Studio: international art (35.1905)

Reviews

Municipal Art League to form the nucleus of a
municipal art gallery. The present year he was
honoured by the prize of the Fortnightly Society.
As an illustrator Mr. Johansen has also been very
successful, and many consider that in this field he
shows as much promise as in his pictorial pro-
ductions.

The fact, so long established, that to express the
mechanical side of a given art-idea the idea must,
through continued, painstaking effort, be completely
incorporated within one’s consciousness, has lately
been convincingly exemplified by a series of some
thirty-five canvases, produced last summer by the
Chicago artist, Mr. Oliver Dennett Grover, during
an eight-months’ sojourn in Venice. The incredibly
short time occupied in the painting of these works
can only be explained through the circumstance of
Mr. Grover’s having so thoroughly imbibed the
very atmosphere of the locality, in consequence of
repeated visits, as to be enabled to present it in
terms of his own being. Indeed, waiving for the
moment their technical merit, one feels convinced
upon viewing them that, whatever else they may
be, these paintings are faithful descriptions of the
“ Queen of the Adriatic.” Venetian in colour,
Venetian in action, Venetian in charm, they dis-
play an endless variety of characteristic phases,
rendered through nearly the entire gamut of scale
possibilities, which vary from the most dazzling of
passages, riotous in their full-toned chords of light
and life, to quiet little gems of low-keyed sym-
phonies. Lapping, scintillating waters, in which
time-tinted walls reflect their matchless glories, vie
with essays of the sea, domed by cloud-laden
Italian skies, against which spires of the distant
city pierce the feathery masses above, the clouds
themselves being superbly balanced by groups of
sailing craft. Corners of the market-place contrast
gaily with motifs of the fashionable piazza. Con-
ventional gardening detracts nothing from arrested
visions of foliage, vines, and cupolas from without
the villa walls.

Within the past year, certainly, Mr. Grover has
accomplished volumes, for, previous to his European
tour, he created a set of decorations representing
Art, Literature, Science and Labour for the Black-
stone Memorial Library. These four lunettes, half
classic in feeling, are advantageously placed just
below the central dome, where an admirable system
of illumination charmingly sets off the restful
colourings. The arrangements being semi-formal,
each subject is typified by a central figure, en-

throned as the guiding spirit of the allegory, while
on either side are groups of the different subordi-
nate departments, personified. Although each
division presents a sufficient interest of its own, a
gratifying unity of purpose obtains throughout the
entire scheme. In draughtsmanship these works
proclaim knowledge and skilful execution. Their
colour is luminous, yet rich and unobtrusive. They
are firmly modelled and accurate in texture, at the
same time preserving their decorative aspect. Their
achievement indicates for Mr. Grover still another
success in mural painting, in addition to his admir-
able accomplishments within recent years in con-
nection with the Holy Angels Church and the
Studebaker Theatre, besides various minor commis-
sions. The work of this artist, exhibited at the
Columbian Exposition, Chicago, is an exceptionally
serious production. Executed largely in tone, with
a particularly effective arrangement of light and
shade, it is sincere in treatment, full of delicacy
and feeling.

Mr. Grover’s work has been intermittent in con-
nection with, and between, frequent visits abroad,
the first of which was during his student days at
the Munich Academy. Later he studied at
Florence, and afterwards in the Julien school,
under the guidance of Lefebvre, Boulanger and
Jean Paul Laurens.

Mr. Grover has exhibited creditably at both the
Parisian salons and at the Royal Academy. In
1892 he was awarded first Yerkes Prize in Chicago-
He is president of the Chicago Society of Artists,
and vice-president of the Society of Western Artists.
He is equally at home in all mediums, is a fluent,
versatile painter—one who is able to investigate
and think for himself, and who is never afraid to
declare his convictions. At times he is possessed
of unusual power, and at such times he furnishes
examples of work from which technique and aca-
demic influence are quite removed, while nothing
remains but the simple, direct, poetic manifestation
of his theme. Maude I. G. Oliver.

REVIEWS

The Thirty-five Styles of Furniture. By Timms
& Webb. (London: Timms & Webb.) Price
25V. ——1The authors of this volume have produced a
series of drawings of examples of furniture, begin-
ning with early Egyptian work, and including Greek,
Roman, Byzantine, Moorish, Gothic, Tudor, Chip-
pendale, Sheraton, Adam, Empire, and numerous
other styles well known to students of the subject.

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