286 



FINE ARTS IN 1899. 



event is Mr. Gow's St. Paul's: The Queen's Dia- 

 mond Jubilee, a commission for the Guildhall Gal- 

 lery. It represents the west front of St. Paul's, 

 and the figures are larger than those of Mr. 

 Charlion. 



Perseus and Andromeda, by A. T. Nowell, ex- 

 hibits a nude Andromeda escaping from the folds 

 of the dragon, which Perseus is spearing. Among 

 other noteworthy pictures are: Love the Con- 

 queror, by Byam Shaw; My Lady's Garden, by 

 J Young Hunter; O Mistress mine, where are 

 you Roaming? by Edwin Abbey: The Diver, by 

 Henry Tuke; and Laus Deo, by Solomon J. 

 Solomon. 



Among the best pictures of the year were J. 

 S. Sargent's portraits of Mrs. C. Hunter, Miss 

 Octayia Hill, Miss J. Evans, and Lady Faudel- 

 Phillips. 



London: New Gallery. The winter exhibi- 

 tion was devoted to the works of the late 

 Sir Edward Burne-Jones. It is doubtful if so 

 complete an exposition of his art will ever be 

 gathered together again, for very few of the 

 greater productions of the different stages of his 

 career were absent from the collection. Among 

 inanv other notable pictures, we may mention 

 The 'Merciful Knight, Danae's Tower, Pan and 

 Psyche, Love and the Pilgrim, The Prioress's 

 Tale, The Depths of the Sea, Merlin and Vivien, 

 Laus Veneris, King Cophetua and the Beggar 

 Maid, The Mirror of Venus, The Hesperides, The 

 Golden Stairs, The Wheel of Fortune, The An- 

 nunciation, The Wine of Circe, the unfinished 

 Triumph of Love, and many portraits, sketches, 

 and designs. 



London: Guildhall Exhibition. The cor- 

 poration of London exhibited this year a splendid 

 collection of the works of England's greatest 

 landscape painter, J. M. W. Turner. The oil 

 painting ranged over a period of fifty years, from 

 1799 to 1849, the earliest example being Kilgarren 

 Castle. Among 'others were: Calais Pier, The Vic- 

 tory bringing Home the Body of Nelson after 

 Trafalgar, The Wreck of the Minotaur, Mercury 

 and Herse, The Falls of Terni, Apollo and the 

 Python, Dido building Carthage, Snowdon, The 

 Campo Santo, Venice, The Bridge of Narni, and 

 The Marriage of the Adriatic, the last named 

 having been for many years in the possession of 

 Mr. Ruskin. The exhibition was one of the 

 notable ones of the season. 



London: Miscellaneous. In the picture sales 

 of 1899 28 canvases were sold for 1,400 guineas 

 and over, while in the sales of 1898 15 only ex- 

 ceeded that amount. 



The Sir John Fowler collection realized for 91 

 lots over 65,000, an average of over 700 per 

 lot. The London Art Journal makes an interest- 

 ing comparison between this and some previous 

 notable sales, in which the total sums realized 

 were as follow: Ruston sale (1898), 45,995; 

 Fender (1897), 75,916; Goldsmid (1896), 67,- 

 342; James Price (1895), 87,144; Adrian Hope 

 (1894), 49,884; Dudley (1892), 99,564; Mur- 

 rieta (1892), 50,592; David Price (1892), 69,- 

 577; Wells (1890), 78,312; Bolckow (1888), 

 66,567; Becket-Denison (1885), 71,050. 



Among the highest prices obtained at the 

 Fowler sale were: Hobbema, a noble landscape 

 (41 by 50 inches), 9,100 guineas. It had been for 

 four generations in the family of Richard Ford, 

 author of the Guide to Spain, from which it was 

 purchased in 1871 by Sir John Fowler for 3,100. 

 Turner, View of Venice, 8,200 guineas; View of 

 Oxford from the Abingdon Road, 4,000 guineas; 

 Lake of Nemi (water color), 3,000 guineas; Tem- 

 ple of Jupiter (water color), 1,700 guineas; Edin- 



burgh (water color), 1,000 guineas; Lucerne 

 (water color, painted for Ruskin), 1,300 guineas. 

 Landseer, Ptarmigan Hill, 2,000 guineas. Phillip, 

 A Chat around the Brasiro, 2,700 guineas. W. 

 Muller, Slave Market, Cairo, 1,300 guineas; View 

 of Gillingham, 1,500 guineas. W. Collins, Sun- 

 day Morning, 1,380 guineas. Greuze, La Petite 

 Mathematicienne, 1,680 guineas. Meissonier, The 

 Smoker, 1,280 guineas. Rosa Bonheur, Highland 

 Cattle, 1,450 guineas. Sir John Fowler, it will 

 be remembered, was the engineer of the great 

 Forth Bridge. His collection had been the work 

 of thirty years. 



Three important works of Rubens from the 

 famous Lee Court collection were sold on May 

 13: The Holy Family, 8,300 guineas; The Con- 

 version of Saul, 1,950 guineas; The Woman taken 

 ,in Adultery, 1,950 guineas. On the same day 14 

 of Lord Methuen's pictures were sold, including 

 Lorenzo di Credi, Virgin Enthroned, 680 guineas; 

 Gentile da Fabriano, -Coronation of the Virgin, 

 560 guineas; and Andrea del Sarto, The Paint- 

 er's Portrait, 890 guineas. Among miscellaneous 

 properties, two portraits by Franz Hals brought 

 respectively 3,000 and 2,000 guineas, for which 

 the late owner had paid 100 apiece. Romney's 

 Mrs. Francis Newbery fetched 1,650 guineas; J. 

 Hoppner's Harriet Westbrook, wife of Shelley, 

 1,380 guineas; and a portrait of a young girl, by 

 Raeburn, 1,900 guineas. 



In a composite sale in June a portrait of Sir 

 Walter Scott, by Sir J. Watson Graham, brought 

 1,500 guineas; Reynolds, portrait of John Hely 

 Hutchinson, 1,250 guineas; Sir H. Raeburn, Mrs. 

 F. Robertson Reid, 1,320 guineas; Murillo, Christ 

 bearing the Cross, 700 guineas ; G. Morland, Farm 

 Scene, 850 guineas; and Hobbema, Woody Land- 

 scape, 620 guineas. 



The sale of the collection of R. Paterson Patti- 

 son included a few interesting works : G. Romney, 

 Viscountess Melville, 900 guineas, and Lady Ham- 

 ilton, 910 guineas; J. Maris, Town on Dutch 

 River, 500 guineas, and Dutch Fishing Boat 

 Ashore, 1,350 guineas. 



At a sale by Messrs. Agnew in July a portrait 

 of a young lady, a replica of an early Lawrence, 

 attributed by error to Reynolds, fetched 2,800 

 guineas. La Musette, by Watteau, brought 1,380 

 guineas, and Strolling Players, by Landseer, 350 

 guineas. 



The committee of the Burne-Jones Memorial 

 fund, charged with the selection of one of his 

 pictures for the National Gallery, have fixed upon 

 King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid, for which 

 6,500 is asked. This choice, which many think 

 does not represent the artist at his best, has met 

 with considerable criticism. 



Antwerp. The tercentenary of Van Dyck was 

 commemorated by an exhibition of his works, by 

 a grand civic display, and by other celebrations. 

 The collection of pictures, gathered from the gal- 

 leries and churches of his own country and from 

 many foreign galleries, gave the best opportunity 

 possible of studying the several periods of his 

 art. Many examples were sent from England, 

 the Queen contributing three from Windsor Castle 

 the head of Charles I in three positions, his 

 three children, and the portrait group Killigrew 

 and Carew. The Dukes of Devonshire, Portland, 

 Westminster, and Norfolk, Lords Spencer, Sack- 

 ville, and Darnley, and other English owners were 

 represented by contributions from their galleries, 

 and Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and Russia 

 lent important examples of the great master. 



An interesting feature of the celebration was 

 a magnificent procession organized by the artists 

 of Antwerp, representing the progress of art 





