New Zealand Artists.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 21, 22 May 1912, Page 15

New Zealand Artists.

Annual Exhibition at Auckland — Some Excellent Work.

THE most notable feature about the annual exhibition of the Auckland Society of Arts, which was opened last week by his Excellency the Governor in the .Society’s rooms in Coburg-street, .is the exceptional evenness of the work that has been hung. In past years there may have been some few pictures of outstanding merit, but there have also been more of infinitely inferior quality. The average is much higher, and there is a welcome scarcity of freak canvases. Southern painters are well represented, and the exhibition could not well afford to be without their work. The total number of pictures hung is 550, of which 125 are photographs exhibited by the Auckland Camera Club, and the addition of this section, which is quite new in the history of the Society, is so successful that it is to be hoped that the co-op-eration will become a permanent feature of the annual exhibitions. After looking round the walls ono might wish for more genre paintings, and more work that appeals to feelings deeper than the imagination, something symbolical of those great truths of humanity which are felt by every man and woman, but which can be expressed only by the great musician, poet or painter — something which most have thought, but which has been “ne’er so well expressed before.” This, however, is rather in the nature of an ideal we should set ourselves, and no one would expect much work of this nature in a young country. Art is the last thing which conies to people, and is essentially a matter of evolution, and the painter in obeying his artistic yearning must pass through his successive stages like the nautilus in that beautiful poem of Oliver Wendell Holmes. A word of compliment is the desert of the Hanging Committee. No committee has ever pleased everybody. The man has not been born who could satisfactorily answer the artist’s indignant “Why is my picture not hung?” arid the public’s equally indignant “Why on earth have you given that thing wall space?” There is even more divergence of opinion about art than there is about musie, because the artist uses material which is more or less familiar to everybody, so naturally everybody adopts the role of critic naturally—with frequent admirable and useful results so long an he pays due regard to the wholesome admonition "Ne sutor ultra crepidam,’’ but, unfortunately, this is not always so —witness the case of a farmer man who, emboldened by his success when he corrected the artist’s idea of the way small pigs feed at a trough, floundered on to matters that were not bucolie and so was lost. The committee must be congratulated on the success with which they have accomplished a most thankless task. It is a significant fact that there is no “Chamber of Horrors” this year. For this relief, mutch thanks. There are of course some pictures hung which one might have wished elsewhere, and there is one on the stairway—a Southern landscape — which perhaps should have had a better place, but the unprejudiced person must admit that the work has been done most judiciously. The Oils. The honour of having painted the picture of the year will fall by common consent to the veteran artist, Mr. Kennett Watkins, who has a large canvas depicting the legend of the coming of the .Maori to New Zealand —the arrival of the ducky Argonauts after their long voyage, over the Great Ocean of Kiwa, from distant Hawaiki, whose identity is now “through tract of years, in mute oblivion lost.” The subject has already been dealt with in the well-known picture by Messrs. Steele and Goldie, which now hangs in the Auckland Art Gallery, and no two conceptions could be more diametrically opposed. The Steele-Goldie painting depicts the grim reality of that great migration across the trackless ocean, and the dramatic incident of tile sighting of the almost despaired-of “Long White Cloud.” We have the stormbeaten canoe, and the emaciated forms of the adventurous sailors who had forsaken their sunny homes ami followed the wake of the sun in search of the half mythical land at the edge of the

oeean. We confess that this appeals to us as being more in accordance with the spirit of the Maori Odyssey, but this does not detract in the slightest from the interest that attaches to Mr. Watkins’ conception of a less strenuous, not to say idyllic voyage, over peaceful seas. The colouring, especially of the water, is very fascinating, but it is not NewZealand. Rather it reminds one of early merning “by reef and palm,” and before the sea breeze has sprung up. The richly delicate shades of blue, green and yellow which Mr. Watkins has used we have never seen outside the tropics, and then only in certain Islands. They are as rare as the tints of a tropical sunset. Mr. Watkins has idealised the scene, but it will not be the -less popular for that. If one were disposed to criticise one would naturally suggest that the canoes and voyagers would scarcely be in such good form as the artist paints them. There is a suggestion of wear about some of the sails, but there is hardly a strand of gear out of place, and not a chip of paint is missing. Still, the work is ambitious and praiseworthy in its attention to detail, as well as charming in is faeile handling of colour. Southern Artists. On the principle of “visitors first,” we will refer briefly to some of the numerous works sent in by Southern painters. A prolific and welcome contributor is Mr. C. H. Howorth, of Wanganui, who has nine which are of exceptionally even merit. The style of this painter has

changed since he hist exhibited, and changed much for the better. There is more thought in his work, and he seems to be taking a great deal more time over it than in the past. While his work is brushed in freely, it is less theatrical and his colour scale is always pleasing. “Silverstream,” a well-known Wellington spot, appeals to us most, and then come “Pastoral Scene, Akaroa,” “A Hill Farm, Akaroa,” “Grehan Valley, Akaroa,” and “On the Heathcote, Christchurch.” Slightly idealised, they are still quite New Zealand in atmophere, with the exception of the Heathcote, which perhaps rather suggests England than the harder lighting which is a characteristic of these latitudes. ‘Diamond Lake, Wakatipu,” differs from anything. Mr. Howorth has sent in, but we profess to liking him more in the quieter pastoral scenes, in the depiction of which he is so happy. “Rocks at Island Bay, Wellington,” contains some good work, notably in the background and the sea, which has almost the Somerseales colour, but the rocks are somewhat woolly. The name of Mr. Menzies Gibbs has always been a popular one on the eataoguc, and this yer.r he is represented by four pictures, two large ones and two small, one of the latter being a

portrait. “Low Tide, St, Ives,” is a little bit of the Cornish village which is so beloved of artists; looking towards the Smeaton Pier, with the - doitblc row of fishing boats hauled up on- the beach, the sort of thing you always think of if you have ever been to this quaint old fishing village, and you come across the name in after days. In this canvas will be found the Christchurch artist’s best work. “Grey of the Morning” is a sea piece with the rollers tumbling green to the shore in the early morning with a stiff breeze blowing in from the sea, and the sun hardly risen above the cloudwrapped horizon, irradiating the scene with an eerie light. “Head of Loch Goil,” a Scottish scene, is a nice little bit of work, but the figure study, “Meditation,” No. 84, should not be missed by those who can appreciate a really clever bit of figure painting. The pose, lighting and tone are all excellent, and the thoughtful old man with the interesting face, "les yeux fixes sur ses pensees,” is the work of a true artist. One of the finest things In the gallery is “The Crest of the Hill,” by Mr. W. Greene, Tiniaru. The sturdy plough horses have just reached the point where the upland meets the Hat, and straining every nerve for the end of the pull as the coulter turns over its fresh furrow of good, brown earth. There is atmosphere in the landscape, and real movement in the struggling beasts, who are well into the collar, as the farmer says. The tone of the canvas i<s subdued, and quggestive of the time of planting, and the only blemish on an otherwise clever and distinctive piece of work is the ploughman, who is somewhat out of the picture. There are two bits from Essex, by Mr. Greene, “A Shady Pool,” with the sunlight flickering through the trees, being a very happy bit of colouring and brush work. An attractive picture is “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” by Mr. R. Wallwark, A.R.C.A., who has treated Titania’s infatuation for Bottom in a decorative style, which reminds one of a popular

picture in the Auckland Gallery of a youth playing with young lions in a field of poppies. Mr. Wallwark has obtained his colour mainly by the intro duetion of a peacock, whose gaudy tail comes in with good effect. Bottom’s knees obtrude themselves somewhat too athletically on the eye, but the picture which, by the way, was exhibited at the 1910 Royal Academy, contains much good work, and marks this artist, who has only been out in Christchurch for a few years, as a man with a style that should do much for Colonial art. He also has a capital portrait of Mr. R. Herdman Smith, which shows much vigour and originality. Other works from his brush are “Ship Repairers,” “Fugitives,” and “The Novel,” but they do not show him at his best. Another Southerner whose work is a valuable acquisition to this year's exhibition is .Mr. J. M. Madden, of Christchurch, who has seven canvases bearing his name, all the subjects being chosen outaide New Zealand. The most attractive is “Hellaggio, Lake Como,” No. 130, a sunny, bright picture, which contains all that is distinctive In the work of this artist. It looks exceptionally well under artificial light. “The Rift in the Storm,” a wild glen in the Highlands, one of those “scenes where savage grandeur wakes an

awful thrill, that softens into sighs,” is romantic in conception, and highly .dr lmatie in effect, the sort of thing tlHt .Scott delighted to describe and people with the children of his fancy. The suggestion of the red tone which is notice able in certain effects of light in Scotch firs is well carried out. “Top of the Pass, Musten. Norway,” is marked t>v some good brush work, but is rather cold and formal. “Fishing Boats Leaving Whitby,” a large picture, is a phase of English sea coast life which has a strange fascination for every man, though he may be scarcely able to tell a fishing smack from a collier. An old English fishing town or village is one of the most picturesque sights that we have left in these days when steam has robbed the •sea of half its romance (in spite of Rudyard Kipling’s poem), and Mr. Madden lias caught and transferred to canvas the veiy spirit of the thing. The sunset hues on the East Cliff with the old town below growing indistinct in the evening mists, and foreground with the fishing boats from St. Ives amt Penzance which go round the coast every year, make ;i scene which has a peculiar charm, especially for colonials, as we have nothing of the kind in these parts. Just near this picture is a little cana.is dealing with a somewhat similar subject, No. 56, “ fhe Cornish Coast,” n m 1 ’’ Lawson Balfour. It is his only exhibit, and makes one regret that he has not sent in more. Lighting and treatment, which are quite different from Mr. Madden’s work, are both admirable, and reproduce the Cornish atmosphere with fidelity. The scene is typical of this interesting coast (which the steam trawler has not yet invaded), with (he boats in the bay, the worn stone steps winding up the cliff, and the oldworld village at the top, with the cen-turies-old church tower which is so characteristic of Cornwall Aucklanders and Others. A picture which is attracting a lot of attention is a large portrait of His Holiness the Pope, Pius X., painted by Miss Ellen von Meyern. Both in conception and technique the picture is admirable—good in workmanship and clean in colour. It is decidedly the best canvas that Miss von Meyern has done, and she has received many congratulations upon her work. It may be mentioned that the portrait was painted from material supplied by Father Patterson, who has just returned from u visit to Rome, and who pronounces it a most faithful likeness. There are two or three other smaller pictures by the same artist, including a portrait of Captain Amundsen, but she may be well content to rest her reputation on her large work. Mr (.'. F. Goldie is represented by eight pictures, most of which are studies of Maori heads, in his well-known style. His fidelity of detail, good drawing, and choice of subject appeal to a large following, and this year his collection is quite up to the high standard he sets himself. The models, however, are hardly so pleasing as the old rangatiras and wahines with which he has familiarised us, and for this reason they do not attract one so much as some of his work on previous occasions. In “The Widow,” the work is of a nice quality, and “Atama Paparangi” is the portrait of an old North Auckland aristocrat of a type that is now 'almost extinct. “Night in the Whare” is sure to find many admirers, and is essentially a “popular” picture. A typical mother of the kainga is lighting her pipe in one of the very few lulls that occur in the whare during the evening when ihe old ladies gather round to discuss the village affairs. The old person’s face is strongly lit up umid the surrounding gloom, and the double effect of the lighted match and the reflection on the brown face, the grizzled hair, and the white blouse is skilfully managed. There are six canvasses bearing the name of Mrs E. M. Walrond, whose sympathetic style is so well suited to portraying certain aspects of New Zealand scenery. “In the Clinton Valley” is the most important one, but “Solitude” and “A Backwater on the Waikato” would probably ap|M‘al to a wider circle. “Solitude” is particularly pleasing. The glow of the western sky is real, 'and the kahikateas, which are so characteristic of some of the lower reaches of the Waikato, are cleverly treated. It is in such scenes as this, and that depicted in “A Backwater on the Waikato,” that Mrs W’alrond’s poetic treatment is most effective. It is rather strange that some of the greatest animal pictures have been printed by women. Horses, dogs, and eats seem to have a special fascination for them. This year nearly all the aai-

mal studies in the gallery are by lady members of the Society. We have Misses Amy Dawson, Kit Turner and B. C. Dobbie, who exhibit meritorious studies. Miss Dobbie’s picture, “Inseparables,” a black terrier and a white one, is very lifelike, and one could readily imagine these two very likeable little fellows getting into all sorts of mischief together. Miss Dawson has an attractive picture, small but full of interest, called “To Ride Like our Forefathers,” depicting a charge of Lancers. It is a nice bit of colouring, strongly suggestive of “the dust of conflict.” Miss Turner has several small subjects which are pleasing, and show temperament, among the best (being “Puzzled,” a fox-terrier watching a rat in a cage, and “Garry,” another canine of the same very “paintable” (breed. Mr. Edward Fristrom has a number of pictures bearing his signature, but most of them are too impressionistic to appeal to a colonial public. The charm of his “Grey Day, Sil verstream,” is, however, patent to all, and is easily the best thing he has done. There is real atmosphere, and the colouring is excellent, the middle ■distance being particularly charming. One of the daintiest canvases in the room is H. J. Edgar’s profile study of a girl seated in a chair, with her hands in her lap. This artist has the inestimable gift of knowing when to stop, and his treatment of the white dress is worth close study by those who are prone to elaborate too much. There is a delicacy of touch and a purity of tone which make this little work very desirable. The same artist’s “Cornfield,” though decidedly what painters call “slick,” shows tlie same nice appreciation of tone. An uncommon subject for a colonial artist is “The Phantom Ship,” chosen by Mr. C. E. Bickerton, of Christchurch, whose “Wandering Albatross” is hung a little further on. The first-mentioned is a thoughful treatment of a world-old legend, and is full of suggestion to the imaginative. The moonlit water in the middle distance is particularly good, the least pleasing feature of an otherwise acceptable picture being the somewhat “card'boardy” waves dashing up against the bulwarks of the vessel in the foreground. In the depiction of Maori life as we know it to-day, no one is happier than Mr. Walter Wright, who has a number of those small pictures which are always so popular with the public. The secret of the odd charm of the small dusky children and their quaint mamas is well known to this artist, who has a facility in the composition of those little bits of native life which attract both by reason of their naturalness and their warm, bright and cheerful colouring. While regretting that he has not seen fit to put in anything of a more ambitious character, one is thankful for the bright spots his charming little studies make on the walls. Just as his brother has the true faculty of portraying the everyday life of the Maori, Mr. Frank Wright has the gilt of being able to paint real New Zealand bush, one of the most difficult of subjects. “The Last Gleam” is a typical bit of coast line with a scow in the bay, and the last blush of the sunset illumining the bold headland across the •water. Subject and method are quite in accordance with modern striving after a particular effect, and Mr. Wright must be complimented on a successful piece of work. But it is in “Morning After Rain,” evidently one of the wild valleys of the Urewera country, that he is at his best. He is one of the few of our artists who can suggest the peculiar charm of the scene with a front light softly bathing the undulating Hopes of the glorious forest which is one of the unque characteristics of the Dominion. This is the sort of thing which his Excellency has appealed to artists to perpetuate before it is ruthlessly swept away. The stream in the foreground, with the three figures and the dark tree in the middle distance before the valley sweeps up into the magnificent verdure-clad hills, are clever touches in one of the best pictures in the gallery. Mr. E. W. Payton’s most important exhibit is a sunset effect on Mount Tarawcra from the Wairoa slopes, and con' tains his best workmanship, particularly in the treatment of the distant sunbathed mountain top. It looks particularly well under artificial light. Rather bald for such a large canvas, the picture would probably appeal more to fellow painters by reason of its technical excellence than to the general public. In the Hamurana piece. No. 103, Mr. Payton hns caught one of those effects of sunlight streaming through trees which

are always popular. The composition, the corner of the lake, the yellow sandy shore, and the chequered shade under the willows, is pleasing, and would find more admirers than his larger and better painted picture. There are several other canvases by the same artist, one, of a Maori woman making flax mats, a bit of native life treated with much naturalness. Trained work is the chief feature of “ Dawn ” and “ Betrothed,” by Elizabeth Kelly, whose colour scale is caviare to the general, but her pictures are undoubtedly among the most finished on the walls. The pallor of her flesh tints is not so unsuitable to a semi-symbolic subject like “Dawn,” but it is rather trying in actual portraits like “ Betrothed.”*' Dawn ” is singularly attractive in conception and execution. Mr. C. F. Kelly, whose style is similar, exhibits “Happy Hours,” a female figure in a field of flowers, marked by much artistic work. About Miss Eva R. Mouldey’s “ Beggar Maid,” No. 71, there is something that draws one to pause, something in the easy pose, the half mocking smile, and the warm colouring, but the too-bare shoulder is out of keeping with the neatness of the rest of the picture, and mars what is undeniably the work of an artist. A clever rendering of an attractive subject is No. 322, “iA Portrait in Profile,” by Mr. E. K. Webber, of Christchurch. The colouring is pleasing, the work is brushed in with plenty of confidence, and the lighting is striking and singularly effective. It is one of the most pleasing portraits In the gallery, and shows that this young artist has made considerable strides since he left Auckland. He has another painting, “Te Henga,” and is also represented among the water-colours. Mr. T. L. Drummond, one of the veteran members of the society, who paints with good contrasting light and shade, sends several pictures, which are redolent of the scenery among which he works at Whangarei. Those who know the locality cannot fail to appreciate 'the faithful manner in which he has caught the effects to be found along the Northern shores of this fine harbour, with its velvety headlands, slopes where the sun sleeps, and the long shadows under the banks. “A Summer’s Afternoon” is one of the best, and “In Whangarei Harbour” is another good example of his style. Miss Vera Jacobson, who possesses much talent and feeling, does not appear to have fixed her style yet, her works showing much difference of treatment. Her best is “Kathleen,” a bonny colonial girl with fine auburn hair. The pose of the full-length portrait, No. 138, is natural, though the train might have been brought down a step with advantage, and there are several other pictures with her name, notably “Daddy” and a landscape, No. 304. Water Colours.

Mention should be made of the works, mention should be made of the large number of fine flower studies which have been hung, among the exhibitors being Mi si a Ethel M. Baker, Miss N. Bennett, Mrs. W. A Kendon, Mrs. Trevor Gordon, Miss Alice R. Snelling, Miss Isabella Spragg. Miss Marian M. Cochran. Mr. L. J. Steele, the veteran artist, has only one portrait, which is marked by his characteristically excellent work, and it is a pity there is not more from hie ■brush on the walls. The best of Mr. E. M. de Vitz, canvases in an attractive portrait called “Evensong,” a troubadour singing to the strains of his guitar, Mr. G. Blomfield’s reputation is best sustained by his “Evening, Mahinapua Creek, Hokitika,” which while not altogether attractive in colouring, faithfully represents a phase of bush scenery peculiar to that part of the Dominion. Mr. J. D. Perrett’s smaller pictures strike one as being better than his larger works, and “Clouds Lifting, Milford Sound,” is the most pleasing, while No. 338, “A Quiet Nook, Auckland Harbour,” is a pleasant departure from his usual colour scheme. Among the water-colours Mr. C. N. Worsley’o work is so particularly good that the rest of this department suffers somewhat by comparison, but nevertheless there are a lot of pictures that will well repay a close study. Mr. Worsley’s two big subjects, “Sheep Washing, Cumberland,” and “An Autumn Morning, Lake Maggiore,” contain much that is the despair of the struggling amateur. His “Under the Plane Trees,’’ and “The Piazza, Piazza Nuora, Brescia," are typical of the land of blue skies, and suggest sunshine in a singularly happy

manner. Mr Frank Wright has several subjects, of which “the Stocking Glacier, Southern Alps,” is a masterly treatment of an inspiring scene. Mr J. Balfour shows several small things which are good in colouring and quite as attractive of his work in oils in the warmer medium. Mr. E. Bartley, who it will be remembered had some good work in last year, is not so well represented in his large picture, but there are a couple of small things, “The Old Moat,” and “Evening,” which quite bear out the promise he gave. Mr R. Pheney has two nice bits from the West Coast, north of Manukau, which are clean in colour and well reproduce the effect that one gets on the wet sands of this -beautiful coast. Mr G. K. Webber has several interesting exhibits which are impressionistic to a degree one would not have anticipated from his work in oils. Other pictures which attract are isent in by Miss A. Denison (“The Brooding Earth"), M. J. Rogers (“On the Sea Shore”), Overton Jones (“On the Gloucestershire Border”), A. F. Nicoll (“Twilight Naples”), H. M. Meyriek (“In the Desert”), Stanley G. Brister (“The Puritan”), but the section is generally good and space forbids mention of all the names deserving appreciative reference. The exhibits of the Auckland Camera Club make the finest collection of the art of the camera whieh has ever been got together in Auckland, and we trust the Society will have the co-operation of the club in future years. Those who doubt whether the artist and the photographer have anything in common will have their ideas dispelled by a look round the walls. Both in conception and technique the work is admirable, and much in advance of anything anyone not acquainted with the 'club would have suspected. Amateurs are mast fortunate in having in their midst such an institu tion. As the booklet issued by the club bo aptly remarks, “Every amateur photographer has frequently found himself in a difficulty where a word or two of practical advice would have saved him disappointment and much wasted material.” With such enthusiasts as these exhibitors to appeal to, any amateur will have the difficulties of -his hobby smoothed for him in a most agreeable way. Mr. T. D. Leedham, a veteran member of the, club, has a number of the genre subjects whieh he manages so successfully and his scenery also shows the artistic temperament. Mr R. B. Walrond, another prominent member, ~exhibits’ some very beautiful enlargemente which in composition, lighting and technique mark him as the most successful landscape photographer we have. Mr A. N. .Breckon, one of our foremost marine workers, sends in some excellent things from the West Coast, singularly characteristic of this rugged scenery, upon which so many amateurs have tried their skill in vain. Other members who have excellent pictures are Messrs. T. Doree, H. B Morton, F. J. Cullen, G. O’Halloran, M. Trenwith, Thos. Woodhead, W. J. Jacobs Tlios. Allen, Rev. T. Fisher, G H Sutcliffe. The exhibition is open daily from 12.30 to 5, and 7.30 to 10 p.m.)