OTAGO ART SOCIETY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14684, 18 November 1909, Page 2

OTAGO ART SOCIETY.

ANNUAL EXHIBITION. Tf-IE LOAN PICTURES. Upon these who remember the exhibitions- of tlie society in the old Choral Hull some 15 years ago, the present thirty-third' annual exhibition : mpresscs two "tilings very e'early: the vast improvement in the quality and quantity of tho work shown, and the equally marked falling away of public interest. It- is .passing strango'thut the result of all the labour and fostering care of tho faithful adherents to the council of the society should have met with such a reward, and it' is lamentable, for the public is missing a pleasure in omiitng a. duty.

11l its present magnificent home the society has assembled' an exceptionally fine lot of paintings, both in oil and watercolours, while the art crafts and photography are also well represented'. This year ihe exhibition is not stiffened to the usual extent by large numbers of loan pictures, but it scarcely needs it, for the work sent .in by old members who are meeting with success in a wider sphere, by Australian artists who now consider the Otago Art Society's exhibition a serious art fjctor, by the ever-improving band of New Zealand artists, and by the working members of th society is in no need of any raison d'etre—it: justifies its own existence.

The first loan picture in the catalogue is a river scene by P., Buchanan, lent by Sir James Mills. It is not particularly attractive in this gallery, for the modern experiments in decorative colour and problems of full light leave it looking dingy and sad, but it is none the less a fine picture typical of the aims of art in the seventies and a solid piece of painting. One is inclined to take some exception to tho drawing of the cows, and' the difference in conception of atmosphere then and now is a thing to be noted, as also is the solid treatment of the greys as compared with present-day broken colour, but, " tempera mutimtur," and of its day it- is a good picture, full of its own charm and worthy of attention. Its sadness' it. much accentuated by the clean painting of John 11. F. Bacon's "The Sisters," on the other sido of the gallory. A painting by an associate ot 1 the Royal Academy is a thingto study, and many are the opinions expressed of this portrait. It makes no pretence evidently of being anything but a particularly clean piece of portrait painting. Here arc 110 problems of chiaroscuro, of colour value, of 1 atmosphere, o.r'what not, but an honest attempt to satisfy the client who wanl.s his daughters' clean faces and clean frocks to look their best, for this generation and those to come, /intl who is not paying his money to show, his friends how cleverly Mr Bacon can paint. If tho artist is content, why, then it is bis own affair. The delicacy of the treatment and the simplicity of the work are ncvcrthcldss worthy of inspection even by : ts detractors.

The most noteworthy picture in the gallory is by another R.A., the well-known Ernest Crofts, who has made' himself famous as a painter of episodes of the Civil War, when Cavalier and "Roundhead made peaceful- England a. maelstrom of family discord. Tho artist's knowledge of costume, accoutrements, harness, weapons, and the thotisond-a.nd-one details of this period is iir itself encyclopedic.

Xo one but the painter can realise the difference between the literary mini's generalisations of a period and the precise acquaintance with the actualities of the time required to reconstruct the. Amplest scene of 11 historical nature. How huge then is the task which Mr Croft ; ets himself when he essays to render whole armies with their various costumes, characteristics, and equipment! How well he acquits himself may tic judged from tins little masterpiece, full of action, full of costumes, which are fnii of real men who fita-ml and move and have a veritable being. The figure of the wounded leader, emaciated, with his ashen face filled with despair, yet proudly saluting his conquerors. ivho give him the honour due to a gallant foe, is masterly. One feels full of sympathy for 1 li;" man who is lift to pay the price. The surrender of York followed the battlo Marstou Moor of July 2, IM4, where the famous Prince Rupert was utterly routed by Sir Thomas Fairfax and the Scots army. Rupert and Newcastle, the real leader of the beleaguered Yorkists, lied abroad, leaving others to face the ignominy of the position. \Ye envv Mr Leslie Harris his possession of this little picture. It may be objected that, the treatment of this work is " niggly," that it lacks atmosphere ami breadth, that the castle is a canvas affair of the stage-painter type, and thai the setting is weal; in treatment. Let the objectors measure the figures in this picture and think how else Mr Crofts could havo given us the value of his very real knowledge. The short' suggestive story is line art, but we expect more from the historian ; anil it is but fair to give this picture what the impressionist n.sks, the benefit of judgment at tho right distance, when all is well. Near it (No. 155) is Carlo Balestrini's muggy and moist " Dtiomo, Milan." lent by -Mr Stuart. Holmes. Here again we see that all loads lead to Home, that a man maj paint as he likes, provided ho " gets there." Signor Balestrini' "gels there" in a way of his own, but wo cannot help admitting that

the result is full of the sensation of hot, oppressively close, and uncomfortablo rain; that the, vastuess of tho building is forced upon us, and that the artist has done something worth while.

The -enmining loan picurea are in the water-colour room, which is far the most attractive portion ot the exhibition. Here ugain the general excellence owes little to the works lent, but tht society is to bo thanked for affording the public an opportunity to see what otherwise would have been lost to it. It is interesting, for instance, to see the Gully which has been lent by Sir James Mills, and to recall tho contemporary work of -ising artists in New Zealand. It calls up remembrances of Chevalier an<l of "our own." \V. M. Hcdgkins, the founder and, so long as he lived, radiant champion of the Otago Art Society. This typical Gully has all the characteristic breadth of the master. Its tone is not the tone of to-day, but wo may learn much from ho sustained equality of

it: other days other aims. Let not tho young artist turn away from it as chromolithographic or as old-fashioned: it represents the hifrh-U'ator mari; of its period, and is very illuminating to thoso who caro to study it. It helped lo give us our Hodgkins and to form the tasto and judgment of our «arly stragglers alter arc expression.

In 363, lent by Lady M'Le&n, we have a water-colour by the painter ol the '• Nuns' Choir" in our permanent collection, Signor Du l'ozzo always strikes a ■true note, and lie lias given us much to admire in this sustained and masterly production. It represents a fisherman's boat lying idly on the lapping waters of a great lagoon, while its occupant, evidently takes his lonely meal. "Solitude on the Laguna" is impressive of its title, and is altogether satisfactory and worthy of study. The tones of the sky and sea. arc charming, although departing- somewhat from the traditional handling of tho two in similar hues. Tho masterly- harmonising of the clean wunn tones of the sky and the dirt-y green grey waters of tho lagoon is a. lc6Son to the student. The .atmosphere is full of oppressive heat. The slightly lapping

motion of the water, with the balance and simplicity of tho composition, makes this

picture completely charming. Why the same painter should have committed 395 is somewhat of a mystery. It lias all the banal commonphicencss of the popular

print of some 20 years ago and the general characteristics of the cheap Italian-mauu-

facturcd "hand paintings" which used to bo vended. Yet it has a wonderfully line, even tone, and for it one can almost for-

give its claptrap, its " gay gondoliers," its sadly hackneyed and doubtfully drawn woman on the balcony, and its general chfap Venice. It is the work of an avtist in spito of all, and serves to remind us tliat. even genius may at- times lose tlio path.