ART AND ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2743, 10 October 1906, Page 79

ART AND ARTISTS.

— A writer in the Studio declares that the" cause of art is in no way advanced by the numerous exhibitions which are patronised by th e public. The men whom the public like are not those who do the best artistic work; many of them secure attention less by merit than by aggressive self-assertion: — "The art world is becoming like some low market-place ablaze with flaring lights and echoing with raucous voices urging the crowd to buy, buy, buy ; and for this the exhibition is responsible It taints art with commercialism, it throws over it the trail of advertisement, and it demoralises the artists who under healthier conditions would labour sincerely and witn the highest aims. And, I contend, it frightens away the really intelligent buyer, the man who desires to possess the thing*

which oharm him by their reticence rather rhan those which can boldly hold their own in the rough-and-tumble of a gallery crowd. Tiie true collector has no love for the sKowy superficiality which pleases the public; and he is ceasing to pay any attention to -exhibitions because they give him little else. Surely that is bad for art and woise for artists."

— Lady Gray Hill is a lady well known in the world of art and as an intrepid traveller. Her beautiful home, Mere Hail, Cheshire, is a treasure house of Eastern curios, and contains many valuable pictures by famous artists, including Sir Edward "burne- Jones and J. Constable, R.A. Of her own paintings in oil and water-colour there is a large and interesting collection. Lady Gray Hill's most notable paintings are scenes of the lands through which she (and probably no other English lady) has travelled. The glow of dawn and the sunset on sandy plains, the subtle tones of -the desert, and the hazy colours of diMant hills are particular features of her work, and none but an eye-witness could endure a picture with atmosphere of the life and reality that surrounds all this artist's paintings. In their Eastern home near Jeruba■lcjtn, Sir John and Lady Gray Hill spend jfc^ftait of evety year, and their expeditions 4*sfiremote and strange parts of Syria have various and exciting. The natives in [ t,he villages roum! about Jerusalem have a N£|§kl friend in this English lady, who takes £is»great interest in the»r welfare, and has organised various means to lighten the . poverty and suffering that exists among them. The beautiful handicrafts of these people is highly appreciated by Lady Gray Hill, who always buys large quantities of carving and inlaid work to bring to England to distribute among her friends. The Law Society's rcom in Chancery lane, London, possess some charming decorations in the way of floral-painted panels, the work of Lady Gray Hill, and two fine specimens of her art form attractive and beautiful obiects let in to the chimney-pieces in the president's room and in the society's dining hall. These pictures are "Dawn on the Mountains of Moab and the Dead Sea," and "The Phoenician Coast." The coming Liverpool Exhibition will probably include a delicate bit of colouring depicting the "Sea of Galilee and a Glimpse of TiberuV

Deprecation of Old Pictures —The Melbourne Age says: — Owing to the necessity of making room for the- new pictures in the Art Gallery, purchased out of the Felton bequest, many of the old works are to be sold for what they will bring, disregarding their original cost. Some 400 are thus to be placed under the hammer. They cost some £12,000, and Mr Bernard Hall puts their present value at about £100. Some 200 oils, including pictures by Gully. May, Cole, Frost, Folingst>y, Ford. Opio, Paton, Baxter, Adam, Law, Weber, Cjuitauld, Martens, Hcring, and other wel!knjwn artists, are valued at so many shillings apiece, frames included, though in many cases the frames cost much more than the valuation now placed upon the pictures by Mr Hall. Th© intention of the Diiector of the National Gallery 'is to tecure a clearing sale, and he proposes to place the following pictures amonget others, under tte hammer. without any reserve — viz.. "Wreck," by M. Hay, cost £52, now valued at 10s ; 208 Fohngsby sketches, cost £446. now \alued by Mr Hall at 5& ; 50 sketches of gold fields", by K. S. Gill, cost £105; ''Ln the StuJio."' by Van Schmidt, co~t £150: '-Balmoral," by Adam, cost £150; "Tr?\ piling Tinker," by Opie, cost £47. valued by Mr Hall at ss; "Rose of England," by Baxter, cost £13'j, valued at 10^; "Flamboiou^h Head." by Too\ ey, cost £ 4 7, valued at 5- ; "Upper Morelaggan," by YV H. P:iton, (o=t £200; "Land's End," by Koekkoek ; "Ben Venue." by Dr Law, cost £100; "Fi-hing Boats," by Web^r, cost £157, now valued at 10s; "Palm Sunday," by Courta,uld, coot £157, now valued at 10s; "Death of Joan Goujon." by Wehnert. cost £52, now valued at 10s; " Grey Day on the Thames," by Field, >ost £31, now valued at 10s: "River Mill and Farm,' 1 by Lee, cost £350; "Drukhcal Monuments," by H-ering, coit £210.