ART.
TWO EXHIBITIONS.
THE NEW ENGLISH ART CLUB, R.W.S. GALLERIES, 5A PALI. MALL EAST. DRAWINGS BY THE GIRLS OF THE DUDLEY HIGH SCHOOL, INDEPENDENT GALLERY, 7A GRAFTON STREET, W.
A FARMER is reported to have said of Hamlet that it was too full of quotations. The same complaint, with the same truth, might be made of the sixty-ninth exhibition of the New English. The regular recurrence of these exhibitions has somewhat hackneyed the visions of an admirable group of artists. I imagine that had I never before seen the work of this society I should have come away in high enthusiasm ; as it happened, I felt a little unpleasantly surfeited. It is difficult, therefore, to say with conviction whether this year's exhibition is inferior, or whether the fault lies in a certain jading of the appetite. There are, however, several pictures that leave a strong impression. Mr. Ihlee's Nocturne(Biskra) is a vividly felt, vividly expressed composition. A sinister quality in the colour projects the forms startlingly. Mr. Ihlee has succeeded in suggesting "atmosphere " without loss of precision. Miss Marjorie K. Rowles shows two delicate and brilliantly clever pictures, Frampton Feast and The Return from the Stag Hunt. The colouring and treatment of line are individual and pleasing. Miss Rowles has a technique which is a little superior to her vision. The adjective " clever" returns persistently. In Edge of the Wood—Autumn, Mr. John Nash has adopted a more sensuous colouring and more passionate expression of the stress and growth of nature than is usual with him. The result is extraordinarily effective. His brother, Mr. Paul Nash, also exhibits a somewhat unusual work, Buildings at Whiteleaf, a picture which, without being in any way a copy, is suggestive of Russian art. It is one of the greatest distinctions of these two distinguished painters that they are eminently English, and here Mr. Paul Nash has completely anglicized the influence which he has accepted. I was also very delighted with his drawing, Dynichurch Strand. Mr. R. E. Enthoven shows a fascinating- work in this section, Spanish Steps,. Rome. I liked Mr. A. Thornton's Monks. There are interesting, but slightly disappointing, works by Mr. B. Meninsky, Mr. E. Wadsworth, and Mr. P. Wilson Steer ; but we expect highly of these painters.
The exhibition at the Independent Gallery is very different in effect to that at the R.W.S. Whatever conclusions we may come to from its consideration, we must all agree that it is quite uncomfortably stimulating. Here is matter for the art theorists to prove and disprove with. The sense of design, the amazing decorative effects, the approach so naturally Primitive, arc the obvious qualities, in general, of these drawings. There is no copying. Miss Richardson, the teacher who is responsible for these stirring results, has taught her children to conceive pictures, not to express them. They have, therefore; sought their own means. Their visions have not been warped with formulae ; and, therefore, their expression is direct. These drawings are works of art, not great works, it is, of course, true ; but they are the uninter- rupted transcription of genuine emotional visions, however crude. It is to this direct expression that sophisticated artists, after infinite labour, work back. Then they are great. This exhibition has made me thoroughly optimistic. I believe the English people may yet learn to see.
ANTHONY BERTRAM.
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