Chapter III: Part 3

It was at Newport that La Farge married Miss Margaret Perry, who was the great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin and the granddaughter of Commodore Perry, so well known as commander of the American fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie. They lived in Newport during the summer, but spent their winters in New York City.

At the time of the Civil War, La Farge wished to enlist, but failed to pass the physical examination because he was nearsighted. Then, giving himself entirely to his art, he succeeded in working out his own methods.

His first paintings were for church decorations—the most important being “Saint Paul,” “The Madonna,” and “Saint John.” The last two were painted for the Church of St. Peter in New York City.

Then came a severe illness from which La Farge recovered very slowly, and it was nearly three years before he could become an active painter again. In the meantime he began drawing on wood, illustrating Browning’s and Longfellow’s poems, and Tennyson’s _Enoch Arden_. Later another trip abroad resulted in the exhibition of his paintings in the galleries there. He made a careful study of stained-glass windows and by much experimenting he discovered a way to produce an opalescent effect in stained glass and to make the glass look like that in the very old cathedrals.

La Farge was always interested in mural or wall decorations for public buildings, and he felt that our buildings in America lacked very much in that respect. He made a special study of this work, and ten years later he began his mural decorations for Trinity Church in Boston. It was one of the first buildings so decorated in this country, and the work was accomplished under great difficulties. The workmen did not understand just what they were to do, the right kind of materials could not always be obtained and so had to be prepared, and the people, having no idea of the task, required that the work be finished in an unreasonably short time. The result was that La Farge and his assistants were compelled to work night and day, in very cold weather, and under many disadvantages. However, when the scaffolding was finally removed the decoration was considered a great success. La Farge was then asked to decorate St. Thomas’ Church in New York.

The artist now began to decorate windows too, that they might be a part of the mural decorations. One of his first window designs was placed in the Congregational Church at Newport, then one in Memorial Hall, Harvard University. They are wonderful in color and design, containing almost every known kind of glass and every precious stone. Then came demands from all over the country for both public buildings and private homes. He was honored both in this country and abroad.

In 1886 La Farge went to Japan. While there he sent a series of very interesting letters to the _Century Magazine_ describing his travels. These letters have since been published in book form. La Farge also wrote _Considerations on Painting_, a series of books on the _Great Masters_, and the Japanese _Hokusai_.

Some of his best-known windows and mural decorations are the Watson Memorial Window in Trinity Church, Buffalo; “The Ascension,” a fresco in the Church of Ascension, New York City; “Athens,” in the Art Gallery at Bowdoin College, Maine; “Law,” in the Supreme Court Room, St. Paul; and “Lawgivers,” in the Court House, Baltimore.

=Questions about the artist.= Who painted this picture? Tell about his father’s experiences in the West Indies. How did the elder La Farge happen to come to America? What did he do in this country? Where and when was the artist born? What education did he receive? Where did he go after he finished college? How did he seem to regard painting at this time? What American artist encouraged him to study art? Tell about his progress; his marriage; his travels. Tell about his first mural decoration. Why was it so difficult to accomplish? To what did this lead? Tell about his window designs. Where can we see some of La Farge’s work? What books did he write?

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AMERICAN ILLUSTRATORS

=The antiquity of illustration.= The desire for pictures illustrating ideas dates back no doubt to the beginning of the world. The cave dweller left a record of such an ambition on the carved walls of his rude house and on the handle of his battle ax. Savages made of themselves living illustrations, by painting their bodies in gay colors and designs representing their ideas of beauty. The Egyptians used stone and papyrus for mediums of expression, while a century later parchment and vellum were used.

Each illustration was a finished piece of work. In order to reproduce it, the artist must make a new one each time. Then some one discovered the block print. The design or illustration was cut in wood, then inked and placed on sheets of paper much as we use block prints now. Playing cards were produced in this way long before books appeared. It was but a step from printing a whole page of type to separating the letters so they could be rearranged and used many times. The Chinese understood printing with movable type centuries before we ever thought of it.

Since the time the printing press was finally invented there have been new processes and new methods, but an illustration as such has remained unchanged. Joseph Pennell tells us in his book on the _Illustration of Books_ that an illustration “is a design intended to give an artist’s idea of an incident, episode, or topographical site, or it may be but a mere diagram referred to by a writer.”

=Requirements for an illustrator.= A good illustrator requires good preparatory training. He should know how to draw well, and should have a good education in general subjects, that he may be able to illustrate intelligently the various subjects that will come before him. He must be able to select the important things in the author’s work and so represent them that the attention of the public will be drawn to them. In order that his pictures may be properly reproduced he must understand the process and make his work comply with its limitations for good work. To be successful he must be sure of his material, and his subjects must please both the author and the general public.

=The process of illustration.= An illustration is usually first sketched with a pencil on stiff paper or bristol board, the size it is to be when completed or in some relation to it. That is, it may be enlarged or reduced when printed. Perhaps the most popular method is to make the drawing twice as large as the finished print. This pencil sketch is then corrected and finally drawn in with pen and ink or brush.

The finished drawing is photographed on the plate to be used, and finished according to some one of many different processes.

=Illustration in the United States.= It was not until after the Civil War, in 1861, that illustration began to play an important part in the magazines and books of this country. To be sure, caricature had long been popular in the newspapers of the day, Thomas Nast having made his famous political cartoons during the war. Illustration in its more serious sense, however, received its first awakening when La Farge illustrated Tennyson’s _Enoch Arden_ and other poems. Some authorities declare that E. A. Abbey’s pen-and-ink drawings and illustrations of the works of Goldsmith were the first of importance in America.

Most of our best illustrators have contributed to the leading magazines, and so we are able to judge their work.

A few of the most prominent names are:

ARTIST CHARACTERISTIC WORK

Howard Pyle Colonial times in New
England.

W. A. Woolf Life of street arabs;
humorous.

E. W. Kemble Negro life.

W. A. Rogers Tenement districts;
pathetic.

A. B. Frost American life.

Elihu Vedder Rubáiyát of Omar Khayám.

C. D. Gibson American girl.

F. Remington The Indian.

Reginald Birch Children’s stories.

A. B. Wenzell Society life.

Alice Barber Childhood.
Stevens

Howard C. The Christy girl.
Christy

H. B. Taylor Longfellow’s poems.

=Questions about the art of illustration.= When and how did people first begin to illustrate? How did these illustrations differ from ours in execution? Of what use was a wood-block print? To what did this lead? What preparatory training does a good illustrator need? Tell something of the process, or how illustrations are made. Tell something of the history of illustration in the United States. Name some of the best-known illustrators. Who is your favorite illustrator? why? Is it the subject of his illustration or his execution that appeals to you the more?

=To the Teacher=: The lesson may be assigned by topics to various pupils for preparation and recitation.

1. The History of Illustration.
2. Illustration in the United States.
3. What Constitutes a Good Illustration?
4. Your Favorite Illustrator and Why.

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Copyright by the Curtis Publishing Co. From a Copley
Print copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston
]

EVANGELINE

=Questions to arouse interest.= How many of you have read _Evangeline_ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? Why do you suppose this picture is so named? Describe the Evangeline in this picture—her appearance, expression, and surroundings. Where do you think she is going? why? How many of you think she is coming home from church? why? Describe the house near the road; the people you see. What can you say of the perspective of this road? What impression does this picture give you—one of peace, plenty, quiet, or the reverse, and why?

EVANGELINE

“Fair was she to behold, that maiden of seventeen summers.
Black were her eyes as the berry that grows on the thorn by the
wayside,
Black, yet how softly they gleamed beneath the brown shade of her
tresses.

Fairer was she when, on Sunday morn, while the bell from its turret
Sprinkled with holy sounds the air, as the priest with his hyssop
Sprinkles the congregation, and scatters blessings upon them,
Down the long street she passed, with her chaplet of beads and her
missal,
Wearing her Norman cap and her kirtle of blue, and the ear-rings,
Brought in the olden time from France, and since, as an heirloom,
Handed down from mother to child, through long generations.
But a celestial brightness—a more ethereal beauty—
Shone on her face and encircled her form, when after confession,
Homeward serenely she walked with God’s benediction upon her.
When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music.”
—_Evangeline_, by Henry W. Longfellow

=Artist=: William Ladd Taylor.
=Birthplace=: Grafton, Massachusetts.
=Dates=: Born, 1854.

=The story of the picture.= In illustrating Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem _Evangeline_, Mr. Taylor has chosen to represent the heroine during the happiest part of her life, and before anything very exciting or at all strange began to happen, unless, perhaps, we feel that it is strange and wonderful that there should be such a little village as Grand-Pré, where Evangeline lived. History tells us that such a village did exist in Acadie—or Nova Scotia, Canada, as we call it now. The French and English had quarreled bitterly over this island, for each wanted possession of its fisheries. The English claimed the territory by right of discovery, and they finally secured possession of it.

Most of the people living there were French and had been given the privilege of leaving within two years. Though they desired to remain, yet they refused to take the oath of allegiance, and their oath of fidelity to the British king was accepted instead. They were exempted from bearing arms against their own countrymen, allowed to enjoy their religion, to have magistrates of their own selection, and, in fact, they had been permitted to do about as they pleased. Each man owned his farm and his stock, and all that goes to make a life of usefulness as well as of plenty and content.

Mr. Longfellow tells us:

“Vast meadows stretched to the eastward,
Giving the village its name, and pasture to flocks without number.

Sea-fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty Atlantic
Looked on the happy valley, but ne’er from their station descended.
There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian village.
Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of hemlock,
Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of the Henries.
Thatched were the roofs, with dormer windows; and gables projecting
Over the basement below protected and shaded the doorway.”

How carefully Mr. Taylor studied all these details is shown by the way he represents the main street of the little village of Grand-Pré. How much more picturesque these thatched-roofed houses are than some of our more costly and elaborate modern homes! A roof made of simple framework, however, covered with thick layers of skillfully arranged straw or reeds, called thatch, does not seem very practicable to us in these days.

It is not difficult to determine who is the center of interest in this picture. We recognize Evangeline with her white Normandy cap, her kirtle or short jacket with its flowing sleeves, and we can even distinguish her beads. Her missal, or Roman Catholic mass book, is clasped in both hands as she passes quietly down the street, and the expression in her face is one of perfect peace and happiness.

She has passed the group of visiting women, as well as the two men standing by the gate who have turned to look after her. We know that she has greeted them all pleasantly, if a bit absently, and it is plain that she has now forgotten them again in the absorption of her mind.

Although the picture does not even suggest the strange and adventurous future before her, still it is all the more pleasing because it gives us a glimpse of Evangeline in the hour of peace and happiness. We are made to feel the secret of the reserve strength of our heroine who, thus fortified, will be equal to all that must befall her. We shall wish to read again Mr. Longfellow’s poem _Evangeline_.

According to the story, Evangeline keeps house for her father, who is known as the wealthiest farmer of Grand-Pré. He is well on in years, genial, kindly, always looking on the bright side of life, and his home is known far and wide for its hospitality and cheer. The house is out a little way from the village and is built on the side of a hill, so that it commands a fine view of the ocean. Meadows, orchards, great barns with their dovecotes, beehives, a well with its moss-grown bucket, weathercocks, and sheepfolds complete the picture.

One of the farmer’s best friends is Basil, the blacksmith, who is a much honored man in the village. He has one son, Gabriel. Evangeline and Gabriel have played together as children, have grown up together, and now they are engaged to be married. Already the contract is signed, the dower of the bride in flocks of sheep and in cattle has been determined, and all is ready for the wedding feast.

“Fairest of all the maids was Evangeline, Benedict’s daughter!
Noblest of all the youths was Gabriel, son of the blacksmith!”

But their wedding is almost forgotten because of the terrible events which prevent it. For several days a fleet of English ships has been observed approaching the harbor with their guns pointed toward the peaceful little village of Grand-Pré. On the very day set for the wedding, the English soldiers land and demand the surrender of all their arms in the name of the king. All the men are commanded to assemble in the meetinghouse at noon of that day. The people drive in from all the country around, a happy, care-free crowd, thinking that, since they have harmed no one, no harm can come to them.

But once in the meetinghouse the soldiers lock and bolt the door while the commander reads the king’s proclamation from the pulpit. It is terrible beyond all belief, for it not only commands that they forfeit all their lands, dwellings, and cattle to the crown, but that they and their families shall be transported to other lands. A great cry arises, and all the men rush to the doorway. But there is no means of escape, for the soldiers are well armed and prepared.

Then Basil the blacksmith calls upon them all to resist and is promptly felled by a soldier. All is angry commotion when the door of the chancel opens and Father Felician, whom all revere, stands before them commanding their silence. He appeals to their faith, and their reverence for the house of God, and by his wise counsel succeeds in quieting his people. Meanwhile the women wait outside in the churchyard, fearful when the tumult is greatest but reassured when all is quiet again. Hour after hour passes by and still they wait.

At length the door of the meetinghouse opens and a soldier appears. Again the fearful proclamation is read. Then the women are commanded to pack their household goods and be ready for sailing on the fifth day.

Now indeed a great cry of distress arises, echoed by the men, who are still held prisoners. Then, in obedience to a second command, the women depart for their homes. With heavy hearts they begin their packing. Evangeline, left alone without father or lover, looks at the table set for the wedding feast and at all the signs of rejoicing, then softly goes back to the meetinghouse. There she calls Gabriel by name several times but receives no answer.

On the fifth day all is ready. The great wains empty their loads on the shore, and the women and children are waiting. At last, at a signal, the church door is thrown open and the prisoners march to the boats. Then comes the most terrible part of all. In their haste the soldiers separate families, placing some members in one ship, some in another.

Gabriel and his father are placed in different ships, while Evangeline and her father remain on the shore awaiting the last boat. And then comes the fearful sight of their homes and barns in flames, and the utter destruction of the village.

The horror and injustice of it all are too great for Evangeline’s father, who dies there upon the shore. Evangeline, left thus alone and crushed by her sorrow, scarce knows when she is led into the ship or when the ships depart.

Many days pass before the people are landed on a foreign shore. Then the first thought of all is to seek relatives and friends.

The rest of the story tells of Evangeline’s long search for Gabriel and her many discouragements as she follows this rumor and that. The priest, Father Felician, goes with her on the journey, encouraging and helping her.

Once Gabriel and Evangeline pass each other on the water, but it is during the night and neither is aware that the other is so near. Gabriel finds his father but, restless and unhappy, he does not remain with him long. And so it happens that when Evangeline at length finds Basil the blacksmith, Gabriel is not with him. He had left just the day before. So Basil sets out with Evangeline in search of his son.

After years of patience and perseverance, rewarded only by failure, Evangeline ceases her wandering and becomes a nurse. And then it is she finds Gabriel, on his deathbed.

It is a sad but beautiful story, and it is all founded on facts. Not only was there such a village as Grand-Pré with just such people living in it, but it is also true that in 1755 King George II of England sent his fleet to scatter them among the other British provinces. He believed that these people aided the Indians and, because of the almost independent character of the colony, embarrassed the local government.

As we read the story we cannot but be glad that Mr. Taylor chose the Evangeline of the happy days of Grand-Pré, rather than any other picture of her that he might have shown us.

The soft tones in the picture are especially pleasing, as well as the few strong notes of color in the dresses and the houses. The perspective of the road is made interesting by the figures in it, as well as by the houses and trees on each side. Note the difference in size of the various figures according to their distance. This makes the road appear longer and more winding.

=Questions to help the pupil understand the picture.= Where did Evangeline live? Describe the village of Grand-Pré. Of what nationality were most of the people? How did they happen to be under English rule? What special privileges were they given? Who was the British king at the time of this story? Why did he wish to dispose of the Acadians? How did he do this? What became of the village? of the houses? of the people? their cattle, horses, sheep? Who was Evangeline? Gabriel? Basil the blacksmith? What event was to take place the day the king’s proclamation was read? Where was the proclamation read? What effect did it have upon the men? upon the women? What part of the story is represented in the picture? If you were to draw just one picture from this story, which would you choose? why?

=The story of the artist.= As in the case of so many of our living artists, we know very little of the details of Mr. Taylor’s life. We do know that William Ladd Taylor was born at Grafton, Massachusetts, December 10, 1854, and that most of his education was received at Worcester, Massachusetts. He attended art schools in Boston and New York, and studied one year in Paris, France. He has traveled extensively, making a special study of mediæval architecture, costumes, and customs.

Owing to ill health, Mr. Taylor spent a year in Colorado, which proved most beneficial. There he produced several paintings, two of the best known being “The Caribou Hunter” and “Shooting the Rapids.” Mr. Taylor has lived most of his life in or near Boston.

He has painted a series of pictures representing nineteenth-century New England; a series of pictures of the pioneer West; and the Longfellow series, including “Evangeline,” “Minnehaha and Hiawatha,” “The Village Blacksmith,” “The Hanging of the Crane,” “Maidenhood,” “The Old Clock on the Stairs,” “The Building of the Ship,” “Priscilla and John Alden,” “The Children’s Hour,” and others. Other paintings are the Psalm Series; Old Song Series; Our Home and Country, a book of pictures of American life; “The Earl’s Return,” illustrating Owen Meredith’s poem; and “Rosita,” illustrating Bret Harte’s _The Mystery of the Hacienda_.

=Questions about the artist.= Who painted this picture? Where was he born? What education did he receive? Name some of his best paintings.

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CARTOONS AND CARICATURES

=Significance of this form of illustration.= Very little or no distinction is made between the two words, caricature and cartoon, as we use them at the present day. Yet the word caricature instantly suggests something made ridiculous or absurd in a spirit of attack or burlesque, while a cartoon may be merely a suggestive representation of any person or idea of present interest. A caricature always makes ridiculous, but a cartoon may either ridicule or praise, and although usually humorous, it is more serious in its aims and subjects.

To cartoon a public man once meant to insult him. If by any chance he had some prominent physical defect it was hailed with delight, and made the butt of the cartoonists’ characterizations. Now our best cartoonists would not stoop to secure recognition by such means; they are more considerate, and we are allowed to appreciate their clever representations without feeling the sting of resentment, even though our sympathies are on the other side. But our cartoonists of to-day do not spend all their time representing the political issues; they also deal with the affairs of everyday life.

We are told that the word cartoon originally meant a design or model for a large picture in fresco, oil, tapestry, statuary, glass, or mosaic. The most famous of these are the cartoons of Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo. But in 1843 a great exhibit of cartoons was held at Westminster Hall, London, from which the fresco decorations for the new houses of Parliament were to be chosen. At that time _Punch_ declared itself a competitor, and presented its claims in its most humorous manner. The most absurd caricatures were dignified by the name cartoon, and the reasons why they should be accepted were set forth in a most laughable manner. For some time after this _Punch_ continued to use the name cartoon for its representations, and when it would have gone back to the term caricature the public would not permit it. Perhaps the fact that the word cartoon is so much easier to pronounce had something to do with it.

=To the Teacher=: Pupils should be encouraged to bring good cartoons to school. These may be collected, and the best put up where all can see and be ready to discuss as to size, composition, variety, number, and color of lines used in expressing the idea.

=History of caricature and cartoon.= It is hard for us to realize that caricature is as old as man’s ability to express himself with chisel, pen, or ink. Away back in the time of the Assyrians and Egyptians we find certain caricatures representing grotesque figures drawn on papyrus. The Greeks caricatured their gods and heroes, although their sense of the beautiful made it impossible for them to distort the human figure. In Rome they were not so particular, and one caricature representing a dwarf philosopher preaching to a fox has been handed down to us in many different forms. During the Middle Ages caricatures were made of such unpopular ideas and experiences as Satan, death, pride, hatred, and so forth.

By permission of Mr. John T. McCutcheon
_Baseball, Golf, Election Returns, and Swatting the Fly_
]

The invention of the printing press greatly increased the power and influence of the caricature, in spite of the many regulations and hindrances that had to be complied with. During the Revolution, Napoleon I tried to repress caricature in France, and on this account the English made him a special victim of their ridicule. The kings and aristocracy that held sway after the Restoration next became the subject of satire. Then in 1830 came the invention of lithography and, with the increasing freedom of the press, caricature, of course, reached its height. Poor Louis Philippe, of France, was the most caricatured of all the kings, because of his pear-shaped head, which was so easy to draw. In London, caricature became more and more popular with the founding of _Punch_ in 1841. The best-known contributor to _Punch_ was Du Maurier, whose burlesques of aristocratic society in England were taken in good part. In Germany, Wilhelm Scholz’s caricatures of Bismarck are famous. And so on through all the countries, we find traces of the art of caricature.

In America we find Benjamin Franklin first on the list. We are told that the talent came naturally to him, as his grandfather and father before him had shown considerable ingenuity in that direction but had not ventured to express it except in the signs and printed handbills advertising their trade. It was the custom at that time to advertise by means of pictures or representations—a gilt Bible in front of a store meant a book store; an anchor, naval supplies; the figure of a mermaid, an ale house; a gilt sheaf, a paper store, and so on. The figure of an East Indian queen gayly dressed in a many-colored gown advertised the store belonging to Franklin’s grandfather, where he offered “to dye into colors” all cloth, silk, and calico. The handbills which he sent out were more elaborate, representing the same queen but with two servants, one holding up her train, the other holding a parasol over her. All public buildings were easily recognized by the carved royal lion and unicorn.

Benjamin’s brother James started the first sensational newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1721. This paper was called the _Courant_, and to it Benjamin Franklin first contributed his articles and caricatures. Their wit was not appreciated by the sober people of Boston, and it was not long before the brother was put in prison on account of his editorials. Benjamin continued the paper, fearlessly ridiculing in writing and pictures not only Harvard College but the ministers and well-known church members. The people were now thoroughly aroused, and soon both brothers were forbidden to print their paper.

So far, however, work in caricature had been crude and was to be completely overshadowed by the brilliant Thomas Nast, the great political cartoonist. Mr. William M. Tweed was the first political “boss,” and the subject of Mr. Nast’s cartoons. He represented that leader’s face as a money bag with dollar signs as features, and in this strange way he somehow managed to secure a very good likeness of the man. It is even said that when at last Tweed was forced to run away to escape imprisonment, he was recognized and caught through the familiarity of all with his cartooned face. Mr. Nast’s cartoons were published in _Harper’s Weekly_, and became so popular that they opened a way for the publication of a new humorous magazine, _Puck_. Then came _Judge_ and _Life_. These three are devoted mainly to cartoons.

By permission of Mr. John T. McCutcheon
_The Mounted Policeman’s Lot Is Not a Happy One_
]

Now many weekly journals, as _Harper’s_, _Leslie’s_, and a monthly magazine called _Cartoons_, make this a special feature. Nearly every newspaper in the country contains at least one cartoon in each issue, and many have their own cartoonists, whose time is busily occupied preparing drawings for the daily issues.

Then, too, the Sunday supplements are full of them, and we have become well acquainted with Frederick Burr Opper, creator of “Happy Hooligan,” “The Folks in Funnyville,” “Alphonse and Gaston,” “Maud, the Matchless,” “John Bull,” and others; Richard Felton Outcault, creator of “Hogan’s Alley,” “Yellow Kid,” “Buster Brown,” “Buster, Mary Jane, and Tige”; A. B. Frost, creator of “Tragedy of the Kind Hearted Man and the Ungrateful Bull Calf” and “The Spinster’s Cat That Ate Rat Poison,”; Carl Emil Schultze, known as “Bunny,” creator of “Foxy Grandpa” and “Bunny’s Blue Book,” and many others.

=Requirements.= A good cartoon must show the real characteristics of the original, exaggerated, yet easy to recognize. A picture that will tell its story at a glance can be understood by all, and will be remembered long after paragraphs are forgotten. So it is readily seen what a power for good may be found in the daily cartoon.

It is necessary that a good cartoonist have a clear sense of form, although great freedom is allowed in his drawing and no attempt is made for a studied or accurate representation. He should be a keen observer and well informed, especially on all topics of daily interest, and possessed of much originality and a ready pencil.

=Process of making a cartoon.= A general idea may be given of how a cartoon is made. First, the cartoonist must have a subject or an idea to be represented. This is sometimes suggested by the city editor, by members of the staff, or more often left entirely to the judgment of the artist. Then the idea is usually sketched in with pencil on a piece of medium weight cardboard, corrected, and then finished in pen and ink. Black ink is used with pens of various sizes depending upon the width of line desired. The best cartoonists use lines of different widths. Often we find a strong bold line for the foreground, a medium line for the middle distance, and a thin line for extreme distance. The drawing is usually made twice the size it is to appear in the paper. When sent to the printer a photograph is made of the drawing of the size required. The film is then stripped off the plate and put on a heavier, thicker plate and printed through on a piece of zinc, covered with some substance which is not affected by acid. The zinc is then placed in an acid bath which eats away the parts exposed to light in the printing, leaving the lines of the drawing untouched.

JOHN T. McCUTCHEON

One of the best-known of our cartoonists is Mr. John Tinney McCutcheon, of the _Chicago Tribune_. He is one of a comparatively small number of cartoonists who have studied art and understand the principles governing it. Many have not had this special training, and must rely entirely upon the clever idea represented and the natural skill which they possess. Besides this preparation Mr. McCutcheon is a graduate of Purdue University, Purdue, Indiana. He has traveled around the world, and seems to have qualified himself for his work in an ideal way. An eyewitness of the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish War, he sent a detailed account to the _Chicago Record_ which was one of the “most notable events of journalism in connection with the war.” He also visited many places in the Orient, in the Philippines, and was with the Boer Army in Africa as correspondent for the _Record_. In 1900 he returned to Chicago as political cartoonist for this paper, but later accepted a position with the _Chicago Tribune_.

Mr. McCutcheon is also an author, having published _Stories of Filipino Warfare_, and several series of cartoons in book form, as _Boy in Springtime Series_, and others. As a lecturer he has proved very popular in Lyceum and Chautauqua courses.

It is interesting to know that the dog appearing so often in his earlier cartoons was first introduced merely because there was a space in his picture that needed filling. The same thing happened several times, and when later he made a cartoon without the dog, people wrote and asked him what had become of it.

By permission of Mr. John T. McCutcheon
_When Newspapers Are Scarce_
]

George Ade, in his introduction to the _Boy in Springtime Series_, has summed up Mr. McCutcheon’s qualities as a cartoonist in this way: “Clever execution, gentle humor, considerate treatment of public men, and wisdom in getting away from political subjects and giving us a few pictures of everyday life, which is our real interest.”

=Questions about the art.= What is the difference between a cartoon and a caricature? How did the word cartoon come to have its present meaning? What kind of a magazine is _Punch_? Tell something of the early history of caricatures and cartoons. What effect did the invention of the printing press have upon them? Who was the first American caricaturist? Tell about Benjamin Franklin and his newspaper. What magazines publish cartoons now? What is your idea of a good cartoon? What subjects are usually chosen in newspaper cartoons? What good can they do in the world? what harm? What preparation is it necessary for a cartoonist to have? What preparation has Mr. J. T. McCutcheon made for his work? Tell something of his life and his cartoons.

=To the Teacher=: The lesson may be prepared by assigning subjects to various pupils as follows:

1. Meaning of the Terms Caricature and Cartoon.
2. Events Leading to the New Meaning of the Word Cartoon.
3. The History of Caricatures and Cartoons.
4. Caricatures and Cartoons To-day.
5. A Good Cartoon.
6. A Good Cartoonist.
7. Of What Benefit to the World Are Caricatures and Cartoons?

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ENGRAVINGS, ETCHINGS, PRINTS

When we visit an art gallery we find pictures in all mediums—oil, water color, pastel, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink; and then farther on we find photographs, etchings, engravings (steel, copper, and wood), and lithographs.

It takes much careful study and practice before we can expect to recognize the medium or process used. Most of us recognize water color, oil, pencil, charcoal, and pastel work, but prints made from engravings, etchings, and photographic plates are more difficult to distinguish.

At the time most of our famous old masters were painting, photography was unknown and the first etchings and engravings were laboriously done by hand and usually by the artists themselves. Now, the time and expense of hand work are so great that, although the important lines are still put in by hand, yet the camera plays an essential part in most etchings and engravings. Originally the artist drew direct on the steel, copper, or wood block, but as the drawing must be reversed, it required a great deal of skill to do this. It was only after much practice that the engraver could reverse his sketch as he drew it, and in most cases he either made a reversed study on paper to work from, or fastened his drawing opposite a mirror and drew from that. As soon as photography came into use all this was simplified, as the drawing was reversed in the photograph and much time was saved. In the case of wood engraving, which is the cheapest and most perishable, the picture is photographed directly upon the block of wood. The steel, copper, or zinc plates are often covered with some waxy substance and the design drawn upon them with fine engraver’s tools. After the drawing is completed there are three distinct processes of engraving:

1. The lines of the drawing are sunk below the surface of the plate, as in etchings and steel and copper-plate engravings.

2. The background is cut away or eaten by acids, leaving the lines in relief as in wood engravings, half tones, and zinc plates.

3. There is no relief or depression, but the surface is smooth, as in lithographs.

In etchings and steel and copper plates the surface is usually covered with a waxy substance, or something which resists the action of acid. Then it is often smoked so that it will be easier to see the lines of the drawing which are made with fine steel tools, cutting through the wax to the surface of the metal. It is not the intention to cut the metal, but merely to scratch through the coat of wax to expose the metal. Then the plate is put in acid, and each line is eaten into a groove varying in depth according to how long it is left in the acid. If some of the lines are not deep enough, the rest of the plate may be covered with the waxy substance and it may be put in the acid many times until all lines are the desired depth.

A print is made from this plate by covering it with ink, allowing the ink to fill the grooves, and wiping the rest of the plate clean. Then paper is pressed upon it.

Rembrandt ranks first among etchers. Other well-known artists are Albrecht Dürer, Van Dyck, and James McNeill Whistler.

In wood engravings, half tones, and zinc plates the picture is either drawn or photographed upon the plate. Then the spaces between the lines are either cut away with the sharp steel tools of the engraver, which vary in shape and size, or, the lines being protected by the waxy substance, the surfaces between are eaten away by acid. Thus the original lines are raised higher than the rest of the plate. The raised lines are then inked and pressed against the paper. A wooden block may also be molded into a “metal cast” in order to preserve the engraving.

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LITHOGRAPHY

“Lithography is the art of drawing or writing upon stone.” The best lithograph stone is found in Bavaria, and is usually cut from three to four inches thick, varying in size from six by eight inches to forty-four by sixty-four. The larger sizes are very rare. It is said that drawings may be removed and one stone used as many as two hundred times. Sometimes zinc or aluminum plates are used as a substitute.

The drawing must be reversed and should be drawn direct upon the stone, although transfer paper is sometimes used. The ink or crayon used is made of fatty substances, and when the drawing is complete the stone is bathed with a solution which fixes the lines permanently and gives them a greater attraction for fatty substances, such as printers’ ink. The spaces between the lines, however, do not attract the ink, so that when a roller of ink is passed over the stone, only the lines are affected. A piece of paper is then pressed upon the stones by the aid of the printing press, and every line of the drawing is reproduced.

The art of engraving on metal plates is not new. It is mentioned in the Bible in the twenty-eighth chapter of Exodus, thirty-sixth verse. The Israelites probably learned the art from the Egyptians, for they, as well as the Assyrians, engraved upon both stone and metal. Copper engravings have been found in mummy cases. The Egyptians do not seem to have thought of printing from these plates, however. In India and China the art dates back to remote times. Marco Polo describes money made in China by stamping it with a seal covered with vermilion.

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THE SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

=Studying pictures.= A few days before a picture is to be studied, it should be placed where all members of the class can see it.

As a preparation for the lessons on Illustration and Cartoons, pupils should be told at least a week in advance, so that they may save good examples to bring to class.

Most teachers seem to feel that the pupils are more interested in this work when it is prepared and presented by members of the class. Equally good results, however, are sometimes secured when the teacher provides the subject-matter and leads the discussion.

Pupils are sometimes able to bring in specimens of copper, steel, or zinc plates, and if a friend or a member of some pupil’s family is a printer, engraver, or lithographer, permission may be obtained for the class to visit his place of business. In that case, a visit would be much more beneficial than a classroom lesson.

Visits to an art museum, when possible, are equally instructive. Pupils of grammar-school age have a tendency to criticize pictures, or, perhaps we should say, to make remarks about them which often cause others to laugh. This practice soon grows into a habit which, unfortunately, is not confined to children alone, as any visit to an exhibition of paintings will show. I have used the following little story many times and found it helped to discourage this habit: The students at an art school in New York were taken for their first visit to the great Metropolitan Art Gallery. It was their first week at school, and they were strangers to the city, to the school, to the teacher, and, with but few exceptions, to each other. The afternoon passed all too quickly. The next day their instructor began to question them. What did they think of this picture? Of that? The first pupil gave a severe criticism of the picture mentioned, as did his neighbor and others in the class. Were they not there to study art and to learn how to tell what is wrong in pictures? Suddenly they were amazed to find their instructor laughing heartily at them.

“There,” she said, “you have done just what beginners always do. You have looked only for faults, and you have found faults.”

She then tried to tell them that until they could learn to put themselves in the artist’s place and to see with his eyes, so to speak, the picture he wished to paint (which is always infinitely less than the picture he does paint) they could not hope to appreciate his picture. They were advised to study carefully two or three pictures which appealed to them and to leave the others until greater knowledge, gained through experience, travel, pain, or pleasure, should make it possible for them to understand the message of the artist.

=The review lesson.= The review lesson should cover all pictures and artists studied throughout the year. At this time other pictures available by the same artists should be on exhibition.

The review work may be conducted as a contest in which the pictures are held up, one at a time, while the class writes the name of the picture and the artist on slips of paper which have been prepared and numbered for that purpose.

Many teachers, however, will prefer to use this time for composition work, although the description of pictures is often given as an English lesson. Pupils may write a description of their favorite picture. In fact, the lessons can be made to correlate with history, geography, English, spelling, reading, or nature study.

In any event the real purpose of the work is that the pupils shall become so familiar with the pictures that they will recognize them as old friends whenever and wherever they may see them.

It is hoped that acquaintance with the picture and the interest awakened by its story will grow into a fuller appreciation and understanding of the artist’s work. Thus the children will have many happy hours and will learn to love the good, the true, and the beautiful in everything about them.

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● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ The Table of Contents includes “Review of Pictures and Artists
Studied” but there is no section containing that information.
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);
text that was bold by “equal” signs (=bold=).

End of Project Gutenberg's Stories Pictures Tell Book 8, by Flora Carpenter