Royal Hibernian Academy Exhibition (First Notice).

First, to answer the question that those who are interested, both in Dublin and the country, always ask, "How is the academy this year?" It is a good Academy. There is nothing quite as staggering as the Jack Yeats " Blood of Abel" of last year, which in its combination of artistry and topicality, its colour, which was comparable to that of a glowing stained glass window at Chartres, and its application of the words of the Gospel to the conditions obtaining in the world to-day, was nothing less than a great work of modern art. And then, of course, one has to reconcile oneself to the fact that the Academy authorities, for reasons best known to themselves show little or no interest in the most characteristically contemporary forms of aesthetic experiment. Nor is there any strong evidence of a concerted effort on the part of our artists to give expression to the preoccupations and anxieties of our people in the present state of emergency. One would expect this from the younger artists especially. It is not so easy for older or well-established artists to change their styles. As a matter of fact, however, the President, for instance, has always been at his happiest painting our country people working	in the fields, and in the present exhibition he has some characteristically agreeable exercises in this vein, studies of the people of County Sligo growing more wheat and harvesting layed oats (Nos 77 and 81). Mr. Keating's exhibits include a " Port Authority," which shows turf ready to be loaded on to waiting boats, and " Goirtín Eorna," a study of a barley field, which, as well as being of some topical interest, has beautiful passages of paint; and Mr. MacGonigal's " Milking Time," one of the most decorative of his recent works, also has to do with the life of the country. (The Harvest Trust is to be congratulated on having acquired this picture.) Fine Portraiture

But, in the main, this is a year of portraits. Some people will probably think there are too many. And I think the hanging committee was mistaken in including the three big episcopal portraits in the same room; for purple is a notoriously difficult colour, and so much of it together, as these three pictures provide, militates against the harmony which should be a paramount consideration in hanging. Taking the portraits as a whole, however, there is a high proportion of fine work. And among the portrait-painters Mrs. Clarke is particularly to be congratulated on her study of " The Most Rev. Dr. McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin." Here the purple is beautifully and quietly harmonised with the blacks, whites, flesh tints, and, above all, the varied greys of the background, which give tonal value to the whole. The drawing is refined and sensitive, and has the searching quality that gives character to a portrait, and the composition, the placing of the figure on the canvas, is very satisfying. Mrs. Clarke's return to the Academy is as welcome as it is successful. Another Academician who makes a welcome return is James Sleator. Like Mrs. Clarke, Mr. Sleator has taste as well as accomplishment, and his " Laurence Campbell, Esq.," and " The Hon. Mr. Justice Thompson (late Recorder of Belfast)," as well as the less recent " Fred O'Donovan as Robert Emmett in " The Dreamers," have not only fine workmanship but sensibility and human appeal.

The brilliance of Leo Whelan we have come to take as a matter of course, and this year he is superbly himself in his presentations of " His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Walsh of Tuam," and " Arthur R. Vincent, Esq.," and even more so in the " Mrs. Preston, M.A.," though here the hands are, perhaps, less	satisfactorily realised than the rest of the figure. And so we come to Sean O'Sullivan and the portrait of Professor Eoin MacNeill. There is no question as to the mastery with which the artist presents the great Irish scholar. Here are the breadth of handling, the beautiful draughtmanship, the sense of character, and all the other qualities that go to make Sean O'Sullivan the outstanding artist he is. Perhaps he fails in the matter of background, for one finds oneself wondering why the subject should be wearing his academic robes while sitting in a library. For a presentation portrait a Titianesque window with a vista of University College or some such symbolic detail would seem to be indicated. But when a portrait is as fine as this portrait one finds oneself reluctant to make reserves. There will not be many reserves about the same artist's " J. J. O'Connor, Esq." In design, in drawing, and above all in characterisation, this is one of Sean O'Sullivan's greater successes. And room must be found, too, for a mention of his charming small study of " Mrs. O'Donohue." George Collie, who is to me congratulated on his elevation to full academic rank, has had his " Most Rev. Dr. N. Farren, Bishop of Derry," hung in the place of honour in the big room. It is a big portrait [d'epporat??] and will undoubtedly make an impression, but many visitors will prefer the quieter appeal of the artist's less grandiose presentations of " Patricia Coughlin" and " Alderman P. S. Doyle, T.D., Lord Mayor of Dublin."

The President's " Major W. Bell, 12th Lancers" is handled with all the old-time dexterity that has that suggestion of good humoured complacency which for nearly half a century has ensured the artist's popularity as a portrait painter. Miss Solomon's sensitive study of " The Late Miss Margaret	Cunningham" will give pleasure to the many friends of the noble Irishwoman it commemorates. Ernest C. Hayes's " Mrs. Kevin Maughan," on the other hand, will please most through the skill with which the accessories, notably the satin of the dress, are treated. One would like to have space to discuss other portraits, William Conor's " Black Hat," for instance; Carmel Flynn's " Rev. Father Flynn," R. B. Ganly's " Miss Ethel Ganly" and " Lady Monteagle," Muriel Brandt's " Marcella Senior," and, not least, the very promising - that is to say, admirably conceived, though on close examination somewhat immaturely executed - series of works by C. Galbally. Landscape and Genre

There is only a relatively small number of pure landscape works this year. Mr. McKelvey has his	full quota of exhibits, but breaks no new ground. Paul Henry, on the other hand, has deserted his silvery blue mountains, or rather he has climbed them, for his own continuation is " The Top of the Hill." and there he has found the colours more subdued, though not less harmonious than down below. Estelle Solomon's delight in the light that plays over the Western scene finds expression in studies of Kerry and Donegal, and in " The Road to Ballina" and " Early Morning -Cliffoney" Jack Yeats contributes two small gems of pure landscape. The larger Jack Yeats exhibits include a circus picture called " Now," which has the most magnificent passages of colour, and " The Throng," in which the palette used is somewhat similar, but popular favour may well run to the enchanting seascape with figures called " Drift" and the mysteriously lit " Dawn," both of which pictures are complete and perfect poems. More directly realistic, less purely imaginative, than any of Mr. Yeats's work is the splendidly conceived and wholly successful " Dunquin Interior," by Sean	O'Sullivan. Maurice McGonigal, as well as some characteristic small landscapes, has a mother and child study, " Bean agus A Naoidheanàn," in which the composition is as telling as it is simple, the figures being placed monumentally against a background. Somewhat similar in conception, though not in effect, are " An Roinnt" and " Fear Làn de Stuam," by John Keating, in which a single figure dominates the other figures and the background.

That fine artist, Grace Henry, sends a beautiful study, all pearls and ivories of water and houses in " Ennistvmon." Charles Lamb and Letitia M. Hamilton have some characteristically accomplished western scenes, and Harry Kernoff, who goes less far afield, shows that in the treatment of landscape he can simplify to the point of drollery and yet remain an obviously gifted artist. Possible Favourites

Lady Glenavy is another artist in whom technical skill is used to convey a unique combination of romanticism and wit. Her " Good-bye" and " Sailor's Return" will probably be favourites this year, though " The Prodigal Son," a more serious study, calls for mention, too. Laurence Campbell's brilliant light study, " Place de l'Alma," and Fergus O'Ryan's quiet-toned " Cole's Lane, Dublin," have been bought by the Haverty Trust. " Before the Curtain Rises," by William Conor, is a clever piece of arabesque. " June Flowers," by M. C. Hutson, calls for mention among the flower-pieces, which also include some finely-painted studies by Moyra Barry. Lack of space makes it impossible to discuss the work of such accomplished artists as Francis Johnson, Simon Coleman, Christopher Campbell, Lillian Davidson, James M. Brennan,	Sean Dixon, Henry Healy, Mrs. Brendan O'Brien, Hilda Roberts, Cecil ffrench Salkeld, Elise Mourant, Moyra Brennan, Geraldine O'Brien, Dorothy Day, Patrick Hennessey and many others.