The Works of the American Etchers: XXV. Charles A. PlattAuthor(s): S. R. KoehlerSource: The American Art Review, Vol. 2, No. 10 (Aug., 1881), p. 150Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20559872 .

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THE WORKS OF THE AMERICAN ETCHERS.

XXV.-CHARLES A. PLATT.

HARLES A. PLATT is, if not the youngest, at least one of the youngest, of

the school of American etchers which has developed with such surprising

rapidity within a few years. He was born in New York, on October i6th,

i86i, and began to study art in I879, drawing at the schools in winter, and

practising lanidscape from nature in summer. His painting has so far been

confined altogether to landscape and marines. His first plate was etched in

December of last year, and the art had such fascination for him that he

devoted much more time to it than he had originally intended, to the neglect of his studies in

drawing and painting. Up to the present time he has etched seventeen plates, quite a number

of which he destroyed, as they were unsatisfactory to him. The following he considers his best plates, the numbers indicating the order in which they were made:

6. Loading Up. Marked: C A P -" Loading Up "- 2-, and the date, 8i, in the opposite corner. -

Size of plate: Breadth, 6+1"; height, 5}k#". 7. Fish-Houses. Marked: C A P - Gloucester - 3.- B. 91"; h. 54j".

io. The. Clover AMarket, Cairo. After G. H. Hall. Marked: C. A. P. Aqua ft., and with title in opposite

corner. -B. 7}1"; h. 51V" I2. Old Boat-House, Gloucester. Marked: C. A. Platt. '8i. -B. 9i"; h. 6". (Published herewith.)

13. Marblehead- Afternoon. Marked: C A Platt. -B. bOkt"; h. 6i". 14. March. Marked: " March " C. A. Platt. - B. 12ik"; h. 6". (There are two states of this plate: the

first, witlh the sky etched in heavy lines; the second, with these lines replaced by an acid tint.)

15. Shanties on the Hudson. Marked: C. A. P. - B. 7-3-"; h. 41". i6. Evening. Marked: C. A. P.-B. io4"; h. 5k". (This is a copy of an earlier plate, called Twilzight,

which was ground off by mistake after only a few impressions had been taken.)

All these plates were executed by the continuous process, in which the progress is from

dark to light, the heaviest lines being put in first, and the lighter added, in the order of their

gradation, between the bitings. It is evident, from the specirhen before the reader, that Mr. Platt is somewhat under the

influence of Mr. Parrish, and that his drawing is still capable of refinement. But in the case of

an artist so young in years it would be unjust to construe these remarks into adverse criticism.

They merely refer to certain peculiarities that mark the starting-point- of his career, and which

are far outweighed by the admirable qualities presented by his work, -skill in selection, bold

ness of handling, and appreciation of the picturesque wherever it occurs, be it in Cairo or in

an humble fishing-town on the coast of Massachusetts. It may not, be without interest to know

that Mr. Platt belongs to the same family of which Seth W. Cheney was a member. What a

difference between the art of the idealist, whose well-known crayon heads are held to be the

very embodiment of New England transcendentalism, and that of his young kinsman! It em

p'hasizes once more the tendency towards realism which is so characteristic of our time.

Mr. Platt's development will be followed attentively by all friends of art in America, whose

good wishes will accompany him on the road that lies before him. S. R. KOEHLER.

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