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August 21, 1891.] THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. 593 INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION AT CARDIFF. [by our special commissioner.] My first impression on reaching Cardiff was, that it was such a prosperous town, and its inhabitants so busily engaged in making money, that they had little or no time to devote to art matters. For the sake of the energetic men who form the committee of the Cardiff Photographic Society it is to be hoped that I am wrong. The visit of the British Association to this rapidly growing Welch seaport must bring a large number of people specially interested in all matters, both scientific and artistic, and the occasion is, therefore, a fit one to bring together as large a collection as possible to illustrate one of the most wonderful scientific developments of the Victorian era, and is quite in harmony, therefore, with the efforts of this celebrated migratory scientific association, and should be a great success. Cardiff is famed for its arcades, which have somewhat of a Parisian aspect. In their construction the people have shown great wisdom, for so much rain falls in this corner of the British Isles, and it is of such a fine, pene trating character, if I may judge by the sample supplied for my discomfort, that I was glad to make use of the one which led to the hall devoted to the Photographic Exhibi tion. So much work has to be done in a short space of time that it is no reproach to the Society to say that it was impossible to get a catalogue on the opening day. Through the courtesy of the energetic secretary, Mr. Faulks, I was enabled to have the use of the rough proof just hot from the printers, and should by chance, therefore, any of the names be wrong, this must be my excuse. The hall is a lofty one with arched roof and glass along its centre, and the pictures on the walls show extremely well. Some of those on the screens are not quite so fortunate, for the light is too directly overhead to do full justice to them. On walking round the room, old friends met the eye at every turn—I mean pictures that had become so by long acquaintance. Of course this is inevitable in a country exhibition, for prize winners will send pictures likely to win prizes, and a very thin exhibition would result from restrictions like those practised at Pall Mall. There was no formal opening, and I was glad of it, for it gave me an opportunity of hearing Mr. Paul Lange’s second lecture. The one on Norway was quite equal to the one on Iceland I had the pleasure of hearing at Gloucester a few months ago, and the slides to illustrate it, if not more interesting, were certainly more attractive. After hearing the lecture, which was full of interest from beginning to end, I felt Bure that shoals of hand-cameras would be found careering up and down the beautiful fiords next summer. The splitting the pictures into so many classes has one very serious evil: it makes medals too cheap. Pictures in no way worthy of recognition take rank with the pro ductions of the best workers in the country simply because they happen to come into some out-of-the-way class, or into one with very few entries. It thus happens that the accidental shots of some hand-camera, as far as the awards are concerned, take precedence of the well thought-out, artistic work of the most distinguished artist. It certainly makes one wish that awards were done away with alto gether. The entries for professional portraits are very few. Mr. W. W. Winter is well to the front with his powerful work, and Prince Ruffo (only think of it, a prince among the professionals, and we in England can only boast of one baronet!) has distinguished himself by two or three of the most perfect heads possible. One of these is evidently a Doge of Venice, and, if this were not a serious journal, and the remark might be taken as an attempt at a very obvious joke, I would like to ask what dodge he employed to give such life and reality to this “grave and reverend segnior ” as to bring him before us in the habit of the time in which he lived, which must be some 300 years past and gone. The time-furrowed and care-worn face of the abbess is not quite so striking, but equally fine. The work of Mr. J. H. Hogg scarcely comes under the head of portraits, for there are successful attempts at picture-making in several of them. In one called “The Young Owl,” a delightfully crummy young lady is stretching out her hand slightly above her reach to tempt the learned-looking inmate of the cage. She has some thing in the hand for the bird, but it is such a beautiful little dumpling of a hand that I am surprised such a wise looking creature did not seize hold of it instead of deliber ating whether it should or should not take the offered food. Mr. H. P. Robinson’s “What is it?” might be called landscape with figure. A bull, with forelegs firmly planted, and head erect, is watching with indignant sur prise the audacious attempt of the artist—fortunately for him on the other side of the stream—to produce his portrait without permission, and without any attempt to regulate the question of copyright. No wonder he looks so angry. The landscape is well selected, but the bull makes the picture. There are several more equally good, but they have been described before. There are some capital interiors by Mr. Court Cole, and those by Mr. T. H. Faulks must not be passed over, for he has successfully dealt with very difficult subjects. Mr. Robert Terras has very cleverly concealed his art in his two Astade-like, homely interiors, and he is deserving of the highest praise. I know the work of this gentleman pretty well, but am compelled to say that he has surpassed himself. Mr. Bernard Alfieri is most successful with his pictures of animals. All are good, and the cattle in the shallow stream, evidently enjoying its cooling influence, would delight the eye of the veteran Sydney Cooper. Looking over the catalogue, I saw the title of a picture that I felt sure would interest me. It was called “ A Gutter Race,” and I immediately looked for a picture which I felt certain only Rejlander could have successfully dealt with, but I looked in vain. A reference to the num ber in the catalogue took me to a very different kind of subject, a yacht race on a cloudy, uncertain day—a capital picture, one of the best of its kind in the room. It was simply a misprint, and should have been “ cutter ” instead of “ gutter.” Mr. W. H. Kitchin deserves praise for this clever little picture, for it is low in tone, and well ex presses the feeling of the scene. The Champion Class is filled by old favourites, but they have all been described before, and do not call for further mention. Mr. Horsley Hinton has followed in the steps of Mr. Davison, and has produced several fuzzy pictures, the best of which is “By Reedy Ways,” for it is a very harmonious and artistic bit of light and shade, particularly when the beholder gets far enough away that he does not see the modus operand!. “ Evening at Cannes” is a very artistic little picture by 11. Haughton. A break in the sky just before sunset
