Letter 240 The Hague, 1 November 1882
Dear Theo,
For the last few days I have been very much preoccupied by something which may possibly interest you,
and I think it quite worth while to write you about it in detail. In a letter from Rappard, I received the summary of a discourse by Herkomer on modern wood engravings. I cannot tell you the whole in detail; perhaps you have read the article yourself (it appeared in an English art magazine, perhaps the Art Journal).
It dealt particularly with the drawings in the Graphic. Herkomer tells how he himself worked on it with great zeal and enthusiasm, and recalls especially the splendid pages of the first series. He can hardly find words to express how strongly he feels the importance of the work of those origional artists. He surveys the progress in technique and process and the difference between the old and the modern wood engravings,
etc., etc.
Then he talks about the present time, and comes to the real point of his discourse. He says that the wood engravers are more clever than ever, but I for my part see a decadence when I think of the time when the Graphic started. And he continues: 鈥淚n my opinion, the fault lies in two things, against which I protest. One concerns the managers and the other concerns the artists.
鈥淏oth make mistakes, and these will spoil the thing if they are not corrected.鈥?p style="line-height:25px;text-indent:32px"> The managers, he says, ask for things that are done for effect; correct and honest drawing is no longer wanted, complete designs are no longer in demand: all that is requested is a 鈥渂it鈥?to cover an awkward corner of a page.
The managers declare that the public requires the representation of a public event or two, and is satisfied if it is correct and entertaining, caring nothing for the artistic qualities of the work.
I do not believe what they say. The only excuse that can be accepted is 鈥渁 shortage of good draughtsmen.鈥濃