THE BAILLIE GALLERY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1427, 30 April 1912, Page 6

THE BAILLIE GALLERY.

PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

The first impression of the exhibition of British paintings now on view is one (if bewilderment. Some lour hundred examples by members and associates of fourteen distinct aeamedies. of necessity furnish pictures and studies covering even" subject Irom life to allegory, and from the sketch to the finished picture. Two galleries are devoted to oil paintings, one gallery to water colour, and the small ante-gallery contains etchings and black-and-white studies. To the general public most of the artists named in the catnloguo are unknown, and their work must be seen and considered in order to form a just and true estimate of their calibre.

It has been well said that "Life not beautv is the mark of Art; but beauty is the signal that the mark has been'hit." This i.s not a bad guide for those who set out in search of new art discoveries. The business of the artist, said Matthew Arnold, is tho criticism of life. Then W. J). Mac Coll has written: "The artist, in the high meaning of the term, is no mere child loosed at large in a garden stocked with all playful - colours, but rather ono whose hand has become dyed with the colours that his mind worked in." These different aspects of art have special value when it is borno in mind that tho present exhibition of pictures is

primarilv opened with the object of affording an opportunity to educate tho public' on artistic lines, and to acquire examples of permanent value for a national gallery. The responsibility of making a rio-ht selection of nietiires for the National Gallery has been no light matter, and needed courage as well as knowledge. Tho committee on whom that responsibility rests has done its part fearlessly. Old and New Views of Art. Those individuals and public bodies who have generously come forward and selected pictures as gifts to the National Gallery have placed the public largely _ m their debt, and have by their practical support done much to remove the re-

proach that we are not lovers of art. It is not cosy to grasp that tho time was— and not so far distant—when fixed traditions of art, both in music and painting, were held with a roverenco which is scarcely beliovcd in now. The truth is that art of all kinds is progressive, Iho artist must do his own work on a foundation of and with a reverence for alt that has already been done. There are always safe guides-the danger lies in tho effort to assert complete independence, which inevitably leads to disaster. Beauty, stvle, and character aro good watchwords", add to these vision-tho true insight into Nature and into Art. It is only to be expected that in a collection of pictures such as that now under review, there will be apparent to tho most casual observer groat and wide ditfcrcuces of technique. Tho great Master, Ingres, undertook to teach anyone to draw and paint in a few months, but insisted that it took a lifetime to learn to see, and'he himself at the age of eighty-Six was then "only beginning to see." There is a general spirit of revolt abroad, and tho world of Art has no more escaped this epidemic that other lines of thought. There was a time when beauty, in execution was deomed as essential as beauty in conception—given that, a picture was worth painting, it had to lie carried out to the utmost of the artisfs ability. Now it is apparently not always so. _ Perfect finish, is not common—much is left to tho imagination—somo examples aro so executed that any brush work will do "at a distance,"but will not bear looking into. Theso used to be anathema, now,

undor the new revolt, they are not so. Tastes change—Nature does not, and it will bo conceded that the true way of looking' at Nature was found by' the Greeks and the great Masters of the past. Modern Axioms, Ono of the modern axioms, and widely accepted, too, is that "tho principal personage in a picture is the. light"—therefore, the light falling on an object is more important than the object. Tho modern idea seems to be to get rid of difficulties by the readiest means—anything will do—a blot will do; tho point Fccms to bo to throw off all shackles of form and truth. Theso are tho extremists —and thero aro no glaring examples in the exhibition. There are, however, the widely different methods: there are ex-

amples of very careful and delicate detailed work—pictures that hold one—others that startle one in their boldness. Others, again, arrest ono with the involuntary question: "What does that picture mean ?"

A famous landscape painter, Giovanni Costn, said that tho only thing he hated about painting was having to use paint. Other great artists agreed with him. Their endeavour was, and is, to obtain a result and conceal tho means of accomplishing it. Now, it is rather that tho means of doing shall be obvious, and m accordance with tho latest canons of inoro importance than the thing done. Thus it is in one sense easy to please every taste, and so long as tho work, bo it what it may, is.a work of art, it is there to give pleasure to and rejoice the heart of someone.

Thero aro twenty pictures that have been sold, according to tho catalogue. Theso all deserve special notice, and will bo tho subject of remark in a future notice. . Some forty other examples are ol special merit and attraction, and will each bo treated separately. These appear to be for the most part cxainples that should find a permanent resting placo in this country. Among the Water Colours. Among tho water colours aro some very charming examples. From landscape to flower studies there is a choice field for selection. Among the artists in this section, Mrs. Allingham and H. L. Norris invito special study. It was to Mrs. Allingham that Ruskin onco said, after a half-hour's examination of her drawings tlirough a pocket microscope, "I am glad to see you paint sunshine. I am always wanting Walter Severn to do so; he can paint rainbows, but he prefers to paint grey days."- Her portraits of Carlyle and Tennyson are well known. Carlyle said to Mr.- Allingham, "Your wife is tho only person who has made a successful portrait of me, though many have tried." H. L. Norris treats his flower studies in a special manner. Thero is no blurring. The leaves, the buds, the flowers are all beau-' tifully drawn. He has evidently accepted tho maxim that in all departments of art the first thing is drawing, the second is drawing, and the third is drawing. These studies of his should be secured, for the reason that among our local a.Ttists there are many who from time to time exhibit flower studies, nnd these examples of such special merit would be of great help tc students in having ■ before them such a pure standard.

In a preliminary notice of this kind the aim is solely to impress upon readers that tho opportunity now afforded to this city to view and study such a varied collection of paintings and drawings is a distinct privilege. There is much to lenrn, and if only' a

fresh zest for what is artistic and educative is created, it will do much to encourage that love of art which means so much in the growth of a nation. Names of artists may not mean much, perhaps, to some, but their works should appeal. A National Gallery must be a reality, a living sensitivo expression of what we aim at. Some Notable Works. Tho fine oil painting bv Henrv Moore, R.A., "Highland Pastures," which has been purchased by Mr. Buchanan. M.T.. for presentation to the National Gallery, is a subject that explains itself, but ils treatment ati the hands of the artist is very instructive, and will be further noticed later on. Robert Hnrdman, R.S.A., is verv fine in his treatment of his subject, '"Antigone." It is a most striking picture, and should without any hesitation be secured by some art gallery. In view of the repeated suggestion that there should eventually be an exchange of pictures between the different centres of

population, it becomes a matter of interest to all ar,t lovers that the destination of any particular picture may be known. A careful selection from the smaller works now on exhibition would furnish good progressive examples as guides to art students. Of necessity, there will be found people who object to the idea of copying, but on reflection it will be recognised tint in all educative- movements students must be copyists. Take music as the sister art—how many performers of the various degrees of success get away from tho great composers? The point is that we cannot dash o(V in original work in anv l.raiuh of art or science or anything else. Patient, serious, Imne-t endeavour to attain a. true .standard is the aim. Lot us bo eclectic in nrdor that wo may not fail to boo the genius.