ART.
THE ACA DE MY.—I.
AT the risk of being wearisome, it is necessary to say over again what has often been said before as to one tendency of the Academy and its effect upon contemporary artists. It would, of course, be unreasonable to expect to find a great collection of enduring masterpieces, for such things, at any rate in England at the present time, are few and far between. But what we have a right to eapect is that pictures which are not merely indifferent, but actively bad, should not be given the prominence due to works of art. If a painter produces a thoroughly inferior but showy picture, and then finds that the most prominent artistic body in the country hang it on the line in the centre of one of their galleries, is there any chance of his striving to do something better ? Success at the Academy naturally tends to confirm him in his bad ways, and encourages him to go on producing similar works. At last comes a change in fashion, and the kind of picture he has been taught to produce is displaced by some newer style, in all probability no better than the old, but merely different. Nor does the harm end here. It is only natural that the young aspirant 'visiting the galleries should mark the pictures in prominent places, and found his style on what he finds to have received favour. Take the case of the would-be painter of that kind of picture which aims at flashy rather than harmonious colour, at obvious rather than subtle &awing, at commonplace treatment instead of artistic sineerity. What will be the effect on him of the hanging of such a picture as Mr. H. Draper's Ulysses and the Sirens (No. 206) P But suppose this imaginary artist were not to find on the walls such works as those just described. Would he not be directed towards ti better style?
To sum up, the Academy cannot compel the painting of great works of art, and cannot hang masterpieces on their walls if the painters do not produce them. But there is one thing they can do. They can refuse to hang in prominent places those pictures which set a false standard, and which, owing to their success, create a host of imitators. No doubt the position might be an awkward one, for if the Hanging Committee were to refuse to place bad work done by outsiders, the dregs of the Exhibition would then consist entirely of pictures by members, over which they have no control. At present members and outsiders share alike in the responsi- bility for those pictures we deplore. To carry out a reform would mean a reduction in the number of pictures exhibited. This would, of course, be disagreeable to the painters who would be excluded. But it would make acceptance by the Academy an artistic distinction, instead of merely the gaining of a position in the market-place.
The duty of pointing out failures is an unpleasant One; but it is impossible to pass by in silence two such pictures .as those contributed by Mr. Bacon, A.R.A., in the seventh room. It is lamentable to see such work as At the Play (No. 366). Jn this picture three young ladies are grouped together in a box at a theatre. There is no excuse to be made for the work on the ground of its being a study of actual conditions. Over the whole an ordinary studio light prevails, save for a few perfunctory splashes of yellow to represent the artificial illumination, while figures, curtains, and upholstery are all of the same unsubstantial nature, having no hold upon exietenee. Look, for instance, at the three arms near together in the centre of the picture,—boneless and nerveless, they are more spaces filled with paint, incapable of stimulating our sense of touch•or feeling for the living thing. The same faults are evident in time painter's portrait-group of children, strangely entitled "S's/t-h-lt!" (No. 382). The antidote is to be found in the tenth room in Mr. Homers picture, The Chase (No. 630), where the artist's fine sense of form and reality
counterbalances any feeling we may have that strong indi- viduality is sometimes dangerously near to mannerism. In this picture Mr. Horne! has simplified his background, and disengaged his figures from their surroundings more than is his wont, gaining thereby to a remarkable extent a realisation of the solidity and weight of the living children who adorn the landscape. Portraits of every description are to be found on the walls, from the simple yellowish-brown head on a black background to the gorgeously apparelled ladies whose clothes put the rainbow to shame, and whose attitudes, singly or in groups, attain all that is ugly and unnatural. There is a great distance separating such parade portraits as the President's Duke of Northumberland No. 119) and the momentary and living representation, The Earl of Wcmyss (No. 179), by Mr. Sargent. In the former the dryness and relentless- ness of the execution weary us as much as the uniform and cloak encumber the wearer. In the latter the aspect of the man seems revealed by a flash of lightning, so keen and vivid is the presentation. Between these extremes je the delightful portrait by Sir W. Q. Orchards= of Sir Lawrence .Tenkins (No. 141). To describe it in words is impossible, for its charm consists in its elusiveness. But this quality is nowhere used to screen indecision, for the picture is brimming with life and character, with subtle observation and masterly execution. In this work the artist has known how to combine a dignified com- position with complete vitality, and at the first glance we feel assured that before us is a man, not a shadow. There is something delightful in the quietness of this painting amid its neighbours with their heavy execution. The thin, translucent colour is sensitive to every mood of the painter, and those who pile and load their pictures in the search after Powerful effects might well pause to consider this portrait With its smooth surface, delightful quality, and powerful effect. Indeed, this quiet harmony of black and pale, warm flesh colour makes perhaps the strongest impression upon us of any picture in the Exhibition.
Quite different is the method of painting employed in Mrs, Swynnerton's full-length portrait of Hrs. Pentacle (No. 678). Here in places the dress becomes a coloured bas-relief, so determined has the painter been that the surface should not be monotonous. It is difficult to judge. of this picture in an exhibition, for the brilliancy of its hue, with its flame-coloured dress, seems to demand that it should be set apart; but there can be no question as to the vigour and largeness of the treat- ment. Of the same way of painting is Signor MancinVe Elizabeth Williamson (No. 175). This portrait of a girl ie beautiful in richness and sobriety of colour; but was it necessary so to pile up the paint in ridges that the canvas looks like a much-folded handkerchief newly spread out? Very different is Mrs. Adrian Stokes's delicately painted Portrait of a child, Dorothea (No. 922), which is charming for its silvery colour and beautiful drawing.
Mr. Sargent sends a largo decorative design, Israel and the Lam (No. 446), in the centre of which is a great veiled figure, With other figures surrounding it, while round and through the whole run gilt scrolls with Hebrew letters on them. The colouring of the work is light, and with few contrasts. It is, of course, quite impossible to form any opinion as to the effect the work will make when placed in its proper Position. It would have had a better chance if it had been Placed by itself in the ball at the top of the stairs. This Wee bow the five great panels of Puvis de Cheyennes for the Boston Library were treated when they were exhibited in Paris at the Salon in the Champ de Mars. To hang a purely decorative work in the midst of a vast quantity of ordinary Pictures is a hopeless proceeding. Nevertheless, no other work in the gallery comes anywhere near this example of Mr. Sargent's art for largeness of design and control of monumental effect.
Neither Mr. Abbey nor Mr. Brangwyn exhibits this year, and Mr. Clausen contents himself with canvases of moderate SiZe. Less-known talent has nob displayed itself in any un- expected fashion, and indeed there is very little to be found on the crowded walls that can be called memorable. From the mass a few beautiful things emerge ; some of these have been discussed in the present notice, and some have been left for another occasion, among the latter being the
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