Hi Subscriber,
Robert Swain Gifford (1840-1905) was an American landscape painter and
educator who taught painting at the Cooper Union school in New York
City for nearly thirty years.
Today, we have a snippet of an interview he gave in which he talks
about instruction and inspiration. He gave his thoughts on which should
be the priority but we wonder where you find your priorities resting.
Feel free to hit reply and let us know your thoughts.
Enjoy,
BoldBrush Studio Team
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Robert Swain Gifford, Twilight, oil on canvas, c.1880s
Robert Swain Gifford, Twilight, oil on canvas, c.1880s
Robert Gifford:
How to be a Good Teacher
Robert Swain Gifford (1840-1905) was an American landscape painter and
educator who taught painting at the Cooper Union school in New York
City for nearly thirty years. In 1878 he was interviewed by a
correspondent of Scribner's Monthly magazine for an article on New York
art schools. While the entire article is fascinating as a glimpse into
the early days of famous New York art schools like The Art Students
League, Cooper Union, and the National Academy of Design, Gifford's
interview stands out for its pertinence to students and teachers
everywhere. He addresses the critical distinction between technical
instruction and inspiration and which should be a priority.
For context, the Cooper Union school was a revolutionary new school,
founded in 1859 by philanthropist Peter Cooper. Art classes were
equally open to men and women and completely free for working-class
students. This made it a popular destination for young women seeking to
study art, and since anyone who passed the entrance exams could study
there, the selection of students could be highly varied in degree of
skill, ambition, and previous education. This meant that Gifford had a
wide differential in his classes, and he gives his thoughts on teaching
differing levels of talent and technical ability with understanding and
sympathy:
"Every autumn there are a number of applicants for admission to Mr.
Gifford's class. Of these a selection is made by the joint judgment of
Mr. Gifford and Mrs. Carter, the principal of the schools, and those
whom a generous criticism can assume to be sufficiently advanced are
allowed to make trial in painting. Perhaps the first month of the term
is occupied in determining the class; it takes four or five weeks to
decide whether or no in each instance instruction in painting is time
wasted for both teacher and pupil. Some come to grief early, finding
out speedily the difference between painting and drawing, and return
wiser, if sadder, to crayon and paper. Ten or twelve are left, never
more, and of these the majority do little through the year beyond
making good their title to be instructed--not over two or three,
indeed, giving promise of becoming Rosa Bonheurs. All receive adequate
attention from Mr. Gifford, however, who sows his seed diligently and
cheerily and no doubt tries to think it all falls on good ground.
Naturally the first thing he endeavors to inculcate is the difference
between painting and drawing. "You can do a good deal by instruction."
he says, "even for the pupils of the most talent and the best feeling.
You can help them to help themselves. Beyond teaching the
technicalities you cannot go of course directly. But reflect how much
technicalities mean. No European artist thinks of neglecting the most
apparently trivial of them; he has them all at his fingers' ends. It is
absurd to affect to despise them, they include so much. For example,
unity in color may be called one of them; avoidance of a thin, slimy,
shiny finish is another. Untrained painters make mistakes in these
matters which a painter with ever so little talent but with training
would not think of doing. I group some still-life objects for a model,
-- some grasses, stuffs, a bit of Haviland porcelain. I try to show why
they are so grouped, that in so grouping them harmony of color is not
outraged. Then I try to get them painted with regard to their mutual
and interdependent relations; then to have the texture, the quality of
each element preserved. That piece of Haviland ware, for instance, I
want painted so that it will look as if it were brittle and a blow
would treat it, not indent it. After technicalities in their widest
sense, I don't know what can be taught. After that--indeed before, for
that matter,--success with a pupil depends very much upon the
instructor's personality, not upon his theories of painting. If he is
himself interested and earnest and can inspire earnestness and
interest, of course his success is likely to be greater--caeteris
paribus--than if the contrary be true." The work of at least two of Mr.
Gifford's pupils during the last year indicates his ability to
stimulate the interest of which he speaks."
Quoted from The Art Schools of New York
, Scribner's Monthly, October 1878
Robert Swain Gifford, The Coast of New England, oil on canvas, c.1880s
Robert Swain Gifford, The Coast of New England, oil on canvas, c.1880s
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