Progress of Pictorial Movement

PROGRESS OF PICTORIAL MOVEMENT Great Britain.—In 1909 internal dissensions brought about the disruption of "The Linked Ring" and the exhibition of that year was the last of the original Salon. A few of the members formed themselves into a Secession which held a small but notable exhibition in 1910 which, however, was not repeated, and the other supporters of the Salon came together under the lead of F. J.

Mortimer and established in 1911 the London Salon which still continues. Amidst all these changes the R.P.S. Exhibition con tinued its even way. For a year or two after the secession in 1892, the seceders held aloof but gradually they came back and most of the prominent pictorialists exhibited at both shows, so that there was little to choose between the two.

During the World War, and especially towards the end, pictorial photography was carried on under great difficulties and the Exhibi tions fell almost to the vanishing point. Since then a gradual re vival has set in but it has taken nearly ten years to return to nor mal. The feature of late years is the levelling up that has taken place in the work of the general body of photographers as well as the great increase in its practice. To the R.P.S. Exhibition of 1928, 46o workers sent in more than two thousand prints.

The position of British photography to-day is largely the result of the highly organized nature of its pictorial efforts, the very large number of photographic societies all over the Kingdom, their grouping into Federations and unions which cater for their needs and stimulate their activities, the scheme by which a large num ber of the societies are affiliated to the Royal Photographic Society for the same ends, and lastly the R.P.S. itself which has become not only the parent society of the British empire but, to an ever in creasing extent, of the American and continental pictorial groups and associations as well. The numerous photographic exhibitions held in Great Britain, of which the most important are the R.P.S.

Annual Exhibition, the London Salon, the exhibition of the Pro fessional Photographers Association, the Salon of the Scottish Federation, the Northern Exhibition and the Midland Salon, have done much to foster the growth and appreciation of pictorial photography and afford the British public greater facilities to see good pictorial work than can be found in any other country.

America

has several notable Salons held annually at Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. The work there is inclined to be decidedly experimental and novelty is perhaps more sought after than beauty though this may be merely a stage in the development and the prelude to the evolution of a style and school such as was possessed in the great days before 1908.

France,

under the inspiration of Robert Demachy in 1900, was the leader in photographic pictorialism but since the great men of that period retired from active participation in the foreign ex hibitions, the French school is less known outside that country than formerly; although an exhibition of work by members of the French Photographic Society at the R.P.S. in 1926 revealed several new pictorialists of eminence.

Germany and Austria

have, during the past thirty years, al ways held a prominent place in the pictorial movement with indi vidual characteristics of their own. Before the World War the pictures of Duhrkoop, Perscheid, Kuhn and the large gum prints in colours by the brothers Hofmeister were notable features of the leading exhibitions. Since the World War the Germans have not participated to any great extent in foreign exhibitions, but the work of Otto Vogelsang of Pomerania, Dr. Koppitz of Vienna and Franz Drtikol of Prague has shown that there are pictorialists of the front rank.

Other Countries.

Italy has progressed rapidly in recent years under the inspiration of the Gruppo Piemontese of Turin and the work of the new school is virile whilst based on the best traditions. Spain possesses one pictorialist of eminence in J. Ortiz Echague but no national school, whilst in the Scandinavian countries the pictorial work appears to be done entirely by the professional photographers of whom Aage Remfeldt of Oslo and Ferdinand Flodin and Dr. H. B. Goodwin of Stockholm are the best known. In Holland and Belgium there are several active workers and Bor renbergen and Berssenbrugge in the former and Leonard Misonne in the latter are well known at the exhibitions in this country.