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FINE ARTS COMMISSION . The Commissioners appointed by her Majesty for the purpose of inquiring whether occasion might not be taken in the -rebuilding , of the Palace of Westminster to promote and encourage the Fine Arts , have presented to the Queen their Eleventh Report . We print their names as appended to that
docu-—" , all honourable men ; " but , in the name of private knowledge or public rumour , what evidence have they ever given that their taste , instincts , or education have rendered them capable of justly defining or rightly asserting the laws which should direct the application of recondite principles to the recognised Art capabilities of the Palace of "Westminster ? From evidence in the report , from glaring inconsistencies and negation of taste in the Palace itself , we broadly and distinctly answerlittle or none . It is not our intention to print this remarkable document in extenm , but there are two paragraphs so extraordinary in their revelations that we subjoin them in their entirety : —
ment : — Albert Eversley Sutherland Willoughby D'Eresby Newcastle Lyndhurst Lansdowne Maeaulay Aberdeen John lively n Deruson Carlisle J- R- G . Graham Stanhope . B . Hall Palmerstbn B . Hav / es J . Russell H . Hallam
displayed jn the House of Commons . These twelve figures of statesmen embody the physical individualities of men who marked the various periods in which they lived , from the reign of the First Charles down to the domination of George IV ., and the result is , or rather , we hope , will be , for ever to set aside the favourite dogmas of incompetent sculptors , about " generalisation , " " abstract form , " " Greek idealism , " arid " classic taste , '" as applicable to
portraiture . . _ _ . . One statue—that of Selden , by John Henry Foley —is supereminently good ; that of Fox , by Edward Hodges Bailey , dejectedly bad ; and the others oscillate between these two extremes . Where or on what is tlie judgment based that could have selected either Bailey , Theed , or Carew for these particular works , in preference to Henry Weeks , A . R . A . ?—a man thoroughly conscientious in purpose ., clear in conception , and eminently competent in performance . In the Commons' corridor we see Mr . Ward ' s two frescoes—pah ! the sense aches at them—and in the Lords' corridor Mr . Cope ' s pair incontestably prove his progression to be that of the crab ; yet , in the face of these glaring evidences , the Committee have the folly to propose that these same artists shall undertake the remaining compartments in these said
sibn , we confidently refer them to this work in the Palace , and also to the statue of Sir Robert Peel in the Abbey opposite . We said it ( Her Majesty ' s statue ) made us shudder . That arose from its utter ihcongruousness , and also dissonance , in tone from the rest of the room . Surely here Mr . Gibson might have revelled in his pet theory of colour and gilding . We would , were we' empowered , for once coincide with him , and grain it in a deep oak colour that at- least would prevent its defects being so obvious . But who so utterly supine as to see the hard-earned money of a nation so ruthlessly and injudiciously wasted without
feeling a deep mournfulness at the entire want of judgment in requirement , p * of taste in selection ? We know the cause of it ; but the time is out of joint for us to state it . Some space hence , and shortly , we hope , we shall be able to propound a modest theory for its cure . Meantime , as we were not permitted to see the other works in progress , we resign further consideration of this the " Eleventh Report , " with a fervent aspiration for the future ; but , as we cannot have , as far as the present constituted Committee is concerned , any indemnity for the past , or security for the future , we can but echo the sentiment that prompted Cromwell ' s protest against Sir Harry Vane .
passages . _ . Only three painters have succeeded in mastering the inherent difficulties attendant upon fresco delineation : Herbert entirely , Maclise and Cope comparatively ; all the rest run the gamut in weakness , not only in degree but kind , and so long as many of the frescoes remain on the walls , so long shall we , as a nation , in the matter of taste , remain a " fixed figure for the hand of scorn to point his slow and moving finger at . " Proceeding through the House of Lords ( where it is impossible to see either of the six frescoes ) , we enter the Prince ' s Chamber , and experience a feel - ing of comfort from the general tone of the apartfrom d umber
ment , caused by the colour ranging eep to " bright yellow gold ; " but we have not remained there a minute before we find our eyes uncomfortably attracted to some glittering objects above us . This we discover to be due to the intrusive glare of the . backgrounds of some fifteen portraits , executed ( apt word ) by Mr . R . Burchett and others , which the Committee further inform us have been " taken from authentic sources , and ' . executed in methods fitted to reproduce the style of the original works . " In the name of Art , do the " Committee of Taste" mean to tell us that they have fifteen authentic portraits of the Tudor family , ranging from Henry VII . to Elizabeth , painted by Holbein , in this style ? or do have in
they mean that Mr . Burchett and others - cluded iu this bookbinding manner of art the various styles of Holbein * , Titian , Sir Antonio Moore , and Frederico Zucchero ? If the answer to one or both these questions is in the affirmative , we join issue at once , by asserting that we defy them to produce either of the above artist ' s works life-size wherein the gold work is not modified in some way , or tinted down , so as to become subservient to the character thereon delineated . For this there is an obvious reason : they knew what they wore about , and understood the principles which actuated them . That Mr . Burehett does not , is at once proved by the fact that , at first ,
one cannot see the individual portions inside the outline because the yellow has proved so powerful as to induce a strong complementary violet " fata morgana" on the retina . Even when that is overcome , with some straining , tlio portraits look exactly as if they'had been cut out like theatricul tinselled figures and pasted on gold leaf . No sooner is this shock over , and we turn to seek some relief , when , AVhatsee—you—there ? A large mass of cold white Carrara marble , facetiously called by the Committee , " Her Majesty , with figures of Justice and Clemency at the sides . " Indeed ! all we can say is ; our sensation on first beholding it was a nnd lastl
shudder ; the next , a tendency to laughter '; y , a deep mournfulnoas . We havo always hold distinct opinions about Mr . Gibson's qualifications . One is , that he haa never been a sincere worshipper of Nature , but nn adorer of Greek art , an adopter of tho formula of a plastic priesthood , not an earnest seeker aftor immutable principles hi the well of truth . SVo know of no example of his work wherein js proved that he could delineate the marked characteristics of individuul semblance . The amiable simplicity of nature scorns to bo utterly ignored by him , and yot this is tho gontlcman chosen to embody tho roflned form and genial qualiuoatious of our
Tesp - cctod-SDrGrotgir ! "" - " ' """¦ Again , his so-cftUed " idealisms" have novor elevated his theorotie productions . Wo havo no proof that he can depict tho angular ruggedness of stormy passions or tho rounded dimpling of hilarious mirth , tho all-enthralling enhancement of absorbed woo or tho serene calmness of majestic grandeur . No , he must always bo on tho stilta of Greek scholasticism , " his vaulting ambition falls o the other sidv , and tho result is mero inanity , If any doubt
ourconolu-In our last report we proposed to commission Mr . Daniel Maclise , ll . A ., to paint a suject in fresco in the apartment called the Tainted-chamber or Conferencehall ; but some difficulties having been found to exbt with reg-ard to the lighting of some compartments in that locality , the work was postponed , and the artist was , at his own request , finally released from such undertaking . A grant of public money , amounting to 1500 / ., which- , had been voted by Parliament for this object was , with the consent of the Lords' Commissioners of your Majesty ' s Treasur }' , appropriated to the painting of twenty-eight whole-length portraits of personages connected with the Tudor familyj to be placed iu the apartment called the Prince ' s Chamber , as proposed in the appendix to our seventh report .
Of such portraits , executed by or under the direction of Mr . liichard Burchett , fifteen have now been completed . Being taken from authentic sources , and executed in methods fitted to reproduce the style of tlie original works , they at once serve a decorative purpose and constitute trustworthy resemblances of the historical personages represented . It would be difficult to characterise otherwise than as a desertion of public trust the transaction set forth in the first remarkable paragraph ; we believe it is impossible the House of Commons can allow it to pass sub silcntio . Here are eighteen gentlemen , with an amiable Prince at their head , obtaining
money for a specific use , contravening its specific purpose , and applying it in a manner that , judging from results , looks exceedingly like a job . " . Appropriated ! " Appropriated is a good word , but in this instance , to give tho word its full force and applicability , another sylluble must be added . The said X ' ulace of Westminster has had more money inefficiently " appropriated" upon it than any other building erected " in recorded time ; " and who can wonder at it when the ill-organised constitution of its directors and conservators betrays complete failure of qualifications as judges * and indefensible recklessness as dispensers of means entrusted to them for tho purpose " of promoting and encouraging the fine arts . " " These are bitter words , captain , " truly 1 and wo have no doubt , oro wo have
done , that our readers will fully coincide in our viows about reforming altogether this inefficient body called—Heaven save tho mark ! - —" The Fine Arts Committee . " The Palace of Westminster is the shrine of the " How-not-to-do-it" doity , Pray lot our readers run their eyes through tho names subscribed to the report onco ngoin : is there tho name of one einglo sculptor , pointer , or architect ? No , not one ! > Vei aro not prepared to receive tho assertion , " that tho JW £ AUW *» Pnage ^ ho * liead 8 « tftG'listt ^ Known development of intellectual knowledge , and never meddles with anything ho does not understand , " because , it that be so , how oamo ho not to discover tuo non-neoesaity of applying for 1500 ? . whioh wtts afterwards » appropriated" ( we thank the © for that word ) to another uso ?
»«« ]*! 1 ° U throu £ St . Stephen ' s Hall . Heroin wo find twelve marWo statues of mon who rose to eminence by the elofluonco ana abilities which they
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THEATRES AND PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS : . ' ' . .. Haybiarket Theatee . — After a vacation of unwonted length , during which we are bound to say the interior decorations of the Haymarket have been , liberally renovated , and the comfort of visitors consulted , in one or two new arrangements of importance , Mr . Buckstone once more opened his doors ( and Cellar flap , by which Avernian descent the pit is reached ) to his admiring public . Murphy ' s comedy , The Way to Keep Him , which was revived with Mrs . Charles Young as the Widow Belmour , on the last night of the old season , was selected , with Mrs . Sinclair as heroine , for the opening of the new one . The smart sayings and doings of the play were intensely relished , and the exertions of the dramatis personal welcomed with every , sign of appreciation . The cast was as follows-. ^—Lovemove , Mr . Howe ; Sir Bashful Constant , Mr . Buckstone ; Sir Brilliant Fashion , Mr . W . Farren ; William , . Mr . Clark ; the Widow Belmour , Mrs . Sinclair ; Mrs . Lovemore , Miss Reynolds ; Lady Constant , Mrs . Buckingham White ; Muslin , Mrs . E . Fitzwilliam . We are indebted to the acumen of a contemporiiry for the discovery that , like some dramatists of to-day , Murphy built his comedy upon a French foundatio ' n , if he did not entirely borrow his materials from the works of a Monsieur Destouches , sometime ambassador from the court of the French . Regency to that of England , and a member of the
French Academy . The reappearance of benora Perea Nena in a ballet called the Daughter of the Guadalquivir , created no small sensation among the numerous admirers of this artist ' s peculiar and captivating style , in which very few of her imitators have as yet approached her . The divertissement , which has an unmistakable family likeness to all others of its school , was Avarmly received by a crowd of saltatory connoisseurs who thronged every available corner of the salle to a degree that must have reassured the lessee , if indeed he had any question upon the subject , of the yet unfuded popularity of the Spanish dancer .
Stkand Theatue . — On Monday evening the fair lessee of this theatre inaugurated her winter season by the production of a new and very agreeable petite comedy from the facile pen of Mr . Charles SSelby , whose previous successes as a dramatist , and well-known excellence of taste , preclude at once the idea of failure . Wo cannot stretch our complaisance so far as to state that The Lust of the Pigtail * has a plot . It is tho mere exposition in pleasant talk , " by plba ' sant people , ai ^ d' with ' very excellent stage accessories , of an episode of ordinary ocmarried
currence in , the private life of now- couples . For the comfort of the audience , too , it is carried to a most harmonious conclusion , though a fatally discordant one might quito as legitimately have been anticipated . The moral—for we arc bound to seek a moral in the piece—is , wo apprehend , that , though tho old song says to tho contrary , the alliance of May and December , where the first is sunny and smiling , and tho latter kindly though frosty , may be made productive of happiness on both sides . A pigtailed bachelor , of the real old school , Sir Noah Shirchinijton ( Mr . Charles Selbv ) , appears in the
open-TiTgT ' ft ' s the prwegrooni otT + adyStdrchifigldn ( Mibb Swanborough ) , a young lady of tho ultra-Crinoline faction . Tho knee-brocohes and buoklos , pigtail , ana gaiters of tho worthy baronot , Mho must havo lain dormant in some crypt — for by no other stretch of imagination can we wnoy " ** ¦ ?'«? of dress to bo contemporaneous with that ot lua bride-fliul . Uttle favour in tho . ° S ^ B ^ ? t ^ latter . Lady Murohinyton roaolvos to ro nodal ,, not only her lord and master , but lUs ftucieut boJy-
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No , 442 , September 11 , lg 5 S-T T H E , JE E A P E R . 943
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 11, 1858, page 943, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2259/page/23/
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