DOI issue:
No. 232 (July 1912)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21157#0172
Studio-Talk
of undesirables, and a finer ensemble maintained
in each room. There is an agreeable diversity of
subject, more variety of method, a better grasp
of the essentials of , art, and a quickened vitality
which is all indicative of a forward step in the art
life of Scotland. _
The oil paintings on loan number forty-four, and
these have been selected on the principle of repre-
senting diversity of expression and style. In English
art there is Mrs. Swynnerton’s large group of Oreads,
copper-coloured nymphs pyramidically grouped
against a blue background flashing into iridescence ;
Mr. Orpen’s Myself and Cupid, an original diversion
with a dash of dry humour; Mr. Frank Brangwyn’s
Fisherwoman, exhibited for the first time, in which
the reason for some of the figures being partially
nude is not apparent, though they give the oppor-
tunity for some fine flesh-painting; Mr. Walter W.
Russell’s very effective portrait study Camilla ; Mr.
William Nicholson’s piquantly captivating Nancy;
the late Val Havers’s Living-room Picture; and
Mr. Sargent’s altogether delightful Cashmere proces-
sional. Sir George Reid is represented by a charac-
teristic portrait of Sir John Murray, and Mr. Lavery
by a large portrait of Mrs. Symington, notable chiefly
for its texture-painting. Among notable examples of
foreign art is Israels’ Widower, so full of emotional
appeal and so fine'in its tone value.
With two or three exceptions all the members
and associates are exhibitors. The president, Sir
James Guthrie, whose administrative capacity is as
valuable an asset to the Academy as his artistic
genius is to British portraiture, is represented by his
full quota of three works. The portraits of Lord
and Lady Carmichael have each distinctive qualities,
but the high-water mark is reached in the intimately
phrased and subtly characterised portrait of Sir
George M Paul, Deputy Keeper of the Signet. Sir
James is developing more clarity of colour in the
flesh-painting, which is a decided gain. Mr. E. A.
Walton also shows to much advantage in his
portrait of Mr. William Stuart Fraser, and the
gracefully posed and richly harmonised Mrs.
Hugh Miller. The influence of Raeburn is mani-
fest in Mr. Fiddes Watts’s three portraits, the same
virility and subordination of the unimportant, but
less suavity, and a disposition to a lower scheme of
colour. His bust portrait of Lord Haldane realises
the War Minister rather than the politician.
Purity of colour and grace of pose distinguish the
portrait of Miss Salvesen by Mr. Robert Hope, and
IS®
Mr. Henry W. Kerr has developed a freer style in
his portrait of Mr. Roberts of Drygrange. Among
the younger men who are showing much promise
in the field of portraiture are Mr. Eric Robertson
with a very charming presentment of Miss Cecile
Walton, and Mr. David Alison, especially in his
portrait of Mr.J. Spence Smith.
The nude has never hitherto been a distinctive
note in Scottish exhibitions. This year marks a
departure. If the Greek personality and atmo-
sphere of Mr. Robert Burns’s Danae are not con-
vincing, one cannot but admire the fine modelling
of the figure and the grace of the pose. In
The Handmaid of Art, by Mr. Charles H. Mackie,
the outstanding feature is the marvellously inter-
woven procession of colour-notes from the brilliantly
lit studio to the shadowed recesses of the repose
chamber. The picture bears evidence of close and
reasoned study in every detail, cumulating in an
ensemble of richly harmonic beauty. Mr. Dudding-
stone Herdman’s picture of a young girl seated on
the rocky bank of a river shows good chiaroscuro
in the flesh-tones of the figure, which is placed in
shadow. The Bacchus group of Miss Mary
Cameron is ambitious, but while the details are
Bacchanalian to a degree the principal figure spells
modernity in very large letters.
A distinctive note is struck in the landscape sec-
tion by Mr. D. Y. Cameron’s Cir Mohr, an almost
monochromatic picture of the precipitous mountain
range in Arran which expresses its solemn grandeur,
mighty aloofness, and sublime shadow depths. In
The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice, Mr.
Mackie is no less successful than in his figure-
subject. It is a rich symphony of colour, from the
warm yellow to the reposeful blues, with no over-
insistent note, though the scale is great and full.
Mr. Lawton Wingate realises the rich harmonies of
evening light on sea and in the sky in his
Sundown over the Sands, a lyric in colour, while Mr.
James Paterson in Afterglow has a dignified view
of Iona with its roofless cathedral. Mr. Campbell
Noble’s Eve?iing ranks beside his best pictures of
Dutch waterways, and Mr. Robert Noble’s Sylvan
Tyne is a lovely group of grey willows. In The
White Crest Mr. W. M. Frazer gives an alluring
vision of valley, moor, and mountain; Mr. J-
Whitelaw Hamilton’s Strathendrick Village, with its
billowy hillside, is imposing in composition and rich
in colour; and Mr. Campbell Mitchell breaks new
ground in an Argyllshire farmyard scene,* with its
contrast of twilight and artificial light.
of undesirables, and a finer ensemble maintained
in each room. There is an agreeable diversity of
subject, more variety of method, a better grasp
of the essentials of , art, and a quickened vitality
which is all indicative of a forward step in the art
life of Scotland. _
The oil paintings on loan number forty-four, and
these have been selected on the principle of repre-
senting diversity of expression and style. In English
art there is Mrs. Swynnerton’s large group of Oreads,
copper-coloured nymphs pyramidically grouped
against a blue background flashing into iridescence ;
Mr. Orpen’s Myself and Cupid, an original diversion
with a dash of dry humour; Mr. Frank Brangwyn’s
Fisherwoman, exhibited for the first time, in which
the reason for some of the figures being partially
nude is not apparent, though they give the oppor-
tunity for some fine flesh-painting; Mr. Walter W.
Russell’s very effective portrait study Camilla ; Mr.
William Nicholson’s piquantly captivating Nancy;
the late Val Havers’s Living-room Picture; and
Mr. Sargent’s altogether delightful Cashmere proces-
sional. Sir George Reid is represented by a charac-
teristic portrait of Sir John Murray, and Mr. Lavery
by a large portrait of Mrs. Symington, notable chiefly
for its texture-painting. Among notable examples of
foreign art is Israels’ Widower, so full of emotional
appeal and so fine'in its tone value.
With two or three exceptions all the members
and associates are exhibitors. The president, Sir
James Guthrie, whose administrative capacity is as
valuable an asset to the Academy as his artistic
genius is to British portraiture, is represented by his
full quota of three works. The portraits of Lord
and Lady Carmichael have each distinctive qualities,
but the high-water mark is reached in the intimately
phrased and subtly characterised portrait of Sir
George M Paul, Deputy Keeper of the Signet. Sir
James is developing more clarity of colour in the
flesh-painting, which is a decided gain. Mr. E. A.
Walton also shows to much advantage in his
portrait of Mr. William Stuart Fraser, and the
gracefully posed and richly harmonised Mrs.
Hugh Miller. The influence of Raeburn is mani-
fest in Mr. Fiddes Watts’s three portraits, the same
virility and subordination of the unimportant, but
less suavity, and a disposition to a lower scheme of
colour. His bust portrait of Lord Haldane realises
the War Minister rather than the politician.
Purity of colour and grace of pose distinguish the
portrait of Miss Salvesen by Mr. Robert Hope, and
IS®
Mr. Henry W. Kerr has developed a freer style in
his portrait of Mr. Roberts of Drygrange. Among
the younger men who are showing much promise
in the field of portraiture are Mr. Eric Robertson
with a very charming presentment of Miss Cecile
Walton, and Mr. David Alison, especially in his
portrait of Mr.J. Spence Smith.
The nude has never hitherto been a distinctive
note in Scottish exhibitions. This year marks a
departure. If the Greek personality and atmo-
sphere of Mr. Robert Burns’s Danae are not con-
vincing, one cannot but admire the fine modelling
of the figure and the grace of the pose. In
The Handmaid of Art, by Mr. Charles H. Mackie,
the outstanding feature is the marvellously inter-
woven procession of colour-notes from the brilliantly
lit studio to the shadowed recesses of the repose
chamber. The picture bears evidence of close and
reasoned study in every detail, cumulating in an
ensemble of richly harmonic beauty. Mr. Dudding-
stone Herdman’s picture of a young girl seated on
the rocky bank of a river shows good chiaroscuro
in the flesh-tones of the figure, which is placed in
shadow. The Bacchus group of Miss Mary
Cameron is ambitious, but while the details are
Bacchanalian to a degree the principal figure spells
modernity in very large letters.
A distinctive note is struck in the landscape sec-
tion by Mr. D. Y. Cameron’s Cir Mohr, an almost
monochromatic picture of the precipitous mountain
range in Arran which expresses its solemn grandeur,
mighty aloofness, and sublime shadow depths. In
The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice, Mr.
Mackie is no less successful than in his figure-
subject. It is a rich symphony of colour, from the
warm yellow to the reposeful blues, with no over-
insistent note, though the scale is great and full.
Mr. Lawton Wingate realises the rich harmonies of
evening light on sea and in the sky in his
Sundown over the Sands, a lyric in colour, while Mr.
James Paterson in Afterglow has a dignified view
of Iona with its roofless cathedral. Mr. Campbell
Noble’s Eve?iing ranks beside his best pictures of
Dutch waterways, and Mr. Robert Noble’s Sylvan
Tyne is a lovely group of grey willows. In The
White Crest Mr. W. M. Frazer gives an alluring
vision of valley, moor, and mountain; Mr. J-
Whitelaw Hamilton’s Strathendrick Village, with its
billowy hillside, is imposing in composition and rich
in colour; and Mr. Campbell Mitchell breaks new
ground in an Argyllshire farmyard scene,* with its
contrast of twilight and artificial light.