The Camden Town Group in Context

 The “Camden Town Group,” which is holding its first exhibition at the Carfax Gallery, consists chiefly of artists who follow the newest conventions in art. Some of the work they are showing is much too grotesque to be taken seriously, and is artistically of the smallest possible account; but there is a certain proportion of capable things which can be accepted as representing the effort of men who do think for themselves, and who are not merely subservient to momentary fashions. Among the best of these things are Mr. Spencer F. Gore’s “Stage Sunrise” and “Scene III.,” which are quite charming in their delicacy of suggestion and beauty of colour, and the same artist’s “Mornington Crescent,” a very pleasant impression realised with a good deal of subtlety. Mr. M. G. Lightfoot’s portrait, “Frank,” is commendably sincere, and is handled with unusual care; the “Character Sketches” and the “Design for Part of a Stage Scene for the Haymarket Theatre,” by Mr. Walter Bayes, are of considerable interest; and Mr. R. P. Bevan’s landscape, “In Sussex,” is quite acceptable as a colour arrangement, though in execution it is a little superficial. There are two landscapes by Mr. Augustus John which have a certain distinction of design and some effectiveness of colour, and there are some characteristic canvases by Mr. Walter Sickert.