22 MARCH 1902, Page 24

Constable. By C. J. Holmes. "The Artist's Library." (At the

Sign of the Unicorn. 2s. 61.)—This is a delightful volume both to read and to look at. The author gives us a thoughtful study of the artist as well as a sympathetic account of the singularly charming character of the man. Indeed, Constable's life might well be quoted as an instance of the truth of Wordsworth's theories as to the education of Nature. Mr. Holmes regards Constable as the first of the modern, and the last of the old, masters. There is a great deal of truth in this, for undoubtedly it was the newness of Constable's ideas that set the French painters thinking—and painting. But Constable never became a modern in the sense of being a mere recorder of scientific observations ; he always remained a poet and an artist.