Studio: international art (2.1894)

The Grafton Galleries

an interest for a very wide circle. They are
arranged with some consideration for effective
juxtaposition, and display instructively the points
of divergence between the different modern groups.
In the first of the three rooms devoted to the general
collection it is amusing, for instance, to find M. J.
E. Blanche's excellently modern flippancies, After-
noon Tea and Honesty, hanging in the very shadow
of Professor F. von Uhde's equally modern
Sermon on the Mount, which is, perhaps, of all

recent paintings the one which illustrates most
definitely the squalid depths to which serious art
has at this century-end descended. In the large
room the exquisite and untroubled refinement of
Mr. Whistler's three sea pictures contrasts sharply
enough with the over-insistent demonstrativeness
of Mr. Guthrie's remarkable Summer Day, and
with the learned and elaborate allegory of the
Decorative Panel, by Mr. L. Welden Hawkins.
The stern dignity of M. J. Maris's landscape,
The Windmill, is scarcely in keeping with the
brillant sparkle of Spring by M. Emile Claus, or
with the pessimism of M. Lagarde's Corner of the
178

Village—Evening. M. Aublet's July is a curious
opposite to M. G. H. Breitner's Amsterdam at
Night; Mr. J. J. Shannon's pretty pictures of
children to Mr. Theodore Roussel's uncompromis-
ing Portrait of Thomas Simpson, Esq.; and so
on all through.

The greatest contrast of all is that between the
contents of the Albert Moore room and the works
with which the rest of the Gallery is filled. To go
from the outside discordancies of opposite opinions
into the atmosphere of artistic
confidence which pervades this
unique " one-man show," is like
passing from a busy, noisy, and
rather squalid town into a
peaceful and picturesque
country district. For the free
fights of opposing factions is
substituted a quiet restfulness,
a repose which is not exhaus-
tion, but rather the contem-
plative calm of contented
nature. That sureness of
conviction, which was so cha-
racteristic of this artist's indi-
vidual works, makes itself felt
even more strongly when his
pictures are collected. He
was certain of the principles
of his art, his experiments were
all reserved for technicalities
and for details of practice, and
so no sign of wavering was ever
perceptible in his beliefs.

As a representative display
of Albert Moore's best work
this collection at the Grafton
Gallery is necessarily incom- «
plete. The impossibility of
obtaining several of his chief
canvases, of which some are
no longer in this country while
others are in galleries whence
they may not be removed, has
prevented the organisers of the
exhibition from including much
that the public would have
been glad to see. Neverthe-
less, the hundred paintings
and drawings which have been
gathered summarise sufficiently
well the achievements of the
artist's life; and enough of his more notable pictures,
appear to mark definitely each step in his career.
Lovers of his peculiarly eclectic work will doubtless
regret that more of his pictures have not found
places in this collection; but when the extent of
the difficulty in the way of those who would
arrange a loan exhibition is considered, we may
well be thankful that it has been possible to
present so many. More detailed notice of these
pictures must be deferred to a future number,
when it will be possible to give examples of some
of the most important.

A. L. Baldry.

" GROSMONT CASTLE: MOONLIGHT." DRAWN (l2x8|) IN LINE AND WASH.
REPRODUCED BY HALF-TONE PROCESS