Art
[ROYAL ACADEMY—SECOND IMPRESSIONS.]
Wrrs every year's exhibition at Burlington House, the hue and cry goes up with a certain insatiable expectancy for
" problem 'pictures," and it would indeed be an unusual Academy if one or two good specimens were not bolted. So one naturally asks "And are there problem pictures still to see ? " There are, indeed. This year produces two excellent
examples which conform to type in that they are all problem and very little painting. The first, "Were you there when they Crucified my Lord ? " by Mr. Mark Symons, will probably attract the larger part of public attention from its religious character, although the second, "Homo Sapiens," by Mr. John Keating, will not come far behind because of its cynical aspersions on the true value of progress. The Crucifixion picture, with its' too-conscious air of archaism, that is com- bined with an attempt at modernity, like Shakespeare in modern dress, is pure sensationalism. The three tall crosses, with their still, pendant forms, raised above the twentieth- century mob of soldiers and operatives, curious or incurious according to their personality, has for its spiritual ancestry the Elder Breughel's preoccupation with crowds, and some of the bitter character drawing of Hieronyrnous Bosch, but it is only, a shadow of a shadow. Stripped of its headline appeal, which is considerable, the painting as a painting is nothing : the smaller figures 'are largely meaningless, and very unskilfully 'overcrowded. Mr., Symon's crowd is a Collection of puppet homunculi, as individuals they are Only puppets, and together they have none of the rhythmic movement of the mob. Those who visited the Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish art may recollect the crowd who jostled Christ carrying the Cross in that superb Bosch from the Ghent Museum, and that comparison strips the pseudo- Primitive of all its conceits. The other picture, "Homo Sapiens," is more realistically painted. A spectacled figure, hung about _ with symbols—judge's . wig, bishop's mitre, gas-mask, and service rifle—is poised in space against a back- ground of countless skyscrapers. Presumably it is a cynical comment on the progress of humanity towards the apotheosis of,the machine. It would be an excellent idea for a cartoon of reaction, but its implications are too exaggerated for acceptance.
One thing about the Academy that must impress most people is the extraordinary barrenness of subjects. Painters in England, especially good painters, are rather conservative. Why does no one seem to have thought of tubes and cars and-aeroplanes'? There never was a period when there was so much material crying to be used. Landscape, as in last year's Academy, is not well represented, and there is no landscape which can be put in the same class as half a dozen of the first-rate portraits of this year.
The Viater-colours and drawings as a whole are competent, but not particularly exciting, but there is one really magnificent .water-colour, "Paddlers," by Mr. Wilson Steer. Its presence is 'not 'due to Mr. Steer. - It was bought -outside the Royal
Academy and is exhibited by virtue of its acquisition by the Chantrey Trustees. Mr. Steer, it will be remembered, was once rejected in his early youth, and since then has never contributed to the Royal Academy, but his sale of "The Paddlers" under the terms of the Chantry Bequest, of which the President and Council of the Royal Academy are the "only Trustees, is a concession. The black and white section deserves patient study. The general standard is particularly good.
Another memorable feature of the 1930 Academy is the inclusion of the ten pieces of silver gilt plate presented to H.M. the King by the Goldsmiths Company for use at Government House, New Delhi. The admission of plate to Burlington House creates an interesting precedent : perhaps before many years are out we may see the applied arts regularly represented. The sculpture section is not too happy. So many excellent pleasant and careful works make one doubtful about great sculpture in England. Almost all the pieces exhibited would look charming in moms or formal -gardens, and that is not the province of sculpture. The drawings in the architectural room are, as might be expected,
of a very high standard. Manchester Grammar School : Main Entrance," the design of Dr. Worthington and Mr. Francis Jones, should be noticed particularly.
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