[RICHARD SICHERT. THE LEICESTER GALLERIES.]
The retrospective exhibition of drawings and paintings by Richard Sickert at the Leicester Galleries is a fairly large affair. There are a hundred and eighteen works in all, if we include four new etchings which are not in the catalogue, but are hung opposite the entrance. The drawings, of which there are forty-two, are together in the first room, and throughout the exhibition there is no attempt at a chronological order in the hanging. There is a plentiful variety among his subjects to pick from—Venice, Dieppe, the old music halls, to mention a few. His titles are delightful. The pictures of the old Halls must claim an historic interest, quite apart from their artistic value, as the Halls he paints, such as the Old Bedford, Gatti's Arches, &c., have disappeared. Among his Venetian pictures Palazzo Montecuccoli and The Ghetto, Venice, seem to stand out. Many of the works are in a low tone key, and in this respect The Jacobo Bassano, and DerrRre S. Remy may be mentioned. In The Heart of Bath and Paradise Row, Bath, the colour and the tone key are as light as one could wish. Ennui, with its truly awful room, expresses the essence of boredom, but as regards this picture and its title one cannot be too sure which is the cart and which the horse. Maestoso con Sentimento attracts, particularly so by reason of the blue colour of the dress of the lady playing the piano. From among the drawings mention can only be made of The Steamer, ink and wash, and La Carolina, a pencil drawing done in 1903. Mr. Sickert knows what he wants to do, and goes and does it. Nothing turns him aside. Though everything may not be to one's liking in this show, it should, nevertheless, bring home to the visitor the unswerving path which Mr. Sickert has always followed.
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