FEAST OF PICTUIRES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1407, 6 April 1912, Page 6

FEAST OF PICTUIRES.

M- BAILLIH HERE. HIS CANVASSES DESCRIBED, HOW HH CHOSB THBSr, > "Wiera swd ariista aw-oonc«ra«d tho pia'tnws that plaass jou best at first are just as Jitiely as not thos» which will please you most later on." Thua spoko Uγ. ■ J<iha Baillie, tho diiwtor of tho Bsiiffie Galleiy, London, who arrived terefrcaa the Old Country on Thursday, in Moasction trita. the disposal of proboWy< the finest collection of oil and water colours by modern British 'artists ever Wasflt to JTew Zealand. Beinj a eonaoiadeur of pictures, Mt. Baillie may bo tssomed to kaoxr a lirtie more than tho A B C of art in relation to the public taste, and what ho has to say is ireU worth tsaring in mind by these who will within tho nest week or two vierr the centlot of pictures ho has brought to the Dominion. Mr. Baillio on Taste in Pictures. " "In examining a picture for the first lime it may not please, or. fascinate you, though you may see good work in it. Do . 33ot> -hoivcrer, let u first impVession prejndico j-ou. Coma back ojpiiu, and tho chaaces you will nud that it is 'not sd bad/ and it you come again and asain you may very likely end up by ndmiriag it very mneli. '- — - '"IndividuniJs should try to remember t&at tie artist has not set himself out to , yaint entirely for them. He probably has i ideas, individuality, character, which ho 'most sivs expression to, and which may ]bi altogether foreign to year taste or ideas. Jtijtobably embodies that -which is ten? toi jou, and yon have to bo educated un to, to thoroughly recognise and appreciate. . ■ _ . ... "lα. my collection, whioh I hope iriil ■ givo pleasure, I lave sought to avoid that .-s-Juch may raise doubts. I'or instance, I liaro brought no examines of post-impres- , Trort, tltonga. thero is some wonderiiully szod work of that nature now being ■ ifone. -But it irouM bo almost fatal to Hiring- Jt cut here, where it might bo ■'gnjedi* or at least not understood by the generaf jirbljc. '.'.'".■ •1 iavo tried to set interesting pictures Ijy tiie test artists, and 1 have succeeded ; to evea a greater degrea than I anticipat- • («l. ;I very niucli doubt ii thero is *an'otfeer'inauin.England ivho could have got. together siieh' a coilestiou. Thanks to my • gallery. I ant very well knov.n, and tho artists fcnon- perfectly well thai £ will not accept aEjthinj that they caro to- eond along. ■;.''. 'I'ltem irers some artists whose work I Ttoald lilce to have included in my collection,, and who had pictures for sale, but they ttoeM rot offer them to me as they ' btowcjiife irsH what 1 want. In London a. mart nsnst laka a dennito staud; must taow-w/hat to accept and. what to reject; and'-Jta feonjes Eiown. by his artistic itaniiard's', and! rsspected through thorn.

Tfte"Broad Range of the Collection. "Jamaiag tie collection, I ivaitod on mcsS of the artists personally, and wrote to cShstsi'soi, " kubiviDS tbat "-, I wanted gced examples of their work which may fed their, uay.iuto parmenent ■ Galleries, tfcey did/tiwr best to mtet me, and. tho, Tiesnlt is* a really magnificent collection,' coTCriasa wida laasa.oj arr," broader,'porJsaps; than joa mrald find at most exhibition?.. .-'. . .. ".. ■ . .. ' '"liiera iris an exhibition by British artist* ct Yenlco last year, but it was ngt so icpressntetire cs this.ono is. Thoro tiras also' r «co in Eatuo recently, bnt thoro' aqain ifc-iias practically ran by the *E.A.* CliquaxOT _preva£(s to the detriment of Eaay esiiicifcions. Ait" is as ivido as tho earth, net, uMortuiiiitely, artists aro not." Balwesn mm and £50,030 Worth of PictUj^si',;.;, , ' ; . ■ ..;;■.;■■ SjKaldn j'J'Btore , jjaiiicilarly 'of the' picfaras, ilr:'Baillie.stated; taat :ho had among: hia cdiieoiion semo iiile examples loth, in oils.aiitl iratorcolbuia . from" a number of prominent artists who exhibited at tke Royal Academy, tho Soqioiy oi British Artists, the Koyai Scottish Academy, and fcha Eoyal WaCe- Colonr Society. £o gefcd was tho collection that five' of the pictures intended for -Jlew;, Zealand wcro «?ld r.-iisa it was known that they would rot to returned to England. Thero were between <00 and 500 canvasses in tho collcclion, and tho valuo sras between £50,000 and Soma of the Artists. Anion" them were two oils by Mr. Cloupin, BJL Otto was a very oharuiing piotiiro entitled "Tha WeaSma* Hour 3," and another was a haymaking scene. Tho samo artist 'Titid also contributed half a dozen of high merit. Alfred East, KvA;, was represented by an important," work (in oils), entitled "Outsido" tho Bull King at Algcciras." This artist had also sent six water-colours which werojsnro to command admiration. Ebbert Allon, tho president of tho Eoyal Society, had contributed an excellent spaciinen of his delicate work. Thoro-was one of-that artist's works already/in the ])omiuioii—in Dunedin, Jlr.. Bailliothought.

A rather reniarkablo picture is ono which..'.was painted for tin's year's Scottish Academy by George Houston. The subject'-'was symbolical of spring, and tho treatment was altogether charming. Brangwyn, - whom Wellington knows through tho fine picture in the Academy, is represented by "Tho Card-Players," a fiiio work in his earlier smoother stylo. Tho collection also included'some of that artist's etchings.- \ Another well-known name is that of Robert Aiming Bell, of the Royal Water-colour Society, who had sent-four or five canvasses.

Thq-Duchc.S3. of Argyll, also of that :ioty, had sent three specimens of her ivork-rra head, a garden scene, and a portrait in "pjls.'. '.','.' : The Younger Artists. ■ ..'.',- . Anions the y:;nn;--or artists who aro bound to be better known in (ho future is Glyn W. Thilpotts; whoso.work,'.has distinction and chnnii, niid Stephen Ha-v.-cis (son, of the late Rev. H.'.R: Hav/eis, who "lectured tbrongli New Zealand a good nuuijv-yeavs.ago).. .This artist's specialty is decorative work. He recent- , : ly gave a show at Mr. Baillie's gallery in London, which was quite a success. One of tho paintings of George Butler (of Wellington) is included in the collection. Another JCew Zealand artist represented is Mrs. Youug Hunter, whom Mr. Baillie considers is (he finest artist whom New Zealand has produced. She makes a specialty of painting children, and thcro is a wonderful grace and charm about her work. Her husband was; ako a fine artist, and his work and that of his father, Colin Hunter, K.A., would be found amoiis the pictures. Then there are watet-cnlours by M-'Whirtor, and examples of the art of Henry jtfoore, R.A., and the Into David Farriuharson. One very fine picture in the collection—one that Mr. Baillie woiihl like to see acquired for Wellington—is .a large canvas by Hint cUver nrtist; Mount '> <hklo.i. entitled "The-Rosemakors of tho East End." -It is a'picture of tho interior of a factory in tlio Eact End of London, where the girls aro engaged making artificial m'es. It is an important picture, by an artist yhos? work just now is very popular in London. Mr. Baillie would also like to draw attention to a very fine piccuro by Robert Noble—one, he thinks, that would jfrncp the walls of any gallery. > There aro three very fine paintings by Alelton Fishers, anaumonier. one painting by Frank Dieksee, R.A. (offered for salo n't the lost Academy for .£600; and which Mr. Baillie is commissioned to sell' for .£05(1); a little- gem by Solomon J. Solomono, and examples of tho finished work of Tukes, E. A. Walton (whoso work is very difficult to get), Harpings, Bodin, Doubingy, and Waterlow. Where They Will Be Displayed, "I think the Harbour Board's shad irlll makn. an excellent gallery," said Mr. Baillie. -"I havo just had a look at it, nnd also at tho Academy—the latter ia quite impossible. The majority of the pictures are framed, but I have a lot that are not. These I will keep in reeervo until matters shape themselves." Mr. Baillie anticipates being ready to opentho show in about three weeks' time. It will lie open in Wellington for about a month.. ....