ROYAL ACADEMY

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23349, 7 June 1941, Page 4

ROYAL ACADEMY

♦ EXHIBITION IN SPITE OF WAR FEWER PICTURES HUNG (F.0.0.C.) LONDON, May 8. War has not stopped the 173 rd exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts. The statue of Sir Joshua Reynolds has been removed from the courtyard outside the building for safe keeping, the 827 paintings and drawings hung are less by 562 than the total exhibited last year, and only 12 of the usual 16 galleries are in use; but the exhibition is, in all other respects, "as usual.” The war, not unnaturally, is reported in various of its phases by many artists, and there are vivid glimpses of war on land, in the air, and at sea. There are impressions of the beaches at Dunkirk, the last stand at Calais, of aerial dog-fights, and of convoys attacked at sea. War on the civilians in its many aspects has also been recorded. New Zealand has a direct interest in the work of its artists. The number exhibiting is fewer this year than usual, but Mr F. H. Coventry (Christchurch) and Mr E. Heber Thompson (Dunedin) have both had their work hung again. Mr Coventry’s water colour is entitled "Pimlico Houses,” and it is a faithful reproduction of some of London’s drab, unimaginative boxes of bricks. They are maroon and dirty cream in colour, and they support a long ladder. Above, white clouds are backed by a rare blue sky, and a man with a club foot hobbles along the pavement. Mr Coventry shows his usual excellent workmanship. Mr Heber Thompson’s oil is entitled “Retour des Matelots, Concarneau.” It is a scene from an open window. There are fishermen in navy blue leaving their brown-sailed fishing boat, and there are barrels and fish nets throwing shadows on the sunlit beach. Beyond there are more fishing boats, with wooded hills in the distance. The colouring is fresh and attractive. -Added interest for New Zealanders is the portrait of the Governor-General, Sir Cyril Newall, by R. G. Eves, R.A. It is a head and shoulders, and is an excellent likeness. Two arresting works are “Dunkirk Beach, May, 1940,” by Richard Eurich, and "The Last Stand at Calais Citadel, May, 1940,” by Charles Gere. The first condenses the scene of the British withdrawal; men are shown marching, embarking, lying, walking, standing and being killed on the beach against a background of smoke and flame. The scene at Calais is dedicated to “those who by heir sacrifices saved the B.E.F. at Dunkirk.” From a breach in the citadel, overlooking a canal, British soldiers blaze their Bren guns; flame-belching tanks and death-diving aeroplanes are included in the scene. One criticism of the picture described it as a “piece of over-heated journalism.” As a relief from the war pictures, which grip the interest for their topicality as well as for their artistry, the orthodox landscapes, seascapes, and portraits are exhibited. The Queen is the only Royal Lady hung, and appreciation of three studies of her is a matjer of individual taste. A critic commented on one: “The Queen looks as though she were made of pink sugar, like a .birthday cake. Perhaps Gerald Kelly sees her that way.”