ART.
THE GROSVENOR GALLERY.
[SECOND NOTICE.]
IN our first notice of this Gallery, we spoke of the decorative works exhibited therein. In this, we have to notice the
Water-colour Drawings by living artists, which form the greater portion of the exhibition. These drawings may be divided into three classes, one of which is taken up by the work of French artists, another by a contribution from the Liverpool Water colour Society, while the third, larger than both the others put together, is the work of our best- known painters in this medium. It may be said at once that there has 'been a "plentiful lack of wit" in the selection of several of the examples, there being at least a dozen which seriously lower the average of excellence, and which are altogether out of place in an exhibition of the importance of the Grosvenor Gallery. This is probably to some considerable extent due to the system of invitation by which Sir Coutts Lindsay fills his rooms, a system which leaves to the dis- cretion of the invited artist what works he will send, and so practically takes all control out of the hands of the managing body.
Let us speak first of the contributions sent from France, numbered in the catalogue from 1 to 38. The French are apparently getting a fuller understanding of the scope of water-colours than they possessed a few years ago, and their thirty or forty pictures mark a decided advance upon the pretty, flashy, sweetmeat style of work which used to form the Gallic conception of water-colour. There is not much depth of colour even now, nor is there usually found the solidly skilful brush-work to which we are accustomed in some of our best water-colour artists ; but touches of colour are thrown in here and there among the greys and browns, which light up the pictures much as a Morris paper is lighted up by a little plaque of Persian china, and instead of solidity of handling we have a sparkling light- ness—a sort of George-Augustus-Sala vivacity—not very wise, perhaps, nor even very true, but quite sufficient for five minutes' pleasant distraction. Our painters are so painfully in earnest, so heavily conscious of their exacting and proper- minded public, they are so diligent and, sometimes, alas ! so dull, that it is a relief to turn to work which seems to have been done without effort, and without any lurking conscious- ness of the Lord Chamberlain or the Church Times.
We do not mean by this that there is to be found in the French water-colours immorality of subject (on the contrary, a large proportion of them are simple country landscapes, and the rest are wholly unobjectionable), but simply that they have been executed with a free band, apparently conforming to
uo rules, save such as the artist's special modes of thought and work enforce upon him. To very much of our English paint- ing, especially to that which is called "Genre," they stand in the relation of the living dog to the dead lion. We will say a few words upon some of the more interesting examples. The first is, " Sur la Terrasse," by G. van den Bos, a study of a Parisian in a very sumptuous pink-silk diuner-dress, seated upon the terrace, and showing, perhaps, rather more pink shoe and stocking than we should consider proper in this uncertain climate. This work is delicate in colour, and dainty in execu- tion, the sort of drawing to hang upon pale satin in a lady's boudoir, its greatest merit being the perfect ease and repose of the seated figure. The artist has caught and fixed that expres- sion of assured contentment with herself, and indifference to the opinion of all the rest or the world, which is probably never seen to perfection, except upon the face of Eton school-boys and perfectly-dressed Frenchwomen.
The next work to this is a clever, rough sketch, full of "go," by H. Harpignies, of two labourers fighting their way against wind and rain—" Encore six kilovildres," This is almost entirely executed in tertiary tints, but is a fine piece of rough work. The two shipping pictures, by Lapostolet, are noticeable for their smooth finish of execution, and also for the effects of still atmosphere, which make it a little like Bonnington in their general impression. The two pictures of "Rotten Row " and " Saturday Afternoon," by E. Hocterick, give a fair idea of what London looks like to a foreigner, but have not caught the "local colour." "L'Atelier de mon Pi,..re," by G. Dautan, is the most thoroughly-finished piece of work in this series, and it is difficult to see how the casts, drawings, unfinished statues. and all the debris of a sculptor's studio could be better or more simply painted. Probably, the two cleverest pieces of work are the two street scenes by N. Goeneutte, called "Au Pont Royal" and " Retour du March6 anx Fleurs." Both of these are painted entirely in grey, black, and brown, with little, lights of rich, dark red ; the work is pure water-colour, and the
subject in each is such as might suit a cartoon of "la vie Parisienne." Given that an artist can be right in restricting himself to the management of tertiary tints, on the one hand, and in finding his inspiratiOn literally, as well as metaphorically, in the gutter, on the other, nothing but :praise can be said of these works, which are to water-colours very much what Zola's novels are to fiction, and will probably be liked by the same people. The one imaginative work to be found in this series is the "Abraham," by J. Cazin. It is extremely difficult to Say iu what the charm of this picture consists. It represents the moment when the angel appears to Abraham to stay the sacrifice of Isaac ; and the scene is a wooded height, on the slope of which is the altar, with Abraham standing thereby, while the angel is flying down towards him. The quiet even- ing landscape reminds us something of George Mason's work, but the execution is very different, being peculiar for a sort of rich softness which only just escapes being smudgy and woolly. The curious thing about the work, and, indeed, its greatest merit, is that the relation between the manner in which the landscape is conceived and painted, and the angelic figure is so carefully preserved, that the appearance of the angel seems to be the most natural thing in the world, and just what might have been expected, M. Cazin has, somehow, been enabled to throw such an air of supernaturalism over a natural scene, that extraordinary appearances become not only possible, but necessary.
The two Alpine sketches by M. Viollet-le-Due are interesting, but hardly of sufficient merit to hold their own iu such an exhi- bition as the present ; and the study of fieherwomen looking out to sea, by M, Eutin, is an effective though somewhat coarse rendering of a good subject. Those who feel a little depressed at the superior "chic" of most of these French water-colours may be comforted. by looking at M. Dribufe's " Venus," a pic- ture which it may be confidently asserted could only have been painted by a Frenchman, and which combines, in about equal proportions, insolence of work . and colour and coarseness of feeling.
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