Wednesday 29 August 2012

An Exhibition by the Colour Woodcut Society, November, 1927

                                                                                
I don't know who wrote the review of the eighth exhibition of the Colour Woocut Society at the Macrae Gallery in Fulham in 1927, but whoever it was, the person tended to pick out the same artists for special mention for a number of years. The critic probably never noticed but presumably the artists did. No one would be surprised by some of the names John Platt, Allen Seaby and Yoshihjiro Urushibara would almost always be worthy of mention. It's the less well-known names that are more interesting. But even more fascinating and frustrating are the names we barely know at all.

I have no choice about where I start. It has to be Platt's Red chestnut no 1. Not because I think it's the best work the unnamed critic wanted to praise. It's a fine virtuoso print but it also happens to fit in with the lay-out. No, the one I like most inhabits another element. If Platt was fascinated by airborne imagery, just as Allen Seaby was, I think it would have been Seaby's superb image Trout that I would have bought. One image Seaby often goes back to is the kingfisher poised above a brook or river; here we see an animal underwater. Either way, what captivates Seaby most are those things it is least easy to capture. There is a memorable, self-deprecating description where he watches over a partridge nest day after day only to find he has missed the momentary phenomenon of the chicks being dried by the cock-bird soon after hatching simply because the birds were more vigilant than he was. But what we dont always see, Seaby reveals in his woodcuts.



                                                                                     

Less striking perhaps but a name that comes up in more than one reviw is Lizzie Austen Brown. It's not often colour woodcut artists seriously attempt an urban subject as Brown does in Battersea factories (at least I think I've matched title and image) and if there is more than a touch of Whistler here, well, we forgive her. Brown was a consistent artist who was serious about printmaking as her unsigned proofs attest to - and better at it than her husband. Whats she loses in bravura, she gains in subtlety.

                                                                                    

Geraldine Maunsell's print, Falmouth, defeated me. In fact, I've seen nothing by her anywhere. Her husband, Guy, became a successful civil engineer who built the Red Sands forts in the Thames estuary during the second war. But when they were poor immediately after their marriage in 1922, they took off to the Dordogne and then Portugal simply because living was cheap there. While she made woodcuts, he painted in watercolour.

                                                                              

I was more successful with Mary Creighton McDowall's Church in the Dolomites - or at least I hope I was. The linocut you see in the photograph hangs on a bedroom wall in the house belonging to McDowall's niece. If this really is the image she exhibited, it would be of considerable interest because it shows the society giving space to another medium, though I can't as yet be sure about this. (You can see more of Mike Chisholm's photographs on his blog called Idiotic Hat.)

Poor Phillip Needell was less fortunate than I was.His Northern Patrol was singled out for criticism. If the drawing is literal we can perhaps put it down to Needell basing the print far too closely on a watercolour made some years before when he was at sea with Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Nor did Needell get the chance to draw his head off at the Slade. His father insisted on him working in a bank, just as Neave Parker's did. The only formal training he received was at the Regent Street Polytechnic, presumably during the evenings. It has always struck me as overworked and awkward but it obviously was felt to be a success by the artist himself.

                                                                              

An artist who did manage to escape working in a bank was Arthur Rigden Read. While his four brothers became clerks, Read went into design. Unfortunately, his print The mandarin gown has escaped me. I was tempted to replace it with The batik scarf  but decided against. As with all of Read's output, sometimes his shawls and scarves work and sometimes they don't.

                                                                             

Yoshijiro Urushibara's Daisies makes a fine professional contrast to the hand-made feel of so many of the prints here, apart of course from Platt whose work standards were just as high as the Japanese artists were. I shall resist posting Arabella Rankin's Iona simply because it isn't clear which Iona woodcut is meant and also because I have already posted a group of them recently. Ethel Kirkpatrick's Boatbuilding is of course another matter. Kirkpatrick I cannot resist (except for 1928's Communication, ancient and modern).

                                                                                    


 Her view of a boatyard shows an artist depicting a subject she loved. I was smitten by this print as soon as I saw it. Obviously the reviewer was as well. And whoever he was (and it may have been Charles Marriott who worked at The Times for 16 years) I think he knew a good thing when he saw one. Later in her career, Kirkpatrick discovered a modicum of restraint and this view across what must be Mount's Bay from Newlyn stands in contrats to the more outlandish colours of  her view from Mousehole across the bay towards St Michael's Mount. But Kirkpatrick can do no wrong so far as I'm concerned. Or, perhaps I should say, up untill 1927, at least.




26 comments:

  1. The horse chestnut print by Platt really is a favorite of mine. To go to all that trouble to carve and print the blossoms, then put them into shade...the play and rhythm across the print controlled by the crouching cat and the lit/swallows.
    It really is very well done, successful technically, visually, and graphically interesting to at least this naive viewer.
    I do like also the unknown-to-me Lizzie Brown's factories--I like the calligraphic smoke and her depiction as you pointed out of an industrial scene made visible by its selection as subject.
    The daisies I don't like mostly because it's an ugly vase.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elizabeth Christie Austen Brown is a bit of a mouthful but I know she called herself Lizzie Brown as you called her. If you look back at '5 proofs by Thomas Austen Brown' on the blog you will see more of her work. (The identification was wrong).

    I'm not a fan of Urushibara's flower pieces either, Andrew, but he made some fine landscapes.

    And I agree about Platt's meticilous draughtmanship and handling of perspective. He first trained as an engineer and then as an architect before finally taking up art. Unlike most of his fellow colour woodcutters, he brings it all together - colour, space, drawing, with dynamism.

    ReplyDelete
  3. An interesting posting, I think you are at your best when giving an appraisal in this style Charles.

    The Platt is outstanding. His attention to detail and his eye makes him perhaps one of the finest printmakers of the 20th Century. I love that he always brought the eye around the prints through composition and his understanding of movement is extraordinary. Showing it so close to the Seaby is interesting. Sadly the Seaby in my estimation is lifeless and devoid of movement. It is such a shame to me, that when Seaby did landscapes and architecture his works positively sing, and yet in his animal studies they are too academic and thus stilted. I feel sad when I see the Urushibara flower works...they are his least appealing, but of the time they were valued, but they seem not to have stood the test of time. It's not just the vase that is blah, it is the whole thing...it's like Japanese Ukiyo-e that has made the transition to the 20th Century but done so unsuccessfully. It is too flat and one dimensional and, as he was apt to do, the whole think plonked in the middle of the print is just unimaginative. He was NOT unimaginative but he certainly settled on it often enough.

    I think it is also interesting that Platt and Kirkpatrick did the Cornwall boat building prints, but Platt's were far more finely executed and vivid. Having said that, I also adore Kirkpatrick and recently bought one of her watercolours which was exhibited at the R.A. in 1895 (ex.# 257. It is titled "Boats at Rest" Newlyn Harbour and it truly exquisite. I also recently bought the St. Paul's woodcut by her which you have featured on a previous posting about her. I think whether it is a watercolour or a woodcut, she had a real affinity for the water and the people who lived and worked near the water. So did Platt. It shows. I owe my adoration of Kirkpatrick to you of course, because it was you who set me on the trail of her works at a time when I had never seen one, or had any idea of the artist herself.

    On the E.A.B., I think it is a bit dull and lifeless, and although I LOVE Needell, his Northern Patrol is one of his least successful works in my amateurish opinion.

    All in all of course it was a great posting Charles. Let me know if you would like some pics of the E.K. watercolour.

    Regards
    Clive

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your comment ended up in the spam yet again, hence the delay in replying. You need to alert me if it happens because there's moderation on the blog ever. It was only intuition that led me here.

      I am envious of your Kirkpatrick buys. Please send on an image of the watercolour. Her 'Thames sailing barges' is currently for sale in London but I balked at the price (it has gone down). The overall effect is quite weird and ghostly. Seeing is believing with Kirkpatrick. Platt may well be the better printmaker but I love her more and I'm glad I turned you on to her work.

      We will have to differ over Seaby. I am more and more taken with his animal prints. I recently saw a print of, I think, redwings flying high over the Berkshire Downs and was utterly captivated. Like Kirkpatrick, he prints not perfectly but with weirdness of feeling. Yes, he's academic, but so am I.

      I agree about the Lizzie Brown. I've come round to Needell but not really to 'Northern Patrol'. As for Urushibara's flower prints, the least said the better. He just spent too much time at bloody Shinbi Shoin.

      Anyway, I'm glad you liked the post. I enjoyed doing it. Probably it shows.

      Delete
  4. Charles,

    like you, I must say that I like the Seaby best. A very delicate print, he brilliantly manages to depict the refractions of the water! I must say that I like the Needell, too, especially the perspective,even if the print is a bit over the top.
    I think the weakest print is Platt's Chestnut, to be honest (some people always have something to complain about...). He is trying to do too much at the same time, and the colours don't go together, but worst of all: his swallows are a one-to-one copy of those in a Koson-print (colours and posture!), which makes his print a case of plagiarism to me.

    Klaus

    ReplyDelete
  5. The trout is indeed numero uno. Fritz Lang also did swallows on wire and the idea of the cat in the tree is borrowed also. I think the print is more a less a joke, a pastiche or a maybe even a tribute. Plagiarism has a negative charge, to me at least, judging this print. And I also like Urushibara's vase very much. Nice reading, post and comments, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. But I think it's interesting the way they all draw on Japanese art, Klaus. Seaby starts off with Hiroshige but his own sensibility takes over. He had a tremendously sensitive eye.

    As for Eric Slater, you are quite right to say he exhibited at the 1927 show. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find 'Jasmine' online so I wonder which print you meant!

    Yes, Platt's colours are outrageous but I love them all the same.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gerrie, you managed to get in between comments there. I have to say I'm a bit nonplussed by the reactions to 'Red chestnuts'. I shall have to try and find the Koson that Klaus is talking about. Klaus knows his Japanese prints so well, he leaves the rest of us at a disadvantage. Stand by for another Britain-Japan post some time soon.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes I did that rather well didn't I. Sorry for that. But I really think the swallows are after Hiroshige's design and prints. If I know my classics.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, I've posted Koson's 'Three swallows ina banana grove' and assume that is the one that Klaus meant. But I don't reall agree with what people are saying about plagiarism. Platt always struck me as a pretty original artist. They all knew Urushibara's work and the way he had worked with Frank Brangwyn. It's a paradox; he was a copyist who made something subtle and original out of someone else's work. I think Seaby was possibly following hos lead.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Charles & Gerry,

    maybe plagiarism was too harsh a word to choose, but if you compare Platt's print with Koson's "Two Barn Swallows" or "Swallows under a willow tree" (you'll find the latter in Lily's blog, June 21st 2009), I think the similarities go further than in a case of mere inspiration. Platt downright copied Koson's view of the birds, whereas Seaby probably knew Koson's carp-prints, too, but was inspired by them to create his own individual and original design. Don't you agree?

    Klaus

    ReplyDelete
  11. i have to say, charles, that wave in the northern patrol one just blows me away -- it's powerful and real, and just beautifully done.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The wave was drawn as he saw it and I've got to say I've been looking at it myself since I posted so I agree.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think whilst we are pointing out Asian comparisons, I think it should also be pointed out that the Seaby has a direct ancestor in a number of Japanese prints. I cannot remember the names but with a little research and a spurt of energy some clever reader will come up with some prints where the composition is ALMOST identical with the only difference being the type of fish. It is also comparable to Asian works, with the sort of stillness that Seaby was fond of, and although I have no dislike of Seaby (I have a couple of his works) if I had my choice, I would take Platt over Seaby any day.

    I notice that some punters have pointed out the Platt isn't as strong but I have a different take. I think Platt is taking the piss. It's so intentionally ironic and compositionally very clever. The power lines take your eyes from the bottom right to left, and that is very deliberate. However, I cannot help but think that Platt's inclusion of them takes the piss a bit...I mean...who includes power lines in a print? Then we have a cat, balanced on a red chestnut tree!!! A tree not known for having particularly strong limbs and certainly not capable growing to heights that would propel a cat to catch birds in flight. No I think he purposely chose the tree for the flowers...as Andrew says, "to go to all that trouble to carve the flowers" only to put them into shade is actually clever. The swallows, it can be said, ape Japanese prints, but....that combination and imagery was VERY familiar to British artists/public and was extremely popular in the 20's. The swallow was almost like the the "it" bird of the 20's along with the toucan. The toucan for the colours but the swallows precisely because they were so streamlined and curvaceous. The cat? Well the cat...I think he was being intentionally witty putting the cat in the tree, but the tree takes your eyes up, and the branch takes your eye to the swallows then back down to the power lines.

    The other thing that I LOVE about Platt is his astonishing, mesmeric attention to detail. Most people would struggle with this piece as a painting, yet he did it by carving a negative image into blocks of bloody wood. Genius. If I were offered a chance to buy either at market value, I know I would "jump" at the chance for the Platt, precisely because he knew how to have fun and didn't sacrifice humour for art. That is my two cents worth.

    Clive

    ReplyDelete
  14. You know, I generally agree with you about the value and interest of Platt. It's witty and virtuouso. Incidentally, I can think of at least two other artists who used telegraph posts: Leslie Ward in his etching 'A mile to Worth Matravers' and Kenneth Broad in 'A Sussex Farm'. But that is nitpicking.

    But you are quite correct about Seaby's borrowings from the Japanese. One source would be Hiroshige's carp. But there are others.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh I agree Charles there were artists who included the poles for "artistic integrity" but I just have a feeling Platt is doing it to be clever.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The Ethel Kirkpatrick print, "Boatyard", is not Mounts Bay. It is the old Uphams yard (now Brixham marina) in Brixham, Tor Bay, with Torquay in the far distance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm very grateful for the information. I tried to research this after I'd written the post and must admit I could not find a boatyard where I thought it should be.

      I can see the building is the same one shown in a 1960s photograph. Has the harbour wall changed? It seems to be a long way from the yard.

      Charles

      Delete
  17. Of course Lizzie Brown always gets a mention at the Macrae Gallery - its her family business after all. I have found an announcement in the Edinburgh Evening News of 18 June advising of the marriage on 15 June at Ellangowan, Chilmore Crescent, Edinburgh of Thomas Auster Brown to Lizzie Christie Macrae, eldest daughter of John Macrae. It all ties up. Her younger brother John Duncan Macrae may have helped run the gallery; can anyone confirm or otherwise?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lizzie's marriage year is of course 1897.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Phillip, that is fascinating and very welcome information. I should have clicked with the name being Scottish.

    How on earth did you happen on the announcement in the Evening News? Or are you a family historian?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Family historian - Yes. There are some pretty powerful search engines out there now and I found the Edinburgh announcement through Find My Past. I have since discovered that Lizzie's father John Macrae was a cabinetmaker in Edinburgh and her mother was Grace. Lizzie's brother John Duncan Macrae was living with TAB and Lizzie in 1901 at their studio in St Pancras and was an upholster's salesman aged 20.
    It was through my postcard collecting, however, that I came across TAB when I happened upon a 1920 lithographic PC of Chelsea Old Church last week on eBay for the princely sum of 55p. Wow!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Yes, I saw the same information on the postcard site about John Macrae after you left your comment. It helps explain why she took to woodcut.

    I knew about the studio but had forgotten JD Macrae. But there is another Scottish connection there which I don't want to mention online. You can always contact me at cgc@waitrose.com

    Your postcard was a bargain. There is a lot of very interesting stuff on ebay which just slips through because people don't recognise what it is. I have three colour woodcuts by Lizzie. One of them is unsigned but is obviously by her and was another ebay find.

    You don't say how you came across the gallery connection. There was obviously a tartan mafia at work because Arabella Rankin was the secretary! I am very intrigued. But please do write.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Incidentally, I went to look for the old Macrae Gallery premises last summer but had no luck.

    You may know from the blog that the Austen Browns lived for many years at Camiers near Etaples. They also had a series of addresses in London which they used over the years. He died in France at Boulonge.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Just to confuse everybody in 1935 the LCC lopped off the early part of Fulham Road (2-42) between Cromwell Road and Pelham Street and added it to Brompton Road instead. The Macrae Gallery instantaneosly changed its address without moving an inch. It should be a few doors down from South Terrace on the north-west side of the road. Still needs checking though.

    ReplyDelete
  24. That explains why I couldn't find it then.

    ReplyDelete