ART EXHIBITION.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10333, 29 April 1899, Page 6

ART EXHIBITION.

AMONG THE PICTURES.

' THHtD NOTICE.

. Amateur artists do hot expect to be criticised quite co keenly as the professional painter, but, on the other hand, the latter h>s to. earn has bread by the sale of his creations, .and the searchlight of criticism often reveals minor defects in his pictures which would be hidden from the unobservant eyes of the average buyer, and this hinders their sale. With the amateur it is different, and- it is kinder to point out the faults of his work, and prevent a recurrence of them than to cozen him in the belief that his art is excellent.

Miss H. F. Gibson h<s three pictures in the exhibition, all of which are facrly goob\, but contauVwhat may be described as the mannerisms of tho artist.' Her picture of the Bai Falls is. brilliantly coloured, and suffers from a want of atmospheric effect. The {?ky- is not good, and the water contains too many tints to be natural. In all her pidtures -Miss Gibson apparently goes in for effect at the, expense of detail work. No. 48 suffers from' simiilar'defeots. The colours are. unduly brilliant, and both banks of. the stream cast shsdowa. ' In, No, T 202 the scheme of colouring is good*, and the picture is pretty. The .sky, however, has been somewhat carelessly treated. ■" - Mr W. F. Barraud has two oil and two water-colour paintings. No. 2 is pretty, but' commonplace. The reflection of "the island in the middle distance is nearly twice _ fs deep as the island itself is high.",- No. 189 is "a view of distant hills across a riverbed, which has been "well treated. The cloud effects fire well worked out, but the colours'cm the edges of the banks of, the river are not quite natural. No. 71 (watercolour) has no intorestin-j features.' There is simply an expanse of water, with «i fringe of trees, over which appear the tops of some buildings. No.. 80 is .a (better picture. Tire sense of distance and atmosphere has been well obtained. "■ There is rather too .much., green, in ths 'sea on. the left in the tforeground, considering, the depth of the water."' In "No. 81 Mr Barraud lu>s intro--1 duced. some rather impossible slvading, and the picture, though -faithful in other respects, is not striking. Mr E. Bartley had two pretty little pictures in th' 3 exhibition. No. 54 depicts the Avon in early spring, and, alt-hough the greens are rather predominant,' is characteristic of the river. No. "216 c's one of the pretfcie-A pictures in the'gallery.'' The sun- ■ light effects which the' artist, h'«> obtained ore very fine. The trees an* very daintily , dm,—i,'and the colouring also is dainty. There is, however., a, tendency to h-rdnoss in the greens, .and the artist.hw, if anything, | seVin a little too much oiirnle in the trees, j A -bigger- picture from Mr Bartley would be inte**est.in,g. j . Mr A. _W. Walsh his exhibited some | creditable work this year. No. 96 shows good colouring 1 , pleasing sky effects, and good comp-tsition, but the shading of the water is defective. In No. 100 he has used a great deal tor* much green on, bis sea, and his,violet shades are incorrect. The rocks in the foreground are well drawn, and the cpjpuring evcellently managed. "Loire Pearson, Craigieburn, has been well treated, and the tones have been nicely blended, but the techninue is poor, and the sky looks dirty. Mr F. Wright has a nretty. well drawn picture called "Sunshine and Shower." the water, however, is rather unreal. In No. 90 the'artist has obtained soft mist effect* and the idea c.f ddstomee, but there » hot a great deal in the picture, Which has been too deli-cately,-tre*§bfef* 'The rcckf in the foreground throws a little too clear a shadow. No. 11l is a good picture, chiefly water. The muddy fiats in the forec-round show intelligent work, and the ueneral effect of the picture is excellent. "Tho light -as been particularly well managed. No. 128 is a good subject un- j successfully treated. The'artist has used far j too much violet and yellow. . - • i It is. a-pity Mr W. Tiller chose such a| poor subject as No. 32 for his still life com-1 petition exhibit. Notwithstanding this, handicap,- the picture has been very naturally | treated, ana the peculiar tinting of the 1 feathers exactly reproduced. A nocturne i (No, 36) gives the idea of a black? board with I a half circle of white chalk in one corner to I .represent the moon, although it contains

some good ideas. No. 54 Is very -poor. In Nos. 66 and 68 the artist has' introduced green and yellow without discrimination, and No. 67, "The Wood Sprite," is an absurd girl's head with a pheasant's toil in.place of hair, chasing a gorgeous butterfly. A somewhat unsatlsfactorv subject is Mr R. W. Fereday's "Weather Worn Cliff, Gore Bay. It has'required the expenditure of f considerable amount of work with-slight result. The picture is hard. .'No. 136 is pretty, and the" colouring is good with- the exception of the bushV-ih the distance, which has been rather' bob' vividly treated. Mrs J. S. Guthrie has several very pretty pictures, although it is quite' evident where she obtained her instruction in painting. No. 44 is pleasing, but the sea is crude, and the tones of-the beach are slightly too pronounced. No. 210 contains a very vivid sea,- and the hills have been rather too stiffly outlined. ■ No. 211 is one of Mrs Guthrie's best, and makes an effective picture, although there is the same' vivid sea. No. 212 is the least successful... Tlie "water and the hills are both wrong in colour, and the herbage on the right'bank of the river is difficult to identify. Mr <Thos. Cane.has exhibited one water colour - painting of a remarkably high standard, The drawing is particularly good. Miss Simpson has four pictures. No. 11, "Primroses, is excellently treated, and Nos. 59 and 178 show equally good work. No. 214, a view of Ocean Beach, is not so good, although it also shows careful r work. - Mr E. W. Payton does not exhibit very conscientious work,,' No. 4 is pretty, but too lurid in colour. In, No. 5 the sky and the mist on the hills have been well handled. _'he water in No. 12 seems out of drawing, although the sunlight effects have been well managed. Uo. 37 is a very-similar style of pictured Mr A. Percival has one picture of o. chi— which looks as if it had been copied from a photograph. % ' The picture, however, although the door behind looks warped, displays some goodi work. Mrs De Grubby Virtue has put too much colour, into-her pictures, She exhibits iour, ei\ of which phoW this defect. Miss E. Slater has fallen into the same error in No. 38, although''the picture'js a pretto- one. Her other pictures are hard in tone. Miss M. 'Walter's best picture te 196. Her others show a want of knowledge of colouring. Mr R. S. Wesfcwvpp has one picture, "Th« Monk." The liolv man looks as if he had been drinking, and a flash of lightning had caught him in the act. The draw-j iri'*. however, is good; and it is evident that this artist can do good work. Mrs Claude Rawtell's best picture is No, 173, a decorative ponel, which, however, is rather inclined to hardness. Mr W. H.- Carter's work shows much promise) although his colouring, is faulty. Miss E. Turner shows excellent work in No. 182. tho leaves being, particularly pood. >N/» 190 is mvo of the nice ß * pictures in the gallery, and' the treatment and colouring are exceptionally good. . Miss Turner hfl«i evidently been under-Vood tuition. Miss W. H. Ajtken has obtained a profusion of colour in. No. 50, hut the picture is hard. Her other picture has no spec's!:- merits. - Mis*} M. Jamieson's work is improving. No. 201 is*, a good picture, but the tones are crude. ..4J.«i N. Jones onc2 f-howed promise of cood work. "Subthis year there is a decided falling off. The boats in No,' 219 are out of drawin cr. Miss R. Dixon's best picture is 104:, the others are not satisfactorily painted. Mrs A. Morice exhibits.six pictures, all of which too highly coloured. Misses M. and N. Gsrd'ner exhibit several pictures, which ore not up to their usual standard, although pomft of thorn are pretty. Miss M. E. Eichardson's work this year is disappointing j none of her pictures oossess any.. special features. Mr R. best picture i« No, H Q, which is orettv,. though spikv-loofting. There ia a badly drawn horse in the middle distance. Mr M. Bf-rraud has n-rinted -a faithful picture of Wanganui Heads, but the subject is an unsatisfnetory one. Mr J. D. Perrett has several Pastel pictures unworthy ..of the .artist. DECORATIVE ART. Coming now to the examples of decorative art, which form so interesting a portionpf the Exhibition, the Society is certainly' to -be congratulated on the fino .collection which has been got together. Art Is capable of conveying pleasure in all its various forms, and many who are unatfe to fee", the influence of one form are delighted by another. Wrought iron, wood carving,, china, porcelain, and other sorts of pottery, statuary, and furniture, are the arts which are represented. Of these the valuable and artistic collection of pottery lent by Mr H, R. Parkinson, and the statuary lent by Profeseor T. >M. Brown, are worthy of great praise. Mr Parkinson is evidently a lover of pottery for iihe sake of the beauty of form and colour which the art can show, ' i-ather than as a means of becoming the possessor of, something whiph is rare. There , are, it is true, some specimens in Mr Par- ' krason's coMection which are of value only , as links in the historical chain, showing the , progress of the art, but the > majority are ' valuable as showing,artistic power, both in the' subtlity and grace of the forms and the harmonies of colour. There are about 120 different examples, and it will be realised

must beseenand carehity studied to be .&W;;;« preoiated. ' Irf addition to fine examples of ? 'T Wcdgewood, - Crown Derby, WoTcestßrjl'ift 1 Beleek, Chinese, and Japanese art, .some beautiful specimens of modern dedgfeft from the celebrated Doulton Among" Professor.Browns eoDeotioh : o*ff|f statuary there is one piece. which, beauty, o-ver-shadows-the remainder, thougafif! all are exceEent. It is a reproduction qJM alabaster of Canova's "celebrated Cupid stotiL* Psyche. An alabaster statuette and a marble reproduction of the "Pompeiaat"; Venus" are also of great beauty. In con- c "\ trust to these stand two magnificent enormous Chinese- vases, lent by Mr W. Sey. These Pstand about 7fb 6in high, and are full "of.?,'; beautiful des'Kii and rich colour. There jsgft some excellent examples of modelling andf--statuary produced. Isy our local students competition. The bust which seeing Miss Abbot the coveted medal is good piece of work, but the hoad in-low * relief by MisS A. L. Ford, which obfcainfK hon. mention, is undoubtedly of great metu\- c ;\: It is pleasant to^notice the work of Kidson, who year by year has shown d&.-r tliict improvement in the sculptor's arfk*!;" His "portrait bust," No. 7, is a worlr, most delicately modelled, whila "la-'y. fancy," No.' 4, and "Study of a head," No;,t" 9,„.show very great skill. Some examples of "fumifturo are lent by the HotvVE. C. J. Stevens and by Professor J. Brown. Among the wood carving by lacatsj artists that of W.. S. Smyth takes a pro-;;';; minenfc. place. His frame, No. 13; vas% panel, "No. 12, in raised carving, and a-ir-cabinet, No. 18, are good both in design;*? I and execution. Mr .J. S. Guthrie is rep„.*& I sented-by a single panel, of his own in raised carving, which is promising. There _£ I are also some beautif vil specimens of wrought'V [iron and-beaten copper work lent by ;W. Recce. "; ■ =■=•= , ■<