THE ART SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1932, 30 November 1888, Page 10

THE ART SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION.

111. In resuming notice of the pictures in this year's exhibition it may be said that there are no water colours hung better deserving praise than Miss Hodgkins' admirable flower studies, one ;or two of which have already been mentioned. Several more are to be seen in ttt% ante-room> and no one looking at them will be surprised that they bear the significant word " sold." One is called " A Harmony," and appropriately so, for more artistic and harmonious colouring we have rarely seen. It shows an assortment of blossoms arranged with seeming carelessness in a couple of jars, which are in themselves a masterly bit of painting. There is a fascinating co»mingling of yellows, blues, and dull reds, and the colour could scarcely |have been better balanced than it is, independently of its very excellent drawing. Of the two other flower studies by Miss Hodgkins hung in the ante-room, No. 182, " Apple Blossoms," is different in style, but just as taking in its way. There is a feathery softness about the blossoms quite in character with the subject; but the picture is nevertheless painted in the brightest of tones. No. 178 is a lovely bit of wild clematis trailing across a well chosen background ' of greyish tint. Miss Hodgkins may well be congratulated upon such work as this. The landscape sent in late by-Mr Richmond, to which passing reference has already been made, is an early morning view on Lake Rotorua. There is a foreground of charmingly painted busb, from which stretches the water so still that the reflections are almost clear cut. A light ground mist hanga '.about the foot of the hills beyond, and there is" a finely painted sunlit sky. Mr Richmond has sent another water colour of the Nelson mountains, which is almost as good a sample of his work, Mr C. Howorth, of Invercargill, who has shown steady advancement of late years, is represented by a couple of very creditable water colours showing considerable breadth of treatment. No. 172— " Stormy, in Foveaux Straits"— is a spirited representation ?f as inhospitable a spot as could be found along our bristling coast line. Amid the crags there is a little tock-bound basin in which the water is calm, but the waves are dashing in clouds of spray againßt its walls, and in the tumbling sea j beyond more rocks show their teeth among the breakers. The leaden sky and inky ! waters faithfully reflect the storm. Something similar in tone is Mr Howorth's other picture, " Curlers," in which the back wash of the waves ! from the strip of dark beach is very cleverly | done. Only one picture by the president, Mr ! Hodgkins, has yet been mentioned, but he has a j small collection of water colour landscapes, all in his very best style, and some of which , he | does not seem to have allowed to be as well hung as they deserve. A pair hung under the j I windows of the principal room are instructive, as showing how much can be done by artistic treatment with the slightest of subjects. 122 is as placid" a scene as can well be imagined^ Tbe Taieri plain lying under a dim. afternoon light is animated only by the figures of a couple of horsemen and by the scattered homesteads in the middle distance. The low range of hills in the background shuts in the picture with a line of shadow. In the companion drawing, "A waggoner's halt on the Maniototo Plain," Mr Hodgkins has treated a similar subject with equal cleverness. There is a more mellow light over the landscape, just as little incident, and the seductive colouring and faultless perspective are the chief charms of the picture. There is in the ante-room a drawing by Mr Hodgkins executed in an altogether different spirit, but admirable too in its way. It is a coast scene at the Bluff, showing a two-masted schooner on the stocks and a busy beach beyond. Two other exquisitely tasteful landscapes by the same artist, " Near Lake Hayes " and " The Bayonets, Lake Wakatipu," may be noticed later. Dr Scott is not a prolific contributor this year, but his water colour drawing of a shepherd's hut near Manapouri (116) is marked by all the usual merit of his work. The detail is admirable, from the shingle-roofed hut itself to the corrugated iron chimney shaft and the rude cooking utensils that occupy the foreground. All shows good drawing, and the smooth, tasteful colouring characteristic of this artist. Among Mr P. Power's best work this year are a couple of beautiful foliage studies in monotone, a medium that well suits his style. Mrs Morice, who is a most valuable contributor this time, sends her masterpiece in No. 145, "An English Farmstead," one of the pleasantest subjects among tbe water colour landscapes. A stretch of still water occupies the foreground, and through a kind of framework of well-painted trees a view is obtained of the old red-tiled house and outbuildings in the middle distance. The picture is paintsd apparently in a late afternoon light, and Mrs Morice seema fully to have entered into the spirit of the scene. There is other excellent work from her brush— notably a study of bjrch trees (129), which depicts a forest glade into which a subdued light filters through a network of most conscientiously painted foliage. "Birch, Trees in Spring " (115) is another delicate bit of foliage painting by the same lady. There are many other works on tbe walls of high merit, which will be noticed hereafter.

A man named Timothy Ryan was seriously injured while bush felling at the William Tell claim, Hokitiki, on the 22nd. The tree splintered and knocked him down the slope, causing a serious wound in the head and body. ,He was unconscious when found by his mates. He is apparently better, bat it is feared he has sustained concussion of the brain.

Wbitb xkt> Sotnn> Tbbth are ndlapensable to aersonal attraction, and to health and longeHfcv by >he proper mastication of food. Rowlamdh' Odonto >r Pearl Dentifrice, compound of Oriental m-n-edientfl. Is ot inestimable 'value In preaerving and leautifying the teeth, strengthening the gums, and n eivine a pleasant fragrance to the breath. It ■radicates tartar from the teeth, removes epota of inMpient decay, and polishes and' preserves the enamel, io which* it imparts a pearl-like, whitenew. Rowunds''Macassar Oh. i« the best and safest iprererver of the hair; and proaifees a luxuriant and »lossy growfcb "; la also ~»old in a golden colour. ; A»k •hemiatfi for Howlasds' articles, of 80 Hatton Sarden, London.