Some Men Who Have Done Things. IV: Edwin Evans

Some Men Who Have Done Things. BY JOHN HENRY EVANS OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS' UNIVERSITY.

IV. — Edwin Evans. HOW A FARM BOY BECAME PROFESSOR OF ART IN ONE OF THE LARGEST UNIVERSITIES OF THE WEST.

One cannot know the facts in Edwin Evans's life without wondering about the value of a good many things that come into one's early life and that come there in apparently the most acci- dental manner. For here is a man who did now this and now that till he was thirty without ever having a distinct no- tion that art was to be a profession with him for the rest of his days. And yet what he did during those years, though as different as can be imagined from what one would think it ought to be, seems ex- actly the thing that was necessary to bring Young men out the man's gift. who appear slow in maturing may there- fore take hope from this fact— if they have any thing to mature. EDWIN EVANS. Edwin's early environment was far from artistic, far from encouraging a passion for art. There are lovelier spots on the earth than the ribbed country that in those days tried to lift itself up to a level with the ridge of hills to Which shows that everything the, east and the west. depends, not what you see, but on what you see with. on Besides, he worked on the farm and herded cows. And one fails

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to see how this contributes directly to the artistic. For four months every winter till he was fourteen he attended school. After that he learned telegraphy. The Lehi office of the old Des- eret Telegraph line was in the Evans home, and one of the older girls in the family operated the machine. So young Edwin got his knowl- edge of this business between whiles. Also he served as clerk in the co-operative store in the town. Presently, however, we find him at various telegraph offices along the line between Salt Lake and Provo. It is by reason of this service that he obtains his membership in

the Old Telegrapher's Asssociation, a national organization. One time during these days there suddenly came a fresh gleam into his life. It was midnight in the old depot. The waiting room was full of passengers eager for the arrival of the delayed express. — One of these A. E. Hyde— strayed into the operator's room with a weary expression on his face. The tele- grapher was intent upon the strange task of perfecting a drawing which he had evidently been working on fcr a long time. Mr. Hyde quietly surveyed the picture over the shoulder of the silent worker, watching interestedly the deft hand of the artist as he added a final touch here and there, now and then holding it away from him to see the effect. This noiseless working and watching went on for a good while, till the observer broke in with "Young man, what are you doing in a telegraph office? You ought to be at Paris studying art!" The artist looked up and colored. I The up- need not detail the conversation that occurred. shot of was an offer on the part of Mr. Hyde to furnish the it

young man the means with which to pursue his studies. Those were the days when A. E. Hyde and John Beck were associated in the mining business. Mr. Beck, when he heard of his partner's offer of assistance, generously agreed to the proposal. And so to these two men is the credit due of giving Professor Evans the opportu- nity to develop under more favorable circumstances his artistic genius. It must not be understood, however, that Edwin's love of art and skill in drawing were of spontaneous generation. On the con- trary, they were of long and gradual growth. During the years of his farm life, his schooling, and his telegraphic labors, he had

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insistently used the pencil at every odd moment. The beginning is worth noting here, not only because of its connection with Evans's career, but also on account of its apparently accidental character. His mother took him, when he was six, on a visit to a friend's in Sanpete valley. Here he saw a Scandinavian boy older than himself, cutting The paper animals and coloring them. moment he returned home, Edwin fell to cutting animals as if to make up for lost time. But there were no colors to put on them! Not till three years had gone by did he get a box of colors, at Christmas. Certainly this was the greatest Christmas gift Edwin has ever received. From now on art occupied his thoughts mainly, though he did not dream of making it more than a pastime. He penciled, penned or painted everything in sight. Odd moments, as while waiting for trains at the telegraph office, found him bent over a drawing of some sort. He had no teacher but his own eye and natural taste. Yet he acquired a skill that soon won him local fame and, as we have seen, attracted the attention of strangers who saw his work. That night in the operator's office marked an epoch in his

career. It put hope and purpose into his efforts to get something out of life. By this time he was a husband and a father. For a whole year afterward he put by every spare cent towards paying his way in France and taking care of his family. An arduous year that was, and a gigantic task he had set himself. Surely it

speaks well for a married man of thirty and past to put forth such unusual effort in such an unusual direction! But what will high hope not accomplish, once it has set its face? His first intention seems to have been to study art for a time at the University of Utah. But this is not clear. Anyhow, one fine morning saw him, during this year, going University- wards with a portfolio of his drawings under his arm. The teacher of art there must have been favorably impressed by his work, for he told him that he would best go to Paris. And to Paris he went. It is one thing to have high hopes, plenty of energy, and mon- eyed friends, but quite another thing to be a young man without education and experience in the right things trying to enter the

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Julien Academy of Fine Arts in a country whose tongue you can- not understand. This, Evans found out, quite to his embarrassment. Luckily, though, the head man at the Academy was away, and Edwin was allowed to enter. With characteristic push he got himself into the "life class," because he could not endure the cast-work. The reckoning time came, however, when he exhibited his

first picture to the teacher in charge. Maybe it was a good thing, after all, that the aspirant for artistic fame could not, at that

IN THE STUDIO.

time, understand French, in which language the worthy old pro- fessor sought to ease his feelings over the drawing. But "Ed" had studied facial expressions to enough purpose, at least, to know that the countenance he was now watching foreboded ill to him, especially as the lips uttered quick, angry exclamations. But the fact that the new-comer was permitted to continue meant some- thing favorable, which gave hope. And so Evans set to work with unconquerable will, as became

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a man who had a family in Utah to support and who was in Paris on borrowed money and large expense. From early in the morn- ing till late in the afternoon he sat at his easel with dogged pa- tience, adding line after line, till his teacher cried out against it. "You'll break down! you'll break down! Take a cigar once in a while and walk up and down the studio. It'll relieve the strain!" But "Ed'' didn't smoke, and therefore he remained at his easel. Here is where that farm life at Lehi and the mountain air and the moral habits of his life told with salutary effect. The old professor would have been shocked incredibly had he known that Evans's robust constitution — for Edwin Evans is not one of your consumptive artists pining away for lack of flesh and lung- space —was enduring the additional strain of several studies pur- sued at a night school. And this amazing power for work had its effect. He made rapid headway. Two years he stayed there, and then went out into the country for three months, under another instructor. In the end he received honorable mention in drawing from the Academy — a very high honor. Beyond all doubt, the thing that kept Edwin at the art school, after the time when the professor talked so jerkily in French over his first drawing, was what artists call ensemble, which, being inter- preted, means the parts of a picture viewed as a whole, the total effect of a work of art. And here Evans has a lesson for young artists which by itself would make his life worth the telling, A few years ago, not only in the United States but in Europe as well, the method of teaching art that most prevailed was one which required the student to do the parts first and then the whole. If, for example, it were a human figure that was to be drawn, the beginner would be put into a "cast-class" where he was expected to draw the face, the head, the hand, the foot, till he could do these perfectly. Then he would be set to work on the whole figure. Now, Evans, never having had a teacher, knew nothing of .methods, before he went to Paris. And so he drew in the most natural way — outlined the whole first, and filled in the parts afterwards. This taught him proportion, which is a fundamental law of all art. As a result he found, when he got

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somewhat along at the Academy, that whereas he did the wholes better than the separate parts, the parts in the other stu- dents' work did not pull together so well, the parts were better than the wholes. The ensemble, everyone knows, is harder to do, and is greater than particular parts. So what Edwin Evans had to spend his time upon was the comparatively easier work of perfec- tion in the parts, and this accounts to some degree, for his rapid progress while at Paris. We now know, of course, that this

method which Evans had unconsciously stumbled upon in his boy- hood is not only the natural but, for that very reason, the only proper method of teaching and learning art. Returning to Utah, he did some painting in the Salt Lake Temple for three months. The next three years he spent partly in giving private lessons, but mainly in work on his landscape

pictures and representation of animal life. A Utah harvest scene, which he painted shortly after his return, has won deserved recog- nition. While was on exhibition at the World's Fair in 1893, it

he was offered five hundred dollars for it, which he refused, how-

ever, in order to dispose of it to better advantage at home. Later, namely in 1895, it was exhibited at Iowa. "There was more said about this one," said C. E. Baldwin, the president of the Iowa Society of Fine Arts, in a letter to Mr. Evans, "than any other in the exhibit and it formed a lasting impression." Later still it was reproduced in the Midland Monthly with a brief account of

the artist. For a time he taught art at the L. D. S. College, and not long afterwards accepted the professorship of art at the Uni- versity of Utah, which place he occupies at present. He was president of the Society of Utah Artists 1895 to 1907. During these years he has sketched continually, as his work

in the University would permit. Not so prolific as some other Utah artists, he has nevertheless had a large output, with no difficulty in disposing of his work to advantage. Commercially Utah is not so advantageous a place for an artist as some other states, New York, for instance; and for this reason some friends expressed surprise when he came back to Utah instead of going where he could do better in his art, financially. But Edwin Evans is a Latter-day Saint; his interests are wholly with his people; and hence he remains here.

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This last fact induced me oo ask him what effect the teach- ings of our religion have, and will be likely to have, on art. "Well," he replied, "it is not easy to answer that question. Some would seem to think, to jadge by their general attitude, that the influence of 'Mormonism' on all forms of art is dis- couraging, except when it is modified by contact with non- 'Mormon' ideas. For instance, I once heard a prominent woman •point to the fact that several Utah boys were students at the Julien Academy, in Paris, as an evidenc e of 'Gentile' influence on the 'Mormons.' I do not regard it so. The Saints have had a long and hard battle to wage with nature in a new country. But such encouragement as they could lend to artistic expression they have cheerfully given from the first. There is just as much encourage- ment given it by the Saints in Utah, to say the least, as there is by the people in any other state of similar age and conditions in the Union. "As for the influence of our faith on art, necessarily it would be good. For one thing, it would naturally limit the subject matter of art. Take a figure painter, for instance. Elsewhere there is

no objection among artists to painting the nude. A Latter-day Saint artist would hesitate before choosing this form of expression. Other subjects with immoral snggestion he would proscribe from his artistic domain. There are negative effects acting as a sort of limitation upon the artist. "But there are positive effects also. Art expresses character, necessarily. 'Mormonism' tends to purify character. Hence, our faith would act in this way upon art and would thus show itself in the artist's work. On the whole, therefore, I should say that the in- fluence of our religion on art would be wholesome and encouraging." I asked him if he had any word for young men and women anxious to take up art. "Two things," he said. "First, they should take up the study as early as possible and develop character. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on this point. I believe that art manifests itself early in life. There are always indications in the child of the bent of mind in the man or the woman, and these should be fol-

lowed. But character is necessary. A clean, wholesome life is essential as a basis. What does art amount to, anyway, without