Studio: international art (32.1904)

Awards in " The Studio'1 Prize Competitions

is an excellent one, and will be found an invaluable
companion to the pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist,
as well as to the student at home.

The Art of the Vatican. By Mary Knight
Potter. (London : George Bell & Sons.) 6s. net.
—In her brightly-written Preface the author of this
delightful volume fully justifies her treatment of a
subject bewildering in its vastness. " It has been
thought better," she says, " to devote as much con-
sideration as possible to the most noted of the
works in the Vatican rather than to speak more
briefly of many." Laying no claim to originality of
research or criticism, and frankly admitting that
she has allowed her personal predilections full
weight, Miss Potter has yet succeeded in giving to
the inexperienced student some real guidance of
exceptional value. She points out, what is often
forgotten, that art books are, as a rule, singularly
silent regarding the amount of modern restoring
that has often nearly remade many of the master-
pieces of a bygone day ; and in her descriptions of
the statues, frescoes, etc., she discriminates care-
fully between the old and the new. The numerous
illustrations supplementing the text are excellent,
and really completely confute the opinion of the
writer as to the value of verbal descriptions, for one
glance at such an admirable reproduction as that of
the Creation of Man or of the Ordination of St.
Lawrence is worth pages of the ablest dissertation.

A Masque of May Morning. By W. Graham
Robertson. With twelve designs in colour by the
author. (London : John Lane.) $s. net.—Happy
indeed were the children for whom this most delight-
ful May masque was designed, and fortunate were
the spectators who were present when it was acted
in the beautiful woods near the author's home at
Witley. It must have called back the good old
times when young and old, rich and poor, were
wont to go forth " to fetch the flowers fresh" on
the first day of the month dedicated to maiden-
hood ; and when the squire and his people were
still in true touch with each other. Mr. Robertson
himself deprecates any claim to being considered a
poet, and characterises his charming songs of the
flower fairies as " merely a jingle for school-
children "; but, for all that, they are instinct with
the very spirit of the new life of Spring, and, in
spite of their light-hearted happiness, they are
touched with the pathos inseparable from the
fleeting character of all beauty. " Sweet Joy," sings
April, "is Sorrow's brother"; and only after the
May Day sun is set can the perfect rose of Summer
bloom. The drawings accompanying the text are
as original and quaint, as full of delicate imagina-
82

tion and tender pathos, as are those of the " Old
English Songs and Dances " from the same gifted
hand. The First-born of Spring, the Flower of the
Wind, and the Dew Dreams especially, interpret
with rare felicity the ethereal and touching charm
of the snowdrop, anemone, and violet. They
speak, indeed, straight to the heart, and confirm
the belief latent in the mind of every true lover
of Nature that each flower has its own sentient,
individual life.

AWARDS IN "THE STUDIO"
PRIZE COMPETITIONS.
Class A.

A LIX. Design for a Silver Candlestick.

First Prize (Two Guineas) : Batwing (J. W.
Wilkinson, 1 Moorgate, Lancaster).

Second Prize (One Guinea) : Lamplighter (J. P.
Hully, New Road, Lancaster).

Hon. Mention: Scorcher (J. Schorfield);
Cestrian (F. Perry) ; Craftsman (G. Wilson); Sun-
downer (F. Vanzetti); Theseus (W. L. Brown);
Pompey (R; Ratcliffe) ; Light (S. R. Turner); Stan
(S. J. Mobbs); Premier (G. D. lies); Craft (F.
White); Nome (N. Holman); Rem (H. R. Fowler);
Bodg (H. C Craythorn); ^.milius (W. McD.
Anderson).

Class B.

B LIII. Design for a Theatre Programme.

First Prize (One Guinea) : Flying Fish (Lilian
Rusbridge, 22 Islingword Road, Brighton).

Second Prize (Half a-Guinea): Lsca (Ethel
Larcombe, Wilton Place, St. James's, Exeter).

Hon. Mention : Peter (Peter Brown); Malabar
(Percy Thesiger); Kismet (Jane E. Pawsey).

Class C.

Photographs from Nature.

C XLI. Landscape with Smoke.

First Prize (One Guinea) : Frate Pierone da
Riva (Signorina M. Costaguti, 10 Piazza Mattei,
Rome).

Second Prize (Half-a-Guinea): Burning Weeds
(H. B. Lefroy, 56 Lowther Avenue, Toronto,
Canada).

Hon. Mention : E. Douard (Edouard Adelat);
Ereavog (Emile Govaere); Lndustry (A. Gibbons):
Guitar (Miss C. F. Jones); Roslein (Mrs. Montague
Browne); Temple (H. Jacob).