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812 IHILEADER. [Saturday,
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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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Sydenham Papers. No. U. A. Comyatiativw ...
far more extended plan , and though it involved a somewhat hazardous outlay , the result was successful commercially ; but more than that , it drew attention to the importance and utility of such exhibitions . It was in France , however , that the idea of these industrial exhibitions was seized with most vigour and comprehensiveness . The bazaar of elegant and costly articles of vertu , shown under the auspices of the Marquis d'Aveze , at the Maison D'Orsay , at Paris , was such a success that the Government established at once an exposition of national works of art and manufactures . Napoleon too showed the power of his grasp by following up the military fetes in the Champ de Mars , amidst the spoils of Italy , with a Temple of Industry , where all kinds of manufactured goods and works of art were
exhibited , and prizes awarded by juries of persons distinguished for their knowledge of the various subjects . " "With . som 6 interruptions , these expositions have been kept up at intervals of four or five years since 1819 , and with increased numbers of exhibitors ; the last , in 1849 , was favourably reported by Mr . M . D . Wyatt , and the Society of Arts , with Prince . Albert at their head , were encouraged in their endeavours to obtain the sanction of Goveroment to a Royal Commission ; and the Exhibition of 18 & 1 was the result . The object was . to give a grand view of all the achievements of art and joint triumphs of science and labour in thei world , without -thinking of
the cost or returns , so it were well and nobly done . It is true the Government declraedt ^^ W popular -will tUl 5000 : men of property had spoken fpr it , dnd though consenting to stand by / with its purse , it was not tiH a few ' ^ m ^* iduals * had put ; 46 ° wn the trifling guarantee of IZSOjOOOl ,, ortfe nafee a |(> i ^ e ; Standing for 50 , 0002 . As ; everyb ^ jjy ; ^ pws > hdWfever , tne old Crystal Palace possessed a , vitality-of its own , it supported ; itself !' \ at actually saved , inpney / and died possessed of a very pretty property , of wnich , by the way , the family will be very glad to hear- something from the G ' oVeirnment administration touching-the surplus . ; ¦ '
Now in the origin of the Sydenhani speculation the commercial elemerit plays a . strong part . Notwithstanding all the enthusiasm about the old Palace , and the almost angry outcry that the unique structure should not be dispersed in relics over the land , its future was a gloomy one . Belgravia had been disgusted for a long while witb the " horrid crowds ; " The sentimentalists wished for a permanence in " idea only" — -it would Joe , so pretty and poetical !—rand the Government magnanimously repudiating such a stipiig and prosperous child of the soil , there w ^ s every prospect of the
place fceing sojd for old iron , had it not entered the head of the active solicitor to the Brighton Kailway Company that it would be a capital thing to buy the Crystal Palace , and place it somewhere near to town upon iheir line /—rybu don ' t suppose there was much high art in this ? Of course , directors and chairman , all capitalists and " thorough men of business , " not vague philanthropists or edi \ catiorial dreamers—all approved a scheme so conducive to " the interest of the line , " which indeed to this day the said chairman and solicitors have contrived to maintain undivided . On the
24 th of May , 1852 , nine English capitalists became the owners of the building in Hyde-park , and their pecuniary anxieties were soon relieved by a company who asked the public for a million of money to begin with . This and twice as much was offered with a generous hand by the public then , and since then the other half million estimated to complete , has been actually paid and expended , another 3 O 0 , OOOZ . being at this moment a matter of necessity , which , in company with the 8 Q , 000 Z . pr , so paid at the doors an ^ taibles , is nierely worth alluding to en passant as a reminder that the public really have a claim to some more ; lasting return than the privilege of dining amongst exotics ; and ilnlimited jete d ' eau . ' ¦ ' ¦
The old Exhibition did not pretend to be a fine art exhibition ; it had an eminently practical and useful tendency . ' It showed in the most intelligible way the illimitable application of knowledge to the wants of mankind , whether for the small necessities of life , or for those tremendous demands of enterprise which swell the conquests of capital , and minister to the pursuits of the new aristocracy . In it Art , strictly speaking , played a very secondary part ; and it may be questioned if the statues , beautiful as so many of them were , are now the beat remembered' objects , or ever were the sources of attraction there ; indeed it was remarked at ' the time that the multitude
ney < fr entered the sculpture court at ail . Now the aim of the now Crystal Palace is more direct towards high art . The official guide-book , enlarging upon the intentions of the scheme , tclla us how " art was to be worthily represented , and a grand architectural sequence from the earliest dawn , of art down to the latest times" teach the progress of art . . There is certainly an extensive collection of statues and bas-reliefs , ancient and modern , which afford many perfect examples of art in its various phases , and there are the courts built after the different styles of architecture ; but the people look upon all the statues as so many " images , " and as to the architectural
sequence , they can never tell where it begins or ends , or how one stylo may bo connected with another . II' the new Crystal Palace takes up art as an attraction for the people , it must find some simpler means of teaching them how to admire and what to admire than the half-guinea set of handbooks uppn which the directors soem content to rest their claims to being , as they assume , " a national fine art school , " otherwise wo shall not bo disposed to admit the acknowledgment so glibly suggested by them , that ' * the public in indebted for the conception of a grand idea now happily realised . " As art is the creation of a refined and advanced state , wo cannot expect it to enter
the heads of the million at first sight . In the old Exhibition the things spoke for themselves in a great measure . You walked through aisle after aisle full of useful contrivances , with many of which the people were perfectly -well acquainted , though they had never before perhaps seen how they were made . You saw heaps of raw material placed side by side with the various conditions the same substance was made to pass through before it became useful , and there was generally some intelligent workman provided to explain and answer questions . How instructive it was to see a handful of weed beaten and shredded and spun into endless threads , and woven , at
last into a web strong enough to resist the storm , sill at the beck and Handling of a child . So again it had a wonderful interest for most people to see how easily a drop of water could be made to raise the ponderous tubular bridge high above the masts of a sMp . . But although ihe contents of the old Crystal Palace did not require that higji comprehension of art , and did hot possess those historical relations which are concerned in the ne ^ Exhibition , yet there were provided not only efficient pei-sons to explain , but guides and lecturers ; among the latter some of the ablest men in their departments . l ¦'''•( ¦•
As matters exist how at the Crystal Palace , it Is infinitely behind MDarir borough House arid the . Academy , although possessing the materiel of a far superior capability . This was what tfre . French commissioners must have nieaht when theytold Mr . Laing at theppehingj" that we had now a school of artistic ediicatioh such as the world never saw ; they spoke from their expectations , and according to their notions of what should be done ' Wth such 1 . 3 , place . Bat here we are about to spend I 00 , 000 i . niace upon -waterw . orks-r-not the most instructive department of iiyd ' raulicsV '
The old Exhibition , although it did riot embrace in its scheme s ^ ulpturb and paihting in , the most complete and coiiiprehensive manner j' cbnifiined ah inexhaustibly fund of instruction la its collection of all that was great arid powerful iffapplied art arid science and inanipulative dexterity . The new ^ Exhibition , has promised "to quicken and purify the taste of the peop le by the habit of recog study-of the ; natural sciences by showing the elevating' treasures of art arid the instructive marvels of science ; '' but there is a terrible falling off here : ; scarce an object of applied science is to be seen , rieither is there any appearance that a system of instruction of tlie kind will be adopted , unless' tile l 00 , Q . 00 £ " for contingencies ' has iinything to dp with it . ¦
_ As to the popularising of natural science by systematic arid picturesque arrangements c-f geological and zoological objects , ttere is the same awkward deficiency . We know that soiiie 17 , 000 / . lias been spent , and all the best inen of the day employed for a year and a half to formiwhat is so dashingly described "by the official pen as " a material basis upon which the intellectual service was to be grounded ; " but when we conie to study this " basis , " we find it extremely slender—thi'e ' e or four groups of natives in costumes , a few quadrupeds nameless , an elephant and a camel in very confined quarters , all inhabiting garden-borders neatly arranged after the usual cockney style , and surrounded with a variety of unpretending shrubs in the
most palpable flower-pots . Now all this is not exactly according to programme , which describes these departments rather in the " walk up , walk up" style as " trees , plants , and flowers of all countries and of all climates ; " objects , " whether of science , art , or nature , arranged in picturesque groupings , and harmony reigning throughout . " The " intellectual service ' referred to is exhausted in hand-bills , which tell the quarter of the globe where the natives are found , but neither tlieir name nor their raceso the people are to learn their ethnology ! and as to their natural history ? why they learnt it all , and much move , long ago , from the intelligent keeper at " W Ombwell ' s . '
It will be a most unworthy thing if , after a million and a half , or thereabouts , so generously advanced , to say nothing of the large sum paid since the opening , and which should be taken as an earnest of the support the public was prepared to give—if after all the cant about education , and blending instruction with amusement , all the pretensions and promises , the Crystal Palace shpuld subside , like a nine days wonder , and develope into a mere idler ' s lounge . There can be no objection to every kind of rational and innocent
anausement combined , with instruction , and aided by all the ornaments of nature and art ; but this does not seem to be a first consideration with the Directors of the Crystal Palace . Instead of following a well-matured plan of instruction and amusement , for w , bich their materials are so admirably adapted , and oi which such boasting has been made , we see them driven from pillar to post to find the means of making ; it pay—launching out 20 , 000 / . upon a road , and , QOOQl . upon stables , both of whicU have been unoccupied and empty since the opening day . Scratching after every moans of pay that turns up , they have been compelled to submit , to all kinds of indignities . You see
thobeautiful nude stajtuca successfully competed with by articles of elaborate apparel —the most steadfast eye for beauty is severely tried by those te « ij > ting bunches , ticketed " theso beautiful cambrics , real lace , 10 s . 6 d , the half dp / . pn , " which peep out in profusion behind the Venuses . So witb , the refreshment department , a thing in no way to bo despised , cither for its revenue or its comfort ; but it has been allowed to grpw into an ugly feature in a _ temple raised to art and education . It is not pleasant to have the stern realities of living so obtruded upon us when wo are bent upon studying the antique : the hungry crowd should bo inveigled into some retreat . The Crystal Palace must , like every other institution , be governed by the oxigencios of existence ; but when the hot months hijvo passed over , and thoro is
no longer such a demand for fountains of beer and other diluents , it is to bo hoped the same commercial view will perceive sources of success in the works of art assembled at such a considerable outlav of inonoy . We believe the public is alive to improvement , and sensitive of all efforts to instruct , and wo should be glad to see the popular appetite tested in another direction—something done , to use the official language , to give weight to their proceedings , and secure lusting advantage to the public , " upon the faith of their charLor , which they profess " binds the directors and their successors to preserve the high moral and eoeinl tone , which , from the outset , they have assumed for thoir National Institution . "
812 Ihileader. [Saturday,
812 IHILEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 26, 1854, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26081854/page/20/
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