PEEPS "AT PAINT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 313, 28 September 1908, Page 2

PEEPS "AT PAINT.

NEW ZEALAND ACADEMY'S SHOW. TO BE OPENED THIS AFTERNOON. NO 1.-THE LARGER OILS. (By Sepia.) At 3, p.m. to-day the spring show of tho New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts will bo opened by Sir Joseph Ward. For tho nonce 0 placid pastoral of Leader, notorious in the light of recent events, the muscular langwyu, admired for its smudgy strength, and the clean-aired Nairns aro relegated to Uns store, and the walls of tho little Art Uallery in Ballauce Street have been hung with Persian tapestry of kaleidoscopic colour in well-ordered confusion. It would not be true to say that tho present show is tho best the local society has induced—there was nnt,u ome c f0 1 Ur i or ,^; e ago to which a number of Australia s best artists were persuaded to send, whose fine splashes of talent were illuminating by comparison. While there 5? .few-very lew-canvases of outstanding rnent m the present show, I am persuaded into tne beliet after an hour's survey that the level of local art, as represented at the show, is rising. Of promise there is. plenty. There ar ? -xi dozsn new names I could pick out with the dawn of idea set down in their work, but who, lacking the best tuition, the atmosphere, and good talk will advance so tar along the road of artistic endeavour and no farther. Some artists —a very few ~'Y, G born with marked character, but more of those who have won what the world calls success Have to a large extent had the artistic oharacter forced on them and into their Work by associations impossible to connive a J, ln this country. There are several envi- ? .®. pictures' in tho show, "nice things' 'are fairly numerous, and the "rather goods" exceed the "poors" and "impossible." It is unfortunate that any of tho latter class have cn j ,' llu g at all, but there is space to be tilled by the committee, however "judicious," and tho susceptible will receive a mild shock here and there. One can only say what dear, kind encourages the members of tho committee must be to prefer these to the honest ; Academy , wall. they.-obscure. Still, 1? 1 ? 13 a Sood tone about the show as a whole, some good work well worth seeing, and some a little better than good that has every right to command the public's attention. . • , I pleased to see the big advance made by Mr. H. M. Gore, whose work has always been marked by feeling and correct draw--1 £°'l • ®°i ' ias shaken a couple of reefs out or his clewed-up artistry in "Silverstream 1 ? links'' .(199), 'and given us a glad bit of colour in the Haite style—tho stream a series of still pools, the banks a I) aze of colour, the cattle-dotted paddocks, all voiled filmily in the noon warmth of a mid-summer day. The excellence' of the composition, and the atmospheric charm Mr. Gore has succeeded in denning so admirably will make the picture a favourite. Amongst tho large canvases, Mr. S. L. Thompson, that sound Christchurch workman, has a three-quarters nearly life-size portrait (226) of a.' lady in walking attire. Against a muddy nondescript background he has posed his_ figure—furred, muffed, and hatted—in a simple and natural pose. The flesh is alive unquestionably. ' Alongside are the gloomy, but talented, van dor Velden pictures, one showing, an" angry mountain torrent dashing ravenously over great boulders on a day "drear and threatening." It is a darkling scene, perhaps a little oppressive, but the boulders and'tho. water that assaults them- aro strongly painted. ".. Another canvas by the same painter is. a bit of. surf-eaten rocks at Bondi, Sydney (257), snarling in their ferocity, t , at_ . the.; wearing . sea. Rock t '50,,, f| ; sjnrred.' .'. by painters (for the same'reason that cows' feet fV 9 ' reature.- of van. aer Velaen s contributions. " Portrait of. Mrs. H. Linley Richardson " (238), by H. Linley Richardson, is that of a lady, who in buttoning hor last glove is quite conscious that • sho is being painted, which rather .'detracts from , the good work evident in minute details of dress. Tho flesh' has, that appearance that might almost justify me in saying that it is " as fresh as wet paint." Miss' May Lingard, the Wellington artist, oxhibits\ variously. " A*> Reverie " (216) is a daring portrait, of a violently red-haired lndy, looking pensively over bare shoulders, which with the back catches a pallid ■ high light. Tho head .and face are well painted, but the artist has broken down at' the hand which clasps the slipping mantle. For a. time I'doubted, and am not yet sure, that it is meant for ' a band—it seems so semi-dotached. ' . ■

" Moonlight Solitude " is another of Miss Lingard's ventures—a pool, and track to the bsach, and the moon-illur.iined sea, depicted perhaps a little too definitely even for " the high white moon," which is rather theatrically painted. C. EL Howortli. paints attractively in a restricted sphere. There is a fino extent' and a breexy atmosphere about, his Ringa Ringa Beach, Stewart Island (222). Another characteristic canvas is " In the Clinton Canyon," a pretty sunlight view of the translucent Clinton, flowing between misty moun-tains'-in to a woodland paradise. Mr. Howorth oan paint birch trees with astonishing fidelity, and he has an eye for a pretty view —but be moves along pleasantly in a groove. Raymond M'lntyre has a rather striking impression of a nice pink lady, entitled "The Pink Necklace" (209), which derives its'namo from a.clever bit of painting— a line of pink dots that distance transforms into tho similitude of a' necklace; Mr. R. Proctor's work is always worth looking into. , He shows a strong bit in "Oonali Stream, Lake Manapouri" (212), a torrent rushing out of a bush gully over light-flecked rocks. ' The shadows are convincing, and the tihy bit of blue distance at the top of the gully has an entrancing effect. The same artist's "Idle Sails on tho Maas, Holland" (280) is another highlyattractive picture. Tlier'e is a contented' laziness in the ambient air that involves canal and meadow-land, and.incidentally the barges that do<e peacefully in tho midday haze. Not a. bad gallery ' picture;' this— with, its clean workmanship admirable composition and atmosphere, and strong brushwork withal. I do not know Miss E. Baldwin Warn, but her work is outstandingly good throughout. She paints tha thing as sue sees it, and that she sees artistically aright few will dispute. I like her painting of Mr. C. Y. Fell, of Nelson (274) immensely. It is an admirable without a stiff lino in its composition, and without the suspicion of a reflection on nature where she is visible. I Miss Warn has a couplo.of very fine minatures, showing hero exceptional talent in this form of delicate portraiture. There js also an old mill study, which is strong in shadows, but is too cramped up. "Marshlands" (240) _ is a fine study in space and distance. Miss Warn's work deserves more notice than I was able to givo it on Saturday. . ■ A canvas 6igned "C. S. J." (253) is a well-drawn portrait (bast) of a young man. The fault lies in the flesh tones, which resemble nothing more than a convalescent bruiso, which would require a peculiar lighting effect, or a series of hard punches to produce. W. Tiller's large canvas "Morning" (177) is properly cornered. The house at the crest of the hill seems as though a push would topplo it into space. Thero is something botanical in the foreground that would demand an explanation, but for the cruditv of tho conception. Mr. Tiller lias a frameful of cats' faces in tho ante-room. The feline, countenances are well enough painted, but they are a very sober lot, and do not'show to advantage packed into the one frame. "Near Arbroath," by C. Jameson (263), js too gloomy surely, seeing that the sun is still violently burnishing a western cloud. "Marshland Sunset, near Christchurch, Hampshire" (272), by the. same artist, is a featureless landscape, with an eccentric cloud effect as tho dominating feature. Looking round more generally I noticed a fascinating study of a sylph-like dancer (24'4), from the exact brush of Mr. W. Hounsoin Bylcs, R.8.A., who also exhibits his rare talent for figures and colour in "A Pompeian Flower Stall" (175). "The Letter" 16 not nearly bo interesting, and "The Ovcr-

land Mail" (181), a large canvas depicting a fearfully precipitous canyon, through which is. being driven an old : timo mail coach, is hardly worth wall space.' _ A , •The artist who would paint dead nativo game and dead native game without trimmings as in one instance (192) must bo barren of ideas. Twq smaller canvases that compel admiration aro Sydney Thompson's delightful nno\ P° r '° T ' n Concarndaux, Brittany (193). The eye wandering from the gloom of some of its neighbours almost compels tho tongue to sing " 0 Gladsome Light," 58, cheering is this splash of brilliant.sunlight., N. I had not time to take much stock of tha , water-colours, hut from a casual glance they seem to show a greater improvement on prevous shows than the oils. ■ Mr. C. N. Worsley lias evidently'far from exhausted tho spoils of his sketching tour of'Spain'.' Ha has a big water-colour entitled Life in a Spanish Street"—the narrow street between high—very high—white plastered walls, with dark-skinned figures lounging about, and'a touch of blue distance between' the lofty houses. It is an average whien means that it radiates the drowsy heat cf : southern Spain, and its sharp colourcoritrasts with fidelity. There is another courtyard scene by Worsley, more architectural than anything else, also distinctly good.. The beautiful roses that . Miss Stoddarfcpaints would cause less than a Beaucaireto enthuse. There aro two lots of roses—roses idealised superbly in an atmosphere of their own, and must command every one's admiral-' tiori. •; 1 -', , Mrs. Clifford-Godden has two 1 ambitious water-colours, an orange and a blue lady (colours glowingly emphatic), portraits good, but innocent of character. •' Miss Bertha Hickson exhibits faithful por- - traits of Lady Ward and Miss Eileen Ward in black and white. It would not be kind, to elaborate on some of the peculiar exhibits in tho ante-room, and in the main l hall over the entrance is a large canvas representing - a scene from "As You Like It" (by Harold Collins) depicting Rosalind, Celia, and Touch-.. ■ stone in the Forest of Arden.' The idea is a pretty one, but the work is crude, flat, and "painty." There is some pretty enamel work by: Mr' ; ;.' and Mrs. G. E. Pitkethly, of Wellington; a: c.. case of painted china by Miss Baird r. and some silver work (mostly spoons) by and Mrs. A. C. Atkinson. Sculpture is represented by Mr. W. Leslia-i;-Morrison and Mr. Nelson Illingworth.' Mr. .;, L Morrison's sketch of a statue for the late Mr; Seddon is a strikingly good piece of work. Thepose—he is represented in his favourite;<c attitude (that of addressing an au3ience)—ia 7., natural and dignified, and would really mak« - ; a fine model for a statue were the idea (ax- -a oured. Mr. Illingworth's Maori jjirl (bust) 13 v without inspiration. The modelling is good,The bronzing of "Litith" (a bas relief in the.' ; ante-room) by the same sculptor is partis cularly well done. ' - .