Studio: international art (54.1912)

Reviews and Notices

Gilbert-Garret Sketching Club's competition, gave
the award of honour to the Royal College of Art.
The first prize for figure composition was taken by
Mr. W. P. Roberts, St. Martin's ; for landscape,
by Mr. T. Lewis, Royal Academy ; for an animal
subject, by Mr. Quick, Royal Academy; for
sculpture, by Mr. H. Bromhead, Royal College
of Art; and for design, by Mr. L. Preston, Royal
College of Art. Of the second, third and extra
prizes the Royal College of Art took six, the City
Guilds and Institute, three ; the Calderon School
of Animal Painting, two; and Westminster, one.
The prize for the best design for the award of
honour certificate was given to Mr. J. A. Hyde of
the Heatherley School.

Sir Luke Fildes, R.A., criticised the work at the
recent exhibition of the Lambeth Art Club and
congratulated Mr. McKeggie upon its good quality.
He was especially pleased with the designs, the
studies of heads, and the landscapes. Sir Luke
awarded the prize for the best painted head to
Mr. Vernon Shewring, and those for landscape to
Miss Dora Whittingham and Mrs. Grace White.
For figure design and composition, Mr. George
Perriman, Miss Dorothy Payne, Miss M. Johnston
and Mr. Eric Bradbury gained the awards; and
the prize for poster design fell to Miss Helen
McKie, for pen and pencil sketches to Mr. G.
Perriman, and for an animal subject to Miss
Tisdall.

The members of the Heatherley Sketch Club,
attached to the well-known school in Newman
Street, held their exhibition of sketches last month
at the Newman Gallery. The most striking feature
of this exhibition was its variety, for it was difficult
to believe, when looking round the walls, that all
the pictures were contributed by the students of a
single school. One of the best things in the ex-
hibition was the oil sketch by Mr. J. Brake
Baldwin, The Dispute; and the other good works
included a reminiscence of the Coronation camps,
Soldiers in Kensington Gardens, by Miss Edith
Urquhart; a clever little landscape, decoratively
treated, by Miss Eva Massey, and contributions
in various mediums by Mr. S. James Brown,
Miss Edith M. Baldwin, Miss Barbara C. Gardom,
and Miss Marguerite F. Inman. W. T. W.

REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

Civic Art. Studies in town-planning, parks,
boulevards and open spaces. By Thos. H.
Mawson, Hon. A.R.I.B.A. (London : B. T.

34°

Batsford.) net.—To treat adequately in one

volume such a subject as this, in all its various
phases, is in itself an almost impossible task.
But Mr. Mawson has confined himself more
particularly to the aesthetic side, though he has
not by any means neglected the practical aspects of
the problems which he has set himself to discuss.
The high and unique position which he holds as
an architect, and his vast and varied experience
enable him to approach the subject with con-
siderable authority; while his innate sensitiveness
to artistic design, more especially as applied to
work of an extensive, we might almost say monu-
mental nature, gives to this volume an interest and
value which cannot be overrated. Mr. Mawson
possesses to a remarkable extent the power of
visualising his ideas, and to this is due much of
his success in garden architecture. When he
applies himself to work on a larger scale, such as
he deals with in the present volume, the advantage
of the gift is inestimable. He has divided his sub-
ject into five leading sections, as follows : 1. The
Theory of Civic Art; 2. The Practice of Civic
Art; 3. Examples of Town-Planning; 4. Examples
of Public Parks and Town Gardens ; and 5. Ap-
pendices. In the first section the place of the
Ideal in civic art is dealt with, together with civic
design, and the aesthetics of civic art; while an
interesting chapter in this first section is devoted
to a comparison between town and country, in the
course of which the writer emphasises the fact that
" people so rarely see that what may be right and
proper in the heart of the city becomes grossly
super-refined and obtrusive when removed from its
proper surroundings and placed in intimate touch
with untamed nature." But perhaps the most
interesting and valuable section of the book is that
dealing with the Practice of Civic Art, in which
town survey, traffic circulation, park systems,
civic centres, garden and open spaces, public
monuments, street equipment, boulevard and street
planting, &c, are considered, and reveal the author's
broad artistic outlook and sense of fitness. In the
short space at our disposal it is impossible to draw
attention to the many other interesting subjects dealt
with in this important volume ; and we can only
add that the numerous excellent drawings, photo-
graphs and plans which accompany the letterpress
considerably enhance the value of the work.

Wood-Sculpture. By Alfred Maskell, F.S.A.
(London: Methuen.) 255-. net.—Alike indefati-
gable and discriminating in his researches Mr.
Maskell in his latest volume has successfully
achieved a most difficult task, having given in a very