done much to prove the extent of the foreign influence upon the British school.
In its wider sense the Impressionist school may be said to include now all those students of nature who strive for the representation of broad effects rather than minute details, who look at the subject before them largely and comprehensively, and ignore all minor matters which would be likely to interfere with the simplicity of the pictorial rendering. To it can be assigned a number of artists who have never adopted, or have definitely abandoned, the prismatic analysis of colour advocated by the French Impressionists. These men were headed by J. A. M'N. Whistler (q.v.), born in America in 1835, and trained in Paris under Gleyre. His pictures have always been remarkable for their beauty of colour combination, and for their sensitive management of subtleties of tone. They gained for the artist a place among the chief modern executants, and have attracted to him a host of followers. Other notable painters who have places in the school are Mark Fisher, an American landscape painter who studied for a while in Gleyre's studio, one of the ablest interpreters in England of effects of sunlight and breezy atmosphere; A. D. Peppercorn, a pupil of Gérôme, who makes landscape a medium for the expression of a dignified sense of design and a carefully simplified appreciation of contrasts of tone; and P. Wilson Steer, an artist who, began as a follower of Monet, and based upon his training in the Ecole des Beaux Arts a style of his own, which he displays effectively in both landscapes and figure pictures.
The International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers, inaugurated in 1898, although not by its nature confined to British art and artists, who compose little more than half of The international society. the electorate, has its home in London. It succeeds in its object setting before the British public the most modern and eccentric expressions of the art of the chief European countries. Its exhibitions are striking and the contributions for the most part serious and interesting; but while the freedom of the artist is insisted on it is doubtful if the more exaggerated displays by rebellious painters and sculptors have had much influence on the native school. The presidents have been J. A. M'N. Whistler and Auguste Rodin, and the vice-presidents John Lavery and William Strang: these personalities, considered along with their views and their vigour, sufficiently indicate the spirit and the politics of the society.
Generally speaking, the very large class of artists who fell only to a limited extent under the spell of French teaching includes Figure Painters. most of the figure and landscape men and practically the whole of the portrait painters. In all sections of figure painting individual workers in improved technical methods have appeared, but most of them have gradually lost their distinguishing peculiarities of manner, and have year by year assimilated themselves more closely to their less advanced brethren. The section in which their energetic propagandise has been most effective is certainly that of imaginative composition. A definite mark has been made there by men like S. J. Solomon (b. 1860; A.R.A. 1896; R.A. 1906)., trained at the Royal Academy, the Munich Academy and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and widely known by such pictures as " Samson " (1887), " The Judgment of Paris" (1890) and the "Birth of Love" (1895); and Arthur Hacker (b. 1858; A.R.A. 1894; R.A. 1910), educated at the Academy and in Bonnat's studio, and the painter of a considerable series of semi-historical and symbolical canvases. They exercised a considerable influence upon their contemporaries, and introduced some new elements into the later practice of the school. At the same time admirably effective work has been done in this section and others by many painters who have kept much more closely in touch with the older type of aesthetic belief, and have not associated themselves openly with any of the newer movements. Among the more prominent of these figure painters there are, or have been, some excellent craftsmen, whose contributions to the record of native British art can be accepted as full of permanent interest. In the school of historical incident good work was done by Sir John Gilbert (18 17-1897; R.A. 1876), a robust and ingenious illustrator of romantic motives, with a never-failing capacity for picturesque invention; John Pettie (1839-1893; R.A. 1873), a fine colourist and a clever manipulator, whose scenes from the life of past centuries were full of rare vitality; P. H. Calderon (i 833-1 898; R..A. 1867), a graceful and sincere artist not wanting in originality; and H. Stacy Marks (1829-1898; R.A. 1879), who treated medieval motives with a touch of real humour. Besides these, there are Sir J. D. Linton (b. 1840), who has produced noteworthy compositions in oil and water colours; Frank Dicksee (b. 1853; A. R.. A. 188 1; R.A. 1891), who has gained wide popularity by pictures in which romance and sentiment are combined in equal proportions; A. C. Gow (b. 1848; R.A. 1881), whose "Cromwell at Dunbar" (1886), "Flight of James II. after the Battle of the Boyne " (1888), and "Crossing the Bidassoa " (1896) may be noted as typical examples of his performance; J. Seymour Lucas (b. 1849; A.R.A. 1886; R.A. 1898), trained at the Royal Academy Schools, and a brilliant painter of what may be called the by-play of history; W. Dendy Sadler (b. 1854), trained partly in London and partly at Düsseldorf, and well known by his quaintly humorous renderings of the lighter side of life in the olden times; G. H. Boughton (born in England, but educated first in America and afterwards in Paris; A.R.A. 1879; R.A. 1896), a specialist in paintings of old and modern Dutch subjects; the Hon. John Collier (b. 1850), trained at the Slade School, at Munich, and in Paris, and a capable painter both of the nude figure and of costume; and Edwin A. Abbey, an American (b. 1852), educated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Abbey came to England in 1876 with a great reputation as an illustrator, and did not begin to exhibit oil pictures until 1890; he was elected an Academician in 1898. Then there are to be noted classicists like Lord Leighton, Sir L. Alma-Tadema, and Sir E. J. Poynter's students of the East like Frederick Goodall (b. 1822; A.R.A. 1853; R.A. 1863; d. 1904), and idealists like Sir W. B. Richmond, K.C.B.; R.A. 1895 — all of whom have done much to uphold the reputation of the British school for strength of accomplishment and variety of motive.
The painters of sentiment have in the main adhered closely to the tradition which has been handed down through successive generations. Among these may be noted Marcus Stone Painters of Sentiment (b. 1840), elected an Academician in 1887, an original artist whose dainty fancies are familiar to students of modern art. His pictures nearly all appeared in the exhibitions of the Royal Academy. Another popular artist is G. D. Leslie (b. 1835), elected an Associate in 1868 and an Academician in 1876, who has been responsible for a number of domestic old-world subject pictures remarkable for freshness of treatment and delicacy of feeling. The list may also be held to include Henry Woods (b. 1846; A.R.A. 1882; R.A. 1893), and since 1877 a painter of scenes from Venetian life; R. W. Macbeth (b. 1848; A.R.A. 1883; R.A. 1903), whose elegant treatment of rustic subjects displays a very attractive individuality. Among the painters of sentiment should also be included Sir Luke Fildes (b. 1844), educated at the South Kensington and Royal Academy Schools, elected an Academician in 1887, the painter of such famous pictures as " The Casual Ward " (1874), " The Widower " (1876), " The Return of the Penitent " (1879), and " The Doctor " (1892); and Sir Hubert von Herkomer, C.V.O. (b. 1849; A.R.A. 1879; R.A. 1890; knighted 1907), famous not only by his many memorable canvases and by his extraordinary versatility in the arts, but also as a teacher and a leader in a number of educational movements.
Not many military pictures of high merit have been produced during the period. The artists, indeed, who occupy themselves Military Painting with this class of art are not numerous, and they mostly devote their energies to illustrate pictures rather than to large canvases. Lady Butler (née Elizabeth Thompson), whose " Roll Call, " exhibited in 1874, brought her instant popularity, continued to paint subjects of the same type, among which " Quatre Bras " (1875), " The Defence of Rorke's Drift" (1881), "The Camel Corps" (1891) and " The Dawn of Waterloo " (1895) are perhaps the most worthy of record. Ernest Crofts (b. 1847; A.R.A. 1878; R.A. 1896), trained in London and Düsseldorf, has taken a prominent position by such pictures as " Napoleon at Ligny " (1875), " Napoleon leaving Moscow" (1887), "The Capture of a French. Battery by the 53rd Regiment at Waterloo " (1896), and by many similar representations of historical battles. Occasional pictures have come also from A. C. Gow, R. Caton Woodville, W. B. Wollen, J. P. Beadle, John Charlton, and a few more men who are better known by their work in other directions.
The number of artists who have devoted the greater part of their energies to portraiture has been steadily on the increase. Portraiture Most of the men who have taken definite rank among the figure painters have made reputations by their portraits also, but there are many others who have kept almost exclusively to this branch of practice. Into the first division come such noted artists as Sir John Millais, Sir E. J. Poynter, G. F. Watts, Sir Luke Fildes, Sir Hubert von Herkomer, Sir L. Alma-Tadema, Sir W. B. Richmond, Seymour Lucas, the Hon. John Collier, S. J. Solomon, Arthur Hacker, Sir W. Q. Orchardson, J. A. M'N. Whistler, Frank Dicksee, Stanhope Forbes, Frank Bramley, H. S. Tuke, T. C. Gotch, P. W. Steer, John Bacon and Frank HoU. In the second must be reckoned J. S. Sargent (A.R.A. 1894; R.A. 1897), an American citizen (b. 1856), a pupil of Carolus Duran, who after 1885 was recognized as one of the most brilliant painters of the day; J. J. Shannon, also an American (b. 1862), trained at the South Kensington School, and elected an Associate in 1897, a graceful and accomplished artist, with a sound technical method and a delightful sense of style; A. S. Cope (b. 1857), trained in Paris, and elected an Associate in 1899, who carries on soundly the better traditions of the British school; James Sant (b. 1820), elected an Academician in 1870, a strong favourite of the public throughout a long career; W. W. Ouless (b. 1848; A.R.A. 1877; R.A. 1881), trained in the Royal Academy Schools, an industrious and prolific worker; H. T. Wells (b. 1828; A.R.A. 1866; R.A. 1870), trained in London and Paris, who produced a long series of portraits and portrait groups, and many miniatures; W. Llewellyn (b. 1860), educated at the South Kensington Schools and in Cormon's studio in Paris, an able draughtsman and a thorough executant; C. W. Furse (q.v.), trained
