THE ROYAL ACADEMY.

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19759, 14 December 1935, Page 19 (Supplement)

THE ROYAL ACADEMY.

NEW CLUB’S TILT AT IT. ’ * 11 LOVERS ” AN UGLY PICTURE. The New English Art Club is no longer new, says a writer in a London paper.. Its eighty-sixth exhibition marks the fiftieth anniversary of the constitution of the club, which .can look back to a vigorous, sometimes tempestuous youth and can look forward, it appears, lo a vigorous old age. The club has mellowed. It is not as aggressive as of yore, but that it still* enjoys having a tilt at its venerable forbear, the Royal Academy, is shown by the inclusion in the present exhibition of Stanley Spencer s “ Lovers,” one of the two paintings by that artist which created such a storm when excluded from Burlington House this year. “ Lovers ” remains what it was, a thoroughly ugly picture, and " By the River," another and larger work by the same artist, is no better. One can hut regret that a gifted artist is wasting his talent. Sickert Exhibits. Walter Sickert, who joined heatedly in the Spencer dispute and resigned from the Academy, is also exhibiting at the New English. “ The New Bedford ” is one of his best later canvasses, suggesting well the olose, gilded atmosphere of a theatre., Next to it hangs a splendid head of a girl, by Augustus John. A rather wild, lively expression emerges from a fascinating mesh of brush strokes, swiftly laid on, “ The Late Mark Fisher, R.A.,” by Sir George Clausen, belongs to the naturalistic, rather bourgeois, school of' portraiture. Those who like a Priestley novel should like it. There are plenty more exhibits that arc well worth seeing. Ethel Walker gives u sensitive reading of a sensitive face in “An Inspired Jeweller: Moyslieh Gyved." Sir William Rollienslcin’s “ Student at his Easel ” looks rather rigid, but students do look rigid ijt their easels.. The hands of “Henry Rushbury, Esq.,” by A. Neville Lewis, are somewhat weak, but the pose is natural and the features are expressive of ihought. Colin Gill’s “Lord Allen of Hurtwood” is cold and formal but: quite arresting. Able Drawing. Exotic scarlet plant and wooded carved figures combine into a lively still-life (If the expression may he used) caned r ‘Ex Africa" by Mary Adsliead. A blue ostrich feather hangs in mid-air in an unexplained manner and mars a clever design. Guile one of the best things to he seen is “Summer Afternoon” by Margaret Fisher Prout. A girl sits under a large fixed sunshade in a flower garden. Good calligraphy and sound appreciation of tone values go hand in hand with able drawing and sufficiently bright colour. The “matierc," the paint itself, is unfortunately too dry. R. Eirkland Jamieson displays a dramatic sense of aimospheie in “April in a London Garden”. Witty Australian Painter.

\t, Walker's Galleries, New Bondsi,Phyllis Norton, the Australian wife of a prominent Civil Servant, shows sensitive, often witty, watercolours.

Stic has different styles at her command: one, I'oc street, scenes, is dry, rallmr precious, reminiscent of the limes id' the Georgian beaux re-created by Hex WbiSller- Another style, with colours mingling cloudily on paper Impl. slightly damp. Is favourable lo seascapes and scenes in fishing villages. A third style, delicate, and dainty, is reserved for flower pictures of considerable appeal. Yes, Phyllis Norton is a sensitive, often witty pain tec.

STUDENTS’ SHOW. EXHIBITION IN SYDNEY. MANY PROMISING WORKS. The Julian Ashton-Stanley' Gibbons Art School in Sydney arranged an interesting exhibition oi students and ex-students’ works. Still-life studies are fairly numerous, as is to be expected, for it is in such subjects that the important foundations of picture painting are laid, such as design, form, colour, light and shade values. There are various other subjects, however, which are handled with different degrees of style and skill. “Flying Spray” by J. R. Ashton, is an animated yachting scene. Several bird studios by Shirley M. Edwards and Wenda Elliott Smith are commendable, as also sketches of cockatoos by B. Mallinson. Clive Wilbow presents several ablyexecuted still-life studies, of which “ Candle Light" is specially meritorious, but in his landscapes a different style is essayed with less success. Sea Studies. Iledley Parsons shows some excellent sea studies. “ Zinnias,” by Clarice Sandford,\and “Cactus," by Dot Gardner, are vigorous aild well done. “ Hillside," by Geo. Cline is a tasteful little orchard scene, and lan Malcolm has a pleasing landscape, “ Narrow Neck." H. Badham’s work would Impress one with the Idea that his clear-cut style would ' make him a high-class poster artist; while Joshua Smith’s exhibits‘are all done with evident painstaking precision and study.