THE ETCHER.*
'MERE are in England so few periodicals dedicated to the Fine Arts that are conducted upon anything but the most thoroughly commercial principles, that one which seeks to really help Art and artists, deserves a recognition as cordial as its appearance is rare. Such a recognition we tender heartily to the magazine before us, called simply The Etcher, of which the first number appeared in July last year. The object of this magazine • The Eicher. London: Williams and Norgate.
is, we understand, twofold. On the one hand, it, to quote the introduction, " has been instituted in hope of supplying the wide-spread and rapidly-increasing demand which exists at the present time for the etched work of artists ;" on the other, it
affords a-means at once simple and fairly effective, by which young artists may become known to the public, on terms which are alike profitable to the artist and the publisher. In other words, as far as we understand the scheme, The Etcher is formed more or less on the basis of a co-operative society, in which the artists who contribute works, share in the profits equally with the publisher of the magazine, who pays a certain amount for the right of printing the etching in his paper, and also allows to the artist the right of selling, through his agency, whatever proofs the public may desire to have. The undertaking is as bold as it is novel, and we see no reason why it should not be a great success, and it is in the hope of making the periodical more widely known than it at present seems to be, that we write these words.
It should be noted that the failure or success of this enter- prise depends almost solely upon the quality of the work pro- vided, and hence that the artists will have no one to blame but themselves if failure ensues. When people are ready and willing to pay, as they undoubtedly are at the present time, five, eight, or even ten guineas for single proofs of modern etchings, there can be no excuse for a magazine which provides three etchings monthly for 3s. 6d. not being bought, except that the examples contained within it are of such poor quality, that no one who values true etching will have them at any price. To speak frankly, there is, perhaps, some little danger of this, in some of the numbers before us ; but, on the whole, we think there is no doubt but that the work is of a fair average quality,—in one or two cases, of first-rate excellence.
The great strength of the magazine is at present Mr. R. Mac- beth ; indeed, his is the only quite first-class work as yet given. In this notice, however, we are speaking only of the first seven months, as those numbers from July last to January in the present year are alone before us. The finest etching in the first number, " The Bait-gatherers," is by this artist, and is as charm- ing a little picture as one could desire to see. It represents two fisherwomen gathering mussels among the rocks at low tide.
A rough sea in the distance, and a sky full of light clouds, probably towards evening, complete the picture. It is difficult to describe in words the subtle grace of pose which can make a little sketch of this kind into a picture, more or less dignified, as well as pretty ; but those of our readers who remember the way in which Fred. Walker could endow his figures with the nobility of antique statues while forgetting none of the ordinary details of the
dress and aspect of English rural life, will understand exactly what we mean, when we say that Mr. Macbeth pos-
sesses in some considerable degree the same faculty, and in this picture it shows very unmistakably. Be it noticed that the peasants of this artist, though picturesque in the extreme, are always peasant-like,---in garb, in bearing, and in their strong, sun-burnt limbs. Take another example, this time from the num- ber for January. This is an etching in brown ink of agirl who has watched all night by a sick-bed, and is now sitting, "weary," in a high-backed, old-fashioned arm-chair. The whole picture is in half-tone, a faint day-break shining in at the windows being the prevailing source of light, and the reflection from an un- seen fire striking the inside of the fender forming the one bright patch in the etching. This is undoubtedly a beautiful little picture, thoroughly satisfactory both in manner of work and in the way in which it carries out its subject, without any suspicion of snobbishness or false sentiment. The needle-work especially, is frank and free to an admirable extent, and, like all Mr. Mac- beth's etching work, it suggests colour in a way which is almost peculiar to this artist.
Turn from this to the last etching in the first number, and the difference is marked enough, between etching as it should and etching as it should not be. This last work is entitled " The Norns Watering Yggdrasill," and is prefaced by a most extra- ordinary piece of explanatory poetry, of which we inflict only one verse upon our readers :—
Within the unchanging twilight Of the high land of the Gods, Between the murmuring fountains And the ash tree, tree of trees, The Norns, the terrible maidens,
For ever come and go."
And so on ; but to return to the etching. Look at it carefully, and you will see that there is not one really frank line in the whole composition, but the whole is worked in one dull uniform cross-hatch shading, of which the effect is that of a German lithograph, an equal tint of very disagreeable quality. There is a dozen times the work in it that is in Mr. Macbeth's, but it is work wholly thrown away, solely because it is opposed to all the essential qualities of etching. It must be remembered that we are not here animadverting upon the merits of the drawing and composition of this work, but purely upon the fact of its being executed in a wholly erroneous manner.
After Mr. Macbeth's work, the architectural etching of Herr A. H. Haig is probably the most genuinely artistic here shown. This is in the December number of the magazine, and is en- titled, "A Corner at Huy, on the Meuse," and the chief part of the etching consists in the representation of the eastern door- way of the Church of Notre Dame in that town. There has been a church on the spot where this now stands ever since the first century, though the one in the etching was only consecrated in 1066, which seems comparatively modern. Nearly the whole of the building, however, has been restored at different times, and the part in the etching was probably built about the middle of the fifteenth century. These details are taken from a note of Herr Haig's appended to the etching.
Of the picture itself, as a faithful, laborious record, by an artist who supplied in devotion what he lacked in genius, it would not be easy to speak too highly. The drawing of the doorway and its old sculptures, leaves nothing to be desired in accuracy or clearness ; and the figures and waggon in front of the door are introduced with great skill, and drawn with care and fidelity. On the whole, this is one of the best architectural etchings which we have seen for a very long time, and grows upon the spectator very rapidly. It is minute, and yet does not look laboured ; it is careful, and yet does not seem stiff ; and it also has that suggestion of colour about it which is one of the great merits of a good etching.
We need not dwell farther upon the good work in this maga- zine, and we purposely omit the bad, of which there is a very average quantity. When all is allowed for, the fact remains that this is a thoroughly praiseworthy enterprise, carefully con- ducted, and deserving of success, which we hope it may soon obtain.
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