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NOTABLE DISPLAY OF BRITISH PICTURES.
LOAN COLLECTION.
At Melbourne Gallery.
FIGURE SUBJECTS A
FEATURE.
There arc many notable features In the
collection of paintings and sculpture
which,, due to the enterprise and public
spirit of the Empire Art Loan Collections
Society, will be opened at the Melbourne
Gallery on Friday, comprises sixty-three
paintings and nine bronzes selected
chiefly from the London National and
Tate Galleries.
The collection Includes numerous ex
amples of famous English 18th century
portrait painters, together with works by
more recent or living artists. Thus the
collection embraces work from early and
mid-Victorian periods 'to the present day.
Many fine landscapes are also to be
seen.
Among tho 18th century English
painters two works stand out as ol
special significance. In Mrs. Hartley and
Child there will be found a really fine
example of the work, of sir Joshua Rey
nolds, and in Mrs. Campbell of Bailie-
more, by Sir Henry Raeburn— lent by the
National Gallery of Scotland— there Is
revealed an even greater charm ana
mastery of execution than Is to be found
in the Wardrop portrait. Other works by
Reynolds are a portrait of Sir Abraham
Hume and a self-portrait.
Gainsborough Represented.
Gainsborough is represented by a
portrait of The Rev. Sir Henry Bate
Dudley, - one of his lesser works, but
strong in treatment and sense of per
sonality. The full-length figure of Mrs.
Francis Robertson, by Sir Thomas Law
rence, is impressive in a conventional
way, but lacks the. sense of Inspiration
which marks the work of Reynolds or
Raeburn, and the same feeling prevails
in viewing the child portrait Miss Louisa
Van Diest, by Hoppner. A portrait of
Thomas Morton, Dramatist, by the Dub
lin painter. Sir M. A. Sheo (1769-1850),
is good In color.
Taking the more recent figure subjects
In order of importance attention turns
to one of a girl In a blue hat, by Sir
William Orpen— a wholly delightful work.
Mrs. Hartley and Child, a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which will be one of the masterpieces on view at the loan collection to be opened at the National Gallery on Friday. Help
Mrs. Hartley and Child, a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which
will be one of the masterpieces on view at the loan collection to
be opened at the National Gallery on Friday.
A presentment of a different typo, but
rich in character and technical vigor, Is
the portrait of Admiral Fisher, by
Augustus E. John, and a Head of An
Irish Girl, by another contemporary
artist, Henry Lamb, born In South Aus
tralia, while treated In the modern man
ner, Is full of vitality and sparkle. An
equestrian portrait composition which ar
rests attention nnd holds it is Tho Re
turn from the Ride, by C. W. Fursc.
Some of the subject pictures might be
regarded as post dated, ns instance, The
Knight Errant, by Sir J. E. Mlllais, nnd
The Vigil, by John Pattie, nnd Sir H.
von Herkomfcr's The Charterhouse
Chapel, gives the Impression of being a
well-painted and well-intentioned picture
with a somewhat lost motive. The Siege
of Gibraltar. J. S. Copley. 1737—1815, is
Interesting from a present-day point of
view as an example of how battle scenes
used to be painted. There Is some good
painting in the group of rcd-coats to the
right.
There ore charming passages of color,
Incident and treatment In a picture of a
second-hand book stall by Sir W. F.
Douglas, P.R.S.A., 1822—1891, entitled
Bibliomania. Works of such wide dis
parity as The Blind Fiddler, by Sir David
Wllkle, and A Hopeless Dawn, by Frank
Bramley, R.A., 1857—1915, will find
admirers.
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