OILS AND WATER COLOURS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1807, 21 July 1913, Page 3

OILS AND WATER COLOURS.

THE ART OF MR. H. W. KIRICWOOD,

About fifteen years ago Mr. Harry W. Kirkwood was well-known in Wellington as an artist with great natural aptitude for bmsh and palette and artistic insight, and the walls of many local homes are brightened by his attractive work. _ Mr. Kirkwood has at present an exhibition of oil and water colours (at Beadnall's, in Manners Street), which is well worth inspection. His work, generally speaking, shows a fine appreciation for the beautiful in Nature; lie does not trouble much to depict her rougher moods. His col-our-sense is very correct, and there is a charm in the atmospheric effects he achieves with so sure a touch. Among the exhibits at Beadnall's are several littlo gems well worth possessing. One landscape that catches the eye at once is an evening effect at "Waimea West, Nelson," a delicate blending of browns and soft purples, suggesting, quite admirably, the dying day. Another attractive canvas represents the sands at Stoke, Nelson, a pretty glimpse of that sun-bathed spot. One of the best paintings is a view of Otago Harbour, off Portobello, whioh should appeal to all who have an acquaintance with the many beauty spots common to the southern port. The placid waters lapping the shore are wellpainted, and there is(distinct ingenuity in the manner in which the background hazes away into the distance. In bold relief is a large painting of a precipitous bush-clad ravine in Milfo.rd Sound, with the warm glow of the setting sun flushing the wooded hill-tous, and a tumbling stream rushing Sound-ward in the below. Th's picture exhibits Mr. lurkwood's facility in painting the New Zealand bush. "Kjing George's Sound is another subject which the artist has treated charmingly. Among the smaller pictures is a tiny water-colour of the pin-nacle-like tocks near New Plymouth, one of which has been removed by blasting 6ince the original sketch was painted.