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Leader (1850-1860), 12th February 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 22

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      Tiie Beitish Iijstiltjtion. ' Althotjgh ...

      to awaken a love of art . In suet works , unimportant and hastily executed , much may lie overlooked ; but we cannot be as lenient to an oilpainting on the walls of an exhibition . Mr , Gilbert could do much better , and therefore he deserves no praise for this performance . Mr . Frank Billon ' s " Granite Sanctuary , Karnac" ( 73 ) , is an effective and agreeable picture ; we would say as much for his other work ( 489 ) but . that we are getting weary of the Pyramids with their " forty centuries , " and that everlasting Sphynx without a nose . liead us " to fresh fields and pastures new . " Mr . H . Moore ' s " Evening , / is

      by Vanseben , is full of motion . Mr . J . Peel has two nice landscapes , 237 and 353 . There is some good solid and bright painting in Mrf Wingfield's ? c Vandyck and Dobson" ( 354 ) . The table and accessories have been studied with much care ; "A Roadside" ( 359 ) , by Vicat Cole , is a very pretty little landscape , and extremely well painted- H . Dawson ' s " Autumnal Evening" ( 360 ) may be noticed for a good Turneresque effect . We shall take the South Room pictures in our next , with such works of merit or pretence in the first two rooms as may appear to us to have escaped our present notice . .

      squally weather , coast of JNorth . Devon ( , y ) , a good bold sketch , solidly paintedj and No . 428— -a difficult subject very successfully treated—is a delightful picture to study . No . 81 , " Evening , " by J . I > anby , has a fine golden sunset ; and No . 556 , by the same , is a pretty little sketch . " A scene near Bettws y Goed , " by J . Syer ( 83 ) , is one of the best landscapes in the rooms , and certainly ought not to have been put down in a corner ; the treatment is broad , but definite , and the effect of diffused daylight very truthful . In J . B . Burgess ' s " Gossip at a SpanishTaberna" ( 93 ) , the expression

      of the figures is particularly good , and very national , and the texture ( nice , but the effect suffers from the colour of the background and the gold frame . His 160 is well painted , but less telling . No . 101 , " The Common , " H . Le . Jeune , is one of the gems of the exhibition . It is merely a pretty little girl , boots and stockings off > leaning against the bank of a pond with her feet in the water , but the simple beauty of the composition , and quiet harmony of the colours , render it truly charming ; the length of the child ' s heel is a slight blemish . " The Park " ( 97 ) is not to be compared with its companion .

      No . 110 , Mr . G . Sant ' s wintry , or rather prsevernal study in Clyne Wood , is very pretty and truthful . Mr . G . Stanfield ' s works , with some resemblance to his father ' s in general effect , are more literal in treatment ; he has three pictures ( 138 , 238 , and 558 ) , aU solid and natural-looking . No . 149 , " The Flaw in the Case , " by J . Morgan , and 150 " The Bankrupt , " by J . Gollinson , have a good deal of , character . No . 157 , " Expectancy , " by J . Sant , is very lovely , but painted with a freedom nearly approaching to coarseness . Mr . Lidderdale ' s " Rain on the Fair-day" ( 161 ) , is a very pleasant picture , good in colour and surface ; the half-tearful disappointment in the girl ' s

      face is excellent . Nq . 163 , ^ Evening in a Cornfield , " is clever and effective , but we fear Mr . Linnell is getting careless . " First and Last Efforts , " by L . Haghe ( 171 ) , a sick painter pausing in his work to watch his little son ' s attempt to copy an outline , is a noble little picture , good throughput . Mr . Frank Wyburd ' s " Home of the Mountaineer" ( 179 ) is so very sweet and poetical , that we cannot now attempt to find a fault in it , but we would fain , had we space , write a criticism upon it . " Zorahaya , " by the same . painter ( 413 ) , is a beautiful little thing delicately painted . E . T . Coleman ' a " Mont Blanc" ( " 189 ^ l ooks natural , and so do

      W . H . Hopkins ' * " Colts" ( 192 ) . In the middle room are two sea pieces—19 / , by J . J . Wilson , and 224 , by E . Hayes , A ,. R ,. H . A . —very similar in tone and treatment . No . 207 , by F . T . Sims , is well painted , but what is there to admire in an ungainly pheasant sus . per coll . on a very desert oi deal boardf No . 218 , " See-Saw , " by A Hossitcr , is nicely finished . " The GoWcn Age" ( 246 ) , by G . Lance , may be fine , but unless the observer be supposed buried up to his nock , how could tho jar on the ground hide tho distance P Anothor great fruit piece , by W . Duffield ( 288 ) , though very different in style , oomesso near it in excellence that it ia hard to say which is . the better ; there is also an admirably grouped and painted fruit piooo

      by Misa E . Stannard ( 129 ) , m the first room , No . 266 , by E . U . Eddis , is pretty and expressive , but too coarsely painted , and would , bo much improved by a different colour in tho background . No . 272 is a pretty P « lo sketch by E . C . Willi & maj 278 , by L . J . Wood , is good of its kind . E . J . Niemann ' s picture ( 807 ) , " The Swale at Richmond , " ia very richly coloured , bold and striking . Tho aftme painter ' s " Richmond" ( 151 oonveys a , magnificent impression of distance . "Omjubu ? Wq in London ' ( 318 ) , by W . Maw Egley , is ap . amusing Httle subjeot ; ifr should have" boon painted in an omnibus to onsuro porfoot acouraoy in tho lights . No . 331 , by T . Panby , has good ovening sunshine j 187 , too ,, a stony streamlet through trees , is very pretty . The man wheeling a barrow full of children , called " A . Prcoious Burdon" ( 825 ) ,

      214 The Liader. ,-'[No. 464, February 12...

      214 THE LIADER . ,- ' [ No . 464 , February 12 , 1859 .

      Artists Have Heretofore Found It No Easy...

      Artists have heretofore found it no easy matterto catch the likeness of Mr . Charles Dickens . We are glad , however , to hear that Mr . Frith , of the Royal Academy , is at present engaged upon a small but most successful portrait of that gentleman . The painter holds his commission direct from a literary character of eminence , but there is a rumoured probability of its ultimately finding its way to the National Portrait Gallery . We often hear comparisons drawn between the large prices paid to modern painters and _ those received by the masters of former days ; but in the " Extracts from Sir Joshua Reynolds ' s Journal , "

      referred to in a previous number , we find that he , at least , cannot be adduced as an underpaid artist . In 1786 lie received 5001 . from that liberal printseller , Alderman Boydell , for " a picture of a scene in Macbeth , not yet begun ; " and in 1789 he had 525 / , from him for " The Death of Cardinal Beaufort . " These were engraved for the Shakspeare Gallery , published by Boydell ' s son in 1 S 05 . The former , Plate XXXIX . of the series , depicts the vision of the Kings in Macbeth , Act TV ., Scene 1 ; and , if Mr . Thew ' s engraving gives a fair idea , of the picture , we fancy it would fetch little enough in Wardour-street to-day . ' The Death of

      Beaufort" is from the second part of King Henry VI ., Act III ., Scene 3 . 4 t represents the King , Salisbury , and Warwick , standing round the bed of the Cardinal , who convulsively clutches the bed -clothes in his agony . The President gave as little as he well could for the worthy alderman ' s guineas ,, for he avoided showing the face df the full-length king by cunningly raising his arm . to heaven . Salisbury is a half-length , the lower extremity being cut off by the bed . Warwick displays a head and shoulders only . Such palpable " dodging" would now-a-days hardly be carried off by eveii the colour of a however

      Reynolds . JUe had not , , a souj . aoove lucre , for in his account-book it is stated that he received 317 . 10 s . of Sir William Chambers " for painting the ceiling of the academy . " The Lord Granby , who served with the British contingent in Germany under Ferdinand of Brunswick , andwhose visage is s , o common a public-house sign , was a favourite , too , among his peers . Between 1773 and 1778 Sir Joshua painted six portraits of him for persons of quality . He received 250 £ . in full payment for one of them , from Marshal Broglie , and 058 / . as first payments on account of the others . The Photor / raphia Almanack , published by W .

      Lay , King William-street , West , contains much that photographers always want at their fingers ' ends , whether abroad or at home . We gather from it , which we were not prepared for , the extent to which photographic societies are organised throughout the country . Their meetings appear to bo arranged for tho twelvemonth in advance , for they are here set down for us as systematically aa fairs in a farmer ' s almanack . " The annals of tho art " aliow in a few words tho progress made last year , the last improved processes , apparatus , & o . The tables of solubility , spqoifio gravities , chemioal equivalents , comparative French and English weights and measuros , distanoos at which to adjust focussincr screensand matw othor tinners , all , wo

      porcelain . A portrait of a lady , among other specimens submitted to us , is remarkable for its delicacy and purity of tone ^ as well as for its life-like character , approaching most closely to a miniature o n ivory . We understand that the process of manipulating these photographs is both simple and easy . " The Hogarth Club , late in course of formation is now established , and ( with the exception of Mr . Millais ) numbers among its members the leading pne-Raphaelites , as well as some young * architects 6 £ the same persuasion . They have a pleasing exhibition of their sketches , which etiquette forbids us to notice critically , at the club-room in Piccadilly . While we admire their society and themselves , we

      are bound to caution this zealous little band , to whom we wish all manner of good , aerainst the evil wliich the vanity we all share in common is apt to engender if allowed to ferment unwatclied hi byplaces . A club is all very well ; but it would be a deplorable mistake in a party of clever men to dream of severing themselves ' from the main body of the profession of which they arc but . a limb , even though they may . not leaven it as fast as they would . Their perfect segregation can but tend to intensity the defects of their school , not its . jyood . points . Let our friends , therefore , beware of those pernicious Circes , exclusiveness and cliquistn , which , if cherished , will only betray . . . . '• ' .

      On Monday last the Chancellor of the Exchequer made an announcement in the House of Commons for which those who read our last week ' s remarks upon fine art matters will not have been unprepared . The whole of the building in Trafalgar-square will be speedily devoted entirely to the National Gallery . We were glad to note the cheers with which members whose convenience can be little affected one way or other evinced their sympathy with the people and the middle classes in this matter . The Academy are to build a gallery for their own use and with their own money , on public laucl withia the precincts of Burlington House ; aiid while this

      is in progress the public collections arc to be placed in a temporary receptacle , under the guardianship of Ministers , at Kensington . To this no reasonable person can take exception . The main demand of the public , is conceded , namely , that they are no longer to be vexed by committees and commissions , at whose hands the Chancellor 1 was obliged to confess no proper settlement of the question could be hoped for . We learn from a contemporary that yesterday week a lecture on " Venice and its Architecture to the End of the Gothic Period" was delivered at the Russell Institution , by Mr . John T . Christopher

      A . R . I . B . A . After noticing the origin of this city , her rise and progress , her peculiar position mid beauty , ihe romantic interest attached to her , and her connexion with our noblest poetry , the lecturer proceeded to speak of painting , sculpture , music , and literature , which flourished under her fostering care . He directed attention to tho history of Venice , as written in her architecture . Of no city could it be more truly said that architecture was " history in stone ; " all her great buildings bear the names or are associated with the glory or infamy of her best or worst children ; and he divided the present portion of this " history" into the Basilicnn , the

      Byzantine " , and Gothio periods , extending ' from seventh to the fifteenth century . He noxt described the Cathedral of St . Mark , with its mosaics « nd marbles , and its wonderful interior ; the Ducal Palace , the principal palaces ; tho arrangements ot private houses ; the groat Gothic cliurohcs , with their monuments and pictures ; tho numerous minor works of arohitootural boauty scattered throughout tho city ? tho balconies ( a main feature m Venetian houses ) , doorways , windows , soroens , unit walls of rich design and material . Tho lecture was well attended and well received } and uoarlyMW photographs , coloured views , plans , aud drawings , illustrating every building' mentioned , wcro c . xm bitecl , and oxamined with groat interest by uic audience .

      , fanoy , oftonor wanted than forthcoming , in tho fiold , are here clearly printed , and in a most handy form . Wo are indebted to tho Art Journal for drawing our attention as follows to the Transparent Enamel Photographs from the establishment of Squire and Co ., and invented by Mr . Glover , who has taken out a patent for them . The substance on whioh the pictures are taken , says our contemporary , " is glass , oovorod with a pure white enamel , the surface ., of whioh \ b slightly granulated by aoid . One plUho groat , peculiarities of those enamels is that they are positives cither b y transmitted or roftootocl light . As transparencies for a window or tho storeosoopo they are vory bqautit ' ul : thoy are susooptibia of taking transparent colours which increase their richness , and will boar washing like a piece ot

      Sixty-Six Sketches And Finished Works In...

      Sixty-six sketches and finished works in wfttor ooloui by William Hunt , n portion of tho collection of Me i <« ° relative and Mond Mr . Steodman , wore sold on WWi «»" day nfc Messrs . Foster ' s , in Pall -Mall . Among tho most plo « sing wore « dead blaok-muMviate rabbit , vo ^™ ™ ' & c , which fetched 22 b guineas . A Gipsy' (» nglo agure sorted ) 20 guiiiens j « small porUviit of W |" " *" gwineaa , a pioturo in oil , » Boys bathing , by t' « f hand , fetched but 85 shillings I An unchallenged » UM " of 1841 produced Ok guineas ? a laughing ft lpay S »'» oftllod •' Tho ^ erry Mood , " by Douglas Oow |> w . J « J smartly contended for nnd brought 40 gulrwaa \ ftna ft Mulroady " Landscftyo with boy and dog ^ roducou ^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 12, 1859, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12021859/page/22/