in that of decoration also. 
 
 I have laid special stress on this aspect of 
 Impressionism, because the methods of Impres- 
 sionism are the single addition which the Post- 
 Impressionists make to the general formula of 
 the Orientals and of Daumier. The connection 
 with Manet, on which the arrangement of the 
 Exhibition appears to insist, is fortuitous. 
 Manet at times, as in the noble study of The 
 
 b 9 
 
leathers, comes near to the large simplicity of 
 Daumier and the Orientals ; his notorious 
 Olympia , in the Luxembourg, has been the 
 obvious inspiration of Gauguin in one of his 
 most powerful and elaborate creations (No. 42). 
 But Manet’s chief bent was after all towards the 
 direct realism of the great Spaniards. Even 
 when he moves most definitely towards Impres- 
 sionism, he is still the heir of Goya, and it is a 
 mere accident of time and place that he should 
 be in name, or in fact, the father of the new 
 movement. 
 
 I am too uncertain of the exact dates at which 
 the various works in the exhibition were pro- 
 duced to venture upon any attempt at tracing 
 exactly its historical evolution. That may well 
 be left to future archivists. For the moment 
 it is enough to recognise that in the first Post- 
 Impressionist painters we have a reaction from 
 the materialism which limited the original 
 Impressionists to the rendering of natural 
 effects of light and colour with the greatest 
 attainable scientific truth. Within those iron 
 limits art was bound to come to a standstill, 
 and in setting up sincerity to personal vision as 
 a guiding rule, In the place of sincerity to 
 natural appearances, the Post-Impressionists 
 were really only reverting to the principle 
 which has inspired all the greatest art in the 
 world. I am not sure that such a principle 
 was ever definitely postulated by the leaders of 
 the new movement, or that their personal con- 
 nection was close enough to make the adoption 
 of any common rule of artistic life the act of an 
 IO 
 
united party. I should rather imagine that the 
 limitations of Impressionism were felt by each 
 of them independently, and that independently, 
 too, they discovered similar solutions for the 
 problem. 
 
 The tradition of Post-Impressionism, then, if 
 any principles so youthful can be called a tradi- 
 tion, is the expression of personal vision : 
 
 1. Through the methods, first applied to oil- 
 paintings by the Impressionists, which aim 
 at the greatest possible vibrancy and lumi- 
 nosity of colour, obtained by the juxtaposition 
 of pure bright pigment in small separate 
 touches. These methods preclude fine quality 
 of surface and delicate refinements of touch, 
 but give undeniable force. 
 
 2. Through rigid simplification on the lines of 
 the Orientals and of Daumier, in which the 
 means of expression are reduced to line and 
 colour, unbroken (or practically so) by 
 shadows or by attempts at surface modelling. 
 Baldness, emptiness or childishness are the 
 obvious perils of this simplification, as garish- 
 ness and clumsiness are of the Impressionist 
 practice. 
 
 With these broad principles in mind we can 
 approach the main object of our inquiry, and 
 consider how each of the principal artists repre- 
 sented at the Grafton Galleries utilizes these 
 powers and avoids the concomitant dangers. 
 Also, and this inquiry at the present time seems 
 no less pertinent than the other, we must 
 consider how far each man’s personal views are 
 worth expressing at all. 
 
Of Manet it is needless to speak at length. 
 His powers are recognised, and his connection 
 with the Post-Impressionists is so accidental 
 that to discuss his merits or faults would merely 
 obscure our main purpose. 
 
 We must begin therefore with Cezanne. In 
 his lifetime Cezanne was a humble follower of 
 the more famous Impressionists, and a review 
 of his work at the Grafton Galleries does not 
 compel any drastic reconsideration of his place. 
 Wherever he seeks to render delicacy, the coarse 
 handling of his school is accentuated by con- 
 sistent personal clumsine ss of touch. This 
 clumsiness is not relieved by any supreme in- 
 tellectual power ; indeed, Cezanne frequently 
 fails in grouping his matter into a coherent 
 design — sometimes in expressing his inten- 
 tions at all. Nevertheless, he was a genuine 
 artist. His landscapes in particular have sin- 
 cerity and sometimes real force, while he often 
 shows distinction as a colourist. Honesty is 
 his paramount virtue, and sometimes this quality 
 enables Cezanne to impress us more than men 
 of infinitely finer gifts. The verdant landscapes 
 of Daubigny, the exquisite fruit-pieces of 
 Fantin, might often appear to those who admire 
 Cezanne’s work in the same field as having, in 
 comparison, ever so slight a savour of the pot- 
 boiler about them. That, however, does not 
 prove Cezanne to be more than a very sincere 
 artist. His modest rank will at once be made 
 clear if we compare his life’s work with that of 
 Courbet, whom he not infrequently recalls. 
 
 With Gauguin no such Laodicean verdict seems 
 
natural. Though the surface of his paint is less 
 obtrusive than that of the Impressionists and of 
 many English painters of the present day, his 
 frank use of thick dark outlines, no less than 
 his barbaric subject matter, his unusual schemes 
 of design and colour, constitute him an innovator 
 still more daring than Claude Monet. Even 
 those who are not in sympathy with his work 
 do not deny him occasional grandeur of planning 
 and occasional success as a colourist, though 
 they would still regard the result as more suitable 
 for a hut on a Pacific island than for any con- 
 ceivable edifice in Europe. To argue that the 
 same results could have been achieved without 
 all this deliberate simplification of forms, with- 
 out those rude outlines, is to argue on un- 
 certain ground. The colour in Gauguin’s work, 
 which makes his pictures group so effectively, 
 is not realistic but broadly and superbly con- 
 ventionalised. To have combined this conven- f 
 tional colouring with wholly realistic forms 
 would have led to an incongruity. Moreover 
 Gauguin’s simplification of the human figure 
 undeniably emphasises the idea of large primitive 
 dignity which is at the root of his most charac- 
 teristic designs. Indeed had these very compo- 
 sitions been executed on the scale of an Indian 
 miniature, or even of the size preferred by 
 M. Vallotton, their magnificent colour and 
 monumental design would have won them 
 universal admiration. As it is they appear to 
 be a stumbling block to the many and a 
 stimulus only to the few. They are original, 
 powerful, and the work of a master, but they 
 
 *3 
 
fail of their full effectiveness, because they are 
 not serviceable also. A rich collector might with 
 some pains furnish a Gauguin room, and a 
 wonderful room it would be, but in more 
 ordinary surroundings the placing of a single 
 Gauguin picture might prove difficult. <c Less 
 valuable as an example than as a stimulus” 
 might be no unjust summary for him. 
 
 The insanity of Van Gogh’s last years has 
 furnished the enemies of the Post-Impressionists 
 with a cheap cudgel, but taints only a very 
 small proportion of his work. The remainder is 
 of wonderful quality and variety. His design is 
 large and original, his colour powerful or refined 
 as the occasion demands, his intensity of vision 
 almost disquieting. Only in his handling does 
 he frequently appear to pass beyond the confines 
 of oil-paint and encroach upon the province of 
 mosaic. But the haunting power and beauty of 
 his best work is so great as to annihilate all 
 minor objections, and among the masters with 
 whom he is associated not one is more deserving 
 of study. Beside Van Gogh, Gauguin appears 
 narrow and sometimes heavy handed, and all 
 the others appear like men who have very little 
 of their own to say. If I may judge by my 
 own feelings, Van Gogh is destined to become 
 a considerable figure, perhaps the most con- 
 siderable figure of the movement, and if some 
 millionaire admirer would only buy up his occa- 
 sional failures and burn them, Van Gogh would 
 not have to wait long for universal fame. 
 
 Maillol of course appears hors concours as the 
 latest heir of the great family of French 
 
 H 
 
sculptors. M. Vallotton’s talent also stands 
 apart as a thing already admitted, and fully 
 justified by the examples in the present exhibi- 
 tion. Indeed, of all the painters represented, he 
 is the one who best adapts Post-Impressionist 
 methods to the service of common humanity. 
 He has achieved “ synthesis ” without being 
 either coarse or empty — the two perils which 
 attend excessive simplification. 
 
 Not one of the younger artists represented 
 avoids these perils with so much tact, and since 
 these followers are dealt with in detail in the 
 notes on individual pictures it is needless to 
 discuss them here except in one or two special 
 cases. The slight examples of M. Pierre Girieud 
 suggest that he deserved to be represented by 
 some larger work than those now on view. But 
 M. Henri Matisse has been the enigma of 
 the show, even for artists and critics. He 
 enjoys a great reputation on the Continent, yet 
 I have not seen the large decorations which are 
 said to be his best work, and can therefore view 
 him only in the light of the small examples of 
 various arts which are collected in the exhibi- 
 tion. We may admit that some of his 
 drawings are respectable, that his little Vase 
 (No. io) is successful in its Montmartre fashion, 
 and that his bronzes include at least one clever 
 thing (No. n). Of the paintings the Femme 
 aux yeux verts is evidently more important in 
 every way than the little landscapes. There is 
 a distinct cleverness about it, even though its 
 motto might well be adh^sit pavimento. Such 
 a performance, supposing it to be merely an 
 
 15 
 
experiment in simplification, might not preclude 
 the possibility of fine work in a less limited 
 style. But if this and the landscapes were 
 regarded by M. Matisse as the culmination of 
 his art, instead of a momentary recoil pour 
 mieux sauter , and that is almost incredible, it 
 would be foolish to waste words upon him. 
 Every artist who recognises the need for sim- 
 plicity in expression will understand that the 
 efforts to attain it, even the efforts of capable 
 men, may lead at times to very odd results. But 
 to spend all one’s life in solemnly manu- 
 facturing these oddities is to prove oneself a 
 dunce. Such experiments will be precious to 
 their maker if from them he can learn how to 
 build up a method of expression more complete, 
 more capable of conveying those finer distinc- 
 tions which are the hall-mark of genius. But 
 in themselves they cannot be regarded as 
 masterpieces any more than verses written in 
 words of one syllable can embody the whole 
 wisdom and imagination of a great poet. 
 
 We have only to compare this Femme am 
 yeux verts with such a portrait as Holbein’s 
 Henry VIII at Althorp to see that the applica- 
 tion of the term masterpiece to both pictures is 
 simply preposterous. The Matisse may over- 
 whelm the Holbein as a noisy poster would do 
 in common outward effectiveness, but in all that 
 makes art valuable — in largeness of design, in 
 quality of colour, in superb use of material, in 
 profundity of insight, in real living force, and in 
 decorative beauty — the Holbein is immeasurably 
 greater. 
 
 16 
 
Admitting then that M. Matisse and his dis- 
 ciples may be right in working thus, to divest 
 themselves of the trammels of petty convention, 
 we may also decline to accept their present 
 efforts as more than experiments towards a 
 result not yet attained. If in the course of 
 time they add refinement to technical methods 
 which are now rude, and the rich insight of 
 educated men to the primitive elements of 
 vision to which they are now restricted, they 
 may become powerful artists, and the pictures 
 now exhibited will have an honourable place in 
 the history of their evolution. But if they 
 should continue year after year to do the 
 same kind of work as that which we have been 
 considering, we may safely assume that it is being 
 done in blind imitation of others, that they have 
 nothing of their own to tell us, and that the 
 pioneers of the movement, Cezanne, Van Gogh 
 and Gauguin (with Mr. Augustus John in 
 England), are the only figures worth discussing 
 in connection with Post-Impressionism. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ’ 
 
 
 c* • i a , .*•.»< is 4' ■ f 
 
 - 
 
 ■ t 
 
 . . - ■ 
 • 5 » • i > *'■>* »♦». 
 
 ■ 
 
 
OCTAGONAL GALLERY 
 
 2. Les Ondines ( Cezanne ) 
 
 We may grant at once the artistic quality of this 
 sketch, and may enjoy its straightforward 
 unity, its pleasant fresh colour. But we must 
 ask ourselves at the same time whether, even as 
 a sketch, it is necessarily the work of a great 
 master. Does the treatment, for example, really 
 fit the subject ? Does this coarse pigment give 
 us any single quality that would be lost by the 
 rich brushwork of a Rubens, or, to employ a 
 closer parallel, the dainty gouache of a Conder ? 
 Cezanne here is certainly an artist, but no less 
 certainly a clumsy one. 
 
 3. Mademoiselle Lemonnier ( Manet ) 
 
 The sort of portrait study which might well be 
 found among an artist’s “ remaining works.” 
 The scraped face shows that things did not 
 always go well, even with this most gifted 
 executant. It should not be regarded as a 
 typical specimen of Manet’s skill, or as having 
 more than a quite accidental resemblance to the 
 style of some of his successors. 
 
 5. Nature Morte ( Cezanne ) 
 
 The fruit is powerfully studied, and the back- 
 ground has a certain largeness of design. 
 
 *9 
 
v 
 
 
 c> $ 
 
 i V^aWt\ *7 o "Z ) 
 
 6. Pay sage , 5 /. C/00*/ ( Cezanne ) 
 
 Frank and honest, if once more clumsy in 
 appearance. But, were it signed by Constable or 
 Daubigny, should we class it with their finest 
 works ? Cezanne again appears as a very sin- 
 cere person who has an original feeling for 
 colour, but who paints with difficulty. 
 
 7. Un bar aux Folies-Bergere (l "Manet ) 
 
 One of Manet’s masterpieces, alike in colour, 
 in audacity, and in professional accomplishment. 
 
 8. L'Estaque ( Cezanne ) 
 
 A study containing some fine colour and feeling 
 for the large lines of landscape. 
 
 9. Nature Morte ( Cezanne ) 
 
 Emphatic, but not so fortunate in colour. 
 
 10. Portrait de P artiste ( C&zanne ) 
 
 A good piece of realism ; the handling unde- 
 niably helps the uncanny character of the head. 
 
 11. Portrait de Mme. C&zanne ( Cezanne ) 
 
 Once more passages of admirable colour are 
 combined with large planning and intense 
 sincerity of vision into an original and powerful 
 portrait, although Cezanne’s native heaviness 
 of touch makes its outward appearance unattrac- 
 tive. 
 
 12. Les Petunias ( Cezanne ) 
 
 A pleasant, sober study, but hardly more than 
 that. 
 
 13. Dame au Chapelet ( Cezanne ) 
 
 A failure. If the intensity of vision and the 
 technical science of a Rembrandt are needed to 
 make a great picture from such a subject, any 
 well trained art student could make a good 
 study from it. Cezanne’s ill-success proves, 
 20 
 
if any proof were needed, that his heaviness of 
 hand was due to sheer want of competence. 
 
 14. La Toilette ( Cezanne ) 
 
 Again 4 well-coloured sketch. 
 
 15. La Femme aux souliers roses (Manet) 
 
 This masterly little sketch might be quoted as 
 convincing evidence that delicacy and sureness 
 of touch are no obstacles to the most direct 
 and spirited expression. The study is as truly 
 “ synthetic ’’ as anything in the gallery, yet the 
 synthesis is obtained without effort, and by 
 means that fit the subject far better than any 
 violent simplification would do. A Cezanne 
 might indeed catch something of the refined 
 colour of the tones of the arm and face, but the 
 daintiness of the faded pink shoe (and much of 
 the Goya-like charm of the piece depends on 
 that) would be botched and befouled in less 
 skilful hands than those of Manet. 
 
 16. Les Maisons ( C&zanne ) 
 
 Here Cezanne’s heaviness of touch is more 
 appropriate. By reducing this scene of storm 
 and desolation to its simplest elements, and by 
 stating those elements in the most direct 
 manner possible, he achieves a result that is 
 powerful, if not very agreeable in appearance. 
 Had the subject been treated on a somewhat 
 smaller scale and in water-colour, its merits 
 would not have been sensibly diminished. 
 
 17. Au Cafe (Manet) 
 
 A good example of Manet’s power of making 
 people look really alive. 
 
 18. La Route {Cezanne) 
 
 Though clumsy in appearance, like much of 
 
 21 
 
V 
 
 \ Q/vJ&Hl A": 
 
 ^ yv,uixw\ Iq (? 
 
 j„VJ N 5 o .2 L V 
 
 Cezanne’s work, this landscape has singular 
 weight and power ; indeed, the rude handling 
 and the heavy pigment are not out of keeping 
 with the wild sombre place. The mood recalls 
 Courbet, but even Courbet, with his vastly 
 greater skill and experience, did not always view 
 things so largely. 
 
 19. Baigneurs {Cezanne) 
 
 An unimportant study ; similar to No. 2, but 
 less fortunate, both in design and colour. 
 
 20. Le Grand Pin ( Cezanne ) 
 
 Also unfortunate. 
 
 21. Baigneuses {Manet) 
 
 A fine sketch, as rigorously simple in its masses 
 and in its superb use of outline as any work in 
 the exhibition, yet succeeding without the 
 sacrifice of those “ traditional ” qualities which 
 make painting serviceable. It proves also, if 
 any proof were needed, that contours can be 
 made large and powerful without becoming 
 empty. 
 
 LARGE GALLERY 
 
 23, 24, 25, &c . {Gauguin) 
 
 Though these, in their way, are typical, Gauguin 
 is represented here by more important examples ; 
 and it will be well to defer consideration of his 
 art till these are reached in their natural course. 
 The audacious splendour of colour in No. 32 
 may be noticed meanwhile. 
 
 27. La Danse des Vendanges {Flandrin) 
 
 Were it stripped of its local and momentary 
 22 ' 
 
mannerisms, this would prove an eclectic work 
 of quite secondary importance. 
 
 30. Nude Girl with Basket of Flowers ( Picasso ) £ q^)J\ 
 
 Pretty colour, clever planning, and an attractive 
 model combine to make this one of the most 
 obviously popular things in the gallery. Yet 
 its charm is one of accomplishment, not of 
 real power, and something academic (in the 
 London use of the word) underlies its show of 
 frankness. Mr. Solomon J. Solomon in different 
 surroundings might have painted thus. 
 
 33. Orphee (Maurice Denis') ( 
 
 If M. Picasso is best understood by a com- 
 parison with Mr. Solomon, M. Maurice Denis 
 is best understood if we think of him as a 
 French Waterhouse. There is a real similarity 
 in the spirit and talent with which these two 
 painters approach the painting of classical idylls. 
 
 Whether M. Denis be under the spell of Puvis 
 de Chavannes, as in this case, or is experi- 
 menting in more flamboyant tones, as in Nos. 
 
 82 and 91 in the Centre Gallery, the re- 
 semblance persists, and renders detailed com- 
 ment unnecessary. 
 
 41. Negresses (Gauguin) 
 
 42. Id Esprit Veille ( Gauguin ) 
 
 For Gauguin’s originality and power I can 
 suggest no such convenient parallel. His art 
 is so richly and variously represented in the 
 galleries, that the casual spectator may well be 
 somewhat distracted at first. If, however, we 
 concentrate attention upon one or two examples 
 of recognised importance, and give them our 
 careful attention, it will be much easier to turn 
 
 23 
 
afterwards to the minor examples and estimate 
 their relative merits. 
 
 The splendid colour and monumental planning 
 of No. 41 have extorted the admiration even 
 of those who regard the majority of the exhibits 
 with suspicion if not with active hostility. The 
 rude contours defining the figures remain a 
 stumbling block to many. That they are not 
 the result of incapacity is clear — the unfinished 
 painting in the End Gallery, No. 128, is con- 
 clusive evidence on that point, as its neigh- 
 bour, No. 127, is of Gauguin’s admiration for 
 Prudhon, unmatched among French painters 
 for his suave science. That these contours 
 give his Tahiti folk a certain barbaric majesty 
 is no less clear ; their stiffness, as in Egyptian 
 sculpture, conveys the sense of statuesque 
 repose, their thickness of a rude and primitive 
 art. Moreover these dark lines separate and 
 intensify the component masses of rich colour 
 as the leads in a stained glass window would 
 do, their very simplification admitting a similar 
 broadening of the colour scheme, which plays 
 so large a part in the total effect. Were 
 Gauguin’s contours minutely realistic, we should 
 expect a similar realism in his colour, and there- 
 with his gorgeous harmonies would become 
 casual or impossible. It would be unjust 
 to pass over No. 42, alike in design and colour 
 one of the most powerful and complete of 
 Gauguin’s conceptions, without a word as to its 
 subject. The scene, I am given to understand, 
 is an illustration of the Tahitian belief as to the 
 method by which a ghostly presence may be 
 24 
 
raised. A similar spirit appears out of the 
 wood behind the expectant figure of the girl 
 in No. 43. Impelled by such a motive the 
 art of Gauguin attains in No. 42 a degree of 
 elaboration which few if any of his other 
 works display. Their lack of content, com- 
 pared with the paintings of the accepted schools 
 of art, might naturally suggest that Gauguin’s 
 method was applicable only to slight sketches 
 and studies. The success of this one more 
 elaborate piece indicates much wider possibilities. 
 This wall as a whole is the most complete piece 
 of connected colour in the exhibition ; the 
 iterations of deep blue, purple and crimson, 
 relieved by flashes of white and yellow, com- 
 bining into a harmony at once unusual and 
 dignified. The pitch of the colour however is 
 perhaps better adapted to a large gallery than 
 to a small room, and some of the pictures lose 
 considerably when viewed by themselves. 
 
 47 . ( Cezanne ) 
 
 This portrait has a crispness of touch, and an 
 immediate appeal, which are seen nowhere else 
 in Cezanne’s work as here exhibited. It is 
 hard to believe it comes from the same hand as 
 Nos. 46 and 48, the one so typical of Cezanne’s 
 rough honesty, the other so typical of his lapses 
 into incoherence. No. 51 is a similar example 
 of Cezanne’s failures. 
 
 49 . Orchard in Provence ( Van Gogh ) 
 
 If Van Gogh had consistently maintained the 
 note he strikes in this exquisite picture, he 
 would have been acclaimed, even by the general 
 public, as one of the most delightful of all 
 
 D 25 
 
f fW 
 
 in 
 
 
 \ 
 
 modern landscape-painters. Here, in a wilder- 
 ness of apple blossom with spring grass under 
 his feet and a palpitating blue sky overhead, he 
 challenges that master colourist Charles Conder, 
 and vanquishes him from sheer intensity of 
 conviction. Intensity of conviction, indeed, is 
 Van Gogh’s ruling characteristic, and in virtue 
 of it he attains remarkable power in more than 
 one field. Were it not indeed for the existence 
 of works which display too clearly the marks 
 of disordered reason, his reputation would 
 stand far higher than it does. But in the 
 popular mind, a few conspicuous failures will 
 counterbalance and annul a whole series of 
 successful achievements, so that it is not until 
 time has sifted the wheat from the chaff in Van 
 Gogh’s unequal output, that his just rank will 
 be established. 
 
 53 » 57 ? 60. (K Signac) 
 
 Nothing in the results obtained by M. Signac 
 seems quite to justify the laborious ingenuity 
 of his method, though Nos. 53 and 57 contain 
 some pretty colour. Eliminate the method, 
 and the residue is only average landscape. 
 
 54 ? 55 - (Seurat) 
 
 For Seurat even less can be said. When he 
 succeeds, as in No. 55, the result is a sort of 
 colour-photograph ; when he fails his work has 
 not even that modest virtue. 
 
 64. View of Arles ( Van Gogh) 
 
 A proof how much intense sincerity can achieve 
 even in rendering such an unpromising subject 
 as a dusty road among allotment gardens. The 
 three works of Cezanne (Nos. 61, 62 and 63) 
 
 
in immediate proximity are quite eclipsed by 
 Van Gogh’s superior conviction and science. 
 
 65. ( Van Gogh ) 
 
 The yellow background successfully intensifies 
 the purple of the iris flowers, but at the cost of 
 rendering the picture useless for the decoration 
 of any ordinary room. 
 
 67, 71. (Van Gogh) 
 
 It is unfortunate for Van Gogh’s fame that 
 such examples of his failing reason were not 
 destroyed by his friends. 
 
 70. Les hies cTor ( Van Gogh) 
 
 In one or two of the neighbouring examples 
 ( e.g . No. 69) some particular colour is forced 
 by Van Gogh to a point where emphasis be- 
 comes discord. Here balance is perfectly pre- 
 served, the colour harmony rich and splendid, 
 while the design has the massive synthetic 
 quality, often mentioned by the partisans of 
 the Post-Impressionists but not so often 
 achieved in practice. I feel that in this case 
 the formal method of applying pigment suits 
 the abstract simplicity of the design. From 
 it the picture derives the effect of a mosaic 
 panel, and perhaps mosaic is the appropriate 
 medium when expression is thus reduced to its 
 primal elements. Certainly if we can regard 
 Van Gogh’s works in this style as experiments 
 in a novel form of mosaic, we shall be able to 
 appreciate their merits more quickly than if we 
 compare them with ordinary oil-paintings. 
 
 72. Les Soleils (Van Gogh) 
 
 No visitor who has seen this picture only by 
 artificial light can form the slightest conception 
 
 27 
 
of its superb and haunting quality. As a 
 harmony in various subtly contrasted shades of 
 yellow, it tells upon the wall as a magnificent 
 decorative panel. But when we come to ex- 
 amine it closely we discover that these great 
 sunflowers seem to be alive, their petals seem to 
 writhe and flicker like flames, their hearts to be 
 quivering with intense unearthly fire. I know 
 no other painting of such uncanny attractive- 
 ness. The similar study in the End Gallery 
 (145) has also great charm, and is haunted by 
 no unkindly demons. 
 
 73. Dr. G ache t (V an Gogh ) 
 
 Only a tormented soul could have conceived 
 this vision of human unrest. Once more the 
 mosaic method of work seems to justify itself 
 in splendour of colour, and in its harmony with 
 the daring simplification of the portrait. Yet 
 while we can imagine a series of landscapes like 
 No. 70 making a noble scheme of mosaic 
 decoration, we cannot imagine a series of por- 
 traits such as this being put to the same use. 
 
 74, 75. (Van Gogh) 
 
 The rehandling of a theme by any great master 
 is usually instructive, and these translations of 
 Delacroix and Rembrandt are no exceptions. 
 The Delacroix variation is the less successful 
 of the two, for a strong scheme of light and 
 shadow cannot be translated into the flat tones 
 proper to mosaic : it must be paraphrased, and 
 that loosely. The Rembrandt subject is handled 
 with delightful boldness. 
 
 76. La Berceuse (Van Gogh ) 
 
 In the preceeding examples, oil painting has 
 28 
 
been made to assume the characters of mosaic ; 
 here it suggests woolwork. The experiment 
 is original, and has produced some quaint 
 colour, but I confess to preferring either mosaic 
 or oil-paint. 
 
 CENTRE GALLERY 
 
 . f Ul°0 
 
 77, 77 a. (Henri Matisse) 
 
 The work of M. Matisse is discussed in the 
 Introduction. 
 
 78. (Othon Friesz) 
 
 Neither in this picture nor in the similar works, 
 
 Nos. 1 21 and 122, is it easy to discover any 
 justification for such a manner of working. 
 
 The subject matter of M. Friesz is the subject 
 matter of the ordinary water-colourists of the 
 day, and though violence or eccentricity of 
 handling may obscure this initial weakness, 
 they cannot get rid of it : a commonplace re- 
 mains a commonplace however it is translated. 
 
 82. Calypso (Maurice Denis) f ^ 
 
 An excellent example of the style of Mr. 
 Waterhouse translated into modern Parisian 
 language. M. Denis has already been discussed 
 in connection with No. 33. 
 
 85, 86. (Gauguin) 
 
 No. 85 is a powerful essay in an unwonted 
 field ; No. 86 the most conspicuous example here 
 of a scale too large for the subject. 
 
 92. (Odilon 'Redon) 
 
 The exceedingly attractive colouring of this 
 
 29 
 
flower piece displays M. Redords art to con- 
 siderable advantage. 
 
 93, 95, 9 6. {Paul Serusier) 
 
 If inclined to heaviness and dullness, all these 
 works by M. Serusier have an air of sincerity 
 and personality which to some extent redeems 
 their faults. 
 
 94. {Jules Flandrin ) 
 
 Much more successful, if less ambitious, than No. 
 27 ; yet the success, after all, is so moderate, as 
 hardly to merit discussion. 
 
 98. {Louis V alt at) 
 
 A pretty thing, in its degree, 
 iox, 103, X04. {Her bin) 
 
 The essentially commonplace vision of No. 101 
 explains the extravagance of No. 103. Is it 
 that we see a very ordinary capacity, attempt- 
 ing to escape from its native limitations by the 
 path of violence ? 
 
 102. {Felix Vallotton) 
 
 An admirable little interior. It is a pity that 
 most of the exhibitors do not recognise the 
 immense advantages obtained by working on such 
 a modest scale as that which M. Vallotton 
 selects. 
 
 All the decorative and structural merits of the 
 method are retained without the sacrifice of 
 the quality of traditional oil-painting, which, as 
 I have attempted to explain elsewhere, is really 
 in the nature of usefulness, of adaptability to 
 civilised human surroundings. 
 
 105. Nature morte {Pierre Laprade) 
 
 This seems to be rather a popular work, perhaps 
 because it vaguely resembles the accepted 
 
 30 
 
u Still Lifes ” of the day. But once more I 
 feel there is only a commonplace vision at the 
 back of things. 
 
 106, 107, 109, 110. (Maurice de Vlaminck ) ^ ^ ^ 
 
 In his ceramics and in his flower-piece, M. de {JVc) 
 
 Vlaminck shows a certain decorative sense. T he f {yio) 
 landscapes are inspired at present by no per- > 0 f { o) 
 
 sonality sufficient to excuse their obvious 
 mannerisms. 
 
 in. La femme aux yeux verts ( Henri Matisse ) 
 
 The same remark applies to M. Matisse. 
 
 Certain studies in the End Gallery indicate that 
 he can draw tolerably, but nowhere in this 
 exhibition does he show any evidence of real 
 artistic creation, of the power which unites 
 isolated things into a significant and harmonious 
 design. M. Matisse is said, however, to have 
 done some fine decorative painting, and, as I 
 have indicated in the Introduction, his exhibits 
 here do not necessarily disprove possession of 
 the genius which his friends discover in him. 
 
 But it is useless to waste time over them when 
 there are so many things to look at which 
 represent positive achievement. 
 
 1 1 4 . (c Albert Marquet) 
 
 A good study which looks quite masterly by 
 contrast with the work round it. ( N 
 
 1 15, 116, 1 1 8. {Andre Derain) 
 
 M. Derain as a painter and designer of faience * ^ 
 may be classed with M. de Flaminck. 
 
 1 1 7. {Picasso) £ j <] o j ) 
 
 In the hands of Van Gogh such a portrait 
 would have force and character, it would also be 
 interesting as colour. M. Picasso obtains none 
 
 31 
 
 ck 
 
 
 3 ( f 
 
 I*?) 
 
of these qualities. He merely exchanges the 
 not unpleasing dexterity of No. 30 for a manner 
 which he does not know how to use. 
 
 END GALLERIES 
 
 125. (Jean Puy) 
 
 A Sargent could evolve a dazzling study of 
 sunlight and shadow from such a subject ; or it 
 would serve as the theme of a fine drawing to a 
 fine draughtsman. But the extreme Post- 
 Impressionist style is calculated to render neither 
 refinements of form nor play of shifting 
 shadow ; so that it is difficult to see what the 
 artist gains by employing it here. 
 
 127. Joseph and PotiphaPs Wife ( Gauguin 
 after Prudhon) 
 
 It is a pity that exercises of this kind are not 
 more frequently attempted. To translate a 
 piece of chiaroscuro into colour without loss of 
 emphasis should be an invaluable means of 
 compelling young painters to think. Like the 
 Grande s Baigneuses (No. 86 in the Centre 
 Gallery), the work is executed on too large a 
 scale for anything but a decorative panel in 
 some spacious building. 
 
 129. (Felix Vallotton ) 
 
 M. Vallotton’s sea-piece, on the other hand 
 (like his excellent interior, No. 102), is perfectly 
 adapted to hang in an ordinary room. 
 
 Without Numbers. 3 Landscapes ( Van Gogh) 
 Three admirable panels of varied aim. The 
 Effet de Pluie is superb in conception, and its 
 rough pigment veils great subtlety and trans- 
 32 
 
parency of colour. The street scene is strongly 
 designed, but has a more occasional look. The 
 Champ a Auvers is the most brilliant of the 
 three, the fresh greens and yellows uniting into 
 a harmony of singular refinement and liveliness. 
 The treatment of the sky is less felicitous : the 
 forcible mosaic seems to disturb and overwhelm 
 the more delicate work below. 
 i 3 °- i 35 . ( George 'Rouault) 
 
 Here again nothing seems to be effected which 
 could not be effected still better by ordinary 
 methods of work. As in No. 125 the difficulty 
 begins with the introduction of strong shadows. 
 137. ( Odilon Redon ) 
 
 Again some pretty colour ; but weakness of 
 design is more pronounced than in No. 92. 
 138-1 42. ( Tierre Girieud ) 
 
 There is much good design and colour in these 
 unpretentious studies, if but little feeling for 
 beauty of pigment. The delightful vase, No. 9 
 on the stand hard by, seems to indicate that 
 M. Girieud has also a talent for ceramics. 
 
 143 , 144 . (Van Gogh ) 
 
 The little picture of poplars contains some 
 charming colour, but the restless method of 
 brushwork adopted in this instance is not quite 
 in harmony with it. No. 144, however, is a 
 much more serious failure, for here Van Gogh is 
 really dull. 
 
 146 , 150. ( Henri Manguin) 
 
 In his fruit-piece M. Manguin shows himself an 
 admirable imitator of Cezanne, in his landscape 
 an almost equally successful imitator of M. 
 Matisse. 
 
 E 
 
 33 
 
148. (Taul S&usier) 
 
 This has the sincerity of M. Serusier’s other 
 landscapes, with more spirit and liveliness of 
 tone. 
 
 DRAWINGS, BRONZES, AND 
 POTTERY 
 
 The drawings, though they call for no detailed 
 notice, indicate that the exhibitors are far better 
 trained than some hasty critics seem to have 
 thought them. And in this connection the 
 name of Mr. John has been used as a rod for 
 the chastisement of his French contemporaries. 
 This, surely is no fair argument. If all artists 
 who have not the peculiar genius of that gifted 
 virtuoso are bad draughtsmen, then the best 
 craftsman of Europe are in the same limbo as 
 M. Matisse. We must admit, in common 
 I justice, that most of the Post-Impressionists 
 show reasonable competence as draughtsmen, 
 however furious some people may be at the use 
 they make of it. 
 
 In the domain of sculpture, the art of M. Maillol, 
 already made familiar in England by the Inter- 
 national Society, enjoys a similar pre-eminence. 
 There is also some effective faience, the vases 
 by M. Derain and M. de Vlaminck being well 
 designed ; indeed these two artists achieve in 
 this field a measure of success which is denied 
 to their attempts at painting. As Mr. Walter 
 Crane pointed out in a very sensible and 
 temperate letter when the Exhibition was 
 34 
 
first opened, the failures may be attributed, in 
 nearly all cases, to the misuse or rather to the 
 misunderstanding, of materials. Much which 
 makes thoroughly poor and ineffective painting 
 would produce good results if carried out in 
 mosaic, or pottery, or stained glass. 
 
 35 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 It seems as if the prevalent misconceptions and 
 differences of opinion about Post-Impressionism 
 might all be traced to one simple cause. Both 
 their enthusiastic advocates and their most 
 furious detractors appear to treat Post-Impres- 
 sionist painting as if it were a last word in art. 
 The one party speaks of it as if it were among 
 the loftiest possible manifestations of aesthetic 
 activity ; the other denounces it as the final 
 expression of decay — mental, physical and moral. 
 But in art, surely, there is no such finality ? 
 Its noblest manifestations have never been limited 
 to a single period, a single nation, a single 
 climate, or a single tradition. They have rather 
 appeared on the crest of successive waves of 
 effort, at the moment when two opposing forces 
 come into contact. We may call those opposing 
 forces what we please — Tradition and Person- 
 ality ; Nature and Convention ; Barbarism and 
 Culture ; Simplicity and Elaboration ; Life and 
 Style — it does not matter much what terms we 
 use so long as we recognise the primal rule that 
 art is born of activity and not of stagnation. 
 
 Yet to stagnation the implicit following of any 
 tradition, however noble, inevitably comes at 
 
 37 
 
the last. No form of art can be repeated even 
 once without some loss, and the pursuit of the 
 same ideals for even two or three decades is 
 sufficient to deprive them of all their primal 
 value. 
 
 We can look back upon the naturalism of the 
 early Nineteenth Century, culminating in the 
 work of Constable, dying, for all practical 
 purposes, within some twenty years after his 
 death. Then a new and intense sincerity is 
 introduced and practised for a short time by the 
 Pre-Raphaelites. This in turn dies out in vague 
 idealising, while the later ‘ schools ? of Whistler, of 
 Bastien Lepage, and of the Impressionists, were 
 no more long-lived in their various posterities. 
 Here and there some isolated artists, by excep- 
 tional sincerity, strength or science, kept up 
 the struggle, but the main body of artistic 
 production had become inert, or wandered 
 aimlessly in a maze of complicated trifles. 
 
 The reaction seems to have arisen spontaneously 
 in several quarters. Post-Impressionism, if 
 we trust its exponents, has become a “ move- 
 ment ” all over Europe and in America, but 
 the pioneers, and they are at present the really 
 important figures, seem to have worked at first 
 in almost as great an artistic isolation as did Mr. 
 Augustus John, their counterpart in England. 
 When lecturing at Oxford some years ago on 
 the theory of painting, I noticed that the career 
 of all original artists since Rembrandt began 
 with a return to the primitive elements of their 
 art— rhythm and vitality — which were employed 
 as a base for an advance upon new and personal 
 33 
 
lines. * This conclusion coincides so nearly 
 
 with Post-Impressionist practice, that I should 
 be inconsistent if I did not treat the movement 
 with respect, though its products may seem of 
 unequal value. Yet even in its violence there 
 may be a certain element of reason. We cannot 
 gradually divest ourselves of the shackles of 
 convention, of the petty tricks of handling and 
 the petty preferences of vision, which fetter us 
 unconsciously in an age when the masterpieces 
 of many countries and many centuries lie at our 
 feet, thanks to the camera and the steam-engine. 
 We must make an entirely fresh start by reso- 
 lutely going back to a childish simplicity of 
 statement. Then when we know how to say 
 things simply, we may begin to add the refine- 
 ments, and so work forward to a means of 
 expression which says what we have to say, and 
 says it beautifully. 
 
 If Post-Impressionism came to be considered 
 as the end of the artist’s path instead of the 
 beginning ; if it were ever set up as a final 
 theory of pictorial expression instead of being 
 kept as an introductory stage to it, the fiercest 
 criticisms of its enemies would be justified. But 
 if it be regarded in its true light, it will appear 
 as a valuable and, in existing conditions, perhaps 
 a necessary stimulus, towards a larger and more 
 decorative style of pictorial expression — in 
 itself of very modest value, owing to its 
 obvious limitations, but with potentialities of 
 future personal refinement which are almost un- 
 
 * See “ Notes on the Science of Picture Making,” pp. 
 275 and 277. 
 
 39 
 
bounded. The chief danger at present lies in 
 the tendency of its disciples to rest comfortably 
 in the haven of the limitations, without recognis- 
 ing that everything which is worth doing lies 
 outside. But that has always been the way 
 with disciples. 
 
 Printed by 
 
 BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD 
 Tavistock Street Covent Garden 
 London 
 

 
 
 
 
 Please Turn Over 
 
THE MEDICI PRINTS 
 
 <J Pictures, like Books, having long ceased to be the luxury of 
 the few, are now a recognised necessity of every house. Apprecia- 
 tion, thus developed, is no longer satisfied to live in daily company 
 with inferior water-colours, or alleged “ reproductions ” which 
 are, in effect, no more than perversions of the Originals. 
 
 $J Realising this growth in public taste, the Medici Society 
 was founded in 1908 with the object of offering to the public the 
 most faithful reproductions after the Great Masters of Painting, 
 reproduced in the colours of the Originals by the most recently 
 perfected process of scientific photo-collotype, at the lowest prices 
 commercially possible. The Society’s first publications were 
 immediately characterised by the ‘Burlington Magazine: “ Nothing 
 of the kind so good and so cheap has ever been issued before,” 
 and this journal has recently signalised its continued approval : 
 
 “ Until science has gone much further in the transference of colour by imitative 
 process, no more satisfactory copy [of Holbein’s King Henry VIII, from Lord 
 Spencer’s Collection] is likely to be obtainable on paper by mechanical means. 
 ... It must be remembered that The Society’s least successful reproductions 
 are steps towards improvement painfully taken in almost impossible fields .” 
 
 The Times , and all the leading organs of responsible criticism, have 
 spoken with equal decision. 
 
 IJ Owners, like critics, have recognised The Society’s efforts, 
 and Prints issued or in preparation include examples from the 
 Imperial Collections of H.I.M. the Kaiser, the Czar, the Dukes 
 of Argyll and Westminster, Prince Liechtenstein, and innumerable 
 other Owners and Corporate Bodies, public and private. 
 
 f] Yet the range of prices of the Medici Prints lies between 
 6s. and 30s. 
 
 The work of The Society is dependent upon the continuance 
 and extension of the support of Subscribers. Particulars of terms 
 of Subscribtion will be forwarded on request. 
 
 €jj Please write for The Society’s illustrated Prospectus, covering 
 the whole field of activity — post free, 6d. stamps. 
 
 The Society’s Galleries are open to view daily, 10 — 6. Admission free. 
 
 Visitors are under no obligation to purchase . 
 
 THE MEDICI SOCIETY LTD. 
 
 38 ALBEMARLE ST., PICCADILLY, W. 
 
 Removing about January 15* 1911J to 7 GRAFTON STREET, W« 
 
THE MEDICI PRINTS 
 
 The Society has just published Prints after 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PICTURES EXHIBITED AT 
 
 THE NATIONAL LOAN EXHIBITION 
 GRAFTON GALLERIES, 1 909-1 910 
 
 PORTRAIT OF A MAN [Martin Bucer ?] by GIOR- 
 GIONE (or TITIAN). In the possession of the 
 Honble. E. Wood, at Temple Newsam. Original 
 dimensions, 39 x 33 in. Colour Surface of Medici 
 Print, 24 X 20 ins. Price 25 s. net. Postage 6d. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF A MAN by TITIAN. In the posses- 
 sion of Sir Hugh Lane. Original dimensions, 31 x 27 
 in. Colour-surface of Medici Print, 24x21 in. Price 
 25 s. net. Postage 6d. 
 
 GAINSBOROUGH DUPONT, by THOMAS GAINS- 
 BOROUGH. In the possession of Sir Edgar Vincent, 
 K.C.M.G. Original dimensions, 18 x 16 in. Colour- 
 surface of Medici Print, 17 X 1 3|- in. Price 17 s. 6d. 
 Postage 6d. 
 
 GEORGINA LENNOX, AFTERWARDS COUNT- 
 ESS BATHURST, by SirT. LAWRENCE, P.R.A. 
 From the Collection of Earl Bathurst. Original 
 dimensions, 29J X 24J in. Colour-surface of the 
 Medici Print, 19 x 16 in. Price 17 s. 6d. Postage 6d. 
 
 Jin illustrated descriptive Prospectus of these Prints may be had 
 post free on request. 
 
 MORE THAN 40 NEW MEDICI PRINTS HAVE 
 
 BEEN PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY DURING 1910 
 
 THE MEDICI SOCIETY Ltd. 38 Albemarle St. W. 
 
 Removing about Jan. 15, 1911, to 7 GRAFTON STREET, W. 
 
The Popular 
 
 Medici Prints 
 
 What The Society has hitherto attempted on behalf of the 
 connoisseur of moderate means it now aspires to do for the widest 
 possible circle of Art Lovers by the issue of these cheaper prints. 
 
 A series of prints with an average colour-surface of 12X9 ins., 
 mounted to 17x14 ins., reproduced by the Medici Process, with 
 the scrupulous fidelity both as to colour and detail which has 
 established the pre-eminence of The Society’s publications, and 
 printed upon a pure paper, in colours guaranteed to The Society 
 as stable. 
 
 The “ P.M.Ps.” reproduce only paintings of the first order in 
 their several “ Schools.” They are sold at the following uniform 
 rates : 
 
 In tinted overmount, with gold line, 6s. each. 
 
 In best gilt mount, 7s. 6d. each. 
 
 Postage 4 d. each ; per additional print in same parcel (limit in 
 parcel 12) id. each . 
 
 The Prints may be had FRAMED from 8s. 6d. each. 
 FIRST TWELVE PICTURES, NOW READY : 
 
 P.M.P. V. BELLINI (Gian); Doge Leonardo Loredano (National Gallery)i 
 P.M.P. I. BRONZINO : Venus and Cupid (National Gallery . 
 
 P.M.P. III. FRAGONARD. The Fair-Haired Boy (Wallace Collection . 
 
 P.M.P. VI. FRANCIA : The Entombment (National Gallery). 
 
 P.M.P. VIII. GAINSBOROUGH: The Parish Clerk (National Gallery). 
 
 P.M.P. IV. GREUZE : A Girl with a Dove (Wallace Collection). 
 
 P.M.P. IX. LEBRUN (VIGEE-) : The Boy in Red (Wallace Collection). 
 
 P.M.P. XI. MILLAIS (Sir J. E.): A Souvenir of Velasquez (Burlington House).; 
 P.M.P. X. MILLET (J. F.) : The Gleaners (Paris, Louvre). 
 
 P.M.P. VII. MORLAND (H.) : The Laundry Maid (National Gallery). 
 
 P.M.P. II. MORONI : The Tailor (National Gallery). 
 
 P.M.P. XII. ROMNEY: Perdita (Wallace Collection). 
 
 * * Please send a postcard for the Illustrated List, 
 giving full particulars. 
 
 THE MEDICI SOCIETY Ltd. 38 Albemarle St. W. 
 
 Removing about Jan. 15, 1911, to 7 GRAFTON STREET, W. 
 
THE MEDICI SOCIETY 
 
 has pleasure in inviting all Students and Lovers 
 
 of Art to an Exhibition of Reproductions after 
 
 Drawings by the Old Masters 
 
 including a number of miscellaneous “ facsimiles” 
 
 drawn from various sources and for sale (framed) 
 at moderate prices. 
 
 On View T)aily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission Free . 
 
 Visitors are under no obligation to purchase . 
 
 In addition to the above may be seen an extensive series of 
 reproductions after Drawings, issued by The Society. These 
 include 292 subjects by Masters of the German, Flemish, French, 
 Spanish, English, and other Schools (from the Royal Print 
 Room, Munich, and the Uffizi Gallery, Florence), and a special 
 series of 64 drawings by Albrecht Durer (from the Albertina 
 Library, Vienna). 
 
 These prints are exact facsimiles of the Originals in every 
 particular — colour or tint, dimensions, and paper. Single copies 
 are obtainable at prices from is. upwards, or framed from 2s. 
 upwards. 
 
 A detailed Catalogue will be sent post free on request for 3d. 
 stamps unillustrated, or 6d. stamps illustrated. 
 
 The Morning Post says : — “The extraordinary fidelity to the originals [of the 
 Durer reproductions] can be fully appreciated only by someone who has been 
 able to compare an original and a Medici facsimile side by side. Glazed and 
 with the margin hidden, it would be difficult for an expert to detect the 
 difference.” 
 
 The Daily Telegraph says: — “The Durer reproductions give, in a fashion 
 almost disquieting in its accuracy and beauty, the famous originals. These 
 must be a pure and unadulterated delight, not only to the student and specialist, 
 but to the worshipper of Diirer’s mighty genius.” 
 
 THE MEDICI SOCIETY LTD. 
 
 38 ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 
 
 (Two Minutes’ Walk from the Grafton Gallery) 
 
 Removing about January 15TH, 1911, to 7 GRAFTON STREET, W, 
 
The Riccardi Press Books 
 
 LATEST ISSUE 
 
 MALORY’S LE MORTE D ARTHUR 
 
 The text of Caxton, in modernised spelling. Reprinted in the Riccardi 
 Type, designed by Herbert P. Horne. With 48 Water-colours by 
 W. RUSSELL FLINT. In 4 Volumes, io-| by in., sold only in sets. 
 500 copies. Michalet Boards, £10 10s. net the set ; limp vellum, 
 £12 12s. net the set. Also 10 copies .’on vellum, bound Kelmscott 
 Vellum, £6t, net the set. 
 
 [Vol. I, ready ; Vol. II, Spring, Vols. Ill, IV, Autumn, 1911]. 
 The greater part of this work is already subscribed j immediate 
 application is advisable from those still desiring copies. 
 
 “ The noble simplicity of the type and page. The illustrations are of a soft 
 and delicate beauty, their colour is admirable, and they express the sense of 
 mystery, of magic for magic’s sake, which is a special note of Malory. , , . 
 We have so often spoken of the merits of the Medici Process by which Mr. 
 Flint’s water-colours have been reproduced that it is needless to repeat our 
 praise of the results obtained.” — Athenaeum. 
 
 Other •works 'printed in the Riccardi Type are : 
 
 QUINTI HORATI FLACCI OPERA OMNIA 
 
 Reprinted after the Oxford text. 1000 copies, printed in blue and black 
 (9% by 6f in.). Boards, 16s. net; Limp Vellum, 25s. net. 15 copies 
 printed on Vellum throughout (of which very few remain), ^15 15 s. net. 
 
 “ The most beautiful modern edition of a classic seen in recent years.” 
 
 Westminster Gazette. 
 
 About Easter, 1911, will be published : CATULLI, TIBULLI, PROPERTI 
 CARMINA. 1000 copies, uniform with the “ Horace.” Boards £ 1 is. net; 
 Limp Vellum. £1 ns. 6d. net ; also 15 copies on Vellum, ^21 net. 
 
 THE THOUGHTS OF MARCUS AURELIUS 
 
 With 12 Water-colours by W. RUSSELL FLINT. 500 copies. Boards, 
 £2 1 2s. 6d. net; Limp Vellum, £3 3s.net. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON 
 
 With 10 Water-colours by W. RUSSELL FLINT. 500 copies. Boards, 
 £2 2s. net ; Limp Vellum, £2 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 THE STORY OF GRISELDA 
 
 From the “ Decameron ” of Boccaccio. 500 copies. Wrapper, 5s. net; 
 Limp Vellum, 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 * # * Prospectuses of the above, printed in the Riccardi Fount, post free . 
 
 PHILIP LEE WARNER 
 
 PUBLISHER to THE MEDICI SOCIETY Ltd. 
 
 38 ALBEMARLE ST., W. 
 
 Removing about January 15TH, 1911, to 7 GRAFTON STREET, W. 
 
MR. LEE WARNER’S 
 
 NEW BOOKS 
 
 THE LIFE OF GIORGIO VASARI 
 
 A Study of the Later Renaissance in Italy. By R. W. CARDEN, A.R.I.B. A. 
 With 29 Plates. Demy 8vo, 16s. net. 
 
 Illustrated Prospectus ’will be sent post free on application 
 “Mr. Carden treats Vasari as a typical figure of his time. . . . Thus, 
 besides telling us all that is known of Vasari’s life, he tells us a good deal 
 about the period in which he lived. The matter of the book has evidently been 
 prepared with great industry.” — The Times. 
 
 “ Altogether charming as a biography. He has made good and scholarly use 
 of Vasari’s letters and other sources, and his picture of the great critic’s 
 character and times is admirably vivid and detailed.” — Manchester Guardian. 
 
 PEWTER AND THE AMATEUR 
 COLLECTOR 
 
 By EDWARDS J. GALE. With 43 plates. Medium 8vo, 7s. 6d. net. 
 “ The historical sketch is clear and accurate. The hints and warnings to 
 collectors . . . cannot fail to be useful. . . . The excellence of the illus- 
 trations.” — Athenaum . 
 
 “An enthusiast of the right type. . . . The amateur collector will do well 
 to buy this little book before buying any more pewter.” 
 
 Illustrated London News. 
 
 THE CLOSET OF 
 
 SIR KENELM DIGBY, KT. 
 
 Edited, with Biographical and Critical Introduction, by ANNE 
 MACDONELL. With Photogravure Portrait after Vandyke. Extra 
 Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. net 5 Parchment Gilt, 10s. 6d. net. 
 
 “ We should like to give a dinner party with a menu made up of Sir 
 Kenelm Digby’s recipes, and to feel that his * Closet ’ has not been re-opened 
 in vain. Miss Macdonell’s Introduction is a delightful piece of writing, warm 
 and vivid and personal, like all her biographical work. Hers was certainly the 
 hand to open again ‘The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby.’ ” — The Times. 
 
 Please write for Mr. Lee Warner's ILLUSTRATED LIST of NEW BOOKS 
 
 PHILIP LEE WARNER 
 
 PUBLISHER to THE MEDICI SOCIETY Ltd. 
 
 38 ALBEMARLE ST., W. 
 
 Removing about Ja 15TH, 1911, to 7 GRAFTON STREET, W. 
 
Mr. Lee Warner’s New Books 
 
 FRENCH LYRICS 
 
 Edited by GEORGE SAINTSBURY. A New Edition, with Water- 
 colour Illustrations by A. G 13 RARDIN. Extra Cr. 8vo, with 8 Plates, 
 7s. 6d. net 5 large-paper Edition, with 12 Plates, Parchment Gilt, 
 15 s. net. Prospectus may be had post free. 
 
 “ A handsome book, very well and very accurately printed.” — Morning Post. 
 
 “ Prof. Saintsbury has been a pioneer in introducing French poetry to English 
 readers. The beautiful volume before us will prove a delectation indeed.” 
 
 Daily Chronicle. 
 
 THE SCHOLAR GIPSY AND THYRSIS 
 
 By MATTHEW ARNOLD. With lo Water-colours by W. RUSSELL 
 FLINT, reproduced by the Medici Process. Large Cr. 4to, 12s. 6d. net 5 
 parchment gilt, fi is.net. Also 100 signed copies on Japanese vellum, 
 bound vellum, f 2 12s. 6d. 
 
 A Prospectus ‘will be sent post free on request. 
 
 “To state that these two gems of poetry have been fitly illustrated is to 
 challenge question and to answer it. . . . Plates worth framing alongside 
 originals that a shrewd collector acquires after careful choosing at the best of 
 our water-colour exhibitions. They can stand without fear and without reproach 
 in any tournament of colour-printing the world over.” — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 NORWICH: A SOCIAL STUDY 
 
 By C. B. HAWKINS. With an Introduction by the Dean of Norwich. 
 With Illustrations and Diagrams. Square crown 8vo. 5s. net. 
 
 “ A very careful and unprejudiced analysis of the economic and social con- 
 ditions of Norwich. . . . Mr. Hawkins’ impartial conclusions. . . . his very 
 lucid and able study.” — Westminster Gazette. 
 
 A FLOWER ANTHOLOGY 
 
 Selected and Illustrated with 12 Water-colours by ALFRED RAWLINGS. 
 Small 8vo, cloth gilt, 5s. net 5 parchment gilt, 7s. 6d. net ; yapp Persian, 
 10s. 6d. net; also in other special bindings. 
 
 Illustrated Prospectus ‘will be sent post free. 
 
 “ A really beautiful little book, in which all the best English flower poetry 
 is bound up with excellent reproductions of the anthologist’s own clever and 
 sympathetic studies. The binding and printing of this little book are delight- 
 ful.” — Westminster Gazette. 
 
 Please ‘write for Mr. Lee Warner' s ILLUSTRATED LIST of NEW BOOKS 
 
 PHILIP LEE WARNER 
 
 PUBLISHER to THE MEDICI SOCIETY Ltd. 
 
 38 ALBEMARLE ST., W. 
 
 Removing about Jan. 15TH, 1911, to 7 GRAFTON STREET, W. 
 

 
 
GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 
 
 3 3125 00758 1933