DOI Heft:
Nr. 200 (October, 1913)
DOI Artikel:Whitley, William Thomas: The national competition of schools of art, 1913
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43453#0354
The National Competition of Schools of Art, igij
shown in the spring, in London the best time for
any art exhibition.
The ample space and good light of the North
Court was a little flattering to the exhibition of last
month, and the Competition works, admirably ar-
ranged, appeared at the first glance to be better than
they really were. Collectively the work was not so
good as it has been in some recent years, and there
was no single branch in the applied arts that could
be described as outstanding in point of excellence.
The jewellery and enamels, which have given
distinction to several exhibitions in the last decade,
were below the average in quality; and the most
interesting work in the Competition was for once
to be found not in the department of applied
art but in that of illustration. The boots and
shoes to which awards were given were not worthy
of a place in such an exhibition, for in shape and
design generally they could
easily have been outshone by
a selection from the windows
of shops in Regent Street; and
too much space was given to
fashion drawings. To these
drawings, by an unfortunate
omission, no reference is made
in the reports of the examiners,
whose comments on the modes
of the day would have been in¬
structive, and perhaps amusing.
In the department of illus¬
tration Miss Noel Laura
Nisbet, of Clapham School of
Art, showed some able draw¬
ings of the same type as those
which gained for her high
honours in last year’s Com¬
petition. The vigour and
decision of Miss Nisbet’s pen¬
drawing showed no falling off
in these studies of hordes of
savage warriors of a bygone
day, which were as full as ever
of invention and careful detail.
But her pictures are too
crowded and she has yet to
learn the value of vacant spaces
in composition. Mr. Sydney
A. Gammell, of Liverpool City
School of Art, was awarded a
gold medal for some capital
etchings, of which the best
were those of a gateway of
a park, of shipwrights at
292
work on a vessel in dock, and a seascape with a
ship steaming past a coast village. Mr. W. F. V.
Anson of Leicester is a student of singular indi-
viduality, and his quaint drawing of men with
lanterns, walking on stilts, was one of the most
interesting things in the exhibition. Apart from
its design it was distinguished by its beautiful tone.
Another good drawing shown by Mr. Anson was
the small Dance of the Vagrants. The etching of
a windmill in a landscape by Mr. Stephen O’Keefe
of Liverpool had the virtue of simplicity, but the
mill itself was too uniformly black and had no
indication of light falling upon any of its surfaces.
A bold and vigorous line marked Mr. Harold
Watson’s design in pen and ink for Isabella and
the Pot of Basil, and a particular word of praise is
due to Mr. Harry Bush of Clapham for a very large
and elaborate study in pencil of the embarkation
BOOK ILLUSTRATION
BY WALTER F. V. ANSON (LEICESTER)
shown in the spring, in London the best time for
any art exhibition.
The ample space and good light of the North
Court was a little flattering to the exhibition of last
month, and the Competition works, admirably ar-
ranged, appeared at the first glance to be better than
they really were. Collectively the work was not so
good as it has been in some recent years, and there
was no single branch in the applied arts that could
be described as outstanding in point of excellence.
The jewellery and enamels, which have given
distinction to several exhibitions in the last decade,
were below the average in quality; and the most
interesting work in the Competition was for once
to be found not in the department of applied
art but in that of illustration. The boots and
shoes to which awards were given were not worthy
of a place in such an exhibition, for in shape and
design generally they could
easily have been outshone by
a selection from the windows
of shops in Regent Street; and
too much space was given to
fashion drawings. To these
drawings, by an unfortunate
omission, no reference is made
in the reports of the examiners,
whose comments on the modes
of the day would have been in¬
structive, and perhaps amusing.
In the department of illus¬
tration Miss Noel Laura
Nisbet, of Clapham School of
Art, showed some able draw¬
ings of the same type as those
which gained for her high
honours in last year’s Com¬
petition. The vigour and
decision of Miss Nisbet’s pen¬
drawing showed no falling off
in these studies of hordes of
savage warriors of a bygone
day, which were as full as ever
of invention and careful detail.
But her pictures are too
crowded and she has yet to
learn the value of vacant spaces
in composition. Mr. Sydney
A. Gammell, of Liverpool City
School of Art, was awarded a
gold medal for some capital
etchings, of which the best
were those of a gateway of
a park, of shipwrights at
292
work on a vessel in dock, and a seascape with a
ship steaming past a coast village. Mr. W. F. V.
Anson of Leicester is a student of singular indi-
viduality, and his quaint drawing of men with
lanterns, walking on stilts, was one of the most
interesting things in the exhibition. Apart from
its design it was distinguished by its beautiful tone.
Another good drawing shown by Mr. Anson was
the small Dance of the Vagrants. The etching of
a windmill in a landscape by Mr. Stephen O’Keefe
of Liverpool had the virtue of simplicity, but the
mill itself was too uniformly black and had no
indication of light falling upon any of its surfaces.
A bold and vigorous line marked Mr. Harold
Watson’s design in pen and ink for Isabella and
the Pot of Basil, and a particular word of praise is
due to Mr. Harry Bush of Clapham for a very large
and elaborate study in pencil of the embarkation
BOOK ILLUSTRATION
BY WALTER F. V. ANSON (LEICESTER)