New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-08
LONDON ART.
4 Cosmopolitan Irish Sho7c-Cathe-
draLS an WGter Color.
London, June I

@oHQon June !.
A compliment sometimes has an ironical edge.
TIE Corporation Of the City of London has
onaned At the GuiIdhaH an exhibition of works
nv Irish painters The force Of this tribute 10
the artistic genius of the island is broken when
she collection, which was originally designed
Cor The ST Louis Exposition, is examined in
detail Mr. Lavery's paintings are prominently
hing and he has been supposed 70 be one of
the leaders Of the Scotch group Of painters
A. Orpen and Mr. Furse have been the bright
est stars Of the galaxy Of the New English Art
Club and now they are shining with fresh
lustre as Irish painters. Mr.. j. ]. Shannon has
been regarded as Mr.. Sargents chief rival IN
tie American group IN the Academy, but IN the
Grfldhau he is true 10 his Irish name and is
numbered among the elect OF green Erin. Mr..
r L. Shannon has swarm of admirers who
have hailed MS work sign OF creative i'm
rrses astir among the dry bones OF British
convention. and he. too, shares in the disttnc-
ZION OF being Irish Sir Martin Shee was Sir
Thomas Lawrence's successor president OF
:he Roya! Academy. but as an Irishman b.
birth he was entitled TO ar honorable place in
he Gundhau show. AIulready, Maclise and FL
more We're conzidered brilliant English painters
Of the Middle Victorian period. but their paint
.ngs are now exhibited as examples of Irish art
Even CopIey, who was born in Boston. and
served MS ~ premiership II DS painting
the descendants OF the Mayflower Pilgrims. is
numbered among the Irish. Like the bright
light that shone in Kildare's holy fame the
genius Of ireland continues 10 burn in darkness
ana storm. and cannot be snufed out: and the
visitor at the GuujhaL. astonishsd by the evi-
dence that the Irish want the earth, and gen
orally get it. iinds himself humming IN a pe.slve
air Noore's lines:
Erin oh Erin though long in the shade
Thy star VIII shine oCt when the proudest shall
One Of the objects of this exhibition of peint-
.ngs drawings and miniatures by men OF Irish
blood or birth is thus explained in tie cata-
logue: To enable students OF art TO discover
what common or race qualities appear through
Il; there is something OF common race instinct
IN the work OF all original Irish writers OF to-
day, and II hardly be absent IN the sister
art" The visitors at the GuildhaII will have to
have imaginative talent in order 10 discern the
distinctive race qualities in this collection. They
viii see 2 group OF portraits by Sir Martin Shee,
Hugh Hamilton, James Barry, Nathaniel Hone,
George Chimney and Others which have all
The uannerism and solid qualities of bygone
painters OF Che Academy. Some of the subjects
are prominently Irish, such as Daniel O'ConneI.
John Philpot Curran and Thomas Moore. but the
treatment is essentially English. it was
DOunQ 10 De- Nll-4 the painters 4lNtOf were
trained and worked in London. Chinnery's por-
traits are perhaps more modern in spirit and
technique than the others but there are no
qualities which can be identified as Celtic. Mac
Uses theatrical pictures, such as The Banquet
Scene in Macbeth and ''Othello Desdemona and
Emilia" were popular il the Middle Victorian
period, and there were similar studies BY Al
fred Emore and Francis Dandy; but the style
was Academic, and there were no traces Of
Irish humor in them. Dandy quarreIled with
the AcadeEny after being elected Associate.
and lived II Switzerland and finally in Elk
mouth but in his work he never broke out IN
revolt against the conventions OF the period.
Mulready was z more original painter than these
theatrical artists, and his pictures. Choosing
the Wedding Gown" The Sonnet" "Bathers
Surprised and THE Fight Interrupted" have
not lost the qualities which the British pre-
Raphaelites admired IN their day. There was
nothing essentially Irish in his work Why
should there have been. when he entered the
Academy schools at fourteen and received his
earliest impressions Of painting from Dutch
masterpieces? The landscapes by Irish painters
OF the Victorian period were as Academic as the
portraits and the genre work. There were no
collections OF modern art in Dublin, and the
facilities offered for the training Of students
were meagre. Young Irishmen with a talent for
drawing came TO England for work in the
Academy schools, and they remained in London
OF the provinces when their regulations were
made. There is little evidence in the collection
al the Guildhau that racial qualities were tena-
eiously retained by them.
Among the works by living painters al the
Guildhau there is a fine group by Mr. Lavery
including "Ariadne," An Equestrian and his
portraits CT Mr.. Lecky, Mrs. Wetzlar and Miss |
Blanche IA Primaudaye. His technique is
French, and his Scotch friends will be slow TO
admit that there is anything Irish in his art. /
Ar J. J. Shannon's group includes some Of the !
best portraits which he has exhibited at the |
Academy. notably those of Lady Henry Ben
flnck and the Warehouses Of CRANKY. Mr.. c. |
H. shannons contributions to this Irish show
are as numerous as Mr.. Orpen's, and these>two |
Painters quite English. even if they IN
academic and paint in their own way. Mr.. /
Mark Fishers landscapes and Mr.. Edwin |
Hages's marines are 50 familiar in English art |
Shows Of the day that one does not look for |
Irish traits in them; and even when there are |
names like Dernod O'Brien, Roderick O'Conor.
alexander Roche and J. B. Yeats the subjects |
are taken mainly from England or the Con- |
Nhent There are few glimpses Of the beautiful, /
tuo-tropcal Killarney district, the grand coast /
q Donegal, picturesque Bentry Bay and the |
Aflsh castles and villages and pictures Of peas
AM life and village scenes are not found on the |
walls OF the GuiIdhaIL The Irish painters, ap- /
pafehuy are exiles, who never return 20 the /
1sand; yet il is a beautiful island. with the |
-O'elest Takes End the boldest coast scenery in |
europe, and ii has a characteristic life OF its |
Own rich in local color. II this exhibition proves
slylhing, II is the neglect Of the ruling class /
n Ireland 10 encourage art study and TO stimu-
~, r-. TIE production Of modeSn painting Men Of
EfwrgT