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No. 423, May 1, 1858.J THE X E A 1> E R....
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EXHIBITIONS OF THE FRENCH SCHOOL AND WAT...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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rc-idv sale . In this liritf article , however , we cannot pretend to furnish a complete list of noteworthy subjects ; and shall reserve our opinion , even , on several of those whack we point out as calling for special remark . •¦ . . The absence of Mr . ' MiiXAia is first to bo noticed ; as those who are not fore-YN- 'u-ned will infallibly lose time in looking for signs of his master-hand . It is rerorted tluit he is throwing his whole strength into works which he has wisely determined not to exhibit until the utmost care and finish can have been bestowed -on them . The school of which he is , or was , the chief , makes a not very important figure this season . "Mr . Patojj does not , except in minute elaboration follow the teachings of that school . He may be congratulated on having i ) . tinted , so far as we are aware , the only excusable picture on the subject of attendant crueltiesHis 3 Iemoriam ( 4 71
the Indian rebelliou and its . "In > " ) exhibits ft true sense of the beautiful even , in the midst of horrors . There is nothin" in it that can . outrage , though it will without doubt cause many a pang : of additional sorrow . Mr . Pato > - has another picture representing & tragical incident , though one far removed from the sympathy of our experience . It is called the "Blnidy Tiyste" ( 29 ); and the catalogue refers us to The Uarie ami ii-e Uywle , bokc xii . A knight has jestingly u trifled with the feelings" proud ' hulye-love , wlio , believing his tale of some fair rival to be true , has stabbed 3 iim mortally . lie undeceives her with his last breath ; and at this point the painted story leaves us ; though there are words about Our Lady ' s Priory , and a confession , and a broken heart , and a grave that holds two who had lovecl , and who died on one day . Lasdseer has
There is nothing l > y Mr . Macijsk this year . Sir El > wix one large picture on the every way dramatic subject of the " Maid and the Magpie " ( ISO ) . Mr . Crkswicx , sometimes with the aid of Mr . Sidney Cooi'ku , the cattlepainter , and sometimes without , furnishes four landscapes . An equal number of works hear the name of Staxfiki / d , " Old Holland" ( 18 ) and the ¦ " Portress of Savona" ( 141 ) , con . taining the greatest evidence of his powers . Mr . "Waiuj ' s state commissions are of very unequal merit . In the one which depicts " The Emperor of the French rcceiv ing the Order of the Garter at Windsor from her Majesty the Queen" ( 35 ) , Mr . Wai : d has risen above his ordinary style , and has far the nonce completely got rid of his old leathery textures and inky shadows . But , in the second subject , namely , the " Yi 3 it of the Queen to the Tomb of Napoleon I . " ( 254 ) , he returns with double force to those failings . Mr . Ward also exhibits his original design , in oils , for an historical fresco-painting intended to adorn the Palace of the Legislature . " The subject is the " Concealment of the Fugitives by Alice Lisle , after the Battle of Scdg ' emoor" ( 4 SS ) . Mr . Kobiskts , whose interiors of cathedrals are infinitely more truthful in their effect than are his ' out-door " scenes , has a noble picture of the " Basilica of San Lorenzo "
( 150 ) . His three other pictures are all architectural . Mr . Egg displays two compositions this year . One , which includes three distinct pictures iu a partition-frame , is intended to convey a very painful story of domestic trouble ? . A fallen wife , made to fall much lower than is-quite necessary for moral purposes , is the point round which this tale is woven . Its number in the catalogue is 372 . Mr . Egg's less remarkable picture is the scene from Esmond- ( 19 ) , where Beatrix calls on Harry to kneel down , and , with a wave of a sword over his head , dubs him a knight . " Tlio I ) erby Day" ( 218 ) , by Mr . Frith , a picture which has been town talk , will not lose fame "by being made public . It is wonderful in its multiplicity of incident ; but we must withhold further language in the way of commendation .
If a work of this class can be valuable , it must be ns a perfectly true-representation of the kind of life it professes to depict . There are several points where , as matter-of-fact , the clever grouping ofjVIr . Frith is erroneous . Mr . Coojce , besides " Dutch Boats'in a Calm" ( 282 ) , has several excellent marine pieces . Mr . Licslie has only ono picture—a very careful and pleasing work on the subject indicated in that beautiful verse of Scripture , " And Jesus called a little child unto liim ,. and set him in the midst of them" ( 152 ) . Mr . Hokst . ey ' s pictures in two compartments , " The Flower-girl—Town and Country" ( 350 ) , will attract a crowd from the opening day to the last of the season . His less pretending work , - ' Noonday Sleep" O 1 G ) , is a charming little rustic scene , lull of quiet , natural feeling .
Mr . X . UAUD , a celebrity of not more than two years' making , keeps quite up to the mark he made by bis Crimean picture , lie h : ts two very interesting and carefully painted pictures this year , "The Girl 1 left behind me" ( 242 ) and "Kenrinsr Home" ( 444 ) . Both are founded on military reminiscences , and both equally appeal to the love of home . Mr . Fua ^' is . Stoni : 's " Missing Boat—Pasde-Calais" ( 204 ) , is a very attractive work , and will be long remembered for the anxious faces which help to tell its too familiar story . The appearance of 311 \ Thoiuivjrn out of his own proper field will be remarked with interest . He hus two family groups , one making a rather large picture , and both in oil colours . Mr . Clakk , whose performance at the British Institution we noticed with
delight , has a most atfeeting little scene called the " Doctor ' s Visit" ( 8 ' . )) , which we reserve for special notice . A picture by Mr . On ant , embodying that passage in the life of Pai . isky wherein the poor artist ' s wife is called on to make the lust sacrifice , am ) to yield her wedding-ring to the crucible , is worth attention . The flower-painting of Miss Mutuie is of such excellence as to warrant our speaking of it in a first notice , from which several pictures of merit are necessarily excluded . "We would direct special observation to her " -Azsilous" ' ( 115 ) . The study of natural Instoiy , by-thoby , seems to be spreading among the painters . r Jhis may lie owing partly-to the exhortations of Mr . JiusKix , and partly to the influence of scientific discovery .
No. 423, May 1, 1858.J The X E A 1> E R....
No . 423 , May 1 , 1858 . J THE X E A 1 > E R . 4 ^ 27
Exhibitions Of The French School And Wat...
EXHIBITIONS OF THE FRENCH SCHOOL AND WATiill COLOUR PA IN THUS . TiiKKia exhibitions remain to be cleared off our list of outstanding notices . They are the two Water Colour Galleries and the French Exhibition . We had intended also to give an account of the show of pictures l > y female artists . The apology , though it may seem ungracious , vnii 9 t be spoken . We find that feminine art , as represented at the Egyptian Hall , does not present a sutHcieiitly strong side for criticism to deal with . Far from being nusoj . 'y ists in mutters of art , wo yet feel culled on to protest against the movement of the le . in . ilo artists . There is no gallery in London , or any other place Unit ; \ w have heard of , from which lady exhibitors arc shut out . The institution , therefore , of a separate and exclusive body of female iirti . st . s would bc > n confession of inferiority-, were it not , as in the present ease-, accompanied by rather scornful , though not very intelligibly slated , pretensions . Of these by tho way .
It is not fair or courteous to " our lively neighbours the French , " as Mr . Ghint would say , to put them in sueh a dark , uncomfortable chamber an is the gallery of the . present . French Inhibition . The central skylight is of so restricted a size that , looking »\ t any picture below the 1 ' nn 1 , you cannot , help interposing your body bet ween the light and the ohjejet . This , tin- tilt It annual exhibition , is not so satisfactory an indication of progress iih \ v « j had looked
forward to seeing . Among the class of small genre pictures we are glad to s ee the influence ot " 3 ii > oUAiti > I- ' iikrk prevailing , rather than that of Schlesinger and other painters de luxe , whose pictures never call up a pure thought , or can l ) e remembered with any true pleasure . . M . FituKis exhibits five " Scenes in Humble Life . " They are not perfectly painted , but they hare a singular value which Mr . Huskin has pointed out . They are scrupulously true to fact . One subject , " The Little Epicure , " is the figure of a child deeply engaged with a slice of bread and jam . The chubby forefinger wandering over the smooth plain of sweetness is a touch of nursery life which quite accords with the situation . M . Tjiayek . is one of those who appear to be following in the steps of the last-named painter . " A Market L > ay in Brittany / ' is , however , on a larger scale , and includes a numerous group of figures . For variety of life-like expression It is not equalled by any one work in the gallery . M . Pi . ass-VN , though lie paints with a finical smoothness , which reminds us of a school utterly
opposed to that of Eddoaub Fkeke , is evidently animated by a desire to represent humanity in its natural aspect . " The return from Kurse , " tells a little story of French-life with earnest feeling and grace . The portrait of a large sporting dos , by Mdlle . Rosa Bosiieuu , is a fine dashing piece of art ; but the same painter ' s " Ploughing" scene has a little disappointed us . It will not bear any comparison with her group of cattle , now on view at Lkggaxt ' s gallery , in . Cheapside . The use of positive black , in the shadows of daylight scenes , is a custom of hers which , in the present picture , is more than usually apparent . Injudicious admirers of this artist are wont to adduce her productions as evidence that a woman is capable of panning with boldness and power equal to the boldness and power of a man . Now , for any effect that the argument
may have , we ought to determine the precise kind of boldness and power that may be mean " t . Power to do what ? Power to paint rough , common objects , as roughly , and with as "bold an observation us a man ' s liabits will generally enable-him . to bestow ? This is a . power-which , in any artistic sense , hardly deserves its name . Where genius . 5 s in-question , it is not difficult to slio > v that something else than roughness belongs to the rougher sex . To be coarse , to be bold ' even , is not of necessity to be masculine . There is Arv Schej-fer ' s picture of "Margaret , " in this gallery ; as pure and tender , as-pathetic and beautiful as a picture can be . The lovely weakness of the face may not , and does not , speak to us of the fact that a man ' s mind was at work when the face was painted ; but where is the woman who could have painted it ?
At the Old Water Colour exhibition there are changes this year . Mr . Lewis , the President , whose wondrous el-ahoration fully , accounted for the numerical paucity of his productions , has seceded . Mr . A . P . Niswrox is made a new associate member , and celebrates his" " -promotion by a special display of ability , in a highly finished landscape , entitled " Declining Day—View in Argyllshire . " Of the real school of . water-colour" painting their remain very few representatives . All the striking pictures in this , as well as in the gallery of the NeA ^ r Society of Water Colour Painters , are modifications , in which the nearer an approach has been made to the method of oil painting , the greater is the success of the work . For instance , the most , brilliantly finished piece of colouring , Mr . Cari- IIaag ' s " Biirgermeisters Tochter of Salzburg , " is , in all points where brilliancy and finish are most observable , painted in' body colours . The wonderful birds ' -nests , plums , bunches of grapes , and sprigs ¦ " of- ' may , which are more wonderful and more unmistakably Ho't ' s than ever they were , are
almost entirely pauited with the same opaque substance . The works of . David Cox are free from it certainly , and -we are glad to find them in considerable number this year . Cox does not tempt the Nemesis of his reputation by painting cloar skies and bright objects . . The dirty weather , which is-always making his desolate heaths look more desolate and more uncomfortable , is the element in which his fame has flourished . In short , the simple and monotonous character of David- Cox ' s painting adapts itself naturally and easily to the practice of " washing in" pure water colour . While speaking of David Cox , we must not omit to give a capital bit of lady-cviticism which we heard in the room , " Who ever saw nature so untidy ? " was the comment upon that blotched and ragged view of Puimiaun Bach . Mr . Bennett ' s well-wooded landscapes at the New Society ' s Exhibition npproa . cn . in character the works of David CJox , being like them , specimens of water colour pur it simple . The younger painter ' s ' Fields in Surrey , " and " A Shady Stream , " are good example ;! o ! ' what can be done without stepping beyond the proper hounds of this Held or' painting ; .
ISlr . Duncan is , as usual , a leading exhibitor at the Old Society ' s Exhibition . His "'Winter Scene—Carting Ice , " must have been painted with frozen fingers , or it could not have- been so true to nature ; yet , how wonderfully it is painted , even in the smallest details ! The power which this artist possesses of making distant objects appear to melt into thin air is quite peculiar to him . ISIo painter can so delicately convey the elFeet of a morning or evening mist , broken by struggling sunbeam ? . As it is in quiet natural scenes , without much interest or action of human life to raise them into the rank of subject pictures , that this exhibition is most entitled to praise , we will name those artists \ vljo have chiefly aided in giving such character to the general display . They are . besides those
already named , Mr . Davidson-, whose ¦' J'larly Spring , ' and , still more , whose " Beaeh at Hastings " are successful departures from : t style to which he haslately scorned to he wedded ; J \ h \ J . 1 ) . Uaiumni ; , whose " Boil .-Uuiu on tho Moselle " deserves a closer inspection tluma-t the first glance it would appear to ask ; Mr . Nafthi ,, who is a . s fresh and cheery as bright green and blue can make him ; INIr . i ; kmih ; i : Fiui'i ' , who is everywhere- at once , aftiT his custom , and who seems to have no particular choice between Pk'dmont and I ' ovensey in Suffolk , or Bettwys-y-Coed ami Southern !; Mr . Buanwuiti :, whoso manner is a trillo too ponderous ; and Mr . "W . C . S ^ imi , whose " Bridge on the I / vnn , Lynton , "is equal to any landscape of its class in the exhibition .
Wo have noticed l > 3 * implication the luck , of s abject-pic tares here . Certainly such productions as Mr . . John CJii . ninrr ' s illustration of the '" Two Gentlemen of Verona , " being the . scene between Lwtmw and M / jcr . t / , do not go far in any account which can be opposed to our general remark . The . taste for pictorial publications need have some virtue to counterbalance the evil which it ha * produced in tlie caHo of one such artist as ( Jimjkkt . I ' cople- who yladly give a penny lor a foolish pamphlet ., because il lu'iu'M on its l ' rout page a clever woodcut de-signed by Mr . ( iii . iiKitT , may see hy a visit ; tothis gallery what eil ' eel the publishers' commissions havu liad upon his genius . Tin .: iNow Soeiely of Tainti-i ' s in Water Cul . mrrt has , for some years past , settled
into a very sober condition ol' permanent ivvi'i'agi * . Oui ; season's txliiliition 13 iH'illiL'i' belter nur worse than anollu-r ' s . We have , witlio . it . any chance of failure , one large work each hy Messrs , M ' AiiUr . N , (/ Oitii'in . n . and M . wjiik , with gonurjilly a lew Mimll pictun-s from till ! same liand > . < > pp . n-t unities are , givon us of jioreeiving , year alter year , that , Mr . Wauhi-. n , the i ' lV .-Oilcnt , i . ; the most uncijuat of painters , whether in water colour or in anything t'lse . J <\> r Mr . ( . ' oKBoiii . D we uonli ' . ss a liking-. Then 1 is immense Uxr . l in ah he does , c . ointtincil with si rt-iiiarkiilde amount of inventive faculty . I lis dioiee of niali-i'ial doen not trouble us greatly ; for if anv man has established a right to employ special
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 1, 1858, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01051858/page/19/
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