Page:Chats on old prints (IA chatsonoldprints00haydiala).pdf/106

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Of the school of interpreters a few shillings ought to procure a fair print by any of the group above-*mentioned, and the happy possessor may rest assured that he has got a fine piece of etching. Add to these the names of Rajon, Leopold Flameng, Mongin, and Brunet-Debaines, whose works after the old masters have been familiarised in this country by the untiring efforts of Philip Gilbert Hamerton, whose profound criticisms of art in the pages of the Portfolio were the delight of a past generation. The canvases of Meissonier have been interpreted by a crowd of masterly French etchers, whose work is much sought after by collectors and is rising in value. Chief among these men are F. Bracquemond, J. Jacquet, A. Jacquet, A. Boulard, E. Boilvin, Charles Courtry, A. Jamas, A. Mignon, A. Lalauze, H. Vion, E. Chiquet and L. Monzies. It is impossible here to deal with the work of Seymour Haden and Whistler. It is amazing in its fecundity, and filled with every subtlety of the art. One does not commence one's musical education with "Tannhaüser" nor even with the "Moonlight Sonata." The student will, before he has advanced many years, come across some of the beauties of these two modern masters, and if he has profited by his first steps he will stand abashed at the incomparable technique of these giants, who, with Rembrandt and Méryon, rank as the world's greatest etchers. If possible, endeavour to see Whistler's Black Lion Wharf, his Thames Police, and his Balcony, Amsterdam. Of Sir Francis Seymour Haden, On