A third example is found in the two Burns cuts. Surely, when I found the half-tone among the news columns of an English art periodical I did not object to its realism; on the contrary, it gave me a very good idea of what the original statue was like. But think of the expense of having a half-tone made large enough for a poster! Also, how vague it would appear from across the street if the poster were in half-tone.
But, turning to the Hassall, see how admirably the artist has given us the impression of Burns, how {178}
BURNS STATUE. By F. W. Pomeroy. Recently unveiled at Paisley. Half-tone from a half-tone from a photograph, published in the Magazine of Art.
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POSTER DESIGN FOR THE BURNS EXHIBITION, GLASGOW. By J. Hassall.
{180} well his design would appear from across the street, and how cheaply it could be reproduced. Therefore, what an excellent style his is as a guide for my printer readers.
Hence, if the printer readers wish to make a cover design containing a portrait and flowers, I advise them not to follow the Rivoire—not for the reason that it is inartistic, but because it is too expensive for ordinary printing, and for cheap printing a poor imitation is abominable; while a design like the Caspari (Jugend, see page [169]), where the portrait would be an outline and the lettering broad so it could be quickly read like the word “Jugend,” and in which the floral form should be decoratively treated like the dandelion design in the Grasset “Larousse,” or like the Auriol, page [175], would be just as pleasing to the eye, would print on the cheapest kind of stock, and would, therefore, appear to the critical as an artistic design.