CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHS OF NEW ZEALAND SCENERY.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 972, 7 August 1877, Page 3

CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHS OF NEW ZEALAND SCENERY.

FROM THE PRESS, j

Wc said yesterday that these pictures deserved a more lengthened notice than we were then able to give to them. A careful inspection of the scries has more than continued our remarks. The series is one of which artist, publishers, and subscribers may be justly proud. Mr Gully has been long known as our best landscape painter, and some of his pictures, shown at the Water Colour Exhibition in London, received warm encomiums from the art critics of the “ Athemeum” and “Saturday lie view.” The fortunate possessors of the originals must necessarily bo very few. It was therefore a happy thought which called in the aid of chromo-lithography to multiply these gems of art, so as to put them within the reach of all who wish for them, and who, with the wish, have also the means of purchasing them. What Mr Monday has done for the smaller beautiful scenes of New Zealand, Mr Gully and his fellowworkers have now done for the grander aspects of the country.

As we must proceed by some method in attempting to describe these pictures, we begin with the mountains, dwelling afterwards on the rivers and the valleys of our well-favored, and, in many respects, really beautiful land. Many of our readers know the thrill of joy with which they beheld their adopted country for the first time. Proffl whichever side they approached Hew

Zealand, their first, glimpse—the weather being clear—would be of Mount Cook standing in majesty over against the clear blue sky. Approaching it from Melbourne, the sight is grand in the extreme. “ Over a generally restless sea,” says Dr. Yon ITaast, “which fringes the shore with a line of white foam, appear low hills covered with luxuriant forest; immediately behind these rise a middle range of rocky mountains, the lower portions of which are covered with the cver-greon New Zealand vegetation. Higher still in indescribable grandeur rise the majestic forms of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. It is hardly possible to imagine anything more magnificent than ibis glorious view.” Mr Gully, however, was not fortunate enough to see our monarch mountain in his sun - lit splendour. Tbe view before us shows the mountain draped in awful grandeur. Above, the storm-clouds arc scudding past the rugged peaks ; below, the sea is lashed into wild and furious commotion; colour and perspective are simply perfect. Wo shall never forgot our first, glimpse of Mount Egmont. Approaching it from Nelson in the spring of the year we made special arrangements to see the Sugar Loaf cone early in the morning, at, if not before, the break of day. For once we wore up with the lark. There stood the “mighty beacon ” in the dim morning twilight. Not a streak of vapour obscured the view. The sun rose, and bathed the scene in shining, matchless, indescribable splendour. One could only exclaim, with even better reason than the old satirist, — “ See, how it stands one pile of snow.” The view in Mr Gully’s scries is taken not from the sea but, from a spot near the Omata bush, about six miles west of New Plymouth. The time “is sunset, when the sky is flushed with the brilliant evening light, and the last rays of the summer sun give a deep rich coloring of varied beauty to the landscape.” We have stood where the artist stood, and have seen his original drawing. We hardfv know which to wonder at the more, at the faithfulness of the artist or at the fidelity of (he lithographere. Each has done his work thoroughly well. Before leaving the sea-pieces we must say a word about the two views of the Mitre Peak in Milford Sound] and the view of Bradshaw’s Sound, Otago. The latter is incomparably the best of the three. For once, the colour of the clouds behind the Mitre seems a little too gaudy. The blue sheen in front and the deep dark green on either side arc admirably done, because true to nature. We have frequently heard it said that the coloring in Mr Gully’s drawings is too rich; we are quite sure such critics arc wrong. We have ourselves seen landscapes which have even surpassed the highly wrought, almost startling effects which our countryman jhas thrown into his pieces. And, to be just, this blue colouring is truthfully reproduced in the series before us.

Of what may bo called the river scenery of New Zealand, the artist has reproduced las drawing of the Manawatu Gorge. We came through this lately, and we were fortunate enough to sec it in line weather and in the spring of the year. We can vouch for the accuracy with which this romantic spot is depicted in the chromo before us. It lias the faithfulness of a photograph, with the superadded charm of tint and range of view. The picture of the Wairau Gorge is even better still. To our minds this is the gem of the series. In fine perspective, in delicate shading,audio subdued suggestive effect, the picture leaves nothing to bo desired. The view on the Wanganui River, with its Maori canoes, its luxuriant vegetation, and the European settlements on its banks, is full of varied beauty. Wc miss a fac-simile of the artist’s beautiful drawing of Lake Rotoiti at sun-set. We must of course bow to Mr Gully’s judgment, but wo wish this lovely scene had been included in the series. In place of it we have a view of Lake Taupo; Mount Tongariro is seen in the distance. The wondrous beauty of the blue glamour which is conspicuous in all our inland mountain scenery is here caught and depicted with felicitous effect. Wc arc fortunate in having an artist as well as a pool, who can do Justice to our charming forest scenery, bush, valley, and plain, Mr Alfred Domett’s word-pictures in “Ranolf and Amobia” have been praised in such high quarters as the “Academy.” One could easily find passages in his book which arc the counterpart of Mr Cully’s views. “The Valley of the Wilkin,” and “The Valley of the Awatere,” are the titles of two exquisite pictures. The variety and the range of view in each must be seen to bo fully appreciated. The view of the “Waimea Plains,” from a spot six miles south-east of Nelson, was one of the artist’s earliest productions, and it is by no means his least. There is not so much to strike the eye as in some other pictures, but those who have seen the lovely plain, whether from the sea, or from the artist’s standpoint, cannot be otherwise than pleased with his work as copied by the lithographer. The two remaining pictures represent the peculiar features of our country’s gorgeous vegetation, with which every now comer is so charmed. The first of these is a scene from the bush. The fern t ree, the cabbage tree, the fuschia tree, and the dark pines and birches, are seen literally struggling for existence. Every traveller through some of our splendid forests will at once exclaim, “ How true to the life it is !” The companion picture takes us a little more into the open. Here all the qualities of the artist arc seen in perfection. River, bush, plain and mountain meet and mingle, not in confusion, but in fine and beautiful harmony. We can sincerely congratulate everyone concerned in the production of this really admirable and beautiful selection from Mr Gully’s Now Zealand scenery.