왓츠의 영국 빅토리아 여왕 시대의 화가. The Book of G. F. Watts, by G. K. Chesterton

왓츠의 영국 빅토리아 여왕 시대의 화가. The Book of G. F. Watts, by G. K. Chesterton
조지 프레드릭 왓츠 G F Watts 1817-1904는 영국 빅토리아 여왕 시대의 화가 및 조각가.
GEORGE FREDERICK WATTS was born on 23rd February 1817. His whole
rise and career synchronizes roughly with the rise and career of the nineteenth
century. As a rule, no doubt, such chronological parallels are peculiarly fanciful and
unmeaning. Nothing can be imagined more idle, in a general way, than talking about
a century as if it were some kind of animal with a head and tail, instead of an arbitrary
length cut from an unending scroll. Nor is it less erroneous to assume that even if a
period be definitely vital or disturbing, art must be a mirror of it; the greatest political
storm flutters only a fringe of humanity; poets, like bricklayers, work on through a
century of wars, and Bewick’s birds, to take an instance, have the air of persons
unaffected by the French Revolution. But in the case of Watts there are two
circumstances which render the dates relevant. The first is that the nineteenth century
was self-conscious, believed itself to be an idea and an atmosphere, and changed its
name from a chronological almost to a philosophical term. I do not know whether
all centuries do this or whether an advanced and progressive organ called “The
Eleventh Century” was ever in contemplation in the dawn of the Middle Ages. But
with us it is clear that a certain spirit was rightly or wrongly associated with the late
century and that it called up images and thoughts like any historic or ritual date, like
the Fourth{10} of July or the First of April. What these images and thoughts were we
shall be obliged in a few minutes and in the interests of the subject to inquire. But
this is the first circumstance which renders the period important; and the second is
that it has always been so regarded by Watts himself. He, more than any other
modern man, more than politicians who thundered on platforms or financiers who
captured continents, has sought in the midst of his quiet and hidden life to mirror his
age. He was born in the white and austere dawn of that great reforming century, and
he has lingered after its grey and doubtful close. He is above all things a typical
figure, a survival of the nineteenth century.