Four New Pictures In Auckland Gallery

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 466, 22 September 1928, Page 1

Four New Pictures In Auckland Gallery

GIFT OF SIR A. MYERS AUGUSTUS JOHN PORTRAIT With a £2,000 bequest left under the will of the late Sir Arthur Myers, four new pictures have been purchased for the Auckland Art Gallery. The pictures, chosen by Mr. Leo M. Myers, a trustee under the will, and Mr. John Barr, director of the gallery, have arrived in Auckland, and will shortly be hung. The most important picture is a portrait of a Chelsea Jew publican, painted by Augustus John. It is a superb study of a head in profile, done about 20 years ago, and it is a splendid example of this great portrait painter’s work. The “Portrait of a Lady,” by Thomas Beaclj (1738-1806) is an exquisite example of eighteenth century painting, showing marked traces of the Reynolds influence. This is natural enough, for Beach was a pupil of Reynolds. The spiritual composure of the sitter has been subtly interpreted on the canvas.

“River Scene,” py Jean Francois Raffaelli, is a work in the French impressionist style, but the riotous technique results ultimately in a sober effect. The treatment of the water reflections is particularly good. The fourth picture, “A Study of Old Ravenna,” is a street scene by Sir D. Y. Cameron. The style is chaste, colour being used economically, and the almost classical severity of the work gives it attractive vigour. Works in oil by Cameron are not too common, and this picture is a fine specimen.