WATER COLOURS OF EGMONT

Taranaki Daily News, 11 July 1933, Page 3

WATER COLOURS OF EGMONT

EXHIBITION AT NEW PLYMOUTH.

J. L. MOORE’S BEAUTIFUL WORK.

The exquisite pink of the first rays of the rising sun lighting the high slopes of Mount Egmont glows, delicate and entrancing, from one of the most notable water-colours of the fihe collection being exhibited at New Plymouth by Mr. John L. Moore.

“Sunrise From Dawson Falls” is not just a mountain picture with its appeal limited to those who have had the enviable experience of seeing the wave of colour flood down the mountain as the sun rises; it will please everyone who enjoys an appropriate portrayal of beauty. The foreground, vague, its colours subdued, is redolent of the cold uncanniness of the moments preceding sunrise. Above the shadow of the horizon it is day. Everything is precise in the new light, the delicacy of which Mr. Moore has recorded with inspired faithfulness.

A more complicated composition is a bush scene, “Kapuni River-bed,” a careful study of different kinds of trees. It has more tone contrast than the sunrise picture and fuller colouring, and having thus attracted attention it fascinates with its wealth of detail. Most of the water-colours Mr. Moore is exhibiting are mountain studies. They show that his ability is far from being confined by oft-repea'ted characteristics to a monotonous channel. The intense blue of a winter day is there in all its cold brilliance in a study from New Plymouth. In startling contrast is the pale haziness that tells of a hot day’s painting near Opunake. Interestingly enough, Mr. Moore has used Taranaki’s mysterious volcanic mounds for very effective balance in one of his western pictures. Perhaps one of the best works is one, palely serene, in' which the winding river makes a good composition. Mr. Moore in his water-colours uses the simplest method—successive washes of colour freely painted after careful drawing. He attracted notice in London with his show at the Graham Gallery, New Bond Street, a few years ago. He was born at Hawera and studied at the Technical College, Wellington, Goldsmith’s College, London, and the British Academy, Rome. When he is not on painting expeditions now in New Zealand’s most beautiful districts his home is at Havelock North.

Mr. Moore is' exhibiting his watercolours and etchings at Tingey’s, Currie* Street, until Saturday.