International studio (35.1908)

The Royal Academy Exhibition, igo8

character, and is to be remarked and remem-
bered for its beauty and variety in colour. Mr.
J. Young Hunter has painted one of the most
successful of the interiors which he treats so
academically, but with so much quiet individuality
and skill. The whole effect of colour in this picture
is not successful; it is unreal as vvell as unpleasant,
and probably unpleasant because, under any cir-
cumstances of lighting, it would be unreal. This
same hard, curious violet colour pervades another
promising work by a young contributor, a work
full of the finest technical qualities in other
respects, When Lovely Woman Stoops to Folly,
by Mr. F. G. Swaish. A work of interest in the
first room, and by the way not any too well hung,
is Miss Flora Lion’s The New Dress; it is bold
and effective in colour without breaking the bounds
imposed by a carefully exercised controlling taste.
Not altogether dissimilar in character of the
subject is Mr. W. Dacres Adams’ The New
Hat. This and the same artist’s The
Tourists are two of those partly decorative,
partly realistic canvases in which Mr.
Adams excels. A work of charm and effec-
tiveness is Mr. Giuseppe Giusti’s A Chat.
Mr. Frank Craig’s canvas, The Meeting
House, is the excuse on his part for some
very clever studies of facial expression, and
the general tone of the picture, relieved by
the white bonnets and collars, is in itself a
scheme of nearly complete success. Mr.
Craig here attains that richness of effect
which he missed in his large picture last year,
through the greater attention he has paid this
time to effects of atmospheric conditions.
Passing now to some of the more im-
portant landscapes sent in from outside, the
two landscapes, A West Coast Harbour
and Breezy Lowlands of Mr. James Henry,
are to be particularly remarked for their
power and interest, their sense of atmo-
sphere and regard for beauty. In Breezy
Lowlands there has been no forcing of the
means to obtain effect—but by sheer suc-
cess in art the picture is striking amongst its
difficult surroundings. Another beautiful
work is Mr. Arthur Friedenson’s Wensley
Dale. Mr. S. J. Lamorna Birch’s The
Land of the West and his water-colours call
attention to themselves, and another picture
to be noted is Cutting Weed in the Fosses,
Co. Donegal, by Mr. W. H. Bartlett. Mr.
Bertram Priestman’s The South West Wind,
is full of atmospheric effect, and is a notable
36

landscape; it might have been much finer if the
man’s figure in the foreground had been removed
or made far less important.
Other landscapes which should not be missed are
Mr. Ade Breanski’s Summer, Yeend King’s April
Sunshine, Thomas Maidment’s The Rhubarb Field,
G. Graham’s February Sunshine, H. Gilchrist’s
On the Banks of the Lenn, A. J. Tunning’s On
the Road, E. T. Compton’s Blue and Gold, and
Mrs. Forbes’s The Ford. Of out-door figure sub-
jects one of the best in the Academy is Mr. Ross
Fowler’s Life in the Gipsy Camp, and Mr. C. M. Q.
Orchardson’s Lseult has good qualities.
The sculpture and architecture will be the
subject of a later notice. They include this year
many items of interest, and we would especially
remark on the variety and importance of the works
of sculpture. T. M. W.


“ THE SWING ” BY f. MELTON FISHER