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Leader (1850-1860), 12th February 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 214, Untitled Article

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      to awaken , a love of art . In such works :, unimportant and hastily executed , much may be 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 Dillon ' 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 Spliynx without a nose / Lead us '" to fresh fields and pastures new . " Mr . H . Moore ' s " Evening , squally weather , coast of-North Devon" ( 79 ) , is a good bold sketch , solidly painted ; and No . 428—a difficult subject very successfully treated—is a

      delightful picture to study . No . 81 , " Evening , " lightful picture to study . No . 81 , " Evening , by J . Danby , has a fine golden sunset ; andNOi . 556 , by the same , is a pretty . little sketch . . " A scene near Bett-ws y Coed , " 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 Spanish Taberna" ( 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 1 ( 50 is well painted , but less telling . No . 101 ,

      " The Common , " H .. Le Jeurie , 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 preevernal study in Glyne 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 ) , all solid and natural-looking . No , 149 , " The Flaw ill the Case , " by J . Morgan , and 150 " The Bankrupt , " by J . Collinson ,, have a good deal of oharacter . No . 157 , " Expectancy , " by J . Sant , is very lovely , but painted with a freedom nearly approaching to coarseness . Mr . Jiidderdale ' s " Rain oh the Fair-day" ( 161 ) , is a very pleasant picture , good in colour and . surface j the half-tearful disappointment in the girl ' s face is excellent . No . 163 , " Evening in a Goriir field / ' 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 throughout , Ji / jti :. 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 faip , had we space , write a criticism upon it . " Zorahaya / ' by the same painter ( 413 ) , is a beautiful little thing delicately painted . E . T . Goleman ' s " Mont BlanO' ( 189 ) looks natural , and so do W > H . Hopkins ' s " Colts" ( 192 ) , In the middle room arc two sea pieces- —197 , by J . J . Wilson , and 224 , by B . Hayes , A . R . H . A . —very similar in tone and treatment . No , 207 , by 3 ? . T . Sims , is well

      painted , but what is there to admire in an ungainly pheasant sus . per coll . on a very desert oi deal board P No . 218 , " See-Saw , " by C . Rossitcr , is nicely finished . " The Golden Age" ( 240 ) , by G , Jjance , may be fine , but unless the observer be supposed buried up to his neck , iiow could the jar on the ground hide the distanoe ? Another great fruit piece , by W . Duffitald ( 288 ) , though very ^ different ju style , comes so near it in excellence that it ia hard to say whioh is the better ; there is also an admirably grouped and painted fruit pioce by Miss M . Stannavd ( 129 ) , in the first room . &o . 2 oO , by E . U . JSddis , is pretty and expressive ,

      OUTJ VVO VVIUSWY [ JUUUUU , UUU WUUIU UU illUUU nil * proved by a different colour in the background . No ; 27 JS is a pretty pale sketoh b y E . C . Williams j 273 , by L . J . Wood , is good of its kind . E / . J . Ufiemann ' s pioturo ( 307 ) , " Tho Bwalo nt Biohmondi" is very richly coloured , bold and stvikr ing ; The same painter ' s " lliobmond" ( 151 oonveya a magnificent impression of distance . "Omnibus Lifcf'in London '' ( 318 ) , by W . Muw Bgloy , is an amusing little subject ; it should have boon painted , in an omnibus to ensure perfoot acouraoy in the lights . No . 381 , by T , Dauby , 1 ms good ovening , sunshine j 187 , too , a stony streamlet through trees , is voiy pretty . Tho man wheeling ft barrow full of children , oaUod "AErooious Burclon" ( 3 ^ 5 ) ,

      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 Mr . Wingfield's " Vandyck and Dobson" ( 35 . 4 ) . The table and accessories have been studied with much care ... " A Roadside" ( 359 ) , by Vieat Cole , is a very pretty little landscape , and extremely well painted . H . Bawsbn ' 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 .

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      Artists have heretofore found , it no easy matter to catch the likeness of Mr . Charles Dickens . We are glad , however , to hear that Mr . Frith , of the lloyal Academy , is at present engaged upou a small but most successful portrait of that gentleman . The painter holds liis 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 ' * Journal , " referred ' , to in a previous number , we find that he , at least , cannot be adduced as an underpaid artist . In 17 S 6 he received 500 / . from that liberal printseller , Alderman Boydell , for " a picture of a scene in Macbeth , not yet begun ; " nnd 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 1805 . The

      former , Plate XXXIX . of the series , depicts the vision of the Kings in Macbeth , Act IV ., Scene 1 ; and , if Mr . Thew ' s engraving gives a fair idea of the picture , we fancy it would fetch little enough iii Wardoup-streefc to-day .: " The Death of Beaufort" is from the second part of Ki ? ig Henry VI ., Act III ., Scene 3 . It 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 of the full-length king b ins to

      y cunningly raising arm neaven . oausoury is a half-length , the lower extremity being cut off by the bed . Warwick displays a head and shoulders only , . Such palpable " dodging" would uow-a-days hardly be carried off by even the colour of a Reynolds . He had not , howerer , a soul above lucre , for in his account-book it is stated that he received 31 / . 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 , and whose visage is so 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 658 / . as first payments on account of the others . The Photor / raphic Almanaoh , published by W . Lay , King William-street , West , contains much that photographers always want at their finders ' ends , whether abroad Or at homo . We gather trom it , which we wore not prepared for , the extent to which photographic societies arc organised throughout the country . Their meetings appear to bo arranged for the twelvemonth in advance , for thoy are here set down for us as systematically as fairs

      in a farmer ' s almanack . " The annals of the art " show ; in a few words the progress made last yoar , the last improved processes , apparatus , &o . The tables of solubility , speoifio gravities , ohemioal equivalents , oomparativo French and English weights and measures , distances at which to adjust focussing screens , and many other things , all , we fanoy , ortener wanted than forthcoming , in the flold , are here clearly printed , and in a most handy form , We 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 invontod . by Mr . Glover , who has taken out a patont for them . Tl » o subatanoo oh whioh the pioturos are talcon , says our contemporary , "ia glass , oovorocl with a pure white enamel , the sui race of wluoh is slightly granulated by aoid . ( Mo of tho groat peculiarities of those onnmola is that thoy are positives cither by transmitted or vollootocl light . As tranapavonoios Tor a window or tho stereoscope tlioy are very beautiful : thoy are susceptible of taking transparent colours which hioronso thoii' richness , and will bear washing like a picoo ol

      are bound to caution this zealous little band , to whom we wish all mariner of pfood , against the evil which the vanity we all share in common is apt to engender if allowed to ferment unwatched in byplaces . A club is all very well ; but it would be a deplorable mistake iu a party of clever ineu to dream-of severing themselves from the main body of the profession of which they are 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 sxood points . Let our friends , therefore , beware of those pernicious Circes , exclusiveness and cliquism , which , if cherished , will only betray . Oh Monday last the Chancellor of the Exchequer made an announcement in the House of Commons

      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 liferlike character , approaching most closely to a miniature on : ivory . We understand that the pi-peess of mani pulating 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 prae-Raphaelites , as well as some young architects of 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

      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 . Na . tio . nal Gallery . We were glad to note the cheers with which members whose convenience c an 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 , oil public land within the precincts of Burlington House ; and while this is in progress the public collections are to be placed

      in a temporary receptacle ,- under the guardianship of Ministers , - - at KensingtoV . To this iio 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 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 and beauty , the 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 ewe . He directed attention to the 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 "Jiistory" into the Basilican , tho

      Byzantine , and Gothic periods , extending from seventh to tho fifteenth century . He next described tho Cathedral of St . Mark , with its mosaicsi nnd marbles , and its wonderful interior 5 tho Ducal Palace , tho principal palaces ; tho arrangements ot private houses ; the great Gothic churchos ,. with their monuments and pictures ; the numerous minor works of architectural boauty scattered throughout- tho cityj the baloonics ( a main feature in Venetian houses ) , doorways , windows , screens , ana walls of rioh design and matorinl . Tho lecture \ vw » well attonded and woll received ; nnd nearly IW photographs , colourod views , plans , and drawings , illustrating every building mentioned , wcro exhibited , anil oxaminocl witl ) . groat interest by tho audionoo .

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      Sixty-six 8 l ? etoho » onU ninshecl works in wntor colovu by William Hunt , a portion of tl » o collodion ol his »< " ° rolutivo and friond Mr . Stoedinan , were sold on « M » oaclay at Mqsbm . Foster ' s , in PM Mall . Amoiitf tho most plcadiig woro a doud bUck-aiul-whito mbbit , vo « otublo 8 , & « ., whioh fotohod 82 ^ guinea . 'A Gi |> 8 y ( "jnfcW nguro . aoatQd ) 20 guinpue } a small portrait of lilmsoii *« ffulnottfl i a plofcuro in oil , " Boya bathing / by thei Biimo hand , fetched but 85 ahllUngs ! An unohnllougod ^ i uo of 18 * 1 prodncod 0 ^ gwinoiie s « lau « hln « gipsy b '" t oaiiod «« TJio Merry Mood , " by Douglas Oow |» ui , J « s amartly contended for find brought 40 gulnoue j mm » Mulready " Undactvijo witU boy aad dog" proiluoua » io

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      214 THE LEADER . [ No . 464 , February 12 , 1859 .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 12, 1859, page 214, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2281/page/22/