The National Register. — London, England, 1812-04-19 00:00:00

BE 230 FINE ARTS. BRITISH INSTITUTION. This most admirable establishment, this advantageous nursery for the must of Painting, has re-opened its bosom to the curiosity of connois seurs, and the encouragement of artists, whose efforts towards per ftttion are not only rewarded by the admiration of the visitors, but also encouraged by the choice of the purchasers. We have gone nearly through the whole of the gallery, the critic's pencil in one hand and the scales of impartiality in the other ; a few more interesting pictures claim our attention, and will receive at our hands the same justice which we have dealt to others. No. 45. 77te Steward. By G. WATsote.—lf the art of Painting con sists merely in an exact representation of natural objects, independently of invention and composition, a single portrait or a piece of still life may afford as much pleasure to the eye as any grand composition of Michael Angelo, or of the Caracci. But we do not feel satisfied, in general; when. we experience no inward emotion of surprise, nor propensity to admire at the presence of the pencil-wrought canvas. There is a something, a joie scetis iptoi, which ought to speak to the mental faculties of the tseheleer and come within contact with his soul. We find this com pletely performed In the simple, but well-executed subject under our iespectien. Au old gentleman, with a bald head sits at a table in the act of Anishine„ a letter, apparently, by hisi attention and steadiness, of same importance. I-le soon will be ready to seal it, and has called his daughter, a very pleasing young woman, to bring him a light. Here she stands, her band be!ore the candle, with patience and unaffected stbreis-ien, waiting for the pleasure of the venerable Steward. Nothing ran be less complicated and more natural than this subject ; and we hardly know any thing, among the productions of modern artists,better executed—it is life itself. No frippery, no useless accessaries are intro duced—the fact speaks for itself, and when you look at the picture for a few minutes, it seems as if your eye, penetrating through the wall, was witectssing a domestic transaction in an adjoining room. All this magic is producLel by the felicitous management of three lights which are play ing harmoniously with each other, without clashing or interruption. 'The natural light from a supposed window, its reilexion from the oppo site wall, and the artificial light of the candle. Two of these are con spicuous upon the smooth forehead of the old man, where the shadow is masterly brought forward in the center between the eye-brows with an harmonious temperament. The light of the candle, whose effect is kept down most properly, by the natural light, reflects upon the well painted chin and neck of the girl, and appears through the delicate texture of her band. The colouring, which is sober and appropriate to every part de lineated in the performance, adds to the illusion, and the whole, when attentively inspected, deserves the unfeigned approbation of the specta tor. If we may (and why should we not) be allowed to repeat what we have frequently heard in the room, this picture, fur natural expression and truth, is one of the best in the Gallery. If, in a larger composition, the artist has ever the good luck of giving to his constituent groups and to every one of the figures, as much life as we admire in these, he will hear away a palm which, since the renovation of the art, has seldom been obtained. No. 189. Bark of Cross/rent Castle, fvfonntouthshire, It let erat!e an:l fguree. Ey J. IseeTsos.—Used to be entertained by the scenes of na ture so Litlifully exemplified by the pencil of this veteran of the graphic I'io - na1 . ..115, the eye rejoices at the sig alt of this perf..-. - mmce. The artist who pained it has a peculiar style which stamps his productions so dis tin tively from al! other. that Ibbetsori's tolch is easily acknowledned wherever it is. Long ha 3 he sh.rel the honours of the wr.-ath in landscaie painting, a!ld in deli:le:I:log the .1;! - H3h cattle and scenery, with Morlawl and Loutherhoorg ; and retrains now the last of thitt firstly-admiri d chromltic Tritinivinee. We sincerely hope that his hand avid comb - vie •long to hold the pallet. and that his latter productions will preserve tor him the appellation of " Eng;ish Berchem," which his able talents have taerted him from the dap of his youth. The scene painted here is in tyres ins, and exhibits a pleasing bustle of people and animals, mostly painted in the half shade in imitation of the best manner of Dujardin and patter. N'. 191. Christ derided by the soldiers of Pilate. J. R. LANE.--Thu pirt , !l ., • has justly been admired in the great room of Somerset•house ,;ri!lg, and does credit to the artist, who conceived, dirposcd, and 1: - (-1 it. It in suitable for the altar piece of some chapel, and the spy, al :,,nce of the " Man of Sorrow," so emphatically represented, can- THE NATIONAL REGISTER. APRIL 19 not fail to inspire the beholders with religious thoughts and cause in his heart the most devout emotions. . - EDINBURGH, APRIL 11.—On Monday last the associated Artists opened their fifth annual exhibition of Paintings in York Place. We have looked with increasine pleasure every year on this Institution, and no small portion of our satisfacticn has been derived from tracing the gradual improvement of the artists concerned in its commence ment. The number of institutions of this sort, formed of late years all over Great Britain, and the success they have met with, present a striking teature in this era of improvement, and demonstrates that no thing is so well calculated to call forth those powers of the mind, which otherwise might have lain dormant. 'there is, however, a drawback to this method of competition of talent, which, to us, appears a very considerable one, and that is, too evident an attention to the opinions of the great mass of visitors at an exhibition ; or, in other words, too strong a desire to please the multitude. It is, doubtless, natural enough for an artist to wish to draw the attention of visitors as early as pos sible to his works, and, as the great proportion of the people, in all ages, have been attracted more by glitter than real merit, the artist conceives, that the surest way to secure attention is, the introduction of powerful effect, furious colours, and size of canvass; but the con noisseur knows that art lies deep, and is not to be perceived at a glance. We wish to impress these truths strongly on the minds of artists, and recommend them to ponder on them, for such feelings as we now de scribe have unhappily been thelmeans of introducing (since the con-. mencement of the exhibitions at the Royal Academy) a style of colour ing and effect more resembling a competition for lan painting, or stu. dies for hearth rugs ! 'ibis exhibition, from its establishment, has at tracted the attention of the public in so eminent a degree as to show, that, if properly conducted, it will, in a very short time, excite a feel ing for art in this country, of more solid advantage to the artist than , the praises of gazers in the exhibition-room, ur the notices of critics in a newspaper. The exhibition of this year is chiefly conspicuous for the number of admirable portraits, by RAPEURN, WATSON, and Genves, and for some excellent landscapes, by bla smy TB, Wieeteses, STILVV4 sox , and others. In familiar subjects, there are some very good performances, by CARSL and SHIELLs, but we have cause to regret the absence of any , specimens from the pencil of Fee s eit or of Liz* es. ----- IVIIISKEROLOGY ; Mts AN ESSAY ON TUE SCIENCE OF MUSTACIIIOS AND WHISKERS. Translated from the German into English.] BY DR. WHISKERANDOMILIM Risum teneatis amici.—Hol. Gardezvous bleu de rire en si grave sujet.—BOlL!.ch It would be, perhaps, interesting to several of our Readers were we to trace the origin of this ornament of the human face back to the Medes and Persians, and even show the great probability that Noah shaved it off from his face when he entered the ark, lest its immense bushiness should obtain too much room in his floating menagerie.-- We might, perhaps, assiot the precise time when it began to succeed the full and forked beard, as a lasting memento of its departed parent; and show how, like some flaming, but temporary meteor, it waned in ` An - di - Ay av ay till it entirely disappeared. We could, perhaps, tell why l and on what occasion it resumed its former station ; and how, at last, 1 by a tour de main, it shifted its place, and became a next-neighbour to the car, leaving the Vizier Mustachio in full and uninterrupted posses ion of the upper lip. We could give several interesting quotations from the fatuous poem of the elegant writer Masnoura-seik, upon the wars which desolated for many years the delightful provinces of Asia, when the 'Tartars fought so bravely against the Persians, to support or defend the shape of their Whiskers. We might easily introduceseveral canons of several Councils ste radendis barbis , and demonstrate to evidence, that the Council of Catalonia., in 1a.55, decided most gravely, that real beards and real hair were preferable to false ones—a mighty curious discos cry', II which surely made ;ll the fathers wag their own beards, either true or I false, when they fotool it out. But we must reserve these most intro ant obsetvati , ,els, theses, and questions, for another occasion; and con tent ourselves, for the present, with an exact classification, delineation, il and explanation of the classes, orders, genera, and species of mustachios and Whiskers. It is hardly necessary to premise, that as to the importance of this science for both sexes, for all ages, all classes of society, it cannot be called into question ; and the perusal of the following paragraphs Wil l convince the most obstinate cm_ my to Whiskerism of its indispensable i EMI