DOI issue:
Nr. 237 (November, 1916)
DOI article:Halton, Ernest G.: Water-colours by D. Murray Smith, A.R.W.S.
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43463#0048
Water-Colours by D. Murray Smith, A.R.W.S.
“ STRAND-ON-THE'GREEN, KEW”
BY D. MURRAY SMITH, A.R.W.S.
most successful achievements. He has visualised
the scene with a happy sense of composition and
has interpreted it with a simplicity of means which
reveals his mastery of the medium.
Another Welsh subject, Penarth Head, Glamor-
ganshire (p. 24),'-is possessed of sober truthful-
ness. The quiet depth of tone in the middle
distance is accentuated by the light on the far-off
headland. Here again we must admire the ease
with which the artist preserves the effect of
spontaneity. The beauty of the tone values, the
suggestion of light and air and sense of spacious-
ness all combine to make a very pleasing and
successful composition.
Few subjects round London have in recent days
inspired more artists than Strand-on-the-Green,
that picturesque row of riverside houses near Kew.
Mr. Murray Smith’s rendering of the subject, given
above, affords him an opportunity of showing
that his draughtsmanship is sound, though those
who are acquainted with his etchings require no
proof of that fact. His drawing of Strand on-
the-Green is in every way a delightful work and an
interesting record of one of the prettiest spots
near London.
Looking at these examples of Mr. Murray
26
Smith’s art, one is convinced of the fact that he
is carrying on the best traditions of the English
school of water-colour painting. While there is in
his work an entire absence of violent colour-effects,
such as one finds in the productions of the younger
and more aggressive landscapists of to-day, he is
essentially a modern who, though ready to learn
from the past, is continually looking forward. A
sincere love of and reverence for Nature are
revealed in his drawings, conveying the impression
that he is in complete sympathy with his subject;
and it is this spirit which pervades and beautifies
his work. In his endeavours to interpret the
various manifestations of Nature he realises what
Constable meant when he said that “ the landscape-
painter who does not make his skies a very
material part of his composition neglects to avail
himself of one of his greatest aids.” Indeed, his
treatment of cloud effects is the dominating
feature of many of his most successful drawings,
as will be seen from those examples which are
reproduced here, and in devoting himself so
assiduously to the study of this important phase
of landscape-painting he increases the artistic
significance of his work.
E. G. Halton.
“ STRAND-ON-THE'GREEN, KEW”
BY D. MURRAY SMITH, A.R.W.S.
most successful achievements. He has visualised
the scene with a happy sense of composition and
has interpreted it with a simplicity of means which
reveals his mastery of the medium.
Another Welsh subject, Penarth Head, Glamor-
ganshire (p. 24),'-is possessed of sober truthful-
ness. The quiet depth of tone in the middle
distance is accentuated by the light on the far-off
headland. Here again we must admire the ease
with which the artist preserves the effect of
spontaneity. The beauty of the tone values, the
suggestion of light and air and sense of spacious-
ness all combine to make a very pleasing and
successful composition.
Few subjects round London have in recent days
inspired more artists than Strand-on-the-Green,
that picturesque row of riverside houses near Kew.
Mr. Murray Smith’s rendering of the subject, given
above, affords him an opportunity of showing
that his draughtsmanship is sound, though those
who are acquainted with his etchings require no
proof of that fact. His drawing of Strand on-
the-Green is in every way a delightful work and an
interesting record of one of the prettiest spots
near London.
Looking at these examples of Mr. Murray
26
Smith’s art, one is convinced of the fact that he
is carrying on the best traditions of the English
school of water-colour painting. While there is in
his work an entire absence of violent colour-effects,
such as one finds in the productions of the younger
and more aggressive landscapists of to-day, he is
essentially a modern who, though ready to learn
from the past, is continually looking forward. A
sincere love of and reverence for Nature are
revealed in his drawings, conveying the impression
that he is in complete sympathy with his subject;
and it is this spirit which pervades and beautifies
his work. In his endeavours to interpret the
various manifestations of Nature he realises what
Constable meant when he said that “ the landscape-
painter who does not make his skies a very
material part of his composition neglects to avail
himself of one of his greatest aids.” Indeed, his
treatment of cloud effects is the dominating
feature of many of his most successful drawings,
as will be seen from those examples which are
reproduced here, and in devoting himself so
assiduously to the study of this important phase
of landscape-painting he increases the artistic
significance of his work.
E. G. Halton.