New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-22
LONDON ART.
SHOWS OF THE QUEENS YEAR-ErCH,
INGs AND wATER-COLORs-0 ONE
MAN EXHIBITIONS

MAN EXHIBITIONS
London. March H.
The Queens Year ought to be rendered Nom.
orabIe by characteristic exhibitions Of Ens,,.h
art I'm which Her Majesty has always taken n
deep interest and OF which she has been q gener.
Gus II not always wise patron. The Guildhau
show Is to be one Of exceptional interest ana
value. All the permanent pictures are to b.
removed and the three rooms filled with O. loan
collection representing the chief artists OF thu
Victorian reign. including Wilkie. Turner Land
seer Constable LinneIl. Rossetti. Burne-Jone.
Watts. Leighton. Millais. Holman Hunt Or
chardson. OuIess. Boughton. Riviere and MANY
more. The collection Is to be made with pan..
taking care, and 1t Is expected that many ~
the masterpieces OF the reign Will be exhibited
It will be opened to the public about the middle
Of April and will be ore Of the chief attrac-
lions offered to visitors during an unusually
brilliant London season.
What efforts the Academy will make to IN.
crease the representative character OF the spring
show at Burlington House 1t Is still premature
to forecast. There is a current belief that many
OF the artists busily employed In work.
ing on conventional lines and in systematically
diluting themselves that they do not know
what Is going on outside their studios CONT.
ca. story is told OF one Of the members Of the
Academy, who did not know what Sir John
Tenniel had been doing for a generation in min.
istering TO the gayety OF nations in the pages Of
Punch" and who finally identified him some
what dOubtfuy with Mr.. r. c. Gould as the
industrious comedian OF THE Westminster
Gazette" An artist capable Of making so ha-
grant a mistake might naturally be suspected
OF being in ignorance respecting the importance
OF the Queens Year. 1t is 10 be hoped. however,
that the Academicians and Associates are sum
GENTLY wide-awake 10 realize that exhibit
ton OF unwonted range and value is generally
expected this year. Works Of superior vitality
and creative genius are seldom seen at Burng-
ton House. Possibly exception is 10 be made
this season and visitors allowed to determine
from evidence on the walls whether the art OF
the future ia to be unlike the art Of the vlo-
torian regn-more poetic and artistic In spirit,
less prosac and conventional in method.
SPRING EXHIBITIONS.
The painter-etchers are already In the field for
dress parade in Pail Mall. The exhibition OF the
Royal Society, opened this week, includes nearly
800 fresh examples Of the art. which Mr. Ham,
crton succeeded in reviving temporarily; ana II
supplies evidence that many artists are still
experimenting industriously with needle and
acid II only few are pre-eminently sue
cessful. Sir Francis Seymour Haden. the presi-
dent Of the society has four strong works II.
Illustrating the facility with which color can be
got out Of the plate. The methods are expert.
mental but the tones are soft and mellow and
the effects more interesting than those pro-
duced by closer adherence 20 pure line Mr.
Helleu has eight dry-points. portraits and figure
pieces remarkable for delicate, silvery tone
-p.x, ala q md
distinction Of style Sir J. c. Robinson has two
charming studies Of a mill-pool and quarry
ground In Swanage. and Mr. Alfred East three
cha -acteristic landscapes OF architectural
studies there many examples. including MI
Haig's ambitious and mnutey elaborated ca
thedral interiors. Mr.. c. o. Murray's Magdelen
College oxford and Mr.. c. J. Watson's con-
ventional but extremely delicate line work IN
sketches Of Wells Cathedral and churches OF
Iiseux There also genuine poetic effects
and dreamlke studies OF romantic imagination
among Mr. Strang's series OF illustrations a
The Ancient Mariner"
There is ample evidence in this large collec-
ton OF etchings, meZZotints. dry-points and
aqua- tints that enthusiasm for this branch or
art has not passed away. laborious as are the
processes and heavy is the price which the
artists are compelled to pay In their unceasins
struggle with technical difficulties. While there
might be more encouraging signs OF vigor ana
animation, there is Improvement In technique
and artistic expression The etchings on thess
walls disclose a wider range OF subject ana
treatment than ordinary exhibitions OF current
works I'm oils or water-colors reveal; and X the
secrets of the studio could be told there would
be a superior record OF patience and drudgery
in dealing with treacherous chemical nessss
and overcoming the besetting difficulties OF the
craft The etcher must have the inspiration
OF genuine love OF his art, for he passes his
life In a school which never ceases 10 try his
patierce.
wish that 1 could say that there were fnd!-
cations OF increased public sympathy with this
beautiful branch Of art. have passed tho
greater portion Of a morning in this gallery'
and although il a bright day, radiant with
spring sunlight l almost the only visitor.
1t tempted one 10 believe that Mr. Hamertons
delightful books had been written In vain. fS
there was collection Of fresh work which
neither amateur nor expert would think OF de-
scribng as dull The painter-etchers seemed 10
have gone out into every land and brought
back characteristic scenes as trophies OF their
habits of artistic observation. They had sam.
pied the antique houses OF Rouen. the picf-
uresque bits OF old Paris, the play OF light ana
shade in the sunny Riviera. Italian wine farms
and the Venetian Rialto. the luxuriant lowell
ness of Toledo and Granada, German castles
and street scenes and the fisher-folk and low
tides of Holland. They had even gene so far
afeld as Dalmatia the Pyramids, the Buddhist
tombs near Darjeeng. and the grassy leves
OF Argentina One could travel around the
world in this single gallery. and make a COM
plete circuit OF picturesque Engand-ahd
there corner OF this beautiful country tha'