Studio: international art (67.1916)

Studio- Talk

The exhibition of the Royal Society of Painters
in Water-Colours this spring contains a very
characteristic water-colour of the Giudecca, Venice,
by Mr. Sargent, and in pure landscape a small
picture very admirably combining decorative value
with a realistic impression of storm-swept fie'lds by
Mr. Charles Sims, R.A. Mr. S. J. Lamorna Birch
comes to the front in this exhibition with his Bick-
leigh Vale, Devonshire, having rid his palette of
that order of colour which speaks of the artist-
colourman before it makes any reference to nature ;
and in Primrose Song Mr. Russell Flint expresses
himself at the height of his powers, preserving to
his subject the charm of the pastoral sentiment
that evidently inspired it. Penarth Head by Mr.
D. Murray Smith, with other pieces by the same
artist, whom we are glad to see enrolled among
the Associates of the Society; Hullo by Mr.
Arthur Rackham, and his Arcadians; Autumn in
Strathway by Mr. D. Y. Cameron, A.R.A.; the
original little illustration for a work
by Voltaire by Mr. J. W. North,

A. R.A.; Bignor Mill, Sussex, by
Mr. Oliver Hall, R.E. ; The Green
Glade by the President, Mr. Alfred
Parsons, R.A., do not exhaust the
list of works to which we could wish
to devote more space than the bare
reference to them occupies.

the “Anzacs” landing at V Beach. As usual,
the Society of Miniaturists exhibited with the
R.I., but we are afraid it must be recorded that it
is unsuccessful in supporting the best traditions of
the miniaturist’s art. The very spirit of the art at
present seems killed by the overpowering influence
of the photographic ideal.

The spring exhibition of the Royal Society of
British Artists, now drawing to a close, stands
unique among the long succession of exhibitions
held by the Society since it was founded over
ninety years ago, on account of the presence of a
collection of works from a foreign society forming
a distinct section of the exhibition. To the
Society in question, the Associazione Italiana
Acquafortisti e Incisori, who had expressed a wish
to find a locale in London for a representative
display of their work, the Council of the R.B.A.
gracefully conceded the whole of the large central

At the spring exhibition of the
Royal Institute of Painters in Water-
Colours we noticed an interesting
departure made by Mr. Wynne
Apperley in Spanish Memories. In
this fanciful vein, recently adopted,
he shows greater originality than in
water-colours closely following the
method and class of subject asso-
ciated with the name of Mr. Sargent.
We were also agreeably refreshed
by encountering in a rather dull
section of the exhibition Mr. A. J.
Munnings’s Harriers in Ireland.
There were two or three other
pictures by this artist not less full
of animation and pictorial charm,
reminding us of the old hunting-
print come back to life in a new
impressionist form. A Landscape
by Mrs. Eleanor Hughes lingers in
our memory, and for its skilful
handling of a terrible theme Mr.
Charles Dixon’s illustration of

“ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH FROM THE GROAT MARKET, NEWCASTLE-UPON-
TYNE.” AQUATINT FROM THE PAINTING BY T. M. RICHARDSON, SEN.

(Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne)

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