NEW ZEALAND ARTISTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21979, 14 June 1933, Page 14

NEW ZEALAND ARTISTS

ROYAL ACADEMY PICTURES (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, April 28. Names of New Zealanders are not numerous in this year’s Royal Academy catalogue. One will never know if any of them have had their pictures rejected — for only 1750 works were chosen out of 11,327 submitted — but at least three New Zealanders have been successful. Mr Alfred E. Baxter, of Christchurch, who has been in Europe for several years, is to be congratulated on his achieving success with a water-colour entitled “The Sand Boat, Venice.” It is a really good piece of work and holds its own among the four hundred other water-colours and tempera works. In the front of the picture is a sailing barge loaded with sand. Three others with drooping sails are lying at anchor on the smooth waters further out. Across the canal may be seen the dome of St. Mark’s. It is a picture of peace and rest, and Mr Baxter has shown great skill in depicting the extent of perfectly smooth water With its reflections. Mr Heber Thompson (Wellington) is another New Zealander who has had two of his works, hung. The one, a pastel, is entitled “Jeunes Danseuses ” — a forceful picture of two young girls in dancing dress and slippers. The other, a drypoint study, shows a group of three Spanish gipsy women, with the towers of Gerona in the background.

Another New Zealander who never fails to have one or two works exhibited is Mrs Eleanor Hughes, who specialises in Cornish scenery. In “Mill Pond” Mrs Hughes demonstrates her skill with rippling water effects and the reproduction of the delicate tracery of trees. “Sycamore and Elms” is a subject which gives the artist full scope for her powers. It is a delightful group of five fine trees, the trunks of one or two of which are overgrown with ivy stems. “ Great Barrier Island, New Zealand,” is the title of a water-colour by Miss Gertrude Ball. A rock-capped peak in the foreground, a glimpse of the sea on the right, and beyond the shadowed crests of the hills — this is the composition of a rather unusual work.