The Painter in Oil by Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst - Review by Aidan Hickey

Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst wrote “The Painter in Oil” in 1898. A revised edition appeared in 1929, and this was re-printed in 2006 by Dover Books. Their faith in the venerable tome is well placed. Undeniably, parts of it seem quaint to 21^st century eyes. But the very formal prose and the grainy black-and-white photographs conceal a rich distillation of wisdom and experience.

In Parkhurst’s time the Atelier system was fading and Art Colleges were on the rise. The book was intended to pass the best of the old traditions to the new generation. Most of his topics continue to engage present-day writers on Art.

His discussion of Materials is detailed and impressive. The 1890s range of Art Supplies was relatively small. But, within those limitations, his comments on paints, brushes, easels and canvases still have relevance.  As a curiosity - for those interested in the history of paints, Dover has reproduced the only colour plates from the 1898 edition, showing Windsor and Newton’s “Specimen Tints of Artists’ Oil Colours”.

On the subject of paint-brushes Parkhurst displays a deep knowledge of craftsmanship and materials. Few modern commentators are his equal in this. Indeed, it would seem that he felt for brushes what Imelda Marcos felt for shoes. His advice is… “have a couple of dozen in use, and a couple of dozen which you are not using, and a couple of dozen more that have never been used.”  He doubts that six dozen (72) may be enough!

Part of the book’s attraction is its grounding in the Academic tradition. The sections on Drawing, Perspective, Composition and Colour, offer a glimpse of that world as it entered its last years of pride and self-confidence. For Parkhurst, “Modern Art” goes no further than Impressionism.  Without being enthusiastic, he praises the movement’s achievements and advises young painters to think of colour and tone as Impressionists do.

In his Practical Application section, he does talk about Abstraction. By this he means the organising idea of the picture. It only becomes visible through the colours, forms and lines that are used to represent natural objects on the canvas. So, he remains as attached to Nature as any artist of the Renaissance.

Although, by the time of the revised edition, les Demoiselles d’Avignon was already 20 years old, Parkhurst makes no reference to it or to similar developments.

This is a book that should be read by anyone interested in the practise of painting. Unfortunately, younger readers are likely to be put off by Parkhurst’s utterly humourless Victorian prose. The only things to make us smile are some of his implied attitudes. He seems to think of Art Students as decent chaps who play cricket and smoke pipes. And the possibility of women Artists is never considered! One wonders what those feisty, 1890s Lady Members of The Dublin Painting and Sketching Club would have said about that… if, as seems highly probable, The Painter in Oil was on their book-shelves!