ART AM) ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2014, 29 September 1892, Page 43

ART AM) ARTISTS.

VICTORIAN ARTISTS,

By Oigabette.

Notwithstanding the size of Victoria ana the number of its inhabitants, art is in a more backward state than in New Zealand. Doubtless this is owing -to 'the dearth of picturesque scenery, for the' development of art is greatly aided by beautiful surroundings and impeded by uncongenial ones. - Melbourne, although a marvellous city, can scarcely be called picturesque, the scenery along the coast, with the exception of Sorrento, is tame, and the banks of the Yarra are about the enly sketching grounds available. After travelling by tiam and train in search of the picturesque, it is '.very depreesing to find at the end of your journey nothing half so beautiful as the Ocean Beach at Dunedin, the reservoir, the Leith, or the Queen's Drive. It is not to be wondered at, then,- that when picturesque scenery is bo rare art should languish in marvellous Melbourne. Aspiring artists are not rich as a rule, and when expensive journeys have to be token in order to find Bubjeots for sketches; it is not surprising that they grow depressed and content themselves with painting pot boilers.

Another drawback to Victorian artists is their leaning towards the Impressionist School, which is about the worst school that any young country conld take as its guide in' the vorld of art. Honest, work is sure to make its way in time, but impressionism does away with honest work and substitutes instead rapid mechanical methods, vagueness of drawing, and utter disregard of truth in the endeavour to arrive at startling effects. There is no royal road to learning in art or anything else, and as long as impressionism rules Victorian artists, they can never bops to be famous. ■ „.-.., At a recent exhibition of paintings held by the Society of Victorian Artists in a splendid new gallery built for the purpose on. the Eastern Hill, and at which nearly .400 wprks of art were exhibited, there were barely a dozen pictures which could be oomp'ared with those at the last Dunedin art exhibition. A visitor from New Zealand walked round the gallery trying to find the-little red star on any of the pictures whioh denotes they have found an appreciative purchaser, but unfortunately for the artists these marks were as scarce as fouf-leaved clover. No doubt the bad times had something to do with it, and the bad pictures still more. But Victorian artists do not depend on exhibitions for the sale of their pictures. Neither are many of their works sold at the studios. The favourite plan is a large Bale by auction once a year at Gemmerel and Tuckett's auction rooms. A fortnight before the sale catalogues are printed and circulated, and a column or two of newspaper puff announces the coming auction, while the public are invited to inspect the pictures on view at the rooms and make their choice. The bidding is generally brisk, moat of the buyers regarding a good picture more as an article of furniture than as a "thing of beauty and a joy fojr ever." To some artists this seems an ignoble way of disposing, of their works— those children of the brain that have cost them many an hour of pain as. well as pleasure ; bub there is no room for sentiment in Melbourne, and in time one gets used to everything. And now a word about the artists themselves. The ohief among them are not of Australian birtb, but hail from several different countries, but having made their home in Australia they style themselves Victorian artists. Arthur Loureiro takes the palm for figure painting. His picture, "The Death of Burke," is very fine, and another entitled " Spring ", shows that he has a fine imagination. George Ashton, another figure painter, is a splendid draughtsman, and Tennyson Cole is a Very good portrait painter, but both these painters lack imagination. It is impossible to lose one's identity in contemplating their work. It calls forth no enthusiasm and stirs no emotion in the mind of the beholder, such as Loureiro's work does for instance.

For landscape painting James Peele takes the palm, and next to him comes Rolando. Turner paints Australian scenery better ihan aDy other Victorian artist. He -has created a style of his own, in which Ijhe special character of Australian landscape is^well delineated. Scheltama ranks high^arboDg landscape painters, and is very good at cattle. His colouring is rioh,^and drawing good, and his pictures always sell — a gopd proof of ' their worth. Douglas Richardson is a man of proraise, who is a sculptor as well as a painter. /- Tom Roberts is decidedly clever in/ pictures of Australian life, and M'Cubbin,' too, excels in this branch. Catani and*Ferdinando are both figure painters, and Facd paints portraits well. ' -. -' . * There are a host of minor artists whose work is sometimes good, bad, aridindifferent. Amongst these rank Ford-Patterson, Withers, Arthur Streeton, Williams, Humphrey,' &c, and several lady artists. Among watercolour painters Mather reigns supreme in landscape, and Tennyson Cole in figures.