ART: PRIVATE VIEW - TARKA KINGS

Tarka Kings Tue to 30 Sep The Fine Art Society, London W1

In Tarka Kings' small-scale paintings, a selection of which go on show at the Fine Art Society this week, method is all important. Texture is crucial: the softness of gouache painted over gesso; the surface sometimes pricked with little air holes and covered slowly, minutely, with paint. She is a very measured artist.

Cressida Connolly's introduction to the show's catalogue mentions the precedents of Morandi and Gwen John. Certainly Kings' pictures have links to these, as well as to a tradition of English painting between the wars, but there's also something about her work that is unmistakably contemporary. Her picture of the Tay Bridge is a good example: nothing in the view that she has painted would have looked any different 100 years ago, yet her version is very definitely of the late 20th century. There's a softness, a slightly fuzzy out of focus quality that is instantly appealing and which I'm sure will prove to be quietly enduring.

The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street, London W1 (0171-629 5116) to 30 Sep