FINE ARTS.
MODERN PICTURES AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTION.
THIS exhibition, as usual, is rich in rejected works ; no fewer than four hundred and sixty pictures—a number greater than the gallery con-
tains—having been excluded " for want of room." Yet the display is of
only average quality in point os executive skill, and in interest it is below par. Pictures previously exhibited at the Royal Academy also
occupy a considerable space, some portion of which could hardly be
worse filled. Such as HERBERT'S Brides of Venice—an elaborate com- position, full of beauty and character, though hard and garish—may be not unworthy to usurp the place of unexhibited productions ; but it is scarcely possible to conceive any hangable picture so bad as to merit exclusion in preference to such a lamentable abortion as poor Mr.
HOWARD'S Aaron Staying the Plague, which occupies a conspicuous position in the best room. But then, Mr. HOWARD is a Royal Aca- demician A Fox, painted by Enwirr LANDSEER, at one end of the gallery, and HAYDON'SCurtius at the other, are the alpha and omega of the exhibition.
No two things can be more different : the one a big picture of a hero, full of brute energy and display ; the other a little one of an animal, instinct with life and subtle expression. " Not so easily caught," (1,) is the title given
by LA.NDSEER to his sentient study of sly Rey nard ; who, lured by the scent of a rabbit, steals cautiously towards the bait : the fore-paw half upraised, and the hind-quarters almost dragged along, denote the light and noiseless step with which he has approached his prey ; and his lustrous eyes so keenly scrutinize the leaves strewn over the trap, that one feels sure he detects the rusty iron teeth lurking beneath : his pricked-up ears and the lax sweep of his brush have an equal share in conveying an idea of the intensely apprehensive state of his faculties. The painting of the head is perfect ; not only is the fur marvellously imitated, but the eyes and nose are alive with sensibility : the rest is slight and sketchy ; the touches of light on the leaves are metallic ; but the indications are those of a master. Ilsynotes Curtius, (3840 is a bold design, vigorously executed, but utterly deficient in dignity and elevated sentiment. The hero, who has just taken the fatal plunge into the abyss that yawns beneath, looks round with the assured self-com- placency of an expert rider performing a daring feat of horsemanship. Not a trace of the noble character and lofty purpose of the patriotic Roman is visible in this florid, chubby-cheeked physiognomy ; the vain- glorious expression of which dissipates any idea of its owner being animated by sublime self-devotion. As the group of man and ho_a fills the canvass, no concourse of breathless spectators assists the fancy in conceiving it to be the representation of an act of self-immolation : substitute a red coat and black cap for the armour and helmet, and call it "The Desperate Leap," and the picture might captivate some fox- hunting country gentleman—though he would perhaps object to the neck of the horse as exaggerated, and to the animal altogether as being somewhat wooden. What Mr. ILLYDON means by his scarecrow on two pegs, with its back towards you, which he entitles C'est lui, (1730 one may guess by the mounds of Waterloo amongst which it is stuck up ; but the figure is no more characteristic of the Duke of Wellington than of any other man. If we except a group of nudities, Bathers, (34,) by Err; and a showy sketch for a large picture of Christ blessing little children, by the same artist, which neither in colour nor composition expresses the sentiment of the subject, all the designs are by "young" painters. These include some ambitious attempts at Scriptural and historical com- positions: ex. gr.—the Scene from King Henry VI, Part II, (17,) where Warwick shows the dead body of Gloster to the King, painted by VON HoLsT with his usual morbid extravagance ; Hagar and Ish- mael, (197,) by J. STEVENS; The Translation of Elijah, (4130 by J. WOOD; Queen Berengaria Soliciting Richard Cceur de Lion to spare the life of the Earl of Huntingdon, (348,) and Nostradamus Predicting the future fate of Mary Queen of Scots, (386,) by J. A. CASEY; which are noticeable as aspirations towards the higher class of designs. But it is in a lower range of invention that they are successfuL The Scenefrom the Devil on two Sticks, (5,) where two courtesans are feasting at the ex- pense of a cully, is cleverly depicted by A. EGG; though the women are neither vulgar nor voracious enough, and their dupe is rather me- lancholy than a simpleton : the painting is bright without being gaudy. The Duel Scene from Twelfth Night, (169,) by W. P. Faust, has hu- morous character, and is nicely painted : the ludicrous dismay of Sir Andrew and the grave trepidation of Viola are well expressed ; but Sir Toby is a failure. Rustic Music, Brittany, (114,) by F. GOODALL--• a boy with a tambourine dancing to a hurdy-gurdy at a cottage-door—is a lively and characteristic representation of natural incident; the anima- tion of the performers, the pleasurable smile of the pretty girl with her distaff, the grave look of the old woman at her spinning-wheel, and the wonder and delight of the group of children, are portrayed with dramatic effect ; though there are indications of forced expression, feeble drawing, and crude colouring, which denote deficiencies of knowledge and skill that this precocious and promising young painter would do well to supply without loss of time. J. LAUDER has attempted a humorous incident, King Jamie Conferring the Honour of Knighthood on Richie Moniplies, (418,) with less success than graver subjects, yet with a more refined style and finished execution : one hardly knows whether it is an accidental pleasantry or a scuffle. A. JOHNSTON has another of his graceful rustic groups, Rural Life, (340,)-a young harvestman with his wife and child-having rather too much the look of models. This cha- racteristic likewise detracts from the human interest of C. LANDSEER'S Dying Warrior, (66,)-the expression is deathlike, but neither the dying man nor the monk who is shriving him excites any peculiar sympathy. Effie Deans, (255,) by J. G. MIDDLETON, has no individuality to dis- tinguish her from any other graceful but cold and formal study of a sorrowful damsel in prison. Neapolitans Gipsying in a Wood, (138,) by J. SEVERN, is a pretty sketch from nature of a repast alfresco. There are a few portraits-" Studies of Character" they are called here, por- traits being only admitted covertly-these we reserve for notice till next week ; as they will exemplify some remarks on the modern manner of painting, for which we have not now space.
In Landscape and Sea-pieces, CRESWICK and Cooltz take the lead ; though LEE has broken out into sunshine, and STANFIELD has sent a contribution to this department. His View of the Islands of Ischia and Procida from the Rocks called Le Schiave-a Sorrento Boat picking up her Rudder, (1200 is bright and clear, but raw in tone, and without atmo- sphere or motion : the boat is a toy model, perched upon billows of green glass, and the clouds are suspended in vacuo. This still-life effect is the result of the practice of depicting scenes as though we could only see them bit by bit, instead of representing a single coup orceil: true, in looking at nature, we regard the landscape from a number of different points of view, and see objects in detail seriatim ; but each of these several glimpses is a picture of itself, such as the painter should represent. As in viewing a real scene we behold it under a momentary effect of light, ard see those objects most distinctly to which the eye is more immediately directed, so the landscape-painter should concentrate the attention upon one leading point to which the eye is attracted, the rest being subordinate : but in depicting this momentary glance, the skilful artist will make the gradations of vividness from the centre of at- traction, or focus of interest, to the remoter parts, so subtile as to be imper- ceptible to the uninitiated except in the result. This gradual declension of vivacity from the salient point to the level passages, conduces to the feeling of repose which is so essential a quality in a fine landscape : it tends also to insure "keeping," as it is termed-that is, the relegation of the different objects in the scene each to its proper place. In addi- tion to this, the effect of the atmospheric medium upon distant objects, and the movement of water, clouds, and foliage, have to be imitated ; also the local hues as modified by the influence of light and shade : the due distribution and arrangement of the last constitutes that indis- pensable characteristic called " breadth " ; and imitation of the harmo- nizing influence of the atmosphere produces what is called "tone" in a picture. EDWARD COOKE has depicted the appearance of motion in waves, clouds, and vessels, in his marine view at the Mouth of the Thames, (39,) -every sail seems scudding before the breeze, and there is a fresh atmospheric tone over the whole. His view of Porte!, Coast of France, (109,) too, is full of daylight ; yet these, and his other works, are remark- able for finish, local truth, and minuteness of detail. This is sometimes carried to an extreme degree both by him and CRESWICK ; whose land- scapes, elaborate and beautiful as they are, become heavy and feeble from over-elaboration. The Way across the River, (103,)-a ford with a mass of trees on the bank ; Moorland Scenery, (147,)-a heap of rocks weather-stained and overgrown with moss and heather in the foreground of a wild and open scene ; and Rocks at the Land's End, (387,) with a wide expanse of open sea-are each and all injured by over-finish : that is, more is represented of each portion of the scene and each part of the picture than would be visible at a glance in nature. It is DENNER'S false principle of imitating details only, not the totality-mapping the wrinkles and representing reflections in the pupil of the eye, instead of presenting the animated look of the head-applied to rocks and trees. LEE falls short of truth, not from over-elaboration, but from too sketchy indication : the trees in his Avenue, Shobroke Park, (45,) are hard with- out solidity, flimsy yet inflexible ; it is only a beautiful study for a picture. The best example of tone in a landscape is STARK'S Penning the Flock, (251,)-which, though feeble in hardling, is perfect in harmony, repose, and keeping : the imitation of the approach of evening twilight, with a faint sunset, is so true to nature that it would seem to have been struck off at a blow ; and the influence of the tranquil scene steals over the mind like the calm of evening. Turn from this sober, modest, and truthful representation of a simple scene of ordinary character, to Mr. MARTIN'S huge tricoloured smear of brown, blue, and yellow, glowing with varnish, and see the difference between the natural and the un- natural styles of painting. MiiLLER'S two views in North Wales, Pont Hoogan, (123,) and Salmon Trap on the Leder, (238,) are clever and forcible pictures spoiled by mannerism : the art of the painter strikes the eye, but it interferes with the charm of nature. The same remark applies to LINTON'S view of The Gulf of Gaieta, (225); but in this instance the art is of a bad kind : the trees, stones, and buildings stand up like painted forms cut out of tin. Schloss Elz, on the Moselle, (114,) by C. DEANE, is an example of the needlework style of paint- ing: it looks like a very bad but laboured water-colour drawing mag- nified. A Forest Scene from Nature, (240,) by J. LINNELL, has excel- lent qualities, inasmuch as it has that rare quality in modern land- scape-painting, tone ; and it impresses the mind with a feeling of the woodland seclusion ; yet the art is singularly defective, for there is a want of keeping, and of variety in colour and texture : it seems like an elaborate imitation of nature in some untractable material. Shakspere's (228,) by J. B. PYNE, is a clever and effective picture. Sheep- wa.shing, (2500 by S. R. PERCY, though too green, is a graceful study from nature by an artist whose name is new to us, and who promises well.
The Sailor's Home, (275,) a view of Greenwich Hospital, by HOL- LAND, is a good architectural exterior, though rather opaque in colour ; and there is a superb interior, Chambre a Coucher de Louis XIV. a Versailles, (184,) by P. LAFAYE, a French artist, masterly in execu- tion and rich in effect.
.1...ince has two of his matchless Fruit-pieces, (11 and 26,)-in which pines, peaches, and grapes combine their luscious ripeness : the co- lours, surfaces, and juicy substances of the fruits, are as, perfectly imi- tated as the gold and silver plate or the Russia matting ; and the pictorial effect is gorgeous.
The Sculpture will receive due notice next week.
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