ARTISTIC ADVERTISING. TO THE EDITOR.

Evening Post, Volume XLV, Issue 6, 9 January 1893, Page 3

ARTISTIC ADVERTISING. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir — " You have a grand little country, but yon don't know how to advortiso it worth a cent." Sncli was a remark I hoard made by an American visitor to the Dunedin Exhibition three yonrß ngo. Perhaps as a stop towiuds reuio\ing that roprouoh tho 'Jovori.mout hits quite recently had postod .it railway stations a sheet il ustrativo of tho couutiy's eeonic bounty and the Kitorua Saniitor inn, bearing tho imprimatur of tho Surviy Department Fur Police of iivtibtu- tu-to the illu-tnvtions of Iho sheet would bo hard to bout. Whilst looking at it tho other day I could not fail to bo reminded of tho wisdom of the iirtist, who having some misgivings as to tho ability of tho peoplo to idoutify tho subject of his skotoh of tho king of brasts, appondod tho footnote—" The aboyo is a lion." Now one of tho illustrations aforosaid dopiots a dark bluo ground strewn with white skull - like objoots, roprosonting possibly an ancient nativo Goleotha; but to havo skulls only, is to mv mind a serious detect ; the introduction of othor fragments of tho human anatomy would have added to tho realistic valuo of tho delineation. The sagacity of the artist is, howover, manifested in tho varying sizes of tho Bkulls, representative, of course, of youth, ago, and tho sexes, but it would bo an advantage, I am sure, to many persons, by whom tho placard will bo scrutinised, if an oxplanatory footnote wore now added, after tho manner of tho historical lion ono. ''The drinking of tho wators" sketch is a hideously vulgar conception. Its fomale figures are especially bad, their posing more readily giving ono the idea of a German cheap beer garden than that of a high-class sanatorium, at whioh refinement and good manners might be looked for in its visitors. The ohornbs, too, at the top of the picture aro simply awful. Tho only bit of dooont work in the whole thing is in the oonvolvnlus flowers, and thoy show very good drawing The subjoot treated is ono that an artistic hand might mako a groat deal of. An elegant and ohastc design could, no doubt, bo obtainod from tho School of Design if our young artists wore givon an opportunity of contributing. In any caso, some pretty illustrations ought to bo made to take tho places of those now on viow. I am, Ac , Observer.