DOI Heft:
No. 15 (June, 1894)
DOI Artikel:From gallery, studio, and mart, with illustrations, [3]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17190#0103
From Gallery, Studio, and Mart
The show of "Fair Women" now open at the
Grafton Gallery is full of interest. Not merely are
the majority of its pictures in the highest degree
masterpieces, but the subjects are often no less
attractive. From La Bella Simonetta of Botticelli
to the Circe of Burne-Jones, from the archaic Greek
portraits to Watts' Mrs. Langtry, the heroines of
centuries are to be found. In the cases which fill
the centre of the rooms are the treasures of a hun-
dred armoires and museums of old mansions. The
STUDY BY MORTIMER MENPES
pretty things an old dowager brings out on wet
days to show a favourite grandchild are here in
profusion. Fans, miniatures, frocks and lace, and a
hundred other trifles, not always of high artistic
excellence, but full of human interest, and as re-
cords of enormous value to painters, make a brief
notice of the show impossible. It is a gallery to
revisit very often. _
The exhibition at the Imperial Institute is inte-
resting in so far as it shows exactly what we are
doing in the matter of the production of pottery
and glass. Nearly all the great English firms are
represented, though there are a few notable excep-
tions. It is not to be gainsaid that many of the
exhibits are characterised by very remarkable tech-
nical excellence, and nobody will deny that so far
they deserve the utmost praise. It is in the matter
of design that the wares of even the most distin-
guished firms are conspicuously wanting. Restraint
seems to be the last thing that the designer of
pottery thinks of. In his passion to make his pro-
ductions pretty, he fails entirely to make them
beautiful. Half the things in the exhibition would
have been more decorative if the greater part of
the ornament had been suppressed.
The colour of the wares is much better than their
shape. The exquisite ivory tint which the Wor-
cester people manage to obtain, the fine white
which comes from Coalport, the splendid subdued
colour of the De Morgan ware, are excellent in
varying ways. It is the pattern which is nearly
always at fault. The unconventionalised flowers
and fish which abound are as bad as they can be,
and lack any trace of artistry. No doubt many of
the leading potters do all they can to produce ex-
cellent work, but they cannot be congratulated on
their choice of designers.
It is pleasant to turn from the crude colouring
and unshapely design of much of the pottery at the
Imperial Institute to the glass. Some of the results
arrived at are very beautiful indeed, and it is a
welcome change that glass is accepted as good by
the public even when it is not cut.
6
0
STUDY OF A HEAD BY MORTIMER MENPES
The show of "Fair Women" now open at the
Grafton Gallery is full of interest. Not merely are
the majority of its pictures in the highest degree
masterpieces, but the subjects are often no less
attractive. From La Bella Simonetta of Botticelli
to the Circe of Burne-Jones, from the archaic Greek
portraits to Watts' Mrs. Langtry, the heroines of
centuries are to be found. In the cases which fill
the centre of the rooms are the treasures of a hun-
dred armoires and museums of old mansions. The
STUDY BY MORTIMER MENPES
pretty things an old dowager brings out on wet
days to show a favourite grandchild are here in
profusion. Fans, miniatures, frocks and lace, and a
hundred other trifles, not always of high artistic
excellence, but full of human interest, and as re-
cords of enormous value to painters, make a brief
notice of the show impossible. It is a gallery to
revisit very often. _
The exhibition at the Imperial Institute is inte-
resting in so far as it shows exactly what we are
doing in the matter of the production of pottery
and glass. Nearly all the great English firms are
represented, though there are a few notable excep-
tions. It is not to be gainsaid that many of the
exhibits are characterised by very remarkable tech-
nical excellence, and nobody will deny that so far
they deserve the utmost praise. It is in the matter
of design that the wares of even the most distin-
guished firms are conspicuously wanting. Restraint
seems to be the last thing that the designer of
pottery thinks of. In his passion to make his pro-
ductions pretty, he fails entirely to make them
beautiful. Half the things in the exhibition would
have been more decorative if the greater part of
the ornament had been suppressed.
The colour of the wares is much better than their
shape. The exquisite ivory tint which the Wor-
cester people manage to obtain, the fine white
which comes from Coalport, the splendid subdued
colour of the De Morgan ware, are excellent in
varying ways. It is the pattern which is nearly
always at fault. The unconventionalised flowers
and fish which abound are as bad as they can be,
and lack any trace of artistry. No doubt many of
the leading potters do all they can to produce ex-
cellent work, but they cannot be congratulated on
their choice of designers.
It is pleasant to turn from the crude colouring
and unshapely design of much of the pottery at the
Imperial Institute to the glass. Some of the results
arrived at are very beautiful indeed, and it is a
welcome change that glass is accepted as good by
the public even when it is not cut.
6
0
STUDY OF A HEAD BY MORTIMER MENPES