ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1568, 11 October 1912, Page 9

ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS.

THE ANNUA I- SHOW. The New Zealand Academy of Kino Arts annual show of nil and water col' ours is lo be opened to-morrow by the Prime Minister (tho Hon. W. T. Mnssey) nt: il.la p.m. Tho Academy will, however, bo open to tho public at 1i.30 p.m., in order that tho public may gaugo tho value of what promises lo be a most attractive little show. It is anticipated too, that as tho result of tho big movement in Wellington in favour of a National Gallery, which succeeded in creating quite a wavo of enthusiasm for art, that the show will he ouo of the most successful yet held by the Academy. Thu number of works of art forwarded for submission lo the Selection Committee has been greater than ever, but as the committee had decided not to overcrowd the walls the number that is hung will hardly lx> so many as usual, hut the standard set will be appreciably higher. As there arc a great number of paintings of merit for which room cannot bp found, it has been arranged that a salon du refuseo will be held during next week at Mr. .1. Butler's studio next week, so that those who attend tho show may judge for themselves if the selectors (the Council as a. whole) have exercised discrimination. Thero aro gome members of the Academy who are inclined to take exception to the method adopled in selecting pictures for hanging. The modus operandi is exceedingly simple, perhaps crude, but up to the present it has keen found lo ho tho most practicable, though no ono claims perfection for it. The Council meets, ami the pictures aro held np one by one beforo them, and by the ' Yes," "No," and "Doubtful" the paintings aro roughly classified. After that summary proceeding the "doubtfnls" are more carefully scrutinised, and aro either held for hanging or "convicted and discharged.". It is doubtful if such a. method ' doe.* absoluto justice to the artist, as the eye is not sensitive enough to adjust itself to sudden changes, of colour schemes, and if a low-toned painting be held up immediately before a uniformly high-toned one, tiio judgment ran hardly bo as Bound as if all the pictures were hung in sections and examined more deliberately and critically. The exhibition will include a fine oil from tho brush of that noted Australian artist, Jlr. Lister Lister, a glowing country scene, alive with the shimmering heat of Australian midsummer. The two picture? donated by Mr. John Duthie to the National Gallery will also be on view. Ono is a typical W'catherhy, entitled "The Strayed Princes*," a picture embodying nice* jKietic feeling. The other is a portrait of Mrs. Collins (mother of Mr. AVilkie Collins, tho novelist), by Margnret Cooper. This is a painting of the early Victorian school, highly finished to tho smallest detail, without loss, of breadth. It should l)e an objcct-le£sotr : .to those students who mistake slovenliness and coarseness for character and strength, for .hero those elements aro associated with finely-finished work. , Mrs. Riddifortl has loaned the Academy a Cochrane, entitled "Tho Silent Sea," and a fino water-colour by tho lato Mr. James Nairn, of Wellington.