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362 THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. [May 15, 1891. ing, for in one or two cases the effect of the photograph is more distinguished than that of the painting. They show, also, how much too black the majority of out door-taken photographs are in their shadows. They are beautiful as direct photographs are rarely beautiful. Something of this attraction lies, no doubt, in the reproduction of the painter’s touch in the photograph. We grow to admire handling, perhaps, far too greatly, but still there is always a charm in the felicity of imita tion gained by a simple stroke of the brush—the simpler the touch or means, the greater the charm. Some of the photographs fail in rendering accurately the delicate colour relations, but the excellence of others is just as noteworthy. The reproduction of the very powerful picture entitled “Dieppe,” painted by Mr. Walter Sickert, is exceedingly good, and makes one con clude that Mr, Hollyer used orthochromatic plates and screens in his work. Photographers should not fail to examine this and all the photographs with the originals in the gallery. A more interesting and instructive study, even if it lowers photographic conceit, could hardly be provided. One of the most noticeable pictures in the gallery is No. 33, “Portrait of Mrs. Cyprian Williams and her two little girls,” by Mr. P. Wilson Steer. We are frequently given portraits of people seated in arm-chairs, and the conventional view is as seen from the height of the eye of the painter as he sits at his easel. Mr. Steer’s view is from the height of one standing, not an uncommon aspect, as everyone will admit. How ever, we are so accustomed to the ordinary thing that a first and prejudiced impression is that Mr. Steer must have got upon a table or the top of a pair of steps to plan the arrangement; but a simple experiment at home reveals our ignorance, and shows us how blindly we go about. Apart from this, also, notwithstanding an impression of “ dolliness" about the little girls, the picture grows upon one, and the portrait is real and living. Another characteristic picture by the same artist is No. 15, “ Ballerina Assoluta,” an impression of the light and perspective of a theatre stage, with a ballet dancer as seen from a side box high up. The picture is a very long one; the “premiere danseuse" is at the extreme bottom towards one corner; the stage itself, with streams of light athwart it, forms the back- ground. It is quite safe to say that Mr. Steer knows, from his study of it, more about the truth of this view than anybody who is likely to criticise it, but the one thing that struck me was that the length of the figure was too great for the perspective of the stage and the downward direction of the sight. The light effect would, perhaps, show better in some other situation and light than the gallery affords. Indeed, although the judicious selection in the Dudley Gallery is plea sant after the jam-cram arrangement of the Academy and some other galleries, still the pictures call for such separate treatment as hardly any gallery could be ex pected to afford. A noticeable subject is No. 4, “ The Skating Rink,” by Mr. George Thomson. At first, to a Philistine, this may seem inexplicable or advertisement-like in seeming woodenness, but the go of the figures in one direction, and the electric lighting, have been the aim of the artist, and the effect is not soon forgotten. The vivid ness of the bit of green upon the lady near the centre of the picture was a stumbling-block to me, and it did not say its word to me, although I waited humbly for it. In Mr. Thomson’s other work, No. 11, “At the Window,” there is much that is worth studying, but the funnels of the steam-launches appear to be a good deal nearer than the launches themselves. A picture which has a peculiar fascination is No. 81, «The Common,” by Mr. Francis Bate. At first, nothing but the vivid green expanse of foreground can be felt; but on coming and coming again and again, as it is impossible to avoid, this stating character becomes grass in sunshine, and it is one of the prominent memories of the Exhibition. To mention briefly some of the remaining pictures, where almost all are striking, I would point to No. 1, a clever study of a head, by G. P. Jacomb Hood; No. 20, “Brighton,” by Theodore Roussel; No. 22, “ Changing Pasture,” by A. B. Docharty; No. 26, “The Pink Rose,” by J. E. Blanche (note the harmonious frame); No. 34, pastoral, by E. A. Walton, full of life and suggestion; Nos. 48 and 59, popular and delightful pictures, by Harrington Mann; No. 45, “ Gathering the Flock,” by W. J. Laidlay; No. 50, « ’Twixt River and Broad,” a delicate bit of pale orange and green, by J. Reffitt Oldfield; and also Nos. 62, 67, 70, 77, 86, 90 (note comparison of outdoor and indoor light), 98 (a fine picture, but is the perspec tive right from any point of view?), 101, and 105 (done rather as though on opal). No. 88, " October Ploughing,” has some attraction, in spite of many eccentricities. The ploughman’s gait reminds one somewhat of the postman in the clever mechanical toy recently in fashion, his bell-trousers have an East-end character about them, the ploughing seems to be going on upon a carpet, a tree grows out of the plough, and the horses have short bodies, long legs, and a queer fixing of their heads. A key would possibly open our eyes, and Mr. Brown Macdougall could, no doubt, supply the key. There are several of the pictures about which the visitor, if he be not too clever, finds himself sitting at the feet of the aitists, looking somewhat as a novice examines a photograph in the stereoscope—that is, in a waiting, enquiring attitude, expecting the meaning and truth to burst upon the mind. In most cases this result, when it comes, is worth the waiting for, and it stays. I can only repeat, go and see the pictures. West London Society.—The annual smoking concert was held at the Richmond Hotel, Shepherd’s Bush, on May 9th. The attendance was somewhat small, but the entertainment was good, and highly appreciated. The Lowestoft and District PHOTOGRAPHIC Society.—A Society under this name was formed on the 5th inst. Mr. F. Mayhew was elected president; Mr. W. J. Roberts, treasurer ; Mr. W. Stringfield, chairman ; and Miss A. Lee Stringfield, secretary. It was decided to communicate with the committee of the School of Art with a view of this Society forming a technical class in connection with that Institution.