EXHIBITION REVIEWS exhibited works, The cousin brings breakfast graphic artist and as a painter. In paint- Walter Scott's Abbotsford and of Scar- and Liebestod in the Jaegerstrasse, both of ings such as Four womenin the cafi and Self- isbrick Hall by A. W. N. Pugin, together 1922, passionate and violent behaviour is portrait with Marianne at studio window with works by C. W. Cope, William Dyce depicted against a mass of detail. In each (1930, Fig.63), he exploits the late medi- and J. R. Herbert relating either to the case the detail implies a code of behaviour eval tradition of northern Europe for its Westminster decorations or to Royal which is defied by the actions of the qualities of mystery and the grotesque. Academy historical paintings fill out this characters. In the first the room is filled The women in the caf6 remind one of the section, the centrepiece of which is Daniel with a plethora of bourgeois bedroom toothless gnomes of Bruegel and Bosch, Maclise's impressive Robin Hood of 1839 comforts: overstuffed cushions and duvet while the artist's studio in the portrait is (Madame Tussaud's), a paradigm for the with frilled edges, cupboards, cabinets engulfed by an Altdorfer landscape. The early Victorian concept of the Middle and washstand. In contrast to these well influence of this type of imagery on his Ages as 'Merry England' at its jolliest. established symbols of Gemiitlichkeitwe see work makes us aware that much of the A scene from the Life of St Frideswide of the passionate and demented behaviour of crowded, frenzied and distorted city 1859 by Burne-Jones (Cheltenham the male figure and the submission of the scenes are modern renderings of that late Ladies' College) with a Gozzoli-like blend woman. In the Liebestod, a title which mediaeval hell. Hubbuch emerges from of pigs, sunflowers and knights in armour, mocks the pathos of operatic tradition, we the present exhibition as a painter of indi- introduces the theme of the Pre- find a crime of passion enacted against a vidual distinction and as a unique media- Raphaelites' interest in mediaevalism, so background of urban commerce repre- tor between right and left, tradition and stimulated by Ruskin. His didactic sented by a bar, a brothel, a pawnshop innovation. A catalogue somewhat richer influence is seen in an instructive and a hotel. The background is indicative in critical information could have pro- cast (Guild of St George) of a spiral relief of a reality in which human relationships vided an even better introduction to his from the north door of Cathedral, are commercialised, and against which work. which strikingly presages Morris's later the tragedy played out in the street seems George Tappert, another painter designs for chintzes and the borders of a hopeless and pathetic gesture. This con- affiliated to this movement, was on view at books. Source material of another type is frontation between reality and its values Leinster Fine Art (10th October to 10th examined in Victorian text books on his- and what appears to be defiant, excessive November). He too was a Berlin contem- toric dress, extensively used by the Pre- behaviour is everywhere in Hubbuch's porary of Neue Sachlichkeit and a political Raphaelites. But such works were not work. For example in Nude in Bauhaus chair affiliate of Grosz and Hubbuch's. The ex- their only inspiration, as is demonstrated (Fig.74) he juxtaposes the pared down hibition provided us with a very valuable by Jane Morris's jewel casket (Fig.78). A chrome and leather construction, a meta- insight into the diversity encompassed by hinged casket with a gabled lid in the form phor for the 'form is function' aesthetic of such a group identity. This group of of a Gothic reliquary, its painted 'panels the Bauhaus, with the uncomfortable pose water-colours and drawings showed an by Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal depict of a soft nude with a quizzical expression. affectionate side of Tappert's art, which courtly scenes of the early fifteenth His fascination with the expressive seemed almost like an updating of the century. The central panel derives from a autonomy of objects exemplified in the popular work of Heinrich Zille, concen- French miniature of 1403-08 illustrating Gramophone(Fig.75) is a synthesis of Berlin trating on charaterisation rather than on the Poems of Christine de Pisan (Fig.80), Dada's ideological emphasis on machines social scrutiny. which was studied by the artists in the and mechanical processes and the IRIT KEYNAN ROGOFF British Museum. hermetically sealed still life works of his The jewel casket is displayed in a Munich contemporaries Kanoldt and recreation of a room in the Red House, Schrimpf. Hubbuch, born and trained in one of several imaginative room settings, Karlsruhe with frequent study trips to the most notable recreating the Medi- Berlin, moved between the two geograph- aeval Court at the International Ex- ical and ideological extremes of the New This year is proving to be an annus hibition of 1862. The Pre-Raphaelite use Objectivity movement. In Berlin he asso- mirabilis for Pre-Raphaelite exhibitions. ofArthurian themes is shown both in stud- ciated with George Grosz and Rudolph After the successful Tate Gallery show in ies for the frescoes and in Schlichter, and through them with the the summer, an exhibition of comparable later stained glass designs. Ecclesiastical Novembergruppe and Rote Gruppe, with scope that fittingly celebrates the 150th commissions for stained glass were of great whose radical socialist and later commu- anniversary of Morris's birth has been on importance in the early years of Morris nist views he was in complete accordance. view at the Whitworth Art Gallery and Company, and the windows pro- However, when he tried to submit politi- (William Morris and the Middle Ages, 28th duced for four churches by G. F. Bodley cal drawings to Grosz and Heartfield their September to 8th December). It is highly form the subject for a rewarding audio- response was 'Not direct enough, too appropriate that this major exhibition visual show; Morris's vigorous draughts- involved'; obviously Hubbuch's art, should be mounted in Manchester, always manship is seen here to great advantage, though socially and indirectly politically a centre for Pre-Raphaelite studies, where as for example in a cartoon of 1862 for the motivated, was too preoccupied with style the energetic visitor can also see Madox Archangel Gabriel (Fig.79). and too intricate to make a popular Brown's frescoes in Alfred Waterhouse's For Morris and Burne-Jones the works political statement. Gothic revival Town Hall. of Chaucer proved a life long source of On the other hand Karlsruhe was geo- The exhibition sets Morris's concern for inspiration which culminated in the graphically and spiritually closer to the Middle Ages within the broader Kelmscott Press Chaucer,vividly described Munich, where the so called right-wing or context of the revival of interest in medi- by Burne-Jones 'as a little like a pocket neo-classical faction of New Objectivity aevalism in the nineteenth century. The cathedral'. The book gains from being was centred, whose style evolved around organisers have successfully cast their nets seen with less familiar works inspired by the transfiguration of objects into the wide in public and private collections for Chaucerian themes, particularly Burne- timeless and the universal. Hubbuch, who their exhibits. Surprises come thick and Jones's drawings for the uncompleted em- served as professor at the Karlsruhe fast in the introductory section, domi- broidery panels based on the Legendof good academy until his dismissal by the Na- nated by a suit of armour, which, with women, conceived in 1863 for Ruskin's tional Socialists in 1933, became the paintings by E. H. Corbould and F. cherished girls' school at Winnington, one founder of an independent version of the Gaudi, tells the always enjoyable story of of which shows Chaucerin his study (Fig.81), spirit of this movement and together with the debacle of the Eglinton Tournament. asleep on a canopied chair, surrounded by Scholz and Schnarrenberger, exhibited as Nearby Landseer's portrait of Queen Vic- manuscripts. A selection of Merton Abbey a regional faction in both major group toria and Prince Albert as Queen Philippa tapestries of the Holy Grail whets one's exhibitions, Mannheim 1925 and Am- and Edward III at a bal costumeat Buck- appetite for the exhibition on this theme sterdam in 1929. ingham Palace in 1842 strikes an appro- to be shown at Birmingham in March The recent exhibition covers Hub- priate note of courtly romance. 1985, while a delightful smaller item is buch's achievements both as superb Water-colours by David Roberts of Sir Morris's painted tile depicting Chaucer

803

This content downloaded from 81.130.200.251 on Fri, 19 Dec 2014 06:11:53 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 78. Jane Morris'sjewel casket, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal. Painted wood, iron frame, 79. The ArchangelGabriel, by William Morris, hinges and clasp, 17.7 by 29.2 by 17.7 cm. (Society of Antiquaries, Kelmscott Manor; exh. Whitworth 1862. Black chalk, 54.7 by 28.2 cm. Art Gallery, Manchester). (Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester).

80. Poems of Christine de Pisan. French c.1403-08. Vellum, 38.1 by 29.8 cm. (British 81. Chaucerin his study, by Edward Burne-Jones. 1863-64. Water-colour, Library, MS Harley 4431, folio 376; exh. Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester). wash, black chalk and chinese white, 134.6 by 101.6 cm. (Ruskin Galleries,Bembridge School, Isle of Wight; exh. WhitworthArt Gallery, Manchester).

This content downloaded from 81.130.200.251 on Fri, 19 Dec 2014 06:11:53 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions EXHIBITION REVIEWS

reading(Victoria and Albert Museum), for the pristine Among the shingle at Clovelly, which Rossetti posed in 1864. (Cat. No.10) a picture which Allen Staley Delaroche at the Mus"e Hebert For Morris the Middle Ages existed noted for its 'one by one' delineation of the The Musee Hebert is housed in a both in the past - powerfully described in foreground stones. Such paintings drew small eighteenth-century hotel with low The Dream of John Ball - in the present - Hemy into the circle, first of Morris, then ceilings, so that for practical reasons none reflected in the productions of his firm - of Pinwell and Walker, the British ad- of the enormous subject pictures which and in the future, for his Utopian vision of mirers of Baron Leys. It was because of his made Delaroche's popular reputation in the twentieth century News from Nowhere apparent weakness in figure drawing that the nineteenth-century could be included, describes the qualities in mediaeval life Hemy went to study under Leys'at the at least in definitive format, in this sum- which he most admired and wished to see Antwerp Academy. Although the imme- mer's exhibition Hommage& Paul Delaroche revived. It is sad that this fine exhibition diate results were patient, predictable (16th June-17th September). Without includes no manuscript of his poems on studies from the cast, the end results were such once-famous canvases as Rouen's mediaeval themes like The Defence of among the most Germanic pictures pro- Joan of Arc in prison (Salon 1824), the Guenevere,nor the book an essay on his duced in England in the 1870s. Leys's con- Louvre's Children of Edward IV (Salon poetry.* Morris described himself as a tribution to European naturalism, via 1831), or the National Gallery's Execution 'poetic upholsterer', and to describe the Degas, Tissot and Legros, is only now be- of Lady Jane Grey (Salon 1834), this show, upholstery, and omit the poetry, as is ginning to be evaluated. It is clear, how- though the first monographic exhibition nowadays the vogue, is to present only ever, that in Hemy's case, his sense of of the artist's work since the valedictory at part of the story of Morris and the Middle space and pictorial structure was en- the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1857, laid no Ages. hanced by repeating the 'mistakes' of the claim to be the major retrospective that LIONEL LAMBOURNE northern primitives, as purveyed by the recent revaluations of the submerged Belgian artist, whom Richard Muther painters of the juste milieu had seemed to described as 'a gourmet of pictorial archa- demand. *The catalogue and collection of essays (?7.35 ism'. Nevertheless, the exhibition's or- during the exhibition, ?8.95 thereafter), is edited by In the mid Isabelle of the JoannaBanham and DrJennifer Harris. 1870s, Hemy produced large ganisers, Julia Mus&e pictures of the Thames waterfront. There Hebert and Arlette Serullaz of the Lou- is something Dickensian about the teem- vre's Cabinet des dessins, contrived to ing detail of works like London River, the make a virtue of necessity. By drawing Limehousebarge builders, 1875 (Cat. No.19, judiciously on Delaroche's little-known here as well as an obvious echo of smaller oil sketches and Newcastle and Fig.62), paintings, rarely Plymouth Whistler's 'Thames etchings. For all the seen portraits as well as the unrivalled col- Charles Napier Hemy (1841-1917) of the the activities de- lection of his to the the Victorian marine grandeur setting, drawings presented During age, are humble ones. The histrionics of Louvre in 1971 Mme Sancholle- an picted by painting changed in interesting way. Toil, and wealth on a Henraux al- The often found himself on Wyllie's glitter, grime (nee Delaroche-Vernet) they spectator flowing tide, 1883 (Tate Gallery) are lowed the visitor to form a more sober board ship, experiencing the struggle with avoided. builders assessment of Delaroche's achievement the elements at close Painted Hemy's barge go quietly quarters. about their task like their French contem- than seems to be possible in the mesmer- ships on painted oceans, the endless deriv- in Cazin's Le 1876 of the Salon atives of Ruisdael and Van de Velde were poraries chantier, (pri- ising presence big pictures. vate collection, U.S.A.). Such pictures as It has long been recognised (Delacroix rolled away. Turner's maelstrom was re- LondonRiver... were included in the rich was one of the first to to that at more point it) placed by something terrifyingly display of European naturalism to be seen the heart of Delaroche's success with an human-landing a pilchard catch, crab- at the International Exhibitions of the or The mariner be- immediately pre-photographic gener- bing, oyster dredging. 1870s and 1880s. At these and the more ation was his astonishing ability to banish came the focus of attention, and his acts regular Academy and Grosvenor Gallery his artistic personality from the glassy sur- were celebrated as much as those of the exhibitions of the was a face of his to in other observers like C. period, Hemy reg- paintings; give, peasant. Specialist J. ular contributor, competing with Bastien- words, unimpeded access to the scene 'be- Hook, W. L. Wyllie, L. P. Smythe, C. N. for the in 1880 with Saved This it became and the elevated Lepage limelight yond'. stylistic neutrality, Hemy Newlyn painters (Cat. No.30). But it was only in 1898 that apparent from such drawings as the sheet his struggle to mythic proportions. This is Pilchards was hailed with re- of studies for the the obvious derived from the ex- (Cat. No.53) figure Jane Grey (No.36) message lief as 'the great effort at last' and worthy and the tiny but definitive cartoon for hibition of Charles work, Napier Hemy's of purchase by the Chantrey Bequest. The Charles ler d'Angleterreinsulte par les soldats recently at Plymouth Art Gallery 'effort' is obvious in the volu- was an effect aimed at with de- 24th but certainly (No.59), (closed November), organised minous studies, some made liberation from the earliest of a and Andrew of the undoubtedly stages catalogued by Greg from the of his studio. work's Art Newcastle vantage floating genesis. Laing Gallery, upon These include a full scale water-colour one had where it was first shown.* Research, always suspected, Tyne, and version The was central to Delaroche's creative was born in Newcastle in 1841 tempera (Cat. No.52). pro- Hemy itself was a of an earlier as so of the Sancholle- and vacillated his between subject reworking cedures, many in early years finished water-colour of 1885 Henraux confirmed. in orders and an artist. (Cat. drawings S~rullaz taking holy becoming which could not be included her contribution to the informative broad- His earliest blend artifice and ac- No.45), sadly pictures in this exhibition. Thus Pilchardsis a sheet which the exhibition The romantic and castles of grand accompanied tuality. crags summation of achievement-a des No. 143, the Northumbrian in works like Hemy's (Petit journal grandes expositions, coast, modern Miraculous Reunion des mushes nationaux, Frs. 4.50) a 1864 draught of fishes. Ruin of Northumbrian keep, (Cat. In his old turned to de Mirecourt's here are with age, Hemy yachting pertinently quoted Eugene No.9, Fig.64), combined which in their and of Delaroche's more than a interest in rock for- pictures, strength vig- description conspicuously passing our make those of his successful method: les bibli- mation. Influenced and young friend, Henry 'II fouillait by Dyce Brett, Scott Tuke seem his et les the thrust of limp-wristed. Among othtquespubliques particulitres,compulsait Hemy conveyed Ruskinian last works was the chas- vieux recueils, les collections de an- the delineation of splendid Porpoises gravures naturalism in precise mackerel a bri- ciennes, I'histoire des des ameublements, rocks and stones. At the resort of ing (Cat. No.73), bracing, faits, popular that echoes of des au sa mimoirettait une where he must have met C. ney apotheosis, passages costumes, point que Clovelly, J. Melville. It was in this arena that viritable Hook and Edwin he executed watery encycloptdieartistique'. Edwards, the deep spiritual conflicts of Hemy's Nevertheless, the juxtaposition at the youth were enacted. Tuke recorded that Musie H~bert of oil sketches and pencil studies for an abortive scheme of 1834-35 *CharlesNapier Hemy R.A. 1841-1917.By An- this austere, ascetic Victorian monk- drew Greg. 65pp. + numerous b. & w. and 6 mariner was laid to rest in 1917, 'in his to decorate the apse and nave lunettes of col. ills. (Tyne and Wear County Council Mu- Dominican robes.., looking very fine'. the Madeleine revealed the inadequacy of seums), ?3.50. KENNETH MCCONKEY this unimpeachably professional ap-

804

This content downloaded from 81.130.200.251 on Fri, 19 Dec 2014 06:11:53 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions