BEAUTY PRESERVED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 272, 29 August 1933, Page 8

BEAUTY PRESERVED.

PAINTINGS FOR THE NATION. A triple show is taking place at the Leicester Galleries that should appeal equally to connoisseurs of painting and to those who aire more attracted by subject matter than by technicalities (says the “Daily Mail”). . In the first room are exhibited brightly-coloured clear-cut. pastels by Mr Simon Bussey. They represent view’s of Morocco and tho South of France as w T ell as various inmates of the zoo—birds, monkeys, reptiles and fish. The bird pictures Whose main characteristics are astute observation and sense of humour, are particularly attractive.' Among the most enchanting are the sumptuous “Bird of Pai’adise” whose magnificent plumage reminds one of a Venetian fancy-dress, the “Black Hornbill,” proud and beautiful as an Indian faince, the sympathetic and home-looking “Royal Penguin” the solemn “Toucan,” and the somewhat pathetic “Thrush-Robin.”

In the next room a series of about 40 paintings entitled “Beauty Preserved,” constitutes a pictoral record of various beauty spots of England, Scotland and Wales acquired and preserved for the nation by “The National Trust,” a society whose aim is to save from • destruction or disfigurement, picturesque and historical sites.

The paintings are the work of Mr Maxwell Armfield, who has managed to combine in them topographical accuracy with artistic interest. “St. Martin’s Church, Wa/reham,” “Farm at the Foot of Leith Hill,” “A Giant Beech and Chestnut, Asliridge,” “Elvertt Bridge, Durham,” “The Wandle near Mitcham,” “Gunoersbury Park: The House from the Lake,” “Stonehenge in and “The Fern Light in Storm (Fame Islands),” in which the introduction of a still-life motive in the foreground is most successful, are all equally attractive. Finally a collection of paintings and drawings by the so unjustly nearly forgotten James Tissot offers a most captivating and stimulating display of rare sensibility and supreme craftsmanship. P Gireat credit is due to the organisers of this exhibition for haying rediscovered an artist of such rare qualities, and for giving us a chance to do them justice in proclaiming the infinite satisfaction which is afforded by such works as “A Fete Day, Brighton,” “Officer and Ladies on Board H.M.S. Calcutta,” “The Last Evening,” “Henley Regatta,” “The Captain and the Mate,” and many others.