The Press.
London, England, 1855-05-05 00:00:00

Sint arts.

431

THE OLD WATERCOLOUR EXHIBITION.

ANNIVERSARIES of all kinds bring some painful me-
mento of the lapse of time, and ac each amulet
opening ot the public exhibitions of whims) art there
is much to suggest sad thoughts, and to mar the
pleasure of our first visit. It is very gratifying, no
doubt, to watch the progress that further study has
. made the style of some of the exhibitors, and the
accession of. rising talent which the last year has
given to their numbers. But it is sad to mark, as
we often must, the works of favorites of the publio
gradually diminishing in quantity and importance—a
falling off which it is natural to attribute to sorrow or
sickness, or some other such painful cause.
And some are absent allogetiier—their place knows
them no more. Since we last uoticed the Exhibition
of Water-colour Painters in Pall-mall East, their
accomplished president, Mr. Copley Fielding, has
closed his amiable and blameless life, and, to our ad-
ditional regret, none of his latest productions have
been sent to grace for the last time the exhibition of
which, for so many years, his works formed a con-
spicuous attraction. 1 t is, however, no slight satis-
faction to his admirers that his later efforts have
shown no decline of power. To the last lie struggled
against the mannerism which is so frequemly the
consequence of increased facility, and of success in
one particular style. His cloudy skies, and distances
obscured with blotting rain, his yeasty seas, lashed
into fury by the squall, are, perhaps, the productions
by which he will be best knuwu hereafter; yet there
is nu one who has given with more truth the chalky
cliff, and the dark blue or green sea, lit up by a bright
sun, as the clear, strong breeze blows away the clouds
in a summer day. He may be almost said to have
discovered that the open expanse of dawn, diversified
with no marked features, and bearing only the cha
rooter of boundless extent, need not be rejected as
deficient in "subject," but may be so bandied as to
insure general popularity. His merits are forcibly
recalled to our memory by the blank his absence
creates on the present occasion. But., no.withstaud-
ing this and other similar subjects of regret, the
present exhibition will, we doubt nut, afford the pub-
lic much pleasure by the excellence and variety of its
contents. Compared with former exhibitions, we
think the figure pieces bear a higher proportion than
usual, both as regards number and merit, to the
landscapes. Mr. Haag we think very much improved.
His picture of "A Montenegrin Soldier on Guard"
(No. 20) shows that he can dispense with his hot,
foxy lights, and smoky, opaque shadows ; and now
that he has made this discovery we may expect every-
thing from his industry and talent.
"The Andalusian Letter-Writer," by Mr. Topham
(No. 14.1), is a picture of great merit. I: he subject
i not a new one it must be owned) is prettily treated,
but, we commit approve of placing both of the two
principal figures, and indeed most other obj,cts of
any interest, in deep shadow. The high light falls
only on the white plaster back-ground wall and on
certain white plaster portions of distatice, which the
want of aerial perspective brings quite as near.
Br. adth, we admit, is a sine qud non to a pleasing
picture, but even breadth should not be purchased at
so great a sacrifice of interest.
On either side of Mr. Topham's picture is a small
drawing by Mr. Lewis, " The Well in the Desert " and
"The Greeting in the Ihsert" (Nos. 135, 150),
but we own they do not please us. Their want of
shadow, perhaps, expresses the blaze of a nearly ver-
tical sun; but, if such be the effect of a vertical sun,
why choose such a subject? Mr. Lewis seems to be
trying the experiment, which not even in his hands
can be successful, of substituting high finish and
elaborate detail fur compositiou, chiaroscuro, and
other qualities which we have hitherto considered
essential to works of art. It is because we have so
high an opinion of Mr. Lewis's talents, and have de-
rived so much pleasure from his works, that we ven-
ture to make this expostulation with him on the style
he has recently adopted.
Mr. Hunt's " Usurper " (No. 155) is a little
ploughboy, who has stolen into the artist's room and
has taken possession of his pallette and brushes.
The boy's countenance expresses with much humour
the delight with which the perfectly ignorant always
contemplate their first attempts, no wetter how rude,
at artistic imitations. Nu. 229, "Le Nalade
lmaginaire," represents a man recoiling
.on, which
from the
frightful necessity of taking a nauseous potion,
be has rendered still more repulave by pouring it
into a teacup instead of a glass. If the illness be
imaginary the patient at least gives the str ohgest
proof of his strong conviction by his submitting to
i
this abominable draught. His features, t. our eyes
do not deceive us, present a caricatineol. the must
himself; but why he has chosen to exhibit himself
to his friends in the act of making a hideous grunace,
and dressed in the coarsest but not the cleanest of
shirts, and the most unbecoming of nightcaps, we
cannot pretend to guess.