Studio: international art (88.1924)

TWO CANADIAN PAINTERS

GATINEAU, AUTUMN "
BY G. N. NORWELL

Gatineau, Autumn, of Mr. Norwell, and
we might also mention his delightful
water-colour The Valley of the Ottawa.
Mr. Beament's Burnt Land is another
masterly example of solitude. 0 0
The atmosphere is difficult to put into
words exactly. Even when the subject is
autumnal the atmosphere is in a sense
that of spring, the promise of a virgin
land. A crisp purity of colour is the means
by which this is effected, and one harmony
of orange and blue is repeated many times
in subtly varying degrees. On the score of
technique, in general, the more carping
sort of critic might be inclined to utter
the word " monotony." There is however
no real basis for this criticism. The
monotony of them is the splendid mo-
notony of nature, and though there is a
certain technical uniformity it has an
interest for us as indicating the growth of

a Canadian " convention." It calls to
mind the convention of Japanese painting,
and the Canadians are concerned with the
essential shapes of their native peaks like
the Japanese with Fuji-yama. The feeling,
however, is Western, that is to say at
bottom it is spiritual rather than purely
decorative, and our comparison brings us
back at last, by a different route, to D. Y.
Cameron and the minor grandeurs of
Scotch scenery. 0000
In its concern with the basic charac-
teristics of the country, Canadian art, as
embodied in the paintings of Messrs. Nor-
well and Beament, displays a very healthy
tendency, and encourages us to look for-
ward to the further development of a
vigorous school, firmly planted on its own
ground. As individuals, the two artists
who hold out this promise deserve very
high praise. 00000

263