BAILLIE PICTURES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2183, 23 June 1914, Page 3

BAILLIE PICTURES

WATER-COLOURS ; Lovers of water-colours' will find much f<«M for cnjnynieut is; the water-eobur section _of lilt BaiHie .collection of British paintings, which are now being ox- ■ luiiited in lj Shoe!, Waterloo Quay. It { n difficult h> realise, when studying' wnteiM-'nlours to-day, that this peculiarly Knglisii branch «f the tree of art: was employed by the'earlier artists sis .1 moans of tinting outline drawings, not as rt substitute or a tivsl to oilpaint, and we have ninth to thank Jplin Sell, Cotman, i'eier De Wiiit, and David Cox for the fact that their breadth and depth of treatment and feeling opened up mi infinitely wider field of ivork for their successors. Iliore aro i iMliy one- httjidwtl and fifty-seven s-ater-1 colours on the wails—nwro than double I the number which Mr. Bsiitlie exhibited j in Auckland. Shown against a neutral j background of scrim, t,l» pictures stand ! out we!}, but, visitoVs should make a jiomfc of going in tha tnerning, or else ] in. the early afternoon to see them Jit their best. One of the VMlter-cokrars. that makes an irresistible appeal is by Adrian Stokes, "Mountain Meadows." Alpiiw in character, its colouring is de- j jightft}}, tl'.ij blue niist-y tone* of the ' haws that clothe tlw rocky mountain, sraes being exquisitely tratispareiif;! while blue shadows dream npois the ] stretches <>f snow that He in the crum- j pled vallc.vs and on tho side of tho swelling hill that rises beside the mountain. Beneath tlie abrupt heights, slopes away tJowmvard the upland mea-' <Sow covered with masses of mauve and' pfiifc) and j-oSlon- fhjwers that fade 'dc-iKsat-ety ■ into the tHstaiico, while white clouds caress tiie mountain hewl. There is no ktfusioti of sheep or cattle <ir hu* : man fefchgs— nothing but meuiitain life and its communion with the wide s|»eos of air and sky and winds. Above it is a painting by Marianne Stokes, wife of Adrian Stokes, and most certainly few would pass it without stopping t ffl worl; out its story. An old'woman is seated at her spinning wheel with downcast ej-es and idle hands. On'tho downturned face is pictured depths β-f sorrow and desolation, whiie, ijeskfe her, stands a figure of a girl, ghostly white, dim, with a'gently reproacliM face, and,., in her band, a glass-jug. She seems to liava stolen from the world cf shadows, and readers of Haus Anderson may reinember tlie story of tho girl who died, and whose mother wept for' her, daily and nightly, so that- her unending rrow reached the dswglHer. and .A her chained to earth. Sk retiutted to teSHwr motlier what h«r grirf was doing. Charuiinji is "The Last Light on tbe Wye," by"W. Eyre Wafer, it.W.S,, the sunset rUhv in the sky-am) on tho river, and the advancing shadows of evening being painted vith.pdetU! f«eliiiß ami understanding. Jamos Cajflejihead is represented by two moorland pictavos. both instinct with the aloofness, the brooding' molaaoholy, and tlie solitude <rf moor and meuiitain. "A ■Windy Day," by F. M. Gray, is ftili of lifts asid colour. The subject is an eld \vwnan, struggling alowg in a blustotii)K gale of wind,, while, over her shoulder, is siting a , iw-neh of gail,v-colourotl balloons. The slightly bent figure, the upraised hand, is full of j-eaistiiitcc art protest, but in tho grey eyes aad somewhat humorous inc&' lurks tho hint of laiißiiter. Tetton Wintera, wlio will bo rentotnbdred for his rainy iaiid-scupe-s at 3lv. liaillie's c'xl'iibition a yeavago, is again represented, but, save for one of his paitttmjjs, lie has forsaken rainy ctfects. His "St. Paul, Soffti from the Bivor," is i'uil of poetic l'e*iing' and ttoHta'tc -.rhtiospherit; ftiut- colour effeets, iiml, at lirst jjtnHct,'- reniinds.eue of Venice iu eharactor. Street' 5 --shows biui in n diJTei'ciit'vejfi, and there is yet another one, "St. Ba'rtholomew's Hospital, the Quadrangle." There are several Eastofn pictures, awl an outstanding one of these is. "i'cttmu," by A.' Mclvillo. ' The cen'tral figure is a'man lying full length in a courtyard, playing (o a snake, and, around liil-n, arc other Eastern niusieiaijß and sjwetat-ers. Throagh a doorway shows ft- golden blaze of Miiisliim;, and, all around, arc high courtyard wails, windovviess, and suggestive of Eastern sceiusion and Eastern i-ndo-k:itce. Torrick Williitins is asiother painter of Eastern life. Jeha Hassnll, 8.1., is shown by two- ffidtoly divergent pictures. Obo is "The Witch"—a study of pathos, loneliness, bigotry, and iSHtirance—and .the other a .wtraisicsl fantasy of tlie sen depths, "A KoJic of 'the Past," Carso Diincnn is alsn represented jj.y- some whimsical .fancies, the eolouriug being delicate and his ftgurcs eiiarpiinp:. He, too, has illustrated Hans Andersen. Bra-Mgwyn's "The Church,. Cabers," is, somehow-, rather unlike him, nl* tljoiiftli chflra-eterised by his colouring. The tfo<j outlined against live clmrcli is beautiful, and possibly a c)ascf accf.iaintancG may reveal mere of his conception than a cursory visit is likely to give. "The Fallen Wiljow,".by Harry Watson, is clwrjning in toteiiiinn and treatnipnt, the water at tbe foot of the seated figure of tho girl -being <Jclightfnlly treated. Amonß other artists twresented are: Edv,*ard'S-tott. A.H.A.. "\VilUaw 'Wietlwan, F.Wnltoii, E. J. Sullivan. A.H.W.S., a.nd iii-auy' others, of whose work the limits of space forb-H further mention. , '