Studio: international art (46.1909)

The Royal Scottish Academy s Exhibition

Alexander has never had an equal in the history of
Scottish art, and The Masters Coat, a small
picture of canine pets, is a gem in colour and
characterisation. William Walls in Startled has
produced a good example of a puma and cubs,
and George Smith in A Cool Retreat shows sound
draughtsmanship in the painting of the horses and
foal at the water-trough.

Though it has often been painted, I believe no
artist has hitherto attempted to render Loch
Coruisk under the conditions expressed by Robert
Burns in The Valley of the Shadow. Mr. Burns
spent a month on board a yacht and studied the
aspect of this most sublime of Scottish lochs under
a moonlight effect. This he has transferred to
canvas in a manner which fascinates the eye and
kindles the imagination, making it a work not
only of distinction but of genius. E. A. Walton
shows a Border landscape on lines similar to last
year, distinguished by the grace of its tree forms
and its beautiful procession of colour harmonies.
In The Marble Quarry D. Y. Cameron shows
strong chiaroscuro and brilliant brushwork—even
the prosaic crane is made to subserve an artistic
purpose—but it needed not the introduction of
diminutive workmen to realise the colossal char-
acter of the surroundings.

Charles H. Mackie has won his position as a
colourist, and this is the outstanding feature of
The Harvest Team. Excellent as it is, however,
Mr. Mackie has been too experimental with some
sacrifice of harmony. In his Venetian scheme the
effects are more subtle and much more convincing.
Springtime — Midlothian,
by J. Campbell Mitchell,
has great dignity of com-
position and fine realisa-
tion of a plein-air effect,
and A. K. Brown upholds
his recent academic dis-
tinction by one of those
reposeful moorland sub-
jects, tender in sentiment
and satisfying in its quiet
but by no means restricted
colour harmonies. J.

Lawton Wingate shows
two lovely seapieces, and
landscapes of note are
contributed by J. Camp-
bell Noble, Robert Noble,

George Houston, G. A.

Gibson, and R. M. G.

Coventry.

133

In the water-colour room the most important work
is the large drawing Yarrow, by Thomas Scott.
As J. B. Selkirk has been the modern poet of
Yarrow so Thomas Scott is its enthusing painter.
In this picture he has suffused the vale with golden
light till every blade of the “ bent sae broon ” is
bathed in this palpitating ether glow. In his
Deuchar Bridge the keynote is the picturesque.
R. B. Nisbet, who, by the way, seems now
gravitating towards oil painting, contributes a
breezy sea-piece, Edwin Alexander a beautiful
study of a dog, J. G. Laing an imposing Dutch
church interior, and R. W. Allan a finely-lit view
of San Francesco at Assisi. James Cadenhead’s
work, always distinguished, is this year particularly
fine, notably his Lochnagar, and Henry Kerr has
excellent portraits of Mr. McTaggart and the
Auditor of the Court of Session.

The Sculpture section is small, but it includes
fine works by Rodin, Sir George Frampton, Alfred
Gilbert, Pittendrigh Macgillivray and Percy Ports-
mouth. A. Eddington.

The latest acquisitions of the Scottish Modern
Arts Association, as recorded in the Second Annual
Report issued last month, comprise an oil painting,
The Bend of the River, by Mr. R. B. Nisbet; two by
Mr. Alexander Roche—a landscape and Pittenweem
Harbour; and one by the late Miss Bessie M'Nicol
—Baby Crawford; also water-colours by Mr. James
Cadenhead, Mr. William Walls and the late Miss
Christina Ross. Previous acquisitions during the
year were noted in our November number.