Studio: international art (68.1916)

Studio- Talk

EDINBURGH.—In reviewing the ninetieth
Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy,
one is led intuitively to comparison with
the past. Since Sir James Guthrie was
elected to the Presidential Chair it has been the
practice to devote a considerable proportion of the
wall-space to specially invited work indicative of
the means of art expression employed by English
and more particularly by Continental workers.
There can be no doubt that the object of this
movement was a correct one ; it tended to develop
thought, to a broader and more comprehensive
outlook on Nature and a fuller knowledge of the
methods by which she could be interpreted. This
year, however, war conditions have limited the
area of choice, and the oil-paintings, with half a
dozen exceptions, are by British workers. Lucien
Simon's Wrack Burners one would not willingly
miss, otherwise the foreign work is quite unimpor-
tant. Of the English work Mr. Sargent's portrait
of the Librarian of Cambridge University would
convey distinction to any exhibition ; there is
Mr. Richard Jack's powerfully expressive Homeless ;
Mr. Clausen's Renaissance; Mr. Ambrose McEvoy's
Virginia Graham ; a couple of brilliantly painted
portraits by Mr. Orpen; a charming pastoral by
Mr. Sims; and the intensely interesting Pavilion
d'Armide by Mrs. Laura Knight, whose art is
represented by this and ten water-colours that are
a striking testimony of her interpretative skill in
dealing with widely different subjects.

The Scottish work, the exhibition of which is
the chief function of the Academy, not only
maintains' the excellent traditions of the past but
is remarkably free from any taint of insincerity
or sensationalism, without being conventional or
insipid. Pure portraiture, though not bulking
largely, is good in quality; figure-subjects and
genre occupy a strong position, and there are a
number of excellent landscapes—always a feature
of Scottish exhibitions. The President, Sir James
Guthrie, sends three portraits, of which the
principal is that of the Earl of Moray garbed as a
country gentleman, simple yet forceful, reticent
and sincere. Mr. E. A. Walton's only contribution
in this domain is his portrait of Dr. Inglis Clark,
a well-known Scottish scientist. Mr. Fiddes Watt
is not at his high-water mark in either of his three
portraits : the best is his Lord Dundas, in which
the justiciary robes are well painted. Mr. James
Paterson's versatility is shown in the portrait of a
lady in blue dress, and other portraiture of note
is Mr. Lintott's self-portrait; Mr. Greiffenhagen's

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portrait of his colleague, Mr. Newbery, very able,
but a little too revealing ; Mr. David Alison's refined
portrait of a lady, and a strikingly capable one of
Brigadier-General Kays.

Some of the figure-work and genre is associated,
with the war. Mr. G. Ogilvy Reid's large canvas
depicting mud-soiled Belgian soldiers returning
at dawn from a night in the trenches is excellent,
in spirit and composition, but would gain in force-
fulness were more variety of type expressed in the
soldier figures. Mr. Lavery's London Hospital
interior, which was so popular at the Royal
Academy last year, has been as great an attraction
in Edinburgh, and Mr. Charles H. Mackie shows
very vividly the scene of murder and rapine at
the burning of Aerschot. Mr. Robert McGregor's
War Baby has on the surface at least a more
joyous note than usually characterises his work.
The undertone of sadness however is present. No
Scottish painter excels Mr. McGregor in his draw-
ing of the figure ; every line has its expression and
repeats are rare. This picture will rank with his
finest work. It is a far cry from these present-

"RONA" BY DOROTHY JOHNSTONE

(Royal Scottish Academy)