Studio: international art (12.1898)

Mr. Moira's Paintings and Bas-Reliefs

PORTRAIT OF MRS. NAIRS BY G. MOIRA

plete his drawing and composition beforehand, so
that finally his colours may be placed with assur-
ance just where he requires them. Hence, no doubt
the spontaneity of handling which confronts a
spectator gives no little sense of mastery to his
work. The poetic insight of the artist is well seen
in the subject from Rossetti's Willowwood, a
picture that is like a soap-bubble in sunlight as
regards its colour, and exceedingly original in its
composition. The Orchard Pit, a study for a
picture, is full of strong contrast, and the legend,
from whatever source it may have been derived, has
grim suggestiveness. The King's Daughter, who sits

apart, moody and sad, is a most noble conception,
and one that interprets Mr. Swinburne's poem,
which begins :

We were ten maidens in the green corn,
Small red leaves in the mill water,

Fairer maidens never were horn,

Apples of gold for the king's daughter.

The Silent Voice, and a very typical portrait, need
no comment, but they suffer somewhat, in spite of
their more sober hue, from the loss of colour ; and
even could that have been preserved from the
great reduction necessary to include them in these
pages, would have worked nearly as great a change.
Fortunately a sketch, The Crusaders, made espe-
cially for The Studio, and here reproduced in fac-
simile, will show better than any description the
actual quality of Mr. Moira's colour.

It is very difficult to estimate the permanent
value of work that captivates you at once by its
novelty ; but, so far as it is possible to leave out
that important factor, which influences all of us
more than we care to admit, Mr. Moira's pictures
have much more than novelty of composition to
commend them. Their interpretation of the sub-
ject is always refined and marked by a delicate
sense of beauty ; and without any wish to defeat
the purpose of well-balanced appreciation by
extravagant praise, it is evident that the young
artist's future holds many triumphs in store; for,
having found his own idiom of expression so soon,
we are justified in expecting much first-class work
from his hands.

But, good as these paintings are, it is the
bas-relief (and possibly domestic stained glass
should be coupled with it) that we have learned
to ask of Mr. Moira. Not even the mosaics
of St. Paul's are more sumptuous in their effect
than this comparatively inexpensive decoration
can be made to be. In place of costly sten-
cilling, or such painted decoration as Mr. William
Morris employed at Stanmore Hall and elsewhere,
in place of ornament lavished on every square foot
of an interior, one hopes to see before long fine
friezes or well-designed panels of figures in coloured
relief freely employed, while the rest of the building
is kept simple and dignified in its repose. For the
true secret of decoration is to leave sufficient blank
space. If you study these panels, you will find
many restful surfaces unworried by pattern or con-
flicting colour. They are a notable achievement
for the commencement of a career, and lead one
to expect much from their creator.

G. W.

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