International studio (34.1908)

The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition


“CARTING WOOD”

BY GEORGE SMITH

expressing the individuality
of the man notwithstanding
the wealth of sartorial en-
vironment which threatens
to extinguish it.
One of the most im-
portant works in the gal-
leries is a large picture by
Robert Burns—Schubert’s
Adieu. The wisdom of
this appeal to sentiment
and the manner in which
the artist has sought to
realise the idea of this most
pathetic lyric are open to
adverse criticism, but the
pictorial qualities of the
work are so fine as to fur-
nish the best reply. In a
spacious chamber a lady

full-length portraits. That of Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman, in Court dress with
a black cloak, revealing his decorations
as Grand Commander of the Bath, does
not seem in line with one’s ideas of the
salient characteristics of the Premier and
leader of the Liberal party, for the
Scottish section of which it was painted,
however much one may admire the
vigorous brushwork, balance of colour,
and tonal quality. His Velvet Cloak is
more satisfying, and in respect of the
unconventional pose of the lady, the
attractive lines of the loose flowing
draperies, the animation of the facial ex-
pression, and the fidelity of the textures,
it is one of the best achievements of the
President’s artistic career. In his por-
trait of Lady Smiley, E. A. Walton has
given free play to the decorative idea,
but the balance of colour is sufficiently
preserved as not to be disturbing; and
in his portrait of Lady Nora Brassey,
John Lavery exhibits strong technique
with a convincing simplicity of style.
Alexander Roche, who for the last year
or two has been working almost as much
in America as Scotland, shows a large
presentation portrait of Sir Robert Cran-
ston,, intended for Edinburgh Council
Chambers, in recognition of strenuous
municipal work culminating in three
years’ occupancy of the Lord Provost’s
chair. Mr. Roche has succeeded in


“SIR ROBERT CRANSTON” BY ALEXANDER ROCHE, R.S.A.

T35