Art
IT is a long time since an exhibition of contemporary painting has been seen at the galleries of Messrs. Thomas Agnew and Sons, 43 Old Bond Street, and their present collection of Recent Pictures by British Artists is welcome for that reason alone. Opinions will vary considerably about this show. I found the exhibition as a whole rather lacking in cohesion. It is, indeed, a little difficult to imagine what method of selecting the various artists has been adopted. Augustus John and Sir John Lavery do not make particularly suitable company for Vanessa Bell, Paul Nash, or Duncan Grant, nor shall we say that Mr. Adrian Daintrey is an ideal stable companion for Sir Charles Holmes, Mr. Charles Cundall and Mr.' Oswald Birley. Possibly these uneasy partnerships would not force themselves so vigorously on the spectator's attention in a larger exhibition.
Mr. John's portrait, The Yellow Jacket, is disappointing, but there is a good Sickert; Au Caboulot du Bout du- Quai. Both Mr. William Nicholson's still-lifes are pleasant pictures, but they give the appearance of being a little " chalky," and this same " chalkiness " detracts a little from the charming effect of the artist's large Summer Flowers. The two Lavery landscapes, Hampstead Heath and The Golf Course, North Berwick:, are extremely characteristic of this side of the painter's work; the latter is very similar to the familiar North Berwick in the Natiorial Gallery, Millbank. Frederick Porter, Keith Baynes, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Gra' nt are all well represented. I liked particularly The Pond, by Duncan Grant, and the slight but very pleasing sketch, S.S. Colima e Damian°, Rome, by Vanessa Bell. Mr. Adrian Daintrey's Oare House and Southampton Wirier compel attention by their vigorous painting and excellence of design, and Dahlias, by Mr. Matthew Smith, is a good example of his familiar flower pieces. This exhibition contains a number of paintings by Mr. Hyam, whose pictures are well known to those who go to London group exhibitions.
The fortieth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters is well worth a visit for the series of paintings by the late Sir William Orpen, and for the magnificent portrait by Mr. Augustus John of Mr. Montague Norman, Governor of the Bank of England. Apart from these and one or two others, particularly Miss Ethel Walker, I am afraid that the exhibition is more interesting to those who are concerned with personalities rather than painting. DAVID FINCTIAM.
Previous page
