ART.
THE NEW GALLERY.
THE portraits are perhaps the most interesting feature of the present exhibition at the New Gallery. A good point about them is the great variety of style they display. There is, too, a delightful absence of that type of picture which contains a strongly painted head and a large expanse of dull, subdued clothes, which is characteristic of the school of Frank Holl. Of course this painter was a master, and the great force of the painting carried off his common- place way of looking at people. Nevertheless, when his style is imitated, as it is freely, the result attained is perilously like to the "enlargement in oils" to be seen in the shops of the more ambitious photographers. The ad- vances made in the direction of greater freedom of pose, and the desire to realise not only the head, but the manner and characteristic movements of the sitter, are all in the right direction. No doubt the example of Mr. Sargent has been of the greatest help in bringing about this change. This year Mr. Sargent has again painted a full-length portrait of a lady in white satin—Mrs. G. Swinton (No. 245)—as only he can do it. Even if there is nothing new in the arrangement of the figure and the accessories, still the fact that no one else can paint these things in a manner even approaching to Mr. Sargent makes one glad to see them again, when painted with such convincing mastery. The drawing of this picture is exceedingly fine. One wonders if any one else could have painted the left arm—or rather left it out—with such a com- plete feeling of the solid structure beneath the loose scarf. This scarf hangs from the shoulder, and in its fall conceals both upper and lower arm ; only the hand resting on the hip is visible. Nevertheless, by the subtlety of the drawing of the folds of satin the presence of the limb is distinctly felt. It is by these resources of the art of suggestion that the painter has made his canvas seem alive, as much as by the more definitely painted parts, such as the face. The colour of this picture is beautiful. The silk covering of the chair by which the lady stands is a delicious shade somewhere between rose and orange, which harmonises with the warm colours of the flesh. There is a great gap between this splendid piece of bravura and the attempt at a like style by Mr. Shannon. The portrait of a boy (No. 240) is unpleasantly masterly. An air of rather cheap dignity pervades the picture, and the pose of the boy borders on affectation. The large dog has an unsubstantial look about the hind-legs, and the well-worn convention of pillars and curtains at the back is not quite well enough done to be tolerable after such long use. Mr. Shannon has tried to build up a portrait in the grand style, but his art is more adapted to a gentler manner. Much more successful is his portrait of Lack Granby (No. 33). The colour is charming, and the general veiled tone very pleasing, though there is something sibyl-like about the pose which hardly accords with the delicate face and hands. Mr. Arthur Melville's portrait of Mr. M. White (No. 236) is an interesting picture much hurt by its surroundings. The bright land- scapes near it spoil the effect of its low tone. The artist has painted his subject at fall length in the dusk of a large
tom. The warm brown coat and knickerbockers stand out from their background rather by means of colour than by light
and shade. The head, too, is very quiet in its relief, but full a character. Indeed, the characterisation of the whole figure has been pushed so far as perhaps to incline a little to caricature. The only portion of the arrangement which is not quite satisfactory is the relief of the lower part of the legs. It is in this part of the picture alone that there is much con- trast of light and dark, and this rather distracts the eye from the general impression. A picture of this kind, which is life- sized and shows the feet, with the figure not far from the eye, demands to be seen with the frame resting on the ground. Hung above the eye it can never look well. Mrs. Swynnerton's portrait of a little boy gorgeously clothed sitting in a chair is very beautiful in colour. Blue and coppery-brown are worked together into a singularly rich harmony. The beauty of the colour makes one regret all the more that the drawing of the figure should be so feeble. The head is well drawn enough, but the body is absurd in its proportions, and reminds one of the answer of the cherub who was invited to sit down. Mrs. Swynnerton's other picture (No. 157) is a fine study of a fresh-comph xioned girl in strong sunlight. The picture is a riot of colour, which will, no doubt, shock tender susceptibiliti s, but there is the feeling of the sun shining in it.
Among the landscapes are to be found both natural out-of- doors effects as well as romantic compositions in which nymphs play a large part. One of these is Mr. Leslie Thompson's Blue and Silver and Gold (No. 102). The composition is essentially a landscape, the figures of the nymphs sitting on the river-bank being quite small. The realisation of intense sunlight is very good, the deep-blue sky and water are glow- ing with light, and the difficulty of making deep colour luminous has been successfully overcome. Quite in a different vein is Mr. Edward Stott's Summer Idyll (No. 18). Here the sunlight passes through trees and gives chequered lights on the ground, where stand some girls who have been bathing in the water which lies in the sunlight beyond. To describe such a subtle colour-harmony in words is impossible, and to leave out of account the colour of this picture is to leave on one side the motive and end for which the picture was painted. In a case of this kind one can only call atten- tion to one of the things best worth seeing in the Gallery. In some ways even more beautiful is the same artist's Village Inn (No. 139). The moment represented is that magical time when the sky has almost ceased to give light and yet it is not dark. In front of a grey-walled house a cart with a white horse is stopping. A little window shines out with pure orange light from the wall. Nothing could be more success- ful than this delicate rendering of an effect of light and colour of great beauty and subtlety. The different depths of the dusk and the quality of air are given to perfection. Miss Flora Reid has several pictures, all of which are delightful, even if they repeat effects she has succeeded in before. These quiet Dutch market-places furnish excellent material for this artist's gem-like colour and tender sentiment. One of the best is Grannie's Dejeuner (No. 69).
There are too many allegories in the exhibition. Some are of the French academic kind, well-painted models in fantastic surroundings. Others are inspired by the early Florentines, and enforce the truth that insipid sentiment and amateur technique are a poor substitute for poetic ideas and decorative sense. Certainly the amateur cannot complain of his treat- ment in this Gallery, for his work is to be found everywhere. In the balcony there is at least one gem, Mr. Condor's Tree in Blossom (No. 390). In the notice of last year's New English Art Club in these columns attention was called to this beautiful work. On seeing the pit:Anse again the former impression is confirmed. There are two landscapes which must be mentioned. They represent very different styles, and are both good of their kind. Mr. Alfred Parsons's large Allot- ments (No. 210) is made an interesting picture by the sky. A wide stretch of field gardens forms the front of the work, but the interest is centred in the sky, which is filled with silvery- white clouds at different depths. The drawing of these clouds is most faithful. There is no avoiding the difficulties of cloud- form by giving a general haziness of outline. Here the cloud- forms are drawn with the same loving care as Mr. Parsons gives to his flowers and tree-branches. The other picture to be noticed is Mr. Wetherbee's With Pipe Dance (No. 215).
The work is open to some objections ; for instance, the shep- herd piping and the girl dancing are neither quite Arcadian nor yet real life. One desires that they should be one or the other. The distant sea is hardly far off enough; its blue strip seems to be almost lying on the grass. But in spite of these things the picture, though not quite so fine as this artist's Bathers last year, is one of the best things here. In what other picture can we find such satisfying and well-balanced masses ? Where else shall we find lines of composition more organic ? The colour is beautiful, and few other works here have anything like an equal sense of style.
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