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too T TT T! Ii EAJ) E B. T^°^ 46B, FEBAi...
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Wb shoukLfail in. justice: to the aistac...
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*' Tlie Itoypl Academy and tho National ...
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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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Too T Tt T! Ii Eaj) E B. T^°^ 46b, Febai...
too T TT T ! Ii EAJ ) E B . T ^ ° ^ 46 B , FEBAiJ ^ ivr 5 yl & 59 .
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Wb Shouklfail In. Justice: To The Aistac...
Wb shoukLfail in . justice : to the aistac ishv did we not place afc the head o £ our finer arts intelligence the' laying' the- first stone- of an Irisli National © ftlle ^ b ^ I ^ rfi ' BgiintoxmonSattu ^ aylast . The site chosen is on Leihster Lawn , once adorned for a time by the splendid exhibition building for whose rise bjs country owed her obligations to William Dargan , and the funds raised , for a testimonial to that eminent man have gracefully ; been devoted towards tim construction of the contemplated edifice .
Thepik >> will comprise , when completed ^ public libraries * including ; that bequeathed to the country by Archbishop-Marsh , public schools , halls for lectures , an architectural museum , collections of national antiquities , raw materials' and produce , and , lastly , a gallery of works in all departments of the fine arts . The reported speech of the popular Lord Lieutenant was well turned , and all wellwishers to national progress and the arts will sympathise with his kindly aspirations for the progress of the undertaking . It is intended to open in London very shortly an
exhibition ; consisting entirely of the works ot Mr . David Cox ; the arrangements are not yet completed , but it is expected that the collection will be very numerous as well as interesting . The works of this deservedly admired artist being generally distinguished by a sombre tone of colouT i and a breadth bf treatment often amountingto sketchiness ; are apt to , contrast unfavourably with the brighter tints andi finished detail of many other _ painters ; yet even on the walls of ordinary exhibitions the eye will turn : , with pleasure to one of his sober pictures , and generally finds it well composed , and often very poetical . ; ' A small number of Mr . Gox ' s
drawings were collected together some time ago , and , were much adniired by those , who saw them , and the belief that a large exhibition might be formed' of them has led to the present project , which , ^ ve doubt not , will prove eminently successful and attractive . . The mission of M . Silvestre , referred to in previous numbers , may be regarded as . a proof of the increasing- estimation in which the works of the English school of painting are held hvFrance . At a recent meeting of the . BLoyal Institute pf British Architects ; he stated that the French Minister of State had authorised , him to invite English artists
to send their works to the next exhibition in Paris , which will take p lace in April . As another fact in the same direction , we observe that the Stecle , in recommending a , work , called Les Tresors de I * Art , which ; it . has published for the benefit of its subscribers , and which contains forty-seven plates from pictures of different schools , says : —" Ona-voulu aussi , en < placant sous' les yeux du lecteur de pre ' cieux e * cnantilions des raaitres anglais , initier le public francais aux beautes de cette 6 cole anglaise , si originate dans ses fantaisies , si curieuse dans ses hardiesses , si peu connue enfin , et si digne 4 e l'Stre . ' * ' Of course the hist phrase is not intended is
to convey the idea that tne iiaignsn scuoojl deservedly little known in Erance , though its equivocal construction would admit of that trans ,, lotion . The forthcoming ¦ French exhibition in London , whiph-w-iilopenia April , is to have an appendage in the ' shape of a collection of works by pamters of other foreign nations ; but in order tojpreserve to the originaT exhibition its exclusively French oharacter , the other piotures will be shown in . a new room to be added to . the gallery in Pall-mall . It is to be hoped , that the works ol each nation will be grouped separately , so as to exhibit at a glance their peculiar' national characteristics . Suoh an , exhibition aa this promises to becomewill be a great
not , the Royal ; Academy take the . lead in such a movement . Perhaps the best answer to the question , is , " Because they ought . " - ¦ . Mr . JV P . Davis , an artist , has just put toEth a ^ powerful remonstrance , against the continuance ; of the Royal Academy in the enjoyment of their special privileges ; against the present management of the national collectionsi which professes- to have been reformed since 1853 in obedience to the public will , but which is , in fact , unreformed ; and , lastly , against the chronological principle of arranging .
pictures as invented or applied by Dr . Waagen Mr . Davis is fiery in his mode of expressing , himself , but by Ho means vulgar . In being able to write : with facility upon a subject with wlnchihe is well acquainted , he has the advantage of many other capable men of his profession who but for defective style might have ere now dealt shrewd blows against the favouritism , cliquism , and ignorance which have— -almost , as it were , by conspiracy - ^ -maintained their sway over the direction of the ¦
public taste . - h , ' The limited number of painters who have directed their attention to public speaking and writing has been of great service to the cause against which so strong a . mute feeling prevails . Had as strong a party of the lawyers been minded to rid themselves of any similar incubus , they would have done it in less than half the time . Mr . Davis ' s proposition is T " that the Royal Academy is the greatest evil ever inflicted oti the arts of this country . It is in spirit and character \ an anomaly amongst English institutions . It is a despotism , an inquisition , and
a monopoly . " His ai-gument , while it bears hard upon this " select aristocracy of talent , " as a person of distinction called them in a moment of spooneyism , is but little , if anything , too hard ; and should be read by those members of the House who are willing , before Mr . Black ' s motion comes on , to refresh their memories on the subjects it will involve . The author quotes liberally on the National Gallery question from those admitted authorities the Biue 4 ) ooks , and his round unvarnished
something that is amusing . Of the former are his remarks " 6 n Art and Education . " He considers we have not sufficiently recognised or studied the distinction ; between the system : of art education to be adopted in a school established for the general instruction , and refinement of the people ^ and that which should prevail in one meant for the special instruction of fcfre artisan in his own . business . We have hitherto acted ( he says ) under a vague im . pression that the arts of drawing and painting- might be , up to-a certain point , taught in . a general way to every one , and would do every one equal good' ; and that each class of operative * might afterwards bring this gen eral knowledge into use in their own trade , according to its requirementSk Now- that is not so . A- -wood-carver needs for his business to learn drawing in quite a
different way from a china-painter , and a je-welter from a worker in iron . It is of no use to teach an iron-worker to- " observe- the down an a peach , and of none to teacb laws of atmospheric effect ? to a carver in wood . So far as their business is concerned , their brains would he vainly occupied by such things , and they -would be prevented from pursuing- with enough distinctness or intensity the qualities of art which can ; alone be expressed in the materials with which they each have to do . I believe it wholly impossible to teach special application of At * principles to various tradeajn a single school .
Had we room for it , we would extract the quaint remonstrance against the neglect of Paul Veronese ' s draperies even by the ladies , who , our author thinks , should at least have been attracted by the splendid painting of the Queen of Sheba ' s brocade in a picture by that master at Florence , He saw dozens of them , while he was employed in copying one leaf of the pattern , pass carelessly b y as if there was nothing in the room but their dear selves worth looking at . : ' ;¦ ¦ . : .
We have received a very important number ( fhe 87 th ) of an interesting serial , the i > holographic Journal . As there appears to be a little sensation in the photographic world about the right to this title , we had better state that we allude to the paper edited by Mr . Shadbolt , owned by Mr . Greenwood , and sold at Horiie ' s , iii ] S [ ewgatc-slreek The curiosity , of the number is an engraving of the undercluf at Hiton , Isle of Wight , produced by Herr Paul Pretsch ' s patent process , from a photograph by Mr . Roger Eenton , with the enlightened permission of Mr . Fox Talbot , who claims some prior patent rights . This great step towards cheap book illustration , and the repetition , of all kinds of patterns , must be seen to be appreciated . We will not , therefore , extract at length the editor ' s account
tale is not , lightly to be gainsaid . We have not at our disposal space to examine his own scheme for a National Institution of Art . He has suggested one —probably not a faultless one ; but as we are on his side , we will , for the present , at all events , leave its dissection to our opponents . f The anti-Academy party in the House of Commons is by no means weak if Lord Elcho , and Messrs . Disraeli , Locke King , Dauby Seymour , and Ewart remain of their former mind . A symptom of conscious weakness on the other side has come
to our heaving witiiin the last day or two . It was announced at the general meeting of the Artists ' General Benevolent -Fund , that the projectors of the Muswell-lull People ' Palace had offered to place a . land allotment at the disposal of the profession for the erection of an . almshouse , or , to use the slang oft the day , *? a college . " Sir Charles Eastlake , who as President of the Academy was present and was consulted , could hold Out no hopes of a grant for building purposes from the funds of the Royal Academy ; for these would shortly be heavily taxed , he said , to provide a new home for the Academy itself . The authorities of the corporation 1 \«/ -1 Tint lnnn a \ nt \ a if tiro ppmAmtiott wall nil lllffil" .
of the process by which the copper-plates are produced , as it were , ready etched . Suffice it to say , that from a transparent posit ive an impression in relief upon a mixture of gelatine and bichromate of potash is obtained by the agency of light ; aucl from this a mould in some plastic material . Oil this copper is deposited by eleotrbtypy , A copper matrix thus obtained , electricity will Iielp us to a copperplate more or less , ijt for printing with , and of course susceptible of improvement . l ) y the engraver- An impression taken from this plate , touched or untouched , lias , to produce the specimen befqre us , been transferred to a lithographic stone , if we rightl y construe the somewhat ambiguous letterpress , but the process may either terminate thus or at an earlier Stage by printing direct from
e Sovereign on whose protection they have hitherto much relied ,. Is it possible that they have been invited , from the only he ^ d-quarters they can choose to recognise after their contempt for the House of Commons , to set their house m order P In truth we hope so . The new Vernon Gallery house is , by the grace of the compliant Lord John Manners , progressing rapidly at Brompton -in-the-Pields , and lodgings will be provided , there for every stitch of national fine avfc canvas , unless the patriotic party do , not finally
contue copper-piaco ltseuu We observe with pleasure that the public of tho Potteries have decreed honours to tho memory ot their great benefactor , Wedgwood . Apublio school of art , museum , and library is to be founded in Jus name , who , by making pottery in Staffordshire n fine art manufacture , applied vast stimulus to tuo trade and prosperity of tho district at homo , ana raised the renown oi the English wares abroad to a pitch they have not yot , with , all the options of his followers , surpassed . The private view of the first lcgitiinato picture exhibition of tho season takes place this day at the gallery of tho British Institution in Pall-mall . *» bygone days the works of candidates , expectant and aspirant , for tho honours of tho Academy ,, wore i
trivo , during the next session , to eject tho Academy from Trafalgar-square . Q £ ono thing we arc pretty euro , that it tho fortune of the war turn against that antique body , and they should yot determine to continue their annual exhibitions , they will rapidly discover , despite all their present patron ' s pleas to tho contrary , that South Kensington is not contra , enough or accessible enough for the purpose , The glowing ; , yet practical address of Mr . Ruskin . on tha inauguration of , the Cambridge Sohool of Apt in Odtobor last , has just boon published , * and offers for oxtraotmuoh that is instructive as well , as
soon here side by side witli those oi aoum » ; »•» and A . R . A . 3 wh > cU had already appeared at t ion own exhibition . But a law passed by the Djrpojo ™ of the Royal Institution , some yours ngo , put m ond to thp exhibition of works thnt hod wro ^ y boon sopn by tho public ,, and thus cluoigod , tho ottj » ruotor'U this annual show . Most , of the AW " demioians discontinued to send thoir works , naa the would-be R . A ., lmowinrg that the forty potentates of Trafalgar-squaro aokhowlodgo no liauflunkoyism , reserve all their doings for tho groat show in May ,
benefit to our students , and must redound greatly to the oreciit of the energetio- projector , Mr . Gambart . The exhibition of the Liverpool Institution has been opon during ., tho few weeks preceding its oloso at the charge of W . each , person , and largo numbers of tlm pooxec classes , have availed : themselves of tho oppprtunity thus , afforded them . If , some of our London exhibitions would adopt asimilar principle , there w little ' reason to fear that they would bo lpsers by it , fqv many , ' -vj * ho are praotioafly excluded l ^ r't ? liattdmission feo of a shilling would gladly pay a . few pence * to visit the collections if they wore ppen at timqs to suit thorn ,, say on Saturday afternoons for the working olassos only , at a oharge of 3 d . or dd . for men ana less for women , Why do
*' Tlie Itoypl Academy And Tho National ...
* ' Tlie Itoypl Academy and tho National Qattery , By J . P . Davis , Ward and Look , JTleotretreet . t Canibridgfi Softool of Art . —^ Mr , Ii uakin 9 Inaugural Awreis . 33611 ana" Daldy .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 5, 1859, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05021859/page/22/
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