Auckland Society of Arts.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 20, 19 May 1909, Page 15

Auckland Society of Arts.

Record Exhibition of Paintings—Tha Supremacy of the Landscape.

(By Our Art Critic.'

A Very Chaste Collection. 67T VERY chaste collection is one g I of the first impressions that J the twenty-eighth annual exhibition of the Auckland Society of Arts presents to one fresh from the galleries of Britain and Europe. With two exceptions, the study of the nude has been eschewed in favour of a highly varied taste in landscape and portraiture. New Zealand fortunately, does not possess any centres of life so. crowded or teeming with restless life as are common to the Old World. It offers in contrast purple hills, bush and sunlit shores. With its illimitable wealth of natural beauty and absence of higher civilisation, or excessive culture in its centres of population, it is easy to understand how its artists come to neglect sex in their art. That it should be sc is perhaps as well. There are a number of people who believe that nude art. is necessarily indecent. There are a great number of young people who fail to understand or realise that in a poetic ronception of the female figure there is nothing but the expression of chaste beauty. Mr. C. 8. Jamieson (Wellington) contributes a very charming study of a young girl. It is a delicate piece of painting characterised by soft flesh tints and easy pose. It is the only frankly nude study in an otherwise "chaste” exhibition. In hie “Spoils for the Victors” Mr. L. S. Steele shows very exact treatment in the central figure of the picture. Il is not altogether a "nice’’ subject, but in Its Meissonler-like compactness it concentrates dramatic force and pathos. There is something that reaches to the heart in that gashed, mute, limp body of tho dead warrior lying at the feet of his captive bride. Another vigorous Maori study, entitled “Defiance,” representing a half nude woman reviling the head of an enemy on a stake, by the same painter, is sure to attract attention. The execution in both cases is true to the artist’s precision and draughtmanship. The Landscapes. The landscapes are a very full and interesting classes. Some of the best work that has been done by Dominion artists for sometime past is to be seen this year. There is, of course, a sprinkling of the amateurish element. Art in New Zealand has left a good deal of that behind. It is not inaccurate to say that every year now sees its one time prevalence being steadily diminished. Many of our leading artists have travelled and studied in the cities of the masters. Not a few have first applied their training end then adapted it to give a higher interpretation of tho multi-coloured and elusive subjects of the Dominion. Tho clarity of its atmosphere and the brilliance of its sunshine give it many characteristics that are new to arti-ts. Tn no general wav are there to bo found the soft dream like effects of tl»o

Duteh canal, the blinding light of Spain, with ite romantic folk and picturesque thoroughfare, or the colour feasts that invest the life of Italian villages by the Mediterranean with such remarkable charm. Not even with Britain itself in its drowsy sunshine and storied villago does New Zealand possess any resemblance. It has its own peculiarly local characteristics of colour just as much as Australia has. The environment of the great sunny continent has already produced a distinct' national art. In New Zeala'nd wo have so far only tho impress of our local surroundings, but there are one or two landscapes in the Society of Arts Exhibition this year that lead one to suppose that the time is not very distant when local characteristics under Maoriland’s majestic hills will be resolved by our artists with a more or less original and definite style of painting. Impressions of Prominent Pictures. Probably local atmosphere was neve» more happily caught or rendered than in the large canvas Mr. F. Wright (Auckland) exhibits this year, entitled "The Close of Day.” The scene is at Mercer, on the Maungatawhiri stream, a tributary to the Waikato River. The artist had made a very effective composition in which no feature predominates unduly over another. Every element combines into a scene of majestic harmony, even to the few faint Maori figures that are wandering peacefully along the banks of the stream in the magic of the sunset hour. It is a painting, looking into which one can spend a lot of time. Probably Mr. Wright has never done more truly artistic work. The treatment is careful almost to the point of being subdued, and it shows fine, even quality throughout. In a smaller canvas, No. 34, “The Pool,” he shows the same aptitude for rendering the exquisite melancholy of a secluded forest haunt, such as the curly Maori knew.

Amongst other landscapes that call for notice, Mr. T. L. Drummond (Auckland). who has been a regular exhibitor for many years, shows a pretty and conventional subject, entitled, "Near Hoteo.” It possesses two excellent points—picturcsqueiiess of composition and smoothness in perspective. It is similar in treatment to a straightforward canvas by Mrs. Walrond (Auckland), “On the Hautapu River,” over which a pretty light falls, nicely contrasted with the depths of the forest. In contradistinction to these tw’O subjects, which belong chiefly to tho accepted ideas of landscape work in tho Dominion, comes a free and daring treatment of "Rural Auckland,” by Mr. A. F. Nicholls, a young artist of the Queen City, known chiefly through his connection with the Elam School of Arts, lhe colour scheme is low in tone, and the execution elastic almost to the point oi

being loose. Mr. NieboM* has vigorous ideas of treatment, both in landscape ■nd portraiture. His methods are new to Ne.v Zealand, but not wholly original. He appears to be ■ little inclined to the Parisian passion for soft greens and mellow gray', flung boldly on a canvas bf lanpressionistio aspirations. Mr. Kennett Watkins (Auckland) hangs several •Alpine works, including an ambitious canvas entitled ‘‘Valley of the Tasman, livening.” Beyond a low-toned and subdued foreground, the snow-white peaks bf the mountains rise tipped with the pink and orange glows of the sunset. •A pale green sky, overhung with clouds Hinged by the fire of west, catches the eye immediately. It is an illusion not at all Uncommon to alpine regions, however Snuch some people might think it “not true to nature.” The artist has obviously put the canvas forward as a big work, ■nd, whilst it achieves much that is meritorious, it does not seem io convey io the watcher the purity of atmosphere, the limpidity of sky, and the sublime majesty that hoid the alpine splendours »f the South spellbound with beauty. In his water colours the artist is more (convincing, but that must be left till later. Mr. Walter Wright (Auckland) shows quite a number of picturesque canvasses of Maori life. He is one of the little band of artists in the Dominion •who are seeking to preserve in accurate form much of the life and scenes that are vanishing with the primitive splendour of the Maori. “At Ngauruwahia" is a deep-toned conception of an inspiring bit of the Waikato river, with a characteristic group treated in poetic vein and rendered in easy and picturesque style. .Several other canvases, notably *‘A Summer Afternoon,” No. 1, and “Native Church at Ohinemutu,” No. 112. ■how truly refined qualities and a familiarity with the details of Maori architecture and dressing that gives his work a. distinct historic value. His colour scheme is invariably peaceful, and flows over the canvas with a delicacy which cannot but impart atmosphere to his subject. He strikes a new vein in No. 92, fen evening scene in Auckland harbour, remarkable for its soft purple haze and simplicity of composition. A somewhat pretty landscape by Mr. C. H. Howarth, ■ Southern artist, whose work appears for the first time in the Auckland exhibition, is hung in irdifferent company. The glass to some extent conceals one or two obvious defects in treatment, but M a piece of picturesque, realistic work it is worthy of notice. A work that bears the stamp of the Royal Academy is No. 43, “Near the Braes of Balquibidder,” by Miss E. Baldwin Warn, at present of Wellington. It was hung in 1905, and is unquestionably a very fine work. It is full of light and shade hovering over the etones of an old water mill beneath, woodland splendours that the artist has caught with rare grace and charm. The whole painting is subdued into a deep poetic colour scheme, and can but convey a lasting nofe of beauty. Life and Portraiture, Life and portraiture abound in numbers, although the subjects of a good number o' the exhibits belong to other climes than our own. Sir. C. S. Goldie Auckland) is prominent with a number ii>f Maori heads in characteristic poses, each a study of minute detail and a marvel of accurate draughtsmanship. His “Weary with Years” (No. 31) and “A Centenarian” (No. II) are works of almost photographic faithfulness, poetic in conception, and flawless in the particular treatment by which the artist is well known. The first-named painting Ehowa him in a slightly different vein hitherto. The rendering all through is pofter—a style that does much to enhance ile poetic value. Mr. 8. L. Thompson, who was a prominent exhibitor last year, exhibits a charming study of a girl with a Japanese paraeol (No. 16). 3t stands out in the whole exhibition for its purity of colour and freshness of treatment The sense of subdued sunlight and heat is very realistic. It ranks as «no of the pictures of tbe year. The canvases of Mrs. Elizabeth Kelly, who ■lso hails from tbe south, are no less

prominent. “The Blue Kimoua” (No. 44) is a delightful piece of pure painting, impressionistic and full of striking values in light and shade. Her “Girl with a Guitar” is an equally bold conception, combining accuracy of draughtsmanship with a freedom of execution that is as captivating as it is original. She uses browns and ochres to considerable effect in building up a poetic and attractive colour subject. “In My Garden” is a striking canvas rendered much in the same way, but it does not balance with the nicety of composition that belongs to her two other works already named. A trifle more subdued in tone and treatment is a fine canvas by her husband (Mr. C. Fletcher Kelly), entitled “Girl Blowing Bubbles.” Miss Maud Williams (Auckland), who is at present abroad, sends in a striking work called “On the Ramparts, Montreuil” (No. 27). It is a painting of great promise. Some people may wonder at the vigour with wliich broad splashes of colour have been applied and the apparent subjection of detail to masses. Miss Williams is obviously under modern French influence, and as such her work is to be welcomed for the directness and brilliance with which its effects are secured. Her art is impressionistic to a marked degree, and shows great quality. One has only to stand off a short distance and take in the whole painting collectively to realise the excellence of her methods. A portrait of Mr. E. W. Payton, by Mr. A. F. Nicholl, is characterised by vigorous treatment throughout. Amongst numerous other personal canvases is “A Portrait,” by Mr. Lindley Richardson, R.BA. (Wellington), which was exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists, London. It is one of the finest works in the exhibition, showing matured talent and methods that ought to recommend themselves to the younger artists of the Dominion who are anxious to see good painting. Miscellaneous Oils. Amongst the miscellaneous oils, Mr. R. Proctor (Christchurch) has a number of Venetian views on the line, and without exception they all reach the high-water mark of good work. ‘‘A Doorway on the Gieudecea” (No. 37) and “An Adriatic Trader” (No. 84) are subjects that will (recall many vivid memories for those who know Venice and its artistic charms. Tbe water colours form a considerable section of the exhibition, and must wait for notice Till next week.