Studio: international art (49.1910)

Studio-Talk

MEMORIAL CHANCEL-GATES IN OAK, FOR THE CHURCH OF ST.
BALDRED, NORTH BERWICK DESIGNED BY J. S. RICHARDSON

was entrusted to the late Charles Furze, and this
more recent adornment of the Town Hall indi-
cates a growing tendency towards the decoration
of civic buildings, leading to the hope that in
course of time local artists may secure public
recognition for similar opportunities. H. B. B.

GLASGOW.—Among the younger mem-
bers of the Glasgow School of
Painters, W. A. Gibson stands out as
an individualist. He takes art seri-
ously, does not paint “what the public demands,”
avoids the commonplace mistake of becoming
“rutty” by seeking, from time to time, new
sketching grounds with fresh inspiration. He
understands and can interpret the grandeur of
Holland, the beauty of England, the charm of
Scotland, but returning from a French village in
Touraine, a district remarkable for its picturesque
cave dwellings, he brings a portfolio of sketches,
with such effects as are unobtainable in any of
the old familiar places. In The Banks of the
Loir the delightful pearly feeling of the silvery-
grey atmosphere is cleverly suggested; while in
Goats the volatility of the French people seems
characteristic of the goats, for rapid sketching is
here demanded, as the grouping changes with
the slightest interruption. Mr. Gibson seeks to
obtain quality in his work, he studies technique
carefully, rapidity of execution has no attractions
for him. To a respect for the modern Dutch
method, he adds an independence and indivi-
duality that make his work distinguished in
56

exhibition or public gallery, or
wheresoever presented. J. T.

Edinburgh. — The

chancel screen gates re-
cently executed for St.
Baldred’s Church, North
Berwick, were designed by and
carried out under the superintend-
ence of Mr. James Smith Richard-
son, of Edinburgh. This young
architect has had two great advan-
tages, viz.: firstly, he acquired
exceptional facility of draughts-
manship in the Life School at the
Edinburgh School of Art; and
secondly, he received an architec-
tural training under the able tuition
of Mr. Lorimer (whose work has
again and again been reproduced
in The Studio). Mr. Richardson
never crossed the border into England until the
year 1906, when coming south he was introduced
by Mr. Aymer Vallance (who had made his
acquaintance in the previous year while both of
them happened to be studying the splendid wood

DETAIL OF MEMORIAL GATE ILLUSTRATED
ABOVE