ART.
INSTITUTE OF PAINTERS IN WATER-COLOURS. Tins year's exhibition is a less satisfactory one than usual, and were it not for the works of the younger painters, would be an almost utter failure. There is hardly one of the elder members of the Institute whose contributions are as good as they have been in past years, and some well-known names are altogether absent from the list of contributors. There is also a perceptible diminu- tion in the quantity of the works sent, the large gallery being sufficient to hang all of them without making use of the smaller room adjoining. Here, as in all the water-colour galleries this year, there is a decided leaning to landscape on the part of the artists, and but very few subject pictures. If this feeling keeps increasing as it has done of late, we shall soon have no figure subjects at all. The influence of Fred Walker is visible in many of the pictures here, noticeably in those of Mr. Townely Green, several of whose delicately finished little sketches remind us very clearly of some of Walker's smaller book illustrations. There is, however, little real similarity beyond the one of method of work. The strong motive at the bottom of all Walker's work has alto- gether disappeared, and Mr. Green's pictures, as a rule, tell no story and excite no interest. The best of these undoubtedly is the one entitled " The Captain's Daughters " (No. 26), two girls bending over a large globe and (presumably) tracing out the track of their father's ship. This is a graceful, pretty little picture enough, and the old-fashioned red sofa contrasts very prettily with the blue and white dresses of the girls.
Were we asked to pick out the most successful of the figure paintings in this exhibition, we should feel dis- posed to select No. 60, " A Study of One of the Figures in the Picture of ' Off Guard," by J. D. Linton. This is not Mr. Linton's chief picture this year, which is called "The Huguenot," and of which we shall speak directly. It is a single figure of a soldier seated singing to a guitar. The picture is somewhat sombre in tone, rather reminding us of the Spanish school of painting ; but face and figure are both excellent, easy, and full of life, and the whole painting is of a broader, stronger character than is often seen now-a-days amongst water-colour artists. It is a relief to escape from the fatal atmosphere of prettiness in which so many painters seem to breathe. No. 214, "The Huguenot," is not, in our opinion, one of Mr. Linton's successes. The subject is a hackneyed one enough,—a red-robed cardinal looking down with some contempt upon a Huguenot who has been brought before him for sentence, and who kneels with bound hands at his feet. At the table be- hind the cardinal sits his secretary, waiting with ostenta- tious indifference to record the sentence. An old jailer stands stiffly upright near the door. There is always something to praise in Mr. Linton's works, for they always bear evidences of careful thought, and this picture is no exception to the rule ; but it cannot be said to be a pleasant one, either in subject, composition, or colour. Even if it were desirable to have a Huguenot always pleading for his life in a picture, we need not have had him such a nasty colour ; and there is a good deal too much of the lay-figure about the cardinal to render him an interesting personage. On the whole, we are inclined to regret the absence of some of those long-limbed damsels whom Mr. Linton introduces so gracefully, and who formed so prominent a feature of his last year's picture. But if the single figure by Mr. Linton is the best figure painting in the room, undoubtedly the best picture is No. 67, " A Jacobite Rendezvous," representing a group of fox- hunters met near the outskirts of a wood, listening to a pro- clamation which is being read out by one of their number,--a proclamation of good news, apparently, for the quasi-fox-hunters are waving their hats in the greatest excitement, and the very dogs gathered round seem interested. We do not know whether this is the sketch for a larger picture that Mr. Gow intends making, but if it is, it will form a worthy companion to his picture of the " Relief of Leyden," in this year's Academy. There is hardly a fault to be found with this sketch, except the rather unpleasant brown hue which more or less pervades the whole of the picture, and which so often in Mr. Gow's works (for instance, in the one of " Sophy Badderly ") detracts from his really fine drawing and clever composition. If he can conquer this fault, he bids fair to be one of our greatest artists. There are several of the Eastern scenes here by Guido Bach of which we have had so many from his hand, and they are in no essential degree different from those that have preceded them. This young Nubian (No. 10), entitled, "Another Cup, Sir ?" have we not seen him and his black face and his blue bed-gown before? And these Arab women and children, and Cairo schools, we know them all, and call them
clever, and turn to look at something else. There is a somewhat hilmorous picture here (No. 44), called, "The Flower of the Flock," by H. B. Roberts. An old country dame, ruddy with hard exercise and fresh air, is handing one of her pinkest, and consequently youngest, pigs over the cottage-palings for neigh- bourly inspection. The humour is kindly and unforced, and the Whole picture fresh and pleasant as the faces of the old country people in it. It should be noticed that the colour of the faces, and the way in which they have been painted, is a direct imitation of William Hunt, though there is, as might be expected, rather more coarseness and considerably less strength.
We suppose that No. 144 will find plenty of admirers, as it seems the fashion at present to praise anything done by Miss Elizabeth Thompson, but we cannot say that this sketch of the " Scots Greys Advancing " recommends itself to us as in any way a good or admirable picture ; and the other sketches sent by this lady, of vintage scenes in Tuscany, are as angular in drawing and as crude in colour as anything in the Exhibition. Of flower-paint- ing by ladies there is a great deal this year, headed by Helen C. Angel, of whom it is sufficient to say that her works, though per- haps hardly equalling those of former years, are still as fresh and truthful as ever. Mrs. William Duffield sends (117) seven studies of flowers, treated more in the old-fashioned manner of flower. painting than as pictures, but very beautiful in colour and minutely faithful in drawing.
We see with regret that Mr. Hine, one of the great pillars of this Society, is going the same way that G. Andrews is going in the old Society, and spoiling his pictures in the endeavour to make them pretty. He sends this year no large picture, but several small ones, all partaking more of this quality of prettiness than that of truth and reality. Mr. Hine will always be a master of atmo- spheric effect, but these small moonlight seas and landscapes are but poor substitutes for the bold sweep of the Sussex Downs which he used to paint so successfully. The best of these is No. 13, " Cuckmere Haven, Sussex," a bold chalk cliff and green down overhanging a yellow beach, with blue sea and fishing- boats in the distance. This is a beautiful little bit of landscape, and in Mr. Hine's best manner.
One of the most original and carefully drawn landscapes in the room is No. 274, "A Belgian Meadow," by R. T. Beavis, whose remarkably faithful pictures of Eastern life we had occasion to notice in this year's Academy. The present picture, a small flat landscape with cattle in the foreground, and rows of tall poplar trees rising against some building in the middle-distance, is a most carefully drawn and pleasant piece of work, and were it not for a certain heaviness in the general tone, produced, perhaps, by the blue tint of the paper used, would be one of the most attractive landscapes here. Amongst the works of our younger artists should be noticed the sketches of Mr. Hubert Herkomer, whose picture of the " Last Muster" was such a favourite at the Royal Academy two years since. There are several of his works here, including the sketch for this year's picture of the priest arriving with his acolytes to administer the last Sacrament to a Bavarian peasant ; and one entitled, " Man's Inconstancy," a forlorn maiden washing linen, while her quondam lover flirts with another damsel in the back- ground. Mr. Herkomer's colour leans somewhat too much to a reddish-brown to be quite natural, but there is no doubt of his ability, and of what is very rare amongst our painters, his dramatic power, which will, unless unduly forced, gain him a high rank amongst our greater painters.
There are many other pleasing pictures here, whose merit we have no space to notice at length, but which will repay attention. Amongst these are M. Aumonier's quiet studies of green pastures and breezy skies ; Edwin Hayes's sea-scapes, in storm and sun- shine ; several pretty, though weak, sketches by Harry Johnson, painter of the impressive little picture of Stonehenge in this year's Academy ; the little village maidens by Mr. Fahey, and the village scenes by P. J. Skill.
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