DUNEDIN SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN.

Evening Star, Issue 10188, 15 December 1896, Page 2

DUNEDIN SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN.

This valuable institution, which; haa now completed the twenty-sixth year of its existence, having come to the conclusion of another session, samples of the students’ work for the year have been arranged on the walla and about the tables of the rooms, and the worthy principal (Mr D. C. Hutton] is pleased to Welcome those friends who are interested to a visit of inspection. The exhibition was opened this morning, and will remain open until Thursday evening. It is a pleasure to be able to say that the work in several departments shows a perceptible advance on that of any previous year. There are more than the usual number of praiseworthy exhibits in those lines which set forth the real and indispensable work of a school of art and design. We refer, of course, to drawing pure and simple. Few of the general public, presumably, can pretend to be qualified to judge paintings, but the ordinary eye can lead to a fairly-accurate opinion as to the faithfulness of drawing, at any rate to the extent of saying whether it is absolutely good or bad ; and it is this class of work, which the public can test for themselves, that seems to have received special attention during the year, and properly so, because, while a community will turn out but a small number of artists, it has a right to expect, as wilhiu the bounds of reasonable I expectation, that its younger members shall as a whole have access to the means of a test of their capability to profit by sound instruction in elementary, and in some degree in advanced drawing, since this knowledge is really attainable in a measure by the many, and is of considerable value not only as a pastime but for its practical utility. Mr Hutton has every reason to be gratified at the signs of progress notf on view'. One of the prominent sections is that of drawings from Nature ; and of the many excellent samples special attention may be directed to me horse chestnut done by Miss E. Dorreea and Oswald Trochon, the loquat by Miss E. Bridget, and the ribbon-wood tree by Miss Annie Smith, these drawings being characterised by feeling and no little expertness. The drawing in outline from the Madeline cast is, of course, standard work all over the world, and the principal of the Dunedin school takes care that his pupils shall face the test. Several examples of study in this line, claim notice, the best of which we take to be those done by Mis# Lma Hutton, Oswald Trochon, Miss Violet Barth, and Miss Annie Smith. Another interesting department is that to which belong the charcoal drawings from models in light and shade, t his being solid plane work that shows up the least error of eye or hand. The ordinary group of objects, subject to some variations, consists of k cone, two vases, a square prism, and a pentagonal prism. There is scarcely a mediocre sample of this sort of drawing on the walls, and the best, we think, is that done by Miss Nellie Hutton, Miss E. Bridger, Miss Lina Hatton, and Oswald Trochon. Drawings from the antique figure are more numerous than is customary, and there are other signs of special activity in this section, one fact in point being that the studio is equipped with two new and important casts, the Venus of Milo and the Apollo Belvidere. Several of the students have turned out work in this line that repays inspection, prominent examples being from Miss Burton, Miss Maggie Ewing, Miss Ethelwyn North, Miss M. H. Coombs, W. Wakelin, R. Kerkham, and Theodore Cameron, the last - mentioned having copied the Fighting Gladiator with great skill. Studies from the life, executed in charcoal, are shown by the score, and in many grades of merit, but it maybe a fair thing to mention the work of Miss Nellie Hutton, Miss Napier Bell, Miss M. Ewing, Miss R. Israel, Mies L. Hutton, and Miss Burton as among (be i tek of the bundle. Among the drawings from the cast we should have mentioned a fine reproduction of ornament by Miss Napier Bell. Mechanical drawing, now supervised by Mr Payne, is fairly exemplified by the work of A. Black, 0. C. Austing, and J. Williams; and the building construction section, in charge of Mr Sherriff, haa produced several good exhibits, noticeable among wh'ch are the drawings of W. Marshall, D. Paterson, and W. King. Coming to the paintings, we notice that Miss Gillies, Miss A. L. Davey, Miss Nellie Hutton, Miss Adams, and Miss Wimperis have done very well in painting in oils from the life ; while Miss F. Hodgkins shows some measure of hereditary skill m her treatment of several similar studies in water colors. Still life work is well repre« scaled in the exhibits of Miss B. Cannon, Miss Mackerras, Miss E. North, and Miss N. Hutton ; while flower pieces of merit have been painted by Miss Coull, Miss Nellie Hutton, and Miss Barron; and in landscapes we notice two or three large paintings from original sketches by Miss Emery and Miss B. Cannon, and creditable copies of standard works by Mis# Blackadder and others.