ART NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1809, 23 July 1913, Page 9

ART NOTES.

! (By "The Lay Figure.") ' ?*Uerest in art matters has of late reiSjui'ed a decided fillip by a series of exKtions at tho M'Wregor Wright Galsfi. es on Lambton Quay. . Some charming rle figure studies, by Mr. Kenmngton, l„J, .English'artist of recognised stanunig, !®?ine first. A special feature of these ! Vorks was the clever way in which the lighting effeots were managed, faulted ii-ith. a bold, almost daring, hand, these Lrii o pictures all possessed a certain foiioi fascinating. 1 ? hou !" like to see one of. them bought lioi tn<j p 9rDian ent collection. |. Jlr :. Walter Leslie also had a very mI ,'ng show. A feature of tho work p va \.' he success attained by the artist iin his treatment of difficult snpw subijects. , no st notable production was f plct 'jre of Mount Cook, viewed just i e , ore sunset. This was a most dignified i ol ' imminently successful piece of work, f sc , ,ent in its suggestion of atmosphero ; a ! replete with a restrained, but con-. j T -,' nr ving strength. In two or three of the shores of Porirua Hariiour there was a pleasant reminiscence cf the late Mr. Nairn's clever water effects. Altogether Mr. Leslie must be congratulated upon a very promising. show. There should be many visitors to the Sl'Grcgor Wright Gallery during the coining fortnight, for. the exhibition of pictures and' sketches by Miss D. K. Richmond, and Messrs. Owen Morton, Esmond Atkinson, and P. Hodgkins includes some peculiarly interesting work. Miss Richmond, thousli faithful, in some of her drawings, to her well-known conventions, in the treatment of trees , and foliage, breaks away a little in others from her customary style, wtli, at times, a most charming result. Among the smaller drawings, notably those depicting scenes across tho harbour, airo some quite fascinating little bits of colour, instinct feeling, and a delicacy which never descends into more prettiness. In two at ' least" of these drawings the artist has rihown a peculiar skill in the. placing of the figures, a skill which adds greatly to the charm of composition as a whole. A View of Wellington from Queen's Gardens (No. 98) and a fine harbour scene (No. 105) have quite a lyrical quality, and in the York Bay and 1 Lowry Bay subjects there is an attractive vibration, : as it were, in the colour.* I do not care 60 much for tho tree studies, ■ "Pines in the (No. 86), and in the "Itond near Fielding" (No. 87), _ I simply refuso to accept tho trees, especially those on tho right of tho picture, as anything like a faithful transcript from nature. But there is much in Miss IMclimond's work that is quietly (.harming, and the decor ; ative quality rf most of her. work is al-' ways noticeable. The artist contributes two delightful studies of rata blooms, also two fine oils, an "Ara-b Girl" and an affectivo study of Maori life.. Both are Did friends, but both are again welcome. Owen Merton, the clever young ChristtliurCh. artist, now, I believe, residing in Paris, sends some work that is decidedly rood, some that is but tepid in .interest of subject and careless in execution, md one or • two' drawings which lhould not hove been shown at all. A Aetc'h , of" the Pont Neuf, or rather of a portion of that historic Parisian bridge, is pleasantly suggestive of the dignified work, almost in the Colinan and l)e VVint style, and Mr. Eich, as slwwn at the Baiilie exhibition, and familiar to readers of "The Studio." Some studies of old houses at Fontarabbia display an essentially French "slickness" in their lighting; but in one a purple.reflection is shown where it could not possibly have —JjEiaiJf the light and shade of tho remainder of the picture be. true. Mr. Mertoii is altogether too generous in his employment of purply bluas. But ono can forgive to an artist who sends such a littfe g'eni as "The Well, Concarnean" (No. 25), quite' unfairly treated by those Responsible, for the hanging. "May Evening, St. Ives" (No. 28); is an'otlier little beauty, and the grave dignity

oj 'the architectural study, "St. Honors du Mont et : Place Ste.. Genevieve, Paris" (No. 37), is.most impressive. In this picture there is far more atmosphere than was ttus case with similar studies shown it last year's local exihibition. There is io flatness or tepidity here, and tho.figares aro well drawn, and so cunningly placed as to greatly increase the effect >f space and distance. This picture is, I hini;" Mr. Merton's best contribution. The.mill-scenes round Udimore Btrike mois being a trifle hard, but "Victor Hugo's louse at Pasages" . (No. 18) and the 'Church of St. Juan" No. 2G) aTe both ex-cellent-drawings, although, again, in the atter thore is an excess of purple in tire ky. An oil painting, in the Dutch in.erior style of Israel's (No. 45), is a conj cientfous piece of work, but it requires noro 1 light than it gets in. its present losition. Mr. Merton s pictures are most noderately priced. A special word of iraise is due to tho extremely tasteful and uitablo way in which tlcey have beeu ramed. Young Wellington artists often poil the effect of their pictures by nnnitable frames. Here, in Mr. Merton's •ictures, a useful lesson how to do it is ffercted. . Mr. Esmond Atkinson's work is always larked by courage, and bears evidence of le aTtisir3 personality and temperament, [o is to be complimented, and that withnt reserve, upon a most marked advance, ome of his atmospheric studies, scenes on /ellington Harbour, impress me almost ke some soft and mystically suggestive aisic. His York Bay studies deserve >ecial notice, but perhaps his strongest id best work is to be found in his treat-, ent of .that extremely difficult subject, .ountain mists, and mountain atmosheric effects generally. "Ruapehu" (No. I) is a particularly successful effort, and 10 visitor should not fail to study 60, Tho Rift in the Mist, Mount Hector," ml a companion. picture "Moon and .fterglow, Mount Hector." These ' aro tudies of which any young artist might r ell be proud. Mr. Percy Hodgkins belongs to a famly of artists and it is pleasant to bo ible to congratulate him upon the work low shown. Immeasurably the best of lis contributions is No. 78, "After Rain. Sona Bay," a 'quite delightful rendering jf atmospheric effects. There is real poetry in this picture, whose ultimato possessor I frankly envy. In the series of "Colour Harmonies in Palliscr Bay," Mr. Hodgkins makes perhaps too free a use of purple—the family purple—but tho studies have a fine decorative ouality, and the drawing is bold and sound. If Mr. Hodgkins's future work fulfils the fine promise here made, he should havo a most successful artistic career before him. Jottings.

The annual show of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts will open on October I, so that local artists who intend to exhibit should now be waking up a bit. A few fine Saturday afternoons and Sundays would be a great boon to tlie sketching fraternity. So far, I have heard no details to any special work being done for the show, but hope to give some news on this head later on. Eoland Wakelin, one of the most promising and industrious of the vounger Wellington artists, is now residing 'in Sydney, and sends over good accounts of ;he progress he is making. He is studying under Norman Carter and Datillo Rubbo, and speaks higlily of the thorjughness of the instruction given in the. Sydney art schools. Private life models ire' also much easier to get than is the ;ase in Wellington. Norman Welch intends, I hear, holdng a one-man show very soon at tho H'Gregor Wright .Gallery, and later on vil! come what ought .to be a uery ineresting exhibition of new work bv Miss who has had such success in wth London and Paris. An nddition to the Wellington nernanent collection is a charming picture iv Mrs. Burge. "The Market Place at ilontreuil-sur-mer." The slump in early and mid-Victorian pictures continues. Landsecrs, so creatl.v ulmired by our grandfathers, aro now ■ uite unfashionable, the broader style f animal painting of which the Into Mr. ■wan was a blirriant exponent, being preerred. Clarkson Stanfield, Dickens's riend, is another Victorian whose work nils but little favour nowadays, as mav e seen bv the cabled news this week !iat his "Wooden Walls of Endand." ■Tiieh brought over .£2700 when first sold, nly realised ICO guineas when put up at .'hristie's the other day. The pictures lost in favour just now seem to be tho 'orlts of the Dutch painters, tho Jai'is Brothers.

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