Studio: international art (48.1910)

Studio- Talk

and perfection of workmanship we are accus-
tomed to associate with this artist's productions,
one principal piece being an elegant silver chalice,
the stem entwined with finely wrought foliated
work and all enriched by jewels. The wrought
silver embellishment to a backhair comb, and
to the handles of a set of spoons, by Mr. R.
P. Roberts, combined tasteful design and good
workmanship. _

Among the small bronzes and statuettes were
several clever examples by E. 0. Rosales, J. H.
Morcom, Morris Harding, and Miss D. B. Carey
Morgan. Mons. Auguste Seysse's two little bronze
figures of Elephants, cleverly composed, spontane-
ous in action, and well modelled without excess of
labour, and a small bronze group entitled A Kiss,
by Miss Mary Pownall (Mrs. A. Bromet), attracted
attention. But undoubtedly the pre-eminent ex-
hibit in this section was the original model of the
bronze by Alfred Gilbert, M.V.O., entitled in the
catalogue Mors Janua Vita, of which a repro-
duction has already appeared at page 99 of the
November number of The Studio, where it is
called Study for an Urn. H. B. B.

"THE KISS" (BRONZE) BY MARY POWNALL
314

GLASGOW.—At the Second Annual Ex-
hibition of the "Scottish Art Circle"
the most conspicuous picture was a
large pastel study of children in their
cot, newly awakened by the bright sun streaming
through the casement window. In Morning Glories
(p. 317) M. B. Barnard (Mrs. Macgregor Whyte)
found a congenial subject, and in a happy medium,
combined with body colour, she made admirable
decorative use of greys, blues and dull reds.
The flower pictures by the President, Mr. Henry
Erskine, and the etchings of French cathedrals
and local edifices by Mr. John Nisbet, were
amongst other interesting items at the same
exhibition.

A young painter whose doings of late have
aroused great interest is Mr. William Wells,
R.B.A. Beginning his art studies at the Slade
School, he subsequently pursued them in Paris,
afterwards painting at Etaples; then he returned
to Glasgow, took up scenic art, ultimately settling
in Lancashire. Last year might well have been
termed a Wells' year. Beginning with an exhibition
of over forty pictures at a private gallery in
Glasgow, where a few days after opening every
one had a red star, the exhibition at the Fine Art
Institute followed, and will be remembered by
many because of a remarkable landscape by Mr.
Wells—A Lancashire Village, which is now one
of the most notable possessions of the Scottish
Modern Arts Association, and was reproduced in
The Studio last May.

William Wells troubles not with art theories; he
is practical and direct; he loves Nature passion-
ately, lives much in the open, and, being tempera-
mentally an artist, is impelled to record his
impressions. This he does in whatever medium
or mediums best serve his immediate purpose—oil
or water-colour, or a combination of water-colour
with oil, charcoal or Indian ink, giving the im-
pression of an entirely new technique. The
accompanying coloured reproduction of a small
studio picture recently shown at a Glasgow
exhibition is in the artist's special manner, and
gives an excellent idea of his treatment; it has
all the technical qualities of a pastel drawing in its
delicate combinations of grey and brown. The
tonal effect is well managed, the pose of the figure
natural, the anatomy cleverly suggested, while the
mysterious feeling of pale moonlight is accurately
conveyed. The relation of the figure to the back-
ground might have been modified without lessening