SOME EARLY SPRING PICTURE SHOWS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13886, 25 April 1907, Page 2

SOME EARLY SPRING PICTURE SHOWS.

NEW ZEALAND EXHIBITORS,

(From Our Own Correspondent,)

LONDON, March'B. Several of tho early spring picture shows contain a good deal of interest, and Now Zealanders are to bo found among the exhibitors. Thus, in tho Old Dudloy Gallery, off Conduit street, nearly 300 watereolouvs are to be seen, tho majority being landscapes jory high merit. . Among theso is a. New Zealand subject, "The Dart Valley, New Zealand," painted by Mr Francis Barraud. It is a striking picturo, in which the grand scenery of the trihu r tary of the Wakatipu Lake is powerfully and _ effecllvely treated. Some charcoal studies by Miss Lucy Kemp-Welch for her wonderful liorse-picturcs, in which branch of art she has no living rival, will be found by New Zealand visitors to possess much interest.

At the Paterson Gallery, Old Bond street, Miss Franccs Hodgkins, of Wellington, NewZealand, lias an exhibition all to herself. She shows 21 paintings from her own brush, the majority being views of Venice, where she resided for a considerable time. These aro very forcible and extremely modern in style, ofteii displaying much boldness of conception combined .with skill in execution. Refer-, ring to this show, the art critic of The, •Times writes; "At Mr Patcrson's Gallery, 5 Old Bond street, a'young artist from New Zealand i 3 holding a first and very promising exhibition. Thia is Miss Francos Hodgkins, who, like everybody else, baa been to Venice, but who lias occupied herself almost moro with the pooplo than with (he place. She uses her brush with force and distinction, and, while thoroughly modern and actual, paints with a certain 'regard for style. The example called 'jPurplo and Black'—a group of figures passing by an open shop-front—is extremely clover, and shows an unusually keen sense of colour."

A display of very uneven and varying quality is to bo seen at the Inhibition of the Modern Society of Portrait Painters, in Piccadilly, whero 121 'portraits by the most modern artists are to bo seen.. Some of the exhibits are of quite exceptional merit.; others arc just the reverse. Among tho specially meritorious portraits, two bv Mr Ivan Lindhc, a talented Swedish painter, take a very high place—one, indeed, tho highest of all. This latter is tho full-length and life-sized 'picture of a blondo girl, half-sitting, half-reclining in a big easy-chair,. with her feet and ankles stretched out well in front, so that tho figure is seen in thrcequartor front, obliquely across the painting. Iler eveningdress , is of some soft, white diaphanous material, its loose sleeves falling hack so an to show to advantage the lovely rounded aim and taper arms, while tho pretty feet and slender ankles aro most effectively displayed in the daintiest little shoes of shining patent-leather, with a strap of the same across cach instep, and the thinnest of black hose, all marvellously painted. The artist has evidently "laid himself out" 011 this work, treating even the minutest detail with rare delicacy ami power, while the general effect is entirely commensurate; It is altogether a most striking work, quite the greatest portrait oE tho season so far, and I doubt if this year will show any finer. One cannot help regretting that,, having been shown in this exhibition, it cannot, appear at tho Royal Academy's show next month, for it assuredly would have attracleil much attention and would have appealed to a larger circle. Anyhow, it is a picture for New Zealand visitors to make a point of seeing. Mr Lindho's other exhibit, which bears the title "Absorbed," is a very charming ono of a feminine sitter "Absorbed" in "maiden meditation fancy free." It was in last year's Royal Academy Exhibition, whero it was greatly and deservedly admired. Three masculine portraits by Mr Alfred Priest also deserve very favourable notice. One is a double portrait, and includes tho likeness of a young man and a jay, both most cleverly depicted. " Tho' Baillic Gallery's carefully timed exhibition of flower painting, now an annual future, scorns to me," says tlio art. critic of the St. James' Gazette, " a typical development of our age. Twenty years, ago flower painting would have been a cult, and Mr Baillio would probably have insisted 011 spccial Burnc-Jones gowns designed for harmony with the leading flowers being placed over the costume of cach visitor as 110 or she ontercd the saloon. Tlio real right time to visit the show would then have beon 10 in the morning, and Sir Harry Quilter would have spun a glittering gossamer phrase or two for us to carry in our hearts out into tho murmuring Baker street. Twenty years from now, lot me hazard the prophecy, the exhibition will bo called 'The Flowery Land.' and Mr Baillie will be standing at his door in a conspicuous but becoming costume, beating a dram and chivying the public uostairs with a sunflower., I am basing this propheoy 011 Mr AVedmore's fairly recent remarks 011 the sad change that is coming over our methods of picture selling; Meanwhile the ordinary man can visit the exhibition without any fear that, ho is lieing cither sentimental or eccentric, and if he knows good painting ho will c.nioy himself. It is the onlv land of still-life painting that wo have nowadays."