Volltext Seite (XML)
May 1, 1868.] THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. 211 we now come to a consideration of pyramidal forms, a method of composition very suitable to single figures and groups. It is, perhaps, as well to begin with a complete subject; therefore, as an example containing almost every clement of formal artistic composition, and as a subject to which it will be useful to return again and again for the illustration of various points to be commented upon, I this week select Wilkie’s “Blind Fiddler” for my illustration. Well-known and familiar as it is to all, there is scarcely another picture in the whole range of; art so useful to the teacher, or from which the student of the art of'picture-making could learn so much. This is not because of the subtilty or ingenuity of the arrangement, but quite the reverse. To those who have the slightest inkling of composition, the art displayed is very noticeable, defying the teaching of those who say “ the greatest art is to conceal the art,” and that all the artist has to do to produce a work of art is to take a bit of nature, no matter what, and imitate it faithfully. There is no doubt that the maxim that the art should be concealed is good enough, but it is one of those rules that the student should use with judgment, or it will cripple him. It should be taken in the sense of a protest against acade mical formality. Burnett says on this subject, “ Concealing the art is one of its greatest beauties; and ho best can accomplish that who can discover it under all its disguises. 1 ought, however, to caution the young artist, on this hand, not to be too fastidious in trying to conceal what can be obvious only to a small number; for in endeavouring to render his design more intricate, he may destroy character, simplicity, and breadth; qualities which affect and are appreciated by every one.” And the quotation at the head of this chapter is much to the same purpose. As regards composition, the pictures of Wilkie may be taken as safe guides by the student. Artists of every shade of opinion unite in regarding them in this one respect as perfect. Even Haydon, whose enthusiasm for grand art and contempt for subjects of a domestic character almost mounted to insanity, acknowledged that, as an artist, Wilkie will be a teacher and an example for ever. Speaking of this great artist, in one of his lectures, he says, “ His composition is perfection ; there the youth may consider him infallable : it was the composition of Raffaelle in a coarser style.” And adds, “ My not seeing the beauty of his works at first was entire ignorance; as my knowledge increased, my admiration went with it: exactly as I understood Raffaelle, I under stood the beauty of Wilkie’s art.” The " Blind Fiddler,” as far as the arrangement of its materials is concerned, would have been possible in photo- tography; it is therefore a picture of which a long study and analysis will much benefit the photographer. The composition consists of a series of pyramids built up on and combined with one another. The fiddler himself forms a pyramid, and being the motive of the picture, he is more isolated than any other figure, which gives him greater pro minence, although he is not the chief mass of light; so that what Ruskin rather fantastically calls the “ law of princi pality ” is observed. But he is not left quite alone, but is connected with the principal group by the figure of his wife and child and the basket at his feet. This basket is made light, to strike the eye, partly to unite the two groups, but chiefly because it is the supporting point of the angle of which the old gandfather's head in the centre is the apex, and which is led up to by the boy in shadow warming his hands at the fire. The two little girls form a pyramid, and so do the mother and child, supported by the dog, which is again continued by the man snapping his fingers, again by the old man, who caps and perfects the whole group.