ART.
FOR WH1TECHAPEL.
Tim art world, having rained matters of interest, has pro- ceeded, under warrant of proverb, to pour. I had proposed to fill my pint-pot of space with the heady exhibition of modern French art at the Independent Gallery* (7a Grafton Street), where, above all, the Segonzacs demanded the voice and utterance of my praise. Alternatively, I would have expressed my wonderment of the Blakes and some other drawings at Messrs. Agnew's (43 Old Bond Street). The Degas sculpture at the Leicester Galleries (Leicester Square) froze my purpose in mid-course, as Degas froze
his horses and dancers, and Mr. Wadsworth's interesting experiments in egg-tempera, at the same gallery, thawed it
into another channel. A new voice sounded from Oxford Street. On the fourth floor at Selfridge's, kn the Palm Court, the League of Arts has organized a "new kind" of exhibition. Each artist shows a group of his pictures, named and priced, and to be changed every month. There is no entrance fee and no catalogue. Mr. Selfridge has allowed three months for trial, and it is only success which can prolong the experi-
ment. I would have made a full-dress appeal for this, had I not heard the voice of Lord Burnham crying from White- chapel. Let me publish his petition :—
" WHITECHAPEL ART GALLERY. ,
A substantial grant made for years to this gallery by the London County Council has just been withdrawn owing to the present financial stringency. In consequence of this the income at the disposal of the trustees, already curtailed by the loss of subscribers during the War, has been reduced to such an extent that it is not possible to keep the gallery open for more than a small part of the year. Normally the aim of the Trustees is to get together four or five different loan exhibitions every year, but owing to the circumstances mentioned above during 1922 it has only been possible to arrange two ; they therefore wish to ask all lovers of art to help to carry on the work so well begun in Whithchapel by the late Canon and Mrs. Barnett thirty-nine years ago. The gallery is open daily. during exhibitions from 12 noon until 9 p.m. free to all, and is visited by many thousands every week. There is no doubt that the exhibitions have brought not only brightness into the lives that are spent in grey streets, but have widened the vision and imagination of the dwellers in East London by showing them beauty and giving them an insight into the manners, customs and habits of other nations through their respective arts. A list of the exhibitions that have been held since 1901 is attached. Will you send a gift, or better still, become a regular subscriber ? Any gift or subscription will be gratefully acknowledged. (Signed) BuarmAxi, Chairman, W. H. DAVISON."
It may be added that the attendances at Whitechapel during
exhibitions average 15,000 a week, and that since 1901 nearly seventy exhibitions have been held, ranging front
old and modern masters to school and domestic appliances. The balance-sheets show a falling-off in private subscriptions which amounts to about £400 a year ;. and the original L.C.C. grant of 1350, which was reduced by £100 in 1916, has now been entirely withdrawn. To prevent the collapse of this gallery is surely not a charity but a duty. Public taste can never be taught to organize, Cavell memorials must be erected and Wren churches destroyed., if such teachers as the White-
chapel Art Gallery , are to die from want, of the price of a
!. Now closecl.
diamond necklace. At present the gallery is holding an exhibition of modern British art, but -I have thought it better to devote my space to the appeal that such exhibitions may not cease rather than to a notice of this existent one. That is not because it is unworthy of a notice, even among the few exhibitions which it is possible to con- sider here. Five minutes' walk east of Aldgate will, I believe, convince the most sceptical that the work which is being done at Whiteehapel is worth doing. Last time I was there a down-at-heels tatterdemalion, a worn-out man to look at, stood ecstatically hugging his box of studs under his jacket and wriggling his toes with excitement before a picture. I have forgotten whose ; I was watching the toes. I asked him what he thought of the picture, and his answer was : "I wish as I could do it." It is a big price that would make
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