Pigments.— The colors used by the early aquarelle masters were made up into little hard bricks (cakes) and acre rubbed out in water on a porcelain surface, hut a more recent. perhaps more convenient, form of pigment preparation consists of moist colors, requiring less manipu lation before bring ready for the brush. Light red. yellow ochre, cranine blur. ivory black and burnt sienna are the colors which are the main stay of artists From these basic pigments can hr produced every ordinary color effect in na ture directly or by blending. But. in these days of rapid action. many or most artists add an array of other paints to the color-box, care being taken that they are not such as fade quickly in the light, as do prussian blue, antwerp blue, etc. French ultramarine (pure ultramarine being al together too expensive), Indian ink, rose mad der, sepia, oxide of chromium, vermilion and naples yellow are considered safe for use. Brushes are peculiarly a matter of choice of in dividual artists, their sense of touch differing greatly. The number selected is not so much a matter of importance as their being kept ab soli:fly clean and carefully dried after use.
But the full capacity of the water-color me dium was not known before the pictures of Joseph Mallard William Turner (1775-1851) (an early student of John Cozens' works and a con stant coworker with Girtin till the latter's pre mature death), were exhibited to the world. His early water-colors were, indeed, low in tone and gloomy, though forcible and convincing. What he came to do in the way of color is shown best in his Venetian studies, originally made on the spot in water-colors. Turner, however, did not confine himself to the water wash; when he thought it necessary he employed body color in parts of his work, and even, on occasion, pastels; or it may be pencil or pen. But he never revealed to anyone the secrets of a tech nique which made him the greatest landscape painter in water-colors which the world has ever seen. The foundation of the Old Water Color Society, in 1800, and of the new society, in 1863, gave a great impulse to the art, among hose representatives may be mentioned Cop ley Fielding (d. 1855); Peter de Wint (d.1849): Samuel Prout (d. 1852), the master of archi tectural painting; David Cox (d. 1859) and the brilliant executer of Oriental genre, Lewis (d. 1876). Taylor and Landseer, as animal painters, found this a successful and pliant me dium, and among the Pre-Raphaelites who were eminent aquarellists may be mentioned Rosctti, Madox Brown, Burne-Jones, Holman Hunt and Millais.
Prominent partial list of the aquarelle artists of the English school whose works are appreciated by connoisseurs at sales must include the following; there are, of course, a number of noted artists who use the water-color medium as a side issue for "studies' but do not specialize on aquarellcs. Earliest masters: Alexander Cozens and his son John Robert, Girtin, Turner, De Wint, David Cox, J. S. Cotman, Copley Fielding, S. Prout, Devis, Hearne, Bonin on, Rooker, the two Clevelcys, W. Payne and N. Pocock. Be
longing to the latter half of the 19th century we have F. Walker, G. J. Pinwell, Sir John Gil bert, G. Cattermole, E. J. Gregory, M. Birkct Foster, J. M. Swan. Recent artists: R. W. Allen, Mrs. Allingham, Wilfrid Ball, F. Bratig wyn, Sir Alfred East. G. S. Elgood, W. R. Flint, A. Goodwin, A. Ingram. F. E. James, H. Marshall, E. Noble, A. Powell, A. Rackham, A. Wardle, Sir E. 1Vaterlow, J. R. \Veguclin, J. W. West, M. Fisher, M. Hale. Hughes Stanton, Lamorna Birch, A. W. Rich, C. M. Gere, C. J. Holmes, etc.
In France. among able landscape painters in Water colors, were conspicuous 1. B. lsabey 1767-1855) ; Hubert, J. Ouvrie, Sue and Fort. They pretty generally employed body culur (gouache) in their composition, the transparent wash being much less frequently employed in France. In portraits, Olivier Grand; in ewer painting and still life, Redonte (1759-1840), the painter of this class France has ever pro duce& But the art was not tried to its full capacity until the oriental sketches of Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) proved to the French art world that there was something to be sought for fresher and more inspiring than the frigid classicalism of David. His lead was fol lowed by Descamps (1803-60), one of the best colorists and most original painters of the mod ern French school, who taught his countrymen that it was possible to represent in water-colors the broad blaze of open sunlight in an African sand-plain; or in the streets of Smyrna and Constantinople. The powerful genres of Ga varni (1804-66) made a sensation even in Eng land, the native home of water colors.
The German school of water-color painting began with the illuminating or tinting by hand of copper plate engravings. An independent and distinct department of aquarelle came late in the history of German art. The first notable aquarellists in that country were Karl Werner of Leipzig and Edward Hildebrandt of Berlin —Viermann, Otto, Grael of Berlin, Heindrich, Stockles, R. Sticles of Munich and a circle in Dusseldorf, including Scheurcn and Mintrop, kept up the traditions of German water-color painting. A new path was struck out by Menzel, who obtained a great following. He adopted a broad, frank and dashing style which was much admired. The Berlin painters, such as Franz Skarbina and Paul Mayerheim, vied with him in this method of handling. But German aquarelle has never been distinguished for the lightness of touch, the brilliant and transparent coloring, the powerful and vivid landscape ef fects which we find tn the _productions of Eng lish and French artists. Italy and Russia on the other hand have many skilful adepts in this art. The vivid coloring of such masters as Corelli, Zezzos and Mainclla has a light and vividness all its own and the creations of these painters are worthy of comparison with many of the most eminent workers in their oan de partment of art in other parts of Enrope. The same may be said of the Russians, Benken dorf, Bergholz, Karafin, Heider, Jegornow, Pisscmski and Ehrenon.