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Leader (1850-1860), 1st May 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 427, EXHIBITIONS OF THE FRENCH SCHOOL AND WAT...

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      The Royal Academy.—Pjuvatk Vii:\Y. Anoxi...

      ready sale . In this brief article , liovever , we cannot pretend to furnish a complete list of noteworthy subjects ; ; uid shall reserve our opinion , even , on several of those which -we point out as calling for special remark . The absence of Mr . Millais is first to . be noticed ; as those who are . not . fore- " warned wilL infallibly lose time in looking for signs of his master-hand . It is reported tliat he is throwing his whole strength . into works which he has wisely ¦ determined not to exhibit until the utmost care and finish can have beon bustowed on them . The school of which he is , or was , the chief , makes a not very important figure this season . Mr . 1 ' aton does not , except in minute elaboration , follow the teachings of that school . He may be congratulated on having painted , so fur as we are aware , the only excusable picture on the subject of the Indian rebellion and its attendant cruelties . His " In Memoriam" ( 471 ) exhibits a true sense of the beautiful even in tlie midst of horrors . There is

      nothing in it that . outrage , though it will without doubt cause many a pang of additional sorrow . Mr . Paton has another picture representing a tragical incident , though one far removed from the sympathy of our experience . It is called the " Bluidy Try sic" ( 29 ); and the catalogue refers us to The Harte and the JTi / nde , boke xii . A knight has jestingly " trifled vith the feelings" of a proud- ladye-love , who , believing his tale of some fair rival to be true , has stabbed him mortally . He undeceives her with his last breath ; and at this point the painted story leaves us ; though there are words about Our lady's Priory ,. and a confession , and a broken heart , and a grave that holds two who had loved , and who died on one day .

      There is nothing by Mr . Macxise this year . Sir . "Ed-wix Laxdeeeu lias one large picture on the every way dramatic subject of the " Maid and the Magpie " ( ISO ) . Mr . Cux : swick :, sometimes with the aid of Mr . Sidney Coopkk , the cattlepainter , and sometimes without , furnishes four landscapes . An equal number of works bear the name of Stan field , " Old Holland" ( 18 ) and the " fortress of Savon a" ( l-tl ) , containing the greatest evidence of his powers . Mr . Wauiv ' s state commissions are of very unequal merit . In . the one which depicts " The limperor of the French receiving the Order of the Garter at " Windsor from her Majesty the Queen" ( 35 ) , Mr . . \ Vakd has risen above his ordinary style , and has for the nonce completely got rid of his old leathery textures and inky shadows . But , in the second subject , namely , the " Visit of the Queen to the Tomb of Napoleon I . " ( 25-4 ) , he returns -with , double force to those failings . JMr . Ward also exhibits his original design , in oils , for an historical fresco-painting intended to adorn the Palace of the Legislature . The subject is the " Concealment of the Fugitives hy Alice Lisle , after the Battle " -of Sedgemoor" ( 4 S 8 ) . Mr . Roberts , whose interiors of cathedrals are infinitely more truthful in their effect than are his out-door scenes , has a nol ) le picture of the " Basilica of San Lorenzo " ( 159 ) . His three other pictures are all architectural .

      Mr . Egg display's two compositions this year . One , which includes three distinct pictures in a partition-frame , is intended to convey a very painful story of domestic troubles . ¦ ' A -fallen wife , made to ¦ fall much lower than is quite necessary for moral purposes , is "the point round which this tale is woven . Its number in the catalogue is 372 . Mr . Egg ' s less remarkable picture is the scene from Esmond ( 19 ) , where Beatrix calls on Harry to kneel down , and , with a wave of a sword over his head , dubs him a knight . " The Derby Day" ( 218 ) , by l \ Jr . Frith , a picture which , has been town talk , will not lose fame by being made vmblic . It is wonderful in its multiplicity of incident ; but we must withhold further language in the v : vy of commendation .

      If a "work of this class can be valuable , it must be as a perfectly true representation of the kind of life it professes to depict . There are several points where , as matter-of-fact , the clever grouping of Mr . Frith is erroneous . Mr . Cooke , besides " Dutch Boats in a Calm" ( 282 ) , has several excellent marine pieces . Mr . Leslie has only one picture—a very careful and pleasing work on the subject indicated in that beautiful verse of Scripture , " And Jesus called a little child unto him , and set him in the midst of them" ( 152 ) . Mr . Honsi . Eii ' s pictures in two compartments , " The Flower-girt—Town and Country" ( 350 ) , will attract ¦ a crowd from the opening day to the last of the season . His less pretending work , " Noonday Sleep" ( 116 ) , is a charming little rustic scene , full of quiet , natural feeling .

      Mr . Luard , a celebrity of not more than two years' making , keeps quite up to the mark lie made by his Crimean picture . He has two very interesting and carefully painted pictures tin ' s year , " The Girl I left behind me" ( 242 ) and "Nenring Home" ( 444 ) . Both are founded on military reminiscences , and both equally appeal to the love of home . Mr . Fhaxk . Stonk ' s " Missing Boat—Pasde-Calais" ( 204 ) , is a very attractive work , and will be long i-emembercd for the anxious faces which help to tell its too familiar story . The appearance of Mr . TiioituuitN out of his own proper field will bo remarked with interest . He has two family groups , one making a rather lurge picture , and both in oil colours . Mr . Clakk , whose performance at the Bnmsti Institution we noticed with

      delight , has a most affecting little scene called the " Doctor ' s Visit" ( 89 ) , which we reserve for special notice . A picture by Mr . Grant , embodj'injj that passage in the life of Palissy wherein the poor artist ' s wife is calleil on to make the last sacrifice , find to yield lier wedding-Ting to the crucible , is worth attention . The flower-painting of ]\ Iiss Mutkie is of such excellence as to warrant our speaking of it in a first notice , from -which several pictures of merit are necessarily excluded . We would direct special observation to her " . Azaleas " { Hi )) . The study of natural history , by-th < j-by , seems to bo spreading amongthe painters-. This may be owing partly to the exhortations of Mr . Kuskix , and partly to the influence of scicntilic discovery .

      1 No. 423, May 1, 1858.J The Leider. 427

      1 No . 423 , May 1 , 1858 . J THE LEIDER . 427

      Exhibitions Of The French School And Wat...

      EXHIBITIONS OF THE FRENCH SCHOOL AND WATElt COLOUR JL'AINTKUS . Tiihke exhibitions remain to be cleared off our list of outstanding notices They are the two Water Colour Galleries and the French Exhibition . We hud intended also to give an account of the show of pictures by female artists . The apology , though it mny seem ungracious , must be spoken . Wo find that feminine art , as represented at the Egyptian Kail , does not present a sulliciently strong side for criticism to deal with . Far from being nriso ^ yists in matters of art , we yet feel culled on to protest against the movement of tlictciu . de artists . There is no gallery in London , or uny other place thai wu have heard of , from which lady exhibitors nre shut out . The institution , therefore , of : i separate- and exclusive body of i ' onmle artists would bo a confession of inferiority , were it not , as in the present euse , accompanied by rather scornful , though not very intelligibly staled , pretensions . Ofthe . se by the way .

      It is not fair or courteous to " our lively neighbours the French , " as Mr . Chant would sny , to put them in such a dark , uncomfortable chamber us is the gallery of the present French Exhibition . The central . skylight is of so restricted a size that , looking itt any pictu . ro below the lino , you cannot , help interposing your body between the Ji ^ lit anil the object . This , ' the lift It annual exhibition , is not so satisfactory an indication of progress as wo had looked

      forward to seeing . Among the class of small genre pictures we are glad to see the influence of Edouaiid Fhkue prevailing , rather than that of Schlbsinger and other painters de luxe , whose pictures never calL up a pure thought , or can he remembered with any true pleasure . M . Fkerb exhibits five " Scenes in . Humble Life . " They- are not perfectly painted , but they have a singular value which Mr . llvsKis has pointed out . They are scrupulously true to fact . One subject , " The . Little Epicure , " is the figure of a child deeply engaged with a slice of breiul and jam . The chubby forefinger wandering over the smooth plain of sweetness is a touch of nursery life which quite accords with the situation . M . Tka-tter is one of those who appear to be following in the steps of the last-named painter . "A Market Day in Brittany , " is , however , on a larger scale , and includes a numerous group of figures . For variety of life-like expression it is not equalled by any one work in the galler }' . " M . Pl . a . ssan , though he paints with a finical smoothness , which reminds us of-a school utterly opposed to that of Edouard Fjkekk , is evidently animated by a desire to represent humanity in its natural aspect . " The return from Nurse , " tells a little story of French life with earnest feeling and grace . The portrait of a . large sporting do » , "by Millie . Rosa Boniieur , is a fine dashing piece of art ; but the

      same painter ' s " Ploughing" scene has a little disappointed us- It will not bear any comparison with her group of cattle , now on view at Legcatt's gallery , in Cheapside . The use of positive black , in the shadows of daylight scenes , is a custom of hers which , in the present picture , is more than usually apparent . Injudicious admirers of this artist are wont to adduce her productions as evidence that a woman is capable of painting with boldness and power equal to the boldness and power of a man . Now , for -any effect that the argument may have , ve ought to determine the precise kind of boldness and power that may be meant- Power to do what ? Power to paint rough , common objects , as l'oughly , and with as bold an observation as a man ' s habits will generally enable him to bestow ? This is a power which , in any artistic sense , hardly deserves its name . Where genius is in question , it is not difficult to show that something else than roughness belongs to the rougher sex . To be coarse , to be bold even , is not of necessity to be masculine . There is Ary Scueffek ' s picture of " 3 Margaret , " in . this gallery ; as pure and tender , as pathetic and beautiful as a picture can be . The lovely weakness of the face may not , and does not , speak to us-of the fact that a man ' s mind was at work when the face was painted ; but where is the woman who could have painted it ?

      At the Old Water Colour exhibition there are changes this year . Mr . Lewis , the President , whose wondrous elaboration fully accounted for the numerical paucity of his productions , has seceded . Mr . A . P . NjEwroN r is made a newassociate member , and celebrates his promotion by a special display of ability , in a highly finished landscape , entitled " Declining Day—View in Argyllshire . " Of the real school of water-colour painting their . remain-very few representatives . All tlie . striking pictures in this , as well as in . the-gallery of the New Society of Water Colour Painters , are modifications , in which the nearer an approach has been made to tlie method of oil painting , the greater is the success of the work . For instance , the most brilliantly finished piece of colouring , Mr . Carl Ha-A &' s " Biirgermeisters Tochter of Salzburg , " is , in all points where brilliancy and finish are most observable , painted in body colours . The wonderful birds' -nests , plums , bunches of grapes , and sprigs of may , which are more wonderful and inore unmistakably Hunt ' s than ever they were , are

      almost entirely painted with the' same-opaque substance . The works of David Cox are free from it certainly , and we are glad to find them in considerable number this year . Cox does not tempt tlie Nemesis of his reputation by painting clear skies and bright objects . The dirty ' , weather , which is always making his desolate heaths look more desolate and more uncomfortaJble , is the element in which his fame has nourished . In short , the simple and monotonous character of David Cox ' s painting adapts itself naturally and easily to the practice of ' washing in " pure water colour . While speaking of David Cox , we must not omit to give a capital bit of lady-criticism which \ y < j 'heard in the room . " Who ever saw nature so untidy ? " was the comment upon that blotched and ragged view of Pennmeu Bach . Mr . Bennett's well-wooded landscapes at the Xew Society ' s Exhibition approach in character the works of Dav . iij Cox , being like them , specimens of water colour pur et dimple . The younger painter ' s ' Fields in Surrey , " ami "A Shady Stream , " are good examples of what can be done without stepping beyond the proper bounds of this field of painting .

      Mr . Duncan is , as usual , a leading exhibitor at the Old Society's ^ Exhibition . His " Winter-Scene—Carting Ice , " must have . been painted with frozen fingers , or it could not have been so true to nature ; }' et , how wonderfully it is painted , even in the smallest details ! The power which this artist possesses of making distant objects appear to melt into thin air is quite peculiar to him . Uo painter can so delicately convey the effect of a morning or evening mist , lirokeu by struggling sunbeams . As it is in quiet natural scenes , without much interest or action of human life to raise them into the rank of subject pictures , that this exhibition is most entitled to praise , we will name those artists who halve chiefly aided in giving such character to the general display . They are . besides those

      already named , Mr . Davidson , whose ' Early Spring , " and , still more , whose " Beach at Hastings" are successful departures from a style to which ho has lately seemed to be -wedded ; Mr . J . D . Hakding , whoso" Builjtein on the Moselle " deserves a closer inspection than : it the first glance it would appear to ask ; Mr . Naftkl , who is as fresh and cheery as bright green and blue can make him ; Mr . ( i unite ; u Faii ' i ' , who is everywhere at once , after liis custom , and who seems to have no particular choice between Piedmont and Pevcnsey iti Suffolk , or Jiottwys-y- ( Joed and Southend ; Mr . Ukanavihtu , whose mminer isa trille too ponderous ; uiul Air . W . 0 . Smith , whose "Bridge on tho I / ynn , Lynton , " is equal to any landscape of its class in the exhibition .

      We huvo noticed hy implication tlie lack of subject-pictures here . Certainly such productions as IVlr . . John Gimikut ' s illustration of the '" Two Gentlemen of Verona , " being the scene between Launce , and Upved , do not go fur in any account which enn be opposed to our general remark . The tsisto for pictorial publications need have so'nie virtue to counterbalance the evil which it has produced in the case of one such artist as Gli . » hut . People wlio jjhully give a penny for a foolish pamphlet , because it bears on its front pai ; e a clever woodcut designed hy Air . Ciii . incur , niny see hy a visit to thi . sgallery what olieet the publishers' commissions have hud upon his genius .

      The IS ' l-w Society ot'l . Yiinters in Water Colours has , for bo > iiio years past , settled into a vory sober condition of permanent average . One season's exhibition is neither better nor worse than another ' s . " \ V " e have ; , w ulioiil , ; iny cluinco of . failure , one lurge work each by Messrs . Wahiu ^ , Coiii » ouj . ]> , and ILujiik , with generally n lew sinull pictures from the same hands . Opportunities are given us of poreeivinir , yeur niter year , that Mr . Wakhkn , tin 1 1 ' lVMilent , is the most unequal of painiei's , whether in AWiler colour ' or in anything else . !<\> r Air . Coititoiu , ]) we confess a liking , 'i . 'here is immense tucl in all tie iloe . i , combined , with ii runuirlciihluiuiiounl of inventive faculty . His choice of material docs not trouble us greatly ; for if any limn has established a right to employ special

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 1, 1858, page 427, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_01051858/page/19/