In London

In London

On May 3, the Royal Academy of Arts opened its annual exhibition at the Burlington House, London. There are two sensations in this year's otherwise moderate display. The first is W. Russell Flint's sex picture, The Lemnians, a canvas displaying little more than coarse sensuality. (The Lemnians occupied Lemnos, an island in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. According to an old Greek legend, they murdered all the men on the island in revenge for desertion by their husbands. They were discovered by the Argonauts soon after.)

Charles Sims' painting of King 'George in full court dress has excited a great deal of comment due to the beautiful legs and rather characterless face given England's ruler. Sir John Lavery shows a large painting Premier Mac-Donald addressing the House of Commons in which the effect of political success on the Labor leader seems to have stamped him with an aristocratic Tory look. The atmosphere of the house is well reproduced, with a clever portrait of Lady Astor leaning far forward in her seat.

The majority of paintings are typical of English history, modern and ancient. There are also good portraits by John S. Sargent, Sir William Orpen, Augustus John.

At the opening dinner of the Academy, the Prince of Wales expressed himself on the reform of billboards saying: "Nobody deplores more sincerely such blots on the landscape than I do and I heartily congratulate those public-spirited people who are trying to have them removed."