As a still further step towards pure color composition he had in mind for years a series of pictures, pure creations of fancy, somewhat suggestive of the Japanese group, but less realistic—just color-music. Happily, the sketches are in existence, and afford some indication of the color-dreams that floated through the great painter’s imagination. They show how musical color is when freed from entangling associations and used broadly and decoratively.
We have, then, the following phases, rather than “periods,” in his mastery of color:
1. That wherein composition and detail predominate, though color is the motive.
2. That wherein composition and detail are still conspicuous, but are subordinate to the color scheme.
3. That wherein composition and detail are practically lost in the effort to produce subtle color harmonies.
4. That wherein the sole object is color-music, quite regardless of other considerations.
This progress from the, so to speak, tentative use of color in connection with more or less conventional composition to the triumph of color and suppression of composition is abundantly illustrated in his works. It would not be difficult to arrange an exhibition of four groups of about three canvases each, which would illustrate each phase. Such an exhibition would do more to enlighten the public regarding his work than any number of exhibitions of a large number of pictures gathered and grouped in the usual way.
Regarding the use of flat tones he is reported to have once said:
“House-painters have the right idea about painting, God bless them.”
How far removed from Ruskin, who said: