Studio: international art (89.1925)

BRISTOL—WALES

BRISTOL —During the month of
December an exhibition of repro-
ductions of pictures of the Flemish and
Dutch schools of painting was held at the
Bristol Reference Library to illustrate a
course of six lectures by Mr. Maurice W.
Brockwell, delivered at Bristol University.
Starting with the works of the Van Eycks,
the display included some fine repro-
ductions of the Adoration of the Lamb, A
Man's Portrait (in the National Gallery),
The Man with the Pinks and John Arnolfini
of Lucca and his Wife, these being followed
by equally representative works of Roger
van de Weyden, Dirk Bouts, Hugo van der
Goes, Hans Memlinc, Gerard David, Jan
Mabuse and other early Flemish painters.
The works of Rubens, Van Dyck and their
contemporaries completed the Flemish
section. 00000
The earliest Dutch artists dealt with
were Jan van Scorel and Antonis Mor. The
works of the two greatest portrait painters
of Holland—Frans Hals and Rembrandt—
received special attention, and some exam-
ples showing the admirable technique and
brilliant imagination of Hals' pupils—
Adriaen Brouwer and Adriaen van Ostade
—were followed by the more refined
painters of the following generation,
Terborch, Metzu, and that inimitable
painter of Dutch domestic life, Pieter de
Hooch. There were some studies of moun-
tains and waterfalls of Everdingen, several
reproductions of the masterpieces of Jacob
van Ruysdael ■ and Hobbema (Ruysdael's
pupil and friend). 0000
Other artists represented included
Gerard Dou, Nicolas Maes, Jan Hackaert,
Paul Potter, Aelbert Cuyp, Jan Steen,
William van de Velde, William Roelofe,
Johannes Bosboom, Josef Israels, H. W.
Mesdag, Mauve, the brothers Maris, and
Van Gogh. 00000
A large number of people, including
art-students, visited the exhibition, and a
demand for books on Dutch painting has
been noticed at the Bristol Reference
Library since the opening of the display.
An enterprise of this kind can do much to
disseminate knowledge and appreciation of
art, and other cities might well emulate
Bristol in this particular. The Librarian
of Bristol has made arrangements for
further shows of a similar nature.

" MISS GWEN FFRANGCON-
DAVIES AS ' ETAIN ' IN
' THE IMMORTAL HOUR ' "
BY HAROLD KNIGHT

WALES. — The seventeenth annual
report (1923-24) of the National
Museum of Wales records a very important
year's work in the Art Section of the
Museum. 00000
Sir William Goscombe John, R.A., who
is an active member of the Art Committee,
has contributed four important bronzes.
The Museum is further indebted to Sir
William Goscombe John for his gift of a
bas-relief in bronze—Ignis Fatuus (Will o'
the Wisp), by Henry Alfred Pegram, R.A.

A fine example of the art of John
Downman, A.R.A., has been acquired by
purchase from the Acton Hall Collection.
From the Welsh standpoint it is interesting
to note that Downman, hitherto thought
to have been a native of Devonshire, is now
regarded as a Welsh artist. He was born
near Ruabon in 1750, resided in London
and Chester, and finally at Wrexham,
where he died in 1824. 000
Other important acquisitions include a
portrait by Harold Knight of Miss Gwen
Ffrangcon - Davies as " Etain " in " The
Immortal Hour." This fine example of the
work of Mr. Knight has been secured by
private subscriptions raised by Mr. W. H.
Renwick, and is reproduced above. 0

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