We are happy to learn that the "British Artists" continue to flourish.
Their association, we believe, originated in the inefficiency of similar
Institutions. They started in a spirit of generous rivalry, and, above all
things, with the view to aid aspiring merit. It could, however, scarcely
be called rivalry to any other Institution, and to this line of conduct we
attribute much of the success of the Society of British Artists. As the
Secretary states in an Address to the Public, prefixed to this year's
Catalogue, "they have never opposed, either directly or indirectly, any
existing Institution for the promotion of the Fine Arts, but have
uniformly sought to go hand in hand with whatever tended to their general
advancement." It appears likewise, that works in Painting, Sculpture,
Architecture, and Engraving, to the amount of £18,000. and upwards, have
been sold from the walls of the Exhibition, since the formation of the
Society, and numerous commissions given in consequence of the talent thus
displayed; and that all future donations will be devoted towards
completing the purchase of the galleries occupied by the Society, in
Suffolk-street.
The full attendance at the private view on Friday, accorded with these
gratifying statements. Suffolk-street and Pall Mall East were crowded with
the carriages of visiters, and in the rooms was an abundant sprinkling of
nobility, patrons of art, men of letters, and some note of purchases at
the keeper's table. There are upwards of 800 Pictures, and about 100
specimens of Sculpture and Engraving. The crowded state of the rooms
during the hour that we were there, allowed us only to note a few works.
1. _Cardinal Weld_; a well painted portrait, by James Ramsey, of the
benevolent owner of Lulworth Castle. The features are dignified and finely
intellectual. We could, too, associate their expression with the
philanthropic act of the Cardinal's affording an asylum to fallen royalty.
13. _Ruins_. D. Roberts. A delightful composition, from these exquisite
lines by Mrs. Hemans:
"There have been bright and glorious pageants here,
Where now grey stones and moss-grown columns lie--
There have been words, which earth grew pale to hear,
Breath'd from the cavern's misty chambers nigh:
There have been voices through the sunny sky,
And the pine woods, their choral hymn-notes sending,
And reeds and lyres, their Dorian melody,
With incense clouds around the temple blending,
And throngs, with laurel boughs, before the altar bending."
27. _A Philosopher_. H. Wyatt. Admirably coloured: the flesh tints and
deep expression of the features will not escape notice.
52. _The Town of Menagio, on the Lake of Como_. T.C. Hofland. A scene of
beautiful repose in the artist's best style.
57. _Portrait of Mrs. Davenport_ in the character of the Nurse in "Romeo
and Juliet." James Holmes. Almost speakingly characteristic. You may
imagine the actress drawling out, "awear--y," and her attitude admirably
accords with "Fie, how my bones ache."
114. _The Baptism_. G. Harvey, S.A. Foremost among the attractions of the
Exhibition, though of a serious turn. The quotation will best describe the
subject:
"Here, upon a semicircular ledge of rocks, over a narrow chasm, down
which the tiny stream played in a murmuring waterfall, and divided into
two equal parts, sat the congregation, devoutly listening to their
minister, who stood before them on what might well be called a small
natural pulpit of living stone.... Divine service was closed, and a
row of maidens, all clothed in purest white, arranged themselves at
the foot of the pulpit, with the infants about to be baptized.
"The fathers of the infants, just as if they had been in their own
Kirk, had been sitting there during worship, and now stood up before
the minister.... Some of the younger ones in that semicircle kept
gazing down into the pool, in which the whole scene was reflected;
and now and then, in spite of the grave looks or admonishing whispers
of their elders, letting a pebble fall into the water, that they
might judge of its depth from the length of time that elapsed before
the clear air-bells lay sparkling on the agitated surface."--Vide
"_Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life_."
155. _His Most Gracious Majesty William the Fourth_. H.E. Dawe. The King
in his state robes: the likeness is excellent.
156. _The Grecian Choirs at the Temple of Apollo_. A sweet composition by
W. Linton, from Petrarch; "representing the passage of the Choirs across
the narrow strait between Delos and Rhenia, by a bridge magnificently
decorated with gold and garlands, rich stuffs and tapestry," the splendour
of which is enhanced by the brightness of a summer's morning.
162. "_In peace love tunes the Shepherd's reed_," a pretty composition
from this line by Scott, painted by Mrs. John Hakewill. A rustic boy and
girl are seated beneath a woody bank: the intent expression of the boy
playing the pipe and of the listening girl are really delightful.
195. _Edinburgh Castle from the Grass Market_. D. Roberts. A fine picture
of the associated sublimities of nature and art.
208. _The Ettrick Shepherd in his Forest Plaid_. J.W. Gordon. Correct in
likeness, but strangely shadowed.
224. _Coronation of William IV_. The first picture of a series to
represent the procession to the Abbey on the day of the Coronation of his
present Majesty, containing the portraits of distinguished personages who
attended on that occasion.--Painted for his Majesty, by R.B. Davis. This
picture occupies comparatively as much length on the walls as its
description would in our columns: it is some yards long, and perhaps four
feet in height. It is but hastily painted. The framework is excellent, and
well appointed for St. James's, Windsor, or Buckingham Palace. We hope the
_picture_ will be liked there as well as the frame.
244. _Elizabeth relieving the Exile_, by Miss A. Beaumont, is an
interesting picture, from the well-remembered incident in the _Exiles of
Siberia._
296. _Interior of a Gaming-house_. H. Pidding. We take this to represent
one of the _salons_ of Frescati's, or other Parisian gaming-house, where
females are admitted to participate in the game, and witness the madness
and folly of the stronger sex. The party are chiefly about a _rouge et
noir_ table, and are in the highest stage of recklessness. One of them, a
female, has flung herself from the lure across a chair, apparently in the
last stage of wretchedness and despair. The excitement of the players is
powerfully wrought up and contrasted with the _sang froid_ of the
_croupier_, who seems to treat all the world as a ball. Other persons are
seeking fresh excitement at the hands of a liveried waiter. But we must
leave the rest, which it would take a column or two to describe,
especially as to our mind, a gaming-house furnishes an epitome of all the
bad passions that rankle in the human breast.
301. _The Reform Question_. Thomas Clater. A pleasanter scene than the
preceding picture. A village blacksmith is reading the newspaper, by a
candle held by a boy, to a listening neighbour. The puzzling of the reader,
the vacant stare of the candle-holder, and the intent expression of the
absorbed listener, are excellent. Perhaps the light of the candle is
objectionable.
311. _Love in the Dairy_. H.H. Hobday. A ticklish village amour: a young
fellow importuning a buxom dairy-maid, and apparently on the verge of
conquest; in the distant door-way stands a mar-loving, wrinkled old woman,
whose crabbed face ought not to be trusted in a dairy.
466. _The Lord Chancellor_, seated in a chair, in his official robes, by
J. Lonsdale. The likeness is excellent, as are the robes, wig, ruffles, &c.
but the great seal and mace are even dingier than the orignals. We could
have spared the books thrown on the floor, though the paper register in
one of them almost _comes out_.
We reserve a few pictures for another visit. The Portraits, as might be
expected, are numerous. The King's supporters are two ex-sheriffs: by the
way, how many good turns does _office_ yield to art; there is nothing like
a portrait to perpetuate your brief authority. Works of imagination are
scarce, especially as empainting the ideas of poets and passion-writers
has become fashionable.
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