Studio: international art (23.1901)

Studio- Talk

PORTION OF A FRIEZE— BY F. C. GOULD

"MR. LABOUCHERE, AN INDEPENDENT"

derived from his artistic predecessors, but the
reserve and the poetry belonged to the artist who
could find something fresh to say even in a school
that seemed in centuries past to have said the last
word in art. He has made the Dutch traditions
live again in another form, and has added to them
others that he has himself created.

As an example of his methods, and a
summary of his convictions, his water-colour of
The Mill (reproduced in photogravure as a frontis-
piece to this number) is especially notable. It shows
to surprising advantage that brevity of technical
statement which was his distinguishing mark as an
executant; but it has too in high degree the
elusive charm of atmosphere and the feeling for
nature's subtlety that give invariably a touch of
tenderness to even his most impressive compositions.
Rugged and masculine as the drawing is, assertive
almost in its freedom and unhesitating force, it is
still full of the reticence that comes from the
power to select from an ample store of knowledge.
No effort to hide uncertainty of conviction by
mere labour, or to- draw off attention from
incomplete expression by a show of manual
dexterity, mars its simplicity. ' It is learned, but yet
without pedantry, confident but not self-conscious;
and it is pervaded with the love of nature that is

the surest safeguard any artist can possess against
temptations to wander into easy conventions. Not
many modern works can claim as great a measure
of consideration; but it is the work of a master,
and ranks among the masterpieces of a famous
school.

Although the exhibition of the Pastel Society
cannot be said to equal in merit or importance
either of the two previous shows held under the
same management, it is not entirely lacking in
interest. There are to be found in it quite suffi-
cient instances of intelligent application of the
medium to justify the existence of the Society,
and to prove that it is fulfilling its purpose with
reasonable efficiency. Perhaps the best things in
the collection are the contributions of Mr. H. B.
Brabazon and Mr. Peppercorn ; they are slight in
handling but exquisite in their suggestion of colour
and atmosphere, and marvellously well understood.
Then there are landscapes worthy of note by Mr.
Clausen, M. Nozal, Mr. Grosvenor Thomas, Mrs.
Stanhope Forbes, Mr. Arthur Tomson, Mr. E. G.
Beach, and M. Emile Claus; studies of much
merit by Mr. Edward Stott, Mr. Dampier May,
and Mr. Melton Fisher; and portraits and figure
subjects excellently treated by Mr. Harold Speed,
Mr. Bernard Partridge, M. Levy Dhurmer, Miss
Amy Sawyer, and Mrs. Jopling. These and a few
others provide the most attractive part of the show.
At the opposite extreme there are unfortunately
too many drawings which are irritating by their
complete misunderstanding of the qualities which
make pastel valuable, such, for instance, as the
clumsy and pretentious works like Mr. G. Strahan's

PORTION OF A FRIEZE— BY F. C. GOULD

"MR. KEIR HARDY, AN INDEPENDENT

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