Next to Vierge, the most influential of the early pen and ink illustrators was Joseph Clement Coll - a self-taught wonder who had the ability to imagine much of his 'world' while adhering to researched period costumes and animals and the like... he took the issue of drama to fantastic heights of rendering, extending the possibilities of what ink could do... in doing his renderings, he would often cloak himself and his board, shutting himself off for hours from the real world, so he could 'see' his own and then draft the rendering with all the imaginative angles as if a cameraman at filming, being a god bestowing the drama of his creations...
If these aren't wonderful examples of "Fine Art" then I don't know what is. They are absolutely breathtaking. Uneducated in art as I am, this is turning into a learning experience for me. Excellant job of posting Robert. I think we picked the right man for the job. I can hardly wait to see what you post next.
ReplyDeleteYes - if technology hadn't moved as it did, and 'modern art' hadn't reared its nihilistic, one wonders in what direction he would had gone - what kind of 'art for its own sake' would he have rendered, with this much skill exhibited back then [or would it all have gone as it did, into the technical illustrations that remained of those with this capability]...
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