International studio (50.1913)

Patrick IP. Adam, R.S.A.


“sir james guthrie’s drawing-room” by p. w. adam, r.s.a.
(Owned by Ossian Donner, Esq., Helsingfors)

F. C. B. Cadell"s Studio we
find a lack of a true aerial
perspective—the furniture
and the atmosphere are
too freely intermingled
and we get a sense of
general woolliness. The
room and its contents
seem to be melting away
and flowing into each
other, and the loss of the
sense of substance is evi-
dent. One has only to
compare this with Sir
fames Guthrie"s Drawing-
Room to realize the
difference between good
and indifferent values—
in lighting, substance, and
perspective. We find a
similar lack in Mrs.
Cumming"s Drawing-
Room, which while possess-
ing considerable charm
yet lacks the qualities
which are characteristic
of Mr. Adam at his best.

reticence sometimes hold-
ing the painter a little too
firmly to fact. The de-
sign is never flat, the
modelling is always a
dominant factor, and the
architectural perspective
never treated conven-
tionally but always realisti-
cally. But the realism
never results in an impres-
sion of emptiness. The
atmosphere of the room
or the church is conveyed
with a wonderful apprecia-
tion of its value—much
more so than in some of
the most famous interiors
of the old Dutchmen—
and sometimes as fine as
in a Pieter de Hoogh or a
Jan Vermeer, though the
design be not so simple,
direct, and stately.
Mr. Adam’s failures in
the true presentation of
values are few. In


“ F. C. B. CADELL’S studio” BY PATRICK W. ADAM, R.S.A.
(Owned by Patrick J. Ford, Esq. )

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