Studio: international art (59.1913)

Charles M. Gere

“morning on the lake” (tempera painting)

BY CHARLES M. GERE

which is reproduced in colour. The picture is
eminently expressive of the poetry of the Gloucester-
shire scenery; and Elms and Willows, a tempera
picture reproduced on page 89, is not less attractive.
The simplification of masses of tree forms which
enables this painter to achieve his broad effects is
based upon the most sympathetic knowledge of trees.
And we owe some of the great success of his com-
positions to his dramatic sense of proportion—
witness the suggested figures in the picture just re-
ferred to, Elms and Willows.

Perhaps, after all, it is through his gift for com-
position—so rare a gift in modern times—that Mr.
Gere exercises such complete influence upon those
to whom his themes appeal. The delicate balance
of incident throughout all his pictures is in itself a
great artistic achievement. It forms a profound
basis for the impressionism, the skill in the
interpretation of atmospheric effect upon which a
part of the character of his art depends, and it not
infrequently imparts additional dignity to the colour
of his pictures. A large part of this success, as of
all pictorial composition, rests with the art of
selection, with the power of the artist to confine the
attention of the spectator to incidents which help
his imagination towards a central theme. It is not
only in the pictures we have mentioned and such
canvases as Wild Wales or The Mouth of the
Severn that Mr. Gere displays this surety of instinct
in knowing how to affect the imagination. These
pictures reveal his resources in a class of subject
that he has made peculiarly his own, but, as we
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indicated at the beginning of this short appreciation,
this side of his art is only one manifestation of his
talents, though the one perhaps in which it is
possible to find the greatest charm.

Sometimes we could wish for just a little more
austerity of colour in this art, to bring the colour
into agreement with the manly quality of the line.
With this one exception it would be difficult to point
to faults in this work, so perfectly does it subscribe
to self-imposed limits and so eminently suitable is
it for living with, which cannot be said of a great deal
of modern art in these days when the exigencies of
vast exhibitions control the policy of the average
artist.

Mr. Gere is wise, we think, in the comparatively
small scale upon which he works, a scale which per-
mits of refinement and economy of style. Return-
ing constantly to very similar themes he never
repeats himself; his exceptional faculty of invention
and knowledge of the elements of design put a
great variety of composition within his reach, and
attendance upon nature renews his inspiration after
every effort and always lifts his achievement out of
the rut Of mannerism into wffiich the artist w'ho is
betrayed into too much studio-production inevitably
falls. Mr. Gere is always curious for new effects,
always seeking fresh revelations from the scenes he
loves; and while he retains so much love and
curiosity in his practice he will not disappoint the
admirers who eagerly look for his pictures in the
recurring exhibitions of the New English Art Club
or elsewhere. Oakley Hurst.