308 



FINE ARTS IN 1892-93. 



contributions were : " And the Sea gave up its 

 Dead " and " The Garden of the Hesperides." 

 The former picture, which has been acquired by 

 Henry Tate for the new Gallery of British Art, 

 represents on a large upright canvas part of the 

 drama of the Resurrection, corpses emerging 

 from the waves. The latter shows the three fair 

 daughters of Hesperus, attired in semidiaph- 

 anous robes of rose, amber, and green respective- 

 ly, reclining at the foot of the Hesperian tree, 

 whose branches are laden with gold. The drag- 

 on guard has wound its length around the trunk 

 of the tree, under the boughs of which is seen the 

 garden a beautiful Greek landscape. 



Orchardson's " St. Helena, 181 6 ; Napoleon 

 dictating to Count Las Casas the Account of his 

 Campaigns " was exhibited in the same gallery. 

 The Emperor is standing with feet apart, and 

 the floor is strewed with maps and plans. 



Alma-Tadema's " The Kiss " represents a ter- 

 race of white marble, approached from the side 

 of a bay or lake by a flight of steps, and orna- 

 mented on its topmost balustrade by a splendid 

 bronze tripod. In the waves and on the beach 

 are seen girls and children bathers, while up and 

 down the steps move other women and children. 

 On the terrace a mother stoops to kiss a little 

 girl fresh from the bath, accompanied by the 

 balneatrix. 



Sir John Millais's " Blow, blow, thou Winter 

 Wind ! " depicts a winter landscape with a road 

 passing along a sloping bank flanked by trees. 

 A woman in the foreground huddling a baby in 

 her shawl has evidently been deserted by the 

 man moving away in the mid-distance more 

 unkind than the winter wind itself. 



In Mr. Watts's " She shall be called Woman " 

 Mother Eve is depicted as a colossal nude figure, 

 a type of eternal spring, standing erect, with 

 both hands clenched, looking up at the firma- 

 ment in a flood of golden light. 



Mr. Hook exhibited two Cornish coast scenes, 

 " Nereids " and " The Sea Mews' Nest." Henry 

 Moore also sent two sea pieces, " Perfect Weather 

 for a Cruise " and " Machrihanish Bay, Kantyre." 

 Luke Fildes contributed only portraits. George 

 Hitchcock's " The Scarecrow " represents a Dutch 

 peasant girl sitting motionless in a field blazing 

 with scarlet poppies, duly armed to frighten away 

 the birds. 



London : New Gallery. Among the princi- 

 pal pictures at the summer exhibition was Mr. 

 Watts's " Sic Transit," a large, ambitious work, 

 rep-resenting in life-size the whole-length shroud- 

 ed figure of a man recumbent on a bier raised 

 on an altar tomb of stone, and accompanied by 

 insignia of earthly power, pomp, and pleasure, 

 grouped at the foot. Another picture which 

 attracted great attention was the artist's " Por- 

 trait of Walter Crane." 



Sir John Millais contributed "Sweet Emma 

 Moreland," a vigorous picture of a Scottish 

 beauty, with ruddy complexion and auburn hair, 

 in black hat and skirt and a blue jacket, with a 

 basket of flowers on one arm. 



"A Silent Greeting," by Alma-Tadema. repre- 

 sents a Roman lover putting flowers in the lap 

 of his mistress, who has fallen asleep on a mar- 

 ble bench, part of a terrace lying in the shadow 

 of an Italian sky. Another picture, called 

 " Dreaming," comprises the figure of a Roman 



leaning on a marble parapet looking down upon 

 gardens and a country landscape. The artist 

 sent also a portrait of Paderewski. full face, in 

 an atmosphere illuminated by bright sunlight. 



London: Miscellaneous. The year 1892 

 was remarkable for its picture sales and for the 

 prices obtained. In London alone 55 canvases 

 were sold at prices ranging from 1,400 guineas 

 and upward, against 37 in 1891, and 38 in 1890. 

 At a sale of pictures belonging to the Earl of 

 Dunmore, Mr. Samson Wertheimer, and others, 

 March 19, Rembrandt's " Hendrikje Stoffels" 

 brought 5,250. Among others were: A Wat- 

 teau, " L'Accord parfait," 2,205 (James sale, 

 1891, 3,675) ; Sir J. Reynolds, " Lady Sondes," 

 4.305 : Romney, " Lady Hamilton as a Welsh 

 Girl," 2,205 ; " Mrs. W. Pitt and Son," 1,155 ; 

 " Lady Augusta Murray," 3,990. 



The collection of the late David Price was 

 sold April 2. Among the best prices obtained 

 were: J. M. W. Turner, "Modern Italy," 1838, 

 5,460 (Novar sale, 1867, 3,465 ; Fallows sale, 

 1868, 2,961 ; Novar sale, 1878, 5,260) ; Rosa 

 Bonheur, " Landais Peasants returning Home," 

 1858, 1,627; "The Alarm," 18(J6, 1,102; 

 " Changing Pastures," 3,150 ; " Cattle in the 

 Highlands," 1,785 ; Meissonier, " Regnard in his 

 Studio," 1,890; J. Linnell, Sr., "Welsh Dro- 

 vers crossing the Common," 1836, 1,050 ; " The 

 Haystack," 1875, 630; "Opening the Gate," 

 1849, 798; " The Timber Wagon, 1852, 3,255 ; 

 Edwin Long, " Diana or Christ " (replica), 

 2,625; Sir J. Millais, " Sound of Many Waters," 

 3,045. 



The pictures and drawings of the Messrs. Mur- 

 rieta, sold April 30 and May 14, brought good 

 prices. Among the highest were : David Cox, 

 " Vale of Clwyd," 4,725 ; " Reapers returning, 

 Home," 1,186 ; " Going to the Hayfield " (draw- 

 ing), 1,102; " Barden Tower" (drawing), 

 1,155; Copley Fielding, "Scottish Land- 

 scape " (drawing), 1849, 1,260; Alma-Tadema, 

 " Un Amateur Romain," 1,365 ; " Etruscan Vase 

 Painters," 477 ; " Antisteus Labeon," 945 ; 

 " Un Jongleur," 850 ; " Patron of Sculpture," 

 1.470 ; " Vespasian," 514. 



The collection of the late Lord Cheylesmore 

 (H. W. Eaton, M. P.) were sold May 7. Among 

 the most noted works were: Landseer, "Mon- 

 arch of the Glen." 7,245 (Londesborough sale. 

 1884, 6,500); "Lady Godiva's Prayer, 945 

 (Landseer sale, 1874, 3,400); " Lion and Lamb," 

 997; "The Pretty Horsebreaker," 1,205; 

 "Flood in the Highlands," 1,680; "W. Col- 

 lins, " Cromer Sands," 2,205 (Gillott sale, 1872, 

 3,990) ; T. Faed, " Sunday in the Backwoods," 

 1,785 ; P. Delaroche, "Execution of Lady Jane 

 Grey," 1,575. 



The collection of the late Earl of Egremont, 

 sold May 21, realized upward of 11,400. 

 Among the pictures were: T. Gainsborough, 

 "Portrait of Charles Frederick Abel," 1.470; 

 Signor Raphael Franco," 882; "Youth in 

 Blue," akin to Duke of Westminster's " Blue 

 Boy," 1,302; Sir J. Reynolds, "Artist's Por- 

 trait," 1778, 294; " Mrs. Blake," 1764, 1,050 ; 

 " Miss Francis Harford," 1,260. 



The sale of the collection of the late Frederick 

 R. Leylands, of Woolton Hall, Liverpool, May 

 28, aroused great interest on account of the ex- 

 cellent examples of Gabriel Rossetti, Burne- 



