RUSE OF ARTIST

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 182, 1 May 1931, Page 9

RUSE OF ARTIST

Painted on Enlarged Photographs ACADEMY SENSATIONS By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. (Rec. April 80, 10.30 p.m.) London, April 29. A Royal Academy sensation was revealed by the announcement that three pictures sent in for exhibition by an English artist of international repute had been returned owing ’o the discovery that they were based on enlarged photographs. An Academy official says that the discovery was made at a meeting of Academicians and Associates called to elect new associates. Sir William Llewellyn, the President, asked the meeting to view one of three pictures which had been found to be an enlarged photograph thickly covered with paint, whereupon the name was immediately withdrawn and the pictures sent back. Unprecedented Happening. The Academy sensation unprecedented, according to the “Evening News,” which interviewed the artist who had painted portraits of Royalties and many celebrities. He says: “This is a terribly shock, when my career was about to culminate in an Associateship. I was foolish to send the pictures to the Academy. I must emphasise that I did not attempt to secure election by easy deception.” The “News-Chronicle” discloses that the artist is Mr. Reginald Grenville Eves. . The “Daily Express” interviewed Mr. Eves, who says he did a foolish thing. He was suffering from neuritis, and used the photos to save time. He recalls that Canaletto used a camera obscura for painting similar architectural pictures. Sir William Llewellyn says that the incident 1 does not bar him from re-

seeking election as an Associate, if his artistic work reinstates him in the eyes of the Academy. - ■ Second Strange Case. ■■- . ( ' A second strange happening on the eve of the Academy relates to a canvas entitled “On Board the Hispaniola” by a sixteen-year-old Covent Garden salesman. The picture, which was being widely discussed, was removed from the walls, as the president was convinced it was copied from a book illustration of R. L. Stevenson's “Treasure Island.” The boy artist denies ever ’ having read “Treasure Island,” or having seen the book, though he sow'the play. He says that he painted the picture entirely from his imagination. , Mr. Reginald Grenville Eves, who is 54 years of age, lias had a distinguished artistic career, winning the Slau®’ Scholarship and the Silver and Gold Medal of the Royal Academy in 1924 and 1926 respectively. He has painted the Queen of Spain, Princess Beatrice, Lord Leopold Mountbatten, Lady Diana Manners, Viscountess Curzon, Mr. Justice Darling, Mr Stanley Baldwin, and other distinguished persons, and is represented in the Tate Gallery by his portrait of the late Thomas Hardy.