In Room XVII are the works left to the nation by the English Titian, George Frederick Watts. The two favourites will, I imagine, always be the "Love and Life" and "Love and Death." The richness and tenderness of the landscape of Loch Leven make one wish that the master had painted more from nature.

Room XVIII is dedicated to the genius of Alfred Stevens, the English Michelangelo, who was both painter and sculptor, carver and superb draughtsman; and who may be studied also at South Kensington.

Room XIX is a Chantrey room with a few other pictures added, such as Fred Walker's "Old Gate" and "The Harbour of Refuge," Cecil Lawson's vast moonlit landscape, and the Legros paintings, which range from the severity of "The Retreat from Moscow" to the Giorgionesque richness of the "Cupid and Psyche." Notable among the Chantrey pictures are the Orchardsons, particularly, to my mind, No. 1519, "Her First Dance." Among the more recent purchases, W. W. Russell's vivid portrait of "Mr. Minney" stands out. The "Fantaisie en Folie" of Robert Brough tells what an artist was lost when he was killed in a railway accident in 1905.

Room XX is given to water colours of mixed periods, ranging from W. J. Muller, in whose work the gallery is so rich (note in particular Nos. 2323 and 2338), to the 1ate John M. Swan, who is represented by some very fine studies of animals. In between come Tom Collier, Fred Walker and Pinwell.

Room XXI, to those persons who prefer novelty to tradition, is the most fascinating room in the Gallery, for here are assembled the new influences in British art, notably Augustus John, whose "Smiling Woman" may be said to rule the walls. I give a reproduction of this masterpiece. The same artist's unfinished "Rachel" strikes me as one of the masterpieces of our era. Here may be found also Henry Lamb's dingy but arresting portrait of Lytton Strachey; a superb still-life by Nicholson, "Lowestoft Bowl," and his portrait of Miss Jekyll, who transformed the face of England by her advocacy of wild gardens and herbaceous borders ; two or three perfect little pictures by Henry Tonks ; two or three masterly landscapes by Wilson Steer; a very exceptional McEvoy, No. 3176; an Orpen in the direct line from Holland of the seventeenth century, No. 9.940; Alfred Stevens, by himself ; John's portrait of Col. Lawrence ; a dreamy Condor, and Whistler's enchanted "Old Battersea Bridge," or "Nocturne Blue and Silver."

Room XXII is peculiarly interesting to me, because it is given up to modern water colours, and loans are frequent here. Representative work by such living masters as Orpen, Tonks, Wilson Steer, Muirhead Bone, D. S. MacColl, Augustus John, McEvoy and Sargent are always on view, together with those of artists no longer with us, such as Brabazon, A. W. Rich (who is the painter represented in Orpen's brilliant drawing, "The Model," (No. 3530), and J. D. Inner.

In Room XXIII, an octagon, we find Chantrey sculpture, the most attractive thing there being the ivory box which Pandora holds, in Harry Bates' work.

THE SMILING WOMAN,

FROM THE PAINTING BY AUGUSTUS E. JOHN IN THE TATE GALLERY

In Room XXIV are more Chantrey pictures, some of them as recent as the Munnings' "Epsom Downs," No. 3554, while such remote purchases as Frank Bramley's "Hopeless Dawn," and the sparkling Dutch group by F. D. Millet, the American, are also here. The great Herkomer, in which we see R.A.'s at the delicate task of selecting and rejecting, dominates the room. This was painted in 1908, and too few of the artists depicted are now with us. I would mention also, as adorning this room, two pictures by Glyn Philpot, Charles Sims' "Wood Beyond the World," and the sad and sombre Peppercorn.

In Room XXV, still given to the Chantrey Bequest, nothing gives me so much pleasure as Arnesby Brown's "Line of the Plough." His "Silver Morning," that great cattle piece, is also one of the Tate's treasures. Other notable pictures are the Orpen portraits, H. S. Tuke's "August Blue," Charles Sims' "Fountain," the little glowing shore scene by Bertram Nicholls, D. Y. Cameron's desolate lovely "Stirling Castle," and the two Sargents : Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, and the portrait of Ingram Bywater.

There remain the gallery, upstairs, round the Dome, and a dark room, No. XXVI, given to negligible Chantrey works. From its windows, however, one has a fine view of the Thames, which is very much Whistler's river just here. In the gallery are drawings and etchings, including some studies from Stothard's "Canterbury Pilgrims," a number of Charles Keene's Punch drawings, and some of the patient and remarkable work of Muirbead Bone.

So much for London's principal picture galleries, of which we have now seen all. But I ought to say that for the art epicure there are still others not quite so conveniently placed, chief of them being Hampton Court and the Dulwich Gallery, while the Bethnal Green Museum ought not to be neglected. At Dulwich is one of the most beautiful Rembrandts in the world, a noble Velazquez, some charming Gainsboroughs and two mellow and spacious Cuyps. The London Museum also has a vast collection of topographical pictures, some very good.

And then, for the real glutton, there are the picture galleries that are open at intervals, such as the Royal Academy, the gallery over Prince's Restaurant, the Old Water Colour Gallery in Pall Mall East, the Suffolk Street Gallery, the Grosvenor Gallery, and all the smaller galleries connected with picture dealers, such as Messrs. Agnew's, the Fine Art Society, the Leicester Galleries and so forth. For the lover of pictures London spreads a continual feast.

A word should also be said about certain commercial buildings with elaborate schemes of decoration well worth a visit. I mention two only: the office of the Canadian National Railways, which has a sumptuous frieze by that wonderful colourist, Mr. Frank Brangwyn, and the offices of the P. & O. almost next door they are both in Cockspur Street with its cool and reserved but very effective ceiling and mural designs by Mr. Frederick Beaumont.