THE ART SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22738, 26 November 1935, Page 4

THE ART SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION

AMONG THE PICTURES By Eros. lII.—THE WATER COLOURS - In the w.ater-colour room Janies Cook exhibits six studies, all"of Ger.ona,'; sent' from Europe for the express' purpose of this exhibition. They are all of them of the nature of wash drawings depicting for the most part various aspects,of Geronese streets and buildings, and while not as a whole strong in colour, yet they contain some searching draughtsmanship. Nos. 117, 287, and 201,, "Calla de la Torsa," are especially strong in this latter merit, while No. 199, "Passing Showers, Gerona," well and' most suitably framed, contain 'fine handling of the medium, and rich, warm greys in the middle distance buildings. The flair that this artist possesses for appreciation of sunlight efl'ects is very well illustrated in "An Old Tower, Gerona," No. 249. : '-".. ".Vj- ':' ' ■ ■ . Mr R. T. Little, always a very strong supporter of the society, shows once again that he has a very keen appreciation of the clean handling of water colour. He points out to us, too, that there are innumerable subjects t to 'be fouiid at our very door through which we can express our artistic feelings. That he chooses ships and shipyards as hie chief subject is fortunate because this artist does understand the anatomy of boat construction. Of his group of paintings. No. 257, " The Hulk. Otago Harbour," a familiar object of our harbour ■ foreshore, is probably, the most attractive from the point of view of colour. Here dark and rich blues, greens, and browns increase in clever fashion the value of clean and beautiful gres-g of • and .water. In this work, too, close observation has led to able suggestion of boat structure. A similar vein of playing off sympathetic colours is seen in No.-207, "Out of Commicsion, Auckland." where the Blue-Greens of the water are deeply in sympathy with the rust colour of the boat. No. 242, "Wiseman's, Port Chalmers," in which various shapes of boats are interesting, has a somewhat too conscious emphasis on individual shades. Another artist whose water-colour treatment never falters in clean handling is Olivia Spencer-Bower. Paintings Nos. 214 and 215, "Nikau Palm," and "Rock Formation,.PnUakaiMi"'interest because of theii: \ clear,. atmosphere ■andi gentle gradations.' in tone, while the _ drawing of the trees..--in'.' the'-'former 'is 'excellently; done. ■'Afcntbspberic; too, is;; No. .230, "Earlv 3lbrnii]g.'-at the Bridge." No. 226, ." The,-:Cbast'Road,'-' the best of Miss Bower's, group, is remarkable, for ; . the feeling ,of. recession r iii .the water; this htas been-helppdiby/'a very cleverly suggested line of foanv'offshore. Two v ' : paintings by' Allan B. Browne, Nos. 178 and 218, are amongst-the, best' works in . 'this;'-. section, and >how; ,corisideratye'knowledge of technique,' the. iise of decorative "elements; arid restrained colour. " Elie de Beaumont" rests tor its charm. purely and simply on silhouetted shapes of flat washes indicative of mountain forms and simple colour tones; 'while "Winter, Lancashire," though again simply handled, is full of shape variety, and remains interesting no matter how often one comes back to it. The smoky quality of the snow is typical of the country which it depicts. James Fitzgerald exhibits two Christchurch street scenes, and while there is a considerable difference in the merits of the two pictures, yet they contain sufficiently good painting to make one desirous of seeing more of this artist's work. No. 217, "A Corner of the Square," leaves one with the impression of complete mastery of subject -matter. The variety apd play of the figures in the hear distance against the bigger, simpler .masses, of-the .background build-, ings is excellent, and every corner of the picture to which we turn contains a fresh interest. "Not so well handled, and considerably overstated in colour passages. No. 264, "A Summer Evening in the City," is far from being as successful.

An artist whose subjects are drawn from Southern English sources is Gertrude Ball. Her "Tewksbury Mill," •while charming in atmosphere, is inclined to be weak in arrangement: the centralised mill is completely isolated from the background, and this is emphasised bv the tone values iu the picture. A similar fault is to be observed in No 236. "Chingford Farm," though here the background trees help to relieve the effect. Rosa Sawtell in six landscapes has also used English subjects in most of tier group of charming and cleverly painted studies. Xo. 179, "The Weka Pass" landscape, shows very pleasant handling of a lull road in which rock formations are well suggested. Xos. 198, "Monks Walk." and 200. " Stayning, Sussex. though too heavily framed, are well coloured and possess a fine limpid.duality, especially in the water of the former. And Xo. 305. "The Old Oak," is an ab'e study of natural forms, in which fine drawing plays the principal part. A small group of pictures in this section that are in many ways the most appealing are from the brush of Roland Hinkins, Kathleen Salmond. Alice F. Whvte. Minnie White, Elaine Wickendem and R. J. Waghom. ,This latter artist in his four paintings. Xos. ISO. 190. 311. and 342. renders the clarity of mountain atmosphere in crisp, clean washes of bright colour. Elaine Wickonden's " Cowarav Castle, Midhurst." Xo. ■253. is a small but beautifully drawn study of old stonework in warm tones Thi three wash drawings by Alice Whyte and Minnie White, "Xickson's Haven." "So 18C. "The Thames Coast Road," Xo. 312 and "A Back Street." Xo. 233. show the' handling of this method to perfection being as they are full of verve, breadth of handling, and sympathy with subject matter. K>thleen Salmond 3 one water colour. "Cherry Tree. Xo. *>ss with its well-handled washes and sparkliD" vitality, arrived at by clean use of darks in the drawing. i« in keening with her other work in +he ?*«»}»: tion. And Roland Hipkm s "Ot ? ki River" Xo. 349. is a very fine pamtin? of a mountain stream in full torrent,

the fall of the water over the stones being extremely clever handling of paint Other artists who attract notice in the water colour section are John Brock, whose "In the Quarry, Bayfield," has considerable dignity and fine drawing to recommend one's attention; Mrs Cox and "Beatrice Seddon, whose flower studies are knowledgeable and daintily handled' Hilda Wiseman and Lily Scott. Other contributions in this department in whose exhibits will be found variety and interest include A. E. Baxter, I. A. M'Cormack, Russell Clark. Alan Eliot. E. Wallwork. Mr« M'Croiie. Gwyneth Richardson. Dorothy Jenkin. Erga Wash bourn. Bettv Rhind. J. V>. Hope. A. Diekison. A.' M. Darling, F. Sykes. E A. Mee, A. E. Bollard, and E. Syrett.