ART SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18346, 1 April 1925, Page 11

ART SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION.

REVIEW OF THE PICTURES. fCr G. M. L. Lestsr.) (No. IV.) Mr T. A. McCormack exhibits a series of water colours which have, I think, a special interest, beyond that which attaches to the fact that they show marked progress as compared with those of last year. Mr McCormack paints in a style which iB very individual. 1 had almost said original, but for Ihe manifest iiifluenco of the Japanese school, which I think his pictures show. He draws freely and loosely with a full brush tho salient points of his impression in rather heavy tones, but depends for his atmosphere and for the general quality of his work, on washes flooded on with great dexterity. His pictures are fresh, and delicate, yet not wanting in definite accent. Miss Stoddart has two most successful pictures in No. 163 and No. 164. No. lfj.'! is an unusual view of the Shag Rock silhouetted not against the sky but against the grey water of the estuary. The picture is quiet in tone and full of the beauty which depends on a play of light on sand and sea. No. IG;> is quiet ajid demure, but for all its quakcr spirit full of beautiful colour. No. H 4: A bold study of rock and water, vigorously drawn and bol3lv coloured. No. 239: A line study of roses full of glow and light in the shadow, and of rich colour in tho high lights. Miss C. Thornton, in addition to tho oils which wo have mentioned, has two water colours of great merit No. 232 has the pure water colour spirit, and in my opinion is a most brilliant and satisfying work. No. 299 is - a fine study *of a group of picturesque treo.forms painted with great simplicity but so entirely "right" in drawing and colour that it strikes one more than many more olaborate pictures. . Miss Cora Wilding has a series of water colours which aro interesting, and, to me, a little puzzling. Her way of seeing colour and of Tendering it on paper is quito unusual. No. 99 gives one the impression of cheerful light, but lacks the warmth that I

have always associated with Italy, even in winter. No. 138 very finely-painted hillside and mountain seen in the evening light. Jn t lie foreground the mass of roofs and chimneys forms a vigorous -and decorative silhouette, but the lake which' intervenes between the two is unconvincing both in toije and in brush treatment. Mrs Sawtell has a series of water colours very firmly drawn and boldly coloured, which show a steady progress in her art. . .

Mrs Seddon has three.works hanging in a group, Nos. 275, 276, and 279, which give characteristic impressions of West Coast scenery painted fluently and boldly, and conforming to a decorative convention in colour and form which Mrs Scddon has brought over from her striking' still-life pictures. Christchurch is a city of gardens, and. it is natural that many artists should attempt the difficult task of painting the. masses of flower and foliage which, compose so easily, and striko the eye so pleasantly. Mrs Avery, in 211, has. a. bold . study of hydrangeas painted in low tone, but suggesting the pale blue, glory of that most, decorative flower. Mrs Spencer Bower, in No. 216, and better in No. 13-1, commemorates the special beauties of the gardens she paints. , Mr Wauchope finds in a garden scene a subject better' suited to his individual brush work than the landscapes < which lie has sent in this year. The red roof and the.successful suggestion of bright', clear light, make this a very pleasant picture. In all these garden pictures I miss the wonderful coloured shadows which lurk under masses of flower and foliage seen-in bright light. 1 miss too, a little, the special character which is always present in the grouping of every separate species of flower—what botanists call the habit of growth of a . flower. . In concluding these brief notes on the water colours, I should like to make, a few remarks on water colour' painting as it is carried on in New ■ Zealand. After having seen many hundreds of water colours in the past twenty years I- am struck, firstly, by the excellence of the work : of a few of the paiiiters who have already made their place in the art world, and, secondly, by the futility of ■ hundreds, of pictures which every year are included in our exhibitions. These pictures for the most part show signs of considerable talent arid great earnestness, and a good proportion of them a sound trainings in •. the craftsmanship of pietorial art. Yet from the art point of- view they are almost valueless,' in spite of the fact that they may sell and may, moreover, give pleasure to many people. The reason for this appears to me to bo threefold.. In the first place there ~ are many who, aiming only at a'pleasing picture, are tmwillirig or unable to throw off the' Victorian tradition bf timidity both in colour and in Handling. In. the second place, year by. year I sjee many pictures full of good, work arid not wanting in quality, which fail' to be good art beeause they represent- • a formula—a formula which may be quite easily repeated. A happy effect, discovered by the artist, or a stereotyped mannerism adopted from some master, becomes almost a habit of expression, so that in 1 time the artist never -sees Nature as it is. but always through the refracting medium of a formula, •

The third reason for the failuro of many of our small pictures seems to me to be the lack of good drawing. Until sound drawing and an educated feeling for form have beeomc part of an artist's subconscious self he cannot do t.hc best that is in him. If ono looks at the finished work of Vau der Yelden and then at tho contents of many portfolios which were put on the market after his death, one realises how much of the power of his important works depends on the countless studies which lie made of every sort, of detail which could be useful to him. Mr Sydney Thompson, -whose drawing is practically , faultless, could _ show ■ a scries of studies in pen and ink continued right up to the week before last. No proficiency in draughtsmanship can eliminate the necessity for constant studies of form both in mass and in detail. For the artist who wishes to do the best work there ia no discharge from, this warfare.