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THE FRENCH EXHIBITION . The value of the collection of pictures , by modern French artists , now exhibiting in Pall-mall , has been a little overrated . The most famous painters seem , not to have contributed their best works . . In more than one instance , we have " repetitions" instead of originals . Scheffer , for example , sends a repetition of his Francesca di Rimini , ' which has been purchased , like the rest of the pictures in the exhibition , at an enormous price , but which can hardly be accepted as offering more than a moderate proof of what it is in the painter's genius to achieve . " The Entombment , " by the same artist , strikes as as being the least successful work he has produced—it is meagre
in colour , and conventional in expression and treatment . Horace Vernet , again , is unequal to his deservedly illustrious reputation . His " Hunting the Mouflon , " though a good specimen of his energy in composition , and b ^ masterly powers of . drawing , is by no means fitted , to show him to the b ^ t advantage as acolourist : while his second work , " the Parting —a piece of sentimental allegory , with a very clumsy angel , and a very incomprehenslbie blue back-ground- —is so unworthy of this admirable painter , in every respecty that , even with the evidence of the catalogue before our eyes , w ^ could hafclly believe it to be really his own production . Delaroche and
ftiardate 5 me only famous masters of the French school who seem to have done ¦ themsebres justice at the Pall-mall Gallery . The first painter has sent a picture of the " Death of the Due 4 e Guise , " which , though hard in execution and poor in colour , is wonderful for expression and dramatic bn $ rgj ^ . A smallcopy of the noble " Hemicycle" in the Ecole des Beaux-XTta---a ; fine repetition , of the bead in the magnificent " whole length" of " Napoleon a * Fontaiirebleau , " and a very original sepia drawing of a " Burgonaaster ' s Family , " are the remaining contributions sent by Delaroche . Biard is r admiMbly-Tepresetited . We have all his extraordinary richness and literalness of detail in "Madame du Barry consulting Cagliostro : " and all
his unrivalled fidelity as a student of nature , combined with his quaintest and most strilangfanc ^ , in his ct Gulliver in the Isle of Giants . " This latter pict ^ exhibits the vairious wild flowers in the forest of Fontainebleau , enlarged ^ ^ Br ^ bai gjri ^; scale-r--the tiny Gulliver is flying bewildered among themand the huge face and hands of one of the giants of the fabulous country , loojm out dose behmd hini . A more extraordinary combination of the strictest reality ^ and the wildest fancy never was put on canvas . It is beyon ^ all question the most remarkable picture , on a large scale , in the exhibition . . Biard ; has some other excellent pictures—an irresistibly humorous " Interior , of a Custom-house , " and a powerfuliv-rainted fisrure of " A Ladv tjer ^ ry > f ' .. aCustom-house , '' and a powerfully-painted figure of "A Lady
lying in a Hammock . " But we must refrain from noticing these at any length , in qrdertofind room for a word or two in praise of some of the smlulesty but also some of the most strikingly original pictures in the gallery . ^ R ^ ge , are , ( contributed ^ by two artists , Plassau and Fichel , each of whom is ecniajly entitled tci claim the merit of laving formed a style of his own . Pl $ ssau paintsvthe most piquante ladies , £ a the most piquante positions , with a ^ elicacy of handling entirely unprecedented as far as our experience goes . His faces are wonderful for their tenderness of colour and their exquisite roundness and softness of outline ; extremities , draperies , and other accessories he touches , rather than paints , with the most graceful and felicitous incompleteness . The expression may seem paradoxical , but the pictures will , we think , be found to justify it . Fichel works on tlie same small scale , with less delicacy , but with equal elegance , and more neatness and
certainty ot brush . Jdis subjects are principally domestic interiors of the last century , and present the life and costume of that period with the most easy and delightful grace . The pictures by both these artists will be found quite new in their kind by all English visitors to the gallery . They are among the pleasantest and most striking features of the exhibition . Of the landscapes in the collection we cannot speak in terms of praise . They are uniformly false in effect , and , for the most part , feeble in treatment—even Gudm ' s pictures being as artificial and as unlike nature as the rest . We hope on some future occasion to see the French landscape-painters , and some of the French figure-painters , too , do themselves fuller justice rhepurpose of familiarising the English public with the works of the artists of France is an admirable one . We cordially wish it all success , and sincerely trust that the painters of the Preach School may be , in the mass , less imperfectly represented at the next exhibition of their works in this country
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THE GERMAN EXHIBITION . One circumstance , in connexion with the display of paintings by modern German artists at the gallery in Bond-street , struck us with gVeat surprise . We approached the collection in a reverent and dismal frame of mind , expecting to find ourselves surrounded on all sides by devotional art of the most uncompromisingly Teutonic kind . To our utter amazement , not a single picture representing a sacred subject hung in the gallery ! A few costume-pictures , and unambitious studies of single figures appeared here and there , surrounded by landscapes and fruit pieces ; and this was the German Exhibition !
We must be allowed to mention the landscapes first , for they are the best works in the collection—many of them being , however , less imitations of nature than imitations of English artists . Steinecke ' s " Landscape- in Holland for instance , rccals Creswidc tho moment you look at it : and Larson s two night-scenes are quite as closely studied from Danby , as from the moonlight effects which they assume to represent . Baker's - View of the JunRfrau Mountains" is more or . ginal in style - he has carefully and successfully fitud . ed the snowy outlines of the mountain . Len ' s -Scene in Norway" M etxll better . The sky is , perha 8 , a little too suggestive of the
in the Butch manner , of an old wonian sleeping ; and Bleibtren exhibits a spirited and original-looking sketch of the Battle of Grossheren . Schlesinger ' s " Stop Thief , " and Nordenberg ' s " Cabin Toast , " are both nicely studied from real life—the runaway dog in the first work being admirably quaint and natural . But , by far the best of the small pictures , is Vautier * s " Anxious Mother" —a single figure sitting thoughtftdly by the fireside . In sentiment , colour , and execution—as also in the beautiful painting of the accessories—this is the gem of the collection . When we visited the exhibition many of the very worst pictures in it were marked as ' * Sold "—but this really exquisite little work had not found a purchaser , perhaps , because it was hung in the darkest corner of the gallery . "W " .
palette ; but the painting of the rocks is firm and powerful , and the aerial perspective on the left of the scene is really admirable . Burnier ' s little " Landscape" is very fresh and pretty ; and Professor Lessine exhibits a careful study from Nature ( No . 39 ) , which is only defective in the inky colours of the sky . Generally , the German landscape-painters seem to understand form much better than effect . The only real bit of sunlight in the exhibition is No . 79 , " Torrent in the Valley of Hardanger , " by H . Gude . The figure subjects are , for the most part , miserably commonplace and uninteresting . By far the best picture , as to drawing and dramatic * expression , is G . Sell's " Defending a Castle , at the time of the Thirty Years' . " The whole composition is full of freshness and vigour , and tells the story excellently , without exaggeration . Geselschap has a very clever little stud
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MISS ARABELLA GODDAJtD'S CONCERT . As might be expected from the high character of Miss Goddard ' s fame as an artiste , her concert on . Wednesday was especially good in the instrumental department . The orchestra , composed of the members of the Orchestral Union , was conducted by Benedict and Mr . Mellon , and performed in firstrate style that first-rate composition , the Jupiter Symphony . Of all Mozart ' s works . this was , perhaps , the one best suited to the occasion , and to the powers of the performers . ^ The andante and the finale were played with the . grace , delicacy , and precision which they require at the hands of all true interpreters of Mozart , and seemed to be appreciated b y the discriminating part of the audience on Wednesday . Even those to whom the composition was new , and others who did not fully appreciate it , were charmed into the
conviction that music is something vastly different from the " sound and fury , signifying nothing / ' which too often shakes the opera salle and the concert-room . Miss Goddard herself played Beethoven's pianoforte ) concerto in G major , * and played well ; although it is not so well suited to her style of execution as Mendelssohn ' s Serenade and the three shorter solos which she played in the second part . Of these last Chopin ' s Nocturne was , perhaps , the best composition , and the one which demanded most skill and taste from the performer . But Krellah ' s Perle ftcume was , of course , the selected for an encore . It is , indeed , a charming , fantastic little affair , and was played to perfection . Sterndale Bennett's overture ( the Wood Nymphs ) was very well
given by the orchestra . It is full ot beauty , and we shall be glad to hear it again . Of the vocal performers , Herr Reichkardt deserves special thanks for the way in which he compensated the audience for the unexpected absence of Sims Beeves . He sang the Adelaide instead of a song set down in the programme with true German pathos . Miss Dolby sang so as to satisfy all Dolbyites ; but we heard some German musical cognoscenti object to her singing well-known German airs , such as Mozart ' Addio and Mendelssohn ' s ZuUika Song , in an Anglo-Italian style . The concert was crowded and was completely successful .
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CLAUDET'S DAGUERREOTYPE GALLERY . A visit to the daguerreotype rooms of Mr . Claudet is interesting on more than one account . The process of photography is there more liberally shown than at any other establishment we are aware of ; and a new embellishment of the rooms , by M . Hervieu , fairly warrants a public notice . The paintings with which this gentleman has decorated the reception-room are of a character for which he has obtained an original repute . He is one of the very few artists of acknowledged ability who have employed their talents in—we may utter the despised word without offence— house-painting . The subjects of his pencil are generally emblematic , and in the drawing and foreshortening of infant figures consists his most peculiar merit , la the present instance he has so completely adapted his designs to the architecture and objects of the apartment , that a brief description of these must be
given in order to convey an idea of the pictorial effect . The room is some thirty feet long by eighteen wide , and the same in height . It is lighted in the whole length and width by an ornamental skylight . The architecture is Anglo-Italian . On one side a screen , supported on a row of arched pillars , conceals the entrance to the daguerreotype rooms above . The cove beneath the skylight contains a series of portraits , of course appropriate to the uses of the gallery . One head is that of Leonardo da V inci , the correctness of -whose allusions to the phenomena of light and vision is practically confirmed by the latest discoveries of Herschel , Arago , and Wheatstone . These philosophers also find a place in M . Hervieu ' s portraitgallery , and by their sides are Fizeau , Niepce de St . Victor , Davy , VVedgewood , Newton , Brewster , and Talbot . Every panel which occurs in the architectural design is occupied by emblematic groups and figures , executed in light and delicate tints , which admirably harmonise with the rich but airy and graceful stylo of the mouldings .
This style of decoration is not only excellent in itself , but is peculiarly adapted to our present style of domestic architecture . By the use of painting , a confined apace is indefinitely extended on all sides , and even upwards - Thus a comparatively small room acquires an air of space and Jreedom almost incredible . Again , these paintings are executed on paper , of a stput kind ; and few substances are in reality more durable or more portable . Tho whole could be taken down , and replaced ; and the tenant of a house taken on lease , or even by the year , can carry away with him tho walls , -which vie in tuste and luxury with those of an hereditary palace . Think of that , ye tenants of ten or twelve-roomed houses , with lordly souls ! Q .
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me THE LEADER . [ Saturday , ** —— ¦ * ' * * ¦ ' — ¦ *
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 24, 1854, page 596, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2044/page/20/
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