Editorial Comment for this plate:

“In Disgrace.”

OUR photogravure picture this week is another figure composition, and, though not “a study from life,” like the preceding, but a copy from the famous painting, is nothing that a skillful photographer could not make in his own home. The effectiveness of a plain background-in this case merely a corner of a room with white walls-is clearly shown. The introduction of a shadow from the flowers at the extreme right of the picture, as well as the shadow from the little girl herself, wonderfully enhance the effect of the background. It is an excellent study in light and shade; and such examples photographers of these days need and value, perhaps, more than any other.

The making of a perfect technical negative, so far as the photographic qualities are concerned, seems to be an easy matter for most photographers. They have reached the highest point of excellence in this direction. It is in composing, and in the management of light and shade that photographers have most to learn. The application of art principles in these directions, like the study of music or the building of character, has no limit. One can always improve one’s self in these pursuits, and yet perfection seems to be as far remote as ever. The greatest satisfaction in such effort is that there is no end to the improvement possible. There is always something ahead, and we need never, like Alexander, sigh for new worlds to conquer.

“In Disgrace” is a picture which plainly tells the story it is intended to depict. The scattered fragments of paper on the floor, and the demure look on the child and dog alike, who are friends and comrades “in disgrace,” as they were previously companions in the frolic which brought about their fall from favor, clearly tells the whole story at a glance. It is, moreover, like all true pictures, more thoroughly enjoyed the longer we look at it. (p. 155)

Charles Burton Barber: 1849-1894

Charles Burton Barber was a British painter who attained great success with his paintings of children and their pets. Barber was born in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and studied from the age of 18 at the Royal Academy, London – receiving a silver medal for drawing in 1864, and first exhibiting there in 1866.