A YOUNG NEW ZEALAND ARTIST

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2421, 29 March 1915, Page 9

A YOUNG NEW ZEALAND ARTIST

(By "The Lay Figure.") "What in the artistic world is styled a "one-man show" is afc present being held at M'Gregor Wright and Co.'s Art Gallery on Lambton Quay. The exhibiting artist is Mr. A. F. Nicoll, a young New Zealander, who hails, 1 believe. from Christchurch, and who ictuined to tile Dominion a few months ago after a lengthy sojourn in Europe, where lie visited and studied 1.1 the p-mcipal art centres of the Old Word. Mr. Xicoll. who, by the way, i» afc present ill ti awing at the Trentham (.-imp, and will cju to the front with ;ho i;ex t reinf-iunu'nts studied in London and Paris, and the fine progress he has made in his art .is reflected in tile fortv or fifty studies and sketches in oils rnd in water-colours, now on view. His style suggests the influence of what is called the "later.Glasgow school," broad, impressionistic effects being achieved by a vigorous technique, but without that touch of exaggeration which sometimes ; leads to the merely bizarre. Where Mr. Nicoll is specially successful i his courageous and singularly happy handling of sunlight, whether in fuil glare or motcd. He has all that intense love for strong light and blazing colour which characterised tho work of the late Mr. James Nairn. Some of Mr. Nicoll's oil sketches of Concarneau, the Breton fishing port, so much frequoted of recent years by English artists, exhibit, in notable degree, this capacity for imbuing light effects with a positively vibrant vitality. This is noticeably exemplified in the. study "The Ramparts at Concarneau,'' and in a market-place scene, where a large tree provides deep shadows in strong contrast to the pervading rich sunlight. This is a particularly good example of Mr. Nicoll's clearly intuitive skill in seizing tho very atmosphere of a place and transferring it to his canvas. Somo studies of fishing boats arc in the style of Terrick Williams, whose pictures, thanks to Mr. Baillie, are now so much 'osteemed in New Zealand. In some of his oils, particularly in a snow scene iu tho Highlands, Mr. Nicoll achieves a quite conspicuous strength, but the pictures suffer not a little by an excess of coarseness in tho handling. Such pictures can only be rightly studied at a considerable distance, "a distance which, in rooms of moderate size, cannot be usually attained. Two small London sketches, one of the Thames—a nocturne —have a fine quality of atmosphere. On the whole, I prefer Mr. Nicoll's water-colour drawings to his oils. Three of the former, Highland scenes, will be much admired by art lovers, alike for their composition and colour. In one, the edge of a forest oil the slopes of Benmore, Mr. Nicoll is specially happy in his suggestion of that austere dignity with which, a Highland scone is invested by the autumnal tints. In another, a wide ■stretch of landscape is shown with a thinly, snow-clad mountain in the background. _ The perspectivo is particularly good ,in this drawing. Bruges and Rotterdam have provided Mr. Nicoll with sovoral subjects. A quav-side scene at Rotterdam is a little masterpiece in its handling of vivid light, whilst in a Bruges markct-placo scene, the title, if I remember rightly, is "Gossips, Mr. Nicoll shows laudable c'ovcrnoas in tho grouping of the figures and in the effect of spaciousness, which is attained thereby. Another and rather audacious little sketch depicts the Tuilcnes Gardens. Here, again, Mr. Nicoll displays his fine sense of colour, and hi,- mastery of the subtle gradation of shadows. A few of tho sketches might, perhaps, have better remained m the artist's portfolios,'..hfeiiig palpably unfinished, and, in one 1 or t\vo ' cases, displaying careless and inaccurate draughtsmanship. But theso are tho oxceptions, and may well bo overlooked in the quite outstanding rigour and general excellence of his work. He is essentially a plein air painter, going direct to Nature for his subjects, and transcribing her beauty mystery and dignity with a _ fine sincerity of purpose to which is allied a sound and virile technique. For- the present, being a patriotic young New Zealander, ho has laid down the brush to shoulder the rifle, but when the war is over it is to be hoped he will be able to resume an artistic career, which, judging by the quality of his recent work, should be one of high promise. Tho pictures and drawings now on exhibition are, I may add, marked at very moderate prices, and will remain on view at the M'Gregor Wright Gallery until after Easter.