Memoir of the Life of David Cox: Member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours, with Selections from His Correspondence, and Some Account of His Works

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Chapman and Hall, 1873 - 339 pages
 

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Page 154 - HAIL to thee, blithe spirit ! Bird thou never wert, That from heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. Higher still and higher From the earth thou springest Like a cloud of fire; The blue deep thou wingest, And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.
Page 69 - I wind about, and in and out, With here a blossom sailing, And here and there a lusty trout, And here and there a grayling ; And here and there a foamy flake Upon me, as I travel With many a silvery waterbreak Above the golden gravel ; And draw them all along, and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever.
Page 184 - His handling, the manner of leaving the colours, or, in other words, the methods he used for producing the effect, had very much the appearance of the work of an artist who had never learned from others the usual and regular practice belonging to the art; but still, like a man of strong intuitive perception of what was required, he found out a way of his own to accomplish his purpose.
Page 326 - At last the roused-up river pours along. Resistless, roaring, dreadful, down it comes From the rude mountain and the mossy wild, Tumbling through rocks abrupt, and sounding far; Then o'er the sanded valley floating spreads, Calm, sluggish, silent...
Page 54 - ... castle, group of trees, a corn-field, river scene, or any other object. The prominence of this leading feature in the piece should be duly supported throughout ; the character of the picture should be derived from it ; every other object introduced should be subservient to it ; and the attraction of the one should be the attraction of the whole.
Page 184 - The slightness which we see in his best works cannot always be imputed to negligence. However they may appear to superficial observers, painters know very well that a steady attention to the general effect takes up more time, and is much more laborious to the mind, than any mode of high finishing, or smoothness, without such attention.
Page 184 - Gainsborough's pictures, and which even to experienced painters appear rather the effect of accident than design — this chaos, this uncouth and shapeless appearance, by a kind of magic, at a certain distance assumes form, and all the parts seem to drop into their proper places, so that we can hardly refuse acknowledging the full effect of diligence, under the appearance of chance and hasty negligence.
Page 54 - Thus a cottage or a village scene requires a soft or a simple admixture of tones, calculated to produce pleasure without astonishment. On the contrary, the structures of greatness and antiquity should be marked by a character of awful sublimity, suited to the dignity of the subjects, indenting on the mind a reverential and permanent expression, and giving at once a corresponding and unequivocal grandeur to the pictures.
Page 54 - ... which can only be obtained by a most judicious selection of particular tints, and a skilful arrangement and application of them to difference in time, seasons, and situations. This is the grand principle upon which pictorial excellence hinges, as many pleasing objects, the combination of which render a piece perfect, are frequently passed over by an observer because the whole of the composition is not under the influence of a suitable effect. Thus a cottage or a village scene requires a soft...
Page 172 - There on Sunday morning, as regular as Sunday came, there was Mr. Cox's car to take him and any friend to Llanrwst Church ; at that time there was no nearer English service. He was a sincerely religious man, with no show, but great earnestness ; in fact this earnestness was a great feature in his character in all that he did, and so great was his influence that the most roystering son of the brush that ever ventured from Cockayne never attempted to dispute his dictum. Nevertheless he was a mild and...

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