THE THREE PICTURES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19169, 7 November 1925, Page 9

THE THREE PICTURES.

Sir,—-The exact information which you | gave in the Herald of October 31, .con- ; cerning the three pictures, has possibly ; escaped general notice, appearing as it did' I when the election lever was at its height. ! Those facts are specific and mcontroj vertible, and they prove my iirst eonteuj tion very completely. | (1) "Grace":— You state: ''The picture I 'Grace' was" painted i* l loQl. In othei ! words it was painted at a period when j Millais had practically ceased to count in I the art world. The picture itself fully ; bears out this fact. It is an example, not j oi Miiiais' mastery of his art which tvould ! be the only valid excuse for its presence iin our galferv—but of his well-known de- | terioration. " Its purchase, therefore, i proves lamentable ignorance on the part of those who have the spending of tins public bequest. (2) "' A Mother's Dream never appeared at the lloval Academy, ' and it seems certain that.'"it was never exhibited at any public exhibition." Firstly, this confirms the doubt which I expressed as | to its having been exhibited at the Boyal | Academy, a" doubt, I would add, which j must have occurred to anybody with any ! real acquaintance with heighten s work. 1 Secondly, it proves that the trustees did ! not exercise ordinary care, since they did | not take the trouble to confirm the staleI ment which appears on the picture frame, | which it would have been a simple matter !to do. Thirdly, it proves that Leighton j did not consider the picture worth exhibiting and,, therefore, like "Grace, there is no justification for its present position. (3) " 'A Peep at the Hounds' does not appear to have gone out of the painter's own hands," probably because it was ! unsaleable, since it is not, as I have j already said, in the least representative jof the work which gained for Birket ! Foster his reputation. I Now the Mackelvie trustees obstinately i decline to tell the public that which it is ! certainly entitled to know, namely, how ! much they paid for these pictures. I have | heard that it was either £BOO or more, i Their chairman, speaking on behalf of the 1 trustees, has persistently scorned all ' criticism of their actions, evaded the chief | point at issue and generally refused to j give the public any account of their stewI ardship. Mr. Upton has also so ohstin- | ately defended their methods t !, at it i would appear that it is the intention of j the trustees to still pursue them. They have wasted a large sum of public money and not for the first time. They have done so because they did not exercise reasonable care in making these purchases. 'I hey have, therefore, proved that they are not fit and proper persons to administer tiiis trust, so long as they persist in their preI sent course of action. . j There is little satisfaction hi navmg | performed the easy task of proving j incompetency. Mv sole motive in rais - | the subject at all is to try to ensur j.. frn i v valuable collection for our AucKj land Gallery, such ITve noUound fault without .suggesting a remedy "at the r °r U nf the art world, be employed to hea.it • , jjallcry. Also that select »s ct" ™s (o iniorove the very 2X«3 £«** <* WHon that, it be purged ot «r,worthy ISts. and that means be provided to u■ " u P nubhV into more lively touch V the M.cMyi. trustees still decline to mend their ways, other means must be resorted to to stop this waste of public money ft is not unreasonable to suggest, also that some recompense is due to the public for the money spent on these three pirtpj* at least. W - PAGE KoWE> .