Studio: international art (86.1923)

THE ROYAL GLASGOW INSTITUTE
OF THE FINE ARTS

ART in the West of Scotland musters
its most important exhibition for the
year in the Royal Glasgow Institute of the
Fine Arts. Spaciously hung in the M'Lellan
Galleries, it makes an impressive collection.
This year, it is as admirable as in the

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Dignity is lent to the exhibition as usual,
by the introduction of important works
which have been successes of the Royal
Academy. Lacking these valuable importa-
tions from the south, the Institute would
be lessened in artistic worth. For, excepting
Sir James Guthrie and D. Y. Cameron, the
West of Scotland does not, at present,
produce artists of the highest technical
calibre. As the Glasgow Institute cus-
tomarily proves, they are in numbers a
spirited host, earnest, active and accom-
plished ; but not possessed of the audacity
and strength that open sudden new vistas
to admiration. Yet among all the 800
exhibits, there is scarcely anything merely
facile or futile. 0 0 0 0

Impressions of a vist to the Galleries
naturally linger upon the larger pictures
first. In these, nothing is more dominating
than Sir James Guthrie's full-length por-
trait, Gladys. This finely aristocratic con-
ception has a noble dignity. It exhilarates
by its sunlit gold and pale blue, while the
figure of a lady, posed against a mantel-
piece in evening dress and cloak is painted
with a wonderfully free brush. It is all
given as a play of light upon a subject, not
as a mere rendering of so many facts ;
while the prevailing emotion is far from
the commonplace. 0000
This portrait contrasts with Sir John
Lavery's The Marchioness Curzon of Kedle-
ston, a typical piece of bravura painting,
with more vividness than soul to it.
Lavery shows a much more distinguished
figure in purple against a red curtain
and also one of his ingenious Thames
studies. 000000
Glyn Philpot is an important exhibitor
with two large classical compositions and
a portrait. Brangwyn portrays inimitably
the grandiose wonder of old Venice. There
are portraits by Howard Somerville, Gerald
Kelly, and Alan Beeton, whose Miss Rita
266

des Isles absorbs by its exotic brooding
atmosphere and decorative line. 0 0

In landscape, D. Y. Cameron has two
richly luminous pictures, notably one
introducing Roman ruins red in a sunset
glow. A Surrey subject by Whitelaw
Hamilton is composed with dignity. 0
David Gauld, whose attention is often
absorbed with cattle, paints a beautiful
picture, The Ferry, grey and green, with a
rising moon stealing into the sky, quite one
of his best performances. 000
By contrast, Hamilton Mackenzie evinces
a lyrical joy in sunlight and inspiriting
breezes. His Pigeon Tower is high in colour
and impetuously brushed. 000
Among the younger men, Allan D.
Mainds has a fine, sensitive evening study
of an old church, Balcomie. Bold in con-
ception is the large Spanish picture by
A. E. Haswell Miller, Segovia, the cathedral
towering in the sunlit sky and a red-tiled
town climbing the hill around it. 0 0

Cadell and Peploe each show stimulating
original work. 00000
Russell Flint interests in a new vein
with An Exercise in Oil Paint, a vigorous
oil colour that opens up lively possibilities
for future ventures in the medium. 0
In W. H. Clarke's Galloway River, strong
colours are effectively used with pleasing
harmony. 00000
It would not be a Glasgow Institute
Show without Docharty, Park, Walter
M'Adam, Henry, Hornel, Gibson and
Houston. There are interesting pictures also
by Charles Oppenheimer, Hugh Munro,
Andrew Law, James Kay and Robert Eadie.

One is glad to see the younger generation
advancing with such representatives as
James Ferguson, H. Berstecher, Mrs.
Haswell Miller and J. L. Constable. 0
The water-colours are a strong section
in the exhibition with virile work by
E. A. Taylor, romantic mountain studies
by Cecil Hunt, a Russell Flint, and
imaginative designs by Jessie M. King.
The black-and-white section is weak, but
the sculpture with its Belgian contributions
is of much interest. Mrs. Clay's fantastic
David dancing before the Ark of the Lord is
prominent, and one notes the thoughtful
modelling by A. Proudfoot, Archibald
Dawson and G. H. Paulin as indicative of
Scottish activity. Robins Millar.