ART AND ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2671, 24 May 1905, Page 76

ART AND ARTISTS.

— The Bishop of Ugnnda who was associated with a church >n Durham before he received his present appointment, was an a.' list of some reputation when he entered tho Church, and still finds opportunity to employ his skill, thoiigh he is heavily weighted with the duties of bis tremendous diocese. Two years ago he exhibited at the Royal Academy a view on the Victoria Nyanza, and he is sending two piotures for the next Academy exhibition. Bishop Tucker's father, who died at Windermere only a few months ago at an advancfed ago, was an artist of reputation, and all tha Bishop's brothers are artists of standing. — The Coronation Picture. — Mr C. T. Bate/nan (in Cassell's Magazine for March) writes thus on " The Painter of tho Coronation Picture— Mr E. A. Abbey, R.A.": — Instead of filling hie canvas with the fine proportions of Westminster Abbey, or a crowd of indistinguishable celebrities, he has illustrated the pomp and circumstance of the great rite by selecting tho principal actors and grouping them around the King just as the Archbishop of Canterbury—then Dr Temple — is about to place the orawn on ""his iiead. The peers have, raised their coronets to cry " God save the King." It is the climax of the whole regal ceremony. The artist's characterisations are revealed in the dramatic grouping and colouring. For the moment the dim religious light of the Abbey has given place to an effulgence illumining the brilliant robes of the King and Queen, ecclesiastics, and peers. He has revelled in the gay patchwork worn by the Bishop of Norwich, the reds of the peers' long cloaks, and the blue of the carpet. The grouping of the Marquis of Cholnaondeley, Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain, and Viscount Churchill, with, in between, Mr Burke, of the Herald's College, to the immediate right of the picture, adds a. touch of realism that may be forgiven. On the other side of the canvas the artist has " caught " the Duke of Norfolk, who as Earl Marshal bore so large share in the arrangements for the ceremony, in the act of straining forward to witness the actual crowning. With all the limitations confronting the artist the grouping cannot be criticised. The dignitaries of the Church, owing to their share in the service, are naturally prominent, and surround both King and Queen. The Bishop of Bath and Wells stands on his Majesty's left, whilst Dr Temple, Dr Davidson (the pr€sent Archbishop of Canterbury), the Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of London and -Ely aT9 'a, striking 1 combination. On either side of the Queen — an excellent likeness — are the Bishops of Norwich and Oxford. The portraiture is lifelike. Though the Prime Minister, Mr Arthur Balfour — being but a Commoner — only appears in a crowd at the extreme left corner, his features are easily recognisable. Lord Roberts, then Com-mander-in-Chief; and Lord Wolseley, amongst the front ran of peers; the late Bean Bradley, who held the crown; and Earl Spencer, the leader of the Liberals in the House of Lords, are again further examples of the art which has studied the minute details of the Coronation spectacle. Mr Abbey has painted in the scene nearly 120 distinct portraits. — Little Dore. — Gustave 3>ore*s illustrations exnibit him as a master in depicting the grotesque. His genius early led him to loiter in the streets of Sifcras-burg that he might stare at every odd-looking person he met. An ordinary man, no matter how prosperous, had no attraction for the little boy, nor did he more than glance at a richly-dressed woman. Bait he knew every old janitor, pestman, street arab, and beggar. One evening the Dore family were sitting in the common room, and Gustave was at a little table drawing quaint forms and figures in his copy-book. Something piompted the mother to look over ler boy's shoulder. "Do come and look!" she exclaimed, catching up the copy-book. " See what Gustave has done 1 How funny ! Here is the postman, here is Franooise [the old family nurse and servant], and a lot of people whom I don't even know. Where did you see them, Gustave? " "Everywhere," he answered with a loud laugh. ' ' Yes, but how have you. been able to make them so lifelike? Did they sit to you? " persisted the delighted mother.

"Sit to me! Never!" said the hoy, scornfully. "They are all here," touching his forehead significantly. " Why should I not draw them like ? "

"My son is a genius!" exclaimed the mother.

" Don't fill his head with nonsense," answered the father, who was a civil engineer.

"It is not nonsense," retorted th« mother. "My son is a great genius; he must study painting. He will be one of the first artists in the world."

" Our son will be nothing of the sort, and he shall not study painting," reproved the father. "He shall go to a polytechnic school with his brothers, and we shall see what he can do ; but he will never become a painter if he wishes to please his father." The boy made no reply save to brush away a tear. He turned to his mother for sympathy, and she encouraged him to keep on drawing. As they were both of them persistent, and as the boy's talents were really of ft decidedly striking quality, they triumphed, and the world gained an artist of great merit, as well as with many defects.