EXHIBITION ART GALLERY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 304, 24 December 1898, Page 5

EXHIBITION ART GALLERY.

FIRST NOTICE

Perhaps it is not altogether reasonable to express disappointment with the Exhibition Art Gallery in the Choral Hall, but at the Dunedin Exhibition, some years back, there was so admirable a collection of pictures that lovers of art in Auckland hoped that a similar treat might be afforded them here. This, however, was not to be. There are no pictures loaned by the art galleries of the sister colonies, as had been hoped, and though there are many very beautiful pictures, yet the collection as a whole does not come up to expectation or fulfil the ideal of what an 'exhibition' exhibition might have been. The best time to 'do' the art gallery is in the morning. The light is then excellent, and the round of the hall can be made quietly and at leisure. As has been said, there are some, excellent pictures. Commencing on the right hand stage corner of the hall one finds that number one is one of these. It is entitled 'Mending Nets.' The artist is W. Sogsdale, and it is lent by Mrs Elewen. A very cherry and pleasant picture is this, brilliant, with colour and full of pleasant vitality. The scene, is obviously either Italian or Sicilian. At a table in front of a creeper-clad building is seated a woman mending nets, and conducting an apparently very successful flirtation with a handsome fisherman. The subject lends itself to bright colouring, and of this the artist has taken full advantage. The little canvas glows with rich tints, and is warm with sunlight. A 'View of Venice' (artist unknown), lent by Mr Abbott, has not much to recommend it save its age. Those who know Venice will vainly endeavour to locate the scene. There is an indication of the Rialto in the distance, but the buildings in the foreground ai*e certainly not to be found near that famous meeting plane. The gondolias, it will be noticed, are

coloured, and there is one with a crimson top. This ma.y give a hint as to the age of the picture, for there have been no coloured gondolias in Venice since the fifteenth century, when, owing to the extravagance of the nobles in decorating their g-ondo-lias, a law was passed, and still exists, that they must all be uniformly painted black.

'A Message from the King* is an interesting picture, exhibited by Mrs 0. T>. Owen. A cavalier seated at a table has just received the message from the picturesque man at arms, who stands 'at attention' to the right of the picture. The composition here is excellent, and students should notice how well the light is managed and the skill displayed in the painting of the brown velvet costume of. the cavalier. A curious point of this picture is the fact that whereas the whole subject seems at first sight essentially English, yet the arms over the fireplace are unmistakably Florentine, being in fact no other than those of the famous Medici. II would be interesting to know the reason for their introduction.

'The Shepherd's Return' is one of the exceptionally fine collection lent by Mr John .Roberts, and is by thatvery" fine artist Mr A. E. Waterlow. Tt is without, doubt one of the finest pictures shown, and a splendid specimen of the modern.British school of painting at its very best. The timel is evening, and the scene one typical of English rural life. A shepherd is bringing his flock across the common and on a bridge in the foreground two girls —oik1 manifestly his sweetheart —• are waiting for him. In the distance there is a wooded upland, and in the middle of the trees one gets a glimpse of the village church. The. picture is one whose charm it would be impossible to adequately describe. There is a rest-fulness, a serenity, about its sylvan beauty that will draw visitors back to it again and again.