Studio: international art (36.1906)

Lester G.

work of his father David. In the book of Esther
we find a gorgeous description of the palace of
Shushan; at chapter i. 6 we find this lovely colour
arrangement, “ where were white, green, and blue
hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and
purple to silver rings and pillars of marble, the beds
were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red,
and blue, and white and black marble.”

Hut surely no artist has given us more delicious
colour music than Matthew Maris; as we dream
over his masterpieces we are delightfully surprised
to find how much grey, delicate soft subtle grey,
he employs. In his charming water-colour The
Walk, owned by Mr. William Burrell, we have
the finest possible example of the wonderful power
of a broad simple grey colour scheme. In some
other of his colour melodies we find also the sweet
harmony of grey when blended with nature’s rarest
hues; old rose and green are never happier than
when mellowed by the presence of a quiet grey
atmosphere. In some old Scottish interiors, this
power of simple grey colour can also be seen. How
often have we been charmed by the quiet rhythm
of the quaint white-washed walls, and grey fir-tree
rafters, and old green shutters of an auld clay
biggin, with just an added glint of purple heather
through the rondels of the little square windows.

Accompanying this short article will be found
an example of decorative colour work, demon-
strating the art of blending grey with all the colours,
and may be some of the younger students will find
pleasure andprofit in experimenting in this direction.
The Roseboiver Bedstead has grey-green woodwork,
carved and inlaid with briar-roses and fairies,
while the curtains are embroidered with wild-flowers
and wood-doves, the theme being “ soft woodland
fairie music.” The Grey Bower has woodwork
of white, with grey walls decorated with a bower-
land of rose and fuchsia, and having an under-
growth of blue-bells. The parquetry is of grey
walnut, while the carpet has a groundwork of silver-
grey, on which is hand-woven a border of old-violet
roses. Grey may be used successfully with any of the
following colours. Blue, violet, orange, yellow,
green, or rose ; as with orange and violet, green and
blue, green and violet, etc. But the secret of colour
music is with those whose hearts are betrothed to
nature. All artists, whether painters of pictures or
designers of decorative work, should study the
creations of the great Master-worker. See what
breadth He employs on those grey-green moorlands,
or on those sea shores of grey shell and yellow
sands. And again, behold what elegance of detail
He employs in these thickets of briar roses, or in

Hornby

those woodland glades, so extravagantly decorated
with violet, primrose, and bluebell. Yet are they
ever well ordered in tonal harmony by the grey
cadence of last year’s withered leaves. G. L.

The “Society of Twenty-five English Painters,”
whose first exhibition was opened early last month
at Messrs. Dowdeswells’ Galleries, has been formed
solely for the purpose of holding exhibitions peri-
odically in London and elsewhere. Though it
cannot be said that the members collectively re-
present any particular phase or school of modern
art, their work shows a certain community of
feeling and displays many of the best qualities of
English painting of to-day. By its first exhibition
the Society has already justified its existence.
Mr. Bertram Priestman, Mr. Lee Hankey, Mr. D. Y,
Cameron, Mr. Grosvenor Thomas, Mr. Dudley
Hardy, Mr. H. M. Livens, and Mrs. Dods-Withers,
were all represented by admirable works, and the
collection generally left an impression of quiet re-
finement and distinct achievement. If the members
will endeavour to maintain in their future exhibi-
tions the high standard which they have reached in
their first, the success of the Society is assured.

Leaves from the sketch-
book OF LESTER G. HORNBY.

On the following pages we reproduce a
few examples of drawings by Mr. Lester G.
Hornby, a young American art-student who has
been studying for several seasons under Mr. Eric
Pape at his School of Art in Boston, Massachusetts.
These examples show that Mr. Hornby’s skill as a
draughtsman is of no mean order. He uses his pen
and pencil with a facility which is exceptional in
one so young, and we look forward with assurance
to interesting developments of his talent.

Marblehead, an interesting fishing town on the
coast of Massachusetts, is one of the great sketch-
ing grounds for artists and art students in that part
of the world, and it has been said that no town in
the United States possesses so many picturesque
old buildings. Mr. Hornby’s pencil sketches made
in this locality, three of which are here reproduced,
do indeed reveal in the buildings of the place a
quaintness which one hardly expects to find in
an American town, where everything is supposed
to be so very modern.

Both in his pencil-sketches and in his pen-work
Mr. Hornby gives evidence of qualities which augur
well for his future career as an artist.

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