CURRENT LITERATURE.
Watteau. By Claude Phillips. (The Portfolio for June.) (Seeley and Co.)—Everybody knows the charm of Watteau, but it is not every one who could point out for us what the Frenchman caught from Rubens and the Venetian school. What we do know, or, rather, feel, is the graceful and airy charm, the atmosphere and colouring, and the wonderful draughtsmanship of the painter. In this last respect he certainly atoned for borrowing, as Watteau's pencil was the wand of an enchanter, an essentially eighteenth-century French enchanter, it is true, but how power- ful and refined ! We would fain believe with Mr. Phillips that if an artist is a great master who adds a smile to art and transforms the frivolous realities of an artificial age into scenes of poetry, then Watteau was a great master; and if stamping his own creations with an indisputable personality is a test of great- ness, then he is also great. There are some capital illustrations ; the reproductions of the red-chalk drawings are perhaps the most interesting of all, as they show one gift which no human being could ever think of denying him, that of drawing.—The Isle of Wight. By C. J. Cornish. This, the July number of the Portfolio, is a very welcome one, suited to these sub-holiday days, and an agreeable variety in the admirable series to which it belongs. Mr. Cornish is at home both in the history and the natural history of the island. He has drawn for the first on the plentiful materials which are at hand, the Oglander Papers being chief among them ; for the second he has used the gift of personal observa- tion,—a gift from which the public have already had considerable benefit. The illustrations consist, as usual, of four plates, and of numerous illustrations in the text. Mr. John Fullwood con- tributes two attractive etchings, "Freshwater Gate" and "Bon- church " (giving the well-known lakeside road) ; Mr. T. Huson has an engraving of " Sandown Bay ; " and there is a photo- graphic reproduction of Duncan's picture of "The Solent." In the other illustrations are various reproductions of old pictures and prints, and drawings by Mr. Fullwood and Mr. R. Serle. The name of the latter is not familiar to us, but the conductors of the Portfolio have evidently found a promising young artist.
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