The sun., 1895-01-09
Hoods Is Good
HoPKINsoN SMITHS SUMNER DAY
water Color Notes OF n Vacation Along the
Canals OF Holland aud Venice.

Canals OF Holland and Venice.
For fifteen years Mr. +. Hopkinson Smith has
been spending some of his summer days in
Venice, and bringing away each year the most
rapid and vital out-ofdoor notes possible of that
very beautiful region. lie began by letting the
blue or the gray cartridge paper stand for as
much as was possible, and dcvotng nil his cner-
gies to jotting down and fixing the essential fea-
lures Of the feeting landscape.
In this manner u cloud effect In the summer
sky, or series of bands OF prismatic reflections
In placid canal. were set down, upon the in
slant, in color. and the garlng stretch Of the
river was left to the untouched surface Of the
paper for its suggestion.
Year by year these notes In the open air of
Venice have gained. not only in popularity,
but In completeness of expression. Added IA
cility Of expression has changed the sheet
of blue cartridge paper. with its dash
of Chinese white and It's barber pole
hitching post. Of former years into the finished
picture; and Mr.. Hopkinson Smith presents to
us now In his annual exhibition at the gallery of
MI Samuel Il. Avery, Jr., number OF pictures
carried as far as need be to such complete ex-
preston Of the beauties OF Venice as was only
limited at in the earlier notes and sketches.
In the present exhibition. which will continue
until Jan. 10, Mr. Smith has gone further afeld
and has included some dampgray impressions of
his way To Venice.
Nine of the thirty nine pictures shown are of
scenes In Holland. treated, as are those of
Venice. with the same cleverness of touch and
90, and showing quite keen an appreciation
OF the essential characteristics of the region.
Here and there u patch of the original gray
paper, which has precisely suited the tone and
texture. has been left, but Mr. Smith has not be-
fore exhibited such satisfactory results of n
summers work. He has the color sense which
Is born In u painter and the picturesque romanti-
cism that Is an attribute of the sonneteer.
Apparently he has not sought to idealize a
region of itself beautiful. but las been content
with setting down deftly. and ut the moment,
the transient aspect of the place. This. with
every evidence Of truthfulness and an unques-
tionable sense of the picturesque. he has done.
In the Venetian scenes Mr. Smith touched
upon the same glaring Midsummer or buer
dayso early autumn, with here palace of note
and there watery by-way, but always
with an instructive feeling for the binding
light of the dog days-if they havo dogs in
Nenice-or OF the charming reflections given
back by the slightly ruffed surface OF the trans
lucent water In "A Still Morning" for example
he has painted a scene of extraordinary
beauty. house and garden at a junction of the
canals. sunlit and verdant, sort OF insular
paradise and all reflected again In the still wat
ers OF the canal. In Over Ponte Pagla there
Is fine sense Of distance along the quay and
over the water and of the unbounded sunlight
In treating of the canals of Holland Mr.. Smith
has worked under very different sky The
dry glare of the sun gives way here to q beauti-
ful damp gray. and there is, in some cases, |
abundant foliage to give that rich deptl. of
shadow that is 30 rarely found in Venice.
Behind the Groote Kirk-Dordrecht" is a |
charming view of almost Venetian listlessness |
and beauty. rich in its shadow effects from tree |
and gabled house. and still aglow with life and |
sunlight. There is an indescribable charm |
in the sun-fecked vista under the trees |
along Tho Wyd-en-Zyd-The Hague" tho
outrageous colonnade broken by the red
tiled roofs Of houses upon which the
light Of midday is warmly reflected. In
:" Waiting for Tow-Of Pappendrecht," four
boats lie anchored in tho stream, which reflects
the dull gray Of the sky and the gray green land
scape along the banks OF the canal Great
clumsy canal boats take the place in the
Venice but there is color still in the tiled roofs
- The Last Glow" is a sunset effect, in which
the sky might be our own. but in which the
'angle of shipping and bulky boats is essenti-
ally Dutch.
Altogether II must be said of these pictures by
Mr.. Hopkinson Smith that whatever they lack
IN the elaboration and finish OF the studio they
retain. to their very great advantage. in their
ruth and vvacity of expression. There are
many painter-like aspects of Venice. but rarely
one more like than this deft artist has brought
10 US.