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THE- STUDIO
An Illa/tr&ted A&g&^pe of Fine # Applied Art
5EPT. 15
1914
VOL. 62 NO. 258
44Leice/ter Square
LONDON -wc Monthly
THE STUDIO
EDITED BY CHARLES HOLME.
Contents, Sept. 15, 19 14
THE PAINTINGS OF F. C. FRIESEKE. By E. A. Taylor. Nine
Illustrations- ........ 159
WHAT 18 A GARDEN? By Thomas H. Mawson, Hon. A.R.I.B.A.
Nine Illustrations • ....... a68
THE NATIONAL COMPETITION OF 8CHOOLS OF ART. 1814.
ByW. T. Whitley. Thirty-one Illustrations • • • 377
AMERICAN ART AT THE ANGLO-AMERICAN EXPOSITION.
Nine Illustrations ........ 393
STUDIO TALK (from Fur nun Ci^yfj/fndrmtl) :
London Nine Illus., 30a; Port Elizabeth Two Illus., 310;
Montreal Four Illus., no; Toronto, 313; Winnipfg, 315;
Melbourne Two Illus., 316 ; Philadelphia, Pa., 318 ; Bordeaux
Five Illus., 318; Tokyo Six Illus. 3»
ART SCHOOL NOTE8
London Five Illus.
REVIEWS AND NOTICES
THE LAV FIGURE : On the Record of Passing Events
3=8
SUPPLEMENTS IN COLOUR:
" A Girl Sewing." From an Oil Painting by Frederick C
Frieseke ....... Frontisfiitct
Enclosed Garden and Lily Pool at Galton Park,
Surrey (From ah Autochrome Photograph) - - 275
SUPPLEMENTS IN TINT
"Milan." From a Wood Engraving ft O. Wynne
Apperlsy, R. I. - - - - • - 305
"Frost and Snow." From an Oil Painting by Maurice
CULLEN ........ 3n
"Sketches op Market Lire in Madrid." From Chalk
Drawings bv J. P. Tillac ..... 319
KOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS.— The Editor will always be glad to consider any articles.
1 that may be submitted 10 h
1 and address of the sender clearly
The Studio is registered for transmission to Canada by Canadian ai agaiine Potl
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1%:. J
-THE GREY DRAWING-ROOM (1911). from an oil painting by JOHN LAVERY. R.S.A.. A.R.A.
THE SI
T
HE .'
STOi<
W; 1 1 painter has been sod as Mr. J .re known win r< as been laure.< iny of his eon n tphy, of numl may seem an bibliography. rk at the Gros\ ery, in which
to study his art >w days to th
I
LXII. .
J ••=■, JOHN
THE STUDIO
T
HE ART OF JOHN LA VERY. R.S.A., A.R.A, ETC. BY A. STODART WALKER.
With the exception of Mr. Sargent no living painter has been so canvassed, catalogued, and criticised as Mr. John Lavery. His name and his work are known wherever Western art has penetrated. He has been laureated in more foreign collections than any of his contemporaries. The subject of a biographv, of numberless criticisms and apprecia- tions, it may seem an act of supererogation to add to his bibliography. The unique exhibition of his work at the Grosvenor Gallery, in which we are able to study his artistic output from the early Glasgow days to the present seems a sufficient
apology for one more essay as to the capacities ol
the man.
The exhibition ranges from the year 1879 till the year 1914, and represents the cream of these thirty- ii\t years. Of the 130 pictures, some twenty are from public collections. From the Luxembourg come the Father and Daughter and Spring : from the National Gallery, Rome, Polymnia ; from the Neue Pinakothek, Munich. The Tennis Party: from the Modern Gallery, Venice, A Lady in Pink and Mother and Son : from the National Gallery, Brussels, A Lady in Black ; from the Diploma Gallery at Edinburgh, The Rocking Chair; from the Scottish Modern Arts Collection Curling; and from the Corporation Gallery in Glasgow R. B. Cunningliame Grahame, Esq. Other pictures are
l- MS] IV "1 ENNIS 1 1 I 1
I. XII. No. 254.— Jose 1014
John Lavery, R.S.A., A.R.A.
on loan from the Senate House, Brussels, the National and Modem Galleries of Dublin, the Manchester Art Gallery, the Belfast Corpora- tion Gallery and Girton College, Cambridge. The rest of the canvases are chiefly from private collections and include many of the portraits which made the reputation of the painter, such as the Miss Marv Burrell (1891), the Sisters (1891-92), Lady Xorah Hely-Hutchinson (1905). and Lady Evelyn Farquhar (1906). The collection also in- cludes The Night after Langside — the famous canvas over which Mr. Lavery spent ten years, and Dawn after Langside lent by Mr. James Mylne, two pictures alone which might have made a reputation sufficient for any man. In studying some of
these canvases what strikes
us most is how well Mr. Lavery has gauged the
effect of time. Such a pic- ture as The Rot-king Chair
from the Diploma Gallery,
Edinburgh, painted twenty- two years ago, might have
been finished yesterday,
the paint is so fresh and
glowing, and so far as we
have been able to examine
the works of the past, we
have not discovered one
example of the artist's work
that has not improved "in
the keeping." The fact
may be useful to those of
our modems who imagine
that it is necessary to
practise some unusual
method of painting, some
laying on of paint which is
to earn the condemnation
of the present at the price
of the appreciation of the
future. So long as a man
understands the medium in
which he works, so long as
he knows what paint is
likely to become under the
processes of time, there
seems no need for him to
be greatly concerned about
the future. None of Mr.
Lavery's early canvases
were labelled " This picture
is intended for thirty or fifty 4
years hence." The painter did not go about apolo- gising to his critics that he painted for the future and not for the present. Throughout his career Mr. Lavery never apologised at all. He simply did what he knew and left it at that. So to-day we glory in that masterpiece The Lady with the Pearls from The Modem Gallery in Dublin, representing the painter more consummately perhaps than any other canvas, as the critics did when it was first exhibited.
There are some things that Mr. Lavery cannot achieve, though of all living craftsmen in paint to none can be applied more honestly the statement made by one of his colleagues that " there is very- little he cannot do." A distinguished contemporary
JAPANESE SWITZERLAND" (1912
BY J< UN LAVERY, R.S.A., A.R.A.
(City of Bradford Art Gallery)
THE GREEN COAT" I 1904 . BY jolIN LAVERY, R.S.A., A.R.A.
John Lavcry, R.S.A., A.R.A.
once said to inc. " Lavcry is a wonderful man. nothing frightens him." Mere courage, however, is hut a hrute quality with'out capacity. Mr. livery was once challenged with the dictum quoted. His reply, so characteristic of this humorous Irish-Scot was, " Yes, I can do a great many things in my own way." Mr. I.avery has proved the quality of this •■ way " in more ways than one, by his unerring sense of style as a portrait-painter, by his splendid capacity for design in those pictures which are more colour harmonies than portraits and best of all by his distinguished methods as a landscape painter. All these aspects of his art are executed in his own way. Mr. Laverv does not profess to combine unerring insight into the subtleties of character with a fine sense of pictorial design as does the man to whom he makes acknowledgment that from him he learnt most that is good in his portraiture. I mean, of course, Sir James Guthrie. His landscapes have not the poetical illusiveness of Mr. Walton's. He has not the "solidity" of Mr. Orpen. One does
not feel the figure under the clothes as one felt it with Sir George Reid : his paint does not glow with the richness of Mr. Sargent. A Lavery por- trait is a Lavery — a thing personal, quite distinctive and in nearly every case distinguished. It can be finished in a sitting, as in the case of the portrait of Lady Diana Manners, and_knowing the circumstance the result is often something which arouses the onlooker to use the term " miraculous." Mr. Lavery has a faultless eye for the " lines " of his sitters, he has an unerring gTasp of whatever " charm " they possess or suggest. His canvases give you a sense of "flow," of elegance and grace. He is not so richly gifted in the grand manner as Mr. Sargent, yet there is never anything squat or squalid about the portraiture. It is chic, debonair, facile, dexterous. Ever obsessed with the aim of expressing line and colour harmony, there is little need for him to grope for his effects. They seem to come to him as a lyric came to the pen of Robert Burns — a study
BV JOHN LAVERV, K.S.A., A.R.A.
LADY EVELYN FARQI HAR" 1906) BY JOHN LAVERY, R.S.A., A R.A.
'THE LADY GWEVDOLIXE SPEXCER CHURCHILL (1912-1914. BY^ JOHN LA VERY RS.A. A.R.A,
John Lavery, R.S.A., A.M.. 1.
1 WINTER " (1913)
BY JOHN LAVERY, U.S.A., A.K.A.
of the Lady Gwendoline ChurcMU, and of his well- known Hely-Hutchinson group convinces one of this. There is no fumbling with the brush. The pre- liminary experiment has been in the brain, not on the canvas. The taste — pictorial, and in its wider meaning — is unerring. The sense of tone is delicate and fine, his flair for elegance more marked than in any other contemporary painter and in his greater triumphs, such as the Princess Patricia and The Silver Turban, captivates the observer. Placing his sitter unerringly on the canvas, his delicate colour harmony, his sense of romance in the presentment, his dc • handling of tonal difficulties, and his masterly sense of pose, result in Mr. Lavery being, if nothing else, a great picture-builder.
The delight which the artist has shown in these studies in colour harmony for which he is so famous, such as Spring in the Luxembourg I
tion, The Lady in Black in the National Gallery, Brussels, and The Green Coat, convinces us that Mr. Lavery is ever obsessed by the colour possibilities of his models. He sees the colour m/lier of his sitters at a glance and weaves them into a harmony of paint with unerring skill. Being an artist in love with nature, careless of the vogue of schools and scholastic traditions, he approaches art with "joy" — there is no mistaking that. It' there be spade work of the mind or brush it isnever evident The sense of spontaneity and enthusiasm is ever prevalent. However unpromisin al, his painti
finds out any quality i lour and gra
ma) possess. Keeping his artist's soul : alool than most painters do— from the domii assertiveness of his sitter, hi fai tie
expression to hi ■ >wn vision. He may In- - with taking but a superficial interest in the ; logy of his sitter, allowing his decorative and
9
John Lavery, R.S.A., A.R.A.
romantic sense to dominate his portraiture at the expense of what we call lifeand character. All that may seem true. But this is balanced by a pictorial elegance, an ease and fluency of brushwork, and a distinguished sense of values in form and colour which commands a fascination to usurp our criticisms of the result.
In all the attempts there is no "trickery " in Mr. Lavery's work, neither is there any humouring of his reputation. He never stereotypes a conven- tion. He approaches each sitter free from precon- ceived notions of how the thing is to be handled. He does not do his portraits by the yard ; machine- made things are not in his line. The sitter must
bring a message before the reply is given on canvas,
and, as happens in all portraiture, each individual
sitter cannot command an equally satisfactory
response from the painter. Some people are bom
to portraits, some achieve portraits, others have
portraits thrust upon them,
and so many failures are as
much due to the "empti- ness " of the sitter as to the
inefficiency of the artist.
I am convinced no painter
has felt this so much as
Mr. Sargent. But Mr.
Lavery has so much re- source that even if the
model carries no colour or
form in itself, yet he over- comes this handicap more
courageously and efficiently
than most.
Turning from Mr.
Lavery's portraits and
studies in colour harmony
— imaginative portraits in
the romantic -spirit — to his
work in landscape, we find
the same qualities and
quantities. The romantic
and decorative elements
dominate the poetic and
intimate. Subtle search-
ings for delicate contrasts
and co-related notes of
colour as practised so
admirably by William
McTaggart and by his
friend Mr. L. A. Walton
are not in Mr. Lavery's
metier. But in his capacity
for design, in the propor- •• princess Patricia
tions of his " planes,'' and his magnificent sense of the tonal quality, Mr. Lavery need not fear comparison with the masters of British landscape painting. The decorative sense is unfailing and there ever exists that romantic sense which is the dominant asset of his artistic inventory. There is no muddiness of texture, everything is crystal clear, " singing " with light and scintillating colour. Taking his work as a whole I would place his landscape work in Tangier and Switzerland as the most significant things that Mr. Lavery has done. The "charm"of his landscapes is undeniable. The power of realising time and place is masterly. Early dawn is early dawn, not high noon, high noon is high noon, not twilight. Every landscape is a clock telling its own time to an hour. As for place there is no danger of confusing a Tangier coast with Machrihanish, or a skating scene in Switzerland with one in Scotland, as may be seen in that picture of Miss Marv Mond Skating
OF COXNAVGHT" (1913). BY JOHN LAVERY, U.S.A.. A.R.A.
■AUGUSTE RODIN" C913). BY JOHN LAVERY, R.S.A. A.R.A.
John Lavery, R.S.J4., A.R.A.
which some critics consider Mr. Lavery's greatest achievement. His landscapes, like his sitters, bring their own message and Lavery gives the answer on the spot. His power of grasping a passing mood of nature is little short of astounding. In his Skating, where the first breath of the coming snow wraps a delicate envelope of grey white on the landscape, he not only captures the moment and gives it its true values, but he is able to translate the change in the values of snow, ice and hillside in the terms of the metamorphosis. All this is placed on the canvas without hesitation and with a knowledge of the capacities of paint, which in Mr. Lavery's case never fails. Like all artists he is selective, but not in the sense of avoiding an essential which presents an intricate problem. Carrying his own artistic distance with him, the problems of perspective present no dilemma. Nature may weave a tangled web — but he is quick to unravel it. And in blending figure studies into landscape he homologates his distin- guished powers, and pro- duces such a thing of charm &s Japanese Switzer- land, one of the most poetically conceived things that modern art has pro- duced.
Of other aspects of the painter's genius we may make a passing note of his effective interiors such as The Grey Drawing-Room and The Greyhound. Apart from all other qualities fit for our admiration the great Royal group brings out the painter's greatness as an interior painter. Note the subtle blending ol colour in the atmosphere, the full grasp of the per- spective values, the un- erring chiaroscuro. Thi same is seen in his great studio group now on exhi- bition at the Royal Academy, which only the ineffectiveness of Burling- ton House to display to advantage such a large "lady diana man
canvas prevents the "rough" observer from ade- quately appreciating.
Mr. Lavery's output has been so generous that this summary of his achievement may seem inadequate and cursory. It cannot profess to be anything else. One would like to dwell on well- remembered canvases, such as his study in the nude from Mr. Robert Strathern's collection and called Ariadne, a delicately treated study of a female facing the waves on a wind-swept shore. Primarily a painter of women, one cannot forget some of his male portraits, of w^hich Mr. P. J. Ford as a Royal Archer is a notable example, while quite recently he has given us his friend and admirer, Auguste Rodin ; but of all his portraits of men none can compare with his superb R. B. Cunninghame Graham, which is one of the
BY JOHN LAVERY. R.S.A.. A.R.A.
"THE MARKET-PI A( I . TANGIER— EVENING" i oi 4 . BY JOHN LA VERY, R.S.A., A.RA
John Lavery, R.S.A., A.R.A.
treasures of the Glasgow Corporation Gallery. His equestrian study of Mr. Graham may also be re- called. But of this latter aspect of the painter's talent the greatest tour de force is The Amazon, a portrait of his daughter on a superb Arab, dominat- far -flung Moorish landscape. We have also the Equestrienne which the artist has long retained in his own possession, out of legitimate affection for an effort of which he ought to be rightly proud. In the picture In Morocco we have also another study of a horse, which in its drawing and colour treatment reveals graphically Mr. Lavery 's power of escaping from the dead formalism so long associated with animal-painting. Like , Mr. Crawhall, Mr. Lavery not only portrays animal life, but the personal equation of each individual animal.
Mr. Lavery's work has been, with one exception, entirely confined to oils. That one exception is a water-colour done in the far-off Glasgow days, and he has not used that medium since. One thing remains for him to do — that is, to paint a purely Scottish landscape. He must approach the country in which he was trained as he has approached Morocco and Switzerland, and the result we are con- vinced would be a valuable and interesting contribu- tion to the country of land- scape painters.
Beginning with Guthrie, Walton, Roche, Crawhall, I ). V. Cameron and others of the Glasgow School as a revolutionary against a stereotyped academic tra- dition, Mr. Lavery has never allowed himself to run riot in extravagances. Fully aware of the serious- ness of the art of which he is a disciple as well as a master, he has neither humoured his reputation, nor played pranks with it. He has expressed himself not only in terms of himself, M
but with reverence for the great craft in which he has been hailed as an accredited expositor. He has not attempted what Matthew Arnold called "a laborious moral deliverance," but he has in all seriousness, with a sense of responsibility, delivered his message in paint without selling his artistic soul either to an academy or to a coterie. Though he has passed the halfway house, yet there is youth in his brush, which is emphasised by his rare canvas In Morocco, the veritable apotheosis of all he feels, knows and thinks of life and colour in Tangier. It is a fitting monument for his long artistic career and an earnest of what we may expect in the future, a future as full of promise as in the springtime "at the golden gates of morning."
'.MRS. KENNARD
BV IOHN LAVERY.
■■•
A R
tiich he
redite itor. He
. what Matth ;illed "a
l.mt he has in all
•livered
m >r to a coterie. Though
b) Ins rare - ii I ile apotheosis of all he our in inument for h est of what •
ull i • pri .mise as
m — •
'•THE GREYHOUND .1911i troi.' painting by JOHN LAVERY. R.S.A., A.R.A.
Stephan Sinding
A
NORWEGIAN SCULPTOR: STEPHAN SI N DIN G. BY GEORG BROCHNER.
Stephan Sinding is a native of Drontheim and
a brother of the late Otto Sinding, the painter, and Christian Sinding, the composer — a famous trio. The Sindings hail from a time when Norway was prolific in bringing forth great men in art, in music, in literature, most of whom, however, found it expedient to leave for a while, and some for a long while, their own country, in order to get into closer touch with the movements that stirred their brethren in the luring centres of the great world. But on the whole the strength of these Norsemen remained unsubdued, their pronounced individuali- ties passed unscathed through those mental conflicts which at least in some cases were bound to ensue. Stephan Sinding can speak of this ; he has more, perhaps, than any of his great compatriots, been a rolling-stone, having alternately studied and worked and lived in several large cities — Berlin, Paris,
Rome, Copenhagen. Thoughmu |tha1 confronted
him when he first studied in Paris proved repugnant to him, the French sense of beauty in contours has left some trace in Sinding's work, as against the more severe and stringent constructive rules which prevailed in Germany when as .1 young student Sinding was initiated into the fundamental canons of his art in Berlin.
Stephan Sinding, however, has mostly sought out his own ends, has walked in solitude along his own path. His mind, his imagination, has worked silently, often for many years with some motif which had taken his fancy — in the case of the W'alkiire almost a generation lapsed between its first vague conception and the ultimate consum mation. Over and over again one sketch might be discarded for another until some incidental occurrence brought the coveted and final solution. Here again the Walkiire may serve as an example. His first conception was of the war-maiden riding u[> a mountain, but this idea was abandoned. Sinding felt that, like a storm, she must come
- IK II ! w SINDINI
'7
MOTHER EARTH." BY STEPHAN SINDING
Stephan Sinding
" THE JOY OF LIFE"
BY STEPHAN 5INDINI
sweeping down the mountain, the fierce, joyous anticipation of battle speeding her furious steed. For this purpose the artist took a studio in the Boulevard de Raspail, halfway up the hill, where with the aid of a telescope he could from his window study the horses going downhill, and he spent hour after hour observing these unconscious models. One day six powerful Normandy stallions had pulled up close to Binding's window, when suddenly one of them became restive, giving Sinding an opportunity of modelling there and then from life the bared teeth, the drawn-up upper lip, and the whole peculiar expression of the horse.
Several of Stephan Sinding's most important works, among them Man and Woman and the Walkiire, have already been reproduced in this magazine. The former is probably Sinding's best known work. That, too, attained its consummation only after much futile sketching and modelling. The problem of rendering man and woman wrapt in love, of rendering them in the beauty of natural love, equally far removed from sickly sentimentality and offensive sensualism, has always intensely interested Sinding, and he has varied the concep tion of this motif m several works.
The Barbarian Mother was Sinding's first great work -the most important milestone, 1 suppo his career as an artist (Rome 1S.S2). as Man and Woman was the second. The former, on thi of it, is much more northern in spirit, but neverthe- less it also allows traces of sinding's sojourn in France, as well as of his Teutonic studies.
Sinding's artistic imagination, always sustained by his creative power, spans over a wide field ; at the one pole The Eldest of Her Kin, at the other T/u Joy of Life. The former has run her race ; life's weal and tear have told their tale, and, with the wisdom of many years enshrined in her mind, she serenely awaits the end ; and then the contrast, the young maiden, hi r whole body singing out her ife, her open arms ready to welcome all the happiness it has in store for her.
The line monument, reproduced among our illus trations (p. 20) is by no means the only one from Sinding's hand ; it is possessed of great plastic- beauty and destined. 1 believe, to carry its maker's fame to some distant isle ovi 1 the sea.
THE BARBARI \N MOTHEI
I'll \\ SINDINI
GRAVE MONUMENT OF THE ISENBERG FAMILY. BY STEPHAN SINDING
T
The Royal . icademy Exhibition, rgi4
HE ROYAL ACADEMY EXHI- BITION, 191 4.
It cannot be said that there are any sur- prises in the Royal Academy exhibition this Spring or that it differs to any perceptible extent from its predecessors in the last few years. It is a quite characteristic show, solid and respectable and well up to the average ; it has all the familiar Academy features, and it makes it-- appeal to the public in the way that has been sanctified by long custom. There is not much work in it that can be reckoned as absolutely of the first rank ; there is little that can be dismissed as wholly bad ; for the most part, the things shown are examples of the applica- tion of sound technical principles to the treatment of material which was not particularly worthy of artistic consideration. To the seeker after sensa- tions the exhibition no doubt seems dull and uninspiring, but for the student of art it has a real technical interest, though he will learn from it lessons in craftsmanship rather than new and fruitful ideas of the way in which his craft should be applied.
But to blame the Academy because the work it has brought together is what it is would be unfair. The exhibitions at Burlington House are, after all, only summings-up of what the artists throughout the country are doing, and the Academy is in many ways the most catholic and tolerant art society we have. The exhibition this year includes adequate examples of almost all the schools of practice that count as in any way worth) of recognition ; nearly all the ways of using artists' materials are illustrated, except the devices of those extravagant cliques which by their foolish affectations and want of sanity have put themselves outside the pale. If the exhibition is dull the fault lies with the artists who have submitted their work for selection, and if their work is dull the ultimate blame must be laid upon the public, which does not encourage originality or freshness of effort.
So when people profess to find an Academy exhibition unsatisfying they had better take Ives to task for having forgotten to pro- vide the artists throughout the country with any inducement to break new ground. If then a demand for a more personal type of production there are many men who would be only too glad to supply it ; and the works of these men would give character and interest to the various art exhibitions and would certainly find their way to the Academy, which aims consistently at
What the majority is content to accept will always make- up tin- bulk of the collection at Burlington I — the Academy lives by being popular and must
Do! lead, tin- t.:
obvious, then, that the critics who condemn an bow as a dull thing, without vitality 01 vigorous initiative, are actually n themselves for having failed to fulfil their obligations to the art of the country.
That the Academy is not so v.. dent
a- to lie unwilling even to attempt experiments is shown by certain changes which have been made this year in the arrangi mi nt of the exhi- bition. The most obvious alteration is the transference of the water-colours and black anil white works from the rooms specially built for them a few years ago to two of the galleries previously allotted to oil paintings, and the placing of the more moderate-sized canvases in the water- colour and black-and-white rooms. The most significant one is the hanging of Gallery [V. with some regard for right spacing and for the correct relation of the pictures one to the other. The first change is not particularly to be comn but the other is unquestionably full of great
lilities. If the whole exhibition in the same way the improvement in it-- app would be surprising; and though this sort of spacing might involve a reduction in tin- number of works shown, the sacrifice would be worth making for the sake of those which would be chosen to represent the art of the year.
of the pictures which have a right to be remembered as salient features of the show are by men of well-established reputation tl spectacular first appearances of unknown artists, and there are- few instances in which the younger men who are coming to the front have made an advance. Mr. Sargent, who was reported to have given up portrait painting, has triumphantly re- in this field with two remarkable examples, of which one only, the portrait of Lady Rocksavage, now appears on the wall, the other and important work, a portrait of Henry James, /■'.si/., having on the very first day of the exhibition fallen a prey to thi iale suffragist.
In addition Mr. - brilliant
open-air studies. Cypr tses and Pirns. Sketchers, and San Geretnia. Mr. Sims shows delightfully his imaginative and executive powers in his fai The Little Archer, \ 1 ""■»'
Amours ; Mr. Wati himself full
with his delicately treated Annunciation, his \ ig
The Royal Academy Exhibition, 1914
colour-note The 1 , , and three portraits
the most memorable of which is a charming paint- ing of a child ; and Mr. Aiming Bell fully justifies his reeent election to thi Associateship by the power and dignity of his picture The Man.
Cd/ld.
Then there are landscapes of importance from Mr. Hughes-Stanton, Sir E. A. Waterlow, Mr. Alfred Parsons, Mr. Walter Donne. Mr. Mark Fisher. Mr. J. S. Hill. Mr. Claude Hayes, and Mr. K. \V. Allan : three magnificent studies of atmospheric , Mr \i in -1 >\ Brown, and a group of attractive colour fancies by Mr. David Murray, who me to Venice for most of his subjects. There are some characteristic ami representative canvases by the late Sir Alfred East : and there is a finely i omposed study of wide distance, Ben Ledi ; Early Spring, by Mr. D. Y. Cameron. Mr. Terrick Williams shows two admirable pictures, Sunset St. Ives, and After Vespers: Brittany; Mr. Albert Goodwin a lovely twilight effect. -/ Winter's Talc: Hastings; Mr. Moffat Lindner a wonderful Approaching Storm: Holland; and Mr. A. J. Black a fresh and luminous landscape. Primrose Time in Switzerland; and there are other note- worthj things from Mr. Wynford Dewhurst, Mr. CouttS Mil hie. Mr. X. M. Lund. Mr. Yeend King, Mr. \V. Wells. Mr. J. Walter West. Mr. Robert Little. Mr. James Henry, Mr. Campbell Mitchell. Mr. A. Fricdenson, and Mr. Briton Riviere.
Among the more noteworthy figure-pictures are Mr. ( 'adc igan ( 'c iwper's g< irge< IUS coll iur arrangement. Lucretia Borgia reigns in the 1 'atiean in the absence of the Pope Alexander 1 I, and Mr. Greiffenhagen's Women by a I.ake. both of which have been pur- chased for the Chantrey Lund collection: and of particular interest, too, are Mr. Charles Shannon's Embroidered Shawl, Mr. lames ('lark's A Su miner Idyll, Mr. Edgar Bandy's Antonio Stradivari and Idlers and Workers, Sir J. D. Linton's Check. Mi. Melton fisher's The Coming of Spring, Mr. Shaw ; design foi the acl drop at the London Coliseum, in which he has portrayed a host of celebrities connected with the drama ; the two finely treated interiors Reflections and The Master, by Mr. Richard Jack ; Slumber, by Mr. F. W. l.lwell ; Violets for Perfume, by Mr. La Thangue ; The Dreamer, by Mr. Harold Speed : The End, by Mr. A. Maclean ; the decoration, Hawking, by Mr. Gerald Moira : A Greek Water-carrier in Egypt, by Sir VV. B. Richmond ; In Silk Attire, by Mr. W. E. Webster ; and the water-colours, 77k Judgment, by Mr. Russell Flint, and Beauty Tricks her Finger, by Mr. J. I). Batten. There are some
excellent rustic and fisher-life subjects, too, by Mr. Stanhope Forbes.
In portraits of real note the exhibition is certainly quite as strong as usual. Mr. George Henry sends several which deserve high praise ; Mr. W". Llewellyn, Mr. Hacker, Mr. de Laszlo, Mr. Spencer Watson, Mr. I. J. Shannon, Mr. Solomon J. Solomon, Sir James Guthrie. Mr. Frank I )icksee, Mr. Fiddes Watt. Mr. H. A. Olivier, Mr. Jack, Mr. Harold Speed, and Mr. F. 0. Salisbury are all remarkably well represented ; and there are three splendidly robust paintings by Mr. W. Orpen. Mr. Melton Fisher's portrait study, Winifred, is one of the most charming things in the exhibition : and there is an attractive picture, The Coral Necklace, by Mr. F. M. Skipworth.
The best of the other paintings which ought not to be overlooked are A Stack Barge, Essex, by Mr. Leslie Thomson ; the clever study, The Don Carlos Palace, Venice, by Mr. A. Ludovici ; the large in- terior. The Studio of the Painter, by Mr. La very : Hell Bay, Bryhcr, by the Hon. Duff Tollemache ; The Waterway, by Miss KempAVelch ; The Toast is England, an able work by Mr. Fred Roe ; The Shadowed Hill, by Mr. W. Lee Hankey : the interiors. Room at James Prydes, by Mr. Oswald Birley, and Ante-room to the Studio : Ardilea, by Mr. P. W. Adam : The Mistletoe Bough, by Mr. Mouat Loudan ; and the huge group of the directors of the Krupp Company by the late Sir Hubert von Herkomer, one of those monumental compositions which he could handle better than any artist of our times. It is a great achievement, though, perhaps, it does not quite equal the wonderful picture of the Academy Council which he painted a few years ago and which now occupies a place on the walls of the Tate Gallery at Milbank.
There is in the rooms devoted to sculpture a fair amount of work which claims serious consideration, though, on the whole, the collection there is a little below the average. Mr. Drury, however, Mr. Derwent Wood, Mr. Thornycroft, Mr. Colton, and Sir Thomas brock are all well represented ; there is a delightful little portrait statuette by Mr. Bertram Mackennal. and there are things of im- portance by Sir George Frampton, Mr. Gilbert Bayes, Mr Reid Dick, Sir W. Goscombe John, Mr. Havard Thomas, Mr. F. W. Pomeroy, Mr. Lanteri, Mr. C. L. Hartwell, Mr. S. N. Babb, Mr. Toft, Mr. H. Pegram. and Mr. Reynolds-Stephens, whose Recumbent Monument to the late Viscount Ridley is very characteristic in its decorative qualities. But in the sculpture rooms, as in the rest of the exhibition, there are no surprises.
"D ORE EN, DAUGHTER OF AX DREW S. LAWSON, ESQ." BY J. J. SHANNON. R.A.
PRIMAVERA." BY GEORGE CLAUSEN, R.A.
'THE LITTLE ARCHER." BY CHARLES SIMS, A.R.A.
"ARTHUR BOURCHIER, ESQ." BY SIR HUBERT VOX HERKOMER, R.A.
RICHARD B. FUDGER, ESQ I >F TOR< INTO BY WILLIAM ORPEN, A.R.A.
V:i
'MIDSUMMER." BY ARNESBY BROWN, A.R.A.
THE DEPARTURE OF THE HOP- PICKERS" BY A. J. MUNNINGS
"SPRING." BY GEORGE HENRY, A.R.A.
SILENCE." A TOMB.
BRONZE FIGURE BY W. REID DICK
FOR
THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN- SICILY." BY WALTER DONNE
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THE WATER NYMPH " BY A. C. LUCCHESI
Recent Enamels by Alexander Fisher
S
OME RECENT ENAMELS ALEXANDER FISHER.
Among the increasing though still compara- tively small number of artists who now practise the art of enamelling upon metal Mr. Alexander Fisher occupies a distinguished position, and to him in his capacity as a teacher and practitioner is due in large measure the revival of interest in this branch of art which has taken place in the British Isles during the past dozen years or so. The articles which he contributed to this magazine a \\w years ago, and his more recent book on the subject, have been very instrumental in encouraging others to devote themselves to this fascinating branch of artistic production, and their pursuit of it has been made easier by his rare knowledge and experience of the various methods and processes — some of them extremely complex — which are involved in the art. His own productions, diverse both in de- sign and method of execution, are familiar to all who visit the Royal Academy exhibitions and those of the Arts and Crafts Society, as well as others. In the present exhibition at Burlington House he has an excellent portrait of a lady, in which the flesh tints are admirably rendered. The Academy accepts but few examples of enamelling each year, and those which find their way into its galleries are chiefly works in which the medium is employed for purposes of a more or less pictorial character, but one may hope that the time is not far distant when a more ample representation will be accorded to works of this character.
The examples of Mr. Fisher's work which are here illustrated are selected from a number of things executed recently according to various methods. The panel called The Spirit of the Opal belongs to the lid of a large jewel casket, and here gold and silver in the form of small pieces or " paillons " are used over copper, as is also the case with The Glorification of the Nativity, in which the enamelling is executed by the Limoges method, amplified and extended in the treat- ment. The central idea in this panel is of a mighty event proceeding from 36
BY a seemingly humble and small beginning. The prayer-book cover shown on the same page is in bassetaille enamel on silver. In this process the silver is carved in relief and covered with trans- parent enamels, the whole being then "fired." It is a process which gives much brilliancy and lustre to the enamel, but it is impossible for even a colour reproduction, however excellent, to convey this lustrous effect. The same remark, of course, applies with greater force to the black and white illustration on this page — that of a panel executed with translucent enamels in grisaille over cobalt. The subject is taken from a poem by Young, which runs :
"Where do you come from my little dear? Out of the everywhere into here."
The circular panel called Spring and the rect- angular one called The Garden are both executed by the Limoges method with paillons of silver and gold.
PANEL IN
TRANSLUCENT ENAMELS, GRISAILLE OVER COBALT. ALEXANDER FISHER
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and white
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ENAMEL PANELS -SPRING.' "THE GARDEN." and "THE SPIRIT OF THE OPAL." designed and executed by ALEXANDER FISHER.
.
SILVER PRAYER BOOK COVER V. BASSETAII
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DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY ALEXANDER FISHER.
The Salon of the Societe Nationale
T
HE SALON OF THE SOCIETE N A T I O N A L 1-: D E S B E A IX- ARTS IN PARIS.
The Salon of the Societe Nationale des Beaux- Arts is this year one of exceptional importance. Many members have felt that the Society has not kept up to date, that it has shown a tendenc) to '• the work of the young men — in one word, that it has begun to suffer from senility. It was there fore decided that in order to make room for new exhibitors the number of works by each membei should be limited to four, and that some of the works of decorative art should be accorded space in the best rooms. Hence the entirely novel aspect of the exhibition this year.
While, however, giving a chance to the young painters, the Societe Nationale has striven this year to do honour to deceased members. The two largest rooms are set apart for the works of Gaston La Touche, the regretted president of the section of Painting, who is here represented by a number of his most important canvases, including various decorative works lent by collectors, which have obtained an unqualified and well-merited success. It is a pleasure to praise in La Touche one of the most powerful colourists, one of the most original dicorateurs, and one of the noblest imaginative painters of the French school. There are also a number of works by a painter who died at a less advanced age, and who did not enjoy in his life- time all the honour which was due to him — M. Gaston Hochard, some of whose works our readers may recollect having seen in The Studio. Gaston Hochard was a painter, with a very modern tem- perament, who depicted in pictures, often most appealing in their charm, all the varied scenes of everyday life. Then there is a little retrospective exhibition of pictures by M. Henri Havet, an artist with a singular gift for style and composition and whose palette was one of exceeding delicacy.
Large decorative works are this year less numerous than usual, but among them are some ol gnat im- portance. M. Roll, the President of the Si I xhibits a ceiling destined for the Petit Palais, which he entitles Poisie-Drame ; both in conception and in execution it is a notable work, and certain passages are without equal in the ceuvre of this artisl M. Francis Auburtin has earned many and well-merited encomiums from his brother artists for his large panel, here reproduced, Comme arrive le printemps, a boldly treated work in tones of a light and delii ate greyish blue; rarely has this painter's decorative fantasy expressed itself more happily than in this
garland of little girls, extended across the canvas. Two artists from the South. M. Montenard and M. Dauphin, exhibit large sunny paintings di for the decoration of the Chamber of Comm Toulon. M. Gillot, in his large painting of the Hall de in Ga/r .S7. La-arc, succeeds in wrestii.. inasM^ of smoke the most happy effects of colour. M. Gaston Guignard also has tackled a sub vast dimensions : /.' Embarquement dt bestiaux.
I he woi ks of Lu< ien Simon and Ignacio Zl .11 hung facing each other in the same room. 1 1 en-, therefi ire, we find what are, perhaps, the mi >st remarkable paintings the exhibition contains. /< < marins sur le quai may not appear at first sight to the general public as one of the most attractive of this great colourist's productions, but it is un- questionably one into which he has put the gi meed of subtlety and science. The whole work is marvellously well composed.
Zuloaga remains faithful to subjects of a lofty
■<*
" MMB. KAI'M \l
41
The Salon of the Socictc Nationale
character, and his command of technique advances more and more towards forceful effects, towards powerful contrasts, and towards the most daring juxtapositions of colour. Maurice Barns devant Tolide is eminently characteristic and will take its place among the most famous productions of the Spanish school : nor need one be a great prophet to foretell the widest success for Toreadors de villages.
Besnard, one of the most eminent of our con- temporaries, sometimes exhibits in the Salon great decorative works and at others easel pictures, all revealing the freedom and facility of the master that he is. This year he sends four graceful portraits of women in which he once more affirms an originality and style ever free from eccentricity.
Rene Menard, to whom we owe so many beautiful decorative paintings, exhibits the panel he has been commissioned to execute for a hall of the Faculte de Droit in Paris. It is a twilight effect and the work is one which appeals by its harmony and its beautiful classicism. The same artist's Venise, rue du campanile de Saint-Georges-Majeur is a veritable landscape of light and of water enveloped in a kind of golden haze.
Venice has also been the inspiration of one of our most personal painters — Raffaelli, who, in some bright and sparkling little pictures shows us a Venice in winter which amazes and charms us : San Giorgio sous la neige, le Quai des Esdavons en hirer, and other impressions equally faithful and attractive.
The landscapists at the Nationale form a regular pleiades of original and personal talent. M. Billotte is a painter of delicate symphonies, delighting in evening effects : Le Vieux-pont aux A/nlelvs, En Charente, Avant Forage au Bas-Meudon are charm- ing impressions of nature. M. Leon Lhermitte achieves noble effects always with the most simple tones ; his palette is invariably rich in blacks and in varied greys. Michel Cazin takes his place among our most eloquent painters of the sea : M. Lepere is this year admirably represented ; M. Eugene Clary has a very fine view of Chateau Gaillard ( Petit- Andely) ; M. Andre Dauchez excels in the use of blacks and greys, and no one renders better than he or with greater fidelity and character the landscapes of Lower Brittany ; his Epave, La ville close ( Concarneau ), and Cote de Plomarch are works to be remembered. M. and Mme. Duhem exhibit sunny scenes and flowery terraces ; M. Louis Desmoulin has found inspiration in the colonies and Madagascar in particular, for landscapes full of character. M. Yauthrin shows some masterly seascapes.
The Salon contains a number of memorable
portraits. M. Blanche, whose special exhibition this year has achieved great success, shows the portraits of Mme. Henri Germain, the Comtesse de Xoailles, of the Prineesse J. de Broglie. M. Jean Boldini is represented only by two small canvases, into which, however, he has put all his brilliant virtuosity. M. de la Gandara's portrait of Mme. Jeanne Renouardt is a thing of charming grace and fine execution. Side by side with these portraitists other younger artists take an important place : M. Ablett especially figures with some excellent work, and M. William Malherbe exhibits the portrait of Mme. Raphael Duflos, painted with a clear and charmingly seductive palette.
An entire room has been set apart for the decorative works of Lalique, who has hitherto shown at the Old Salon. His appearance at the Nationale is marked by a very important manifestation — too important to be dealt with here — and we must therefore reserve for a future occasion a review of this artist's fine work. Henri Frantz.
" i iN'DINE " (MARBLE)
BY K. ROCRCOCIN
PORTRAH D1-. MME. G." BY A. BESNARD
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CREPUSCULE" (PANNEAU DECORATIF). BY R. MENARD
( Fondle de Droit, Paris)
MME. fEANNE RENOUARDT" BY A. DE LA GANDARA
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TOREADORS DE VILLAGES BY IGNACIO ZULOAGA
.Architectural Developments in Berlin Suburbs
TAPISSERIE EN LAINES
( 'Sociiti Nationait )
BY MADAME FEKNANDE MAILI.AND
A
RCHITECTURAL DEVELOP- MENTS IX THE SUBURBS OF BERLIN.
The transforming spirit of our day has given Berlin a new physiognomy. All the historical phases of its development under the Hohenzollem dynasty are still to be studied — the baroque buildings from the reign of the Great Elector and the first King of Prussia, the rococo of Frederick the Great, and the classical style which that monarch inaugurated and his successors continued. And now for nearly twenty years the modem movement with its prin- ciples of solid materials, broad facade-surfaces and uniformity of the general street aspect has held sway, and thus the Capital of the Empire appears at first sight to be by no means lacking in variety of architectural effect, though it must impress the visitor as utterly lacking in style in consequence of the individualistic regardlessness with which it has been built up. Yet its very contradictoriness and the electric pulse of life, everywhere perceptible, exercise a strong fascination. Surprises in the shape of interesting novelties are not rare even in the heart of the city, but real revelations await us in the outskirts, especially in the western and south- western suburbs, which, in consequence of the rapid and never-ceasing growth of the capital, have become organic constituents of it. A logical and sane modernism has utterly transformed suburbs like Charlottenburg, Schoneberg, Friedenau, Wil- 52
mersdorf and other places in the neighbourhood of the Spandau forest.
The last-named place especially has quite lately- undergone a complete and remarkable metamor- phosis. Twenty-five years ago it was a modest peasant settlement in the midst of heath and swamp, but to-day it is the favourite abode of the wealthy citizen, and the houses and tenements are in great demand. The new streets here are broad, and the blocks of flats are of a distinguished character and provided with every modern comfort, while special features of the suburb are the parks and numerous fine " Platze," and the charming garden terrace quarter, " The Rhinegau," for which the architect Jatzow has derived fruitful inspiration from English models.
The art of the garden architect has had ample scope for display here as well as in the business streets and in the railway buildings ; in the stately Riidesheimer Platz, with its majestic equestrian group, in the rustic idyll of the Nikolsburger Platz, with its Goose-Girl fountain, in the landscape- character of the Preussen Park, and the sunk garden arrangement of the Olivaer Platz with its enormous central rose-bed, pergola and fountain pool, delightful effects have been achieved. Con- stantly varying plans surprise the promenader and show how high art in the shape of monuments and fountains, and applied art in the form of kiosks, pergolas, garden-houses and seats have crowned utility with grace. Jarxo Jessen.
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. Architectural Developments in Berlin Suburbs
OLIVAER PLATZ, WILMERSDORF, BERLIN
Architectural Developments in Berlin Suburbs
KAISER PLATZ AND PREUSSEN PARK, WILMERSDORF, BERLIN
Architectural Developments in Berlin Suburbs
NIKOLSBURGER PLATZ AND RANKE PLATZ, WILMERSDORF, BERLIN
Studio- Talk
nVv\\*» « ,
PERGOLA, HOHENZOLLERN PLATZ, WII.MEKSI>r>KE, HEKI.IN
STUDIO-TALK. (From Our Own Correspondents.)
LONDON. — Two Associates of the Royal Academy were elected to full membership of that body at a General Assembly held —/ at the beginning of last month — Mr. George Adolphus Storey and Mr. Henry Scott Tuke. Mr. Storey was elected Associate as long ago as 1876, and his promotion takes place when he has completed his eightieth year. A few months ago he was appointed Professor of Perspecti\e to the Academy, a post which was revived by his appointment after being extinct for more than half a century. As a painter his speciality has been the "subject" picture but he has also executed some excellent portraits, a notable one being the portrait of the artist's mother, presented b) the National Art 'His Fund to the Tate Gallery. Mr. Tuke, « In is, pictures of boys bathing in the- si -a are always a popular feature of the summer exhibitions, was born in 1858 and elected Associate in 1900. Two of his pictures have been purchased undi 1 liantrey Bequest.
The Old Water-Colour Society has lust an
esteemed member through the death ol Mr. E. R. Hughes, a nephew of Mr. Arthur Hughes, and like him closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. " Ted " Hughes, as he was known among his friends, was elected an Associate of the Society in 1891 and a full member in 1895 ; he made a distinguished place for himself as a painter of romantic subjects.
Although there was nothing particularly exciting in the exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers, it deserves to be remembered for its well -sustained interest and its
lllj high level of merit. A gnat deal 0 work was included in it work sound in inb and admirable in accompl md there was
very little which could be dismissed as merely extravagant or absurdly fantastic. The pictures most WO id were Mr. I ). Y. ( .111
1 landscapi . Vorlich Autumn, Mr. Janus l'rvde's The Court- yard, Mr. Henry Bishop's delightful tone studies, Tranquillity and Early Morning: Tetuan, Mr. Oliver Hall's R 'lie Westmorland I
Mr. Glyn Philpot's curiously treated fantasy, The Forsaken Goddess, .mil Mr. E. II. Kenninj
5 7
'A STODART-WALKER, ESQ., M.A., CHAIRMAN" OF THE SCOTTISH MODERN ARTS ASSOCIATION" BY SIR JAMES GUTHRIE, P.R.S.A.
(International Society's Exhibition )
Studio-Talk
clever Costermongers : and there were other things like San Gimignano, by Mr. Alfred Withers, Old Houses, Venice, and L'art Feminin, by Mr. Ludovici, Sleep, by Mr. Douglas Robinson, and the large Flmverpiece, by Mr. W. B. E. Ranken, which were of very definite interest. Of the portraits and portrait studies the most notable were Mr. Orpen's brilliant Mrs. Carstairs, Mr. F. Whiting's The Amateur Rider, Mr. A. Jamieson's 77/ • Crimson Cloak, Mr. Gerald Kelly's The Black Shawl and Portrait Study, Mr. G. W. Lambert's Important People, Mr. Howard Somerville's In the Studio, Mr. W. W. Russell's The Shawl, Mrs. Rackham's The Strazv Hat, and Sir James Guthrie's excellent portrait of A. Stodart IValkei, Esq. , painted for the Scottish National Collection of Modem Art, and reproduced among our illustrations this month (opposite). The study A Young Girl, by Mr. W. L. Bruckman, deserves a special note for its beauty of technical quality and its charm of manner. A few important paintings by deceased artists were also shown — among them Don Quixote, by Daumier, a fine Interior by Alfred Stevens, and the magnificent portrait of Mrs. Heugh, by Millais.
There was sculpture by M. Rodin, M. du Chene de Vere, Mr. Glyn Philpot, Mr. Derwent Wood, and a few other artists ; and there were lithographs by Mr. Pennell, Mr. Copley, and Mr. Spencer Pryse, water-colours by Mr. H. M. Livens, Mr. W. Monk, Mr. F. Whiting, Mr. Bellingham Smith, Mr. E. Dulac, and the late Joseph Crawhall, and drawings in various mediums by Mr. A. S. Hartrick, Mr. Charles Shannon, Mr. G. W. Lambert, and Mr. A. McEvoy.
When a painter has become recognised for a certain kind of work the public at large is inclined to view with some disapprobation any departure he may make from the familiar ground. For a really sincere artist it is discouraging to find his efforts towards a novel expression met with some lack of the appreciation that would inevitably be accorded him did he continue to repeat the accustomed subjects. One of the most interesting and versatile of contemporary artists, Mr. W. Lee Hankey, has been gradually developing on lines different from those of the very beautiful low-toned pictures — generally of cottage mothers and children — which
ENTRANCE TO GIPSY QUARTER, C'.RANADA
Olt PAINTING BY W. IKE HANKEY
59
Studio-Talk
■ \1 ILK Minx LIGHT
OIL PAINTING BY W. LEE HANKF.V
we used so often to delight in seeing, and he will shortly be exhibiting at the Baillie Gallery a series of vigorous and sunny impressions of outdoor life in Spain, France, and Belgium. Rich, full colour and bold pattern characterise these latest productions of the artist, of which we illustrate three admirable examples. The brilliance and movement of The Performing Bear make it a canvas of great interest, and both Afternoon Light and Entrance to Gipsy Quarter, Granada, are typical of the joyous feeling that inspires his work in general. An unusual composition, restrained and beautiful in colour, is The Shepherdess, which will figure in the exhibition, and another memorable work is a charming twilight effect, a group of Concameau fisherwomen. Besides oil-paintings Mr. Lee Hankey is showing a number of most attractive water-colours on linen. Here we find the same charm of colour added to a peculiarly beautiful quality of technique, giving to bis works in this medium a special attractiveness of their own. Mr. Lee Hankey is a purist in the use of water- 60
colour, and these delightful productions deserve a great success.
The Society of Mural Decorators and Painters in Tempera has just held its annual exhibition in the new hall which the Art Workers' Guild has built in the rear of No. 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury. The hall, designed by Mr. Troup primarily for the periodical gatherings of the Guild and its offshoot the Junior Art Workers' Guild, is excellently adapted for such an exhibition as that which has just been held in it. Only a comparatively small proportion of the entire membership contributed to it, but the collec- tion comprised numerous items of unusual interest, such as Mr. Cayley Robinson's two designs for the entrance to Middlesex Hospital, Comfort the Orphan and Rejoice with the Happy : Mrs. Stokes's charm- ing cartoon in tempera, Ehret die Frauen ; Mr. Reginald Frampton's Our Lady of Promise and The Crucifixion, both in spirit fresco over plaster ot Paris on wood ; Sir Charles Holroyd's Venus lamenting the death of Adonis ; Mr. J. I ). Batten's
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Studio-Talk
"THE TRAVELLING CIR( I S MOVE!
( Three Arts Club)
WATER-I'UI nl'R liY c'.I.AHYS A. PINKS
large work Pandora ; various examples ot Miss Jessie Haver's fascinating art, including a Madonna and Child of great charm ; a pair of Censing Angels by Mr. Aiming Bell ; and Mr. Southall's San Gimignano. Prof. Image, Comm. Walter Crane, Miss Mabel Esplin, Mr. Maxwell Armfiekl, Mr. !•'. ( ). Salisbury. Mr. Bernard Sleigh, Mr. Allan F. Vigers, and Mrs. Bernard Jenkin were among other contributors of work that claimed attention.
Robinson. Besides contributions by well-known artists like Orpen, Nicholson, Brangwyn, Short, Spencer Pryse, James Pryde, Frampton, and Prof. Lanteri, the show contained good work by Phyllis Barron, Margaret Dalgleish, Dorothy Jerrold, Hilda Kidman, Mrs. Kingsley Tarpey, Irene Ryland, Dorothea Sharp, M.Watson Williams, Ethel Wright and others, both painting and craft work being well represented.
The Second Annual Exhibition of the Three Arts Club Exhibition Society, which was held at , the Muiklox Street Galleries recently, differed from the Inaugural Exhibition in one important particular, namely, by the inclusion of a number of works by deceased masters, kindly lent by various collectors. While it was a great pleasure to see the fine Cazin, and the beautiful things by Jai in.-. Harpignies, Fantin, Millet, Whistler, &c, the unity and coherence of the exhibition would perhaps have been better maintained had 11 been restricted solely to works by members of the Society. We reproduce Miss Ruth Hollingsworth's Odette, a delightfully painted (to which, however, the background affords rather too insistent an ac- companiment), The Travel- ling Circus J Softs On, by Miss Gladys A. Pinks, and a broadly treated landscape bj Miss E. Fothergill
The Spring Exhibition at the Goupil Gallery consisted almost entirely of works by modern French masters ; it was very well selected, and was
I ANDSC Mi: PAINTING
.,11 kobINSON
I ts Club)
63
Studio-Talk
( Three Arts Club)
OIL PAINTING BY Rl'TH HOLLINGSWORTH
full of canvases of memorable quality. The most remarkable, perhaps, were the two landscapes by Daubigny, Les Bords de la Seine and Bords de .Riviere, delightful examples of his work at its best ; but there were as well two very good examples of Diaz, some characteristic Corots, a charming colour- note by M. Le Sidaner, Maisons sur la Riviere, Gisors, a characteristic little Meissonier, Le foucur de Guitare, a subtle and delicate study, Port de Fao/i, Finistere, by Boudin, a fine note of colour and light, Les Berges de la Seine a Lavacourt, by Monet, an acceptable Sisley, Le Ca/iai Saint Martin, and a typically expressive and accomplished picture by Lhermitte, Les Lavandieres des Bords de la Marne. The exhibition altogether had an atmosphere of quiet and serious mastery which was very enjoyable. 64
At the same gallery there were on view last month a number of water-colours, drawings, and lithographs by Mr. John Copley and Miss Ethel Gabain. The best things in this collection were Mr. Copley's water-colours, Sanctuary, Two English- men, and The Promenade, and his drawing, The Death of Don Quixote, and the cleverly expressive drawings by Miss Gabain. The lithographs were on the whole less acceptable, though among them were many by both artists which showed a serious appreciation of the technicalities of the art and a genuine effort to overcome the problems it presents.
The Society of Graver-Printers in Colour recently held its fifth annual exhibition of members' colour- prints in the Galleries of Messrs. Goupil and Co. Bedford Street. The Society is not a large one
Studio-Talk
and the absence from the exhibition of no fewer than twelve members, some of them of considerable prominence in the sphere of work which has led them to associate together, might under ordinary circumstances have seriously affected the interest of the show. As it was, however, the exhibits, though they numbered only sixty-two, included numerous examples of colour-printing from both wood and metal which were very pleasing in subject-matter and also interesting on the score of technique. Mr. YV. Giles, who has developed a method of producing prints from metal plates in relief, showed a couple of prints by this method, which he has employed with a very effective result in The Old Basilica in the Apennines, and Mr. Giles also showed two attractive prints by the same process. Among other items to be noted were Mr. Frederick Marriott's sand-ground etchings, Archway at Moret and Moonrise, his mezzotint Falaise by Night, and his etching of The Chateau, Montbazon ; Mr. Alfred Hartley's Harvesting and The Glade; Mr. Lawrenson's aquatint, Gateway of the House of Rabelais, Chinon ; Mr. Sydney Lee's aquatint, The Chunk Tower; Mr. Woolliscroft Rhead's The Mermaid and other prints : the wood prints of Mr. E. A. Verpilleux, Mr. Hans Frank, and Miss Miriam Deane ; Mr. W. Monk's Riclunond Bridge (line and aquatint) ; Mr. Mackie's block-print caprices in the manner of Greek vases and the prints of Mr. Theodore Roussel and Mr. Raphael Roussel.
In a recent issue we illustrated an example of wood sculpture by Mr. Alec Miller, of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire, in the shape of the statue of a palmer or pilgrim, the work being a commission for Urswick Church in Lancashire. In the meantime he has completed a carved oak door for the same church, and of this we now give an illustration. The door, like the figure just mentioned, is part of a general scheme of restoration which has been in progress during the past six or seven years, under the supervision of Mr. D. J. Brundrit, architect, of Ulverston, who is responsible for the scheme. The work so far accomplished in- cludes altar rails, choir stalls, reredos and panelling,
r 1 Mrreen, organ-case, outside doors, and the
door here shown, the joinery being by a local artisan, while all the carving has been done by Mr. Miller. The Annunciation panel in the vestry door is carved in about one-inch relief, the rail below with the little angels being only about a quarter of an inch in relief. The restoration of Urswick Church has been carried out mainly through the generosity of Miss S. J. Petty, of Ulverston.
Chipping Campden, where Mr. Miller has carried out the work just mentioned, is an old market town situated about 500 feet above sea-level on the northern end of the Cotswolds, and is remarkable as being one of the few places — if not, indeed, the only place — in the kingdom where a Summer School of Arts and Crafts is held. The school has been carried on since 1906 under the auspices of the public educational authorities, and usually starts the second week in August and lasts four weeks. The subjects taught are goldsmithing, silversmithing, jewellery, and enamelling, and other branches
CARVED OAK DOOR TO VESTRY AT URSWICK
( 1111:' 11, I \\< ISH1R1 . Dl SIGNED BY I>. J.
BRUNDRIT, A.R.I. B.A., I IRVED BY ALKC
MILLER
65
Studio-Talk
of metal-work, together with carving in wood and stone, and the instruction, which is intended mainly Cor the serious student, is given by competent pro- il craftsmen.
BRADFORD. — The two-handled cup which is illustrated on this page is an excellent example of metal-work by .Mr. Ernest Sichel, of Bradford, and was recently
shown at an exhibition in the Corporation Art Gallery, Cartwright Hall. 1 1 stands just over a foot high and has been carried out partly in repousse and partly in cast silver. The lid is surmounted by a female figure playing on double pipes, while the handles are formed by li/ards, which, like their distant relatives the snakes, are supposed to be susceptible to the charms of music ; here they are climbing on arrow-head leaves, these leaves also forming a band round the top of the cup. The figure was cast by the cire perdue process and chased.
and the redoubtable Parisian concierge — being rendered with greater truth and fidelity — at times even with brutality. M. Lucien Jonas has been successful in underlining with mordant emphasis the faults, the weaknesses, and occasionally the vices of these professions as they reveal themselves in the human physiognomy. This artist ranks among our most bitter and accurate humorists.
Rene Seyssaud, one of that modern Provencale school which is so rich in picturesque and vigorous talents, has been showing, after months of seclusion and efforts towards the ideal, some figure paintings "as beautiful in expression as they are powerful in technique," to quote the words of M. Arsene Alexandre in his preface to the catalogue of this interesting artist's work. " A great painter passes among us ; " he adds, " let us not store up for ourselves the regret of not knowing and honouring him." H. F.
PARIS. — In mentioning at random the names of distinguished artists most popularly known in France by drawings of a humorous nature, that of Auguste Roubille will unhesitatingly be included. Despite the jesting character of his drawings on the covers as well as the inside of various jocular journals, he is nevertheless an artist with a profound sincerity of thought, and his work perhaps gets nearer to the true relation of art to life than much which pedantically poses with a superficial seriousness in massive gold frames. The accompanying coloured reproduction is an excellent facsimile example of one of his characteristic sketches. E. A. T.
One of the most important pictures in this year's Salon of the Societe des Artistes Francais is the portrait group, reproduced on p. 69, by Paul Michel Dupuy, one of the most noteworthy pupils of Bonnat. The natural pose of these three young girls, whose light dresses stand out against the azure of the Basque sky, combined with the delight- ful modelling of the faces, gives a most happy impression of freshness and harmony among the multitude of other works often, alas ! so conventional in manner.
One of the most vigorous realists, Mons. Lucien Jonas has just been exhibiting at the Galerie Allard a series of two hundred and fifty scenes of pro- vincial or popular life. One cannot conceive of the physiognomies and popular types in France — the lawyer, the doctor, the Academician, the notary 66
SILVER CI'!'. DESIGNED AM) EXECUTED BY ERNEST
SICHEL
( The property of H. Behrens, £.«/.. Bradford)
E
*. — — -*
B
truth and fii
rich in j>:
nowing a
SKETCH BY A. ROUBILLE
(Sou'<!/<! des Artistes Fi an, ai Salon, n)i i)
PORTRAIT GROUP. BY PAUL MICHEL IH'PUY
Studio- Talk
COPENHAGEN. — The movement in 1 >anish ceramics inaugurated some time ago by Arnold Krogh still continues because of its power and beauty. It is, however, none the less interesting to notice how younger and, if one may use the expression, " newly discovered," artists, carried along by the same impetus, are at the present day striking out in new directions, though still embodying in their work the best traditions of the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory.
One of the most conspicious of these younger artists is undoubtedly Gerhardt Henning, and the story of his first connection with Danish ceramic art is highly interesting. Of Swedish ancestry, he received his artistic training in Copenhagen. While staying in Rome some five or six years ago, he saw in a shop window a figure of a nodding mandarin which had taken his fancy. Being unable to afford the high price demanded by the shop-keeper, he resolved to make a similar figure for himself. An artist connected with the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory, who by chance saw this figure, persuaded Henning to send it to the factory, where it was at once recognised as an artistic work of rare merit, and negotiations were at once opened to enlist his services.
long been working, representing a centaur clothed in a scaberac, was destroyed by him one night in desperation at not being able to embody what he considered the right expression. The design was conceived with rare imagination, and unfortunately it is lost to the world. One of his last pieces is a group representing a semi-rococo figure with a nude girl, alluring by reason of its beautiful modelling and the decoration in harmonious combination. His over-glaze decoration inaugurates a new style and is surely destined to make its mark in the future.
Gerhardt Henning strikes out a new path for himself, actuated by his knowledge of modern art and past triumphs. His visits to many of the European collections have set before him standards
Gerhardt Henning's productions are inspired by the passionate love which he bears for his work. Rarely has an artist shown such exquisite refinement of expression, such con- scientiousness in technique and such reverence and love of his art. The fact that he is not particularly pro- lific is hardly surprising, but on the other hand, the artistic value of his work is so much the greater.
Following his early figure of the mandarin, the next work which Henning created was the well-known Nymph and Faun, and this was succeeded by the little Weeping Faun, the Girl with a Mirror, Chinaman and Woman, and last but not least The Princess and the Pea. A figure on which he had 70
"GIRL WITH A MIRROR.
MODELLED AND PAINTED BY GERHARDT HENNING
(Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factor}')
(Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory)
NYMPH AND IAIN.' MODELLED AND PAINTED BY GERHARDT HENNING
Studio-Talk
^. „ |
|
> |
■^Sfk |
-"■ — |
^^Jfc |
PORCELAIN GROUP MODELLED AND PAINTED BY GERHARDT HENNING
(Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory )
of excellence, and in striving to emulate the master- pieces of the world, he has yet been able to impress unmistakably on each piece of work his own individuality. He is a master of his technique and his skill in decoration is in no way inferior to his masterful modelling. The highest achievement of the craftsman is to govern the material in which he works, and Gerhardt Henning has accomplished this in such a way that one cannot imagine that the « lay and the fire can be other than subjected to his will. A. ('.
BRUSSELS. — Since the publication of the Special Winter numbers of The Studio of 1 900- 1 and 1902, respectively devoted to Modern Pen Drawing and Modem Etchings, the art of Black and White in Belgium has achieved a considerable importance. Certain of the artists whose work was illustrated in those two volumes have developed or have altered the direc- tion of their efforts, while others have come forward bringing new perfections of technique or novel interpretations of what the great poet Emile Yerhaeren calls the Multiple Stletideur.
of L'Estampe, so admirably organised by Robert Sand. The founding of the tercle bearing this title has been a happy event for Belgian art, for it has grouped together the isolated efforts of several artists of first rank, of whom the public at large was entirely ignorant, for the reason that in large exhi- bitions the Black and White section is, as a rule, relegated to an unimportant position.
The cercle of L'Estampe maintains an excellent custom of exhibiting each year, side by side with the works of its members, the productions of certain of the masters of the past or of some of the eminent contemporary foreign artists. This year two names were inscribed at the head of the catalogue — J. B. Corot and J. Pennell. The etched work of Corot is but little known to the public, yet nevertheless it is equal to his painting — with which all are familiar — in elegance, in style and even in colour. It is through the Salons of L'Estampe that connoisseurs in Brussels have become acquainted with that great artist Joseph Pennell. Following upon his series of factories and great industrial enterprises, and his views of modern cities, he showed on this occasion visions of an epic and grandiose archaism.
It would be unjust not to refer in the first place to the important part which has been played in this remarkable development by the annual Salons 72
I Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory)
Studio-Talk
• l.ES PINS HI HAVRE I'K ROTHENEI
KTClIINe. IIY \1 HKK I 1 > I . I - I \M ill
In the forefront of those artists whose work in this branch has not already been dealt with in the articles in the Special numbers of The Studio, we must mention De Bruycker, Delstanche, Mignotand I hiriau. The contributions of the Ghent etcher, De Braycker, were remarkable. " His large plate Sous U chateau des (.'mutes a Gaud" wrote the regular critic of 1' Art Moderne, "is one of his mosl surpris ing and most impressive achievements. With this amazingly gifted artist his handling of the medium
lias rapidly increased in dexterity, up to such
a point as to become concealed; it disappears beneath the impression which emanates from the work as a whole, and one forgets to scrutinise the technique in complete abandonment to the extraordinary charm which radiates from these Strange and moving positions." Di Bn
seems at times to draw inspiration from the picturesque romanticism of Gustave I lore, and in his way of magnifying portions of architecture he adopts something of the Brangwyn manner, but by his own natural gifts this Ghent artist dominates these reminiscences and his individualit) seems to be more apparent in ea< h wi irk,
The large plates by Albert Delstanche, his Pins du hdvre de Rotheneuf in particular, show the great pi is made, as do also his , hai m
ingly ingeniou i i loured wood prints. The contri bution of V. Mignot was, as usi ed of a
ot works. Few Belgian etchers possess his familiarity with different techniques and so wide a choice of styles ani
that Le Bassin de Versa p rhaps the finest
73
"SOUS LE CHATEAU DES COMTES A GAND." FROM AN ETCHING BY DE BRUYCKER
Studio-Talk
its luminous distances, and Ter/i gave us a portrait and one of his brilliant nude studies, painted in the divisionist method. In the next room we found Arturo Noci, a brilliant Roman artist, \\ hose- work at the Secession I had oc- casion to mention last year : he had this year a portrait study and landscapes of Burano and Terracina. Uiscovolo's landscape here, with its exquisitely finished drawing, and Nicola D'Antino's little bronzes of dancing-girls called for notice ; but the finest painting of the room, and I would almost say ot the exhibition, was the Chiesa d'Oro, a wonderful view ot S. Marco at Venice by the Venetian Pietro Fragiacomo.
"the enchanted sea'
BY UMBERT
colour etching produced in Belgium. Lastly, one of the best pupils of the master-graver A. Danse, the etcher Duriau, collected a large ensemble of works, comprising portraits drawn with care and Italian scenes selected with discernment, proving the talent and sincerity of this meritorious artist.
F. K.
ROM E. — The second exhibi- tion of the Secession at Rome, opened by the King in person on March 21, more than maintained the standard of the inaugural display of last year. It was rather cleverly arranged in a "crescendo' of modernity. In the first room one found some excellent work by such world-known Roman painters as Mancini (The Sewing-Girt) and Onorato Carlandi (two fine studies of the Campagna). Paolo Ferretti in the same room treated the Campagna with
The third and fourth rooms were set apart for the Austrian Seces- sionists. One of them, exquisitely draped and carpeted in deep rich blues, was devoid of paintings ; but in the room beyond, framed by the doorway, emerged a delicious bit of colour — the portrait of a young girl by Gustav Klimt. The fifth room, however, provided the greatest attraction of the exhibition ; for this
BY C. T. i
75
Studio-Talk
"THE WINNOWERS
was entirely devoted to the paintings ot Camillo Innocenti, an artist of whom we have seen little at Rome during recent years — for Paris has now claimed him. Gabriel Mourey wrote of him in Paris : " It may be that you are at first surprised, almost disconcerted, by the lyrical passion of his language ; but I cannot believe that if you lend him a little attention you will be long before you are conquered by the new sonority of the vocabulary which he uses, and attracted by the music, so
grandly suggestive, so fecund in hitherto un- known expressions, which escapes from all his works." This passage exactly illus- trates the effect which I have found created by these works. Innocenti is a colourist of the first rank, whose works, even if they suggest the influence of Anglada (though Mancini was actually his first direct inspirer), are absolutely and individually original. Among the pictures just exhibited The White Room and the Black Ribbon re- newed those cool Whist- lerian silver-greys which we noted at Rome in his pictures of 1 9 1 1 ; but in the Pearl Dress, in which Mme. Innocenti is his model, in the Emeralds, an Arabian Nights motive, Tlie Sultana, the Evening in Paris and Yellow Light, we had a series of works which, set in their dull gold frames against a background of primrose yellow, were astonishing in their beautv and richness of colour.
."ARI.O PETRUCCI
In the sixth room one encountered the work of Lionne, a colourist of no mean order, as his painting of a Trastevere Girl proved, the Venetian Scattola, Frieseke, Grassi and Laurenzi. In Sala
BY PAOLO FERRETTI
Studio-Talk
" DEER BY MORI I KIM /!AN
(Sold in the recent tan /ion sale at the Hongiaanji Temple, Kyoto, for 8500 yen)
IX Umberto Prencipe had an admirable and poetic sea-piece, The Enchanted Sea ; and Signora Amalia Besso, who has just been exhibiting in London at the Ryder Gallery, another sea-piece, The Return of the Boats.
In sculpture, we had this year among representa- tives from across the Alps, Rodin, Bartholome, Bourdelle, and Victor Rousseau, who shewed an admirable little bronze of a nude lad called Summer ; while prominent among the Italian i xhibitors were Arturo Dazzi with a marble portrait bust, D'Antino, already mentioned, and Amleto Cataldi with a Dancing Girl, which showed all this artist's feeling for grace in the finely modelled torso. A young sculptor of promise, obviously influenced by Rodin, Mario Montececa, appeared as a new-comer in the exhibition.
even Russia look part with the nanus o) Matisse and Cezanne as protagonists in this artistic movement. Boldini and Petrucci appeared in these rooms, the former with all his wonted brilliance, the latter always admirable in his de< orative feeling. Anion" the Tuscans Plinio Xomcllini was scarcely at his best this year, but Chini had an Eastern Dancing Girl which was delicious in its colour. S. I!.
KYOTO, lb.- fourth public sale of the treasures of Count Otani, the Lord Abbot of the Nishi Hongwanji. took place recently in the main temple building in Kyoto. There were seven hundred and !ill\ items, more than fifty of which were classified as Hongwanji meibutsu, meaning thereby, the historical or special treasures of that temple. There was ,1 great variety of art objects: paintings and
The remaining rooms brought one in the midst ^^m of the art of revolt, in which " young Etruria "as " peacock on \ rock " by m itsumura g
well as Bologna, Yenetia, groups from Rome and tle,23<30yenj
77
Studio-Talk
■' DAKUMA BY BOKKEI
I On, of the 'pedal treasures [M, i- hutsii] of the Hengwanji Temple : sold in the recent auction sale for 50.000 yen = nearly £^oooj
works of calligraphy, lat-quer and bronze ware, accessories for the tea ceremony (cha-no-yu), masks and dresses for the No drama, a collection ofnetsuke, &c.
The Nishi Hongwanji has long been famous for the possession of a most mag- nificent collection of masks, costumes and other accessories of the Xo drama. In splendour and completeness, as well as in its historical interest, the collection was hardly surpassed by any other in the world. A substantial part of it has been handed down from Taiko Hideyoshi, under whose military supremacy the art of Japan flourished, embellishing its his tor v with
the rich legacy of the splendid art of the Momoyama court. Therefore, it was not to be wondered at that a petition was sent, though without the desired effect, to the Government to provide means for purchasing the whole collection of No masks and costumes that it might be kept in its entirety in a national museum. Indeed, there was a tragic silence on the two No stages that stood looking into the temple halls where the us brocade and expressive masks by ancient masters lay scattered for sale. That glorious collection ot rich brocade has now been scattered all over the world never to be brought together again — scattered even like the crimson leaves of the maple of Arashiyama. famous for its autumn tints, when the mighty blasts of November "seize them and whirl them aloft and sprinkle them " over the hills and the River Katsura.
There were thirty sets of Xu masks, consisting of one hundred and eighty-eight pieces, most of which were carved by master artists. Among the seven sets of omote or riotnen (the No masks) which have been
St- r, t* i) l
,» !
*. '- L
f ■
BY MARUYAMA OKVO (Nishi Hongwanji sale, 3700 yen J
Studio- Talk
Zeigan, Kantan-otoka, Yase-onna, Skakumi, Dq/i, Kogasshiki by Zekan : Suji-otoko and Mikazuki by Tokuwaka ; Yama-uba, Old Woman, Zeigan and Thin Man by Higoori, and Naki-zo by Iseki. There were also other cawm/V by such mask-carvers as Fukurai, Bunzo, Manko, Deme, Tenjo, Chuko, Naito, Sanboko, and Konoye.
c ARVEP RED 1 ACQUER I ABLE
( Nishi Hongwanji tale, ij8g yen)
handed down from the Great Hideyoshi, there were Yorimasa, Okina, Kotenjin and Otenjin by Tatsuemon ; Yama-uba, Hawk, Sho jo, Tobide, O-beshime, Ko-beshime and Heida by Shakuzuru ;
CARVED RED LACQUER I Alii E
I Nishi Hongwanji sale, iSXaym)
COMPl !•. II. BET
(Nishi Hongwanji sale. 131 1 yen )
Of twelve pieces of No costume descended from Hideyoshi six were labelled isho (costume), four kari- ginu (hunting costume) and two han-giri (brocade trousers). There wi re besides more than two hundred pieces of No costumes, all rich with gold and silver yet with their g< irgei msness subdued by harmonious colour and him sted with that deep aristocratic tone whii h \m- find exclusively in the besl of old No costumes. There was also a complet dresses for the Chinese rs. It is said thai this was one of the three sets that were donated by the King of < !orea to 79
Studio- Talk
DRESSES WORN BY PERFORMERS IN Till: "No" PLAY (TEMP. TAIK0 HIDEYOSHI, 16TH CENTURY A.D.) (Nishi Hongwanji sale, 778 and 1SS5 yen)
Hideyoshi, one now being in the possession of the Marquis Inouye and the other of Marquis Kuroda.
There were some magnificent examples of lacquer ware with exquisite mature in gold, boxes decorated with landscapes and there were also various excellent carved red-lacquer tables and tray.--. As in the former sales, there were on this occasion some fine paintings on silk. That which attracted
the greatest attention was a small kakemono, a Daruma by Bokkei. It had once been in the possession of Shogun Yoshimitsu, who is said to have admired it greatly. Among a number of excellent paintings by Chinese and Japanese artists may be mentioned : Fugen Bosatsi/ by Chang Ssu Kung, Dragon Arhat by Xan-Chung, a waterfall by Okyo, Peacock on a Rock by Matsumura Goshun, screens handed down from Hidevoshi and others
01 rSIDE AND INSIDE OF THE LID OF A GOLD-LACQUERED BOX (A pair of these boxes sold for io,$00yen in the Nishi Hongwanji sale)
So
Reviews ami Notices
"NO DRESS. TEMP. HIDEYOSHI ( Xishl Hongwanji sale, 1400 yen )
painted by Sanraku, all of which have been well known as Hongwanji meibutsu, or special treasures of the temple. There were a number of other paintings, among which the following may be mentioned : landscapes by Tannyu, Deer by Mori Tetsuzan, Carp and other subjects by Maruyama Okyo, and A Pheasant by Hoitsu by Sosen.
Harada Jiro.
REVIEWS AND NOTICES. Oriental Rugs, Antique ami Modern. By Walter A. Hawley. (New York :
John Lane Company. London: John I. am.) 425. net. — This well illustrated volume will be found of great value in enabling students and collectors to ap- praise the especial characteristics in design and make of the varied pro ductions of Eastern carpet looms. Chapters are de- voted to such informing subjects as Materials and Wea\ ing, 1 (esigns and Symbols, Persian, Asia
Minor, Caucasian, Central
Asian, Indian and Chinese
rugs, and to the purchasing
and distinguishing of various
makes. The illustrations
ini lude many charming
examples, chiefly from
American collections, and
among them are eleven
plates in facsimile colours. ially beautiful and
full of suggestion is Plate VI representing a six teenth-century Persian "garden" carpet. It is thus described : "The pattern represents a Persian garden divided into four sections by two intersecting streams which are bordered by cypress trees alter nating with bushes on which are birds. These sections are similarly divided by smaller streams that meet at the four pavilions of each side into plots containing trees and flowering bushes. Four peacocks rest above the central basin." The manner in which the subject has been conventionalised so as to render it thoroughly satisfactorj as a decorative scheme for carpet weaving is really marvellous : the carpet is, in short, a consummate work of art. The Colour-plate IX, which is supposed to illustrate a Samarkand rug, requires
•• NO" M \nKs forming part of a ■in'- '
HONGWANJI TEMPLE, KV .AM SOLD IN rHE RECEN1 5AL1 "I ITS TR1
THE ABOVE BEING VMONG rHOSE DATING FROM THE TIME OF THE GREAT HIDEYOSHI
8l
Reviews and Notices
some comment. The rug was made in Khoten to the south of Yarkand. Examples of this type are frequently described in error as Yarkand, Kashgar
or Samarkand. They are particularly interesting in design as the) combine motifs which may be traced to China, Tartary and India. These rugs may be easily distinguished from other Central Asian kinds, apart from the designs, the pile being shorter and more closel) woven. Silk rugs also come from this district, but are very rarely obtainable.
The Inner Life of the Royal Academy, By George Dunlop Leslie, R.A. (London: John Murray.) lo.f. 6d. net. — Mr. Leslie, who is now in his eightieth year, was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy forty-six years ago: eight years later he became a full member, and in that capacity has five times served on the Council, or ten years in all. His father, who died in 1859, joined the Academy in 1S21, and was an R.A. for over thirty years. Both father and son were students in the schools, and thus their successive association with the Academy covers an entire century. Mr. Leslie can therefore lay claim to an acquaintance direct or indirect with the " Inner Life " of that body- such as probably no other member has enjoyed since its foundation in 1768. His book teems with reminiscences of distinguished artists with whom from the days of his boyhood onwards he h is ciiinc into touch, and having drawn freely upon his father's stock of recollections he gives many interesting glimpses of others who departed before his time — such as Fuseli, who as Keeper had charge of the school when Wilkie. Mulreadv, Ettv, 1 .andseer, Haydon and Leslie/<"w were students and benefited by his policy of "wise neglect." In the opening chapters the author sketches in a pleasant way the vicissitudes through which the schools have passed from these early days until the present time, but those which follow on the annual exhibitions will perhaps appeal to a wider circle of readers and 1 spec ially to that very numerous throng of artist-- who. in the early days of spring submit their works to the scrutiny of the Council often. Mr. Leslie, as may be expected, warmly defends the system of selec- tion which he fully describes. It is evident, he says, "that the academicians possess the confidence of the general body of artists of all denominations from the ever-increasing number of works that are yearly submitted for their adjudication." There may be some who will demur to this inference, but no one will deny that the task of selection, always an arduous one, is conscientiously discharged. Portraiture, as he points out, is almost the only branch of art in which a livelihood can be obtained 82
in these days, and it is hardly fair for critics to blame the Council of the Academy for not having more works of poetic and imaginative character on its walls. " If these grumblers could only see the material with which the Councils have to deal, and hear the unfeigned cheers of delight with which any work of more than ordinary originality or imagination when it comes before them is hailed, they would at least allow that these members of the Academy were doing their very best to render the ensuing exhibition as fine and as interesting as they possibly could." Of varnishing days at various periods Mr. Leslie has much to say that will be read with interest. His first experience of them was in the forties, when as quite a young boy he was allowed to be present as his father's assistant ; he remembers seeing Turner on several occasions painting on his pictures, and once, in 1844, the great painter spoke to him. In later years he was on good terms with Whistler, who exhibited a large number of paintings and etchings between 1859 and 1878 — among them the famous portrait of his mother : and he emphatically denies that he was ever badly treated by the Academy. Of various eminent Academicians with whom he has been closely associated Mr. Leslie talks frankly and freely. He speaks in high terms of Leighton, though he thinks that " the gradual denationalisation which is so observable in the character of the works of the British artists of the present day undoubtedly originated during Leighton's Presidency" — and he owns to a feeling of regret that Millais was not elected to succeed Sir Francis Grant. To the memory of Abbey lie pays a glowing tribute. "Intimately acquainted with Americans of every sort and variety all my life," he says, after mentioning his own descent from Americans. " I never met any who displayed to greater advantage the best and brightest of their national characteristics than Edwin Abbey." Abbey lived for many years at a little country town in Gloucestershire, but he told Mr. Leslie that his neighbours did not begin to respect him until he brought down from London a team of artist- cricketers who beat the local eleven in one innings. Such is fame ! Written in a pleasant, chatty vein. Mr. Leslie's book, conveying as it does a good deal of reliable information about the Royal Academy .mil its proceedings of which outsiders are ignorant, will prove a popular accompaniment to the more serious histories of that institution.
Sion Longley Wenban ( 1848-1897). Kritisches Verzeichnis seiner Radierungen mit einer bio- graphischen Einfuhrung von Otto A. Weigmann. Mit einem Bildnis und 76 Abbildungen auf 30
Reviews and Notice.
Lichtdrucktafeln. (Leipzig : rClinkhardt und Biei
maim). 30 Mk.-- Wenban's name is little known to amateurs of etching in England. He was the son of English parents, and born at Cincinnati, U.S.A.. in 184S. The earlier part of his life was devoted to drudging in the studios of various photographers in Cleveland and Chicago, retouching photographs, and <lrawing the crayon portraits, in the photo grapher's manner popular in the latter part of tin- nineteenth century. Happily he joined his friend Otto Bacher in a pilgrimage to Europe in 1878, and thereafter remained in Munich or the neighbourhood for the rest of his life. He kept almost exclusively to landscape, both as painter, draughtsman, and etcher, but secured little recog- nition until quite the end of his life, and then only a limited circle. He cannot, we think, be regarded as a great individuality, nor take high rank as an etcher. Occasionally his etching fails through overloading with detail, through a certain prettiness, which shows some kinship with the weaker kind of Seymour Haden's etchings, such as the Rivers in Inland. Wenban's Lake with Swans (No. 343, Plate \\i) is one of these. But in general he uses a free and flowing line with great clearness and simplicity, somewhat in the manner of Corot. Excellent examples are Nos. 54 (Plate iv), 113 (Plate ix), 128 (Plate xviii), and 227 (Plate \ 1, while an occasional plate such as No. 145 (Plate xxviii) shows a sense of atmosphere almost worthy of Camille Pissarro. The catalogue by Dr. Weigmann, which contains the descriptions of 371 etchings, 76 reproductions, and a biographical and critical introduction, is an exemplary pie< e ol work, and purports to be the first of a series devoted to modern painters and etchers.
Survey of London. Vol. V. The Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields (Part II). Edited by Sir Laurence Gomme (London: London Count) Council) jQi. is. net. — This new volume of the Survey of London forms part of the series which is being issued by the Joint Publishing Committee representing the London County Council and the Committee for the Survey of the .Memorials ot Greater London under the general editorship of Sir Laurence Gomme and Mr. Philip Norman. The illustrations consist of over a hundred plates and numerous illustrations inserted in the text, which occupies over two hundred pages and is replete with information relating to the buildings illustrated, the historical notes being supplied by Sir Laurence Gomme and the architectural descriptions by Mr. W. E. Riley, the Council's architect, The chiel interest of the volume from the point of view of
modern domestic an hitecture lies in the matter dealing with Bedford Square, which though not
wholly in the parish of St. Giles is here treated as a
whole. This square was laid out between 1775 and 17X0 as part of a general scheme lor developing the I Hike of Bedford's Bloomsbury estate, which is rightly
referred to as an excellent example of early town plan- ning and as affording an illustration of the advantages gained by the community when a large area such as this (112 ai res) is dealt with on generous lines In the owner. Thomas Leverton is said to havi I" 1 n the author of the general scheme and designer of the houses — not the Brothers Adam as one authority has stated, though the style associated with their name was adopted by Leverton, who also employed many of the designers who worked for the brothers. Numerous illustrations of these houses and details therein are given.
The Architectural Association Sketch-Book for 1 913 contains 72 plates, and the chief contributors are Mr. Alan Binning and Mr. James MacGregor, both of whom possess an eye for artistic effect in addition to that precision of draughtsmanship which is called for in measured drawings like most of those in the volume. More than half the plates are concerned with British edifices, and most of these are of an ecclesiastical character, the chief being St. Mary's Church at Finedon, Northants, an interesting fourteenth-century structure. The Sketch-Book is issued in four quarterly instalments to annual subscribers of one guinea.
Photograms of the year for 11)13, edited by I'. |. Mortimer, F.R.P.S., contains as usual a large number of full-page prints selected from the best output of many countries. Main well-known workers are represented and there is a pleasing diversity of subject. 'Phis annual is published at IS. 6d. net by Messrs. Ha/ell, Watson and Viney.
The Grand 1 hike Ernsl Ludwig ol Hesse
Darmstadt, who is a great p.m. mi ol art, has arranged an extremely interesting Fine Arts loan Exhibition at Darmstadt, comprising paintings.
drawings, miniatures, sculpture, and examples ol
handicraft which originated in Germany, Austria and Switzerland between 1050 and 1S00. thai is. during the period intervening between the Thirty u.n .111,1 tb timi -I \ ipol on. Many of the exhibits come from tl
princes oi Germany and the private collections of the Emperor of Austria, and have never been publicly exhibited I" fori . afi 1 of the
exhibition earl) in October they will probably not be visible again to the general public for a Ion.
83
The Lay Figure
T
HE LAV FIGURE: ON THE CULT OF THE UGLY.
"Do you think we are losing our sense of beauty ? " asked the Art Critic. " There is an odd fashion just now in art — a sort of perverse pursuit of deformity — of morbid and exaggerated ugliness. What does it really mean?"
■■ It means, 1 take it." replied the Young Painter, " that artists are tired of namby-pamby prettiness, and want something more interesting. They are searching n< >wada\ s fi ir str< >ng. well-defined character and for the real facts of life, and they are trying to present them convincingly and without silly com- promises."
" Surely all the facts of life are not unpleasantly ugly and repulsive," returned the Critic. " Is it not possible to select from them some that ha\ e the elements of beauty?"
"( >h. there must be no selection in modern art." laughed the Man with the Red Tie. " You take the first thing that comes and you record it with all possible fidelity just as it is — that is the creed of the moment."
" But why should the first thing that comes be always ugly and deformed ? " inquired the Critic. "No. that argument will not do; there is selection in the art of to-day, and the artist's choice, made, as it seems to me, quite deliberately, too often falls upon the thing that is unpleasant and unworthv of the attention he gives to it."
"Nothing in nature is unworthy of the artist's attention," broke in the Young Painter : " but some things are obviously of much greater im- portance, and claim more attention than others. What an artist records is the particular fact that has made most impression upon him and that he cannot help selecting."
"And the ugly thing makes the most impression upon him because it is so ugly," commented the Man with the Red Tie. "Is that what you mean ? "
"No, of course not," cried the Young Painter. •■What impresses him is the strength of the possible subject, its power and virility ; and he tries to realise it with all the force there is in it. Why should he be afraid to represent it as it is, and why should he water it down simply for the sake of making it pretty ? "
- Why should he not be as much impressed by the beauty of his subject as by its ugliness?'' inquired the Critic. " Why cannot he get the force of it and yet be able to keep it from being unpleasant ? "
" Because, I presume, a subject that has it i beauty in it must become more unpleasant the more forcibly it is presented," suggested the Man with the Red Tie. " Besides, it is much easier, you must remember, to make a thing forcible if you take simply the crude reality of it and evade the obliga- tion to make it pleasing."
" You must not accuse modern artists of evading their obligations," protested the Young Painter. " All of them who count as men of distinction are sincere students, striving earnestly to present life as they see it."
" To present life as they see it ! Well, that may be true enough," said the Critic. " But it is the way they see it that I find so objectionable. If you shut your eyes to the beauty of life what can you get with all your earnest striving, except its sordid, squalid ugliness ? "
" You can get character," asserted the Young Painter.
•"Character.'" cried the Critic. '"Has beauty no character ? Is the beautiful thing necessarily feeble and contemptible ? I say that by the morbid cult of ugliness you miss your best opportunities of studying and realising character, because you look only at what is unpleasantly obvious and fail to perceive the subtleties that give character its charm."
••Well, suppose I do honestly prefer what is obvious," sighed the Young Painter. " Does it really matter ? "
" Great heavens ! Of course it matters," ex- claimed the Critic. " If you admit that you prefer ugliness you confess that you are cursed with morbid instincts that unfit you to be an artist at all. The love of beauty is an essential in every wholesome temperament. It is the civilised and educated development of the natural selection instinct ; it is the one thing that keeps the mind clean and the aesthetic sense from degenerating into a kind of vicious imbecility. It was the inspiring principle in all great art of the past ; it is the one source from which in the future will come all art that will be worthy of serious attention. If vou are really lacking in it you must be classed with the decadents who, as a result of over-civilisa- tion, are suffering from a species of mental disease and have ceased to be normal human beings. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that to cultivate an actual preference for ugliness is to commit an outrage on nature.
"Is it as bad as all that?" sneered the Young Painter.
The Lav Figure.
•THE COUNTESS OF CRAWFORD AND BALCARRES. e oil painting by WILLIAM ORPEN, A.R.A.
A
A Notable Fort
WILLIAM l
days. It i
ntion in a mi
up to the |>ri -
in portraiture, ti ironment to
soul ; personality ii r them — if it
■ , — July 1914
.
A Notable Portrait by Mr. William Orpen, A.R.A.
A
NOTABLE PORTRAIT BY MR. WILLIAM ORPEN, A.R.A.
Thk style of portrait exemplified in Mr. William Orpen's beautiful picture of the Countess of Crawford and Balcarres, reproduced in colour on the opposite page by special permission of Lord Crawford, is one too seldom adopted nowadays. We can find no reason why this charming way of presenting the sitter should not enjoy a revival. But it is not difficult to see why it is out of fashion in these days. It does not advertise, it does not scream in an exhibition. There are those who have convinced themselves that they must scream to arrest attention in a modern exhibition. To go into some modern picture galleries is an experience not unlike that of entering a parrot-house.
It is impossible to believe that the highest interest of the art of portraiture can be served in the above circumstances. For one thing portraits are most often destined for the quiet of a library or morning- mum. With such surroundings they should be in some agreement. And there is a tradition which cannot wisely be put aside in this ; the old tradition of leading up to the presentment of the sitter through an appeal to sentiment in the composition, and to our sense of decoration.
The conditions of a large exhibition are certainly unpromising for the survival of the quality that counts most in portraiture, that of intimacy. The relation of environment to character must be appre- ciated by the artist of the portrait interior-pieo Environment, after all, is the outside wrap of the soul; personality irradiates beyond clothes to accessories; everything in a person's home ex- presses them — if it is really a home and not a family hotel.
Appreciation of the mental atmosphere of places is a special gift, not necessarily allied with the genius of painting, and this fact puts a limit to successful examples of the portrait interior-piece. But it is in successful painting of the kind that we may look for the equivalent of the art of the modern novel, with its genius for interior genre. This type of art would appear to be peculiarly expressive of the i ircumstances of modern life, in which the demand for portraits is less often made by princes than by ordinary people. Just when our modern portrait painters might have appreciated the latter fact and made the most of it, "post-impressionism " has led them away. If they return in time the door will still be open, and the easel keeping it ajar is that of Mr. ( )rpen, legitimate successor to Peter de Hooch and Alfred Stevens. It was a happy moment when LXII. No. 255. — July 1914
he thought of combining his commissions for portraits with .1 < lass ol picture which he composes so naturally.
The portrait interior pit 1 e allows the artist to in- troduce an agn eable variety of colour in the acces- sories and lends itself to the exquisitely finished style of the Dutch, the sensitive atmospheric loose- ness of impressionism, or to the insistence upon pattern in line and colour which is a characteristic of so many modern pictures. Tin- test of complete success of course in portraiture of this type is in subordinating the accessories to the sitter, so that nothing competes with the figure of the sitter in claiming our first interest. This problem solves itself in the case of an artist with an instinct as fine as Mr. Orpen's for what is relevant to the sitter. Instead of competing with the sitter, accessories can be made to assist the expression of his personality, reflecting his tastes and the world in which he moves.
There can be no doubt that the type of portrait we are describing will have a fascination for posterity which no other kind of portrait can hope to possess. The judgment of a portrait simply as portraiture and not from the point of view of the interest of the composition is a thing to be given by itself. From that point of view of course there are simple representations < >f a face or single figure by Rembrandt or Hals with which nothing can be ranked. But where everything else is of equal merit the picture which is most happily and pictorially composed has the greater interest. It is with unusual pleasure that wediscover, in eighteenth- century collections, pieces by Zoffany which have been painted with no more surety of touch than works by his contemporaries but which by their art in sug- gesting the circumstances of life ol the time possess a peculiar power of appealing to the imagination. These are delightful items in any collection, and where this sort of thing is united to exquisite craft we have those -ems of the cabinet which are the delight of every real connoisseur.
Perhaps the ideals of to day area little antagonistic to the survival of qualities which mav lie termed "precious" in a picture, but these qualities have been so long out ot fashion that it would not be unreason able to look lor their return ; and in any case the form of the small interior portrait picture in its invitation to invention and fancy might, without any return to exhausted conventions, firing about a revival of that sense of what is due to the spectator of a picture, beyond a mere sketch of first ideas, which we feel to be wanting in so very many artists at the present time.
87
The Colour-Prints of E. L. Lawrenson
T
] \ E C 0 LOUR-PRINTS O F EDWARD L. LAWRENSON. BY MALCOLM C. SALAMAN.
If one happens to speak of modern colour-prints
to a collector of the eighteenth-century engravings printed in clours, he invariably tells one that he does not care for them, that they cannot be compared with the old ones. A little talk at cross-purposes will soon show that we are think- ing of quite different things. His idea of a modern colour-print is a copy of an old mezzo- tint engraving after Reynolds, Romney or Hoppner ; he neither knows nor imagines any other. And one sees this idea encouraged now and again by references in newspaper reports of the sales at Christie's to the growing 'popularity ot the modern coloured engraving, asso- ciated generally with the name of Mr. Sidney Wilson. But the modern colour-print of vital artistic interest has nothing to do with these coloured copies of old mez- zotints : it is an original work of art produced en- tirelv by the brain and hand of the artist. And this makes it so difficult for the ordinary collector of old prints to realise ; for he is rarely called upon to ap- proach prints from a fresh artistic standpoint. Fashion and Christie's have labelled all the old favourites for him; but fashion and Christie's have as yet had nothing to say to the modem movement in colour-engrav- ing as a medium of original pictorial expression. Yet this movement is of genuine artistic significance and it is constantly revealing new developments in the rela- tions of medium and expres- sion. One vital difference between the old English colour-prints and the new — apart from the generally reproductive character of the old — is that whereas the old were never designed for
colour, but were invariably printed in coloured inks only after the plates had become too much worn to give good monochrome impressions, the modern original colour-prints are conceived from the beginning in terms of colour. This was also the way with the prints of Jacob Christopher Le Blon, the pioneer of true colour-engraving a couple ot hundred years ago, and it was the principle and practice of the French colour-engravers of the eighteenth century. Their method of printing from a number of super-imposed aquatint plates, generally with outlines of soft-ground etching, is in fact the same practically as that adopted to-day by many of the makers of colour-prints.
Of these not the least interesting and successful is Mr. Edward E. Lawrenson, some of whose recent prints are reproduced here. A painter first and
THE GATEWAY OF THE HOCSE OF RABELAIS, CHINOX." BY E. 1. LAWRENSOK
The Colour-Prints of E. L. Lawrenson
' KEW ISRIUCK IK' >M Ism .11-1
BY I'.. 1 . I AW l i
foremost, he has been for some years expressing his landscape visions upon metal plates with tones of aquatint printed in colours. When last 1 spoke of his prints, in The Studio of August 191 1, he was using a single plate only, and painting it with all the colours of his design ; but his own artistic sense was rarely satisfied. He found his intended colour-harmonics seldom quite came off with the single printings. So he made further experiments, distributing his colours on two or more plates, and printing these one over the other, somewhat in the mannei of the old French colour-engravers. At thi time, he addressed himself to obtaining a more sure control of his aquatint grounds, being greatly aided in this by the masterly guidance of Sir frank Short at the School of Engraving. The happy result "i tins ma) be seen in Mr. Lawrenson'-. latest print, Gateway of the House of Rabelais, Ckinon, in which the hot sunlight playing upon the venerable stone walls is depicted with admirabl) balanced gradations of tone. Mr. Lawrenson made his study tor this interesting print from a point of view close under the walls of the ancient Chateau of Chinon, at six o'clock in the morning, for only at that hour
could Rabelais's house, which stands in a narrow street, be seen bathed in sunlight. Three plates went to the making of this print. In the In the outlines in soft-ground etching, and all the darker aquatint tones deeply bitten. The second
ontains the blue of the glimpse of sky and of the shadows on the house, as well as some ol tin- dark green of the door. The third plate adds all the yellows of the walls, the red of the woman's skirt, and the pink of her Li<\- and arms. It will be seen that Mr. I . iwrenson works little with composite ton so far he has found a maximum of three plates suffi cientfor his simple colour schemes. This number he used also for Kew Bridge from Brentford, a happilj
ised bit of that historic part ol the I hi subtly atmospheric in tone. The darks of thi and the boal >, 1 0 epting the I, printed
from the fust plate: all the grey ami the 1 the sky and the water from the second, and all the yellows of the sky and the craft as well as the red of one of the boats, from the thin finely
conceived landscape, /' ' the Tarn,
ri pr0 in ed hei ■ Mr. Lawrenson worked
with only two plates, the first being a simple
The Colour-Prints of E. L. Lawrenson
aquatint as if intended for a black and white print, only bitten much more deeply than usual, the second containing all the yellows : pale yellow for the skv. lemon yellow for the water, and orange for many of the rocks. The artist has been very happy in his subject and his point of view, which is looking south of the Tarn, above the spot where the banks of the river are precipitous, the rocks being rich in colour, chiefly yellow and black tones, while the waters of the Tarn are of the greenish tint of absinthe. This print, with its suggestion of the river winding through the rocky gorge, and the flat, black-looking table-land above, stretching away to the horizon, is as fine in pictorial quality as any of the old English aquatints by the Daniells and their contemporaries, while it has this factor ol artistic superiority, that, whereas they were coloured, either entirely or for the most part, by hand, it is printed throughout in coloured inks. And this may be said generally not only of all Mr. Lawrenson's prints but of all the original colour-prints of to-day. So punctilious are our modem artists in this respect that one may quote a print of Mr. Theodore Roussel's in which even the tint of an eyeball is
printed from a separate plate, while another, the splendid L'Agonie des Fhi/rs, needs twenty-two superimposed impressions from ten different plates to complete it.
Mr. Lawrenson's prints, however, are much simpler in their craftsmanship. The George Inn, Donhcstcr, for instance, a charming bit of old English domestic architecture, which has made its pictorial appeal to many artists — among them, I believe, the late Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema — is a very engaging print, in which the harmonious balance of tones, with delightful effect of sunlight and shadow, has been achieved with a couple of plates only, the one printing all the tones of blue and green, the other all the browns and yellows. Then, there is the attractive Dovedak, looking north of this most lovely of the Derbyshire dales from close to the Isaac Walton Hotel. In this. also. Mr. Lawrenson has depended for his effects of verdure and summery atmosphere on two printings : first, all the light greens from one plate ; next, all the dark greens and greys from another.
The mediaeval building has always an irresistible appeal for Mr. Lawrenson, although, as may be seen
"THE IRISH KELP BURNERS" 90
BV E. L. LAWRENSON
-fl .
-.
;
tfVV5o*V
i^late, while anoth
bit of old Eng !
■ rig them, 1 believe, the .
■ :n§ i
il tones, with de
. . i ■■ ■ .■ .. ii . one ] green, the other
this most love!; • . the Isaac . Lawrenson h. su mm r; i i ai
■ 11
I
* — « -
n
< <
H -1
The Colour-Prints of E. L. Lawrenson
i \RH OF THE CHATEAU OF BRIGUE
BV K. I . I \\\ RENSON
in the examples of his work given here, his choice of subject is varied, and determined only by its ial motive. In the sunlight's effect upon the impressive Courtyard of the Chateau of Brigue, with its arches and pillars, and its sheltered trees, found a capital subject. Here in mediaeval limes lived the guardian of the Simplon Pass, whose duty it was to keep the Pass open, resisting any invasion from the Italian side; but Mr. Lawrenson has attempted no imaginative re-creation of old
turbulent times. The presenl pe of the place
gested his motive, and the woman carrying irden across the patch of sunlight is eloquent of it. Hut the blue and green tones only were to the design by a second printing. Not the least interesting of Mr. Lawrenson's prints is The Irish Ac// Burners, a subject which he has also painted in oils. It is a charac- teristic scene on the coast ot Antrim, near i ushendal, where the people will gather the sea weed on the shore and burn it in a stone circle, throwing it on to the lire continuously for twi Ivi at a stretch, their long and arduous labour producing kelp residue containing iodine perhaps
to the value of fifteen shillings. But it was, ot course, the pictorial rather than the economic significance of the scene that engaged the artist's interest, and it was the colour-values of the smoke from the burning kelp against the atmo- spheric aspect "I sea and skj that evidently suggested it as a good motive for a colour-print.
Now that Mr. Lawrenson has gone to live in the clear, dry air of the Sussex I (owns, he will find much less difficult) in working his spirit-grounds than is inevitable in the dust) atmosphere of London : and after all, although the beautiful old French aquatints of Janinet, Debucourt, Descourtis, and the rest, were done almost entirely with dust-grounds, there- is no question that the spirit ground, which was our English Paul Sandby's development of the French invention, gives a much greater luminosity ol But, when all is said lor aquatint as a medium for colour printing, thi re remain \ a ivaj i the disadvan- tagi ol deterioration of colour through the chemical action ol the met il upon t, which is in
evitable in an intaglio process. The pun- luminous colour possible in prints from wood blocks is quite unattainable with aquatint, although it may be said
The Colour-Prints of E. L. Lawrenson
that Mr. Lawrenson certainly manipulates his colours upon his plates with more brilliant effects than most of the makers of colour-prints from aquatint-plates, and doubtless that accounts for their exceptional success in America.
Hut. just as I am convinced that there is a prosperous future for the modem colour-print of original pictorial interest, so I am firmly of opinion that the most promising medium for it is either the Japanese way of wood-blocks, or Mr. William Giles's new application of the principle of relief-blocks to metal-plates. For with this it is possible to protect the pigment from the blackening effect of the metal by a thin coating of shellac, and so to attain results of beautiful unadulterated colour in the printing. The surfaces of the metal — zinc preferably, perhaps, as being easier to work — intended for the colour-shapes of the design, are produced by biting away with acid the parts not to be printed. Different portions of the picture, according to the colour-scheme, are so treated on usually about five separate plates, and these are superimposed in the same way as wood-blocks or
aquatint plates. It is to be wished, and no one wishes it more than Mr. Giles, that artists interested in etching or engraving for colour will try this method and help to develop it, for it is at present only in a pioneer stage. I believe, however, that there are rich possibilities in the method, for it is really only the question of colour-quality that prejudices many artists and print collectors against the colour-print. And certainly these are justified by the muddy tones in which mezzotints, aquatints, and even line- etchings, are sometimes pretentiously printed. But when once it is recognised that the modern original colour-print can give, with interesting pictorial design, the charm of pure and luminous colour, then one may hope that it will be accorded just respect as a legitimate branch of art, and that even the Royal Academy will consider it as much wi irthy of acceptance as a mezzotint copy of an old mezzotint translation of a popular picture. Let us hope that Mr. Lawrenson will continue to devote his admirable pictorial gifts and enterprising craftsman- ship to bringing about this wider recognition of the original colour-print of to-day.
94
DOVEDALE." BY E. I.. I..WVRENSON
The National Gallery of Canada
SOME RECENT PURCHASES BY THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA.
The National Gallery of Canada has recently entered upon a new phase of existence. It has been incorporated by Act of Parliament and is henceforth to be governed by a Board of Trustees on somewhat the same lines as its great English prototype. There is everything to hope from such a change which will enable it to exercise a far greater influence towards proving the value of art in the daily life of the community.
It had been felt for some time that in the recent progress of the National Gallery of Canada the contemporary school of British painting had to some extent been passed by, and it was resolved that an effort should be made to remove the re- proach. The President of the Trustees and the Director proceeded to England, and I trust the following list will show that at least the nucleus of a fine representation of contemporary British painting was secured as the result of their quest.
To begin at random. The McCulloch sale at Christie's in May of last year realised four pictures — Charity by Frank Brangwyn, October by D. Y. Cameron, Wayside Pasture by Austen Brown, and The Pier, Sunset by J. Buxton Knight. From Mr. Brangwyn's studio, swept bare of all but titanic mural decorations, the Director had turned disconsolately away a month previously, and Charity at the McCulloch sale came as a hope revived, and then, to the sound of the hammer, a hope realised. It is a beautiful blonde example of the artist's work, of wonderful rhythmic line, tone gradations and pale colour harmonies expressive of its simple theme. October, by D. Y. Cameron, also came when hope was all but gone — a golden bronze picture of curious horizontal planes and harmonious mellow distances, rich in colour and lacking the austerity of the artist's most recent work. The Pier, Sunset, by J. Buxton Knight, shows a summer sea with its pier and shipping, bearing the golden path of the sun: while the Wayside Pasture of Austen Brown is a purely decorative treatment of landscape with cattle, of big design and strong warm colour.
Orpen might well come next with his two pictures The Reflection and Mary. The Reflection is one of his mirror pictures and is remarkable for the ex- quisite treatment of the grey bath robe, the subtle- ties of the flesh painting in the nude reflection and for some inimitable still-life in the corner. 96
Mary is just an out-of-doors child with golden tawny hair, faded lilac frock, blue eyes and rosy cheeks, the very spirit of a summer day on an Irish hillside.
Glyn Philpot's Watcher on the Roof has a breadth and dignity of effect approaching grandeur. A solitary figure wrapped in a shimmering snakeskin robe stands monumentally upon the ruof against the first breaking of the dawn across the velvet eastern night. Impressively conceived and simply executed, this painting is greatly effective and altogether sincere.
Another treasure from the mart is The Lilac Gown by Charles Furse. This is an oval portrait of Miss Mabel Terry Lewis, fresh and free in its handling and happy in its conception of the sun- shaded face and sunsplashed lilac gown in a garden landscape. Tin Lilac Gown is one of the last pictures from the artist's hand.
The list proceeds by way of Charles Shannon's Lady in Black Fur, a circular portrait of Miss Constance Collier of charming design ; George Henry's The Connoisseur, a lady in blue before a lustrous grey wall and curtain ; David Muirhead's The Dark Night, rich and warm in colour and oi transparent sincerity ; Gerald Festus Kelly's altogether successful study of a Burmese girl ; Mrs. Swynnerton's intensely individual head of an old woman, and a number of other works not less interesting.
This is not all by any means. Beginnings were made upon a representation of the Dutch and German etchers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The representation of such moderns as Whistler, Legros, Zom, Strang, Muirhead Bone, Charles Shannon, D. S. MacLaughlan.Yan Angeren, Sir J. C. Robinson and others was begun or added to, and now as I write these lines — some time before they will appear in print — the last of the treasures is catalogued and hung ready for public approval of the fruits of two months' work upon the contem- porary British painters.
One last acquisition and I have done. It is Amesby Brown's landscape, Ln Suffolk, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy last summer and has already been reproduced in this magazine. It is a notable example of the artist's work and worthy of the very finest traditions of the British school of landscape painting. Bold in design, incisive and generous in its handling, it has an incomparable richness of beauty, and is at once peace-giving and heart-satisfying to its observers.
Eric Brown, Director, National Gallery of Canada.
THE CONNOISSEUR." BY GEORGE HENRY, A.R.A.
I
"THE REFLECTION." BY WILLIAM ORPEN, A.R.A.
THE WATCHER ON THE ROOF BY GLYN W. PHILPOT
"THE DARK NIGHT.' DAVID MUIRHEAD
BY
CHARITY." BY FRANK BRANGWYN, A.R.A.
THE LILAC GOWN." BY CHARLES W. FURSE, A.R.A.
Spring Exhibition at the Kiinstlerhaus, I Henna
T
HE STRING EXHIBITION AT THE KUNSTLERHAUS, VIENNA.
Tin alterations which have from time to time been made in the arrangement of the galleries and the hanging and spacing of the exhibits at the Kiinstlerhaus have been in the right direction, and bv the manner in which they have proceeded in these matters those responsible have shown that thej were fully aware of the necessity for reform, and of the utter unsuitability of the old methods to the requirements of the modern exhibition. For some time past the practice of hanging the pictures in one line has been in operation, and now the provision of vela for the various rooms, the colouring of the walls with neutral tones, and the hanging of the pictures with ample space around them, have added materially to the effectiveness of the display. The result of the changes is, that, although the exterior of the building presents nothing new, nothing modern — it is built in the style of the Italian Renaissance — the interior is essentially modern throughout, for the last stage in the trans- formation has been achieved : the pillars of the great hall have been removed and a new roof provided which admits of the light being so evenly
diffused that si ulpture can at last come to its own
in ;ti ad of being hidden in semi darkness. I he two architects, Hans Jaksch and Siegfried Theisz, have performed a difficult task in a highly satisfactory manner. Such further changes as arc projected will not affect tin manner of showing the exhibits.
Perhaps with so line a central hall at the disposal of the " Arrangement- Komitee " the disposition of the works of sculpture in the recent Spring Exhibition might have In mi more advantaj For instance, Karl Wollek's huge kneeling figure in bronze, forming part of a grave monument, would have been far more effective had a central place been accorded to it. This is the finest work of sculpture in the exhibition — and indeed one of the lust of our time : the sculptor has been evidently inspired by the magnificent bronze figures in the Church of the Franciscans in Innsbruck. A charm- ing fountain by \Valter Schott lost considerably by being brought into too close proximity to Wollek's bronze and at the same time impeded a proper view <>l tins work. Another fault was the hanging of pictures of a delicate and refined character as a background to sculpture, especially as works of a more robust texture, which would have shown to advantage, were at hand. These are obvious faults which will surely not be repeated.
CENTRAL HALL, KUNSTLERHAUS, VIENNA, AS REARRANGED BY 1I\N- fAKSCH \M' 511
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Spring Exhibition at the Kunstlerhaus, J Henna
The portraits, always an important feature of the Kunstlerhaus exhibition, seemed fewer than usual this year, no doubt because the.} were better distributed in the various rooms. Of two shown in Quincy Adams one was a portrait of the venerable Emperor Francis Joseph, who graciously granted the artist some sittings, and for the other painting two of the Emperor's descendants. Princess Elizabeth Windischgratz and her little daughter, were his sitters. Though painted in the artist's well-known manner, with verve and fine feeling and a refined sense of colour, one could not help feeling that in both of these works he had fallen short of his highest standard. Paul Joanowitch also exhibited a portrait of the Emperor which was very pleasing. Rauchinger's Portrait of a Ladyhas deservedly won high praise ; in it he has shown his penchant for deep rich colour, and the whole is handled with the directness and assurance charac- teristic of this artist's work. Schattenstein's two portraits of ladies revealed fine qualities. Wilhelm Victor Krausz contributed three portraits. That of Fran Paula S. is remarkable for its delightfully har- monious colour and simple handling, and his Youth in the person of Fraulein Helena Kramer-Gldckner is also extremely charming in its colour-scheme
of white and pale violet. Among others whose portrayal of the gentler sex should be named are Theodor Carl, Ritter von Blaas, who showed an excellent portrait of Countess Coudenhove, a Japanese lady in Japanese dress, and Ludwig Michalek. Victor Stauffer's portrait of Leopold von Lieben, Victor Scharf's portrait of Herr Low- Beer, Marie Rosenthal-Hatschek's portrait of her brother, the celebrated pianist, Herr Rosenthal, and Rudolf von Mehoffer's portrait of Herr Josephy were prominent examples of male portraiture, and of special interest among works of this kind was Cottet's portrait of the painter, Lucien Simon, remarkable for the strength and vigour of treatment. Both Leopold Horovitz and Prof, von Angeli, were well represented.
In genre painting, always a great feature at the Kunstlerhaus, several works of distinctive merit call for mention. Among them Jehudo Epstein's Thirsty Throats decidedly merits the first place, for it is a work of remarkable vigour, excellent alike in drawing and composition, and rich in colouring. Hans Larwin presented the true Viennese note in his Die Poldi von Prater, Naschmarkt, and his Nach der Assentierung in Erdberg, which breathes of the essence and joy of
"thirsty throats' 104
OIL PAINTING BY JEHUDO ErSTEIN
YOUTH." OIL PAINTING BY W. VIKTOR KRAUSZ
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"WINTER SUN, MONICHKIRCHE»i
OIL PAINTING KV THOM.'
youth after presentment for conscription. Othmar Ruzicka again contributed studies of life among the Slovaks, in the depicting of which he has deservedly won much fame, and Joh. Nep Geller in his market scenes in various lands displayed that happy feeling for colour for which he is noted.
Landscape painting is an old tradition among Viennese artists. Round about the city so much of interest may be seen, almost every variety of scenery is to be found — hill and forest and wide stretches of open country — and here, without a hint of the toil and moil of town life, one can find relief in an atmosphere of calm and repose. For the artist it is truly a happy hunting-ground. Many of the scenes depicted at the recent exhibition are but an hour's walk from the city, and, in fact, form a part of the capital. Thus Karlinsky's Sonntag in Franz-Josef sland in Wien is Vienna in feeling and in atmosphere : it is Vienna folk-life such as may be encountered in any part of the metropolis. Kar- linsky has caught the very note, translated it into 108
his own thoughts, and rendered it in essence. Take, again, the Autumn Sun, by Hugo Darnaut, the President of the Kunstlerhaus. This is a scene from the Vienna Forest Hills, a place easily reached on foot, yet what a halo of peace and beauty reigns over all ! It is a picture almost pastoral in its quiet beauty, in its simplicity and loveliness of colouring. Max Suppantschitch's special domain is the Wachau, a part of the Danube which vies successfully with the most beautiful part of the Rhine, and his pictures of that region are always greatly appreciated, as are Robert Russ's old gardens in combination with ancient architecture.
Oswald Grill is rapidly advancing in his art ; disappointment has luckily urged him to higher things, and in his Was die Wirbel erzahlen (What the Whirlpools are telling) we have a picture in- spired by a true poetical temperament and poeti- cally handled — a real lyric, in fact. Thomas Leit- ner's two pictures, /// a Far Country, an imaginative composition, and // 'inter Sun, Monickkirchen, were
"OLD LOVRANA." OIL PAINTING BY STEFAN SIMONY
Spring Exhibition at the Kunstlerhaus, Vienna
remarkable, one tor 'the charm of feeling and beauty of the inspiration, the latter for its remarkable strength of treatment, the vigour of the brushwork and the tine feeling for decorative effect. Gustav B5hm's picture of Boskowitz gives us a glimpse of a Moravian village, with all its characteristics and mellowness of tone. His miniature sketch of the Luxembourg Park in Paris was in its way a gem. Ferdinand Brunner exhibited but one picture, a work of great beauty and charm, the subject one of those long, low lonely houses which he delights in depicting. Of Stefan Simony's pictures of ancient architecture in old streets that of Old Lovrana on the Austrian Riviera is a fine example ; it is admirably drawn, and harmonious both in line and colour. Karl Ludwig Prinz's Der Sterbende Tag, a tender and sincere representation of the dying day, and Emanuel Baschny's Vor dem Gewitter, an emo- tional rendering of an approaching storm, deserve particular mention. Eduard Zetsche, Rudolf Konopa, Richard Freiherr von Drasche, Eduard Ameseder, Alfred Zoff, Adolf Schwarz, Carl Kaiser-
Herbst, and Carl Onken, are other landscape painters whose works added to the interest of the exhi- bition.
Besides the painters above mentioned, there are others whose work as displayed at the Kiinstler- haus is worthy of remark, but space will only suffice to mention a few names : Friedrich Beck, Hugo Charlemont, Carl Fahringer, Alexander Goltz, Hans Frank, Carl Fischer-Koystand, Leo Delitz, Ernst Graner, and Albert Janesch (who exhibited for the first time and whose Children of the Roman ( 'ampagna, showed true psychological penetration), Karl O'Lynch of Town, Heinrich Tomec, Erwin Puchinger, Hans Ranzoni, Marie Arnsberg, and Gustav A. Hessl ; also Isidor Kaufmann, whose studies of Jewish types are full of energy and strength of purpose, and reveal a fine poetical penetration. Nor must YVilhelm Legler's interior pictures with vistas of gardens with flowery beds beyond be omitted ; virile in their pulsation of colour and brushwork, they were decidedly attractive items in the exhibition.
"SUNDAY IN FRAN! I- JOSEPH'S LAND, VIENNA' I IO
OIL PAINTING BY ANTON H. KARLINSKY
P< iK i RA1 1' OF FRAU PAULA S." BY W. VIK rOR KRAI'S/
Spring Exhibition at the Kunstlerhaus, I Henna
WHAT THE WHIRLPOOLS AKE TELLING
OIL PAINTING BY OSWALD GRILL
In the section of graphic art some very good work was shown by various artists, such as Tanna A. Kasimir-Hoemes, Luigi Kasimir, Ludwig Hesshaimer, Prof. Ludwig Michalek, Emil Singer, Ferdinand Gold, and Josef Krzal.
Additional interest was lent to the exhibition from the fact that three of the rooms were set apart for the Hungarian artists belonging to the " Muveszhaz," Association of Budapest, whose works have never yet been shown at the Kunstlerhaus. The group consists of artists who have separated from the Royal Society, Budapest, and others who have never belonged to it. Many of the pictures shown were the property of the Royal Gallery of Fine Arts, Budapest, or private collectors, and some were painted many years ago. The Hungarian guests were admitted on the same terms as the Austrian artists, and much good work was to be seen, the chief exhibitors being Rippl-Ronai, Franz
< •lgyay, Aladar Kriesch-Korflsfoi, Zoltan Csaktornay, Ladislaus Kezdi-Kovacs, Karl Kernstock, Johann Vaszary, Julius Kosztokinyi, Ferdinand Katona, I lasar Kunwald, Oszkar Glatz, Paul Javor, and Stefan Csok.
On the whole the recent exhibition presented a very distinguished appearance, and now that the Kunstlerhaus members are so advanced in their method of displaying works of art, it is to be hoped they will pursue the liberal policy which used to lend interest to the Secession exhibitions, that of inviting artists of other nationalities to exhibit. Since the Hagenbund Society, which took up the discarded mantle of the Secession, was deprived of its exhibition building we have seen but few foreigners, so that if the Kunstlerhaus will come forward and do what the Hagenbund is now unable to do it will be rendering a signal service to the cause of art in Vienna. A. S. Levetus.
Recent Designs in Domestic Architecture
R
ECENT DESIGNS IN DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE.
' The illustrations we now give under this head are of country houses of various dimensions and diverse design and situation, but before describing them we should like to refer briefly to a point raised in a communication from an archi tect holding an official position in a Midland town, who thinks that the country house has re- ceived an undue share of attention of late in journals concerned with domestic architecture, and that the problem of the small terrace-house or detached suburban house with a narrow frontage has been unduly neglected. An explanation is not far to seek, however. For some years past large numbers of wealthy and moderately well-to- do people have given up living in town and had houses of varying dimensions built for them in more rural surroundings, and most of them have been wise enough to avail themselves of the services of experienced architects. On the other hand the problem of the terrace-house in town or suburb lias, as our correspondent recognises, been left in
the hands of the speculative builder, but that, we
are sure, is not because of any reluctance on the part of architects to deal with this class of dwelling but because the economic conditions hitherto pre- vailing have militated against their co-operation on any extensive scale, and consequently throughout the thousands of acres that have been covered with terrai e-houses, semi-detached "villas" and kindred types of dwellings round about our big towns in the course of the past ten or twenty years, only in com- paratively few cases have the services of competent architects been enlisted. The " garden city " movement has, of course, afforded the architect an opportunity of co-operating in the erection of houses of this class, and the " town-planning " movement may open up further possibilities in this direction in the future, but at present what with the greatly increased cost of building and the burdens and restrictions imposed by the legislature, the conditions seem to be less favourable than they have been for any general improvement in the type of house to which our correspondent refers.
The pen and ink sketch on this page is ol a small country house designed by Mr. Harold F.
SMALL HOUSE AT SHIPHAM, SOMERSET
Recent Designs iu Domestic Architecture
Trew, architect of Gloucester, and now in course of erection on the Mendip Hills near Cheddar in Somerset. Local conglomerate stone is being used for the walling, and the loggia will be paved with similar material. The joinery throughout is to be finished white, the windows glazed with lead glazing in iron casements. The roof will be covered with pan tiles. The cost of construction, including drainage and connection to the water supply of the village, will work out about ^650. The plan is a comparatively simple one and provides for a parlour of seventeen feet by twelve feet three inches, a living room of slightly smaller dimensions, and a kitchen with the usual offices appropriate to a house of this character on the ground floor, and three bedrooms on the floor above, of which two corre- spond in dimensions to the two rooms below with a difference of a few inches in one case.
" Piper's Croft," of which we give a perspective view and plan, has been built for Mr. Stewart- Liberty from the designs of Messrs. Kemp and How of Bloomsbury and occupies a site about six hundred feet up on the Chiltern Hills with a slope to the south. It is built of local bricks from various kilns and they have been burnt in such a way as to obtain a mixture of tints. Parts of the building have been carried out in solid oak half-timber work to give the ap- pearance of growth, and the owner was fortunate in having some nice old hand-made tiles which were utilized to advantage. The main feature in the internal portion of the house is the hall, which is designed as the principal living-room, the dining-room being very small and used simply as a recess for meals, and the parlour as a private retiring-room for the lady of the house. The " den " is fitted out as a writing-room. The hall has an open timbered roof with side corridors on the first floor fitted with leaded lights through which a view is ob tained of the space below. The fireplaces in this house have been carried out in local stone, and even' en- deavour has been made as far as possible to use local material only throughout the construction. All the fittings 116
have been specially designed and carried out locally, the wrought ironwork having been done by the local smith. Six rooms have been provided on the first floor. The garden has been carried out in the same spirit as the house, the paths being laid with York stones and bricks and kept somewhat formal round the house. A picturesque effect has been obtained by introducing a cobble-paved courtyard, local stone being used for the purpose. The petrol
GROUND PLAN OF " PIPERS CROFT," THE LEE, GREAT MISSENDEN, BUCKS. W. J. KEMP AM) W. M. HOW, FF.R.I.B.A., ARCHITECTS
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Recent Designs in Domestic Architecture
store has been placed in the corner of the courtyard in order to balance the grouping : it has also been adapted as a pigeon cote. There is a raised terrace on the south side paved with red bricks laid in patterns, the main roof being brought over to form a shelter so that meals can be served here in the summer months.
The majority of architects in the course of their practice conic to specialise in one or other type of building and Messrs. Gerald Unsworth and Inigo Triggs have devoted their attention to the develop- ment of domestic architecture upon the broad traditional lines that marked the buildings of the late William Frederick Unsworth, examples of which have been illustrated in this magazine and in "The Studio Year Book of Decorative Art'' at various times. A country house recently erected from their designs is shown in the coloured illustration here given. Stoke Barn is a typical example of a woodland house, and every care has been taken to preserve the natural surroundings of a singularly beautiful site. It will be seen that the site of the house itself covers a considerable area, the length from end to end being about 175 feet. The irregularity of the plan has been suggested by the aspect and views, and it will be observed that the principal room is so placed as to get a maximum of sunlight and air. As befits a house on such a site, half timbered construction enters largely into the design. The difficulties of obtaining thoroughly seasoned oak led the architects to make use of oak timbers from old buildings weathered to a fine silvery hue, and the internal oak floors were also obtained from old buildings. The roof is of old stone slates, which in their delightful variety of colouring give the house
a homelike appearance hardly attained in other ways. By the use of old materials of this kind much of the charm of an old house is obtained from the very first. The external walls are of hand- made bricks whose purplish tone is lightened by dressings of a brighter colour and also by the occasional use of stone. Stables and garage lie to the left of the forecourt and have been contrived to group pleasantly with the house and as far as such buildings permit have been brought into obvious relation with the main building. Oak and teak enter largely into the construction of the house and the walls of the principal rooms have been lined with small Dutch bricks.
The villa near Dresden designed by the architect Dr. Otto Schubert (p. 121) is situated on the side of a hill looking due south and commands a very wide view over the valley of the Elbe, two cogent reasons for arranging all the living rooms along the one side of the house. Even in the suburbs of a town and even on the slope of a hill like this, the one thing that is expensive in Germany is ground : therefore archi- tects are compelled to devise compact ground plans and cannot spread a house over as much ground as English architects can. The roof is covered with flat, red tiles in double layers, the rough-cast walls are tinted a delicate pinkish white, the lineal designs in the upper stories being incised in the surface and the square grooves painted a deep yellow ochre.
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
GROUND FLOOR PLAN OF STOKE BARN, FCLMF.R Il8
GERALD UNSWORTH AND INIGO TRIGGS, ARCHITECTS
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i (1 by the ar. : is situated on the - outh and o immands a very wide Elbe, two cog the living oomsalong thi uburbs of a to a hill like this, the one thing ground : tin
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Recent Designs in Domestic Architecture
This same colour is used for the backgrounds oi th< relief medallions over the arches of the veranda — which are by Prof. Hermann Schubert — repre- senting naked youths with the emblems of the pleasures of a villeggiatura-life, music, sport, wine \. . The strength of the design of the facade lies in the exquisiteness of its proportions, and the careful delicacy of the moulding of its single parts. 1 >r. Schubert i> exceptionally gifted in this din fust as a Meunier or a Rodin infuses so much breadth and power in a small bronze that the reproduction of it looks like the reproduction of a life-size statue, so Dr. Schubert casts his compara- tively small houses in a large, quasi-monumental mould. This appears plainly even in the accom paining view : when seen from the other side of the river, the house looks like a small chateau — but it only contains six rooms (the largest but twenty-five feet long), besides the offices &c. The staircase hall is decorated by a large stained glass window, which Otto Fischer designed in 1899. and which was reproduced in The Studio in the following year. The house is heated by a fresh-air central heating plant, which apart from economical reasons is advantageous tor the fart that it does away with
pipes .ind the ugl) apparatus supplying the oi stoves in the other system. Fireplaces, however, are also provided, thou| or senti-
mental reasons than to supply an actual necessity, but where they have been fixed they havi
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VII I. A M. u; DR ESDI (
HL'BEB 1 . ARCHITEl I
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Recent Designs in Domestic Architecture
ABCH1TBKT RRANTfcFK KRASNY VB vfnrsii
CHALUPA ,VDKROUHLJCE,' NA STRKOVfe U PLANE ^T^.
' OUN 1 KV HOUSE IN Bl IHEMIA
DESIGNED FY FRANZ KRASNY, ARCHITECT
ture. The design of this little country house in Bohemia is in sympathy with the style of archi- tecture indigenous to a country peopled by a Slav race and permeated by Slav traditions. The locality in which the house has been built is full of romantic associations, and is also interesting as having been the headquarters of the Hussite leader Ziska. The house stands in close proximity to the river, the site being on a hill some hundred and fifty feet above it. Simplicity is the keynote of the design, both without and within. The wood used in the construction of the gables is of local origin, the district being one abounding in timber, and old tiles have been used for the roof. The
plan of the house is as nearly as possible square, the length of the sides being approximately thirty- six feet. It is arranged in two stories, the lower one containing a large sitting-room (vel&d sednice) used as a general living-room, a smaller one com- municating with it {maid sednice), a kitchen (kuchyne) and other offices, the stove being built in the wall dividing the kitchen from the big living-room, and thus doing double duty ; while the upper story is reserved for sleeping apartments, bath- room, &c. The principal rooms have as usual been placed on the sunny side of the house. The architect, Franz Krasny, is a Czech but prac- tises in Vienna.
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Studio- Talk
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By Arthur Tucker, R.B.A.
STUDIO-TALK. (From Our Own Correspondents.)
LI >N I K »N. -The New English Art Club's recent exhibition was notable for the interest displayed in the decorative effect -' of a picture. This is a change from the casual attitude of Impressionism towards the problem of composition. When feeling for decoration is expressed throughout the entire method of making a picture we have something which is a distinct gain to art. Unfortunately in many of the canvases in the New English, where painters trained as realists have come in under the influence of Post-Impressionist theory, the artists have contented themselves with a purposeful unreality of colour in the name of decoration, grafted on to draughtsmanship and composition in which resemblance to reality has been the initial aim. There were whole groups of pictures 1>\ the newer school exhibiting with tin- ( 'lub that expressed this mixture of reality and unreality, and seemed to point to a fundamental inability toapprei iate decora- lion as an art. For this reasi >n it is mi ire pleasant to the work nearer to the tradition of the New English Art Club itself in the canvases <>t Mi. Wilson Steer, Mr. McEvoy, Mr. Tonks, and
OtlltTv
Among pictures which should be mentioned as contributing to the success of the exhibition were Fruit Sorters by Mr. Mark Gertler ; A Sussex Farm by Mr. Ronald Gray ; Women folk of Barge ijori by Mr. Charles Stabb ; The Stables, Belvoir by Mrs. Ralph Peto ; The Valley of the Crouch by Miss Alice Fanner : Blaenau Festiniog and The Black Lake by Mis> Elsie McNaught; The Lesson by Mr. F. H. S. Shepherd ; The Pink Cottage by Mr. Maxwell Armfield ; By the Stream by Mr. E. E. Brockhurst ; Preparation for a Party by Mr. Fairlie Harmar ; A Bunch <//' Artificial Flowers by Mi^s Ethel Elder: Richmond Castle by Mr. David Muirhead ; Blossom; sun and mist, Chippenfield 'by Mr. Lucien Pissarroj .// Bodinit by Mr. Joseph Southall, which we reproduce; rsation piece by Mr. Randolph Schwabe; View *'rom the Ramparts, Montreuil by Mr. A. I lay ward.
Perhaps thi important pictures of the
exhibition were Mr. Wilson Steer's A Summer Evening, a lyrical representation of nudes in golden light in an atmospheric landscape, and Mr. Walter Sickert's Ennui a canvas of a much larger size- than Mr. Sickert generally paints and one in which the figures of commonplace human types have been interpreted in a simple interior
i -o
Studio- Talk
scene with sinister insight into the emptiness of some people's lives and with a masterly directness of style. Mr. C. J. Holmes perhaps touched his high- watermark in Craig-y-Sythe, Llanbodr, but he wasalso interesting in The Burning Kiln, the composition of which will be appreciated in our reproduction. Another interesting picture, reproduced, is Mrs. E. G. Wheatley's The Interruption. Mr. C. M. Gere exhibited this year with greater success than he has ever previously attained, in the type of landscape which he has peculiarly identified with his name. Mr. F. H. S. Shepherd's Head of a Young Girl. Mr. Eric George's Return of the Dove to the Ark, Mr. Allan Gwynne-Jones's The Old Shepherd and Mr. E. Butter's Still Life we are reproducing and the reader will be able to appraise in them qualities of design which entitle them to be singled out.
what he believed to be his duty, and he laid down so plainly the lines along which he believed the whole of his effort ought to run, that his pictures must all be taken as equally important illustrations of his own personal creed and as helping each one to make his position in the art world more intelli- gible. His artistic outlook varied little throughout his life, and his pictures vary only in the degree of command over technical devices which is revealed in them. The precision and exactness of touch which was characteristic of his work in his earlier years gave way later to freer and more spontaneous methods, to a broader technical quality and a more suggestive manner of handling ; but to the last the princiules by which he was guided remained un-
The water-colours and drawings were perhaps of less interest this year than is commonly the case in the New English exhibitions, though The Municipio, Florence by Mr. F. S. Umvin ; The Grand Canal, Venice and Venice, Ponte dei SS. Atostoli by Mr. Muirhead Bone; The Boxers by Mr. W. Roberts ; Richmond Castle by Mr. David Muirhead; The Dislocated Elbow by Mr. Henry Tonks ; Anemones by Mr. E. Best ; Flower Study by Miss Amy Kraus, and the drawings of Mr. McEvoy are all things to be remembered with delight.
In the series of Albert Moore's life works it would be difficult to say which are most definitely charac- teristic and which best ex- plain the purpose and intention of his art. He devoted himself so con- sistently to the expression of a certain conception of the artist's mission, he had always so clear an idea of '3°
HEAD OF A YOUNG GIRL
(New English' Art Club)
"THE READER." from an oil
ing ey ALBERT MOORE. A.R.A.
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"BIRDS OF THE AIR." from an oil by ALBERT MOORE. A.R.A-
Studio- Talk
"AT BOIH Mi " BY fOSEPH E. SOUTHALL
( New English Art Club)
changed. In the two pictures which are reproduced in this number, The Reader, painted in 1877, and Birds of the Air, painted in 187S, the transition from his earlier to his later technical manner can be clearly seen. His studentlike earnestness is still perceptible and his care in the realisation of detail shi iws no abatement ; but compared with the works he produced during the preceding years these examples are larger in their mode of treatment and more confident in execution ; and they give the fullest promise of the command over his materials which was so evident in everything he painted from the middle of the eighties onwards.
One of the most interesting exhibitions of the
past month was that of the great French draughts- man Steinlen at the Leicester Gallery. Steinlen is the artist-poet of the street life of Paris; one of those profound realists whom Paris alone ran pro- duce, one whose finger seems all the while on the very pulse of life. What was shown in this exhibition well represents this, the chief aspect of his art, but there were evidences that the exhibition ■ in. lit have been more fully representative of his
genius. We carried away, however, a valuable impression of the deep sincerity of the artist. Even his slighter work expresses that vivid interest in life — even more than in art— which we regret to say it is easier t<i associate with the work of the old masters than with that of the clever raci whospring from the ait centres of to-day.
Also at the above gallery a display of recent draw ings by the pen-draughtsman "Alastair" should be recorded. Though he tinges his subjects with morbidity, the artist's work really is alive, on its own fanciful plane, full of wittiness and charm of execution : it is in the style o) Beardsley, but intensely individual all the same.
We cannot recall any exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters which has been less interesting than the present one. Few- are the works that escape the commonplace, so com- pletely have the ideals of the fashionable photo- grapher obsessed the members. Mr. Harrington Mann's Angela, Daughter of Captain the Hun. Maurice Brett, M.V.O. ; Mr. Waldo Murray's Robert Fowler, Esq. ; Mr. John Lavery's Zackra : Mr. Maurice Greiffenhagen's Portrait : Mr. W.
! l.\N
' Club)
1WYNN1
'35
Studio- Talk
Orpen's Miss Muriel Wilson ; Mr. Henry A. Payne's Mrs. Leicester; Miss Flora Lion's Baby and Mr. Reginald Wilenski's Mrs. Ramwell stand outfrom the mass and by their vitality and skill afford welcome relief from an exhibition otherwise depressingly devoid of the evidences of inspiration.
The Walpole Gallery is the new name of the small gallery at 47 Albemarle Street, and it looked very fascinating in its carefully selected grey wall- scheme as a background for a collection of Mr. Gerald F. Kelly's Burmese Sketches exhibited there a few weeks ago. Slight as these were in many cases they displayed much charm of colour and a deep feeling for their subject. Mr. Kelly's work generally has been under observation in London for some time as among the most inter- esting shown by younger men, but important as are his finished com- positions, they perhaps in every case lack something, most painter-like in cha- racter, which he is able to impart to the execution of these studies of single figures done absolutely direct from Nature and not touched again.
A few of the things offered were subject to a reserve fixed by the artist and some of these were not dis- posed of, but in other cases where no reserve was fixed there was spirited bidding, a pastel of moderate size by Mr. Tonks fetching over ,£30. The sale was conducted by Mr. William Marchant and realised upwards of ^300.
An artist who deserves much more recognition than he has received is Mr. Robert Gregory who has been exhibiting at the Chenil Gallery, Chelsea. This artist's drawing lacks assurance even in its own vein, but all his pictures are composed with a rare art of expressing design in nature while at the same time retaining that sense of atmosphere which is so essential to the poetry of the moods of nature. This latter is perhaps a gift which no imaginative interpreter of Irish landscape could be without,
At the Goupil Gallery in Regent Street last month an interesting event was the exhibition and subse- quent sale by auction of a number of works given by artists in aid of a fund now being raised to defray the initial expenses of the Spencer Frederick Gore Memorial Exhibition, which is to be held at the galleries of the Royal Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street, next January, under the auspices of the New Eng- lish Art Club. The works sold numbered between sixty and seventy and were contributed by an equal number of artists, in- cluding many prominent members or supporters of the New English Art Club.
!36
'THE INTERRCPTION
(New English .!■
«> *
(New English .!■ • uij
THE Kl I URN OF ["HE DOVE l<> THE ARK." BY ERIC GE< >RGE
Studio-Talk
but it is rare indeed that it finds expression side by side with so conscious a concern with pattern as Mr. Gregon exhibits.
After being shown in Paris at the exhibition of 3 icietd des Peintres Orientalistes Francais a collection of works by Indian artists of the New Calcutta School was shown in the Indian Se don of the Victoria and Albert Museum during April and May. and with a further series of works lent for the occasion by Mr. E. B. Havell and Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy afforded, if we are not mistaken, the first opportunity which the London public has yet had of making first hand acquaintance with the productions of this school. As stated in the introduction- to the catalogue, the school " represents the development which has taken place since 1S96. when Mr. E. B. Havell reorganised the instruction given in the Calcutta School of Art on Indian lines,'' but most of our readers are already familiar with the work of its chief represen- tatives from numerous re- productions which have appeared in our pages at various times during the past dozen years. Mr. A. N. Tagore, who succeeded Mr. Havell as principal of the School of Art in Calcutta, is the most promi- nent member of the group and he was represented in the exhibition by a series of sixty works, including the drawings he made for an edition of Omar Khay- yam published by us three or four years ago. He was supported by Nanda Lai Bose, Ishwara Prasad, Surendra Nath Ganguly, Satyendra Narayan I >utt, Asit Kumar Haldar, most if not all of them his pupils, and the collec- tion as a whole served as an effective demonstra- tion of the pictorial aims and ideals of the new- School.
An exhibition of book- bindings and illuminated
manuscripts was held recently at Messrs. Sangorski and Sutcliffe's studio in Poland Street. The bindings represented the works designed and executed by the late Francis Sangorski and George Sutcliffe, and there were also included a certain number of examples carried out, under their direction, by apprentices and young journeymen at the Northampton Institute and the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts. Amongst the exhibits was an illuminated manuscript of some poems by John Keats in an elaborate jewelled binding con- taining over one thousand precious stones, and some interesting examples of the cleaning and restoration of old books and manuscripts.
Among other recent exhibitions Mr. T. L. Shoosmith's at the Ryder Gallery should be noted, for in Mr. Shoosmith's art there survives a tradition of water-colour as it was understood by the contem- poraries of De \\ int.
V>1
^We-*"^
(New English Art Club)
BY EDWARD FCTTAR
{New English Art Club)
"THE BURNING KILN BY C. J. HOLMES
WWjUHU ...J. 1 1 J*»
»M ■» •• • •
Studio- Talk
Miss Miriam Deane, whose wood-print Home- wards we reproduce in as nearly as possible facsimile colour and size, is a recent recruit to the Society of Graver-Printers in Colour whose annual exhibition held a few weeks ago at the Manzi-Joyant galleries in Bedford Street contained several examples of her work. Using cherry-wood for her blocks and printing them as a rule on Japanese pap< aims at simplification and limits her work to blocks as possible, rarely exceeding three or four, and in printing she finds it easier to produce flat tones with a small roller than with broad brushes. Miss Deane lived for some years in Munich and studied in the art schools there.
EDINBURGH.— Continuing the practice instituted by Sir James Guthrie the Royal Scottish Academy has this year thrown its doors wide open to invited pictures and sculpture. A departure in the latter medium of art expression has been made in confining the
id more than half of the beautiful pied by exhibits of
deal of it
it there is one pie
r that touches the imagina-
ilities of life. Le
:T and stark with
i woman bends over him with
i revelation of the
he depth of human sympathy
Another large piece
iws I •■ • •
er, and it is fully ex-
ty. Other outstanding
ieurs of Pierre Braecke,
sseau's d among tl
. a beautiful treat-
rtion of the galleries
-»■ •
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-
I
*>-:
Studio-Talk
Miss Miriam Ik-am. whose wocd-print Home- wards we reproduce in as nearly as possible facsimile colour and size, is a recent recruit to the Society of Graver-Printers in Colour whose annual exhibition held a few weeks ago at the Manzi-Joyant galleries in Bedford Street contained several examples of her work. Using cherry-wood for her blocks and printing them as a rule on Japanese paper, she aims at simplification and limits her work to as few blocks as possible, rarely exceeding three or four, and in printing she finds it easier to produce flat tones with a small roller than with broad brushes. Miss Deane lived for some years in Munich and studied in the art schools there.
EDINBURGH.— Continuing the practice instituted by Sir James Guthrie the Royal Scottish Academy has this year thrown its doors wide open to invited pictures and sculpture. A departure in the latter medium of art expression has been made in confining the
work to one nationality, and more than half of the beautiful sculpture hall is occupied by exhibits of the work of Belgian sculptors. A good deal of it is on a small scale, but there is one piece by the late Constantin Meunier that touches the imagina- tion, and is full of the deep realities of life. Le Grisou shows a miner lying stiff and stark with upturned face, while a woman bends over him with an intent expression. It is a revelation of the tragedy of death and the depth of human sympathy that has a powerful appeal. Another large piece by the Comte de Lalaing shows two tigers busy demolishing a captured deer, and it is fully ex- pressive of power and ferocity. Other outstanding works are the Femmes de Pecheurs of Pierre Braecke, Rombaux's Epouvantail, Rousseau's L'OffranJe, Vanderstappen's David, and among the Scottish work, Dr. MacGillivray's Ehrna, a beautiful treat- ment of a portrait bust.
A very considerable portion of the galleries
RICHMOND CASTLE I40
(Royal Scottish Academy)
BY 1. WH1TEI.AW HAMILTON. A. U.S.A.
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BY J. v
•H0MEWARD8." from an origjnal wooo print er MIRIAM DEANE.
Studio-Talk
devoted to painting is given up to foreign invited work, some of which raises the question of whether the purpose aimed at is served by the examples that have been furnished. Such work to be a value to the local painter and interesting to the public requires to have a representative capacity, and this has not always been followed. Certainly one would not willingly miss Brangwyn's Wine, Roganeau's La Toilette, Philip Connard's Helen and fane, Besnard's church interior, Perlmutter's Two Ages, Oberteuffer's Notre Dame, Fernand Khnopffs L'Encens, Verhaeren's Tapis Rouge, Modeste Huy's Marche a Oudenarde, or Mancini's Waiting, but there are other canvases that are not worth the wall space they occupy, especially when it is borne in mind that the practice of keeping a low sky line and providing a " breathing " space
round each picture materially reduces the holding capacity of the exhibition.
THE MOTHER '
(Royal Scotti h l ademy)
The Scottish work is on the who], increasingly satisfactory. Among the younger artists the quality of style is more evident. Colour is richer and more forceful, drawing and design take a better place, and there is very little work of which n i an be said that it evidences only a superficial pretti- ness. Sir James Guthrie's technique has un< lergi n v considerable modification within the last yen 01 two, and his large portrait of the Lady Hermione Stuart standing at the foot of a staircase in a baronial mansion is one of the finest creations ol modern times in its revelation of the simplicity and beauty of girlhood amid aristocratic surroundings. Mr. E. A. Walton's portraits of John Kirkhope and Prof. Geikie, inspired by a similar motive — relation of the man to his activities — are both good, and con- siderable interest attaches to his 77/;' Mother with its accentuation of light and colour. Among the other portraits are interesting work by Mr. Henry Kerr and Mr. Robert Gibb, and Mr. Robert Hope shows continued progress in three portraits of women. Mr. Fiddes Watt has a portrait of the nonagenarian Earl of Haddington, and Mr. I ,a \ ery portraits of the King ami Queen, studies probably for his large pic lure at Burlington House last year. Mr. Henry Lintott, now one oi thi masters at the Art College, has a small portrait study of the head of a woman which has been acquired by the Scottish Modern Arts Association, and amonf thi younger workers showing excep tional promise in the painting of the figi Mr. David Alison, Mr. Cowan Dobson, Mr. Martine Ronaldson, Mr. w (i Hutchison, Mr. J. i43
l!V E. \. WA1 re IN,
Studio- Talk
Munnoch, M and Miss Dorothy
Johnsto
The Children of Lir. by Mr. John Duncan, is an excursion into Celtic myth; the children driven forth on the western seas as wild swans, form the centre of a beautifully executed design in which line is fitly placed to form a harmonious composition, and the colour-scheme has a symbolic significance. Mr. Stanley Cursitor's Twilight, a icture showing a family group of five persons by an open window, through which one has a glimpse of the twinkling lights of a great city, warrants the ambitious nature of the effort by one who was quite recently a student at the Art College, and the Academy has fitly recognised this by giving it a leading place in one of the rooms. Mr. Charles H. Mackie's three contributions are all landscape genre, two of them of brilliantly corus- cating colour, the third a village dance by moon- light, in which the effect of motion is happily realised. Mr. George Smith, hitherto only known as an animal painter, enters on a new field in the Vegetable Market, Bruges, in which the virility which characterises his other work is abundantly manifest not only in the strength of its colour but
its light and shade. The Caller Oti of Mr. Gemmell Hutchison, not quite accurate in its title, seeing that the two fisher-girls are carrying fish and not oysters, is the fullest realisation he has yet achieved of an open-air effect with brilliant sunshine and a strong breeze swaying the figures. Mr. Marshall Brown also depicts fisher-life successfully in his Toilers of the Sea, with men and women carrying ashore the harvest of fish from the beached boats. It contains greater purity of colour than he has hitherto been accustomed to use. Mr. Robert Burns's Loot is a clever study of the nude, the woman seated on a bed strewn with other spoils of war. Mr. P. \V. Adam contributes a further series of three interiors, each of them distinguished by their refined colour harmonies and artistic arrange- ment of objects.
In the domain of pure landscape Mr. J. Lawton Wingate has produced nothing finer than Sunset on the Hills, a moorland over which falls the subdued light filtered through a heavy bank of clouds. The intense autumnal glow of sunset on a forest of birches among the mountains is realised with great unity by Mr. James Cadenhead in his Late Harvest, a title not quite descriptive if literally applied.
"--INSET ON THE HILLS NEAR EDZELL ' 144
(Royal Scottish Academy)
BY J. LAWTON WINGATE, R.S.A.
i
- -'**J «*
(Royal Scottish Academy)
THE ( II I I DREN OF I.Ik " BY JOHN DUNCAN, A.R.S.A.
Studio- Talk
"TOILERS OF THE SEA "
( Royal Scottish Ac
HY W. MARSHALL FROWN, A.R.S.A.
Mr. J. Whitelaw Hamilton has been particularly successful in his Richmond Castle in conveying the expression of solidity and strength, both by com- position and colour, and similar features in respect to colour distinguish his Fish-Curer's Yard, Eye- mouth. Mr. W. V. Macgregor's Street in Fuen- terrabia vibrates with brilliant light and colour, and Mr. Robert Gibb in his Church and Monastery oj St. Francis has with great breadth of style expressed the dignity of the pile of buildings which crowns the steep cliffs at Assisi. Mr. Robert Noble's Weir on the Tyne is an effective composition in cool colour, and the late Mr. Campbell Noble is represented by one of his finest Dutch waterways. Mr. James Paterson, with his customary versatility, translates three different aspects of Nature, Mr. Mason Hunter exhibits a poetic version of Edin- burgh Castle, and there are interesting landscapes by Mr. W. 1). McKay. Mr. W. M. Frazer, Mr. George Houston, Mr. W. S. Macgeorge, Mr. Alex- Roche, Mr. R. B. Nisbet, and Mr. Campbell Mitchell. Mr. Wm. Walls is effectively dramatic in The Wolf 's Lone; Howl from Oonalaskas Shore, an impressive night scene.
In the water-colour room, in addition to a fine
series of drawings by the late Mr. Joseph Crawhall
there is beautiful quality in work by Mr. R. B.
Nisbet, Mr. Robert Burns, Mr. James Cadenhead,
146
Mr. Edwin Alexander, and the late Miss Preston Macgoun, while the black-and-white room contains fine work by Sargent, Muirhead Bone, Orpen, William Strang, and Charles Sims, including a study for Mr. Sims's picture, Tlie Arc/ier. A. E.
TORONTO.— The Forty-second Annual Ex- hibition of the Ontario Society of Artists has recently been held in this city. This Society, the pioneer art associa- tion of the province, was instituted in 1872, and incorporated in 1877 and 1898. The roll of members contains thirty-six names, of whom a dozen are women artists, and as many more non- members joined in this year's display. The out- standing note was the work of the new school of younger painters. Under the leadership of Mr. A. V. Jackson, who has worked in French studios, some six or seven rising men have agreed to follow the Norwegian-French protagonists of crude form and emphatic illumination. They use coarse canvas and paint with fat, flat brushes. The effect is that of raised embroidery, or applique work, with sharp contrasts of light and shade and crashing bars of colour. Whether this style of painting will become popular it is impossible to say : anyhow, as a feeling after forcible expression it is worthy of attention.
Turning to more orthodox paintings, Mr. W. M.
Studio- Talk
Cutts's Atlantic Rollers was the marine picture of the year, the play of opal-tinted sunshine upon the iridescent spray, and the duller spume of the churning deep, being excellently rendered. Across the Boom was a very attractive canvas b\ Mr. Thomas W. Mitchell, and Mr. Tom Thompson's two exhibits were both striking in treatment. A very brilliant canvas was Mr. A. Suzor Cote's The River Magog, Sherbrooke. His well-known skill in snow- effects was further evidenced by the blaze of red- gold sunset upon the cold stream, its banks and buildings. Mr. Owen Staples gave quite a Tumer- esque effect to his October Mist, a subtle colour blend of river mist, factory smoke and sunshine.
Prominent among the figure picture- was Miss Florence Carlyle's Son and Heir, and among the portraits Mr. E. W. Grier's Portrait of Himself, for the National Gallery, Ottawa. Mr. H. Britton's Fisherman's Wife was noteworthy — an old woman mending a fishing-net in a squalid sun-lit hut.
Among other pictures of excellence were Mrs. W. M. Cutts's A Dartmoor Farm, Mr. C. M. Manly 's The Very Heart of //—another Dartmoor study— Mrs. G. A. Reid's decorative panel, Autumn Fires. Mr. F. McG. Knowles' An Autumn Evening, Mr. F. M. Bell-Smith's The Silvery 7}<&— the Thames at Waterloo Bridge— Mr. Thomas A. Fripp's Where Snows and Suns and Mad Winds Meet (Mr. Sheol in the Rockies), and Mr. R. S. Gagen's Sunlit Rocks, an Atlantic coast study. J. E. S.
PARIS.— As mediums of expression, etching and wood-engraving have lat< •!> been en- joying a vigorous popularity in Paris. Within the last few months new and varied societies have grown up and launched their exhibitions, all of which have contained work of a desirable charm. Amongst the larger displays that of the Premier Salon Internationale de la Gravure Originale, held in the Marcel Bernheim Galleries, was selectively interesting. As in all international
' I I PARDON DE SAINT-GUENOl E"
FROJI \n >■' n HING n:
' 17
Studio- Talk
• MAISOX SEIGNECRIAI.E ESI>A< '. NuI.E '
FROM AN ETCHING BY J. CHAMPCOMMUNAL
exhibitions there were many things here which had the appearance of having strayed in on a wearisome reputation. Their position on the walls, however, in no way hindered one's appreciation of their creative companions. By their strong compositii mal massing the wood-engravings and etchings of J. Champcommunal at once arrested attention, and on close observation they still retained their first impression, losing nothing by one's additional interest in each subject and its unique tech- nique. Perhaps owing to the associations we attach to the wood-prints in colour, executed with a predominance of dark masses, those seem to have the most lasting appeal which interpret certain sad phases of life or strong dramatic situations and
effects ; and among prints which arouse one's emotions in this way it would not be indiscreet to place those of G. Gobo and C. J. Hallo ; but though their names are thus linked together each is an individual artist exhibiting work with a distinct personality. The accompanying illustrations of the work of these artists are from prints exhibited in this year's Salon of the Societe Nationale des Beaux- Arts. Amongst other exhibitors' work which com- pelled more than a hurried glance, one must add the poetical and vigorous etchings of R. Grillon and the sensitively delicate work of Maurice Achener ; while interesting contributions from other than French artists included some etchings by J. Gavin and two artists already well known to
A TRIBORD." FROM AN 1.1 l HING BY C. J. HALLO
Studio- Talk
readers oi I'm Studio Herman A. Webster and F. M. Armington.
Amongst the paintings in the Old Salon by French artists whose continued predilection for a particular sketching-ground obviates the necessity foi signature or catalogue to identify them, the pictures of Fernand Maillaud are always attractive. Hi-- Seine du Berry is a typical example of the work which places him amongst the notable painters of this peaceful and much loved old French province. In this romantic region he still finds an inexhaustible store of inspiration, and few artists who resort thither interpret its charms with the same insight and fidelity as he.
1 (espite the opinion one heard at the inauguration of this year's two Salons that pictures by American artists had not received the same generous placing as in the former years, one found on examination very little appreciable difference, except perhaps that where a well-known painter had lost, a lesser-
known man had gained. Almost invariably the discontent expressed at the vernissage soon gives place to content. The significant difference between the two Salons remains much the same, the Old Salon adhering to its traditional partiality for the academic, allegorical, anecdotal and realistic painting, mostly by good workmen ; while the New Salon, apart from its more modern outlook and reticent hanging is generally speaking more refined. Be this as it may, however, the two pictures, including the one here reproduced, which Mr. Richard Miller contributed to the Old Salon, where they were excellently hung, deserve unstinted praise, both being well ahead of anything he has previously shown. Max Bohm, too, in his sole exhibit also entitled Spring, cleverly handled a difficult com position of nudes in golden colours, more sym- bolical perhaps by its certain classical forms and simplicity.
In the New Salon certain pictures bv American artists, as well as exhibiting an unfailing energy,
"S( IMC nr BERRY"
150
(Salon of the Socttti des Artistes Francois, 1914)
BV FERN \M> M Ml I \ I'
(Salon des Artistes Francois, 1914)
SPRING." MY RICHARD MILLER
MAUVE ET ROSE" BY MYRON BARLOW
(Salon dc la Socilt4 Nationals, 1914)
(Sale n dc la Socitti! Nationals, /(//■/)
LES POMMES." BY MYRON HARLOW
Studio- Talk
were amongst the most distinguished. The four brilliant colour displays by F. C. Frieseke at once placed him in the front rank of American artists. and no open-air sunlight studies in the exhibition were more genuinely attractive than his Venus an Soleil. For subtle uncommon personality one is trebly interested in the work'of Myron Barlow : his delight in blues and delicate violets has for years been a prominent characteristic of his work, and to judge by their contributions to the two Salons in recent times it would seem to be a scheme to which almost all American exhibitors are partial. I am not in any way condemning it : on the con- trarv it is intensely interesting. What I remember most clearly in the Old Salon'is the delightful blue. violet and pale yellow colour scheme in the excellently composed Le Christ chez Lazare by H. O. Tanner : and it was also a scheme that fascinated one in Les travailleurs de la mer, one of two works exhibited by John Xoble in the New Salon.
exceeded in importance the ordinary shows of a similar description which have been held at all the art-centres of Germany during recent years. One or two important firms in Berlin have systematically interested their customers in the art of the French impressionist school for about a dozen years now. and have brought a good deal of it over here, where it has found willing buyers, but it is an open secret that most of the pictures thus imported constituted the residue of the stock in hand of certain firms. Works not valued by the collectors of their own country often found a ready sale with us. Most of the exhibitions in Germany were supplied by dealers with this kind of material : but the Dresden show, held at Arnold's Galleries during April and May, drew upon collections of an older standing and managed to secure the loan of about one hundred and fifty pictures, many of which would do credit to any public museum of the highest standing.
But one might linger in- definitely gleaning here and there work deserving of more than a brief cata- loguing, in which category I should undoubtedly in- clude, in the New Salon, Roy H. Brown's Neige dans la Foret and Sapins et Peupliers aux dunes, E. CucuePs Zt Dejeuner, and the work of Charles W. Hawthorne. George Elmer Browne. George Ober- teuffer, Edwin Scott, and J. R. Hopkins : and in the Old Salon, The Grand Canal, Venice, by Walter Griffin, Le pent an cripus- eale by Harry Van der Weyden, Murray Bewley's Veille de Noel and Nbrio, H. T. Bushman's Per/rait and Rayons de Soleil, I.. D. Connell's A Saint Efflam, and 1'. ( '.. I loughert v's L' entree du Village and Le
Soir.
D
pictures 154
I .. A. T.
k ES DEN.— The recent ex- hibition of modern French
t I (resden far
PORTRAIT OK A LADY'
BY Gl'STAVE COURBBT
(Schmeil Collection, Dresden )
o
O H e4 O
So
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U
Studio- Talk
The exhibition started with Gericault, Delacroix, Daumier, and Courbet Then came Corot, Millet, and Manet, followed by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley. Degas and Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh brought the show down to our own days. Toulouse-Lautrec, Guys, and Jean Louis Forain close the list of those represented. The numeration of these eighteen names suffices to indicate that the exhibition, in the arrangement of which several well-known museum authorities took .1 hand, was very select.
One of the principal contributors was Dr. von Dietel, who is now, by inheritance, the possessor of the Meyer collection, which was brought together about sixty years ago. Meyer, besides buying a lot of works thought highly of at their time but scarcely held in esteem to-day, turned his attention to the school of Fontainebleau. There are quantities of forged Corots abroad, and so it is especially satis- factory to find in the Meyer collection a splendid specimen of the Barbizon master's landscape painting, the authenticity of which can never be a matter of doubt, for it was bought and placed in this collec- tion at a time when Corot was scarcely known, and no one would have found it worth his while to attempt a forgery. The Meyer col- lection has never been ex- ploited, and is to this day not at all well known : thus it happens that the picture in question is not men- tioned in Robaud's cata- logue, for he never heard of it.
attributed to Daumier. It is low-toned and of most fascinating workmanship. The Girl in the Bath and The Toilet are splendidly characteristic examples of Degas' well-known "blonde" manner of painting.
Among the Corots the most interesting, besides the Meyer landscape, were the Portrait of a Lady, half-length on a black background, owned by Mr. O. Schmitz, and The Concert Room belonging to Consul Melchers of Bremen. This latter work one would likewise be ready to attribute to the great Daumier, if it happened to be unsigned. Among the Daumiers, the Waggon, troisieme classe and two pictures of Bathers — owned by Rothermundt and Schmitz — were particularly worthy of notice, pic- tures in which draughtsmanship recedes before the painter's skill in a most fascinating manner. The Return from Market, also in Mr. Schmitz's posses- sion, is wonderfully monumental and grand in its handling, in spite of the smallness of the canvas.
Herr another tributor. several
von Seidlitz was important con- He collected fine examples of
1 legas early in the nineties, when only very few people held this master in any esteem. The Lydia, a small full-length of a lady looking through an opera- glass, is a most unusual work for Degas : one would not be surprised to hear it 156
"THE NEW BONNET'
BY EDOUARD MANET
(Schmits Collection, Blasewiis)
Studio-Talk
••the toilei " ( Von Seidlitz Collection, Bla
No one was represented better in this exhibition than Courbet, the best of his landscapes hailing from the collection of Mr. Schmeil. who likewise owns an interesting half- length of a lady seated, by Courbet. None of these, however, nor Mr. Schiitte's Magnolias, can be said to equal the fine Courbets which recently made the round of Germany in the collection of Mr. Nemes, lately dispersed. Nor did the Cezannes, upon the whole, come up to those Nemes once owned.
unsophisticated people may have looked at the painting for a long time without discovering the mirror. The small paint- ing of /.(■ Gamin, corre- sponding to Manet's etching and lithograph of the same name, was pro- duced at a time when Goya and Daumier in- fluenced Manet's colour. One of the most wonder- ful pictures in the show- was the small Jetty at Boulogne in Mr. Schmitz's collection. This repre- sents the ideal which Manet, and after him Whistler, extracted from Velasquez's handling and colour. The Bassin d'Arcaeho/i, owned by Cassirer at Berlin, was very nearly as good. The portrait of the critic, Albert Wolff, though scarcely pushed beyond
l;V EDGAR DEGAS
Among the Manets the piece de resistance was the well-known Bar au Folies res. To be quite honest, one must admit that tlie picture enji >\ s a slightly better reputation than it de- serves All the brilliancy of handling does not dis- guise tin- fa< t that the real idea of the picture, vi/.. that what we see in the back- ground is the reflection in a mirror, does not appear plainly. I am Mire many
SA COLO BY GIOVANNI
— By courtesy of the Casa Editrice " Ftoi
'57
Studio- Talk
the first stages, was also excellent and extremely interest!
There was hardly anything more than sketches In I (elacroix to be seen, though some of these were ting enough, merely because of their being preparatory studies forsuch famous pictures as The Death of Sardanapulus, The Bride of Abydos, and La Grece expirant sur les ruines de Missolonghi. Among the GeYicaultS, The Trumpeter was a pii ture of first importance. The dramatic colora- tion is so vital a feature of this work that no black- and-white reproduction can do it anything like justice. ( )ne of the principal Renoirs, on the other hand. Pupils of the Paris Conservatory of Music, seems tinted rather than painted, and the drawing is In far the main feature. It is an early work, inclining somewhat to Manet, and contrasting Strangely with the luminous, complicated coloration of Renoir's later style. In At the Piano, Lovers in a Wood, Portrait of the Countess Pourtalis (owned by Mr. Rothermundt), the vivid, occasionally some- what sentimental, colour harmonies easily override deficiencies in drawing, which catch one's eye, however, if one sees only a half-tone reproduction of such canvases. Camille Pissarro and Alfred
Sisley were excellently represented by fine, bright and airy specimens of their delicate, sunny art. But this was, of course, comparatively easy, for it is not yet become scarce. H. VV. S.
FLORENCE. — When Impressionism made its first appearance in France, its pioneers were, as all the world knows, greeted with a storm of derision. After long and serious struggles their art came to the front and is to-day fully recognised as the great acquisition of the last century. With the names of Manet, Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Degas, Cezanne, Pissarro, and other champions of the new school, one often finds two more — those of Boldini and Me' Nittis, both of them Italians who formed part of a particular nucleus of Italian artists who expoused the cause of Impressionism. Boldini and De Nittis lived chiefly in Paris, and therefore, their work came to be better known and appreciated than that of others of their countrymen.
In Italy itself the political struggles which began in the middle of the nineteenth century absorbed public attention, and only a few connoisseurs realised the merits of the forerunners of the modern
V
^v5a8kfl*?rJ
Sftft5"-^
'I ABREUVAG1 Kv GIOVANNI FATTOKJ
(Checcucci Collection— By courtesy of the Casa Editri t " Self," Florence) __
'58
Studio-Talk
( Collect inn o/Sgr. Mario Galli—By courtesy of the Casa Editrice " Self")
movement in painting in their own country. But I'roni the Alps to the must southern point of Sicily a revolution was taking place in art as well as in politics. In every province the new movement «;h discussed and taken up by a few sincere artists. Following the tradition of their great ancestors, Giotto, Massaccio, Piero della Franceses and others, their only true aim was to create true
art. In the works they produced there is no n. H I of imitation, either of their French contemporaries or oro another. Little the) cared for the approval or disapproval of the publii or the academic repri
sentatives of art. Floren ami tl itre ol
the movement and while De Nittis and Boldini emigrated to France some of thi others remained m their native country. They used to meet in a small caie. which soon acquired considerable notoriety as a resort ol these i hampions of the new ment, and many guests who came lor a visit to Florence joined in the livelj and sometimes even
stormy dicussions which were held there on art and politics.
Amongst this group of artists was < iiovanni Fattori. He was undoubtedly the most characteristic and sincere ol the Florentine macchiajuoli, as they are
called. Horn at Leghorn in [825 of poor parents, he had all through his life a hard struj living. But he would not sacrifice his convictions foi temporarj success and fought pluckily against
the stale traditions of the official Si hi >< lis 1 'I painting. Fattori's school was nature, and the numerous works he produced under the direct inspiration ol thai instructor are a testimony to th ol her
teaching, rhej arc so true and convincing and rj in so simple and so personal a manner, that one cannot hut lid surprised at the long time
1 10 waii before his talent » in halv. Hi died in 1908 after an active and
15.,.
Studio- Talk
■ PAYSAGE D ITAUE
(Collection of Julius Oppenheimer, Esq.)
BY GIOVANNI FATTORI
simple life. He was married three times but had no children.
Fattori's early works include many military sub- jects. The country swarmed with soldiers at that time, and the artist's eagle eye was attracted by the great variety of uniforms and attitudes he en- countered, and he made a large number of pencil sketches in his note-book and occasionally an
oil sketch on a wooden panel. The public, though not quite satisfied with his drawing, took a fancy to these subjects and if in later days he was able to find just enough to live on, it was on account of the various orders received from the government for large battle-pictures. The artist himself, however, soon outstepped the idea of becoming an expert in the craft of painting military subjects. He realised that true art had no fixed range of subject or
" ETUDE I)E LA VIE MIUTAIKF.' I 60
V>**
( Collection of Julius Oppenheimer, Esq.)
BY GIOVANNI FATTORI
Studio- Talk
LES VEDETTES
(Collection ofSgr. G. Sjorni—By courtesy oj the Casa Editrice " Self;
Florence)
ilOVANNl FATTl IR1
method of treatment. His later work was remark- able for its variety of subject and medium. He used oil and water-colour, pastel, pen and ink, and pencil, as well as the etching needle, and among his subjects we find portraits of fair women, toilers of the field, animals, straw stacks, architecture, and even simple masses of stone. Not all of his work is perfect, but considering his large production, the quantity of excellent work he accomplished is
astonishing, and in everything he produced his individuality can be recognised. As remarked by Oscar Ghiglia in his introduction to the fine volume of reproductions which the publishing firm of Self has recently consecrated to the memory of the artist, " it would be easier to copy one of Titian's Venuses than one of his [Fattori's] fragments of stone, so entirely is the result due to the unconscious action of the brush or pencil as guided by the hand in
• ON JARDIN d'OLIVIERS '
(Collection of Julius Oppenheim,
I', I
NAUSICAA." BY RUDOLF KAESBACH
i ■ ;
Studio-Talk
ng the nervous impulse excited by an
; mal state of mind." This well-known painter
lis appreciation by claiming for Fattori a
e n the great traditions of true painting, and
, he deserves to be ranked as at least, the
i:i if the great French leaders of the Impres-
School. S. R.
BERLIN. — In the domain of the fine arts it commonly happens that men who possess real talent and individuality are fated to wait long years before their merits are :ed, and often indeed that complete success i made possible by perfect freedom of action lhindered development of personality is si only in later years. Such, however, has n the fate of Rudolf Kaesbach, who is d the small number of German sculptors on u recognition has been bestowed in . the early t! f their activity. Born in 1873 at Munchen- ch in the Rhine country, he studied at the lies of Hanau and Brussels and then worked self for a few years ieldorf, the chief art of the Rhenish pro- ■ From 1 904 onwards tad a studio in Berlin is devoted himself illy — though by no exclusively — to the tion of those smaller > ulpture to which ily the term " Klein- " such as the figures iced in the accom- l illustrations.
art in modelling male figures of well-knit, noble form and the smooth and graceful lineaments of the female figure. As examples of the latter it is only necessary to refer to the works here illustrated ; and since reproductions such as these are more to the purpose than any explanatory commentary, further remarks thereon would be superfluous. But, as already stated, Kaesbach's work is not confined to the modelling of the female figure ; and besides the male subject — which, with its firm, erect attitude, is really far more imposing — he has also accomplished much good work in animal sculpture. An excellent example of this is his bronze equestrian study In the Pond, while of his studies of the male sex there are two which should be mentioned as displaying the racy vigour which distinguishes his work — one the figure of a wrestler and the other that of a fencer, both erect, wiry types of manhood which convincingly attest his executive capacity.
For a number of years past Kaesbach's sculpture
I rill the works of this
uitor there lurks a
cmr sense of vitality
c evokes sympathy,
is no doubt because
•I quality in his plastic
a ins that they have
1 he very first appealed
'ongly to those pos-
m artistic susceptibili-
He does not make
function to portray
jrdier, ruder types of
lity in which brute
and massive propor
ire the salient charac-
s) but exercises his
1 susanna " (Fholo, Neue Photogr. Gesellschaft, Berlin) by rudolf kaesbach
163
NAUSICAA." BY RUDOLF KAESBACH
(Photo. Nene Photographischt haft, Berlin)
Studio- Talk
expressing the nervous impulse excited by an exceptional state of mind." This well-known painter closes his appreciation by claiming for Fattori a place in the great traditions of true painting, and certainly he deserves to be ranked as at least, the equal of the great French leaders of the Impres- sionistic School. S. R.
BERLIN. — In the domain of the fine arts it commonly happens that men who possess real talent and individuality are fated to wait long years before their merits are recognised, and often indeed that complete success which is made possible by perfect freedom of action and unhindered development of personality is realised only in later years. Such, however, has not been the fate of Rudolf Kaesbach, who is among the small number of German sculptors on whom recognition has been bestowed in. the early if their activity. Born in 1873 at Miinchen- ( iladbach in the Rhine country, he studied at the .V ademies of Hanau and Brussels and then worked by himself for a few years at Diisseldorf, the chief art centre of the Rhenish pro- vinces. From 1904 onwards he has had a studio in Berlin and has devoted himself principally — though by no means exclusively — to the production of those smaller works of sculpture to which we apply the term " Klein- plastik," such as the figures Reproduced in the accom- panying illustrations.
art in modelling male figures of well-knit, noble form and the smooth and graceful lineaments of the female figure. As examples of the latter it is only necessary to refer to the works here illustrated ; and since reproductions such as these are more to the purpose than any explanatory commentary, further remarks thereon would be superfluous. But, as already stated, Kaesbach's work is not confined to the modelling of the female figure ; and besides the male subject — which, with its firm, erect attitude, is really far more imposing — he has also accomplished much good work in animal sculpture. An excellent example of this is his bronze equestrian study In the Pond, while of his studies of the male sex there are two which should be mentioned as displaying the racy vigour which distinguishes his work — one the figure of a wrestler and the other that of a fencer, both erect, wi re- types of manhood which convincingly attest his executive capacity.
For a number of years past Kaesbach's sculpture
In all the works of this Sculptor there lurks a peculiar sense of vitality which evokes sympathy, and it is no doubt because of this quality in his plastic ns that they have from the very first appealed so strongly to those pos- sessing artistic susceptibili- ties. He does not make it his function to portray the sturdier, ruder types of humanity in which brute force and massive propor tions are the salient charac- teristics, but exercises his
(Thole, Ncue Photogr. Gesellschaft , Berlin) BY RUDOLF KAESBACH
«63
Studio-Talk
has been a regular feature at all the chief art
exhibitions in Germany, as for example at the
Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung and those held
from time in Dusseldorf, Munich, and elsewhere,
where they always excite interest and gain many
friends. At the present time the sculptor is
d on a series of works of a figural and
ntal character destined for the decoration of
I which is undergoing reconstruction in one
of the towns of Pomerania, and in view of the
steady progress he has already made in his art it will
be interesting to watch his further development.
W. E. W.
The ground floor of the Berlin National Gallery has now been reopened to the public after having undergone a complete transformation, for which
'FETTERED" KY RUDOLF KAESBACH
(Pholo, Note Photographische Gesellschaft, Berlin) 164
FIGURE OK A CHILD BY RUDOLF KAESBACH
(Pholo, Nette Photographische Gesellschaft, Berlin )
credit is due to the new director, Prof. Justi. The old arrangement was far from satisfactory \ with its dark central room and inconvenient partition of the whole it caused much confusion. But this has now all disappeared ; space is gained, and everything seems better disposed and lighted. After passing through the fine old vestibule, one enters an oblong passage, which serves as as overture to a grand symphony when we start our studies from its left end, and proceed through a semicircle of cabinets until we reach the passage again. One could have wished, however, that the rich and sonorous Renaissance decoration of the first rooms had been carried out all through the gallery. As it is, masters like Bocklin and Feuerbach stand out deservedly in all their grandeur ; they represent pathos and poetry, gifts which seem to be rare in these days. MareeSi
Studio-Talk
whose position in the front rank has been severely contested, also evidences the happy union of the German and Italian element, but does not look here quite the equal of such Olympians. The realistic side of German art is represented with distinction by collective shows of the works of Menzel, Leibl, Liebermann, Trubner and Schuch, and it was a happy idea to arrange a kind of tribune on the first floor where some pictures by select masters vie with each other.
The confusion which prevails in the Berlin Seces- sion seems to be entirely alienating the lingering sym- pathies of the public. Two different groups have just been holding exhibitions. The " Freie Secession," under the Honorary Presidency of Max Liebermann, exhibited in the old Secession building. It derived importance from the Julius Hern collection, mostly composed of the works of distinguished impres- sionists, a delightful H.ms Thoma room, and a large equestrian subject by Renoir. Other notable contributions came from Oberlander, Ulrich and H. Hiibner, Rhein, Klemm, Hagen, Rappaport,
Habermann, Weiss, Meid, Kardorf, Boudy, Rosier, Beckmann, Grimm, Baluschek, C. Rii ht< r, I and Klein-Diepold. The sculptors Barlach, Kolbe, Engelmann, Kruas, Gerstel, Minneand Kruckeberg
also added their quota of meritorious works.
The rest of the exhibits gave evidence of the excesses to which expressionism, cubism, and futurism have misled our artists. A visit to the "Neue Secession " which has rallied the ultra-radicals from the "Storm" group only meant a loss ol time owing to the lack of artistic capacity which marked their exhibition as a whole. Some independent Secessionists, among them Lovis Corinth, the brothers Appier, and Pottner, o open
another exhibition.
At Amslerand Ruthardt's an exhibition of Wilhelm I -tellings argued well for the progress of this
able artist. He has abandoned his careful side- light and chiaroscuro method and has spread his wings wide under modern influences. We see him now sketching rapidly in the open air, in the focus of city-life, and he has suceeded in capturing many fascinating vistas from Berlin and his native town Magdeburg. His surely working needle can grasp large dimensions and busy crowds, lie is always convincing and although his eagerness to suggest movement is occasionally u\ ei Home by a certain Teutonic heavim ol form, his innate qualities further development.
' IN THE PONIi
( 'Photo, Nt
BY RUDO] 1 i
Phologr. Gisellschaft, Halm)
At si ime i if the Ai : :
work o! artists who
follow the latest t.ishions
has Keen in evidence this
Thus at ( 'ussjivr s
Mine mural
paintings b) lleinrich
Nauen showing an attempt
to depict h u ma n and
animal figures and
by a large and " I xpres
si on i stic " patchwork of
but also disclosing
an insufficient knowledge
of the living form. Karl
synthetic outline
•65
Art School Notes
"COMMERCE AND INDl'STRY
( Fi\ it Secession, Berlin)
BY CLRICH HUBNER
failed to make his monotony of form and feeling palatable and to mask deficiencies of draughtsman- ship. At Fritz Gurlitt's the work of Adolf Erbsloh called for closer inspection with its sonorous tonalities and strong sense of form, although a certain heaviness of hand was perceptible. T. T.
VIEXXA. — Josef von Divekv, whose re- markable etchings and book illustrations have of late attracted much attention on the Continent, is a young Hungarian artist who having acquired the theory and practice of his profession in Vienna now resides in Brussels. He has made rapid headway, for he is an artist gifted with a fine imagination and an admirable power of expressing his thoughts. His study is humanity, and from humanity he draws his in- spiration ; consequently his etchings teem with the force of Life. He has a keen eye for decorative effect, as is shown by his etching The Ship of Joy here reproduced, which is a characteristic example of his methods. It is one of a series of six of which The Fortune Seeker, The Pilgrim, and The Bridge are notable expressions of the view of life peculiar to the artist. He is a capital draughtsman and understands the printing of etchings and of books, 1 66
having acquired his experience in this craft with the firm of Rosenbaum in Vienna.
A. S. L.
ART SCHOOL NOTES.
LONDON. — Particulars of the Rome Scholar- ships in Architecture, Sculpture, and Decora- tive Painting, to be awarded in 191 5, have -^ been issued, and those who intend to compete must give notice of their intention to the Honorary General Secretary, British School at Rome, 54 Victoria Street, London, S.W., before January 23 next. There will be a scholarship in each of the three subjects of the value of ^."200 per annum, ordinarily tenable for three years at the British School in Rome, and candidates must be British subjects, under thirty years of age on July 1, 1915. The Henry Jarvis Studentship of the same value, offered by the Royal Institute of British Architects, will be competed for at the same time, but will be ordinarily tenable for two years at the British School, and only students or associates of the Institute are eligible to compete for it. In each class there will be an open and a final examination, conducted by the respective faculties at the British School. The subject for the Open Examination in
'THE SHIP I >F JOY." FROM AN ETCHING BY JOSEF VON DIVKKY
Reviews and Notices
Architecture will be a " Courts of Justice " fulfilling certain specified conditions : and in sculpture and decorative painting candidates have to submit various kinds of work in accordance with the printed particulars, the last date for delivery in ea< li case being January 30. The final examination will follow three or four months later and will be confined to a small number of select candidates.
REVIEWS AND NOTICES.
Brush and Pencil Notes in Landscape. By Sir Alfred East, R.A. (London: Cassell and Co., Ltd.) 10s. 6d. net. — Very beautiful both in their decorative qualities and in their compelling sense of fidelity to and love of nature as are the paintings of Sir Alfred East, whose death leaves so great a gap in the ranks of our landscape painters, his genius was pre-eminently revealed in his water-colours, in which, apart from their beauty of colour, he evinces such amazing skill in the rendering of atmospheric effect, and again in the pencil drawings — so sug- gestive and so profound in the knowledge of tree forms — with which he filled countless sketch-books. As Mr. Edwin Bale tells us in his sympathetic introduction, it was the artist's own conviction that he was a better painter in water-colour than in oils, and the sincerity of his very personal attitude towards Nature is admirably seen in the beautiful works he executed with such mastery in the former medium. Thirty-one examples of his sketches in water-colour are illustrated in facsimile in this volume together with twenty-nine pencil-sketches. The reproductions are in the main excellent, though occasionally the colour plates leave something to be desired, and the pencil reproductions are printed on an "antique" paper which while it certainly gives something of the surface quality of the original sketches does not allow of quite full justice being done to the blocks. The book contains an article written by Sir Alfred East himself on " The Artist's attitude towards Nature," which, taken in conjunc- tion with the examples of his work here illustrated, should prove very helpful and suggestive to the student sketching from Nature.
An Introduction to English Church Architecture from the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Century. By Francis Bond, M.A. &c. (Oxford University- Press. ) 2 vols. £2 2S. net. — The number of books dealing with English Church Architecture from the standpoint of the non-professional student is legion, but we cannot recall any that treats of the subject so systematically and thoroughly, and is so extensively illustrated as this new work by Mr. Bond, whose exhaustive knowledge of the subject, 168
already attested by the various books which have appeared under his name during the past few years, is here again abundantly demonstrated. The author's aim is, to use his own words, " to give a plain, straightforward account of mediaeval build- ing construction as controlled by mediaeval ritual," and in pursuance of this aim the analytical method has been followed throughout the bulk of the work. Thus after preliminary chapters on the churches belonging to the various orders of monks and canons, the requirements of the greater mediaeval churches, the planning of churches of monks and canons, and the planning and growth of the parish church, he proceeds to discuss and exemplify in turn the numerous constructional details met with in these edifices — such as vaulting, the abutment system, walls and arches, the pier and its members, the various kinds of windows and their tracery, doorways and porches, the triforium and bay design, the clerestory, the roof and other devices for securing protection from rain, and finally towers and spires. The comprehensive scope of the treatise may be judged from the fact that the two volumes contain no fewer than 1400 illustrations, including besides photographic views and drawings of exteriors and interiors, numerous plans and sections, while the Index Locorum fills no fewer than twenty pages. There is also an excellent glossary as well as an exhaustive Index Rerum, and as evidences of careful elaboration are everywhere present the work will undoubtedly rank henceforth as a standard authority on pre-Reformation Church Architecture in England.
Spring. By W. Beach Thomas and A. K. Collett. (London : T. C. and E. C. Jack.) io.f. 6d. net. — This is the second volume of the series of three delightful works in which the authors are giving us a kind of Nature-lover's diary of " The English Year.-' The first, dealing with Autumn and Winter, was reviewed in these pages some few months ago, and now Messrs. Beach Thomas and Collett give us similar fascinating essays upon all the manifold and varied happenings in woods and fields during March, April, and May. As before, the volume is illustrated by very numerous ad- mirable drawings in the text by Mr. Allen Seaby and contains twelve colour plates after works by Conder, East, Arnesby Brown, Harry Becker and Tom Mostyn.
The Figments and Mediums of the Old Masters. By A. P. Laurie, M.A., D.Sc. (London : Macs millan and Co.) 8s. 6d. net. — For some years past Dr. Laurie, who succeeded Sir Arthur Churchas Pro- fessor of Chemistry to the Royal Academy in 1912,
Reviews ami Notices
has devoted close attention to discovering the nature of the materials used by painters from the earliest times onwards, and about four years ago he published the results of his researches and investigations in a work entitled " Materials of the Painters' Craft " (Foulis). In the present volume he sets forth the results of further researches and experiments in the same direction, undertaken as he explains, with a definite practical object, namely, that of acquiring such an exact knowledge of pigments and mediums as would prove of value in fixing the dates of works of art and detecting forgeries. The methods he employs are chemical and microscopical, and as they involve the removal of a minute portion of pigment the examination requires delicate manipu- lation and special apparatus. As the outcome of these enquiries he is able to adduce fairly conclusive evidence as to the dates at which various pigments were in use and of their nature and source. Another branch of his investigations relates to the quality of the brushwork in old pictures as a means of elucidating questions of authorship, and the method of micro-photography he employs in this connec- tion has yielded some interesting results as shown by the series of illustrations appended to the book.
Storied Windows. By A. J. de Havilland Bl SHNELL. (Edinburgh : VVm. Blackwood and Suns.) 15.C net. — The author gives his work the sub-title of " A Traveller's Introduction to the Study of Old Church Glass from the twelfth century to the Renaissance, especially in France," and writes for the "beginner of intelligent ignorance" for whose delectation he traces the history and manufacture of coloured glass, and then proceeds to discuss the old examples which may be seen and studied in various of the cathedrals in Frani e. In reviewing, on other occasions, works on the same subject we have commented upon the great difficulties encountered in the attempt to illustrate stained glass windows satisfactorily. We would not therefore cavil over much at the unsatisfactory nature of the numerous reproductions which accompany the author's text, but we- feel more than evei that there is room for a tine work on old glass with illustrations in colour.
Baroque Architecture. By Martin Shaw BRIGGS, A.R.I.B.A. (Loudon: T. Fisher I'nw in. )
1 in :. " This book is not in any way an attempt to create a wholesale revival of Baroque Architecture in England. It is simply a history of a complex and neglected period." Perhaps such a declaration as this, with which Mr. Briggs prefaces his disser- tation, was necessary in view of the disrepute into which the type of architectural design known as
Baroque has fallen. One' rarely hears a good word said for " Baroque" nowadays, and probably there are many who feel with Mr. Yoshio Markino that tlie Baroque builders were "big fools" in making " such a mess of their architecture." " They made ever} line curved without knowing how those beastly lines fidget our eyes," says our shrewd Japanese critic, and he is right; it is those meaning- less and tiresome curves that have brought odium upon Baroque, and the only wonder is that this curious phase of architecture should have been in favour so long. Mr. Briggs is quite alive to its demerits in this respect, but thinks it is a matter of doubt whether seventeenth-century architects were as much to blame for the florid appearance of their buildings as were their patrons. But in spite of its decorative extravagance it had, he contends, some redeeming features. For one thing, " it replaced a series of objectless and expressionless copyings of antique models which demanded no higher quality than that of drudging patience." Mr. Briggs deals with the history of Baroque architecture on a more comprehensive scale than has we think yet been attempted ; beginning with it ^ fust manifestations in Rome he traces its ensuing development in various other parts of Italy, in ( Jermany, Austria, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Holland, and eventually in England, and as his exposition is profusely illustrated with typical examples of the style belonging to these various countries the student who desires to make acquaintance with this period will find ample material for a general survey.
I.e Costume Civil en Frame du Kill' an XIX' Sieele. Par CAMILLE PlTON. (Paris: Ernest Flam- marion; London: Grevel and Co.) ijj. net. Here in a chronological series of some 700 illus- trations furnished by contemporary documents of various kinds one is able to survey the changes which have taken place in civilian attire throughout a period of something like seven centuries. In the earlier stages, tin.' documentation is of course comparativel) meagre and consists principally of engraved seals, tapestries, stained glass, and the illuminations ol old manuscripts, but as the centuries advance a much greater fund of material becomes available in the paintings and prints which were produced in such abundance after the pictorial arts began to flourish, and this source has conse- quently been largely drawn upon for illustrating the latter half of the book. The letterpress is en nrpport with the illustrations throughout and contains much intei ormation on details
connected with them.
169
The Lay Figure
T
HE LAY 'FIGURE: ON THE ART OF COLLECTING.
■What is a collector?" said the Man with the Red Tie. " Is he a man blessed with a genuine ,1 art or is he only a professional dealer in disguise ? "
"Both types exist,"' replied the Art Critic. " Both play a considerable part in the affairs of the art world ; both count for something in the artist's concerns."
•• And both, I suppose, have to be reckoned with by the men who follow the artist's profession and seek to make a living out of art," rejoined the Man with the Red Tie.
" Certainly they have," agreed the Critic. " The collector who takes a real interest in art is of great importance to the artist. Upon him the artist depends to a large extent for his subsistence. If there were no collectors the artist would be in a rather bad case and would have few chances of disposing of his work."
"Oh, I can quite see that," admitted the Man with the Red Tie ; " but do you not think the collector is only too often a dealer openly or in thin disguise, or else merely a faddy person, with more or less perverted opinions, who encourages the wrong type of art i5 "
'■ As I have said before, both types exist," repeated the Critic. "The collector who buys for a rise and sells his possessions directly they go up in value, is common enough. I do not rank him \ i r\ high because he is after all only a speculator and his position is simply that of an intermediary between the artist and the man who is honestly- fond of art."
" Is there anything wrong in buying for a rise ? " broke in the Plain Man. " Why should not a man who has a knowledge of art use that knowledge to his own advantage?"
" Because, as it seems to me, the speculator in art work cannot really be a lover of it," returned tin Critic. "What you call his knowledge of art is only an understanding of the art market. He buys things, not necessarily because they are good, but because he knows that they are in demand and therefore easy to sell again."
" In that he shows that he has his fair share of business capacity ; he only follows the ordinary commercial rules," said the Plain Man. "I do not blame him for that."
" But I blame him for applying to art in such a cold-blooded manner what you call the ordinary commercial rules," cried the Man with the Red 170
Tie. " What possible connection can there be between art and commerce ? "
" Unfortunately, a very close one nowadays," sighed the Critic. "That is why I lament the existence of the collector who spends his whole time in watching the fluctuations of the market and is always ready to sell at a profit ; he perpetuates this connection and makes people think it is ex- pedient, if not necessary."
" What sort of collector would be more useful ; what kind of man would you have in his place ? " asked the Plain Man.
" I would have the man who buys art work because he loves it and wants to possess it," declared the Critic, " I would have the man with a genuine appreciation of art and the courage to back his own opinion against the market. Even if he is a faddy person with unaccountable convictions who buys what you and I may think the wrong type of art, he is of more use in the world than the com- mercially minded man."
"Surely if he buys bad art he exercises the wrong influence and does more harm than good," protested the Plain Man.
" The man who begins by buying bad art need not continue to buy it all his life," replied the Critic. " The art of collecting, like other arts, is partly inborn, partly a matter of education. Your true collector learns by his mistakes and improves with experience. If he has in him the right instinct for judging art he will develop it sure enough and will soon acquire the discriminating taste which will enable him to make a right selection and to fulfil his true mission in the world."
" Oh, you think he has a mission," said the Man with the Red Tie.
" Of course he has," exclaimed the Critic. " A high mission too ! On him lies the responsibility of maintaining the best traditions of art, of preserving from oblivion the work that counts, of encouraging the artists who are too sincere to keep always an eye on the market. What greater mission could he have ? "
"You seem to think that he ought never to consider his own interests at all," grumbled the Plain Man.
"On the contrary, he should consider his own interests first," declared the Critic; "but his intellectual not his commercial interests, his tastes and convictions not his profit and loss account. If he is a true collector, he will buy what is good, whether it is marketable or not, simply because he knows it is good."
The Lav Figure
"LA MADONNA Dl PROMESSA." painted
IN SP RIT FRESCO ON WOOD PANEL GROUND PREPARED WITH SLAKED PLASTER OF
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T
HE SOCIETY OF MURAL DECORATORS AND PAINTERS IN TEMPERA.
Architecture, though rightly called " The Mother of the Arts," cannot attain to her fullest splendour without her children ; the very arts she has called into existence are now necessary to her own well-being; without them she remains, dignified it may be, but shorn of her graces and bared of those embellishments that enhance and accentuate the qualities that render her most admirable. Carving and colour, though not essential to the main object a building has to serve, are howevei essential to that sense of completion which high civilisation demands as a necessity in great efforts. Not only does high civilisation give rise to this demand ; even barbaric peoples revel in splendour of pattern and colour. All points therefore to architecture and her children walking hand in hand and forming a community of self-interest, each being dependent on the other, and drawing health and life from each other.
Unfortunately the commercial spirit that has swept over the world during the last century, that devil's philosophy which preaches that the end and aim of all things is "to buy in the cheapest market
ami sell in tin- dearest," seems to have led, among othei evils, to an almost complete divorce of the
various arts. The architect builds his building, employs a trade carver to carve the minimum of carving on it, and but rarely thinks of painting except as "house painting," such work even being rather in the nature of an afterthought. The sculptor turns his best energies to detached figures for exhibition in the Royal Academy, 01 to busts, and looks on architectural carving .is an inferior branch only to lie taken up when money is needed. The painter thinks entirely within the four walls of a frame and strives to render natural effects or to give pictorial expression to some sub- ject that appeals to him. To each the other's arts are things apart and their exponents people ol another kidney, who deal with matters that have but slight connection with his own aims. It n a hopeful sign, however, that there are enough modern painters alive to these evils to form a society for the study of mural decoration per st- and to endeavour to understand the difference — and the difference is vast — between it and picture- painting. A sho;t survey of the work of the past will help in the understanding of this difference.
The recent explorations of Sir Arthur Evans in tot! and the researches of Mr. Noel Heaton
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"IIIKl I DIE FRAUEN" (TEMPERA)
( By permission of Messrs. Morns and Com/any Ltd. ) LXII. No. 256. — August 1914
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The Society of Mural Decorators
PORTION OF FRIEZE IN BEDROOM AT HORNTON LODGE, KENSINGTON
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undertaken on his behalf have thrown much light on very early painting. It has been proved that the Minoans practised fresco painting — that is, painting with simple colours on plaster while it is wet, or rather unset, and also that they carried the art to a high state of technical perfection as far back as something like 3000 or 4000 B.C. Their buildings seem to have been heavily plastered and the plaster enriched with elaborate and beautiful colour-schemes both of geometric patterns and scenes from the life of the time. Further, this painting seems to have been looked on as pure decoration — that is to say, it was not surrounded by any particular halo of "art" and treasured as precious or exotic, but was freely replaced by the simple process of hacking off the plaster, which was then re-laid and re-decorated. A school of
decorators consequently arose who arrived at a high standard of competence, both as craftsmen and designers. The Egyptians on the other hand, no doubt owing to their climate, worked more for eternity, though they did not practise fresco paint- ing, their colours being mixed with some form of size : both, however, looked on painting as a means of enriching their architecture, all attempts at realism being subservient to this main object.
The Greeks doubtless practised painting for its own sake as well as for its decorative qualities, though many of the stories as to the extraordinary realism attained by Zeuxis and others who painted grapes so real that birds tried to peck them, may be swept away as fables. Colour was to them a means of enrichment, and even their sculpture was enforced by coloured backgrounds and draperies
'VENTS LAMENTING THE DEATH OF ADONIS ' '74
BY MR I HARLES HOLROYD
The Society of Mitral Decorators
_■ ded hair. Specimens of pure Greek paint- ing unfortunately have not yet been discovered, and we can only judge of their work from fragments date, chiefly from Rome and Pompeii. Pliny speaks of pictures bj Apelles and others as so valuable that the wealth of a city would not buy one, so doubtless Greek painting was as fine as their sculpture, which, be it noted, was always associated with archi- tecture.
During the long period of Byzantine dominance in the arts, painting seems to have given way very largely to Mosaic, the splendour of which, combined with polished marbles, produced gorgeous effects. Mosaic, however, is so large a sub- ject that it could only be treated adequately at great length.
With the Italian Renais- sance painting once more came In its nun, and mural decoration in true fresco reached the highest point of any period of which com- plete examples are extant. Then came the development of oil painting which with its greater ease and force seems to have sounded the death-knell of the simple suave treatment of wall spaces, and the truly monu- mental. Out of it arose what may be called the modern school of painting, and the painter turned his attention almost solely to " pictures." Paintings were no longer part of a building but, enclosed in frames, be- came so much " furniture " to be moved from place to
place. Often beautiful, and supremely so, they became things apart, to be loved and studied like books, but their connection with the building in which they were placed became of the slenderest.
Within recent years, however, a feeling has arisen 176
that an easel picture, however beautiful or dignified, is not the only phase of the painter's art that is worth attention, and many efforts have been made to have wall spaces actually decorated once more, to have the long lost con- nection between the build- ing and the painting restored. Many of these efforts have resulted if not in actual failure, at least in an effect that is far from satisfactory. The reason is not far to seek ; it is not enough that a successful picture or portrait painter should produce a painting which is forthwith stuck on a wall ; however competent such a work may be, it is doomed to failure ; it may be even beautiful in itself but it is not therefore neces- sarily decorative. What, then, is required ? Primarily unity of style with that of the building. A painting admirably adapted to an austere early Gothic build- ing would be entirely wrong if placed in a Georgian or Queen Anne house. This is possibly the most im- portant point of all those that are under the control of the painter. Of equal importance, however, is one that is almost entirely at the mercy of the archi- tect, and that is the place where the colour decoration is to go and the amount of space that it is to occupy. It should carry the con- viction that it could only be there and further that it should not be either larger or smaller than it is.
The question of the scale of treatment should be governed by the scale of the surrounding archi- tectural detail. " Finish " in the sense of attention to small matters may absolutely ruin a design that otherwise might be fairly right in the size of its masses. Scale of colour is also a matter demanding most
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■l between the build- ing and the painting ■ :d. Many of the is have resulted il in actual failure. an effect that i: factory. Thi not tar to seek ; it is
iutrh that a picture or portr should produce a painting which is forthwith stuck on ill : however conn h a work ma; med to failure ; it be even beautiful in but it is not therefore n< sarily decorative. What, then, is required ? Prim unity of style with that of building. A painting admirably adapted to an ithic build- ing would be em if placed in 3. Georgian or Queen Anne house. This is possibly the most im- portant point of all tl that arc under the control
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The Society of Mural Decorators
careful study, and should
be governed by projection of mouldings, lighting, materials used in the con- struction of the building, and a host of other archi- tectural considerations. Some places will stand colours of a most primary character, others demand a reticence and an envelop- ing paleness, that would be quite out of place in the first. Generally speaking, a cer- tain rigidity or austeritj of design is essential to an eminently successful re- sult, the limitations of design are therefore more clearly defined than with a picture, which, isolated by its frame, can in a manner make its own limitations, whereas the decoration is, or should be, subservient to the effect of the whole building.
But perhaps the greatest stumbling-block of all. the one that leads to the downfall of most of those
who attempt this art, is the quality of deception. The modern ideals of the correct rendering of light and atmosphere, of capturing the fleeting effect of brilliant sunshine or the movement of figures in their natural environment, are here entirely out of place. The very qualities that help to make a great oil painting, the feeling of looking into it, the depth on depth, the large masses of luminous shadow relieving brilliantly illuminated objects and in their turn relieved by them, the feeling that the third dimension of the objects rendered is an actual fact, all these are beside the question. Above all a decoration must be an enriched surface, and that surface must nol bi lost : directl) tin- feeling is produced, that the paint ing is a hole in the wall through which a Si ene IS viewed, then the decoration begins to tail as sui h. Everything in the design should contribute to this retention of the surface, and the execution i it its various parts should be such as to subordinate realism to this main object : cast shadows, high lights and all that goes to deceive and make
' CENSING ANGELS
RY K. ANNING BELL, A.R.A.
stand out in such a mannei as to look real, must give waj i" the larger qualities ol pattern and surface.
In this connection it is much to be regretted that modern conditions and requirements, as well as climatic considerations, make pure fresco 50 unsuitable at the present daj in England. ["hi very limitations of the material and realism in the oil painter's sense oi tin- word is impossible in pure fresco— render it eminently suitab
.mm, the surface qualities so essential, come as it were of themselves, and it needs hi touching or hatching in tempera to produce any appreciable deception. Hence tin painter's efforts
f necessity direi i to the higher qualities <>t
expression and design and being confined within sin, tl) defined limitations, unknown in oil painting, his mind is tree to 'I'd with the problems before him without being constantly lured into by-paths.
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variant of it, the highest qualities of monumental grandeur can be attained.
Although no doubt the limitations imposed by any material are great aids if understood, it is the understanding and use of them that are the gain, not the limitations themselves. Therefore an intelligent understanding of the problems of decoration, a thorough grasp of the needs of the building, and an earnest endeavour to collaborate with the architect in producing an harmonious whole will overcome any difficulties that may arise from material. Let the painter arrive at a definite idea why certain parts of his work should be of a certain weight, or why certain straight lines are necessary to steady the design and echo certain architectural features, or why the architect wants a particularly sumptuous piece of colour at a certain place, or the why of any other particular need that may arise — once let him grasp the reason — and the material he is using will
i -l \ rRIPTYCH AT THE CHURCH OF S. MARTIN. KENSA] rl r. LONDON
PAINTED BY JOHN II. BATTEN ; CARVING AMI GILDING BY MRS. BA1 I I
( By permission of the Reu. R. C. Turner, Vicar of S. Martin's)
not prevent him from arriving at a satisfactory result.
Therefore it is to In- hoped that the Society ot Mural Decorators will not, as sometimes happens with like societies, rattle tin dead bones of bygone conventions, ami seek salvation in the revival of ancient practices, no longer suitable to modern needs, but rather strike at the root of the matter
and encourage among its members an endeavour to grasp the needs of architecture, to subordinate the natural desire of clever men to be too clever, to the greater end of enriching a building so suitably that the buildingwill be visited for its own sake, not for the sake of the pictures it contains.
No more striking example of the failure of a great painter, and a very great one, to grasp the essentials ot decoration, is to be found than that of the windows in New College Chapel, Oxford, by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Sir Joshua produced pictures, and very charming ones, of certain ladies to represent the virtues, and as painted panels in frames they hold a high place as objects of beauty, but trans- lated into glass they art- unspeakable, anil can only be described as the nega- tion of everything that a window, as an architectural adjunct, should be. True, the difference between a window and a painting is greater (or should be) than the difference between a mural decoration and a picture, but the illustration is a striking one, and serves to point out forcibl) the wide gull thai separates the pictorial and the
d at i ve
It is needless and invi- dious to raise the question which is the higher branch of arl lni nn was a greal and so was Michael Vngi I' >, \et Turnei »as illj a picture painter. Rembrandt painted the with an in- tensity i il mpath) and an insight that havi 1" mi granted to hut lew. i! any 181
The Society of Mitral Decorators
other painters, but he was not a decorator in the architectural sense ; on the other hand, Phideas, perhaps the greatest artist of whom we have any trace, is known to us only as the carver of the architectural ornaments on the Parthenon. There is. however, one point that deserves attention and gives rise to apprehension for the future. Should mural decoration become a need in years to come, it is sincerely to be hoped that it will not be per- mitted to drift into the position that is so unfortu- nately oci upied l>\ so much architectural carving; it must on no account be tarred with the brush of being a trade, to be done at so much a foot and the cheapest man to get the job. Although many of our architectural carvers are struggling earnestly and often successfully to lift the status and quality of such work, they are usually terribly handicapped 1 \ the position of infericntN into which their art has been allowed to lapse. We must look to it that mural decoration does not suffer in the same way : it must not degenerate into the creature of the pattern-book, to be executed as rapidly as possible by the aid of hired labour. The architect and the client must not look on it as a thing that may very well be left out, or onlv put in at the last
moment if the necessary funds can be squeezed out of moneys originally intended for other purposes; in short, it must be regarded as of equal importance with any other accessory of the building. On the other hand, we must guard against surrounding it with too great a halo of sanctity ; it must not be treated as too precious or exotic, it must not become so costly that only the millionaire can dream of employing the decorator ; let us rather Strive to see it honoured and honourable, a necessary complement to architecture and a source of delight not only to the man who does it but also to him who has to live with it. J. C.
[The illustrations to the foregoing article are with four exceptions (Mr. Cayley Robinson's Dublin decoration, Miss Jessie Bayes's frieze, Mrs. Meeson Coates's panel, and the pair of panels by Mr. and Mrs. Batten) reproductions of works forming part of the recent exhibition of the Society in the hall of the Art Workers' Guild in Queen Square, Bloomsbury. A piece of tapestry executed by Messrs. Morris and Company from Mrs. Stokes's cartoon Ehret die Frauen is now being shown at the British Arts and Crafts Exhibition in Paris.]
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HE ETCHINGS OF E. S. LUMS- DEN, A.R.E. BY MALCOLM C. SALAMAN.
In the last exhibition of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers my eye was happily arrested by a couple of etchings which appealed with a refresh- ing sense of originality in vision and treatment. Here were pictorial impressions rendered with delicate selective vision, and magic of etcher's art and printer's craft, that held the eye as they brought to the responsive imagination the very -. nse of the Far East. Jeypore— Evening, and Benares, No. j, these prints were called, and further along on the same wall were hanging two Others, Jeypore — Morning, and I Tdeypore — Morning, by the same artist, Mr. E. S. Eumsden. No other prints that I can recall had ever brought India close to nu as these four etchings did. Here was not merely the '■informing expression of passing light," such as makes a classic of a Rembrandt or Legros landscape, but the artist hail seen his pictorial subject saturated typically with tropical sunlight and an air of languorous heat, so that his needle
touched the very spirit andessence ol the -
life in his lines. With a very subtle feeling t..r tone, too, he had aided the atmospheric tiveness of Ins etching by priming his plates with ink of warmer tune than usual, mixing doubtless ■i larger proportion of Burnt Umber with his Frankfort Black, and wiping tin copper with remarkable sensitiveness and craft of hand. So the sunlight seems Ik re more truly tropical, and one feels the actual heat making heavier the ait ovei the Ganges, as one looks across the Holy River at tin " Sacred City " of Benares, or where in the hazy morning light the natives of (Jdeypore or of I' pore are going stolidly about their business.
Again I saw these Indian etchings, with many more, in a representative exhibition c.t Mi. Lumsden's etched work recent!) held at Messrs. Dowdeswell's gallery, his etched work, that is to say, done prior to his latest \isit to India. Here one was able to note the development of his art and technique, with his growing independence in expression, since he did his impressive Paris in Construction set in 1907, etchings which, with fine precision of draughtsmanship and etching quality,
IHK INDIAN RESERVE, VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA" BY B. S. LI M!
( Reproduced with the other etchings by permission , I '.'. Ltd.)
[)BN, A.K.I.
The Etchings of E. S. Lumsden, A.R.E.
while not eluding a suggestion of Meryon's inevitable influence, especially in The Horses — a remarkable print — show a freshness of eye in the conception and treatment] of French scaffolding and building which makes for originality.
Originally intended for the Navy, a break- down in health interrupted his training on H.M.S. " Worcester," and then he determined to become a painter. From the School of Art at Reading, which was then under the direction of that admir- able master, Mr. Morley Fletcher, Mr. Lumsden went for a short time to study painting at Julian's in Paris. In 1908, however, he became himself a teacher, going as a lieutenant of Mr. Fletcher to the Edinburgh College of Art, and teaching drawing, painting and etching there for three years. His own etching was self-taught. His Scottish plates, of which we reproduce the charming Lock Shieldaig, were done five years ago, and the Loch Torridon, and Castle Rock, Edinburgh, No 2, show a freer tech- nique than that of the Paris set, with a no less — perhaps a still more — notable personal expressive- ness. Of the plates which he did during his visit to Victoria, British Columbia, in 1910, we reproduce The Indian Reserve, an able piece of etching, but one feels that the atmosphere and aspect of the country were not quite sympathetic to the artist. He was not so happy as when later he heard the East a-calling.
It was Rudyard Kipling's descriptions of Eastern places in " From Sea to Sea " that first imbued Mr. Lumsden with a desire for travel in the East, and an ambition to interpret it with brush and needle as Kipling had with his pen. Visiting Japan, China and Corea, he soon began to see and feel the Oriental glamour, and to select subjects that inspired his needle to happy interpretation. This is exemplified in two prints reproduced here : Peking — The City Wall, with its hot sunlight upon the thick white dust of the road, emphasised by the deep shadows cast by the wall ; and Seoul — II 'est Gate, which gives a characteristic and en- gagingly pictorial glimpse of Corea's capital, seen in a brilliant grey light.
But it is in India — especially the cities of Rajputana, that Mr. Lumsden seems to have found his happiest inspiration. Benares, with its in- numerable temples and its river of mystic and sacred significance, has offered him rich subject- matter, and he has responded with all a true artist's love. We reproduce here, as typical examples of his sympathetic suggestiveness of expression, Benares, No. 1, and A Benares Ghat, though, but for the fact that the very delicacy of the 186
biting of some of their essential lines would have caused them to lose in reproduction much of their effect, Benares No. 2 and No. 3, and The Holy River, would probably have represented still more persua- sively Mr. Lumsden's attitude as an etcher towards the problems of light. Light, seen not partially, but in the verity of its whole effect upon a scene, would, in much of his later work, seem to be the primary motive of his etching, design being, as one may note in such plates as The Holy River and Udeypore — Morning, of secondary importance ; nor is his treatment of light consciously influenced by the popular conventions of contrasting high lights and deep shadows that make so many contemporary etchers look like each other. His pictorial aim is a coup dosil, suffusing his Oriental impressions with the quality of sunlight peculiar to the country, and the effect is to stamp his prints with a distinction of their own.
But important as is Mr. Lumsden's artistic pre- occupation with the significance of light, his pictorial interest in the human aspect of the East, with all its diversity and vividness of colour and character, is steadily growing, and this is remarkable in most of the twenty-three, as yet unpublished, plates he wrought during his recent visit to Benares and Jodhpore, a state of Rajputana which is still very little affected by European in- fluences, and offers rich and varied pictorial subject- matter to the artist.
In these new plates which I have been privileged to see in trial proofs, Mr. Lumsden shows that his vision is keen for the actualities and suggestions of native life and character, and that his touch is happily vivacious in the presentation of the human incident in its proper atmosphere. Here are typical scenes in the Jodhpore bazaars vivid with their activities : the fruit-shop, the cook-shop interior, the place of the sword-makers, the narrow crowded streets, the market-place. Here is a river palace at Benares, seen in the evening, with its warm atmospheric effect. Here are characteristic scenes on the Ganges, where they are loading stones on barges or house-boats of peculiar build, or where great umbrellas give a strangely characteristic look to the shores ; and here, in Jasmine Sellers, a splendid print, full of life and colour, and individual character, are the sellers of the pale sweet-smelling flowers, so full of local significance, attracting the crowd that passes at the back of the Golden Temple.
This new series of etchings should certainly assure to Mr. Lumsden a high place among our leading etchers.
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JAPANESE STENCIL PLATES
The examples of Japanese stencil plates here reproduced are from the collection of Mr. Wilson Crewdson. Amongst the many methods in which such stencils were employed by the artists of Japan one of the most effective was the stencilling of some small pattern in resist on silk Habutai ; then, after the silk had been partly painted by hand and partly dyed, the resist was removed, and the silk untouched by the resist produced a small pattern on the fabric independent of the dyed or painted design. An example of this use is given in the last of the accompanying illustrations : here the
silk was first covered by a stencil having small dots and two cranes. The resist when brushed on the stencil protected the parts of the silk exposed to its influence. Then the other colours were applied, either by hand or by dipping the fabric in the dye vat: afterwards the resist was washed off, and the original colour of the silk exposed where it had been protected. Though used mainly for the decoration of textile fabrics, these stencil plates are also used largely for other decorative purposes, such as patterns for wall-papers, box linings, and the panels of screens of a cheap quality.
KATAKA-KAKUMA "K HALF-WHEEL DESIGN, INTENDED TO REPRESENT THE RISH OF WATER THROUGH THE
MILL-RACE AT YODO 194
STENCIL PLATE: "CHIDORt." THE ' DESIGNS. HERE I UK
CHIDORI" IS A 5MAL1 [APASES1 BIRD WHICH OFTEN FIGURES^ JAPANESE SHADOW 01 INK BIRD ON I1IK WATER 1- VLSO REPRESENTED
STENCH PLATE: "LEAVES OF KUKI "— A JAPANESE PLANT AKIN TO THE
BLTTEK-EUR OF EUROPE
STENCII.-PLATE "LEAVES 01' II Kl." MM. fWO SHADOWS ARE
SUPPOSED fO RBPRKSEN I SIOH I \M' I'.W
STENCIL-PLATE :
FALLING LEAVES OF THE GINGKO TREE." THE LEAVES IN FALLING HAVE SOMEWHAT THE APPEARANCE OF CRANES IN FLIGHT
stencil-plate: "a flight <m swallows." the irregular iivk '"
RAPID MOVEMEN I
STENCIL PLATE :
'GENROKU COSTUMES." THE COSTUMES WORN BY THE JAPANESE DURING THE GENROKU PERIOD ARE HERE REPRESENTED IN THE FORM OF PRINTS PASTED ON A SCREEN
Notes on Some Younger Australian Artists
N
OTES OX SOME YOUNGER AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS. BY WILLIAM MOORE.
Australia lias an inspiring atmosphere but a comparatively small population ; it produces, as Mr. Streeton recently observed, more talent than it can support. A considerable number of the younger artists therefore go abroad ; they take a studio in London or Paris or settle down in the picturesque ports of Dieppe, Etaples and St. Ives. You could find them doing black and white in the newspaper offices in the skyscrapers of New York and further up town finishing landscapes or portraits for exhibi- tions in the Eastern States. A certain percentage of new names in the annual list of Australians having works in the Academy and the Salons indicates that the younger generation of artists are continually battering at the door.
But they don't all go abroad to paint for the Academy and Salons. Sometimes an artist tries a long shot from Australia. Before he left for
Europe and while he was quite a young man, Streeton sent his Golden Summer to the Old Salon, where it was hung on the line and awarded an honourable mention : and this year Norman Garter, who has never been out of Australia, got on the line at the Academy with the portrait which gained him a medal at the Old Salon last year.
In considering the work of just a few of the younger men who have gained distinction at home and abroad, it will be appropriate to commence with that of Fred Leist whose Rivals at the Academy has been singled out as one of the pictures of the year. He has the courage to aim at strong effects in colour ; one of the critics men- tioned his Academy work as "a welcome patch of colour in a colourless show." His figure paintings have been well hung at recent exhibitions, The Mirror being on the line at both the Academy and Salon. The artist does black and white as well as figure painting, his first commission when he arrived in London five years ago being a series of East End drawings for " The Graphic." His double-
" ARIADNE ' 202
(Tate Gallery)
BY HAROLD PARKER
'THE PURP1 E HAT" BY ISAAC COHEN
Notes on Some Younger Australian Artists
page drawing The Doss House, which attracted much attention at 'the time, was reproduced in some of the French and German papers. The artist did his first drawings for the " Bulletin " and before coming to London was special artist on the " Sydney Mail."
Mr. George Coates owes a good deal of his success as a portrait painter to his portrait of the Walker Brothers, which was well hung at the Academy in 19 12 and in the following year was hung in the room of honour at the New Salon, where it gained for the artist the associateship of the Societe Nationale. His portrait of Lady Courtney of Penwith was on the line at the Academy last year and his work is usually well placed at different exhibitions. Mr. Coates got his first training at the National School of Art, Melbourne, where Mackennal, Bunny, Quinn, Fox and others were students. After winning the travelling scholar- ship he continued his studies in Paris. He usually aims at subdued effects in colour, his compositions being distin- guished by their harmony of tone. The Walker Brothers is a masterly por- trait in this respect, as there is nothing to distract attention from the prin- cipal figure, that of the sculptor.
Mr. Max Meldrum, another scholarship winner, is back in Melbourne, where he recently cum pleted for the Federal Government the portraits of Sir Samuel Griffith, the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, and Lord Denman, who re- cently retired from the position of Governor- General. Mr. Meldrum is a well-trained artist who endeavours to interpret the mood as well as depict the outward sem- blance of his sitters. Hi> study of an old peasant in the Melbourne Gallery, though rather sombre in tone, has a wonderful sense of life. Another work, a portrait of his 204.
mother, was recently purchased under the terms of the Felton Bequest.
Another leading portrait painter in Melbourne is Mr. Clewin Harcourt, who after coming to Europe studied at Antwerp, where as one of a number of competitors of various nationalities he won the silver medal awarded for the best painting from life. He frequently exhibits at the Academy and the Salon, his picture One Summer Afternoon, which was shown at both exhibitions, being well known through reproductions. A more recent painting is the portrait of Mr. Brunton, reproduced on p. 208.
Much younger than the artists mentioned is Mr. Charles Wheeler, who paints landscapes as well as portraits. He is represented in the Sydney Gallery and the Melbourne Gallery, where he had a figure composition acquired under the condi- tions of the Felton Bequest. He is now visiting Europe and during his stay has exhibited at the Paris Salon.
Isaac Cohen, whose Purple Hat, reproduced on
''THE WALKER BROTHERS7
BY GEORGE COATS
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"PRINCESS HONEY BEE.' fromawater- COLOUR DRAWING BY NORMAN LINDSAY.
Notes on Sonic Younger Australian Artists
" TIIF. MIRROR
I1Y FRED
p. 20 3, is one of his best works, was a successful student at the Melbourne Gallery, where he won the travelling scholarship at of twenty-one. His study of a nude, which was given ti> the gallery under the conditions of the Scholarship, is one of the best paintings of the kind in the national collection. His sui i i ss as a portrait painter seems to have checked his development, for the smooth finish of his mj work is hardly an improvement on the more spontaneous efforts of his earlier pictures.
Mr. George Dell, another Melbourne artist, made his first success with a painting Fhc Man in Brown. which was shown at the Munich Glaspalast and at the Old Salon. The por- trait reproduced was re- cently hung at the Soi ii t) Of Modern Portrait Painters and at the Old Salon.
In landscape painting Hans Heysen holds the leading place among the oup. He has
spent most ,,t his career painting in the hush and
honour and profit while remaining in
Australia, both the State and the citizen having
lue of his work. The various
s have purchased a number of his works and his exhibitions are will supported by the public. He has commissions that will keep him continuously
two or three years, yet with all his success he has never stooped to paint a popular picture. He usually depicts vistas of the bush as seen in the evanescent effects of light and shade. Tourists are inclined to sneer at "the everlasting gum-tree," the distinctive tree of the bush, but i I i who has been painting "gums" for years,
to tire of them. "They are like old patriarchs," he once remarked ; "their beaut) is so subtle that the ordinary observer misses it. The tone of the bush with its clumps of gum-trees I find perennially inspiring." The artist paints both in oils and water colours, and it is in the latter medium that he gets his most subtle effects.
One of the most striking works at the Anglo American Exhibition is the landscape The Viaduct by Hayley Lever, who after showing in the principal European exhibitions has been achieving consider-
IVK IKS.
BY II. s. POWRR 207
Notes on Some Younger Australian Artists
able success in America. Last year he was awarded an honourable mention at the international exhibi- tion at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg, and this year he just missed gaining the gold medal by one vote. The artist has, however, been invited by the American Federation of Art to have the painting exhibited at various cities in the States. Mr. I. ever at one time did a lot of painting at St. [ves, where he got his subject for the Port of St. Ives which now hangs in the Sydney Gallery.
When Mr. H. Septimus Power recently visited his native country he found a public ready to buy his works, for Australians dearly love a horse, and the artist's hunting pictures and animal studies appealed alike to artists and laymen. One of his hunting pictures, Stag Hunt, Exmoor, was bought by the Felton Trustees for the Melbourne Gallery. During his short stay he painted an equestrian group of the children of Lord Denman, and the group of Mrs. J. Nevin Tait (Bess Xorris, R.M.S.) and her son, here reproduced (p. 207). Mr. Power gets a swing of movement into his hunting pictures that is rarely equalled by any other painter.
From the time Woolner spent two years in Melbourne, doing medallions of citizens at twenty- five guineas each, Australia has always been repre-
sented by some follower of the plastic art. Harold Parker, who is the only prominent artist that Queensland has sent abroad, made his first hit in London when the Chantrey Trustees purchased his Ariadne, the sculptor being the youngest Australian to have a work bought out of this fund. Ariadne is the figure of despair, and it was almost in despair "i gaining the recognition due to a genuine artist that 1'arker started to model this work. In plaster it attracted little attention at the Academy, but when it was exhibited in marble five years later it was immediately singled out as a work of rare beauty. The late Sir \V. S. Gilbert made a good offer for it, but he was a few hours late, for it had already been bought for the nation for ^1000. Exquisite in its tense sadness it stands out at the Tate Gallery as one of the best works of this century.
In this article I have only dealt with a few artists who have been successful in their respective mediums ; limitations of space oblige me to pass over others who are doing important work. I cannot close, however, without a full reference to Norman Lindsay, Australia's leading artist in black and white. Within his range Lindsay, who is now thirty-five years of age, is in
l;V HANS HEYSEN 209
An " Opal Room " by Mr. Kemp Prossor
" A a IRNISH 1 ISHING VILLAGE "
some ways the must remarkable artist that the country lias produced. His weekly cartoon and jokes in the " Bulletin " have a grim humour that rarely fails to grip and he has shown his capacity for invention in his journalistic work by being the first to exploit the comic possibilities of the Australian native bear. But it is as an illus- trator that his work will be known in the future. His resourcefulness in treating a wide variety of sub- jects is extraordinary. Some of his best work, such as Pol/ice Verso in the Melbourne Gallery, is in pen and ink, but he also does illustrations in mono- chrome wash, and water-colour. He has illustrated an edition de luxe of the poems of Hugh McCrae, one of the most promising of younger writers in the Commonwealth, and he completed a set of a hundred drawings for a new edition of the "Satyricon of Petronius" issued by the Ralph Strauss Press. A set of drawings which may cause a stir in the art world is about to be used for an edition de luxe of the " Memoirs of Casanova." The artist is now engaged on a series of illustrations for one of Shakespeare's comedies and Gay's Beggar's Opera. While objection has been made to the audacity of some of Lindsay's illustrations, which are sometimes treated with Rabelaisian freedom, there is no denying the freshness of his conceptions and the skill with which he gives a touch of life to the most trivial incident. The fact that most of Lindsay's best work is confined to 210
the pages of costly editions is one explanation why it is not more widely known in London.
Mr. Will Dyson, who is a brother-in-law of Lindsay, is another black- and-white artist who stands out in the ruck. His cartoons in the " Daily Herald" are too well known to Londoners to need particular mention here. An English writer says that these cartoons are " without question the most masterly and the most suggestive satirical comment on public affairs now appearing in this country." I have thought the same thing myself, but from a fellow- countryman such a eulogy might perhaps have appeared exaggerated.
BY HAVLEY LEVER
A
N "OPAL ROOM" DESIGNED BY MR. KEMP PROSSOR.
During the last few years Mr. P. Kemp Prossor has been doing work of great value in domes- tic decoration — work that deserves to be highly praised for its expression of a personal conviction and its absence of conventionality. One of the greater merits of his effort is its freedom from the domination of traditional style ; he does not limit the scope of his practice by accepting or adopting any of the recognised mannerisms in design, he aims rather at the creation of a decorative system which will allow him full scope for the explanation of his temperamental inclinations and for the display ot his artistic feeling. In all the rooms he has designed his main purpose has been the working out of schemes of colour in which the complete effect has been arrived at by the careful adjust- ment of tint to tint and tone to tone and by making every detail play its right part in the development of the central intention. The "Opal Room,'' which is illustrated here, shows charac- teristically what are his principles and his methods, how he calculates his colour proportions and how he applies his colour accents so as to explain the motive he has chosen, and how he keeps his whole scheme in exact relation without ever allowing it to
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Open-Air Museums in Sweden and Denmark
become mechanical or monotonous. He has used the varied colours of the opal with admirable ingenuity in the building up of his design, hut he has balanced them so judiciously and with sui h delicate sensitiveness that their variet) becomes restless and in no way takes awaj from the subtle unity of the decorative arrangement which he had in mind from the first. The problem lit- had to solv,e, in this instance, was an exacting one enough : he is for that reason the more to be congratulated upon the success he has achieved.
SOME OPEN-AIR MUSEUMS IN SWEDEN AND DENMARK. BY GEORG BROCHNER.
Although I>r. Artur Hazelius, whose name is inseparably linked with Skansen and the Open-air
Museum idea, which he con- ceived, had the most enthu- siastic faith in this novel form of museum, and although he had the happiness of seeing Skansen grow into an insti- tution of world-wide fame, not even he could have dreamt of the magnitude to which the movement he in- augurated would attain within so comparatively few years. Not only several capitals but many provincial towns of modest dimensions and resources now have open- air museums, rich in old buildings and all that tends and is needed to complete those pictures of bygone days which they are intended to represent.
Though most excellent work, work which demon- strates an intense interest in ami an astounding gift of adequately furthering tin ends in view, lias been done
elsewhere, nothing can evei roh Skansen of its primary position amongst open air museums. It has become a national institution very dear to the Swedish people, and its welfare and further growth are safely vested in the
countrymen of its founder and his able successors; new additions are constantly made, new sehemes adopti 1 to advani e its evolution and complete tin- series of pictures ol Swedish life through the cen turies which it is meant to harbour.
rhese pictures are not confined to man and
man's abode and belongings; the Swedish fauna
lias formed part and panel of, and found a
home within the precincts oi Skansen, and quite rei ently anothei feature lias been added, or rather. aftei a dozen years' labours, reached its consumma- tion : a live herbarium, so to speak, a i ollei tion of all the herbs and flowers connected with old li and witchcraft, with healing or cursing, with old- time superstitions and everyday lite. Even apart from all ancienl associations some of these dear old
fashioned flowers possess a distinctive charm, they seem to tell of happier and simpler, more contented
1 ME * I
Open-Air Museums in Sweden and Denmark
OPEN-AIR MUSEUM, SKANSEX : FORESTERS HIT FROM HELSINGLAND
OPEX-AIR MUSEUM, SKANSEX : WOODEN HOUSE FROM VIRSERUM
2I4
Open-Air Muse a ins in Sweden and Denmark
days lived in old-world houses, where modest maidens watched their growth in restful well- sheltered gardens. And what pretty names many of them bore. The blue Aquilegia or columbine, called Frigga's flower, Angel's glove or Our Lady's glove, is not only a thing of beauty, but its seeds are, or were considered, a potent medicine for severe diseases. So was Glechoma, Thor's herb, which Christ, according to an old legend, told Peter to lay on his cheek as a cure for toothache : in Palestine, I suppose, it must have had a different name. It was also a safeguard against witchcraft, and a wreath of it wound round a cow's horns ensured prolific milk. Nightshade (Solarium dulcamara), or Bitter-sweet as it was called, played a great part in love affairs (hence, perhaps its name), as did a host of other herbs, and Datura was able to cure the half-witted. To me at least, who must own to a love of all things connected with botany and its old-time traditions, Skansen's "Ortagard" seems a quaint and delightful notion.
As a rendezvous on the old national and historic fete days, Skansen's hold upon her faithful Stockholmers seems to grow stronger and stronger every year. On Valborg Eve, " Valborgmassan," the prelude to the glories of May, white-capped students, with their white silken banners, in a picturesque procession repair to the Orsa hill and there sing their stirring time-honoured songs, as perhaps only Swedish students can sing, until by and by bonfires are lit in many parts of the picturesque grounds, the big sacrificial bonfire on the Reindeer Mountain steeping all its surroundings in a fantastic glow.
By gift and purchase the old houses at Skansen are steadily increasing. The Studio has on a previous occasion dealt at some length with a number of these interesting witnesses of old-time life and customs ; still a few of those since added deserve a passing mention. The Virserum house is a typical edifice of its type, displaying much skill of construction, the projecting upper story, or svalgangen, affording the inmates a better chance of defending themselves against attack, and the more so as the primitive ladder by which they ascended could be drawn up. It was really the store-house, but during the summer the women were wont to sleep in the loft, and sometimes visitors were quar tered there; hence the name still frequently used for such store-houses, harbre (inn, lodging) karbur, Mbbareox hiibba. The Virserum " booth " hails from Hvenjogle, the parish of Virserum in Smaland. The Vastveit loft comes from the other side of the frontier from the Vastveit homestead in Thele-
marken, Norway, and is thus an exception to the rule as regards the original domicile of the buildings and their contents. In its plan and mode of erection it resembles the one from \ irserum and displays exceeding ability in handling and joining the timber. Above the loft-door a number of crosses have been carved in the wood as a safe- guard against the evil designs of Trolls and other uncanny beings. The forester's or woodman's hut is of the type' loiineiK used in Helsingland and still adhered to in some places for use during the timber felling season. It contains but one room with a primitive fireplace — stones and gravel inside a square wooden box — in the centre.
Of a very different stamp are the garden pavilions or summer houses which from old Stockholm or other Swedish gardens have found their way to Skansen. During the seventeenth anil eighteenth centuries many well-to-do citizens in the Swedish capital and other cities had a summer residence outside but in the immediate vicinity of the town; in Stockholm, as elsewhere, these have all vanished, the last malmgard having been demolished within the last year or so. In the gardens of these summer houses pretty pavilions were often erected ; amongst those now at Skansen Emanuel Swedenborg's, removed from
oil-, uk MUSEUM, SKANSEN: OLD iTOCKHOLM GARDEN
-'■5
Open-Air Museums in Sweden and Denmark
Hornsgatan, is probably the most notable. The one lure illustrated also hails from Sodermalm, or as this picturesque portion of old Stockholm, so rich in fascinating memories, is generally called : it was located in Bellmansgatan, a thoroughfare which takes its name from Sweden's famous and much beloved poet and minstrel, himself a child
Like the monks of old, those men to whose initiative and unselfish labours most open-air museums owe their existence have instinctively chosen spots possessed of a marked beauty of scenery, well-suiting them to become the setting for those picturesque buildings they were destined to harbour. Thus the Jonkoping museum boasts a charming position in a large park in the midst of beautiful country. It was of Jonkoping that Elias Tegner, Sweden's great poet, once said that the town lay like a water-fowl on the nest, mirrored in that wonderful romantic inland water, Lake Vettern, the Mediterranean of Gotaland and a veritable Ariosto amongst lakes, bottomless, inscrutable, with deep hidden canals which are said to lead to the inner- most parts of the earth, but clear and transparent, its surface full of play and wild caprice. Mighty mountains keep watch over her, a guard of giants,
with green plumes flowing from their helmets in the summer wind.
Within this park a society, formed at the instance of Mr. Algot Friberg, has succeeded in collecting a series of exceedingly interesting buildings, which have been re-erected in environs truly characteristic of the province, whose memories and traditions it is their mission to preserve and keep green. Notable amongst these old edifices is a church from Backaby parish, in the south-eastern corner of the Jonkoping district. It hails from the beginning of the fifteenth century and is built of wood, covered with oak and painted red. With its high roof and shapely spire it is a good example of the old Swedish churches, and its interior is richly decorated with old paintings representing scenes from the Bible. To complete the picture a number of old gravestones and iron crosses, all removed from the Asenhoga graveyard, have been placed round the church, for which it is claimed that it is one of the most remarkable wooden churches in Sweden, and with pardonable local pride its present keepers assert that it is much larger than the Bosebo church, now in the open-air museum at Lund. Backaby church origin- ally had a detached belfry, as have so many Swedish churches, even where it is a case of a
JONKOPIM, Ol'EN-AIR MUSEUM, SWEDEN: INTERIOR OF A WOODEN CHURCH FROM BACKABY
2l6
Open- Air Museums in Sweden and Denmark
JONKOPING OPEN-AIR MUSE! M, SWEDEN: MARK! I l i
large and solid brick tower, and the present spire dates from the year 1642. The museum, however, also possesses a detached and very peculiar belfry, from Norra Solberga church, an excellent specimen of the Smaland type, thirty-five metres (about one- hundred and ten feet) high and, like the church, entirely covered with oak shingles, which are in some places arranged in geometrical figures. From the top of the belfry there is a wide and glorious view; one sees Omberg, and ancient Vadstena of Saint Kirgitta fame teem- ing with memories of war and romance, of Swedish kings and queens.
The market-booth is also a characteristic and very pretty bit of old Smaland, quite a picture by itself, as is the old mill fri hi 1 inosjo parish, which the parishioners, anxious to ] Mi-serve it from de- struction, jointly bought and presented to the museum. This venerable wire drawing mill — the Taberg iron made such splendid wire — contains all the old requisites and forms in their extreme jonkoping open
simplicity and modest compass, a singular con
ti.ist to Sweden's large and far famed wire mills of the- present day, w tth mighty rivers supplying tens of thousand s ol In irsi : tinsl tin-
little stream which worked the old wheel, and their brilliant electric lamps which have superseded the fir sticks formerly used by the old man and his boy, who were wont to spend all the days and nights (save Sunday) in this grimy cabin with nothing but hard boards ii 1 sleep on.
At Vstad, an ancient town in southern Sweden, the efforts to acquire and preserve old buildings have centred in some found within the town itself. First and foremost among these is an old monastery, which the municipal authorities only some ten or twelve years ago had made up their minds to demolish. Wiser counsels, however, prevailed and the building, instead of being pulled down, was restored and became the nucleus of the new
UR MUSEUM, SWEDEN! IN OLD WIRE-DRAWING MIL!
217
Open- Air Muse inns in Sweden and Denmark
museum. The foundation of the monastery was laid about the year 1267. and it belonged to the Order of the Grey Friars, which Order, accord- ing to an old inscription in the Vstad monastery, owned thirty-six provinces, one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three monasteries, and four hundred and fifty-two convents of the Sisters of Saint Clara. The old building has passed through many vicissitudes since the monks in the year 1532 were '-evicted." having been in turn a hospital, a distillery, and a store-house. The restoration has been undertaken with much care and circumspec- tion and the monastery now appears in all its old- time beautv, both within and without. To the same site has been removed the old "Burgomaster House," a two-winged, frame-work building from the sixteenth century with several interesting features which was formerly located in Stora Ostergatan (Great East Street), as well as another frame-work build- ing of the seventeenth cen- tury which was originally situated in the same street. This latter building is em- bellished with much carving and the [portal bears a quaint inscription of a re- ligious bearing. This cluster of ancient buildings, which also include an old hostelry, makes a very telling though fragmentary picture of this venerable town in past ages and sets an example which is well worthy of being fol- lowed by many a larger and wealthier city.
Also in other Swedish towns, societies have been formed, as in Jonkdping and Ystad, for the 'purpose of acquiring and guarding over memorable buildings. This, for instance, is the case at Sundsvall, on the Bothnian Gulf, with the object of founding an open-air museum confined, in the first instance, to the pro- vince or district of Medel- pad. This society has worked with'much zeal and unquestionable success, a number of houses and even 218
a Lapp church have been purchased by or pre- sented to the society, and some of them have already been removed to its picturesque grounds. The lines on which this open-air museum have been formed resemble those followed in other places, although they each have their peculiar features, their own local tone.
Finland, too, has now its open-air museum, thanks principally to the efforts of M. Axel O. Heikel, at whose instance the beautiful Folis Island near Helsingfors was chosen and secured for the purpose. The love of these institutions seems deep-rooted throughout Scandinavia, and it shall be willingly admitted that the outcome of these spontaneous labours and gifts has invariably been to the credit of all concerned. So with the Folis Island museum, where a number of buildings of historic and ethnographical interest have found a
OLD RESTORKI. MONASTERY AT THE OPEN-AIR MUSEUM OF YSTAD, SWEDEN
Open- Air Museums in Sweden and Denmark
OPEN-AIR MUSEUM, AARHUS, DENMARK: AN INTERIOR DATING FROM I597
OPEN-AIR MUSEUM, AARHUS, DENMARK: AN INTERIOR DATING FROM ABOUT Ib50
Open-Air Museums in Sweden and Denmark
OPEN-AIR MUSEUM, AARHUS, DENMARK: AN INTERIOR DATING FROM
MK MUSEUM, \ \klli -, Dl KM IRK : A\ IN ,
Open-Air Museums in Sweden and Denmark
OPEN-AIR MUSEUM, LYNGBY, DENMARK : INTERIOR OF A HOUSE FROM OSTENFE1.P, SI.ESWTCK
safe resting-place in the midst ot scenery which lends itself admirably to its new uses. I regret, however, that the photographs both from Finland and from Sundsvall were hardly suited for repro- duction among the illustrations to this article.
One of the pioneers amongst open-air museums is the one at Lyngby, Denmark, over the welfare of which M. Bernhard Olsen still watches with able care. If I mistake not I gave the history of its foundation in an article in this journal some years ago, but like its fellows in other lands it grows and expands, though the rules under which it is managed may be a little more stringent than at some of the other museums of this class. It contains several highly interesting buildings, some of which have come from afar, from East Sweden, Sleswick, the Faroe Islands, thereby demonstrating what can be compassed in this direction. Our illustrations Ihiu a portion of an old farmhouse from Sweden and an interior from the large Ostenfeld house. 222
Of an altogether different type is the museum recently founded in the town of Aarhus, Jutland. As at Ystad a most interesting old edifice has been made or rather, perhaps, evolved itself into being the centre of the museum, but whilst at Ystad the monastery remained stationary, the old burgomaster house in Aarhus had to be removed to new quarters, a somewhat difficult process, which, however, has been most successfully accom- plished. This very fine building is a splendid type of the picturesque architecture in vogue at the time (1597) of which some specimens have been preserved in several Danish towns (Kolding, Koge, Elsinore and others), all ably designed and betraying clever and ingenious craftsmanship. A particularly interesting feature of the Aarhus house is its " hang- ing " balcony, of which an illustration is given.
This Burgomaster's house contains a number of very complete and convincing interiors. The old living room boasts the original decoration, in
Miss 111 lie beck Le Mairs Illustrations
yellow, red, and white lime colours, from the yeai 1597, with the old cupboards and tables. Next the "blue" room, its lime colour orna- mentation dating from the year 1650, since which year the old cabinet has been in the house. The " Pyramid salon" brings us another fifty years nearer our own time, its decoration and furniture hailing from the year 1700. Some seventy years younger is the room with the white furniture and the clavichord, on which one should notice the ivory keys. Amongst the men who have succeeded in forming and consolidating the Aarhus Museum, special praise is due to M. Peter Holm, who for years has had this matter at heart.
I fear the dry and cursory details to which I have felt compelled to confine myself in this article arc- but ill-fitted to arouse that interest in the subject which it so fully deserves. Still I hope some not too distant day will see the open-air museum transplanted into English soil, where favourable conditions for its growth simply abound.
M
ISS WILLEBEEK LE MAIRS ILLUSTRATIONS FOR CHIL- DREN'S HOOKS.
The British Water-Colour Society has just been formed under the presidency of Mr. Burleigh Bruhl, chiefly for the benefit of water-colour painters who do not belong to any of the existing art societies of the United Kingdom. The rules provide for two degrees of membership — Associates and full members — and it is proposed to hold exhibitions twice a year in one or other of the principal art centres of the country. The Director and Secretary is Mr. J. Paul Brinson, R.B.A., of 54 Tilehurst Road, Reading, from whom particulars are obtainable.
BGBN-AIR MUSEUM, LYNGBY, DENMARK: PARI ''I M
\.^. M \l; Ml -1 ill' 'i M i ■
[1 1 i in i» 1 1 11 hi- than three j eat s since the sight nf an attractively illustrated bunk of nursery rhymes in a Regent Street simp window aroused my interest in the charming wurk of H. Willebeek Le Mair, whose drawings have in m become familiar through the enterprise of Mr. Willy Strecker, who as head of Augener Ltd., the music publishers, was qui' k to discern the genius of this young artist. Miss Le Mairs drawings are indeed full of technii al .hi omplishment and arc marked by a very rare and sensitive appreciation of all the unconscious grace and unsophisticated charm of childhood ; and looking through a large number of her original
drawings, as it lias been my g 1 fortune to do
lately, one is at once struck very forcibly with three characteristics which one had already in a great measure recognised from those reproductions of her work which have so far appeared. Firstly, tin- pronounced feeling for decoration and the marked skill displayed in the harmonious elaboration of various details in the composition ; secondly the exquisite quality of her line, which for all its extreme delicacy never wavers or betrays any hint of weakness or uncertainty; and lastly, the sweet sensitiveness to all the beauty of child life tm troubled by any care for the morrow but passing happily like a beautiful dream in its faery world ol toys and make-believe.
Since the days of Kate (irecnaway, of whose
work despite all its great charm one is often a little impatient - if it be not rank heresy to say si 1 1 know of no one who has 1 in-lit so Wt 11 the pure spirit of childhood as Miss I 1 Mair ; in her work one
that the naturalness, the simplicit) of children is interpreted in its most attractive phase, *\itli no suspn 1 attempt
to ape tin manners of
.. no hint of pre
, no posing, no
straining after an effei t ol
■ .-.ness. A in. . il th.
oldest I >uti h families, tin- artist, who is still quite .t
"3
Miss IVillebeek Le Mairs Illustrations
young girl, lives with her parents in a delightful house in one of the large cities of Holland, sur- rounded in her home with beautiful things ancient and modern, ami dwelling in an atmosphere which breathes extreme culture and refinement. Her
childh I's days were passed in a well-appointed
nursery and amid surroundings which form the motifs for the interiors and the scenes depicted in her drawings. Thus she has enjoyed exceptional advantages, and while, of course, for this she must W congratulated rather than praised, what one can commend most highly is the admirable way in whii h she has availed herself of the artistic environ- ment and of the opportunities she has enjoyed, so as to be able to produce drawings so perfect and so attractive.
Apart from her art Miss Le Mair is versatile in other directions : she is a great sportswoman, a linguist, is very gifted musically and devoted to dancing, which she has studied under M. Jaques- Dalcroze, and at her home she has a school of a dozen or so little children whom she teaches dancing, while in working and playing with them no doubt she finds material for the closely observed and charmingly drawn little figures so full of
movement and grace which we find in her decora- tive illustrations.
Intense and unflagging study would seem to be the key-note of her art ; in all her drawings, not merely the children, but the graceful decor in which she places them so harmoniously, the original little dresses, their dolls, their toys, and all the details of the composition are true to life — are all, if one may so express it, accurate portraits. For instance, as a preparation for one illustration to an old nursery rhyme Miss Le Mair had a number of mice and studied them with almost the indefatigability of a Henri Fabre, making countless drawings and sketches of them before executing the finished drawings which represented the essence and sum total of all this laborious and close observation. In another, an illustration for " Oranges and Lemons,'' the background contains what are really careful portraits of the various church steeples in London of which the old rhyme tells, and the same care is applied to all, even the smallest, details of her works.
Through the courtesy of Mr. Strecker we are happy in being able to reproduce several of Miss Le Mair's designs, which show her admirable
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rHl i LBERR1 BUSH" (WATER-COLOUR I BY HENKIETTE WII.LEBEEK LE MAIK
(Copyright Augener Ltd.) 224
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of .Mr. Stn to reproduce se\ - .
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"BABYS FRIGHT.' illustration for "the children s corner by HENRIETTE WILLIBEEK LE MAIR.
Miss Willebeek Le Mairs Illustrations
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"the north wind doth blow" (Copyright Augener Ltd.) BY KENRIBTTB WILLEBEEK LB HAIR
I
•4 '^
Studio- Talk
^ ^
' COSY CORNER.
FROM A WATER-COLOUR DRAWING BY H
(Copyright Augener Ltd.)
WII.I.EBKKK l-E MAIR
qualities ot draughtsmanship, her fertility in the introduction of pattern and borders into her work, her comprehension of draperies and materials which she depicts so simply and yet so convincingly : while from the supplemental plate in facsimile one can appreciate her delicate and very harmonious colouring.
In Miss Le Mail's work a certain affinity can be discerned with the art of Maurice Boutet de Monvel, under whom, indeed, it was her earnest desire to study. With much wisdom, however, this great French artist urged her most strongly to work alone, to study direct from nature and to develop her own talent and personality untrammelled bv any outside teaching. She is therefore entirely self-taught, and while unquestionably she must owe an enormous debt to her fortuitous circumstances, to the cultured and artistic milieu in which her lot is cast, she is to be praised highly for the ability she has evinced and sedulously cultivated to absorb the beauty of her surroundings and to infuse it with her own individuality in weaving these delicate fancies of line and colour, about which one cannot but write with enthusiasm.
One point in particular is with the artist of paramount importance ; she deplores the ugliness 228
and the rgrotesqueness which are often permitted to invade children's books. She would have nothing but what is of simple beauty in her work as in her sur- roundings, and while her deep and sympathetic com- prehension of children makes her very keenly alive also to their humour, which is amply apparent through- out her work, she introduces nothing ugly or terrifying to mar her drawings.
Finally, to sum up and reiterate what it is that pleases one most in this delicate and graceful art : it is the skill with which these decorative composi- tions are treated, the ac- curacy of draughtsmanship, the perfection of technique evinced in the exceedingly delicate and expressive line and the simple and beauti- ful application ot the harmonious colouring, and lastly — and this is possibly the most outstanding feature of Miss Le Mair's art — the rare grace with which she captures the beauty and fragrance of that tender blossom we call childhood. Arthur Reddie.
STUDIO-TALK.
(From Our Own Correspondents.)
ON DON. — Few artists in our day have realised so fully as Mr. Morton Nance the picturesque charm of the wooden battleships which guarded our native shores in the days of old, and fewer still are entitled to speak about their characteristic features with the authority he has acquired by close study of the material now available. In numerous pictures and drawings of his, these forerunners of the men-o' war of later days figure as the central motive, and his rare knowledge of constructional details has ensured a veracious rendering. That knowledge has, how- ever, been most effectually displayed in the various models he has from time to time constructed. Three of these are in the Science Museum at South Kensing- ton, and are often consulted by artists and design* re in search of reliable guidance for their work. The
XL
fr
( V'h, property of Major Gascoignt —
IVwto by My. C. Harrison, Havle)
MODI'. I. OF AN ELI ZABE III W GALLEON. BY R. MORTON NANI I
Studio-Talk
model we now reproduce is the largest one Mr. Nam lias made so far, being roughly four feet in length from bowsprit to tafferel and' the same in height from keel to truck. It is a typical Elizabethan galleon ; 'the details of the hull and rigging have been faithfully copied from contem- porary prints or descriptions, and in building it Mr. Nance also consulted some plans lent to Mr. Seymour Lucas, R. A., by the Dutch Admiralty giving details of the hull of a Dutch ship of about 1600. Major Gascoigne, of Lotherton Hall, Yorks, for whom it was built, has christened it " The Revenge " as answering closely to what is known of that famous ship, though apparently no authentic representation of her is in existence.
The two paintings by Mr. Pilade Bertieri, which are reproduced here, are typical examples of the achievement of an artist who has a considerable mastery over executive processes and an excellent sense of graceful arrangement. His portrait of
Mrs. G. H. Johnstone is excellent in its spon- taneity and freshness of manner, and both in its elegance of design and as a pleasant piece of charac- terisation it can be heartily praised. The study, Geneviive, is not less able technically and has much charm of st) le. These two canvases were included in a representative exhibition of Mr. Bertieri's works recently held at the Dowdeswell Gallery.
The Summer Exhibition at the Goupil Gallery was made particularly memorable by the contribu- tions of Mr. YV. Nicholson who, among a number of other accomplished exhibitors, stood out as a painter of supreme capacity. His portrait study, Lizzie Waine, claimed the sincerest approval as a magnificent technical exercise, remarkable both for its strength and its restraint and supremely convincing in its subtlety of characterisation ; and his still-life studies, Group of Orchids and Purple Tulips, made an irresistible appeal by their exquisite beauty of colour and their masterly
• GENEVIEVE
230
( Donvdeswelh J
BY PILADE BERTIERI
( Dowdeswelh )
MRS. G. il. [OHNSTONE BY PILADE BER1 [ER1
Studio-Talk
certainty of handling. He showed, too, a com- position, Taking the Call, which was scarcely less important as an illustration of his methods. Of the other paintings included in the exhibition the most notable were Mr. P. W. Steer's Portrait, Carmina, and Marine, the last a really exquisite study of a rough sea, M. Le Sidaner's effective colour arrangement, La Riviere a Pont Avert, Crepusatle, Mr. Frank Brangwyn's robust sketches Market P/aee. Pruges and Dredgers in Dock, and the three landscapes by Buxton Knight, all of them typical examples of his practice, but one of them particularly, the Evening Glow, a splendidly expressive record of nature. There was, too, a characteristic little Still Life by Bonvin : and Mr. George Sheringham's two fans and decorative panel represented this accomplished artist exceed- ingly well.
The two examples of wood sculpture which we reproduce are by a young Leeds artist, Mr. S. H. Whitworth, who is devoting himself enthusiastically to this branch of work. His methods are those of the sculptor ; first he sketches out the subject, and then when the idea has developed he makes a rough model in wax from which the wood figure is cut, this being thereafter worked on to give finish to details which cannot be embodied with precision in the wax model. In small figures like those repro- duced, neither of which exceeds twelve inches in height, far more care is of course required than for larger work, both in modelling and in cutting the wood, which in this case is white sycamore. Mr. Whitworth held a scholarship at the Leeds School of Art, and afterwards studied privately under various masters.
We also reproduce a tenderly modelled bust ofa little Dutch girl by Miss Honora M. Rigby. This charming piece of work was exhibited in marble at this year's Salon of the Artistes Francais in Paris together with a plaster statuette, Fin de Jour. Miss Rigby's work was also to be seen at the Societe Nationale's Salon, where she exhibited two groups.
At the Carfax Gallery an exhibition by "Some Artists ' Ins just closed. These artists are post-impressionists, but their art is a logical out- come and not a reaction from impressionism. The group, which includes J. B. Manson. Lucien Pissarro, Malcolm Milne, Harold Squire, and Diana White, have this in common, that in contrast with English impressionism of the last generation they all paint in the highest possible key and make 232
the fullest use of variety of vivid colour. ■ But they also wish to retain the sense of atmosphere. The defect in their work as a whole is failure in truth to the characteristic atmosphere of English country scenes which they otherwise naturalistically represent. The interpretation of Dorset scenery by Mr. Squire is in so high a key that one wonders to what palette he would have to resort to paint sun- illumined Italian landscape. It is in such things as Mr. Malcolm Milne's Roses in Hue glass bowl that we get the true beauty of this new art in its sensitive- ness to pure colour and profound appreciation of colour as well as shape as a chief asset in design. Mr. Milne's instinct for colour is shared by Mr. J. 1!. Manson, perhaps the most sensitive painter of the group.
A welcome feature of the present day is the in- fluence which art is exercising upon costume. The greatest extravagances of the moment are counter-
WOOD SCULPTURE
BY S. H. Ullll WURTH
Studio- Talk
WOOD SCULPTl'RE
BV S. H. \\ 111 fWORTH
balanced by the gradual refinement of taste which is a result of the alliance between artists and cos- tumiers. The Fine Art Society has been exhibiting water-colours by artists of the "Gazette du Bon Ton," and while the original drawingsdo not show ti i such advantage as the reproductions, as they appear in the Gazette, the exhibition was very fascinating.
At the Leicester Galleries Mr. I.. Campbell In lor has been exhibiting his paintings. His style is exquisitely neat and fastidious ; he is capable of highly wrought detail without a dull or photographic result. He has a greal feeling for interior genre, and this exhibition contained, in addition to successful landscapes, his best work in this vein. Mr. Campbell Taylor is a favourite with the public at the Royal Academy without con ceding too much to popular taste. To many the clean, bright simplicity of the style of his int. rioi painting is among its happiest qualities : but we are aware that some of this immediately app sparkle is attained through neglect of minor tones.
The sculpture by Mr. Jo Davidson at the same gallery, whilst often very reminiscent — Earth, for instance, of Rodin's //, . while other pieces reflect
the moods of Mr. Epstein— yet has a trait of its own in such pieces as that railed ./ Fragment, in which an exceptional gift ol /eying facial ex- pression i- apparent. I'liis essentially tits the sculptor lor the task oi portraiture, ind all that side of his exhibition was of arresting quality. A i lot. d ile piece was the portrait of I''. Deruent \\ o, m I. A.R.A. ; its only fault being that it seemed to add to that artist's yeai
At the Walker Gallery in Bond Street then has been an exhibition of paintings b\ Mr. Ja< k E Yeats. It is not for nothing, apparently, that the painter is the brother of a poet, since he shares the same temperament. I )rawings of his with the pen betray a lack of flexibility in draughtsmanship, which also makes itself felt throughout the oil-paintings. But his art is animated by interest in life, and that
" JKUNK FILLS HOLLA
(marble)
BV HONORJt If. V
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CLARE GATE, CAMBRIDGE." FROM A LEAD PENCIL DRAWING BY WALTER M. KEESEY, A.R.E.
Studio- Talk
power of response to the mood of nature which is typical of a West Irishman. The picture The Last oj the Corinthians has the effect upon the imagination of good fiction. We cannot think of a painter whose art appeals so much through a " literary " quality which is yet in his case not to be confused with pictorial story-telling.
Those people who are beginning to find the end- less succession of etchings representing architecture a little monotonous, should be grateful to Messrs. Dowdeswell for introducing Mr. Clifford Addams as an etcher. The artist displays inexhaustible resource in the invention of composition, and has a range of interests that is exciting ; and what is so much to the point, in Bernhardfs Joan of Arc, Dordrecht Cathedral, Herald Building, Broadway N. Y. and The Van, Finchley, we have an etcher who is entitled to take his rank at once somewhere near the top.
We reproduce an excellent drawing from a sketch-book of Cambridge by Walter M. Keesey. Though primarily an architect, he has devoted
himself to pencil, and his work in this medium is characterised by admirable qualities of technique. Mr. Keesey studied at South Kensington and is now on the staff of the Architectural Association, Westminster. Besides his work in lead-pencil he has lately turned his attention to the copperplate and has executed some etchings whi.h evince much feeling for purity of line and skill in com- position. In February last he was elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painter Etchers and at the recent exhibition of that society was n pn -ented by four works, of which Westminster, one of his best plates, together with two others, was well hung at the Royal Academy this year.
The Baillie Gallery held in June and July an exhibition of the paintings and drawings of Mr. Austin O. Spare. Mr. Spare is one of our most finished pen-draughtsmen with considerable power of imaginative invention, and a taste for satire. His illustrations are among the best of their kind to-day ; but depression and mistrust of beauty too often have seemed to prevail as the spirit of his work. In the recent exhibition these clouds had,
• 'At
I HE ROAD TO w ENGEN "
'inburgh Stm/i,' /
-\o
Studio- Talk
BY EMILY M. PATERSON, R.S.W.
we were glad to observe, lifted a little, with corre- sponding gain to the effect of the artist's work.
Messrs. James Connell and Sons showed water- colour drawings and etchings last month by Miss Katharine Cameron, R.S.W. The artist does not trust entirely to water-colour in landscape but defines her outlines in pencil and chalk — a varia- tion of the diluted ink line of the old English water-colourists. Her landscapes are colourful and atmospheric but also clearly and firmly drawn and most interestingly composed. Her flower- pieces make an immediate appeal from their careful regard for decorative success : it is only on close inspection that we sometimes miss in them the sympathetic apprehension of volume and weight in petal formation which is the secret of the greatest flower-painting.
Mr. Edward Chappel's exhibition of moods of nature, at the Mendoza Galleries, should be mentioned among recent exhibitions. Small panels like The Blue Vase, The Old Cottage, Noon, A Sunny Spring Day and the one or two larger canvases, represented to advantage an artist whose work has arrested attention in the periodical ex- hibitions of the International Society. 236
EDINBURGH.— Miss Emily M. Paterson, R.S.W., has recently held an exhibition of her water-colour drawings in the New Gallery, Edinburgh, consisting of over a hundred examples of Dutch waterways, Venetian views with shipping, Picardy and Breton landscapes, Alpine winter scenery, and the rose-tinted aiguilles of the Dolomites. To interpret these varied mani- festations of Nature successfully requires not only very considerable technical skill but an appreciation of the subtleties of Nature and the effect of light on colour under very different atmospheric conditions. That she has been equally successful would be too much to say, but she has at least striven to express Nature as she saw her and has never lapsed into mere superficial renderings. Where she has erred has been in over-emphasis of effect of humid atmosphere on form in some of her larger Dutch and Venetian pictures, striving after results that could be better attained in oil than in water-colour. In other cases, notably in some church interiors, she has struck just the right note, realising the grandeur and dignity of some of the earlier forms of ecclesiastical architecture and suppressing detail to realise massive proportion. Her pictures ot shipping at Venice show a strong sense of com- position and colour with brilliant notes, and those
Studio-Talk
of Swiss mountain scenery are thoroughly typical ami realise the grandeur of effect that one looks for in such subjects. A. E.
PARIS.— Every year during the months of June and July M. Georges Petit organises in his galleries an important exhibition devoted to the work of a contemporary artist whose talent is most worthy of the honour. We have thus had some very fine exhibitions of the art of Raffaelli, La Touche, Besnard, and Cottet, and now this year it is Rene Menard, who has achieved a veritable triumph with about one hundred and fifty works, selected from his most important productions of the past five-and-twenty years. Menard's principal pictures have already been reproduced in The Studio, and it would therefore be a work of supererogation to revert to the characteristics of this very fine and very noble talent, which represents in our epoch the purest classicism unmarred by any of those faults which one is accustomed to refer to as academism. What I should desire to give here is a rapid coup cPteil over the exhibition as a whole. It is interesting to have seen a resume of all the different inspirations of the painter, and to have had an opportunity of
judging with what .1 masti 1 harmonj his
work has developed and his style has been evolved.
It was with no little emotion that 1 saw more the whole series ol studies of antiquity by Menard ; for he also, like Claude Lorrain and Poussin has given us admirable visions ol classic landscape .Kgina. Agrigentum, Paestum, I and other sums which by their sentimenl and ni ible lines are 1 omparable to those of Sicily or of Greece, such as Corsica, Frejus, Aigues Mortes and certain lire ton moorlands of imposing character.
What struck me particularl) in this exhibition
was the perfect i id which exists between the
conception, the style of Rene Menard and his methods of execution. For if he seeks out the
eloquent scenes which I have just enumerated he depicts them, as colourist and draughtsman in a manner which gives way in no respect to his
imagination. Nothing could he more beautiful or more powerful than the sparkling golden hues ol the painter's palette, than his linn and unerring draughtsmanship. We reproduce here three ol his drawings which appeared to be particularly admirable and in which one can appreciate the
r. vim
/J** llaSE**
H&NARD
Studio- Talk
strong and beautiful construction which the artist knows so well how to give to his compositions.
This exhibition also contained some very fine ipes executed in either oil or pastel, such as the Marat's de Grimaud or the Foret en automne and divers Venetian scenes, but lack of space made it impossible to include Menard's large decorative compositions, though many sketches and studies served to remind us of his great and noble paintings in the Ecole de Droit, the Sorbonne, and in the Savings Bank at Marseilles. The exhibition achieved a great success with both artists and lovers of art. The former have hailed in Menard, and rightly so, an artist who sheds glory upon the French school and French genius ; the others have enthusiastically acquired all the works which were for disposal in this superb ensemble. H. F.
In looking over the recently issued volume 01 " L'CEuvre Grave et Lithographic de Steinlen," fascinatingly compiled by M. E. de Crauzat, one gets an amazing idea of the vast amount of delight- ful work Steinlen has done. From his abundant knowledge of nature and humanity he weaves gay and tragic aspects in all mediums with an equality of greatness, and be his subject etched
or executed in pen, pencil, chalk, or paint, it is always admirably wedded to whichever of the five mediums he may have chosen as his means of expression. Apart from his brilliant technique and design, there are in his work vital elements which appeal to all, whether they be among the most academic enthusiasts or ultra modem in their sympathies. Though he is an indefatigable worker from nature, it is not in his direct and learned transcripts that one finds the real Steinlen, but in those works in which the gathered facts have been leavened through his mind and memory, creating as it were a new nature, and it is to these that the drawing of The Vagabond, here reproduced, which was done with a reed pen in brown ink, belongs.
The transformation which has been effected in the Pavilion de Marsan in order to house the exhibi- tion of British Decorative Arts must evoke the unqualified appreciation of all who know how limited is the exhibition space it affords and the lofty proportions of the galleries. The original height to the roof lights has been considerably lessened by an intervening material forming a velarium decorated with zodiacal signs ; the scheme and colour of the designs giving a certain subdued golden light to the interior, which is so arranged
'CAVALIERS SOUS BOIS ' 238
FROM A DRAWING BV RENE MENARD
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n, pencil, chalk, or wedded to whichever of . ry have chosen as his mea : from his brillian ;ire in his work vital elen all, whether they he
I s or ultra modem in
igh he is an indefatigable w(
not in his direct and lea
■ the real Steinlen, h:
nind and menu
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tion which has bee uder to hou>
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"THE VAGABOND." from* drawing by T. A. STEINLEN.
Studio- Talk
HANTF.l'KS Bl'i
FROM \ DRAWING BY kE.xfc M&NARU
with a pulpit, a tomb, altar, and reredos at one end and the side walls prominently hung with leaded glass cartoons, as to convey the impression on entering that one is on the threshold of some ancient chapel. At fitful intervals openings lead olf into side passages and a number of rooms have also been most appropriately constructed to show to advantage the exhibits they contain.
Asa retrospective exhibition with a predominani e ot work which one associates with the earl) da) ■ ol the Arts and Crafts revival in England, nothing but praise can be bestowed upon it. Main of the exhibits, however, which bear a more recenl date, though excellent in craftsmanship, show no natural development or nal progress, bin merel) ill. n the designers are content to borrow from the past. With the notable exception of the fine collection of cabinet work shown by Ernest (inn, on. the furni-
hroughout the exhibition is disappoii It would have been more inlhientialb interesting if some of the space it occupies li.nl been given to the complete furnishing of one or two rooms, say, by Baillie Scott, whom I notice is nol sented, or by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whose work has perhaps had a wider influence on the
Continent than that of any other of the moderns who much larger representation in the exhibition, the one small scale drawing on tracing paper by which Mackintosh is represented being a ver) earl) expression of his talent.
The exhibition is indeed ver) sparse in represent.! live modern work. Mr. Voyse) has .1 ver) modest exliil.it and such men .1 ft alton, E. I ..
Lutyens, Walter Cave, Oscar Paterson, G
John Ednie, &c.,show nothing. Examples
ot glass cartoons and designs are numerous and
reminisi 1 amples few and ai
In almost all instances the primary quality ol the
material is ignored, the resull being a numbei ol
painted piei es ol gla - held together b) leads.
However, as most of the work shown is of an
iastical nature an) adverse 1 tun ism must
tril) lie qualifii 'I. .1- 1 hurch building still
I 1 Gothic aspirations, but when one has to
look at a design three times to make quite sure 11
is not a small coloured replica c .1 ,1 window- m
Chartres Cathedral there cannot he anvthin
British about it except .. shrewd capacit) I' 11 adapting tin ait ol oilier nations. It is this spirit. 100, thai 1 ni- to 1>< most pronoun, ed throughout
-M'
Studio-Talk
hibition and to call much of it the Arts and Crafts of Great Britain is erroneous. If there is an effect there must have been a cause, and 1 havi no doubt that tin system of granting bursaries to School of Art students sci that the\ can tour Europe and send back monthly instalments of their cribbing- to qualify for their monthly allowance has much to do with the ultimate harvest England reaps.
Technically there is little in the exhibition that one can find fault with : the craftsmanship is delightfully perfect and in the smaller work, such as the jewellery and enamels, most admirable, especially attractive being some necklaces and enamel triptychs by Mrs. Traquair, the remarkably fine cloisonne enamels of Harold Stabler, various examples of jewellery by Henry Wilson and fascinating silver work by J. Paul Cooper, and those interested in needlework and embroidery will find much to attract them in the knowledge displayed in the unfinished panel Orphee by Miss Moxtori and the panel entitled Gloria by Miss Ann Macbeth. Then there is a little room one must not forget which contains some delicately decorative water-colourdrawings on vellum by Mrs. Mackintosh : and in this room, too, the work of Jessie M. King could not be shown to better advantage for light and arrangement. Here also is an excellent display of fans and decorative paintings on silk by George Sheringham, pen and ink drawings by Miss Annie Freni h and some remark ably good loan examples of the work of Charles Conder, while in the ad- joining rooms one can fully satisfy one's early delight in the work of Walter Crane. Amongst the more recent work shown I was especially attracted by four little simple coloured wood engravings by Maxwell Arm- field, the prints of Allen W. Seaby and F. Morley Flet- cher, and the lithographs of G. Spencer Pryse.
to me to have been wasted on ungainly shapes and senseless ornamentation. Amongst the most unique examples of research and attainment the exhibits of Messrs. Pilkington arc unrivalled, and there are also some particularly interesting examples by William de Morgan and VV. Howson Taylor, while in table glass there is nothing to quite compare with that shown by James Powell and Sons. But if one were to predict any decided influence that may be the outcome of the exhibition in France it would be from the section devoted to printing. In it are shown many exhibits of uncommon interest, though one feels that in the illuminated pages and decorations mediaeval influence is too pronounced. If French design does dip largely into the past it has a certain independent character of its own, and it is the independence of Britain's designers one would have liked to see more of in the exhibition. E. A. T.
BERLIN. — The Schulte Salon has been showing the work of the Munich painter Edmund Steppes. An inborn flow of feeling tinged with a shade of melancholy pervades this work, whether the human figure or
In [lottery a good deal of energy and colour appear 242
MOUNTAIN STREAM'' BY EDMUND STEITES
(Schulte Salon, Berlin ; Photo F. Hocjh, Augsburg)
Salon, Berlin — Photo F. Hoefle, Augsburg)
EVENING GOLD." BY EDMUND STEPPES
Studio- Talk
landscape be his subject. One discerns in it the influence of Diirer and Thoma : at any rate, it is typically German. Steppes is the painter of silence. He lines the quiet valley and the lonely mountain he is attracted also to solitary trees, especially when they have a bizarre silhouette. Bright sunlight is not to his taste, he prefers the subdued light of dawn, evening, and moonlight. Evidences are present in his art that he is not averse to modern modes of expression, but he loves to persevere in his own style. Steppes is a Bavarian, and he attended the Munich Academy, but he prefers to be considered a self-taught artist, as he learned most from nature and the old masters. He won the State gold medal at Graz, and his paintings and other works are to be found in many German public collections.
The talent of Ernst Aufseeser, which was bound sooner or later to attract attention, has procured him a call to the Kunstgewerbe-Schule at Diissel- dorf, where he has now taken charge of the class of Prof. Ehmke. His eminent ability as a designer who combines inventiveness and facility of visualis- ing decorative compositions with a sound knowledge of historical ornament and love of actuality is sure to have a favourable influence on craft students. The Deutscher Werkbund's exhibition at Cologne shows some of his latest achievements and also his pupils' works. In the Tea-House of Prof. Kreis, the only building which will remain standing after the exhibition, Aufseeser has provisionally arranged the Munich Marionette Theatre, which is to be used as a cafe after the close of the show. Here the black and pink tiles of the walls, the green and black frieze on a white ground, the ceiling reliefs, the black silk curtains with vermilion ap- plications and the stage with its var- nished vermilion frame, have assisted in the picturesque decoration of a ceramic interior. His black and white drawings in the Haupt Halle with their firm yet loosely interwoven line-work bear witness to a skill of draughtsman- ship comparable to that of the old Netherlandish wood-cutters and en- gravers. In them the pictorial capacity. the originality and the rich fantasy of the artist are summed up.
school of Paris, is now dedicating his talent entirely to a study of the dancing-art which Isadora I )uncan and her sister Elizabeth expound by example and precept. He lives at Darmstadt so as to be able to study his favourite models in the school carried on by Elizabeth Duncan, and his hand essays to capture their instantaneous movements together with the atmosphere of circumfluent light and air. The exhibition of his work at Messrs. Friedmann and Weber's also introduced the artist as a characteristic delineator of Venetian street scenes. J. J.
VENICE. — The exhibition which was in- augurated on April 24 is the eleventh in order of these most successful biennial displays of art organised by the City of Venice, and it fully keeps up to the level of previous years, both in the number and quality of the works exhibited. The quantity is, in fact, so great that in a brief survey such as is here given only the works of primary importance can be noticed. I shall therefore touch but cursorily upon the Pavilions of the Nations before passing to a notice of Italy's contributions, from which our illustrations are drawn.
Among these pavilions, that of France this year, as before, claims a leading place, and this year again its chief interest centres in four excellent individual exhibitions. Emile Bourdelle is a sculptor of power,
Mons. T. Grandjouan, a gifted draughtsman of the impressionistic
244
PEN DRAWING BY ERNST AUFSEESER
ft *
H > x pq
Studio- Talk
of passion and originality, and his thirty-two worjcs exhibited here are a revelation of his mastery. Nor less so in the next room are the paintings of M. Paul Albert Besnard. Here we have a real presentment of India, with her marvellous pii torial possibilities. All the warmth and colour of the East come before us most vividly presented in an art which we approach even more intimately in the seven frames filled with little pen-and-ink studies, coloured sometimes with wash.
The British Pavilion shows a marked improve- ment on that of two years back. The impression from the first is satisfactory : in the entrance-room a large canvas by Mr. Lavery ( The Amazon) meets the eye at once, with on the one side Mr. Charles Sims's Island Festival, with its delicious flesh tints of the nudes, Mr. Talmage's Self-portrait, and Mr. Cecil Rea's charming Secret of the Stream ; on the other, Mr. J. J. Shannon's portrait of his daughter, Kitty. Elsewhere we find Mr. Anning Bell, Mrs. Laura Knight {Dawn and, among the water-colours, The Gipsv-girl Bathing), Mr. Harrington Mann,
Mr. Gerald Moira, Mr. <;. I'. Kelly, and among the water-colour am i exhibits Clara and
Hilda Montalha, Mr. Russell Flint, and Mr. Charles Sims. Sir Alfred East's painting brings back to us the keen interest which this fine artist took in these exhibitions of Venice, .is well as those of the Water-colour Society of Milan.
In the British Pavilion, though there are two individual rooms, the effect of the whole is fn h. varied, interesting. In that of Germany, on the other hand, under the same conditions, the whole effect seems monotonous, though here, too, some admirable paintings are to be seen, such as the brilliant Leda of Hugo Vogel in the first room, a masterpiece of plein-air treatment of the figure, the paintings of Kolbe, Ackermann, Max Schlichting, and the portraits of Harry Schultz and Schuster- Woldan, while among the sculpture a bronze figure of a little girl by Lewin Funcke is quite charming.
The Russian Pavilion has come into being this year, having been opened by the Grand Duchess
" F&TE AT TEULADA (SARDINIA)'
I Venid tnta
ition )
247
Studio- Talk
Vladimir on the last day of April ; and it is most appropriate that Kustqdieff's admirable portrait of this munificent patron of Russian modern art should occupy the centre of the large room. The Pavilion itself is attractive with its little balcony over- looking the lagoons. The long and terrible winters of Russia, not without their own beauty, find expression here in the snow scenes of Bialinskiand Stalitza ; and her peasant life in pictures by Butchkuri, Kulikoff, Fechin (a kind of Brangwyn in Russian art), Kolesnikoff and Saidenberg. Figure-subjects of interest are The Green Dress of Nicolai Kusnetsoff, the Salome, decoratively con- ceived, by Sureniantz, and the wonderful study of an Abbess by Kustodieff, which conies from the Museum of Fine Arts at St. Petersburg.
Briefly glancing at the Pavilion of Hungary with the paintings, strong in key, of Csok and Ferenczy and that of Belgium, where Van Rysselberghe, with his luminous nudes, fills all one side of the large room, with the weird art of James Ensor to face him, and where also there is some excellent sculp-
ture by Victor Rousseau and Wouters and an interesting series of medals by Armand Bonnetain, we come to the Italians and other nations whose contributions are shown in the great central build- ing. Here, in the cupola and central salon, we have the decoration, light in key and brilliant in treatment, of Galileo Chini, whose work in Siam, where he was commissioned to decorate the throne- room of the Royal Palace, we shall find later in the room set apart for his work in Sala 25 ; and around this central hall are the sculptures, monu- mental in their archaic severitv of technique, of Ivan Mestrovic, the Croatian sculptor.
In one of the rooms grouped around the central hall we find a most interesting exhibition of the art of Hermen Anglada. There are seventeen of his paintings, all single figures, all posed more or less conventionally, all in rich costume, and most oi them Spanish in character. If we try to analyse their attraction we shall find it in the extraordinary charm of colour, as distinctive a note here as in the art of Innocenti, and as strangely attractive. The
'THE DOGANA, VENICE 248
Art Exhibition)
BY GUGLIELMO CIARDI
( I 'mice International Art Exhibition)
"THE WANDERER." BY AN fONIO DISCOVOl I l
Studio-Talk
next room contains Arturo Noci's clever ^portrait, a little crowded into the canvas, of the actress, Lyda Borelli, with a suggestion of Lavery's influence, and his delightful vision of Terracina, with purple distances and a strip of deep blue sea. Near by the Venetian, Zandomeneghi, who, like Boldini, has been for many years settled in Paris, occupies a room with his paintings which, though they may seem sometimes a little old-fashioned, are always sound in technique. In an adjoining room a group of Spanish artists — Benedito, Chicharro, and the brilliant Sorolla — provide an interesting display, and a little further on we come to the richly decorative paintings of Frank Brangwyn.
female nude finely suggestive of form emergent from the marble), and Graziosi, who shows a clever crouching figure of a girl. In Sala 19 we encounter a group of interesting painters — Italico Brass, brilliant as ever in his Fireworks and The Masks are Passing; Onorato Carlandi (A Summer Night on Monte Amiata), Martini with his pastel Portrait of the Marchesa Casati, Ferruccio Scattola (On the Lagoons), and the sculptor D'Antino in his delightful little bronze of Riri, and lastly, Hans Lerche's marvellous coloured glass, and his portrait medallions of the present Pope and his predecessor, which are admirable, and reveal him as a sculptor of very high merit.
I have mentioned Felice Casorati already with sympathy in my notice ot
these Venice exhibitions,
and this year we find the young Veronese painter represented by three works of a distinctively symbolic character, of which The Milky Way is the most at- tractive in colour and treat- ment ; while near him are Maurice Denis and De Ste- fani, Guido Trentin, and other Veronese painters who seem to follow some- what the lead of Casorati. Bezzi appears to great ad- vantage this year in Sala 2 with nine landscapes which are full of poetry, and in the same room are Bat- taglia, Giacomo Grosso (in whose large canvas, Le plaisir du Roy, the nudes reflected in water are treated with admirable mastery), and a clever bronze, Girl Looking at Herself in the Water, by Portanova. Near this work is Pietro Canonical marble Portrait of Princess Clotilde . and elsewhere the exhibition contains ex- cellent examples of work by other Italian sculptors, such as Bistolfi, Dazzi (a Pieta very Miehelangesque in conception), Cataldi (a 250
One of the successes of this exhibition is the
OX THE BACCHIGLIOXE"
( Venic
BY VETTORE ZANETT1 ZILI.A
International Art Exhibition)
= o t* - o o
pq <
< <
°y
a -
H PQ
Studio- Talk
series of eighty-one tempera paintings by Aristide Sartorio who, like Cariandi and like the late Henry Coleman, is an enthusiast for the Campagna of Rome, and has devoted these last years to the revelation of its beauties which he gives us here. All the life of the Campagna develops itself in these paintings. We see the sheep arriving from the mountains, their midday rest, their return to the fold, then the buffaloes dragging great blocks of travertine, or roaming at large in the swamps, and beautiful of all — the moon rising over the waste t »t marshes. Next to this fascinating room we have one no less attractive, in which Ettore Tito, in a brilliant series of paintings — portraits, mythological subjects ami scenes of modern Venetian life — re- affirms his position as capo-scuola and leader of modern Venetian art. Among the portraits, that of his wife ( On the Beach) is admirable, and the exuberant vitality of his art expresses itself among the country scenes in those in which his own children take part — The Beach of Balleria and Banks of t lie Brenta — as well as in the great canvas of the rebuilt Campanile (2J Aprile, IQI2), and such mythological scenes as Centaurs and Ny?nphs and The Amazons, in which he depicts wild girls with floating hair riding astride even wilder horses.
Innocenti are represented by excellent work, as in sculpture is Maria Antonietta Poglianiwith her bronze nude and charming rose-tinted marble of a child.
The Venice Exhibition of this year has two points in its favour, which it is far from easy to combine. It is original, in that it strikes at new paths in art and opens new vistas ; and it is at the same time marvellously inclusive — as may be seen from the pretty extensive list that I have here given of all the best progressive elements in modern Italian art. Sei.wvx Brinton.
V
Lastly, we have the sculpture of Medardo Rosso, the paintings, eight in number and as fine as ever, by Mancieni, the beautiful colour-schemes of Galileo Chini, taken entirely from his visit to Siam, the quaint fancy of Paolo Sala in his Ancestors and Ave Audaces .' where the pen- guins seem to discuss the explorer's fate ; the Vene- tian art of Zanetti Zilla, the Tuscan country-life of Gioli, and the rich colour- ing of another Tuscan, Plinio Nomellini. Even. so. I have not exhausted my list. Among the Vene- tians, Miti-Zanetti | \ turni), the Ciardi family — Guglielmo, Guiseppe and Emma {Airs and Graces), Fragiacomo, Zezzos ; among the north Italians Fratino, Falchetti {Morning Eclogue), Bosia, Previati, Leonardo Bazzaro, Emilio Gola, Borsa ; and among the Romans, Lionne and 252
IENNA. — A recent exhibition at the rooms of the Society of Women Artists of Austria (Verei nigung bildender Kunstlerinnen Oesterreichs) showed that the members are very earnest in their endeavours to uphold the prestige of the Society. The exhibition comprised one hundred and forty items, and those which belonged to applied art gave another proof, were one needed, of the undoubted talent and inborn feeling for decoration possessed by these young Austrian women. The chief exhibitors of work of this kind were Johanna Meier Michel, who in a comparatively short space of time has gained a foremost place in her own special line of art — small bronzes and ceramic figures ; Helena Johnova and Rosa Fuchs, who are both engaged in the production of interesting ceramic work : Sophie Naske-Sandor, whose speciality is jewellery and
OLD VIENNESE COURTYARD" COLOURED DRAWINI
( Vereinigung bildenier Kunstlerinnen Oesterreichs, l\
Reviews and Notices
"SEAPORT TEMPERA PAINTING
( Vereinigung bildender Kiinstlerinn*
enamelling, and who has not only served her apprenticeship in these crafts but has worked as a journeywoman in France, Germany, Sweden, Holland, and other countries and Ella Briggs-Baum- feld, who practises as an architect ; she showed a boudoir which though somewhat glaring in its colour-scheme was yet well designed, well arranged, and pleasing in its details.
BY MINKA rODHAJSKA
■ticks)
Mother and Child is .in i xpressi\ e rendering of maternal devotion : Ella Rothe, who in hei 1 1 >1< mred drawing Alt-Wiener HoJ ■in i ii three exhibited l>\ her — has chosen as her theme om oi those old world corners ol Vienna which are rapidly vanish ing; Olga Brand-Krieg hammer, who has a pen chant fur bright-hued flowers ; Angela Adler, 1 [edwig Neumann Pishing, Johanna Freund, Lila ( Iruner, ( Irete W iedi and other painters, while among the exhibitors ol etching's, drawings, and lithographs reference should be made to Marie Ressel, Elizabeth Laske, Marianne Friniberger, Mariska Augustin, Berta Czegka, Marianne Hitsch- mann-Steinberger, and Magda von Lerch.
A. S. L.
The pictures and drawings formed a varied dis- play, and one was glad for once to see but few- portraits, the most notable of these being Rosa Frankfurt's study of a man's head remarkable for its characterisation, Baroness Helene Krausz's por- trait of an old man, excellent alike in handling and interpretation, and Luise Fraenkel-Halm, who showed a portrait of a little girl with a background of gay flowers. Minka Podhajska, whose beautiful toys will be remembered by many readers ol Thi Studio, is also a painter of fine feeling, as witness her Seaport, here reproduced. Frau Harlfinger- Zakucka, also of note as a creator of toys, likewise showed some very interesting landscapes handled in an individual manner. Other artists whose work calls for mention are E. I.euze-Hirschfeld, whose
REVIEWS AND NOTICES.
The Art of the Great Masters. Fredern k Lees. (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co. Ltd.) £2 12s. 6d. — This essay is written on the art of the great masters as exemplified by drawings in the collection of Emile Wauters. The hook contains large numbei ■ >1 reprodui tions made with exceptional delicacy, and it is the greatest names the world has known that are represented. W hilst everything is written round the drawings, the history iii Italian and Flemish art isdeveloped in 0: in such an interesting manner that the book becomes ol the utmost va
upon the stud) of the old masters. In his intro duction the author has something to say which reflei ts the 1 onsidi red opinion ol many critics to day in regard to the future ol art. He points out that we are now face to lace with a situation similai to that which ! Ingres when, revolting
against the art to which Ins fellow artists wen resigned, he discovered nature which remains the inexhaustible scource ol beauty through the masters of the Renaissance, Masai 1 io and Raphael. II, felt ty, says the author, using Ingres'
253
Reviews and Notices
" MOTHER AND CHILD "
( Vereinigung bildciida
BY E. I.EUZE HIRSCHFELD Kiinstlerinyten Oesttrreichs)
own phrase, of "striking the hydra to the ground." The hydra was all those deformities in paint which had appeared at the Salons since 1S22. "The severe description which Ingres introduced, his return to nature, the integrity of his drawing, had on all those who came afterwards a mighty and secret influence."
A Short Critical History of Architecture. By H. Heathcote Statham, F.R.I.B.A. (London: B. T. Batsford) \os. net. — The special object of this manual is, to quote the author's own words, " to give a concise history of the development of achitectural forms and styles in such a manner as to render it not a mere statement of facts in chronological order, but a critical commentary on the merits and weaknesses of the various styles and buildings described and illustrated, thus inviting the reader to consider what are the influences, and what the treatment of design, which go to produce good or bad architecture." Thus instead of dealing with the subject in the manner commonly adopted, by cutting up architecture into chapters of national styles, the author throughout directs attention to 254
general and vital characteristics and the factors which have given rise to them, dwelling at considerable length on those periods during which an architectural style is, as it were, in the making, for, as he rightly observes, " every building that ever existed of which the design is of architectural importance, owes its form and its details, more or less to some- thing less complete that has preceded it." As the result of this method of treatment we have a history of architec- tural development from Ancient Egypt onwards which the reader, whether pro- fessional or layman, can follow with real interest and understanding, and even the headlines are so framed from one page to another as to convey the pith of the discourse. The author writes in an easy, fluent style which is rare in treatises of this kind, and while we are left in no doubt as to his wide range of knowledge, his exposition is commendably free from that display of technical erudition which so often deters those who are not pro- fessionally interested from pursuing the study of architecture. An important feature of this history is the extensive series of illustrations — over six hundred in number — which throughout are en rapport with the text and well printed. Etude sur les Livres a figures e'dith e?i France de 1601 a 1660. Par Mlle. Jeanne Duportal, Docteur es lettres. (Paris : Librairie Honore Champion.) — This scholarly work deals with book illustration in France during the first sixty years of the seventeenth century, a period of great interest in the history of etching and engraving. Through- out the sixteenth century the wood block had held full sway in the realms of book illustration, but with the seventeenth century came the decline of wood engraving, and it soon became quite demode, while the copperplate became increasingly popular. The author makes a plea for the illustrations of this period, and, though they have been reproached for possessing neither the naive charm of the wood prints of the sixteenth century nor the grace of the vignettes of the eighteenth, it would be surprising to find them devoid of interest at a period when books were being eagerly sought for in France, when great libraries and print collections were being formed, and French books were the manuals of politeness for all Europe. After an account of the laws governing the publication of illustrated books and the rigorous
Reviews and Notices
censorship to which all such were subjected in the seventeenth century, Mile. Duportal proceeds to a discussion of methods and of the work, both ius and sei ular, of the artists who nourished at this period, in particular the draughtsmen Daniel Rabel, Claude Vignon, and the engravers 'Thomas <\'- Leu, Leonard Gaultier, Michel Lasne, Claude Mellan, Abraham Bosse, Gregoire Hurct, Stefano Delia Bella. Francois Chauveau, and Robert Nanteuil. The letterpress is illustrated by forty- five fine reproductions in facsimile of the original engravings (among them a superb work Constanti- nople, engraved by Nicolas Cochin after G. de la Chapelle from the hitter's Portraits des Dames de la Porte published in Paris in 1648), and the volume is supplied with appendices giving a list of the principal draughtsmen and engravers, the chief publishers of the period, a bibliography and index. The work bears evidence of profound research and a wide knowledge of the subject.
Geschichte der Gartenkunst. Yon Marie Luise Gothein. (Jena: Eugen Diederichs.) 2 vols., stitched, 40 marks, cloth, 48 marks.— In these two volumes, containing between them not far short of a thousand pages, the author has courageously essayed to trace the history of the art of gardening from the earliest times of which any definite records are available down to the days in which we live. A task of this magnitude demanded infinite patience and perseverance for its satisfactory performance, and the successive chapters make it abundantly clear that the author is well endowed with these virtues. The numbered notes appended to each volume, giving the sources from which the state- ments in the text are derived, furnish indeed ample evidence of the extraordinary range of her researches, and the care she has bestowed on the preparation of the book entitles her to the grateful acknow- ledgment of all students of this fascinating subject. Her work, however, reviewing as it does the de- velopment and progress of gardening among all the civilised races, ancient and modern, beginning with the Ancient Egyptians and ending with the author's compatriots of to-day, has a greater significance which cannot fail to be appreciated by all who study the evolution of art in its widest sense, for the truth that emerges from this historical survey is that gardening is in its highest development a fine art. In its incipient stages amongst savagi semi-civilised races — with which, however, the author does not deal in this work — the economic or utilitarian motive is almost exclusively operative, if not wholly so, but with advancing civilisation we see the aesthetic factor gradually coming into play
until at length it assumes the chief 1.1
it would he ;; to sa\ that the aesthetic
objective becomes differentiated from the eci ■
As implied by the title of the work, A II,
Ait, it is of course with the aesthetic side of gardening that the author is main!)
an extensive knowledge of the historical aspects ol the subject she displays an intimate acquaintance with developments which have taken place in recent times: in particular she seems to have made a special study of garden design in England at various periods. The letterpi accompanied by a multitude of interesting illustra- tions gathered from a great variety of sources.
Les Dtfcorafenrs. Par At hille Segard. (Paris : Librairie Ollendorff.) 5 francs. —This volume would appear to be the first of a series in which M. Achille Segard proposes to treat of modern art, by grouping together artists who have some com- munity of aim. In the present volume the author deals with the work of Besnard, La Touche, Jules ( heret and Paul Baudouin, drawing a comparison between their respective talents and discussing the position they take among artists of the present day. The volume contains numerous reproductions in monochrome of works by these four decorators.
The Hermits and Anchorites of England. By Rotha Mary ( lav. (London : Methuen an 7-r. 6d. net.- We have often spoken in laudatory terms of the admirable series of "Antiquary's books," and we find this additional volume in every way worthy of its predecessors. The author, whose work in the same series upon the Mediaeval Hospitals of England was reviewed in thesi some time ago. gives in this volume tin evidence of painstaking research and thorougl in the compilation of this interesting history.
In connection with the recent publication fro offices of this magazine of the " Landscapes of Corot," we are asked by the author, Mi, Thomson, to allow him to modify his statement in the text respecting The Bent Tree by Corot, in the Melbourne Gallery. Mr. Bernard Hall, the Direi tor of the Gallery, wishes it to be known that in his mind there was never any official misunder standing about the reception ol this beautiful picture, and that it is now. and always has held in the highest honour. When the picture arrived in Australia several litters questioning its artistic and money value appeared in the Pre it was the publication ol these letters that prompted Mr, Thomson to write of the hesitancy with which this ma I ived.
2 55
The Lay Figure
T
HE LAY- FIGURE: ON THE MANAGEMENT OF COLOUR IN DOMESTIC DECORATION.
•■ 1 1 always seems tome curious that there should be so many people who are almost insensitive to colour," said the Art Critic. " I should have thought that the colour-sense would have been a sort of instinctive faculty possessed by the whole of humanity.''
"So I believe it is," returned the Man with the Red Tie. "The people who are deficient in it are the rare exceptions. Real insensitiveness to colour is. like a physical deformity, an accidental departure from the standard type."
"Yes. I think you are right," agreed the Critic. " But at that rate the apparent insensitiveness, which is so common, comes from want of proper training ; the education of the colour-sense is evidently neglected."
"That is it," cried the Decorator; "you have got hold of the right idea straight away. The education of the colour-sense is shamefullyneglected and in that matter most people are hopelessly illiterate."
" And the most illiterate of all are the decorators," laughed the Man with the Red Tie ; " if you want to see colour insensitiveness in its most pronounced form, look at the performances of the average painter and decorator."
" The man who keeps a shop ! " protested the Decorator. " Please do not dignify him with a title to which he has no right. He is the worst obstacle to the progress of true decoration. He exercises the most pernicious influence of all upon the popular taste."
•' Yet he meets the popular demand," suggested the Critic; "and his taste satisfies that of his clients."
" Only because his clients have never been taught to appreciate the difference between what he gives them and what they would have if they knew what to ask for," replied the Decorator. "If they were educated, the man in the shop would have to educate himself too or lose his trade. If they acquired the faculty of discrimina- tion he would have to bring himself up to their standard or make way for men more capable of doing what he is asked to do."
"What is he asked to do?" inquired the Man with the Red Tie.
" Why, I take it, he is asked to provide people of reasonable refinement with surroundings which will satisfy whatever aesthetic sense they may 256
happen to possess," answered the Decorator. "Therefore if he fails to reach a proper standard he imposes his bad taste upon the people who have the inclination for better things but who do not know enough to correct him ; and as a result he drags his clients down to his level, against their will, and keeps them there with all their latent possibilities of improvement hopelessly checked."
"And, worst of all, he prevents them from ever realising what colour means in domestic decoration," said the Critic.
" Certainly, because he has no notion how colour should be used," declared the Decorator. " His only idea of using colour is to make it what he calls lively ; he likes to have plenty of it and to get as many misfitting tints into one small room as he can find spaces for. If you talk to him about harmony he assures you that his clients prefer contrasts and variety — because he does himself — and, poor things, he sees that they get them ! "
"Ah ! There you have it," broke in the Critic. " That is what I mean by insensitiveness. The average person has so dull a colour-sense that it will only respond to the most violent stimulus. It must be excited by shrieking contrasts and by discordant juxtapositions. Balanced harmonies and subtle arrangements seem to him monotonous because he lacks the refinement of feeling that comes only with education."
'• Well, if he likes a lot of colour why should he not have it?" laughed the Man with the Red Tie.
" Because in domestic decoration colour is after all only one item in a general effect," returned the Critic. " By the colour scheme of your room you provide the background for yourself and the setting in which you live your life ; and it is only as a background and a setting that you should be conscious of it. If it shrieks for attention, if it forces you to notice it whether you want to or not, it is out of its right place ; it has ceased to be aback- ground and has become an assertive interference with your daily existence. Rightly used it is a joy to you, a restful and a helpful influence ; wrongly applied it is a perpetual source of irritation and dangerous in its effect upon your taste."
" Yet your colour-scheme can be gay and brilliant without becoming obtrusive," said the Decorator.
" Of course it can," agreed the Critic. " When the proportions of your harmony are right, the actual colours used can be as bright as you please ; there will be no wrong effect if they are properly related."
The Lay Figure
•
"A GIRL SEWIN G."
FROM AN OIL PAINTING BY
FREDERICK C. FRIESEKE
HE PA ; N FRIESEK
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The Paintings of F. C. Frieseke
HE PAINTINGS OF F. C. FRIESEKE. BY E. A. TAYLOR.
To some artists the garland that awaits their mature attainment is given ere they scarce have climbed the ladder of fame, while others seem to labour unrecognised in silent bypaths until their garland becomes a wreath. To those who have followed carefully or even intermittently the various paintings from the brush of F. C. Frieseke it must have been always evident that he was an artist who could not long lose himself behind the popular cloak of others, while the leaves which fame has twined for him have not been idly bestowed on one who has only won through the battle on the out- skirts. Whether one likes his work or not or finds in it influential traces of the most revered painters of the time it must also be apparent that his own personality quite supersedes that of his masters.
It is not far to look back to 1898, that being about the time of Frieseke's arrival in Paris from America and the year of his student days under Benjamin Constant and Jean Paul Laurens. Despite the reputed excellence of both these artists there were few students in l'aris at that date who failed to come under the prevalent magnetic influence of Whistler, and it is to him that one
faintly returns in thought when viewii early paintings. Frieseke, however, soon found that it was not in th.it flood ol enterprise thai Ins untried barque would fairly sail to the land 1 discovery. Voung, thoughtful and energetic, it was not lonj turned to the more turbuL
which was bi M01 Manet, finding
that on it lay the wa\ to .1 mi haven
light with its myriad vibrations attracted him: and it is the rendering and capturing of its elusive playfulness which claims his most vital interest to day.
In all his later work it is clearly evident that Frieseke had foreseen, if indeed he had not over
omi . the danger attendbg the pursuit ol a purpose gularly attractive in the end— a danger most noticeable in the work of mam remarkable artists which satisfies only by the masterlj technical ac- complishment displayed therein, hut which
or later fails from lack of e positional form
and symbolical significance. This deceptive rock Frieseke has so far kept clear of, and it is not one on which he is likely to be wrecked now : his own training and essays in mural decoration, portraiture and subtle landscapes having given him timely warning of its lurking danger.
Frieseke is still a young man and by no means
1 1: DU ink " LXII. No. 257. — September 1914
The Pa i/i tings of F. C. Frieseke
resting in a land-locked lake, nor is he foolishly sensitive to discordant opinion, or jealously envious of the many others who trim their sails to his pattern. He is not a charlatan, and no artist is more keenly alive to admit and remedy his own faults and failures in his own way. He is intensely interested in the subtleties and play of light on open-air subjects, and its charming elusiveness on the nude figure in sunshine and shadow is an end- less source of joy and inspiration to him. Beauty of feature as characterlessly standardised has few painting attractions for him from that purely gracious standpoint, but, should light and subject form together a fortunate combination, the result he attains is more magnanimously appreciated by the exhibition reviewers. It has not been uncommon for me to hear many of his critics denying him the faculty of appreciating a beautiful face or a beautiful figure as popularly regarded, and asserting that his work, though evincing excellent artistic qualities, shows no natural poetical outlook. That there is an affinity between poetry and art has long been
established. But that its degree of unity is greater than has been realised is only known to those who have spoken to and walked with the phantom shapes of the one and searchingly practised the delineation of the more visual and realistic forms of the other. I do not remember who it was that said, " Beauty is only in the eye of the beholder," but as beauty has really nothing to do with art the phrase may still be superficially suggestive though more intrinsi- cally true if sought in the mind of the seeker ; were it not so our arts would long ago have ceased to allure and the " tubes lain twisted and dried." There are, however, few artists who at the outset of their career have not attempted to render in paint that which only belongs to language, but who by a well- tabulated formula have gained an enviable reputa- tion as artists, though they have added nothing to art and have unwittingly shown a way to others more commercially inclined who wander in seemingly sentimental streams and produce the lids for the chocolate box and help to disfigure the harmony of our ancient homes with soap and whisky calendars.
LA CONVALESCENTE ' 260
BY FREDERICK C FRIESEKB
lis PERR< M il ETS" BY F. C. I RIESEKE
The Paintings oj /•'. ( '. Frieseke
The greatest difficulties that beset an artist lie in the paths in which he would discover himself. Elusive fame will tempt him with the easy-fitting dress of others and fortune offer him a i l< ik opaque ; sentiment will lure him to gain gl the paltry and sacrifice the sad, by which his path through life will seem to be made a glittem It is all very easy too ; any one can be taught to draw — wily advertisers have found that out — and any i me can be taught to paint, so that in a few months their work will pass a sheepishly trained jury and perhaps thereafter shamelessly adorn the walls of a gallery maintained at the expense of ratepayers. Despite, however, the American and European honours which have fallen to the lot of E. ( '. Frieseke, no one can justly claim that they were un deserved or discreditably attained.
In his rapturous eagerness to portray light there is another danger besides the one of singular appeal and technical attainment — the danger of realism i ncroaching on the functions of the camera or the commonplace, which is oft-times only discoverable in the completed work. This maybe most excellent in poetry which tunes jt to music by words and utter- ances from which the mind can conjure for itself a separate ideal or charm of memories and association. Singularly set, however, in colour and line no matter how fair they may be, the result will retain no lastingly living qualities ;\ like tech- nical finish which lacks the spiritual element, it remains dead despite any semblance of colour-vibration it may possess. This is, perhaps, why certain illustrated books fail to charm through the conscientiousness of the illustrator. Nature sub- jects delineated in such a way, though vastly interest- ing to the painter, are after all but essays and exercises, a truth which many fail to realise ; and no matter how well done, no frame will make them complete or transform them into works of art. It is at this point that art and nature
must cross swords, and the artist be al main suggestions rather than be simply satis Red to lie down believing that by correctly tered subject and substance — a lot that haplessl) befalls the man) and satisfies iwd until the artist b 1 fol its
salient enthusiasm which will i b aught
them something hing "f himself. It is indeed no easy task ; no mere drawing, n<> mere painting "i- faultless execution will suffice, ami not until the brail) controls the palette ami the thought unravels the tangle SO that the mind may follow and the hand obey, will nature bow to the artist's superiority.
As a master who has overcome these snares and difficulties Frieseke excels. 1 le has i arefull) what will and what will not symbolise his gathered intentions and has acquired a master) which is onl) gained by personal experience, theexpi i of others being of little importance except to warn the unwary. In the hands ol the less com pi i< ni the danger would lie in the unsifted know
BY PRI
263
The Paintings of F. C. Frieseke
ledge producing a fatal set of receipts by which any further development or progress is retarded.
In regarding the accompanying illustrations it will be noted that, with the exception of L ' Heure du The and .-/// bord de la Aler, the subjects are of interiors, one important reason for this being that Frieseke's open-air work lends itself less success- fully to reproduction in black and white. Never- theless the two examples of out door work by which he is represented give an excellent idea of recent paint- ings which worthily reveal his compositional interest and technical achievement. CHeure du The is at present on exhibition at the Anglo-American Exposition in London, and his Aic Bord de la J/er, painted in the brilliant sunshine of Corsica during the month of February 1913, was one of his fascinating exhibits in the Salon of the Societe Nationale of that year. Turning to the other works illustrated, his La Convalestente is a unique example which clearly exhibits in a charming composition the dexterity with which the artist wielded his brush in the earlier days of his enthusiasm ; the whole picture, by reason of the mahogany-coloured bed and red carpet, being in a warmer scheme than that which attracts him to- day and arrests the ad- miring attention of others. In Les Perroqitets, in spite of its brilliance of colour and personal fancifulness of arrangement, a more staid and thoughtful method of painting is evi- dent ; while Jeanne, La Pojtdreuse, and Corai Earrings all belong to his more recent period. The accompanying delicately coloured plate of A Girl Sewing is from his latest interior subject, painted in June of this year before going off to the country in response to its call of yellow sunshine and violet shadows. It will be seen from this coloured repro- duction that the cold tones of variable blue and the still colder ones of violet to which he is so partial in no way aggressively assert their oft-times de- fective quality in the 264
picture as a whole, nor does his introduction of com- plementary orange-reds and greens give an unduly grey effect, depriving them of their aid to maintain the light and subtleties which he had sought and has achieved.
Though he is an occasional contributor to the International Society's exhibitions in London Frieseke's work is less known in England than in America or in France where, as an honoured member of the American Art Association in Paris and of the Societe Nationale, his annual exhibits are looked forward to with no little interest by his fellow-artists and others. He is represented in the Musee du Luxembourg and many other g tileries, and he gained the Temple gold medal of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, in 1913. For some years the little village of Giverny, made famous and favoured by many well-known French artists, has been to Frieseke the premier summer painting ground ; but whe n I left him some few months ago he was in doubt as to where he should go and what he would do for the exhibition of the work of prominent American artists in Paris which was to have been held in the Georges Petit Galleries this month.
BY FREDERICK C FRIESEKE
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HAT IS A GARDEN? BY THOMAS H. MAWSON HON. A.R.I.B.A.
Whatever be our work in life, in whatever sphere our vocation lies, we shall never achieve success if for a moment we lose sight of first principles. This is more especially so if we are engaged on work which ministers directly to the pleasure and even the luxury of others, for then there is the added danger of extravagance result- ing from our very desire to please and gratify the senses. The only corrective or preventive of such a state of things is constantly to get back to fundamentals and never for a moment to lose sight of the root principles which should guide all our efforts.
It is for this reason that I have chosen for the title of this article the question, " What is a Garden ?" Of course, there immediately comes up to the mind that brilliant passage with which Dean Hole opens his remarkable book on gardens in
which he gives the opinions of various classes of persons on this very subject, but while the learned Dean displays a wonderful know- ledge of human nature, and has shown how a garden can be viewed by'different people from very diverse standpoints, he has not attempted j in any way to give that of the man whose whole life is devoted to the planning of parks, gardens and open spaces.
It is from this standpoint that I wish to look at it in this article, not so much with a view to justifying my own existence as a planner of gardens, but rather in order to win the intelli- gent sympathy of others for the aims and ideals of the modern garden- maker.
One of the most promi- nent ways in which a garden may be viewed is as a setting for the house which it surrounds and which it is to beautify. Art and nature judely thrust into juxtaposition with neither apology to Nature for the intrusion on her domain nor, ]on the other hand, any softening off of Nature's rugged picturesqueness to bring it into keeping with the polished products of art, sensitive as it must be to the smallest incon- gruities, can never be resthetically right and can never satisfy the artistic mind. If we may so express it, we use the garden to " vignette " the house on to the landscape, beginning near the former with parterres as formal and architectural as it is itselt and gradually proceeding by easy stages to pleasaunces which are nearly as rugged as untamed Nature and which owe all their beauty to the fact that here her handiwork is encouraged. The accompanying illustrations will show what I mean more clearly than any amount of description. One is a view from the garden entrance to the house at Kearsney Court near Dover, and it is particularly interesting as it shows a garden the architectural adjuncts of which are in that most intractable of all materials brick, thus giving added weight to what I
KV FREDEKKK I.'. FKIKSEKE
What is a Garden ?
am saying, as in this case it was necessary to vignette a brick house on to the landscape which is seen in the distance. That this was done with a considerable measure of success will be evident from the illustration, even though it is from a photograph taken almost immediately after the garden had been planted and before there had been any time to obtain proper foliage effects. Him the hard lines of the brick walls were ultimately softened is shown in the illustration on p. 270, which is reproduced from my book, " The Art and Craft of Garden Making." Much is due of course to the careful preservation and the incor- poration into the scheme of the large trees which existed on the site when I was called in t< 1 1 the gardens, and thus we have one form of happ) co-operation helping another, that is, the blend of the old with the new helping the blend of Art and Nature.
In this first illustration we have before us the whole process, for close to us is a terrace purely formal in treatment, and as the distance from the house increases, this formality is gradually merged into the natural scenery so that the whole forms effec
tivelya logically expressed architectural and artistii ■ 1 lion. In two of the other illustrations (p. 2711 we
have a very different ed. Here we have
.1 garden as wild and as like Nature as anything
Could possibly be. I lie photographs wen' taken
.11 l nderley Hall and pny ndid example
of a form of gardening which has always appealed
with particular lone to the Englishman in his great love anil reverence for Nature. He feels tint hi is working hand in hand with the greal of which he is sui li an ardent devotee and is helping her to express herself to the utmost. As we have already hinted then' is room in everj domain for gardens of both kinds, the purely architectural and the purely natural, and betwi 1 u these two there is every variety of gradation and infinite possibility of expression which should preclude the slightest tendency to repetition or sameness in the treatment of different sites. And SO we see that, in dealing with a first practical necessity of garden-making, we come to realise verj largelj the motif which should underlie all good garden design.
269
W licit is a Garden ?
The second answer we would give to this question, '• What is a garden ? " is that it is, in its way, a portion of the dwelling house. When we consider what a large part the English garden plays in organised recreation in the form of games and also in social life through garden parties, fetes and the like, and also as a retreat for the enjoyment of quiet leisure in undisturbed privacy, we come to see that it fulfils much the same purpose as the enter- taining and living rooms of the mansion in its more prominent parts, while its private and secluded portions take the place out-of-doors of the boudoir and the library. From this it is evident that in the planning of our garden we must not only have the open extended view and the broad stretch of unbroken green, but we must also provide the secluded portion, " the outdoor apartment " as the writer has so often called it, which is found in its perfection in the old English garden enclosed by yew hedges and set about with seats for rest, and adorned with brightly hued flowers to give a suggestion of decorative furnishing and at suitable points with choice statuary or garden ornaments. While I am opposed to the cutting up of small areas of ground into little pokey gardens of various periods so that, in the effort to do everything at once we lose all sense of breadth and proportion and accomplish nothing, still on the other hand, I feel that it is equally wrong to level all fences and clear away all obstructions and treat the ground round the house as a large open plateau in one style, every part visible from every other and with no sense of shelter or comfort, and none of that variety which can only be obtained by a change in style to suit various aspects and portions of the work. My sympathy goes out to the writer who, treating of this very subject, says :
" One of the most beautiful gardens I ever knew depended almost entirely on the arrangement of its lawns and shrubberies. It had certainly been most carefully and adroitly planned, and it had every advantage in the soft climate of the west of England. The various lawns were divided by thick shrubberies, so that you wandered on from one to the other, and always came on something new. In front of these shrubberies was & large margin of flower-border, gay with the most effective plants and annuals. At the corner of the lawn a standard Magnolia grandiflora of great size held up its chaliced blossoms, at another a tulip tree was laden with hundreds of yellow flowers. Here a magnificent Salisburia mocked the foliage of the maiden-hair, and here an old cedar swept the grass with its large pendent branches. But the main 270
breadth of each lawn was never destroyed, and past them you might see the reaches of a river, now in one aspect and now in another. Each view was different, and each was a fresh enjoyment and surprise.
" A few years ago I revisited the place ; the ' improver ' had been at work, and had been good enough to ' open up ' the viewr. Shrubberies had disappeared, and lawns had been thrown together. The pretty peeps among the trees were gone, the long vistas had become open spaces, and you saw at a glance all that there was to be seen. Of course the herbaceous borders, which once contained numberless rare and interesting plants, had dis- appeared, and the lawn in front of the house was cut up into little beds of red pelargoniums, yellow calceolarias, and the rest.*
We see then that, on the practical side, the garden performs two great functions, one architectural and the other domestic. I am afraid I may have fallen foul of some of my more artistic readers by con- sidering these two practical points before the aesthetic
* The English Flower Garden, by Henry A. Bright.
I'ART OF TERRACE AT KEARSNEY COURT, DOVBR" DESIGNED BY T. H. MAWSON
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ones which come naturally uppermost to the mind v. In n speaking on the subject of gardens and garden making. If so I would plead that in so doing I am merely following our great instructress in art, Nature herself, who always does this. The great purpose of all her products is primarily a practical one and generally associated with the purpose of reproduction of the species, and when we come to think of it there is no part of a flower, a tree or a shrub or any other of Nature's beautiful productions which is not designed solely for a practical pur- pose. It is not too much to say that its beauty proceeds from the efficient accomplishment of this practical purpose and I have always felt that if we are to design fine gardens which shall not only dazzle by their extent, variety, or colour in the first instance, but shall continue throughout many years to give lasting pleasure, this pleasure must be based upon a solid founda- tion which can only be obtained by the satisfaction of practical needs in an aesthetic manner.
Turning now to the aesthetic side of our subject and asking the same question, " What is a garden?", we have in the literature of this country alone, and especially in its poetic literature, sufficient answers many- times to fill the volume of which this article is a part so that it will be only possible to take two of the more obvious of them for consideration.
The first and most obvious answer is, that the garden is a place for the cultivation of beautiful flowers for their own sakes and not only for their own sakes but also for the creation of colour effects and blend- ings, harmonies and contrasts. All the rest is, in a sense, but the frame- work on which to build this feature. Our terrace walls are incomplete unless swarthed in rampant roses, our yew hedges lose half their purpose unless they form a background for the brilliant hues and huge masses of hardy perennials, and paths and walks are meaningless unless they clearly and inevitably contribute to our enjoyment of the greenery and flowers. All other effects, whether architectural or scenic, are subsidiary to them. 272
Nevertheless, the scenic side of garden de- sign very nearly equals in importance that we have been considering. There are some gardens, and quite successful gardens too, that owe nothing to their surroundings or to that blend- ing of distant prospects with beautiful and many- hued foreground which is so much to be desired. Two of our illustrations (p. 273) show such a garden which was designed by me for a client in a manufacturing district where pleasant prospects without the garden were impossible and so all the interest had to be concentrated on the scheme itself and a sense of scale and perspective obtained without any help from surrounding objects. In most instances, however, the garden would lose half its beauty if it were not treated so as to make the most of its surroundings. This is of course
THE GARHENS, I. EVENS HAIL. WESTMORLAND (Reproduced by permission from ' ' The Art and Craft of Garden Making" )
GARDENS AT PRESTON, LANCS. W. W. GALLOWAY, ESQ. DE- SIGNED BY THOMAS II. MAWSON
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What is a Garden ?
especially so where they are of an exceptionally interesting or picturesque nature, but even where they are of the tamest possible kind pleasing vistas may be produced by judicious planting so disposed as to make the very most of, and frame into pictures, those features such as cottages or the distant spire or tower of a church, while where the surroundings are undulating, by such methods rolling expanses of country which may even appear monotonous when viewed in unlimited extent may be diversified and composed into pictures by the careful arrangement of the foreground. It is, how- ever, necessary in this class of work to be careful that a misguided zeal for artistic composition does not lead us into the little meannesses, palpable tricks, and impossible extravagances which became such a part of the art of landscape gardening fifty to a hundred years ago as to bring the whole art into disrepute.
These four main aspects of the purpose of a garden, as a setting for the house, as a sphere for recreation, as a place for the culti- vation of beautiful flowers and lastly as providing material for artistic composition on a large scale, if considered in conjunction with practical requirements, will point the way very clearly indeed to an understanding of almost the whole theory of garden design. Practice is of course a more com- plex matter and here there is room for the application of a life-time ol experience and of the study of pre- cedents.
Garden making is perhaps more than any other art (if we except domestic architecture) bound by practical considerations, and this is why I have laid so much stress on the creation of beauty which shall be inherent and not super- imposed.
We have only to imagine a con- crete instance to see how true this is. In the placing of the house on the site, the arrangement of the entrances, the route to be followed by the carriage drive connecting with the highway, the widths and levels of the terraces and lawns for games, in the choice of si I ^74
the formation of gardis to accommodate plants of van ines or bog plants,
and in everything frn start to finish, practical considerations will in lence our design and it is only by acknowledginjthe close inter-relationship of tnf- 1 at every turn that
we can hope for succej When, however, success does attend our effort it will be of a lasting order and of that practical nd which harmonises with our daily li ilates and blends with
human int. this sympathetic factor
which gives a ga test charm, which
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and warmth, whi. flowers an added
lustre and tl an infinity which
leads the mind to h
GARDEN A I (Rtp ,
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// '//at is a Garden ?
especially so where they are of an exceptionally interesting or picturesque nature, but even where they are of the tamest possible kind pleasing vistas may be produced by judicious planting so disposed as to make the very most of, and frame into pictures, those features such as cottages or the distant spire or tower of a church, while where the surroundings are undulating, by such methods rolling expanses of country which may even appear monotonous when viewed in unlimited extent may be diversified and composed into pictures by the careful arrangement of the foreground. It is, how- ever, necessary in this class of work to be careful that a misguided zeal for artistic composition does not lead us into the little meannesses, palpable tricks, and impossible extravagances which became such a part of the art of landscape gardening fiftv to a hundred years ago as to bring the whole art into disrepute.
These four main aspects of the purpose of a garden, as a setting for the house, as a sphere for recreation, as a place for the culti- vation of beautiful flowers and lastly as providing material for artistic composition on a large scale, if considered in conjunction with practical requirements, will point the way very clearly indeed to an understanding of almost the whole theory of garden design. Practice is of course a more com- plex matter and here there is room for the application of a life-time ot experience and of the study of pre- cedents.
Garden making is perhaps more than any other art (if we except domestic architecture) bound by practical considerations, and this is why I have laid so much stress on the creation of beauty which shall be inherent and not super- imposed.
We have only to imagine a con- crete instance to see how true this is. In the placing of the house on the site, the arrangement of the entrances, the route to be followed by the carriage drive connecting with the highway, the widths and levels of the terraces and lawns for games, in the choice of sites for 274
the formation of gardens to accommodate plants of varying classes such as Alpines or bog plants, and in everything from start to finish, practical considerations will influence our design and it is only by acknowledging the close inter-relationship of the practical and the aesthetic at every turn that we can hope for success. When, however, success does attend our efforts it will be of a lasting order and of that practical kind which harmonises with our daily life and assimilates and blends with human interests. It is this sympathetic factor which gives a garden its greatest charm, which infuses into the sunlight there a greater brilliancy and warmth, which gives the flowers an added lustre and the distant prospects an infinity which leads the mind to higher things.
GARDEN AT LEES COURT
DESIGNED BY T. H. MAWSON
( Reproduced by permission from " 7 he Art and Craft of Garden Making")
irdens to accommodate plants such as Alpines or bog p from start to finish, pr influence our design an.1 Iging the close inter-relati. 1 the ,-esthetic at every turn that When, however, su (forts it will be of a lasting • I kind which harmonises with i milates and blends with It is this sympathetic I its greatest charm, iere a greater bri ! tie flowers an added stant prospects an infinitj ■things.
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The National Competition of Schools of Art, IQ14
HE NATIONAL COMPETITION OF SCHOOLS OF ART, 1914.
Although threatened with dissolution three or four years ago the National Art Competition still survives and will, it is to be hoped, continue to do so in spite of the ill-advised efforts to abolish it. The fact that the Competition works have been shown for two successive seasons in the Victoria and Albert Museum may perhaps be regarded as a sign that the authorities at the Board of Education recognise the importance of the exhibition and do not intend to allow it to be banished again to the back-yard to which it was so long relegated. The old North Court of the Victoria and Albert Museum in which the Com petition works were shown in 1913 and again last month is admirably fitted for the proper display ol these curiously varied collections of objects of art and industry, drawn together from all parts of England and from a few districts in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and New Zealand. The North Court affords ample space, and the light, good last year, was improved for the recent exhibition by a re-arrangement of the blinds thai screen .1 portion
of the glass ro I thi stained glass, which is always difficult to show, 1 ould l>< last month b ously devised
system of artificial illumination.
Assuming that a proper place of exhibition is now assured foi the National Competition works the question of the date when they are shown should be considered by the authorities. li, exhibition hitherto has always been held at the
most inconvenient times, opening late in July and dosing in September. Bj this arrangement, the supposed reasons for which were given in The Sti dio last year, when describing the exhibition ot 1913, the National Competition works are to be seen only when ninety-nine per cent, of thosi inti rested in questions concerning the fine arts are absent from London,
In point of ment tin exhibition that has just
closed was as good as most of those of the past decade, but, like that of last year, it contained very little of uncommon excellence. In sonic 1 recenl competitions students have submitted ad- mirable examples ol pottery, tiles, enamels, and jewellery , but in the exhibition of last month there was nothing of Outstanding merit in any of these
DESIGN FOR I III.
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The National Competition of Schools of Art, IQ14
sections. There were numbers of creditable works among the examples of applied art but none of real distinction ; and it seems unlikely that the general standard of the work shown in the competitions will be raised until the practical side is more fully developed. Until that is accomplished the teach-
almost equalled in the fine arts section, but here there was at least one work of distinction. This, a modelled figure of a kneeling girl by Francis Wiles, of the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, was one of the best things of its kind that have been shown at South Kensington and well deserved the award of a gold medal and the praise bestowed upon it by the sculptor-judges, Mr. W. R. Colton, A.R.A., Mr. F. W. Pomeroy, A.R.A., and Mr. F. Derwent Wood, A.R.A.
The work in stained wood was once more a feature in the National Art Competition, and Miss Gwen White, of the Polytechnic, Marylebone, who won a gold medal last year, gained a similar award for a box and a triptych. The principal feature of the box was a circular picture in colour, on the lid, of a girl in a beautiful dress of the eighteenth century looking with admiration at the
DESIGN FOR A WALL DECORATION IN TEMPERA BY EDITH A. HENDRY (IPSWICH)
ing of the applied arts in our schools can never give really satisfactory results. Our methods, it is true, are better than they were a generation ago, but they still encourage a large amount of designing on paper which cannot be carried out, or if carried out is incongruous with the material and with the con- structive character of the object. The consistent combination of theory and practice is a prominent feature of such important institutions as the Cen- tral School of Arts and Crafts in London and the Glasgow School of Art, which do not take part in the National Competition, and on the Continent it has produced excellent results in the schools of Austria where the arts and crafts movement has been taken up with enthusiasm, although in England, where the movement originated, it seems to be to some extent moribund through lack of encouragement.
The general mediocrity of the applied art seen in the National Art Competition was 278
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And, I italnAt the wft.icr dcwu-, And I wmte my '»ppy **<**}* Ewrv child, iivvv I-
.4fc
'.lAM-TBLAKE
, .,
DESIGN FOR BOOK ILLUSTRATII >N AND DECORATION. BY I AROLINE HALL SUNDERLAND
3CZ2r-
"5
»■ m
item mjmmt
. •» « 0 :'«* •■».
- yJW -■yjB* **^? V*^^ *p^^
—
e National Competition of Schools of Art, 1014
face in a hand-mirror, and warned by her 1 uckground : —
not proud of those two ejes
urlike sparkle in their skies.
i-century ladies and their admirers
des of the doors of Miss White's
xi in their skilful grouping and
those painted by her last year on
panel that was afterwards presented
together with a card table top by
. Wagstaff, which also gained a gold
ion. Miss Wagstaff showed at
' of last month an oblong mirror
on either side that illustrated
md humour scenes from the drama
[udy as played in the little travelling
■ streets. One of the best of the
xamples was the box adorned with
panels of flowers by Miss Louise
0 showed an interesting mirror
■riier cupboard with a panel repre-
n in fairy land, by Miss Grace B.
i by Miss Lucia B. Bergner,
»>d examples of stained wood that
gained wards in the competition. Miss
s Benjamin, Miss Lodge, and Miss
like Miss Gwen White, students at
c Institute. A chess board table top
id by Miss Eva Bilson of West Ham
clinical Institute had an ingeniously
BY LEONARD R. SQUIRRELI. (IPSWICH)
designed border representing seaweed and swim- ming fish.
Among the many boxes and caskets should be mentioned one of carved boxwood with brass mounts by Miss Ethel W. Watson, of Birmingham (Margaret Street) ; another with decorations in gesso of a figure of Justice with sword and scales by Miss Marjorie L. Best, of the Polytechnic Institute ; and a glove box in walnut, with cleverly
BOWl. WITH WHITE GROUND. BY M VRCERY -. STAHLSCHMIDT (GREENWICH SCHOOl
28l
»■> m.
The National Competition of Schools of Art, n;i :
reflection of her face in a hand-minor, and warned by her lover in the background :—
Sweet, be not proud of those Uvoejes Which starlike sparkle in iheir skies.
The seventeenth-century ladies and their admirers on the inner sides of the doors of Miss White's triptych recalled in their skilful grouping and pleasant colour those painted by her last year cm the gold medal panel that was afterwards presented to the Queen, together with a card tabic- top by Miss Hester M. W'agstaff, which also gained a gold medal on that occasion. Miss Wagstaflf showed at the- exhibition of last month an oblong mirror frame with a panel on either side thai illu with dexterity and humour scenes from the drama of Punch and Judy as played in the little tra theatres in the streets. One of the best ol the stained wood examples was tin- box adorned with numerous tiny panels of flowers by Miss Louise benjamin, who also showed an interesting frame. A corner cupboard with a pane \ senting children in fairy land, by Miss Grac B Lodge, ami a bowl by Miss Lucia B. Be were other good examples ol stained wood that gained high awards in the competition. Mi Wagstaff, Miss Benjamin, Miss Lodge, and Miss Bergner are, like Miss Gwen White-, stud the Polytechnic Institute-. A i hess board table top in stained wood by Miss Eva Bilson "I West Ham Municipal Technical [n titute had an ingeniously
BY LEONARD K. SQUIRREI.L (IPSVVII III
designed border representing seaweed and swim tiling fish.
Among the many boxes and caskets should be mentioned one ol carved boxwood with brass mounts by Miss Ethel W. Watson, of Birmingham
iret Street); another with decorations in gesso of a figure of Justice with sword and stales l>v Miss Marjorie L. Best, ol the Polyi Institute : and a glove box in walnut, with cl( verlj
BOW I '.\ I III Willi E IjROUSI). BV M i
-I Mil 31 HMlni (f.RRBNM |l II 5
z8i
The National Competition of Schools of Art, igi4
treated panels in colour, by Miss Isabel Airey, of Kendal School of Art.
Book illustration was well represented by a large variety of drawings and designs, both in colour and black and white. The ex- aminers in noticing the designs by Miss Alma K. Elliott and Miss Bernice A. S. Shaw, of the Leicester School of Art, deplore " the regrettable tendency towards the prevailing but morbid fashion.'' They referred apparently to the in- fluence of Aubrey Beardsley, but nevertheless gave a silver medal to Miss Shaw, whose design certainly be- trayed this influence in marked manner. Miss Shaw's skill of hand should lead her to better things
MODELLED I>F.SIC
LEATHER BOOK-COVER. BY DOROTHEA COWTE (ACTON AND CHISVVICK l'OLYTECHXIC)
FOR PANEL FOR A SCHOOL ENTRANCE
BY GEORGE R. HOFF (NOTTINGHAM)
when she learns to see for herself instead of through the eyes of another; and there is considerable promise in the delicate pencil-drawing of Miss Elliott. Mr. Leonard Squirrell, the accomplished young Ipswich student who had gained many awards in previous competitions, showed among many clever things a vigorous pencil-drawing of a rough track leading to a Claydon sandpit, and an etching of a tidal river, tender in tone and full of suggestions of atmosphere. From the Ipswich school came also some capital studies in line of pine trees and their branches and cones — the kind of drawings that Ruskin encouraged his pupils to make — by Miss Constance D. Murray. Sincere feeling for nature characterised an etching of a cloudy, low-toned landscape by Mr. William H. Potter, of Chelmsford School of Art ; and other good illustrations were the bold, strong drawing of a river and dyke, with a church well placed on the farther bank, by Mr. Stanley Peck, of Hornsey School of Art : the
T/ic National Com pet it ion of Schools of Art, rgi
MODELLED DESIGN FOR PANEL FOB \
HOOL LSI RANCE BY GEORGE K.
lithographs ot street scenes and incidents by a Leicester student, Mr. Robert S. Austin : and the study of a Pierrot singing, sketched in broad, simple masses of black and white, by Mr. Walter R. Carter, of Bristol (Kensington) School of Art. With these may be mentioned a clever design in reel, blue and yellow for a calendar, Little Maidens of Many Centuries, by Miss Caroline Hall, of Sunderland. The maidens, each of them representing a month, were littli attired in the costumes of twelve centuries, the ninth to the twentieth inclusive. Two interesting book plates, printed from wood- blocks, were shown by Mr. William Lib v. ol Sunderland S :hool ol Art, together with a circular colour-print in red, black and yellow.
As already remarked, the pottery designers did not distinguish themselves
at the recent exhibition
of die National Art < !om petition, and althi it \
ghl that the work submitted was about up to the avi ragi ol the
last few Mars it is -
rant that they i onsidered nothing worth) of a h award than a bronze nudal. The judges point out a singular fact that should be ootid b\ masters anil stu i hools
■ if art where potter) IS produced. Only one small modelled figure was submitted in this si although interesting figuri S m i" -lb i\ . >r por celain are being produced i i instantl) b) Hie < rafts men in most Km countries. Among the- best things in the pottery eases in tlie North < nun were two sgraffito vases with figures in b elephants and camels by Mr. Ivor II. Cole, of Portsmouth School of Art : a bowl with a blue floral design on a white ground b) Miss Marger) S. Stahlschmidt, ol Greenwich ; and two lustre jars by Mr. Joseph P. Thorley, of Stoke on 1'rent 1 1 lanley) ; and Mr. Capey Keen, ol Stoki on Trent (Burslem).
The examples of tiles exhibited were far below the
[OFI i M.I I INGHAM)
ABIN'ET, WALNI I 1M
AID Wl i ii ■ ■
BY ANNIE BURMAN (BIRMINGHAM, MAR
*83
The National Competition of Schools of Art, igi-/.
INLAID CHESSBOARD TABLE-TOP IN STAINED WOOD
BY EVA BILSON (WEST HAM TECHNICAL INSTITUTE)
-* ,.,.; •i... ■■■'M3^.i±--.-.< >3« ..fill !^5-Q
STAINED-WOOD MIRROR FRAME
BY HESTER M. WAGSTAKE (POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. MARYLEBONE)
The National Competition of Schools of Art, /<; /
among the jewellery on the singular
colour almo the gold ol
which it was chiefly composed. Some intei examples of jeweller) came from the Islington London County Council (Camden) School ol Art.
n was a necklace bj Miss Di Ballan >l gold
l h.mi, .11). i B
in which thi
[lowers were supported b) rich oloured enamels
and stones. Miss Josephine de Rohan ol the
d the praise of the examiners for
OSS SET WITH STONES BY SOPHIE J. HI 'Will
average. The must praiseworthy, perhaps, were some tiles of pale green with a design of heraldii lions, shown by Mr. Harry Hoyle, of Accrington. Miss Alice M. Camwell of Birmingham (Mai garet Street) showed an enamelled necklet ol extraordinarily minute finish that was conspicuous
5
SI UNED-WOOD MIRRI '' '
BY LOl NJAM1N [POl I II'' HNH I
MARYI l
, BY WAI I
>.K1 . BIRMINGH VM)
handle "i silver, which, howevi meNvhat heav) for the purpose
for which it was designed. < »tl wellery
from Islington was contributed b Mi
and Miss Mar) A. Gilfillan. A well
kle in silver set with octagonal plaques
■i and blur enamel, b) Mr. Charles A. Rich,
,,, Derb) School of An; a dainty silver < n^, b)
I : i rome . and a very
simple but attractive pendant of copper with a
. b) Mr. John I. Wii
lion.
Xhe silversmiths' work and small articles in
*»5
The National Competition of Schools of Art, 1Q14
BOOK-PLATES F'RINTEI) FROM WOOD BLOCKS
BY WILLIAM LILEV (SUNDERLAND)
' LITTLE MAIDENS OF MANY CENTURIES." DESIGN FOR A CALENDAR BY CAROLINE HALL (SUNDERLAND) 286
some earlier years, but interesting pieces were to be found here and there among the exhibits : as, for example, a silver hot water jug with a design of grapes in repousse, by Mr. Walter J. West of Birmingham (Margaret Street): a silver fruit dish supported on pillars and set with amethysts, by Mr. Tom Stewart of Xorthwich School of Art ; and a copper jar with cover by Miss Elsie E. West of Leicester.
Conspicuous among the leather work was a box for chessmen with ivory mounts, by Mr. Arthur G. Small, of Birmingham (Moseley Road), to which a gold medal was awarded. The box, circular in shape, was of an uncommon red colour, and decorated with a small interlaced design in green and white. There was a suggestion of the influence of West African native art in Mr. Small's chess-box, and in the red leather card- cases and foot-stool by two other- Moseley Road students, Miss Dorothy A. Rowe and Miss Gladys F. Ward, in which a somewhat similar pattern was seen. Mr. Frederick R. Smith of Wolverhampton School of Art showed a chalice case of tooled leather that was
'/\'^:-;-^.._
y*z$bt.
• -
h
Q^'fi^. W>- 2^.. i
THE SANDPIT." LEAD-PENCIL DRAWING BY LEONARD K. SQUIRRELL IPSWICH
The National Competition of Schools of Art, IQ14
Morte D' Arthur, by Miss Dorothea Cowie of Chiswick ; and a third by Mr. George Taylor of Leicester in which the gold thistle heads embodied in the design were well suited to a cover for a book of poems by Robert Burns. A striking and elabo- rate design for a woven tapestry frieze, depicting a castle on a hill and two knights in full
DESIGN FOR LACE KAN. BY DOROTHY M. NICHOLSON (DUBLIN, METROPOLITAN
SCHOOL OF ART)
of more than average in- terest. The leather book- bindings were in no way remarkable, but a few were pleasant in design. Among these were a cover for Bruce's African Travel with a floral design of gold on blue, by Mr. Robert J. Gardiner, of Camberwell, L.C.C. School of Arts and Crafts ; another of Malory's
r^
STAINED-WOOD MAKE-UP BOX.
BY HESTER M. WAGS I All
(POLYTECHNIC INSTH 11 E,
MARYLEBONE)
GESSO BOX. BY MARJORIE L. BEST (POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, MARYLEBONE)
armour charging one another in the foreground, was shown by Mr. Arthur Mottram of Macclesfield ; and from the same school came two charming de- signs for furniture silks in blue and purple by Mr. Frank Brocklehurst and Mr. \ William Clowes re- spectively. Among the stencils should be men- tioned a novel design for a border by Miss Agnes M. Hawker of Bristol
The National Competition of Schools of Art, IQ14
SILVER BUCKLE ENAMELLED AND 51
A STONE. BY CHARLES A. RICH (DERBY)
(Kensington) with a composition <>t running deer and Indian hunters on a brown ground, which gained a gold medal in its section; and among the lace a round doily by Mis-> Klizabeth Anglin of the Crawford Municipal Tech nical Institute, Cork ; and a fan by Miss Dorothy M. Nicholson, of Dublin. A damask serviette by Mr. Robert I >. Burt of Dunfermline : a design for the decora- tion of a panelled drawing-room by Mr. Horace C. Harvey, of Hackney Institute School of Art ; a panel painted in tempera by Miss Edith A. Hendry of Ipswich: and the circular modelled panels by Mr. George R. Huff of Nottingham may be mentioned among many other examples
that deserved notice in the National Art ( lompetition ol 1914.
In the section of an hitectural designs the report of the examiners i^ not favourable. They call attention more especially to the want of thought shown in planning and construction.
A note appended to tin- official li^i essful 1 ompetitors issued by the Board of Education states that two hundred and ninety nine schools of art, art classes and kindred institutions partii ipated in the National I om
* 1 mm ] 'A 1 "-'l> BOX. B\ BENJAMIN (P01 YTEI HIS
SILVER FRUIT DI
SH SET WITH STl BY Tom STEWART (N0RTKW
petition of 1914. < H. 1 two hundred and
. ish, the small residue representing -. hools in Wales, Si otland, Ireland, the Isle ol Man
Dominion ol N
/calami. The number ol
works submitted uas over
twelve thousand, and of
nearlj two thousand
: awards in one shape
'. ranging from cum
mendations t<> th< 1
gold medal.
was made at 289
The National Competition of Schools of Art, 191 4
N GOLD AND SILVER WITH ENAMEL PANELS SET WITH STONES. DOROTHY BALLANTINE (CAMDEN SCHOOL OF ART, ISLINGTON)
such as this, but having regard to the necessary limitation of space a liberal selection has been made. A few things, however, which it was intended to include and which are re- ferred to above have, un- fortunately, had to be omitted because the authorisations were not received in time to permit of the works being photo- graphed, owing to the absence of the students from home. In some
the outset of this article to the threats of dissolution which have been uttered with regard to the National Competition. An official notice issued by the Board of Education after the fore- going article was written makes it clear that whether the intention is seriously entertained or not, it will not be carried out in the immediate future, for the regulations for the National Competition ot 19 14 are to be operative for the year 1915.
A word or two in con- clusion apropos of the illustrations accompanying these notes. It is obvious that out of the total number of works exhibited only a very small proportion can be illustrated in a review
BROOCH AND NECKLACE IN GOLD AND SILV1 290
SET WITH STONES
BY DOROTHV BALLANTINE (CAMDEN SCHOOL OF ART, ISLINGTON)
DESIGN FOR WOVEN I A 1*1 SI RY FRIEZE. BY ARTHUR MOT! R \M MAC LESFIELD
The National Competition of Schools of Art, 1Q14
cases the authorisations were signed by the head master of the school and were on that account not accepted by the authorities of the Board of Education. W. T. Whitley.
At the Victoria and Albert Museum an opportunity is now afforded to students of Old English Furniture of observing one of the best-known speci- mens extant of the Pre-Reformation Period. Mr. F. Harris Mitchell, of Chard, has lent to the Museum the famous Gothic Bench, for many years in the " Green Dragon " Inn, at Combe St. Nicholas, Somerset ; and this is now- exhibited in the Department of Wood- work, in Room No. 21, near the Exhi- bition Road entrance. This bench has long been known to connoisseurs, and was illustrated, in 1859, in Parker's "Domestic Architecture in England." The wood-cut in this work, in spite of its bad drawing, shows that an im- portant detail of decoration has been lost since Parker's day, viz.. the figure of an angel bearing a shield, which formerly constituted the terminal of the curious overhanging beam on the left side of the bench, and, if preserved, might have afforded a clue to the origin of the bench. It can hardly have been made in the first place for a small village
FOR I.ACE DOILY. BY ELIZABETH ANGLIN_ TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, CORK)
inn, but probably had its first home in the re- fectory of some monastic establishment. The table, with a Gothic arcaded frieze, had also dis- appeared before Mr. Fred. Roe made the drawing of the bench for his work on Old Oak Furniture. In spite of this mutilation and loss, the fine pro- portion and execution of the linen-fold back and other details give this piece of furniture a special value to students. It has been set up against a background of linen-fold panelling, and adjacent to a Gothic window-frame in oak, from Hadleigh, Essex, recently presented to the museum by Mr. A. H. Fass, while other appro- priate furniture is placed in the neigh- bourhood. The English, French and Gothic woodwork has now all been re- arranged in this Gallery where it can be seen to better advantage than in its former situation. In Room 52 is also dis- played a recent purchase of considerable interest, a quantity of plaster work, decorated in grisaille, which was acquired for the Museum from an old house in Kent.
DESIGN FOR DAMASK SERVIETTE. BY ROBERT D. BURT (LAUDER TECHNICAL COLLEGE, DUNFERMLINE) 292
The Trustees of the National Gallery have appointed Mr. C. H. Collins Baker Keeper and Secretary of the Gallery in place of Mr. Hawes Turner, retired.
A
American Art at the Anglo-American Exposition
MERICAN ART
ANGLO-AMERICAN
TION.
Each year that the large Exhibition Bush has opened its -airs to tin- public on most interesting, and to our mind, most valuable
features has been the Fine Art Section. II in spacious well-lighted galleries it is possible to see well and enjoy thoroughly the large number of works for which the rooms afford ample and comfortable wall-space.
This year at the Anglo-American Exposition, as on previous occasions, an interesting and a fairly comprehensive display of modern British art occupies a number of the galleries, and taken as a whole the collection is a good one both as regards the pictures and the sculpture. Ample room is provided for the exhibits, and the sculpture, agreeably disposed with bay-trees and shrubs at intervals, is seen perhaps to better advantage than elsewhere in London exhibitions, where our sculptors rarely have justice done to them. As, however, the majority of the exhibits in the British Section are productions of artists whose works are frequently illustrated in these pages — quite a num- ber of them having, in- deed, already appeared in The Studio — it will be of greater interest if our at- tention is devoted to an examination in detail of the American Section, as containing works with which the British i of this magazine are !< ss familiar.
Perhaps the most pro- nounced characteristic ol American art as here dis played is, speaking generally and also some what paradoxically, its lack of any pronounced charac- teristics —characteristics, that is to say, which betray and reveal its nationality. Sufficient time has s< as vet elapsed in the history of the art of the United States to allow of the
AT T 1 1 K ■ volution i attributes
EXPOSI- 'n tnat art > traditions are unquestionably slowly formed, but their roc,; enough, nor are they at present of sufficiently long duration to have resulted in the flowering of anything distinguishable so far as a purely American style. There is incontestable e\ greater
I lien, h as opposed to British
influence in the work of many American painters,
It it be true that all good Americans when ti go to Paris, it would seem to be equally true that the majority of those who belong to the- artistic fraternity migrate thither beforehand and spend a good part of their lives in la ville lumiire. So it is that in looking around the exhibition one is immediately struck by the strong affinity between this art and contemporar) French painting, though one would not overlabour this point, tor m. my of those who are represented have become so ac
i) their lon_ in Paris thai the II
regular contributions to the Salons arc sometimes more Parisian than the Parisians.
Five rooms are set apart for pictures by artists
Ii Kill KK LIEBE -A MORNING
> SHOVEN
"VILLAGE RIDER" BY J. C. JOHANSEN
- — _-..
( The property
I 'ily)
■ LADY IN Will I E " : VV. DEWING
American Art at the Anglo-American Exposition
resident in the United States and before proceeding to discuss them in detail we must not omit to record our thanks to the artists and to Mr. Hugo Reisinger, who organised this section, for giving us permission to illustrate the spaciously treated Rider, by J. C. Johansen ; the subtly atmospheric Lady in White, a little reminiscent of Whistler, by T. W. Dewing; J. Rolshoven's sunny picture of a girl in bright blue, Dichter Liebe — a Morning in May, John W. Alexander's fine and imposing portrait of a gentleman ; and the large snowy landscape, Hill Farm in Winter, by Gardner Symons.
Besides the works just referred to, E. W. Red- field exhibits a good snow-painting, On the Delaware, and A Garden by the River, a work of most delightful colour to which a reproduction in black and white would do scant justice. Other good things are L. Kronberg's harmoniously coloured In the Dressing Room; the Still-Life by E. Carlsen; W. M. Chase's Portrait of Miss C.
and clever painting of Fish ; Pauline, by Miss H. M. Turner; The Circus, by George Bellows; The Mirror, by E. V. Cockroft : and Albert Sterner's The Japanese Print. Miss Cecilia Beaux exhibits a Portrait Study, decoratively if a trifle too arbitrarily posed, of a girl in a magnificently painted purple and yellow brocaded robe, against a dark background ; and W. Elmer Schofield's Waterfall is an admirable and typical example of his personal art. Childe Hassam sends six works, among them an extremely clever painting of an interior, Room of flowers, full of light and colour ; but more typical of his work in general are the pictures entitled Young Woman Reading, Moonlight Landscape, and The Window Curtain. Gardner Symons is also represented by a painting, Across the River, in which the slow moving greenish water is rendered with great fidelity to nature; the artist has here achieved an admirable composition into which he introduces some agreeable colour notes in the painting of the boats moored in the foreground.
BY GARDNER SYMONS
PORTRAIT." BY JOHN W. ALEXANDER
American Art at the Anglo-American Exposition
C. W. Hawthorne exhibits a fine work, Refining Oil, rich in harmonies of green and blue ; a beautifully restrained Girl with Rose, and The Fisherman ; while Horatio Walker is represented by a rather dramatic canvas Ploughing, First Gleam.
Two rooms contain pictures, most agreeably hung, by American artists resident in France ; the work of most of them has been illustrated from time to time in these pages, notably in the interesting articles by Mr. E. A. Taylor. Richard Miller con- tributes two examples, a charmingly sunny The Green Parasol and Lady with Red Hair, the latter here illustrated. Another artist who delights to flood his canvas with sunlight is F. C. Frieseke, whose large picture The Garden Umbrella is attrac- tive but hardly as satisfactory as the subtle and most interesting piece of painting In the Boudoir, which is reproduced with other examples of his work elsewhere in this number. A work in which the problem of figure painting in sunlight is treated with marked success is Dejeuner by Louis Ritman. Here, with perhaps some reminiscence of the work of Miller, the artist has achieved a composition, happy alike in colour and design, in which the whole is as it were tremulous with morning sunlight and the promise of a glorious unclouded day. George OberteufTer shows three robust and
characteristic works, one a very clever impression, } achts on tlie Havre, a boldly treated Notre Dame de Paris, and a vision of St. Sulpice seen through the tender green of trees in Springtime i?i Paris. Other works which call for notice are those of Elizabeth Nourse ; E. P. Ullmann, whose clever studies of Parisian types are marred by a little unpleasantness of colour ; the water-colours of Frank Boggs, and work in the same medium by Miss Florence Este ; Walter McEwen's highly finished works reminiscent somewhat of the Dutch Interior painters ; a fine Gari Melchers — The Smithy ; the paintings, a little too brusque and summary in their statement, by Roy Brown ; the large portrait of Madame Bohm by Max Bohm, of which a colour reproduction appeared in this magazine some two years ago ; the amusing mosaic-like Paris Plage by John Noble ; and a decorative composition An Idle Morning by T. R. Hopkins.
Four galleries comprise the British-American Section, and are filled with the productions of artists whose work is very familiar to us, since they all reside and exhibit their work in Great Britain ; indeed many of them have become so closely identified with the British art-world that one had quite forgotten in some cases their American origin. Mr. Sargent, who fills a wall with a dozen of those
'JOSEPH PENNELL ETCHING" 298
BY J. MCLURE HAMILTON
-
t*i
**•#'**,
' u* ■ * r- ^r»-
^ > rte
w
&
»W*Afj
4* ^ I
•• DEJEUNER." BY LOUIS KIT. MAX
"LADY WITH RED HAIR BY RICHARD MILLER
American Art at the Anglo-American Exposition
superb water-colour impressions which only his amazing vision is enabled to comprehend and record with Mich precision and such masterl) technique, and Mr. Pennell, who shows number oi his well-known lithographs from the Panama, the New York ami the Philadelphia series, we certainly look to find represented here ; hut one did not know, or had lost sight of the fact, that work by -Mark Fisher, Gwelo Goodman, Henry Muhrman, and Jacob Epstein might appropriately be classed as British-American.
Besides good work by the men just mentioned there are in this section a number of lithographs and etchings by Whistler, some of the excellent pen and ink drawings by Abbey, whose large decorative picture, The Duke of Gloucester and the Lady Anne (which if we mistake not was the fine work, exhibiti d at the Royal Academy in 1S96, which gained him his Associateship), represents his painting : etchings by Donald Shaw MacLaughlan ; paintings and
lal drawings b) Frank Mura ; lithographs and
by J. Mel. urc Hamilton, who also show-, three interesting paintings, one a portrait of Mr. ( Gladstone in his study and two of M r. Pennell.
Space does nol allow of detailed mention of a
greal number of the admirable works exhibited,
ate drawing Study of a fa Rosales, Eli
\i mi e's 1 levei watei 1 of mi .. 1 hi Clifford Addams and some inter ting paintings by In. Addams, particularly The Death of Lua ili' very beautiful Daphne ; also the Lithographs of Albert Sterner and in particular his Amour mort.\\ Pierrot mourning his dead love.
The room reserved lor the American Society of Illustrators contains work in a branch in which artists across the Atlantic unquestionably cm el, and their robust illustrative and decorative magazine
work can well support iparison with the best
that is being done anywhere at the present day.
|i
SPRINGTIME IN PARIS
IRGB "HI R I BUI I I K
3°'
Studio- Talk
From the ensemble one misses the very personal work of Myron Barlow, and the clever interiors of Walter Gay, both of these painters being unrepre- sented ; there is no example of the art of Winslow Homer, and one regrets the absence of any canvas by Whistler. These omissions apart, the exhibition is one of much interest, presenting, as it does, to the British public a fine collection of work by painters whose art both for its own sake and for the sake of our close national kinship one would desire a better acquaintanceship with on this side of the Atlantic. A. R.
STUDIO-TALK. (From Our Own Correspondents.)
ION DON. — The month of August to which most of us look forward as a period of peaceful relaxation and rest has this year — ' opened with the most stupendous upheaval of armed force that the world has ever witnessed-
What the ultimate effect of this great war will be on the progress of art it is impossible to say, but it must inevitably have far-reaching consequences. Its immediate effect, however, is nothing short of disastrous to the vast majority of those engaged in the practice of one or other branch of art. Even portrait painters who in normal times are rarely without a commission, find themselves idle owing to commissions being cancelled in consequence of the financial disturbance, and a large number of artists who depend for a livelihood on work of a more or less " commercial " character are having a hard time.
In turbulent times such as these, when the air is filled with echoes from the battlefield, it is a welcome relief to turn for a moment to things which remind one of the calm and peace of the sanctuary. Such are the two altar cards of which we give reproductions. They were exe- cuted by Mr. W. H. Cowlishaw, architect, of Letch-
ILLUMINATED ALTAR CARD FOR THE CHURCH OF ST. HUGH, LETCHWOKTH 302
BY W. H. COWLISHAW
ILLUMINATED ALTAR CARD FOR 1 HE ( HURCH OF ST. HUGH, LETCHWORTH BY VV. II. (' IWLISHAW
Studio- Talk
ill INE," SILVER STATUETTE INLAID
WITH Gl \\n OTHER METALS. KY E. O. DE
Ri ISALES
(By permission of Messrs. IV. Marc haul and Co.,
Goupil Galley )
worth, for the church of St. Hugh in this town ot "garden-city " fame and are very engaging examples of illuminated lettering. The cards were written with a slanted quill pen on Roman vellum in seventh-century capitals, with Chinese black ink and vermilion. All the gold lettering, such as the small capitals to •■ Deus. Pater" &c, and part of the ••Credo" beginning " et homo," &c, were written with a similar pen. The large capitals were written with a pen cut broader at the tip. The whole of the decorative outlines were executed with a tine-cut quill pen in black, lapis lazuli, white and vermilion inks, and filled in with a fine brush with oxide of chromium, vermilion, lapis lazuli or white. The fifteen mysteries of the Rosary are symbolised in the fifteen large capitals of the centre triptych. The large capitals in the side cards have Lenten lily diaper patterns emblematic of the time of the year 'he work was completed, namely Easter 1914. The borders of the triptych are 3°4
composed of the vine, wheat, white rose and shamrock. The thorny rose-stems are used freely and suggest the human path, interpenetrated by the radiance of the Cross. The metalwork was executed by Mr. R. C. Price and consists of dark bronze metal frames with supporting angels in oxidised silver at both of the lower corners, but these have been omitted from the illustrations so as to permit of the cards themselves being shown on a larger scale. The originals are of course considerably larger than our reproductions. The whole of the work is mounted on mahogany panels which slide into the metal frames and is all under glass.
The two very charming statuettes by Mons. E. O. de Rosales which we reproduce on this page were recently on view in an exhibition of the artist's work
PAVLOVA IN THE SWAN DANCE, STATCETTE
SILVER AMI COLD. BY E. O. HE ROSALES
(By permission of Messrs. IV. Marekant and Co.,
Goupil Gallery)
M I LA N f, O A
Stitt i
of the vine, wheat, white rose and
. The thorny rose-stems are used freely
- st thi human path, interpenetrated by the
ol the Cross. The metalwork was executed
and consists of dark bronze
nes with supporting angels in oxidised
•i. of the lower corners, but these have
! the illustrations so as to permit
eing shown on a larger
tls are of course considerably
'.inns. The whole of the
- mounted i panels which slide
il frames and is all under glass.
I
inning statuettes by Mons. E. O. produce on this page were ■.nibition of theartisl
IN THE SWAN l
MILAN. FROM A WOOD ENQRAVINO
ev O. WYNNE APPERLEY. R.I.
Studio-Talk
familial to visit London exhibitions, more ill) those of the Royal Institute ol Painters in Water ( 'olour, of which he is a member. The print we reproduce a^ a ment is a capital example
of his work in another
branch of art. The print
was produced fn >m
block and subsequently
tinted to the effect desired.
— . -_
"THE PLOUGHMAN'S TRAM." FROM AN ETCHING KV E. HERBERT WHVDALE
at the Goupil Gallery in Regent Street, and in common with other statuettes reveal a peculiarly refined sense of form and decoration. Statuettes such as those ill us u in which the precious metals are employed, represent of course a very luxurious form of art, but most of the figures ex- hibited were in bronze, and there was also one in gilded and painted ■ The artist is Italian by birth, but studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and has regularly exhibited at the Salon ol the Artistes Francais since 1901. His lin mzes li.i\ e been purchased by the Musee du Luxemb Paris, the Musee d'Art at Lyons and the Nal Gallery, Rome.
means of line. is worth notin:
Mr. Win dale, of whose art as an etc her v. produce four examples, is an artist in that 1
31 inal view in a medium whose limita- tions he recognises and 1 1 i ^ problem all true etchers, namely, to suggest the man i fold planes and colours of Nature by quality in his work which trie k\
Mr. Wynne App work as a painter is
■ IIVDA1 F.
3°7
'THE PICNIC." FROM AN ETCHING BY E. HERBERT WHYDALE
* <
Studio- Talk
Scholarship in 191 3. The picture was com- missioned by Miss Elizabeth Stevenson, formerly Principal of the Girls' Collegiate School at Port Elizabeth for presentation to the school as a somenir of her association with the institution. The figure dominating the picture represents Truth clothed in white with a mantle of blue, and sapphires are introduced into the mantle-clasp as emblems. Supporting Truth are the figures of Purity and Honesty, both clothed in white. Praise and Justice are placed at the foot of the throne. Praise, playing the cymbals, is clothed in creamy-coloured drapery with a mantle of green, while Justice has the traditional mantle of purple over a white gown. The lettering was chosen by Mi>s Stevenson, who in other respects left the artist a free hand.
M
ONTREAL. — The feature of this year's spring exhibition at the galleries of the Art Association of Montreal was the number of interesting canvases shown by three or four of our younger artists. In this connection reference should be made in par-
THE STEVENSON PANEL — GIRLS COLLEGIATE SCHOOL,
TORT ELIZABETH. S.A. F. FICKFORD MARRIOTT,
A.R.C.A. (LO.ND.)
printing, for in the majority of cases he wipes his plates quite clean. Seeing that he is still young — he is only twenty-eight — and has only been etching about eighteen months (and that in a desultory fashion, his main pre-occupation being with painting) we look forward with confidence to his future achievements in this branch of art. He has exhibited his etchings at the International Society's exhibition where, last autumn, Mr. Gutekunst was quick to notice him and in the spring of this year organised an exhibition at his gallery in Grafton Street, Bond Street.
PORT ELIZABETH.— Readers of this magazine will not have forgotten the work of Mr. Pickford Marriott, of which various examples have appeared in these pages from time to time. For some years past Mr. Marriott has held the post of Art Master in the Public Art School at Port Elizabeth, and the silver challenge shield and allegorical picture now- reproduced represent some of his recent work. The shield was modelled by Mr. Gilbert Ledward, who won the Royal Academy Gold Medal and Travel- ling Scholarship, and the British School at Rome 3io
SILVER CHALLENGE SHIELD DESIGNED BY F. PICKFORD
MARRIOTT, A.R.C.A. (l.OND.). MODELLED BY GILBERT
LEDWARD
FROST MAURI' '
i}. The picture was com Vf is? I I .ibeth Stevenson, formerh rii - Collegiate School at Port For presentation to the
tion with the institution. ing the picture represents Truth in white with a mantle of blur. duced into the mant! ms. Supporting Truth are the figures
rid Honesty, both clothed in . Justice are placed at the foot aise, playing die cymbals, is clothed in ired drapery with a mantle of green. has the traditional mantle of purple The lettering was chosen in other res;
M
ONTREAL. -Thefeature
exhibition at the galleries of Association of Montreal was the number of interesting canvases i iur of our younger artists. In trence should be made in par-
mf' |
||
KRl)
«* — - •.•«
— ^ - „ ..
"FROST AND SNOW." FROM AN OIL PAINTING BY MAURICE CULLEN.
Studio- Talk
ticular to the powerfu and individual work of Mr. A. Y. Jackson, formerly of Montreal, but now of Toronto. There can be no doubt that Mr. Jackson is a coming man. He not only has an admirable colour sense and a fine feeling for decorative design, but, what is more important, he has something worth while to say. His expression is eminently personal. It is at once simple, din i i, and forcible, and he is the first Canadian artist to attempt with real success the interpretation of the more distinctly typical Canadian landscape in moods other than that of winter.
ment in the water is id, while the work
as a whole displays largeness ol vision.
For the past year Mr. Jackson has sought and found inspiration in the lonely places oi Northern Ontario. His sketches and pictures suggest poeti cally, yet strongly and truthfully, the grim silent beautv and bigness of this wilderness. Some ol the paintings are of very high pictorial quality, and notably A Squall on Georgian Bay and The La/ul of the Leaning Pine, exhibited in Montreal this spring. The former, here produced, is an arrange ment of dark greens and violets, rather daringlj contrasted yet entirely harmonious. The
M^s Mabel May, Mr. Randolph Hewton, Mr.
Arthur Rosaire, and Mr. Albert II. Robinson are
also young Montreal artists of original outlook and
promise. Among the work shown by
mature painters, Mau n's Frost and
Snow&nA The !•<• H
their truth and tonal I mtions
of Mr. Brymner, President of the Royal Canadian iv, as usual attracted attention.
II. M. 1.
T( >R< >X I "< ). — The season of 1913-14 was remarkable for artistii activity in the "(Minn City" of Canada. The <\ln bition of the Ontario Societj ol Artists, noticed in these pages, led the way, and was followed by a very admirable display of Japanese Prints at the Orange — the temporary home of the Toronto Art Museum, and formerly tin n sidence of the late Prof. Goldwin Smith. In the grounds a permanent gallery of the Fine Arts
'October" (Art Association of Montreal) FROM AN
S oil PAIN I ING BY ttlll [AM B*V M
3 ' 3
H Lil
~ <
£ >♦
H »
Studio- Talk
A SQI MI. ON GEORGIAN BAY
II \ A . '. .
is about to be erected. This exhibition, an entirely new departure in Canada, attracted much interest. Following upon this was the Second Annual Exhibition of " Little Pictures.'' This is an effort by a few younger painters to popularise their work in the homes of the middle-class citizens, where- wall space is insufficient for the display ol canvases. Many new aspirants for painting honours were invited, and the work of si was included. Mr. J. E. H. Macdonald, A.R.C.A., among the older men, was the most SUCO exhibitor. Later the Women's Art Association threw open their Galleries for a loan collection of lace and art-needlework, with contributions Ire mi the South Kensington School of Needlework, and Lady Egerton's famous Greek lace colli This was followed by an exhibition of paintings by Canadian artists, past and present— a very interesting display. At the same time members of the Association staged many examples of their own handiwork as craftswomen. Many beautiful objects were shown. The Association numbers 2000 efficient members, with galleries and work
rooms in the principal cities of Canada. 1" the
lit. Mrs. I lignam a verj i apabli and craftswoman is largely due the sui i
m, which has been in existent i foi nearly thirty J. E. S.
WtNNIP] G. Among th< mon Art Institutions in the Colonies is the Winnipeg Museum Vrts, which was opi ned in nil 2, with an exhibition i 'I ( Canadian Art. Sim e then the Art Committee have placed on view exhibitions b nental as well as British.
The exhibition ol the Royal British Colonial list-, whii li has just i lost d, ai
ended. I asi month -i by several
;its of that mediun n, along with
a collection of black and white- work b)
I-'.. J. Sulllv.m, R. Anning B< II, •ii Robinson, and •
Studio- Talk
In Gallery i there is an exhibit of special interest to the citizens of Winnipeg, consisting of drawings, paintings, and designs by the students of the Winnipeg School of Art, which, including the works which were successful in gaining Scholar- ships and Bursaries tenable in the session 1914-15, represent the results of the first session, for the school was opened on September 2, 191 3, in direct connection with the Art Gallery. The Principal is Mr. Alec J. Musgrove, who came over from Glasgow to take up the position.
year after the opening of the Gallery, the school commenced its first session.
The Winnipeg Museum of Fine Arts was in- augurated this year to meet the growing demand for aesthetic education on the part of the citizens, and since its opening, has placed on view good exhibitions, thereby affording opportunities to see the work of many notable artists. Already the nucleus of a permanent collection has been formed and this is being added to from the various ex- hibitions by purchase and by presentation. The Galleries are open daily, free, and the attendance is large. So great was the appreciation shown by the public that the Committee decided to open the proposed school at once, with the result that a
M
ELBOURXE.— Mr. Will Ashton, an Australian artist who recently returned from an extended European trip, has just had a very successful exhibition of his work at the Guild Hall. Most of the work has been done in Paris and Venice and is remarkable for its eminently sane outlook, while being fine in tone and colour. Mr. Ashton's latest productions as exhibited at the Paris Salon and elsewhere seem to promise him a high place in the history of art work by Australians. Among his Italian pictures special mention should be made of Xo. 1 Santa Maria del/a Salute, and the Ponte alle Grazil, River Arno, Florence, and among the Dutch pictures the fine Rotterdam so full of movement and life. The Evening Seascape, Tintagel, Cornwall shows the quieter side of Mr. Ashton's art.
Mr. Clewin Harcourt, a well-known Paris Salon exhibitor, has been showing some fine work at the "Centreway." His capabilities as a portrait
1 ROTTERDAM, HOLLAND" 316
BV WILL ASHTON
■EVENING SEASI \N-:. I IN I.V.LL. CORNWALL." BY WILL ASHTON
Studio-Talk
painter were well displayed in his Salon success Reading Aloud, and The Smile, the latter possessing an almost Hals-like quality. J. S.
PHILADELPHIA. Pennsylvania.— In connection with the recent International exhibition of paintings at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, the following awards have been announced. The First Prize of a gold medal and one thousand five hundred dollars has been awarded to Mr. E. W. Redfield in respect of his Village in Winter; the Second Prize of one thousand dollars and silver medal to Mr. Richard Jack, A.R.A. of London, for his painting entitled String Quartette (exhibited at the Royal Academy- exhibit ion last year) : the Third Prize of five hun- dred dollars and a bronze medal to Mr. George Bellows: and honourable mentions to Mr. Will
nTp<LS iTMCoS-
" VARIOUS TYPES (MADRID)." FROM A CHALK DRAWING BY J. P. TI] I V
Ashton, the Australian painter, Miss Hilda Fearon and Mr. G. Spencer Watson of London, Herr Erich Kips of Berlin, Miss Beatrice Howe, Paris, and Mr. Charles Rosen of Pennsvlvania.
" BISCAYAN TYPES (BILBAO)." FROM A CHALK
DRAWING BY J. P. TILLAC 318
There will be no International Exhibition of paintings at the Carnegie Institute next Spring. This course was decided upon by the Fine Arts Committee in view of the fact that the government will present an international exhibition of paintings at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, at San Francisco, next Spring.
BORDEAUX. — Mons. Tillac, whose sketches of market scenes in Madrid and of types of the people met with in the Spanish Capital and elsewhere we here reproduce is a much travelled artist and his sketch-
k
■
m. m mm «? m m m
■
I
lian painter, Miss Hilda F ' itson of London. 1 li urice Howe Rosen of Pennsylvania.
i nal Exhibitio
igs at the Carnegie Institute next ' Lecided upon by the Fin i view of the fact that thi ■i international exhibition of pain
■
met with in and elsewhi i i much travelled artist and his
V..
,
#1
V> ,jg
SKETCHES OF MARKET LIFE IN MADRID. FROM CHALK DRAWINGS BY J P. TILLAC.
Studio- Talk
"STREET MARKET, CALLE \. FIGUF.ROA, MADRID FROM ,\ I HALK DRAWING BV J. P. riLLAI
books are full of reminiscem eo he lias
visited both in the Old World and in th In Spain, where he lias spent a considerable time, he has amassed a large collection of drawings, chiefly of street scenes in cities where Castilian or Basque types are found, such as Madrid, I and Bilbao. A shrewd observer, he has a kirn eye for the characteristics of the people he portrays as may be seen particularly in his studies of the Basque type of humanity whose anthropo status has puzzled the learned. Mons. I at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under MM. Gerome, Cormon and Waltner, and at the Salon of the Artistes Francais in 1905 he was awa mention honorable. Since th Spent
most of his time in travelling. In his di such as those reproduced, he uses a little colour by way of rehaussanent.
T
i< IKYO. Recently the Imperial Si hool
ol An. I okyo, the 1 ier institution of
ill'' kin. I in Japai d, with
appropriate ceremonies and with an
exhibition of its treasures, the twenty-fifth anniver-
sar) ofits foundation. A brief history of the school
may prove of value to those interested in the
3S of art and art education in Japan.
It was in July 1SS5 that 1 committee was appointed by tin- Department of Education to investigate matte- g th,- teaching of
drawing in schools. As a result, a bureau fordi was established in November ol the 1-' This bureau was thepioneerol the Imperial : ol Ail. Tokyo, which came into existence by Imperial order en October 4. : mie to
01 1 upj the pn si nt splendid position in I Park which was formerlj used bj the Educational
Museum. The Art S. hool was opened "ii February 1. 1890, under the directorship ol Baron Ilamao. The curriculum then consisted of painting, lacquer work, wood carving and metal chasing, two different courses, one taking two and the other three years to complete. There was also a normal In October 1891 Mr. Kakuzo Okakura, w hose death . to in Tin Sti dio .t few
month- agi ' March No., | me the
dire. tor. In November [893 a four-year course was instituted, in addition to ,1 preliminarj ■
lasting one year, and metal casting was added to
the curriculum.
In May 1895 tne instruction in painting carving was dividi styles,
based upon the three distim 1 periods in the history
an. In the following year the repousse"
mras introduced into the course of instruction in metal work, and a course in design and another in the European style of painting were added. In
1899 Mr. Okakura was succeeded by Mr.
Takamine, and the method devised by his predecessor was altered. Claj
lich was bound to affect our sculpture
to a 1 onsiderabli d into
Ii partment, and came to be adopted
lor the first time in making sketches for w I
sculpture in the folli In January 1900
Mr. Kanae K ubota be< ame tin- direi tor. onlj to be superseded in the following jear b) Mi. Naohiko Masaki, under who ctorship the school
still continues to train young artists. Foui later, th n 1905, tin- si hool adopttd the
five-year 1
Stmiio-Talk
THE IMPERIAL SCHOOL OF ART, TOKYO
322
Studio- Talk
As the edifice became inadequate for the increasing demands oi the growing institution, the building used by the Imperial Librarj came to serve as class-rooms. In 1907 the Departm Education decided to provide the school with a group of new buildings, and the work was com menced in July. In January 191 1 the old building was destroyed by lire, and soon after a new one- was erected on its site, so that the school is now equipped with brand-new buildings si atten d among the beautiful old trees in the park. The main edifice is very beautiful, the style being a com bination of Japanese and European architi indicating in a way the ultimate evolution of the architectural style of Japan.
The Imperial School of Art, Tokyo, is now equipped for the training of students in the follow ing seven courses: Japanese painting, Kuropean style of painting, sculpture, design, metal work, casting, and lacquer work, and it also offers a
special cours draw- ing m Normal. Middle, and Gi - I Is.
One of the striking developments in recent years is the 1 in the number of applicants
lor instruction in 1 n Style "I painting,
which has been accompanied b) a corresponding decrease of students for the course in Jap painting I irk done by the graduates in the
Japam . enerally speaking,
been infused with an indefinable something that from an effort to improve an
'img new. There is invan.iliK something in it which is foreign to the traditional quality, though not necessarily betraying European influence. And in the sculpture also a glance is sufficient to dis tinguish the work of those who h.n e bei n named in the art school. There is something solid and pro ise in the modelling, and the realistic touch i.-, apparent
A brief survey of the principles by which the school is guided in training the young arlists will
>l IAPANESB PAINTING SECTION, IMPB1 'I *»T, TOKVO
Studio-Talk
SECTION, IMPERIAL
>F ART, TOKVC
enable the reader to understand more thoroughly the Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko, which, following the official translation, stands for the Imperial School of Art, Tokyo. Art is long and the five years course of school life is entirely inadequate for the full development of an artist's capabilities. To be able to produce a work worthy of being handed down to posterity as a masterpiece of art one must be favoured with considerable gifts and unusual talent. While genius is rare among us, each of us has some special gift or talent to develop and it is the aim of the school to find what that is and to foster it to its fullest possibility. And what the school is able to do is to give the students in- struction in subjects calculated to develop hidden possibilities in them and merely start them in the branch of art to which they are to devote their lives. The work worthy of themselves can only be looked for from the life of constant effort and perseverance after they finish the school. Such is the view held by the school.
In the course of Japanese painting, the students 324
in the last year are divided into three classes, each •with a special teacher. During the first four years they are taught to understand the mental attitude and the peculiarities which characterise the brush work of both old and modern painters, by copying the paintings of old masters and those of their teachers. Sketching also plays a very important part in the curriculum. Students are first taught to sketch such simple objects as grass, trees, flowers and fruit. Then they proceed to sketch insects, birds, and beasts, either in the class-room or in the zoological garden situated close at hand. Subsequently they enter on a course of drawing from the living model. Armour and helmets. State robes as worn in the olden times, as well as the dresses of the present day are used in order to acquaint the students with the manners and customs of different periods and with the composition of colours. Throughout the course they are en- couraged to apply in their compositions the know- ledge they have gained, and thus an endeavour is made to foster originality. Their ability to paint is also turned towards design, beginning with
Studio-Talk
simple floral subjects and gradually \ more complex and elaborate decorative motifs The students often go on sketching tours with or without their teacher.
For the students who are taking the course in the European style of painting special stress is laid on charcoal drawing from casts during the first year, in addition to the normal instruction in instrumental drawing, anatomy and perspective. Lessoi oil-painting of still-life and landscape are also given. From time to time they are given subjei composition, using only charcoal, water-colour or pencil. In the second year they are taught to make charcoal drawings of the human body, and in the third and fourth years they substitute oil for charcoal. In oil-painting of still-life subje< landscape, as well as the subjects for composition, they proceed gradually from the simple to the complex. The first semester of the last year of the course is devoted to the composition of diploma pictures to be finished in the second semester, together with a self-portrait in oils. Historical
subjects or ti the manners and customs
of different periods are generally given fi tion. At the end of each semester the works executed by the students are exhibited and judged.
The department of sculpture at the Imperial School of Art is divided into modelling, wood carving and ivory carving. For the i la modelling floral and other decorative subji
are given to be copied, and later animals and human heads. After the second year the students are set to make clay sketches of birds and at either in the class room or in tl garden,
followed later by models from the living figure. They are also taught how to make plaster easts, and the last year of their school is di to their diploma work. The order of instruction in the classes for wood carving and ivory car ■ similar to that pursued in modelling.
In the design class lessons are given in designing,
painting and clay modelling. The instruction in
tag is intended to familiarise them with the
ATELIER ok M .[ I IV. SEl l!"\. IMPERIAI
Studio-Talk
FOUNDRY OF METAL-CASTING SECTION, IMPERIAL SCHOOL OF ART, TOKYO
form and colour of the designs of different periods, and they are required to sketch plants and animals and evolve new designs therefrom. The instruction in painting comprises the copying in colours of the works of ancient and modern masters, the painting of flowers, animals, costumes, armour, weapons, &c, and the students have also to make charcoal drawings of architectural decorations, animals and figures, so as to learn how to make indentations and master the effect of light and shade. In the course of clay modelling they are made to copy old and new decorations and articles of home and foreign origin, and finally to work out some new designs. Lectures are given on such subjects as the methods of designing, architecture, perspective, instrumental drawing and applied art.
The two subjects of metal chasing and repousse are taught in the department of metal work. The former comprises instruction in the methods of carving metals with the chisel, and the latter that of beating metal into the required shapes. 326
Industrial chemistry is one of the important studies prescribed for this department. The first-year class in chasing begins with carving on metal, from a model, straight lines and curves and the students are expected to carve some patterns of their own. By degrees they are trained in katakiri-bori, (the method of engraving which reproduces the brush work of Japanese paintings), metal inlay, and maru-bori (the method of carving a metal all round into a shape). In the repousse class the work begins with hammering copper and iron into simple objects, and then gradually advances to the produc- tion of water jars, flower vases, incense burners, fishes, birds and animals. Students in this class also receive lessons in painting, design and clay modelling.
In the department of casting, students begin by making plaster casts of simple objects and end in making metal casts of statues, &c, including the method of colouring metals. Students who take the course in lacquering are taught the art of
Studio-Talk
hira-makiye, or flat lacquering, and faka-makiye, high or raised lacquering, and of preparing of different colours. As in all other cases, they are encouraged to devise and produce something original, and they are allowed the utmost freedom in the execution of their diploma work. To widen their knowledge of art and ennoble their thoughts, certain general studies are prescribed, such as foreign languages, the history of manners and customs, and of Oriental and Occidental art. aesthetics and western archaeology. In teaching some of these subjects photographs and lantern slides and the Imperial Household Museum, which is in close proximity to the school, are freely made use of in order that real and accurate knowledge may be acquired.
The Imperial School has enlisted the services of the best artists available. On its staff of instructors there are five Court artists. Two of them, Takamura Koun, professor of modelling, and Takenouchi Hisakazu, professor of wood, ivory and decorative carving, have been teaching there for twenty-live years, that is from the beginning of
a 1 wini PLIQUE A JOUB ENAMB1 BORDER \:\ I DWARD THORNTON (City and Guilds of London Institute)
the school. Also Prof. Kojima of the First Higher School has been teaching instrumental drawing at the art school ever sin< e its foundation. At the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the school, to which nee was made at the commence- ment of these notes, a suitable recogni- tion was made of the long and services rendered by the three teachers just mentioned.
I'.N 1MB] s Fl 'K A BOOK BY MIS
( City and Guilds of London Institute, In:
Upon that occasion a bronze bust of the late Hashimoto Gaho and another of the late Kawabata < iyokusho, both of whom had taught at the school and in their capacity of tea; hers and article contributed much towards the pi of Japanese painting, were presented to the school by their followers and now occupy positions in the peaceful shade of the trees in the school garden, where them by many of their monjin. By the efforts of these
Hishida Shunso, and ( )kakura Kakuzo, all of whom are now dead and gi well as of those living artists now con with the institution, which
in the art world of Japan.
H AR ADA I
Art School Notes
(City and Guilds of London Institute)
ART SCHOOL NOTES.
LONDON. — In a recent number of The Studto some illustrations were given of enamel work executed during the past year or — ' two by Mr. Alexander Fisher, who in this branch of art has established a high reputation, and now in the accompanying illustrations our readers have an opportunity of seeing some of the work executed by his pupils at the City and Guilds of London Insititute, where the classes in enamel- ling, gold and silversmiths' work and jewellery are under Mr. Fishers charge. The classes are held at the Technical College, Leonard Street, City Road, Finsbury, on three evenings a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from seven till half-past nine, and the instruction which is of a practical character, comprises all the various processes of enamelling and the methods pursued in the work- ing up of the precious metals and the making of jewellery. The Art School connected with the
Institute is carried on at 122-124 Kennington Park Road on the south side of the Thames, and its curriculum comprises a course of modelling for sculptors, architectural carvers, potters, plasterers, &c, and a course of drawing and painting.
The Chelsea School of Art, carried on in con- nection with the South Western Polytechnic in Manresa Road, has two scholarships, each of the annual value of ,£24, which are awarded to enable
y 4> •
5L _ -J *• -/s -*
TRIPTYCH IN TRANSLUCENT AND I'LIQUE A JOU ENAMELS AND COPPER. BY W. H. FISHER
(City and Guilds oj London Institute)
students to study illustration work. The course of study to be followed is planned so as to lead directly to the execution of saleable commercial work. The scholarships, which are known as the " ( hristopher Head " Scholarships, have few re- strictions and are open to all.
CLOISONNE ENAMEL CASKET EY MISS SOPER
( City and Guilds of London Institute) 328
From enquiries made before going to press we learn that the various art schools carried on in London and the provinces will re-open at the ap-
Reviews and Notices
pointed times. Those under the control of the London County Council will start on Septembei 21 ; the Glasgow School of Art will resume its work on September 22, and the Liverpool City School ol Art on September 23 In London most of tin- schools under private control were due to re-open early in the month, and so far as we know ni has occurred to interfere with this arrangement. It is, of course, to be expected that the number of male students in attendance will be considerably fewer than in normal times as many young men have for the time being forsaken the arts and crafts of peace and cheerfully responded to the call of their King and Country by joining the auxiliary forces.
REVIEWS AND NOTICES.
A Pilgrimage in Surrey. By James S. Ogii yv. With 4- coloured plates by the Author. (London : George Routledge and Sons. Ltd.) 2 vols. 505. net. So great has been the expansion of London during the past generation that one has almost come to regard Surrey as in the main a suburban county. Fortunately, however, though the county stands in point of size among the minor shires of Britain, its confines still contain a big store of attractions to beguile the seeker after the beauties of nature and the antiquarian. In this dual capacity Mr. Ogilvy has explored it, though the work of nature more than the handiwork of man would seem to have claimed his sympathies. Surrey does indeed look very small on a map of England, yet we find the author at the close of the narrative of his exploration speaking of the "thousands of miles of dusty roads and pleasant paths " he has traversed. His pages abound in historical and personal reminiscences of the hundreds of places visited, beginning with Kew and Sheen, as Rich- mond was once called, and finishing up with Putney. How rich the little shire is in natural < harms and famous buildings is shown by the coloured plates from water-colour drawings by the author. Architectural subjects are in the majority here, and the rendering is convincingly veracious, but there are also some attractive landsi api of particular interest being those which show broad vistas such as the county affords at many parts from its hill tops.
Summer. By W. Beach Thomas and A. K. Collett. (London : T. ( '. and E. C. Jack.) \os. 6d. net. With this volume the authors bring to a conclusion their tripartite work on "The English Year," and as in the two previous books whil h we
lii\:- aire. lily noticed in [ins, all the
Nature, all that
ing growth, strugj and meta
«is in field and
and stream whii h make up the life of the countryside, are admirably described in the various essays. Exquisite as is the prom time,
the lavish and luxuriant prodigality of Nature in June. July and August makes of our English Summer a season of surpassing b< auty, and of this Messrs. Beach Thomas and Colletl give a fascin-
11 count. Th
or in Mr. Allen Seaby, whose delightful
little pen-drawings in the ti litional
i to the pages, and there are further a reproductions in colour of paintings by Sir Alfred East, Mr. loin Mostyn and Mr. 1 lam Bi 1 ker.
The thirteenth edition of the Wallace ( lollection Catalogue of Pictures and Drawings embodies numerous changes which greatly enhance its ness tor purposes of reference and study. '1 a large increase in the number of the illustrations, the new edition containing no less than 266, and though necessarily small in size they are admirabl) clear. Of more importance, howevi r, so far as the student is concerned, are the textual improvements. The notices of the pictures have been expanded, and while the biographical information has in certain 1 ases been abridged, greater detail has been introduced in the case of obscure artists. As a result of the close scrutiny to which the works in
ill lection have been sub]' 1 ted thi
important changes of attribution, and 1 70 sign, 1l.1t, s or other inscriptions have been noted for the fust time, while a very considerable amount of information is given as to the history of the pictures. The catalogue is arranged in alphabetical order, and is supplemented by an index of numbers, a list of
painters grouped a< cording to school, and two lists
1 traits — one of known and the other of
unknown sitters. It is well printed and at the
Of one shilling is a remarkably publii ation.
Under the autho ' '■ leyn's
College of God's Gift at Dulwich Sir Edward
1, revised i the pictures in their gallery. The new edition runs to over 360 pages and though it contains no illustrations it is replete with interesting ai ful informal ol the
collection, the works belonging to it ami the represented. This cal.C one shilling.
The Lay Figure
T
HE LAY FIGURE : ON THE RECORD OF PASSING EVENTS.
1 What a remarkable increase there has been during the last few years in the use of photo- graphy for illustrative purposes," said the Man with the Red Tie. " It seems to have gone on growing until it has ousted the draughtsman almost entirely."
'• And a good thing, too," laughed the Plain Man. " Photography gives you plain, clear facts ; the draughtsman gives you more or less irre- sponsible fancies. I prefer facts."
" Facts, indeed ! " cried the Man with Red Tie. "Is that all the art of illustration aims at? Has it no other mission than to present you with a dull statement of plain realities?"
" Well, I cannot see what other purpose it can have," returned the Plain Man. " Its object, I take it, is to record for our information what is going on."
" Wait a minute," broke in the Art Critic ; '■you are at corss purposes. You are mixing up the general art of illustration with one particular application of it. Pray let us make a distinction between them. The record of passing events has an interest, of course, and a by no means incon- siderable measure of value, but it is not the only function of illustration."
" It is the only one that matters, anyhow." asserted the Plain Man; "because it is the only one that has a direct and vivid power of arresting attention. Other kinds of illustration may amuse us or appeal to our aesthetic sense, but they fail to impress us with their veracity and so they have no practical value."
"That I am naturally not prepared to admit," returned the Critic ; " but, for the sake of argu- ment, we will assume that you are right. The only purpose of an illustration is in your opinion to be a kind of pictorial stop-press paragraph — well, what then?"
"Then, I say that a photograph, which gives you things exactly as they are is worth much more than a sketch by a draughtsman who is trying to produce a pretty picture. The one you can trust," declared the Plain Man ; " the other can be made anything the artist chooses and must always be subject to suspicion."
" Oh, you think a photograph is always infallible in its realism," laughed the Man with the Red Tie. "Have you never heard of the manufacture of photographic pictures for press purposes ; do you know nothing of the way in which these things 33°
are made up or of the tricks and devices which photographers use ?"
" We will leave alone that side of the question," said the Critic, "because surely we all know that a photograph when manipulated can be made to tell almost any story that the operator wishes. Of course a photograph that professes to be a record of an actual incident is not necessarily more reliable as a statement of fact than a sketch by an artist — that is a matter of common knowledge. I am much more interested in the argument that the primary function of illustration is to be plainly realistic and that its aesthetic quality should be ignored."
"Well, what have you to say against such an argument as that?" demanded the Plain Man, "an illustration, I repeat, should show you what is going on, exactly as it happens ; it may not give jou a pretty picture, but you must remember that the facts of life are not pretty and you must accept them as they are if you are going to record them honestly."
" Quite so, you must accept them as they are," agreed the Critic ; " but >ou want to make people understand them and you want to put them in such a way that they will appeal to the imagination of thinking men as well as to the dull and unobservant eye. Now a photograph is apt to give you a very small and unconvincing view of the subject chosen ; it is almost invariably quite literal and common- place in its statement and it is open to the objection that it suggests nothing to inspire you or set you thinking."
"And the artist, what more can he do with the subject before him if he sticks to facts?" asked the Plain Man.
" A very great deal more if he understands the genius of illustration," replied the Critic. "With- out falsifying facts in the least he can so deal with them that they will become infinitely more illumin- ating than they could ever be when they were literally recorded by a mechanical apparatus which is incapable of discrimination. Viewing things in their proper perspective, he can eliminate what is trivial and unnecessary and therefore make the essential details more convincing. He can suggest by his manner of treatment quite as much as he expresses ; and he can lead people on by appealing to their imagination to get a far surer grasp of the subject to which his illustrations refer. The personal expression of the artist's understanding and selective sense counts for much even in a record of facts."
The Lay Figure.
N Studio international
1
S9
v. 62
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