NA TURE 



73 



THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1883 



SCIENCE AND ART 1 



WE stated in our article last week that we should 

 take an early opportunity of noticing some of the 

 pictures in this year's Academy, with especial reference 

 to the points which we then mentioned. The following 

 notes are a fulfilment of that promise. It is to be under- 

 stood that only those pictures which illustrate, either by 

 their perfection or their defects, the points in question 

 have been referred to. The pictures have been classified 

 according to the particular class of natural phenomena 

 which they portray. 



Sky Colour 



2. " Homewards," YVm. J. Monkhouse Rowe. Sky- 

 not zoned ; impossible colour of clouds. Perhaps our 

 word zoned requires some little explanation. When the 

 ^un is at such an altitude above the horizon that the blue 

 rays are absorbed, and there begins to be colour on cloud 

 and sky, then the sky at the same altitude is always of 

 the same colour, and the colours gradually modulate from 

 the warmest at bottom to the coolest at top. These 

 remarks with regard to the sky have, of course, nothing 

 whatever to do with the clouds, but whatever the colour 

 of the clouds may be, and this will depend upon various 

 ■conditions, any true clouds, however they may be 

 coloured, shown on the picture at the same altitude, 

 will be surrounded by the same sky colour, even if 

 the intensity differs in consequence of different distances 

 from the sun's place. For instance, if a painter chooses to 

 put a bright green s';y at 5° or io° elevation on the right 

 of his picture, and then paints a blue sky at the same ele- 

 vation above the horizon on the left, he is showing some- 

 thing which is impossible : his picture is not perfectly 

 zoned. 



76. " Welbourne Hall, Yorkshire," H. A. Olivier. Sky 

 well zoned, but its reflection from water too intense. 

 Reflection will naturally lower the tone of the reflected 

 light, but, all the same, this difference may not come out 

 very strongly, for the reason that the reflection is most 

 frequently and necessarily shown in a darker part of the 

 picture, so that although by mere contrast the tone 

 seems lowered, it will yet appear to be brighter than the 

 tone seen in the region of more general illumination. 



132. "To Pastures New," James Guthrie. Sky of 

 impossible colour. 



121. "Freshening," A. Harvey Moore. Sky and sea 

 both admirable. 



157. " Corrie, Isle of Arran," John MacWhirter, A. 

 Sky admirable ; water a little doubtful. It is also not 

 level. 



218. "The Dogana and the Island of San Giorgio, 

 Venice,'' Frank Dillon. Sky colour and water reflection 

 good. 



233. " After Sundown," Frances R. Binns. Excellent 

 in sky colour, but zoning might have been more perfect. 



242. " Superstition," Everton Sainsbury. Good and 

 bold sky colour, especially the red, but the sky is too 

 much worked to resemble cloud. 



246. " Autumn," A. Glendening, jun. Good, and forms 

 of clouds quite excellent. 



1 Continued from p. 51. 



Vol. xxviii. — No. 708 



247. "The Forgotten Sheaf," F. S. Walker. Zoning 

 gone wrong; green never rests on white, nor on gray. 



269. " And the Unclean Spirits went out of the Swine," 

 Briton Riviere, R.A. Bold and perfect sky and clouds. 



297. 'Windsor," Vicat Cole, R.A. Might have been 

 more evenly zoned. 



315. "A Mortally Wounded Bandit Chief Exhorting 

 his Comrades to Return to an Honest Living," J. R. 

 Herbert, R.A. There is no relation between the light, 

 the colour of the sky, and that of the landscape. 



327. " Grouse-driving on Bowes Moor, Yorkshire," 

 George Earl. It is difficult to understand by what 

 means the sky to the left is illuminated. 



331. " Carting for Farmer Pengelly," J. C. Hook, R.A. 

 Sky and clouds admirable ; green on the cliff very striking. 



371. "A Silent Pool," Fred. E. Bodkin. A slight change 

 in the colour of the clouds would make this an admirable 

 picture. 



394. "November," E. A. Walton. Let us hope this is 

 not true sky colour. Far too deep a green, and there is 

 no reason why the clouds at the top of the picture should 

 not be as intense in their lower portions as the mass of 

 cumulus on the horizon. 



398. " Ben Ray," H. W. B. Davis, R.A. There is not 

 sufficient relation between the colour of the sky and the 

 colour of the landscape. (Compare 702.) 



700. "Trabacolo Unloading at the Custom House, 

 Venice," Clara Montalba. The sky colour is wrong. 

 There could have been no green where the artist has 

 placed it. 



702. "At Kinlochewe," H. W. B. Davis, R.A. (compare 

 398). In this case the sky is wedded to the landscape, 

 and we have a perfect and harmonious whole beautifully 

 luminous. 



713. "A Summer Evening, Folkestone," W. A) erst 

 Ingram. Nearly perfect zoning of cloudless sky, but the 

 reflection from the water has been a little too much toned 

 down perhaps. 



773. "Winnowing Gleanings," H. Gillard Glindoni. 

 Sky and seascape both admirable. 



826. "The Boundary of the Heath," J. C. Harrison. 

 Careful study of sky. Bank of trees against it very 

 effective. 



793. " Rochester from the River," Charlie W. Wyllie. A 

 pleasing picture — both sky and water good. 



1438. "Leaving Labour," E. B. Stanley Montefiore. 

 Impossible green sky. 



1503. "Lost Sheep," Robert Page. It is a pity this 

 artist takes the trouble to paint a sky, because it is 

 evident he does not know the difference between sky and 

 clouds. 



1483. "A Spanish Aqueduct," Adrian Stokes. Note 

 colour of sky and landscape and effect of heat under 



tropical sun. 



Clouds 



225. " On Solway Sands," Thomas Hope M'Lachlan. 

 Blue clouds. 



257. " Still Waters run Deep," George Chester. The 

 clouds in this picture are hideous in form and impossible 

 in colour. 



339. " Night into Day," Vincent P. Yglesais. This may 

 be a view in Mars. It is fortunately impossible here. 



577. " Rye, Sussex," Leslie Thompson. A new kind 



