.HELEN HYDE
AND
HER WORK
AN APPRECIATION
BY
BERTHA E. JAQUES
CHICAGO
THE LIBBY COMPANY PRINTERS
123 SO. JEFFERSON ST.
1922
ART
76?. 7,34
hlWfi
COPYRIGHT BY
THE LIBBY COMPANY
1922
TO HELEN'S SISTERS
MABEL HYDE GILLETTE
HALLIE HYDE IRWIN
THIS is a tribute to Helen Hyde, whose
friendship was an inspiration and joy
for many years. There are others who
could say the same, for she was not only an
interpreter of art, but an artist in her friend¬
ships. Her many faceted character might
have revealed different lights to different
persons. Of those I know I write in grateful
appreciation.
It was in 1898 that I read a paragraph in
the London edition of the International
Studio commenting favorably on the colored
etchings of Helen Hyde of San Francisco. I
was experimenting, groping alone through
the difficulties of etching and printing and
consequently had a very decided opinion of
what an etching should be. With the con¬
fidence of early enthusiasm, I wrote Miss
Hyde that I did not believe in adding color
to etchings and would like to know what she
had to say about it. Her reply, modest, un¬
assuming, assured me she had very little to
say about the matter theoretically, as her
work was largely the result of an accident
and her success unlooked for but she would
send me two of her "little heathen" and let
them speak for her.
Etchings of The Mandarin and Little
Plum Blossom, two fascinating Chinese
youngsters, arrived and did more in a few
7
minutes to convince me of the possibilities
in colored etchings, at least in figures, than
pages of argument could have done. I ac¬
knowledged their insinuating charm and
sent some of my etchings in exchange. This
brought a quick response and inquiry as to
who did my printing.
"Myself," said I. "How?" said she; and
thus began a correspondence which con¬
tinued to her death, and led to our first meet¬
ing four years after (in 1902), when she
visited me in Chicago upon her return from
three year's work in Japan.
This is an explanation of how things came
to be; of why I feel so interested in and fond
of Miss Hyde's "children," as she always
called her prints. I watched her family in¬
crease and noted, with pride, their success¬
ful career. They have been introduced into
the "best society and most exclusive homes";
they are in famous art galleries and have
travelled abroad in all the great cities.
"Just think," wrote Miss Hyde in our
early correspondence. "The children have
had a lovely teaparty in Paris and not one
of them came home. Would you believe the
French would like Japanese children so
well?"
And again she wrote: "Macbeth of New
York has just sent for a lot more of the chil-
8
dren. I do hope he can get them adopted
into nice families."
For the first exhibit in Chicago she wrote:
"Well, I hurriedly thrust the children's arms
into their new frocks and fastened them in
tight; packed them up good and warm and
sent them off today."
Once more I quote: "Dear me! these
have been busy times! I have just turned
out two new plates and wish very much to
know what people will think of them. They
leave for Boston day after tomorrow. They
are weird and curious and I, their mother,
know not how they grew. But there they
are—my fantastic children—and I am
amazed before them."
Again: "I received the paper the other
day advertising the exhibition. You can't
imagine how odd it seemed. So the chicks
are hustling about. I am so glad Totty was
sold. We are so fond of Totty—my unap¬
preciated first—but the public persistently
ignores her."
Miss Hyde's career virtually began with
her colored etchings; or, to be more explicit,
it began with Totty. Totty is a wee chubby
child sitting on a doorstep absorbed in her
own interests. She was first a simple etch¬
ing in black and white; one of many at¬
tempts and many failures. It looked as if
9
she belonged to the latter class until Miss
Hyde smudged some paint on her and, lo
the missing something was supplied. Totty
was complete and established her right
henceforth to appear in colored clothes.
Successful experiments, in color printing
followed and also a demand for more of the
same thing. As the most picturesque and
colorful types were to be found in China¬
town, Miss Hyde went there for her sub¬
jects. In one letter she wrote: "We have
just spent most of several days in Chinatown
with camera and notebook studying the peo¬
ple in their brilliant costumes for the New
Year's celebration. It was like hunting for
tropical birds."
So it was that, beginning by accident, Miss
Hyde had no theories about colored etch¬
ings. That she began etching at all was due
to an artist friend, Miss Josephine Hyde,
who saw in the dash and freedom of Helen
Hyde's water colors an element that would
express itself well in etching. The friend
was so sure of this fact that she got together
the necessary paraphernalia—not an easv
thing to do at that time, as I know—and
experiments were begun, with the result I
have outlined.
Totty was followed by twenty etchings
of Chinese subjects in color which found im-
10
mediate favor wherever they were exhibited
and created a demand for more. As another
evidence of her success, imitators sprang up
and entered the arena, with more Chinese
children and umbrellas.
Miss Hyde's vision and appreciation of
things Oriental had been established. She
recognized the atmosphere in San Francisco
Chinatown as diluted with unassimilated
Americanisms and longed for the real
thing—not China so much' as Japan, whither
she went in 1899 for six months and stayed
for three years.
This sudden and splendid success was not
based on any mere dilettantism, but came
as merited recognition after many years of
work and study, beginning with lessons
when twelve years old under Franz Ric-
hardt, a Danish court painter, and pupil of
Thorwaldsen. "If you go on as you have
begun, I shall be proud to have been your
teacher," said he one day in approval at her
treatment of an old oak tree.
Then came a period in a San Francisco
art school under Emil Carlsen, an impres¬
sionist, who, perhaps, helped in establishing
Miss Hyde's broad method in water colors.
It was her ambition to become an illus¬
trator, particularly of children's books. Said
11
she: "Every since I was a wee tot, I have
set my whole heart on making pictures for
children's books."
Soon she went, as all students do, to New
York, where she worked for a time in the
Art Students' League. From there the next
step is naturally Paris—only she went to
Berlin first and "slaved at drawing for two
years" under Franz Skarbina, with help
from Herr Kallmorgen and Herr Baisch.
Then came three years in Paris in a life
class under Raphael Collins, and illustration
with Albert Sterner, from whom she ac¬
knowledged much help. It was there she
got her first definite leaning towards Jap¬
anese art through her association with Felix
Regamey, who was an enthusiast on the sub¬
ject.
There were months of painting in Holland,
an atmosphere particularly congenial to
Miss Hyde, who preferred the Dutch school
of painting to any other. Summer in Eng¬
land and a summer in France followed.
Then home to San Francisco after ten
years of study, anxious to test the applica¬
bility of her equipment. An opportunity
first came in the coveted direction: the illus¬
tration of a book for children called "Moon
Babies," with verses by G. Orr Clark. It is
very cleverly done—most too clever for the
12
understanding of those unfamiliar with Chi¬
nese symbols. To the initiated, it is full of
meaning and admirably expressed.
The next book, called "Jingles from
Japan," is a fascinating achievement and
represents a clever combination of sisterly
talent. The verses were written by Mabel
Hyde, now Mrs. Edwin F. Gillette, during a
year's visit in Japan, and the illustrations
could only have been made by one familiar
with things Japanese. I cannot resist quot¬
ing one tribute to the ways of that charming
country which travelers there will thor¬
oughly appreciate:
Here's to the Land of Approximate Time!
Where nerves are a factor unknown;
Where, acting as balm, are manners calrrf.
And seeds of sweet patience are sown.
Where it is very ill-bred to go straight to the point,
Where one bargains at leisure all day;
Where, with method unique, "at once" means a week,
In the cool, easy, Japanese way.
Where every clock runs as it happens to please,
And they never agree on their strikes;
Where even the sun often joins in the fun
And rises whenever he likes.
Then here's to the Land of Approximate Time!
The Land of the Leisurely bow;
Where the overcharged West may learn how to rest,
The Land of inconsequent Now.
There were other books whose beauty is
yet lost to the world because cautious pub-
13
lishers hesitated to assume the expense in¬
volved in producing color plates.
In Japan, Miss Hyde found a method of
expression not taught in New York, Berlin
or Paris. Here was the land of brushes and
India ink, where for generations the child
has begun its training as soon as its chubby
hand could hold a brush. No cramped wrist
and aching fingers, but the sweep of the arm
from the elbow. Imagine the added power
and freedom with such an extended lever¬
age. The ideographs of Japan are works of
art and caligraphy is the very beginning of
their art. A fine piece of writing is quite as
much admired and holds as honored a place
in the tokonoma as a painting.
So Miss Hyde put herself under the in¬
struction of Kano Tomonobu, the ninth and
last in the line of the great Kano school of
painters, artists celebrated for the freedom
of their brush work. Seated for hours on
the floor—where everything Japanese oc¬
curs—big sheets of paper spread out flat,
with weights at the corners—instead of
thumb-tacks ; bowls of water and diluted ink,
together with the hollow stone in which the
sticks of India ink are ground; numerous
brushes, nearly all large, Miss Hyde prac¬
ticed the bold, dashing drawings, where a
single sweep of a broad brush might make
14
the entire mane and back of a horse. Such
preparation as this might fit one to "Splash
at a ten-league canvas, with brushes of
comet's hair."
The Japanese have a method of dipping
one edge of a broad brush into black ink and
the other corner into gray; sweeping down
one side and up the other; touching the
brush here and there at the joints and, lo!
you have a perfect bamboo.
It looked very simple as Miss Hyde did
it and I secretly thought it easy to do; but
repeated trials convinced me that such skill
is not heaven-born with the unpracticed
Occidental.
It is this quality of brush work which
gives Miss Hyde's wood-cuts the indefinable
charm that belongs to the old Japanese
prints. They are direct, flowing and grace¬
ful in line; simple in composition, express¬
ing, as do the old prints, one idea: esthetic
and impersonal in color. While her types
are somewhat conventionalized, and wholly
decorative, yet they lack that grotesque ele¬
ment seen in the faces of the old prints which
impresses us as caricature. There is a pecu¬
liar tenderness in her treatment of mothers
and children. "The human side interests me
most of all," she said.
Before she left San Francisco, Miss
15
Hyde's colored etchings were chiefly of Chi¬
nese children. In Japan, her types changed
to the people there and these she continued
to render in etchings, wood-cuts, aquatints,
water-colors, pastels and oils.
Etchings are constantly confused with the
wood-cuts. They are not only different in
effect, but quite different in process. Etch¬
ings are made on thin sheets of copper cov¬
ered with a wax ground, through which the
design is drawn with a steel needle. These
lines are further exposed to a corrosive acid,
which deepens them so they will hold ink.
In printing, the plate is first covered with
ink; the surface is cleaned with pads of
tarletan, leaving the lines well filled. This
is printed in a press on Japanese paper,
which is rendered still further transparent
by being wet. Then the plate is cleaned of
any ink that may not have been taken up by
the paper, each color put on the copper plate
separately and passed through the press, the
plate being registered on the black lines of
the first print.
Very subtle tints are produced by over¬
laying so that one print, when completed,
though restricted to few colors, may have
passed through the press many times. This
gives the prints almost the value of mono-
16
types, as it is nearly impossible to make
them exactly alike.
The labor and skill required to handle
each one of a hundred prints—say six times
—makes the work equivalent to six hundred
prints. Although the copper plates may be
capable of yielding many more copies, Miss
Hyde limited her editions—which she
printed herself—to one hundred, usually;
and each print is signed and numbered. As
they grow scarce, the price advances. Many
of the first etchings are now out of print and
the few copies left of others are many times
the original price. The only place where a
nearly complete set of Miss Hyde's work
may now be seen by the general public is in
the State Library of California, the Carnegie
Library at Pittsburgh, and (because her
work is copyrighted) in the Congressional
Library in Washington. She is represented
by collections in New York Public Library
and Chicago Art Institute.
Wood-cuts, as the name implies, are cut
on wooden blocks instead of copper plates,
as are the etchings. The lines stand up from
the surface to be printed. In etching they
are indented. For each color there is a
separate block.
Miss Hyde made the outline drawing in
India ink on thin rice paper. This is pasted
17
face down on a prepared wooden block,
usually of cherry in Japan, and the surface
cut away from the lines. Although Miss
Hyde learned to do this work herself, she
prefered, for economy of time, to leave it to
the Japanese cutters, who are experts in
wood engraving.
On a proof taken from the outline block
in black Miss Hyde made her color scheme
and this went back to the cutter for separate
blocks. When the little pile of boards were
done, Muratta san, her printer, presented
himself at her studio with a deep bow and
prepared for the fray. With his legs neatly
tucked away beneath him, Muratta san
seated himself on the floor and was nearly
lost to view behind piles of paper, blotters,
printing blocks, a whole batallion of old blue
and gray bowls and brushes. He was sup¬
posed to carry out faithfully Miss Hyde's
color scheme, but the Japanese art sense
rebels against dull repetition. No one will
repeat a thing he can possibly vary in the
search for better results. So it was neces¬
sary for Miss Hyde to superintend each
print—a tedious occupation.
The whole edition—which is also limited,
signed and numbered—is printed through
one color block, all carefully done by brush¬
ing the surface of the block to be printed
18
with water color mixed with an adhesive
medium. The damp paper is registered at
two corners by a triangular cut called
"Kento" to aim at, and pressed on the block
by a flat disk covered with a sheath of bam¬
boo, called a baren, manipulated by the
hand. The next color is mixed and printed;
the outline in black from the key block usu¬
ally coming last.
Wood-cuts average six to eight handlings
in printing; sometimes more, amounting to
as high as thirty or more in the case of the
Japanese masters. Last came Miss Hyde's
minute inspection of each print for imper¬
fect register or flaws of any kind.
I thought the work of printing etchings
was laborious enough, but after watching
the production of two of Miss Hyde's large
prints during a visit to her in Japan I con¬
cluded printing etchings in one color is mere
play.
Miss Hyde was a painstaking worker and
spared no labor to accomplish her ends.
Each etching and wood-cut is the result of
many sketches. As an example, the Ma¬
donna, one of her best wood-cuts (now rare),
was drawn thirty-seven times and it has
marked economy of lines, but great expres¬
sion. Baby Talk, the sweet interchange of
19
confidence between mother and child, was
the result of many month's work.
The most widely known of her wood-cuts
is the Monarch of Japan—again a mother
and child. The original large brush draw¬
ing in black and white won the prize at an
exhibit in Tokyo in competition with the na¬
tive artists. They are an appreciative peo¬
ple, not at all jealous of her success, and were
cordial in her recognition as a wielder of
their brushes.
Indeed, she might have founded a school
of art if she had yielded to the importunities
of Japanese students. In Japan an artist of
recognized ability may found a school by
surrounding himself with students who
clean his brushes, prepare his paper and wait
upon him in slavish adoration for the priv¬
ilege of watching and studying his work. If
a student is particularly adept in copying
his style, he may be presented with a part of
the master's name, or the whole of it, with
number Two or Three tacked on.
Of the technique of Miss Hyde's water
colors, it is not so easy to speak. Whether
they show the influence of her American,
Danish, Swedish, German, French or Jap¬
anese teachers, one cannot say. I am in¬
clined to think they all had a fair share in
forming Miss Hyde's own individual style.
20
They are broad in treatment and brilliant in
coloring. In subject, they are mostly Jap¬
anese, with a group painted in China, an¬
other in Mexico, and all show the same
tendency toward the portrayal of child-life,
as in her prints.
It required years of careful coaxing to get
children for models. Japanese mothers
knew something dreadful would happen to
their darlings if they were so magically put
upon paper by the "foreign woman with the
strange, gray eyes." But the common in¬
terests of war, Miss Hyde's constant work
and many beneficent acts for the comfort of
the soldiers, as well as care of wives and
children, broke down barriers and she en¬
joyed the full confidence of all who knew her.
The war with Russia came very near when
it took out of her household Shin, her kuru-
maya, or jinrikisha runner, a noble fellow
with traits traceable to his distant Samaurai
ancestors. While absent, he wrote long,
quaintly worded letters to Miss Hyde, giv¬
ing details of his life in the army and very
interesting comments on the famous men of
the war, expressing himself with a freedom
not usually employed by Japanese men to
their own womenfolk.
Shin's farewell speech is a masterpiece of
21
gallantry, too good to resist quoting. Said
he, with a deep bow:
"Your honorable American country such
good friend to Japan, now am I, and all
Japan, humbly grateful. Japan country very
little, but Yamato soldiers all very young
and strong, and with the Emperor's kimono
on our body we all feel twice stronger. I
promise to kill all the Rokokujins (Rus¬
sians) I can. Afterward, if I still alive, I
will come back to your honorable house and
I humbly pray, if I am still strong enough
to draw your august person, to take me back
into your honorable service."
To show that men have no monopoly of
pretty speeches, I must repeat a remark of
Toyo, the maid, on the occasion of Miss
Hyde's first return to America. Being given
a choice of gifts, Toyo bowed her pretty head
and going to a mirror said: "It is this that
I would have, for in it has been reflected
your face, which I love, and that of your
friends whom I admire." I tell these things
to show how Miss Hyde entered into the
Japanese life, as well as its language, and
why she has been able to infuse so much of
its spirit into her work.
In Tokyo, where she lived during the win¬
ter, she built a beautiful home. It had all
the structural graces of Japanese architec-
22
ture, with the added comforts and conveni¬
ences we regard as necessary. She could
hardly be expected to sleep on the floor, with
a wooden pillow, or sit on her heels for
hours; nor did she eat with chopsticks, al¬
though she could, but she followed Jap¬
anese customs as far as was compatible with
her comfort and her work.
With the first warm days of summer, Miss
Hyde packed her painting materials, got her
household together, and went north to
Xikko, the Beautiful, where she had another
charming house. Here, with a background
of encircling blue mountains, in groves of
ancient and towering cryptomeria, are the
most beautiful temples of Japan. Here, also,
are certain picturesque types not to be found
in cities, notably the women who toil in the
mountains, cutting and carrying brush for
charcoal burning, as seen in the print called
"The Return."
Here in perfection is the sculpturesque ad¬
vance guard of all Shinto temples—those
great gates called torii; the wooden ones
originally vermilion in color (like much of
the wood of the temples), is softened by the
creeping mosses, which turns stones, roofs
and tree trunks to a velvet green. Time and
moisture conspire to make their work so
beautiful that one nearly forgets it is disin¬
tegration and decay.
23
Japan is so superabundantly rich in pic¬
ture material that it requires more than the
eye to perceive; it wants artistic discrimina¬
tion and judgment to select. Old shrines
and temples, beautiful mountain roads and
sparkling streams offer themselves lavishly,
unreservedly to the color sense. Japan is so
constantly a composition that it is hardly
necessary to shift the picturesque types that
people the landscape.
In Miss Hyde's water colors are not the
dramatized type of face seen in old prints—
which were never intended to be realistic
portraiture, but the sturdy, brown-faced,
lightly-clad youngsters just as they look to¬
day clattering up and down the temple steps,
or playing about under foot on the narrow
streets. There are glimpses of travel-worn
pilgrims, and the little bending mothers with
their ever-present babes upon their backs.
Miss Hyde did not try to make her subjects
pretty according to Occidental notions of
beauty. She saw the interest in the artistic
interpretation of what might be regarded
as un-pretty.
At the very beginning of her career she
wrote this with the prophetic instinct of one
who knows well her purpose and holds to it:
"I have always wanted to support myself by
my work, but have never done it, I am
24
grieved to relate. My successes have not
been financial ones. Some of these days that
may come. On the other hand, with no real
necessity, I have always refused to abase my
art to a purely money-making basis and do
clap-trap work to catch the public eye and
fancy. I believe in artists living up to the
best there is in them and going on in their
own way. In time, people will say, 'See that
person going so steadily along, turning
neither to the right nor the left; he must be
going somewhere.' Then they begin to tag
along and soon there will be plenty of fol¬
lowers."
This came true in every respect. Miss
Hyde's financial success was as complete and
permanent as the assurance of her place in
the art world. She had no rival in her spe¬
cial field of colored etchings. While makers
of wood-cuts have appeared since her suc¬
cess, no one has approached the purity of her
style in depicting Japanese life. The charac¬
ter of her black line is sensitive and full of
expression as only a brush line can be. Her
colors are chosen with a nice regard for bal¬
ance and harmony. Particularly pleasing is
her use of a fine apple green and rose pink,
which are also used in overlay to produce a
third tone of agreeable olive, thus blending
the three as in Day Dreams, an example of
25
excellent composition in circular space. In
the Bamboo Fence she has made a melody
of the yellows. For simplicity of line and
color Belated is one of her choicest wood¬
cuts.
In the Baby and the Puppycat, Teasing
the Daruma, Day Dreams, Miss Apricot
Cloud, Good Luck Branch and the Daruma
Branch, the toys with which Japan enter¬
tains her children, while conveying some ex¬
cellent principle of life in a symbolic way,
are utilized by Miss Hyde with success.
The flower-like umbrellas that blossom
only in Japan, the bobbing fireflies of lan¬
terns that illuminate their nights, and the
endless procession of blooms marking every
period of the year, have all been caught and
fixed in such prints as The Sudden Shower,
The Yellow Umbrella, The Red Umbrella.
The Family Umbrella, Goblin Lanterns,
Fireflies, Cherry Blossom Time, A Day in
June, the Moon Bridge of Kameido with its
dripping wealth of wistaria, and Blossom
Child.
Of Miss Hyde's visit to India there is the
record of the Sacred Calf of Agra, a wobbly-
legged, appealing creature, whose sacred-
ness lies in the minds of the Orientals only.
Miss Apricot Cloud, Sauce Pan Shop
of Soo Chow, Furious Dragon and In Their
26
Holiday Clothes are the only wood-cuts
made of her sojourn in China, though there
were ten or more paintings destined for a
series of block prints.
To few workers is success given so early
in life, for Miss Hyde was still young and
blessed beyond the average with graces of
person, added to a liberal education that
fitted her to move with ease in the diplo¬
matic circles of Tokyo, where she spoke with
equal facility to the Frenchman, German or
Japanese.
Financial acumen is not generally sup¬
posed to be found in conjunction with the
artist's star, but this was another one of Miss
Hyde's gifts, united to executive ability of
a high order. The morning was sacred to
work; no one had the temerity to interrupt
her until after the noon hour, when she was
ready for some recreation, or at least a
change of occupation. A certain time was
set aside for visitors, of which she had many.
Only by planning the days as she did could
she accomplish so much work and still take
an active part in social life, for winter among
the foreign embassies is as gay as in any of
the European capitals.
Fifteen years in Japan, with its wealth of
picture material, its cosmopolitan society
and pleasant ways of living, did not lessen
27
the pull of home ties. In 1915 Miss Hyde
made her third and last trip to the United
States. Though born in Lima, New York,
April 6, 1868, with a residence since infancy
in California, the presence of her sister in
Chicago led her there to make her home.
During a visit in 1912, the severities and
caprices of a winter climate sent her to Mex¬
ico for the winter and a group of paintings,
drawings, etchings and wood-cuts resulted,
depicting moonlight on the Viga Canal,
grinning urchins peering over cactus fences,
sombreros from infancy to old age, paniered
donkeys, markets, child life and Madonnas.
There might have been more had she not
been driven home by disturbances due to the
war.
The winter of 1916 was no more friendly
and Miss Hyde spent most of it in the Caro-
linas studying the remnants of the old time
darkies found on what remained of the plan¬
tations. In a Little Step-sister, a pig-tailed
youngster is sitting on the steps holding a
piccaninny. By the Great Peedee river a
Mammy is holding her "black chile," and an¬
other cherubic infant gazes wonderingly up
at dogwood blossoms in "Her First Spring."
Perhaps the most successful of all the group
is a bandy-legged boy beseiged by geese,
while a patchwork quilt floats from a
28
clothes-line behind him. Japan's cherry
trees are recalled in a blossoming peach
orchard, where two workers gossip over
resting hoes.
The majority of these prints were done in
soft ground etching, which lends itself to
color printing; a few, such as The Joggling
Board and Great Peedee, are in drypoint.
There are two lithographs of a Shower and
big-kneed cypress trees in a swamp.
At this point the United States entered
the great European war and the service of
every worker was enlisted. Miss Hyde was
among the first to respond to the call of the
Red Cross and made a large poster of a little
Belgian girl bending beneath the weight of
a red cross flag, with the words "Carry on."
The first display of this poster in the Red
Cross window brought a contribution of
fifty dollars from a man who said: "Credit
this to your poster." It was reproduced as
a magazine cover and to show in motion pic¬
tures as propaganda. Miss Hyde also made
a soft ground etching of the subject, with
the flag printed in color. She did successful
posters for the Child Welfare movement and
worked many hours at bandages, while her
needles clicked industriously at all odd hours
on soldiers' socks, sweaters and caps.
With all this she found time to serve on
29
the juries of the Chicago Society of Etchers
(local in name, but international in scope),
of which she was an honored member, and
also belonged to the Chicago Society of Art¬
ists*. For the excellence of an exhibition of
her prints in Paris, she was made a member
of the Societe de Gravures Originates en
Couleur. There was a medal at the Panama
Pacific exhibition and other honors.
As quoted from her own words, Miss
Hyde's interest was greatest in the human
side of things and this explained the strong
hold of her friendships, never permitted to
lapse in interest because of her absence in a
foreign land. While all her friends were
glad to have her return, they missed her let¬
ters, which were as original, interesting and
charming as her prints. The arrival of one
of her Round-Robin letters from Japan was
always an event and they arrived faithfully.
A series of letters written from Japan dur¬
ing the Russian war were printed in the San
Francisco Argonaut and were classics of
their kind.
Nor was her wit confined to letters, as
both her guests and hostesses knew, for she
always added a sparkling element to any
gathering she graced. Even when ill health
♦In Chicago Miss Hyde was a member of the Cordon, Little
Itoom, Wednesday Club and Friday Club.
30
was perceptibly reducing her powers, her
laugh was gay and infectious.
Thinking to win back her energy, Miss
Hyde went to Pasadena in April, 1919, to
join her sister; but the California sunshine
had no power to make her roses bloom again,
though it surrounded her with all its floral
treasures. Their arrangement in harmoni¬
ous color schemes interested her to the last,
and among them, like a lily, she faded out
May 13, 1919.
In the family lot near Oakland, California,
across the bay from San Francisco, where
her girlhood days were so happily spent, she
was left under a blanket of white wistaria
and lavender iris, which she loved as all her
friends loved her.
31
LIST OF PRINTS BY HELEN HYDE
ETCHINGS
T otty,
A chubby child on doorstep.
Mandarin,
Chinese boy, face view.
Ah Tim,
Chinese, boy profile, standing.
Little One Two,
Chinese child sitting down.
Plum Blossom,
Chinese girl, face view.
Cat and the Cherub,
Chinese boy with cat.
The Shower,
Street in Chinatown, figures, lanterns.
Mother and Child,
Chinese.
Hide and Seek,
Chinese children playing around a screen.
The Borrowed Umbrella,
Chinese child with enormous umbrella.
Spring Blossom,
Chinese child with flowers.
The Yellow Boy,
Chinese boy in yellow.
Alley in Chinatown,
Mother and child, lighted lanterns.
A Sudden Shower,
Mother and child under umbrella.
Imps of Chinatown,
Two roguish children.
Fort Point. „
Unwelcome Rain,
Chinese children on tiptoe looking out of window.
32
A Native Daughter,
Chinese.
Victuals and Drink,
Chinese child drinking out of cup.
Head of Ah Ho,
Chinese.
Baby San,
Japanese baby.
In the Snow at Tokyo,
O Take San,
Japanese child.
Blossom Child,
Japanese child with flowers.
In Kite Time,
Japanese boy with kite.
Marching as to War,
Japanese boy with flag.
Miss Green Willow,
Japanese girl with toy.
Cherry Snow,
Japanese girl under cherry trees in bloom.
A Spring Poem,
Japanese child hanging poem on dwarf cherry tree at
home in imitation of his elders who hang poems on
trees out doors.
Lucky Branch,
Willow switch carrying toys, emblems of good luck.
The Red Umbrella,
Japanese mother, babe and child under umbrella.
Bamboo Gate,
Japanese girl closing her umbrella to get through gate.
Her Bit,
American girl knitting for soldiers during the war.
A Southern Spring,
South Carolina peach orchard in bloom and two
colored workers gossiping.
33
SOFT GROUND ETCHINGS
A Javanese "Small Person,"
Little Dancer of the No.
An ancient dramatic performance of Japan.
Alfonso and Conchita,
Mexican boy and girl.
Pink Fountain at Jalapa,
Mexican.
Market Place at Oaxaca, Mexico.
Survival of the Fittest,
Long's peak, Colorado.
Gabriel,
Johanna, \
Perturbed, I
Miss Moffat, /
'Becca and the Baby, v
Ice Cream Pails, \
Feeding the Geese, }
"The Goblins 'l Git Yer./
Carry On,
Little Belgian child with red cross flag, copy of large
poster contributed to Red Cross work.
Ah Yen,
Stout Chinese boy.
Joggling Board,
A South Carolina amusement.
By the Great Peedee,
Mother and babe by river in South Carolina.
Forbidden Fruit,
Home of Gabriel,
Little Step-sister,
■ Southern Types Made
in South Carolina,
DRYPOINTS
34
AQUATINTS
Rainy Day,
Japanese mother and child under umbrella.
Fireflies,
Men with kuramas and lanterns.
Goblin Lanterns,
Some of the lanterns at Nikko are supposed to be en¬
dowed with life at night and to wander, frightening
all in their way.
LITHOGRAPHS
Cypress Swamp,
South Carolina.
The Shower,
Colored children under umbrella.
WOODCUTS
On the Bund at Tokyo,
Japanese child by canal.
O Tsuyu San,
Miss Morning Dew, Japanese girl in blue with doll.
Japanese Madonna,
Mother and babe.
Winter,
Several heads of women showing Winter wraps.
A Snowy Day,
Several figures walking in snow with umbrellas.
Mother and Child,
Long pillar print.
A Monarch of Japan,
Two women and babe; copy of wash drawing winning
prize in Japan.
Day Dreams,
Mother and child with Japanese toy; circular print.
From the Rice Fields,
Mother and child in working garb. Pillar print.
Belated,
Young girl with lantern.
35
A Child of the People,
Girl playing battledore and shuttlecock.
In the Shoes of. His Father,
Literally.
Yellow Umbrella,
Japanese.
The Chase,
Japanese children chasing a black cat.
The Daikon and the Baby,
The daikon is a huge white radish of evil odor which,
when pickled is the most important article of Japanese
diet next to rice.
Honorable Mr. Cat,
Girl with black cat.
The Mirror,
Mother and babe looking in long narrow mirror.
The Bamboo Fence,
Children climbing about a fence.
The Puppycat and the Baby,
The toy dubbed "puppycat" by Miss Hyde is a symbol
of health and strength and is given to a young baby
when it is taken out to make its first calls on friends
of the family. It is also supposed to frighten away
bad dreams and evil influences.
Casting Out Bad Luck,
On the eve of the New Year (old calendar) the
master or eldest son throws beans about the house
and garden crying in a loud voice, "Bad Luck go out
and Good Luck come in."
Teasing the Daruma,
Daruma was originally a sage of India who fell into
a religious meditation that lasted nine years. He was
awakened by a rat nibbling at his ear which accounts
for his irritable expression. Chagrined at being found
asleep he cut ofif his eyelids and threw them on the
ground. A bush of tea grew from the spot which
furnishes leaves to keep one awake. These images
are weighted so they can never be downed and for that
reason are the familiar gods of business men who must
never be discouraged. Japanese children push the toy
over saying: "Ever the little red-hooded priest sits up
again." The Daruma is generally bought without eyes.
When they bring the wished and prayed for luck, eyes
are painted in by the grateful suppliant and they are
honored by a place on the Daruma shelf.
36
Cherry Blossom Rain,
Two women and babe under cherry trees in bloom.
The Bath,
Mother bathing young baby.
A Summer Girl,
Young Japanese girl in scant costume.
Confidences,
American child talking to flowers in pots.
A Roundelay,
Three Japanese tots in pine tree serenading the moon.
Good Luck Branch,
The good luck branch is of yielding willow, strung
with gay rice paste toys, all emblems of good fortune
and is supposed to bring to the house troops of friends.
Happiness Flower,
A young girl with receptacle in which grows a cro¬
cus-like yellow flower presented to friends in holiday
season because of its joy-bringing attributes.
The Red Curtain,
Japanese boy against red curtain.
The Return,
Women of Nikko gather wood and carry it down
from the mountains to make charcoal. At the top of
the print is the shrine of Jizu, friend of children.
Miss Apricot Cloud,
A Chinese child in baby pen reaching for toy.
Butterflies,
Japanese child catching butterflies against shoji.
The Sauce Pan Shop of Soo Ciiow,
Chinese.
Baby Talk,
Mother and babe on futon, on floor. Oval print.
The Hired Baby,
Small Japanese model.
The Secret,
Mother whispering to babe. Oval.
Summer Shower,
Scurrying figures under umbrellas.
37
The Daruma Branch,
Various sizes of the Daruma.
The Greeting,
Two children bowing and playing at visiting.
Going to the Fair,
Groups walking, carrying children in kagos.
New Brooms,
Children playing at housekeeping.
An April Evening,
Mother with babe on back.
The Sacred Calf,
In bazaar at Agra, India.
A Day in June,
Mother and child in field of blossoming iris.
Going to Market,
Figure on Donkey. Mexican.
Feeding the Bunnies,
Child with rabbits. Round print.
Unwilling Dancers,
Two children with rabbits. Mexico.
Over the Garden Wall,
Boy in sombrero peering over cactus. Mexico.
Sunday Morning,
Procession of children with candles going to church.
Mexico.
A Mexican Coquette,
Girl flirting with young men over wall covered with
bougainvillia, while black cat looks on. Round print.
An Interlude,
Donkey with cowskin panniers full of children, while
driver talks with young woman.
A Common Scold,
Turkey with spread tail threatening small boy in
large hat. Mexico.
38
A Mexican Rebecca,
Woman at a well.
Moonlight on the Viga Canal,
Mexico.
Mount Orizaba,
Mexico.
The Go Cart,
Japanese boy with cart.
A Windy Ride,
One Japanese child pulling another one on a splint
wood dust-pan.
Three Friends of Winter,
Child with plum, pine and bamboo. Pine stands for
long life, family love radiating from a common center.
Plum, grace and sweetness. Bamboo, purity, integrity,
straight and white within. All for friendship that no
Winter storms can harm.
Little Pink Plum,
Child on clogs with snow-covered umbrella plucking
blossom from dwarf plum tree.
My Neighbors,
Mother and child at window feeding birds on snow-
covered bamboo.
Complaints,
Small boy and five hissing geese.
August,
Japanese child with palm leaf fan as only garment.
Moon Bridge at Kameido,
Children on famous bridge in wistaria time.
New Year's Day in Tokyo,
All Japan plays battledore and shuttlecock on New
Year's day.
A Weary Little Mother,
Child resting by the wayside, doll on back.
39
White Peacock,
Two peacocks, one with spread tail admired by group
of three Japanese.
The Furious Dragon,
Chinese phantasy. Round print.
Blue Umbrella,
Chinese child struggling with umbrella.
In their Holiday Clothes,
Chinese father and children.
The Family Umbrella,
Japanese child on clogs in rain lost under large
umbrella.
Cherry Blossom Time,
Large composition showing scene among the cherry
trees of a park.
40
NOTE, Exhibitions of Miss Hyde's work have been
given in several places in New York City; in Brooklyn,
Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Newark, Washington,
Chicago, Milwaukee, Bloomington, Ills.,; Dubuque and
Ottumwa, Iowa; Charleston and Columbia, S. C.; Kansas
City, Indianapolis, Seattle, and San Francisco. The Amer¬
ican Federation of Arts and the Federation of Women's
Clubs each has a collection of her prints that are being sent
about the country for exhibition.
Illustrated articles concerning Miss Hyde have ap¬
peared in the following publications:
Brush and Pencil, January, 1903.
Sunset Magazine, October, 1905.
International Studio, January, 1905.
Harper's Bazaar, January, 1906.
San Francisco Weekly Magazine, Oct. 27, 1906.
Craftsman, November, 1908.
Morrison's Weekly, November 24, 1910.
International Studio, October, 1911.
41