Art Lecture.

Mr. F. Hopkinson Smith gave the fourth lecture of his course last evening before an audience which completely filled Sanders Theatre. The subject of the lecture was "Composition."

Composition, Mr. Smith said, is the most expressive and pleasing arrangement upon canvas of the details of a picture. This is the most important art in painting, and fixes the talent of the artist. There is but one law which governs the whole subject of composition, and that is the law of relation of the greater and lesser masses in a picture. The eye is first attracted by the greatest contrast, the greatest dark against the greatest light or vice versa, and then seeks another contrast more moderate in tone, and so on until the story of the painting is told. If this law is not strictly observed, and if the object which is second or third in importance is made in the greatest contrast of color, the purpose of the painter is defeated, and the mind of the observer receives a false impression of the meaning intended to be conveyed.

In painting a picture there is but one line to be observed, which runs horizontally through the middle of the picture, and on this line may be placed every object which can please or attract the eye. Often the placing of an object three-quarters of an inch below or above this line will throw out the picture. To be pleasing to the eye a painting must contain more than one object, for the eye becomes wearied easily if it sees but one thing, and rests with relief upon a second object, from which it returns with greater interest to the main figure. This same thing is true in sculpture.

Among our own illustrators, Dana Gibson and Abbey often eliminate from their pictures everything but the central figures. These tell the story, and tell it well, and furniture and surroundings would add little or nothing to the effect.

For landscape painting one thing is to be remembered, nature never makes any errors; and if a painter follows her closely and truly, without trying to produce her effects by tricks, the beauty and truth of his picture will be seen and appreciated by every one.