ART.
THE NEW GALLERY.
THE charge often brought against the New Gallery that it ie only the Academy on a small scale, is no doubt partly true. Bat the hanging here is more intelligently done, and great relief is derived from the walls not being so crowded with pictures. The isolation got by some wall being left between the frames makes the conditions of an exhibition leas trying to the works than at more crowded galleries. It seems as if the desire to give a silent lesson in paint- ing had made those responsible for the arrangement of the North Gallery bang the two portraits of ladies in white satin as a pair. Both are full length, both are standing up facing one another. Mr. Llewellyn's lady (No. 237) is painted with great care,—the imitation of the textures is skilfully done, the drawing is good, and the colour not =pleasing. But the great difference betweenthis. picture and its rival by Mr. Sargent (No. 240) consists in the fact that the latter lives and moves, and the former does not. The sash in Mr. Llewellyn's picture has been arranged with the utmost care, and each fold studied and properly placed. Mr. Sargent's sash has been tied and left ; the work of the band is seen in the folds. Living fingers, it is felt, made them take their shape. The dress, too, in the one has been worried and arranged into its place from the outside, in the other it has assumed its shape because the wearer's movements have made it go into these folds. The same may be said of the hands and arms. M. Llewellyn's are well drawn, but they seem dead compared with those in the other picture. The expression and character lir. Sargent has put into the right hand especially is truly wonderful. What is the reason, it may be asked, why one painted canvas lives and another does not? In the present case it seems to be that every touch of Mr. Sargent's brush interested him. There is no covering over of surfaces for the sake of getting them covered. Seeing the subject truly and realising its character was more important to him than the- mere application of the paint to the canvas.
There is nothing of much importance in the region of pare- landscape this year, but among the landscapes with figures• Mr. E. Stott's The Old Gate (No. 49) takes a very high place.. Whether it is considered as a study of evening sunlight or as
- a representation of children, it is equally beautiful. A boy ill s white jacket on a white horse—the first of a group— is coming through a gate. Behind some farm buildings stand out against the sky. On the right a little girl holds open the gate, upon which a child is sitting. This second little girl has on a blue pinafore, making the culmination of the cool colours in the picture. Above the beads of the children the sun strikes through some branches of a near tree. It is difficult to give any just impression in words of the exquisite qualities of colour and subtle arrangements of tone of this charming picture. No other painter in this gallery has arrested living light in the way Mr. Stott has.
Mr. Watts has sent four pictures here. Earth (No. 67) shows that power of treating figures in a great elemental style which Mr. Watts alone possesses. This figure, holding masses of fruit in her hands, seems the incarnation of the spirit of productiveness. The broad massive chest, the abundance of red hair and strong glowing colour, all make as feel the unending vitality of the universal mother. Besides the two pictures of Adam and Eve Mr. Watts has sent a small variation of the well-known Time, Death, and Judgment :No. 79). Judgment with the sword is hardly so splendid a figure as the one whose outstretched arm holds the balance in the large picture at South Kensington. If Mrs. Swynner- ton's picture of Hebe (No. 101) has not the rare grace and beauty of her work last year, it is nevertheless a painting of very great strength, and has magnificent qualities of colour. There is something very satisfying in this picture of a robust girl's head against a background of leaves, holding in her hand s copper jug. The colour can only be described as saturated, though perfectly harmonious. The influence of Mrs. Swynner- ton is strongly marked in Miss Martin's Dulcamara (No. 119). The aim here again has been to get great force of colour, and it is attained in no small measure. Deep blue and green are the principal colours, which contrast finely with the vivid flesh- tones and the red of the "bitter-sweet" apples the figure holds in her hands. It is a pity that these hands are not as well drawn as the face. They betray much labour, but the fingers do not seem made for one another, and are rather incoherent. The work is no doubt that of a disciple of Mrs. Swynnerton, who has caught many of the good qualities of her mistress. The head and neck show that Ghirlandajo has not been forgotten. If originality is added to the gifts she already possesses, Miss Martin should do fine things. The Shepherd's Pool (No. 175), by Mr. Wetherbee, is a pastoral of real beauty. A long stretch of grass, with rocks rising from it, is seen. The stems of big trees in shadow go out of the picture against the sky, while nearer some long, graceful birch-stems catching the sunlight are relieved against them. By a pool in the foreground some boys are bathing. The composition is beautifully arranged, and it only wants deeper infusion of that idyllic grace, the secret of which Corot so well knew, also a rather less metallic colouring, to make the picture one of a very high order. In his other picture here of the Youth and Sea- Maiden (No. 218), this painter has shown a youth standing against the sky on a rock just emerging from a blue sea. A sea-maid coming out of the water is looking up at him. The picture is circular and well composed ; the lines of the two figures join harmoniously with the rocks and waves. The painting of the flesh is a little restless, and the subject seems to demand a broader treatment in the painting. But the picture deserves the place of honour it holds in the centre of the wall. Of Miss Flora Reid's pictures, Her First Lesson :No. 202) is the most attractive. The subject is a vegetable- stall in a Dutch market-place, where an old woman is teach- ing a little child to read. The head of the old woman is quite beautiful; the tenderness of the expression and clear direct- ness of the painting are alike admirable. Fresh, cool daylight is rendered with incomparable skill, and the vegetables and details of the stall, including the green umbrella, are delight- ful. Miss Reid can make a cabbage a thing of beauty, and at the same time make it keep its unobtrusive place in the pic- ture. The ardent admirers of Sir E. Burne-Jones will no doubt be pleased by his Aurora (No. 140), though the figure is open to the criticism of its being strained almost to affecta- tion. In conclusion, we must note the very large number of pictures which owe their origin to Preraphaelite art. The greater number are not of any imaginative force.
H. S.
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