第 29 节
作者:这就是结局      更新:2021-02-19 18:30      字数:9322
  〃Punch〃 artists; of whom Mr。 George du Maurier; Mr。 Linley Sambourne;
  and   Mr。   Charles   Keene   are   the   most   illustrious。     The   first   is   nearly   as
  popular     as  Leech;    and    is  certainly   a  greater   favourite    with   cultivated
  audiences。      He is not so much a humorist as a satirist of the Thackeray
  type;unsparing   in   his   denunciation   of   shams;   affectations;   and   flimsy
  pretences      of  all  kinds。    A    master    of   composition      and    accomplished
  draughtsman;   he   excels   in   the   delineation   of   〃society〃its   bishops;   its
  〃professional        beauties〃     and    〃aesthetes;〃      its   nouveaux       riches;    its
  distinguished foreigners;… …while now and then (but not too often) he lets
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  us know that if he chose he could be equally happy in depicting the lowest
  classes。 There was a bar…room scene not long ago in 〃Punch〃 which gave
  the clearest evidence of this。          Some of those for whom no good thing is
  good   enough   complain;   it   is   said;   that   he   lacks   varietythat   he   is   too
  constant to one type of feminine beauty。              But any one who will be at the
  pains to study a group of conventional 〃society〃 faces from any of his 〃At
  Homes〃   or   〃Musical   Parties〃   will   speedily   discover   that   they   are   really
  very   subtly   diversified     and    contrasted。    For    a  case   in  point;   take   the
  decorously sympathetic group round the sensitive German musician; who
  is   〃veeping〃   over   one   of   his   own   compositions。        Or   follow   the    titter
  running round that amused assembly to whom the tenor warbler is singing
  〃Me…e…e…et       me   once    again;〃    with   such    passionate     emphasis      that  the
  domestic cat mistakes it for a well…known area cry。                  As for his ladies; it
  may perhaps be conceded that his type is a little persistent。                   Still it is a
  type so refined; so graceful; so attractive altogether; that in the jarring of
  less well…favoured realities it is an advantage to have it always before our
  eyes   as   a   standard   to   which   we   can   appeal。   Mr。   du   Maurier   is   a   fertile
  book…illustrator;      whose    hand    is  frequently   seen    in  the   〃Cornhill;〃    and
  elsewhere。      Some   of   his   best   work   of   this   kind   is   in   Douglas   Jerrold's
  〃Story of a Feather;〃 in Thackeray's 〃Ballads;〃 and the large edition of the
  〃Ingoldsby       Legends;〃     to   which    Leech;    Tenniel;    and    Cruikshank      also
  contributed。 One of his prettiest compositions is the group here reproduced
  from   〃Punch's   Almanack〃   for   1877。          The   talent   of   his   colleague;   Mr。
  Linley Sambourne; may fairly be styled unique。                 It is difficult to compare
  it with anything in its way; except some of the happier efforts of the late
  Mr。    Charles    Bennett;     to  which;    nevertheless;     it  is  greatly  superior    in
  execution。       To   this   clever   artist's   invention   everything seems   to   present
  itself with a train of fantastic accessory so whimsically inexhaustible that
  it almost overpowers one with its prodigality。               Each fresh examination of
  his    designs    discloses    something      overlooked      or  unexpected。       Let    the
  reader study for a moment the famous 〃Birds of a Feather〃 of 1875; or that
  ingenious skit of 1877 upon the rival Grosvenor Gallery and Academy; in
  which the late President of the latter is shown as the proudest of peacocks;
  the   eyes   of   whose   tail   are   portraits   of   Royal Academicians;   and   whose
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  body…feathers        are   paint    brushes     and    shillings     of   admission。       Mr。
  Sambourne   is   excellent;   too;   at   adaptations   of   popular   pictures;witness
  the   more   than   happy   parodies   of   Herrman's   〃A  Bout   d'Arguments;〃   and
  〃Une   Bonne   Histoire。〃        His   book…illustrations   have   been   comparatively
  few;   those   to   Burnand's   laughable   burlesque   of   〃Sandford   and   Merton〃
  being among the best。          Rumour asserts that he is at present engaged upon
  Kingsley's 〃Water Babies;〃 a subject which might almost be supposed to
  have been created for his pencil。            There are indications; it may be added;
  that   Mr。   Sambourne's   talents   are   by   no   means   limited   to   the   domain   in
  which for the present he chooses to exercise them; and it is not impossible
  that he may hereafter take high rank as a cartoonist。                  Mr。 Charles Keene;
  a selection from whose sketches has recently been issued under the title of
  〃Our People;〃 is unrivalled in   certain   bourgeois;  military;  and   provincial
  types。     No one can draw a volunteer; a monthly nurse; a Scotchman; an
  〃ancient     mariner〃     of   the  watering…place       species;    with   such    absolutely
  humorous       verisimilitude。      Personages;       too;  in   whose    eyesto   use    Mr。
  Swiveller's      euphemism〃the         sun   has   shone    too  strongly;〃    find   in  Mr。
  Keene a merciless satirist of their 〃pleasant vices。〃                  Like Leech; he has
  also   a   remarkable   power   of   indicating   a   landscape   background   with   the
  fewest     possible     touches。     His     book…    illustrations    have    been    。mainly
  confined to   magazines   and   novels。 Those in 〃Once  a Week〃   to   a  〃Good
  Fight;〃     the   tale   subsequently      elaborated      by   Charles     Reade     into   the
  〃Cloister   and   the   Hearth;〃   present   some   good   specimens   of   his   earlier
  work。      One of these; in which the dwarf of the story is seen climbing up a
  wall with a lantern at his back; will probably be remembered by many。
  After the 〃Punch〃 school there are other lesser luminaries。                   Mr。 W。 S。
  Gilbert's   drawings   to   his   own   inimitable   〃Bab   Ballads〃   have   a   perverse
  drollery  which is   quite  in   keeping   with   that   erratic   text。  Mr。  F。   Barnard;
  whose      exceptional     talents   have    not   been    sufficiently    recognised;     is  a
  master     of   certain   phases    of   strongly    marked     character;    and;    like  Mr。
  Charles Green; has contributed some excellent sketches to the 〃Household
  Edition〃 of Dickens。          Mr。 Sullivan of 〃Fun;〃 whose grotesque studies of
  the 〃British Tradesman〃 and 〃Workman〃 have recently been republished;
  has   abounding   vis   comica;   but   he   has   hitherto   done   little   in   the   way   of
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  illustrating     books。     For    minute    pictorial    stocktaking      and   photographic
  retention      of   detail;   Mr。    Sullivan's     artistic   memory       may     almost     be
  compared to the wonderful literary memory of Mr。 Sala。 Mr。 John Proctor;
  who some years ago (in 〃Will o' the Wisp〃) seemed likely to rival Tenniel
  as a cartoonist; has not been very active in this way; while Mr。 Matthew
  Morgan; the clever artist of the 〃Tomahawk;〃 has transferred his services
  to   the   United    States。    Of    Mr。    Bowcher      of   〃Judy;〃    and   various    other
  professedly humorous designers; space permits no further mention。
  There     remains;    however;      one   popular     branch    of  book…illustration;
  which has attracted the talents of some of the most skilful and original of
  modern   draughtsmen;   i。e。   the   embellishment   of   children's   books。             From
  the days when Mulready drew the old 〃Butterfly's Ball〃 and 〃Peacock at
  Home〃 of our youth; to those of the delightfully Blake…like fancies of E。 V。
  B。; whose 〃Child's Play〃 has recently been re…published for the delectation
  of   a   new   generation   of   admirers;   this   has   always   been   a   popular   and
  profitable employment; but of late years it has been raised to the level of a
  fine   art。   Mr。   H。   S。   Marks;   Mr。   J。   D。   Watson;   Mr。   Walter   Crane;   have
  produced       specimens       of   nursery     literature    which;     for   refinement      of
  colouring      and    beauty    of   ornament;     cannot     easily   be   surpassed。      The
  equipments   of   the   last   named;   especially;   are   of   a   very   high   order。    He
  began   as   a   landscapist   on   wood;   he   now   chiefly   devotes   himself   to   the
  figure;   and   he   seems   to   have   the   decorative   art   at   his   fingers'   ends   as   a
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