The Express.
London, England, 1863-01-12 00:00:00

FINE ARTS.

EXHIBITION OF THE PHOTOGRAPH.O SOCIETY.

- •
The Photographic Society have arranged a very
large collectioa of photographs at the Suffolk-street Gallery,
which was opened to the public to-day. The large room is
completely occupied, both wall and floor, with specimens,
and the two smaller rooms are equally well dlled, the one
with portraits, and the other chiefly with some remarkably
flue examples of the application of photography to archi-
tectural illustration and the exact ccqying of objects of anti-
quarian interest These latter specimens, important as
they are, have uot, however, been included in the catalogue.
and this is to be regretted, notwithstanding that moat of
them were before sees in the collention at the International
Exhibition.

Photography has now become such a " great fart," and
photographers have become so numerous, and continue
trenching ;loser and nicest upon the territory of the artist
proper, that we rob the eyes as we ask whether all this is
art or art-manufacture, and whether the taste for the
photograph iodioates a healthy feeling for art in it, nobler
forms, or merely a rage for having the eye tidied, as it
were, with close imitations. Those tangible apparitions of
brattier faces called up in the dark chamber of the stereo-
scope, or the sea struck by the " instantaneous proms"
into • sort of petrified ploughed field, are instances of a
vulgar sad degrading tendency of photography in some
hands. The multitude are deceived into admiration of
them, while a more educated taste would lead them to
reject these very like and yet most unnatural pictures.
The absence of colour, which is the very life and
soul of nature, gives • ghostly character to
nearly all the work of photography ; and not only
this, but a positively false effect throughout the picture
from the want of the use relation and harmony which the
natural colour always confers. Take even the best land-
scapes in this collection, such as those by Mr. Bedford, Mr.
Henry White, Mr. Medd, Colonel Wortley, Mr. Vernon
Heath, and no one could pretend to be satisfied with the
blurred and fattened foliage of the trees, even if the general
air and lightsome effect of the picture were true, which it
very rarely is. Valuable, indeed, are such exact copies as
those of Genoa, by Messrs. Fothergill and Bramfil, or the
whole eerie' of Mr. Bedford'. Eastern views, and Colonel
Wortley's of Naples ; but to say the beet of them was to be
preferred for • moment to the painting of a master band,
either for truth or beauty, would be assuming • position
which the photographer is not entitled to, much as his work
is to be enjoyed.

DRAMA.

LYCEUM.

The play selected by Mr. Fechter, and produced under
the English title of the Dukes Motto, is not the best, though
its happens to be the newest of its clam. It is the produc-
tion of M. Paul Feral—a popular second-rate French drama-
tist, with little or no originality, but with great stage tact
and powers of arrangement. He sketches no new chamfers
but he knows all the pied@ on the theatrical board, and he
moves them about with great skill and Dalian& His last
work, which is now being performed in Paris, at the Porte
St. Martin, ander the French title of the Hunchback, ia the
one adapted by Mr. John Brougham for Mr. Pechter. Many
alterations have been made by the adapter; some with a
view of shortening the piece, others with the view of intro-
ducing a comic element, which is wanting in the original.
The drama qow consists of four acte—the first of which, air-
cording to the French plan, is called a prologue.
The working up of each act to an effective climax—the
power increasing to the last, and the interest excited in the
leading characters, are great merits to put egrinst various
small blemished. The language, perhaps, scarcely rises to
the level of the situations, much being left to be done by
attitudes, facial expression, and the grouping of character*
as in all modern romantic dramas ; but the tact which
knows exactly where and when to leave off, and the inge-
nuity which contrives striking incidents, cannot be praised
too moth. At the end of the first act after the prologue
we have a fine picture, the central figure of which is the
half-superstitious widowed mother, listening to what
she believes to be the void of the dead,
standing amongst the astonished crowd of worldling.,
and led on. as if in a dream, to promise what she hopes, but
hardly thinks can be true--the appearance of her long-lost
daughter. The end of the mooed act is equally impressive.
The statue-like silence imposed upon Logardirre when the
fatal glove is dropped, the triumph Of the villain, and the
doubt and despair of the mother, all oembine to form a
most effective picture. The climax at the sad of the piece,
when the gully primes is entrapped into • physical ootifes-
&ion of his guilt by a device of Lagar&re's, and is taunted
with the confession he has involuntarily made, rises far
above the ordinary level of romantic drama.

The acting le the leading parts left nothing to be de-
sired. Mr. Fecbter, 13 Captain Lagardens, threw himeelf
body sod soul into the character, never allowing it to tho-
roughly disappear, even in the disguise of the hunchback.
The scenery was effective, and the gage arrangements
seemed well plumed, though a little precious time was
sacrificed during the closing minutes of the piece for the sake
of getting a grand group of characters on a built-up
staircase.

The reception accorded to Mr. Fechter, and through him
to the leading members of biz company, was moat gratifying.
The holm wu crowded in every part; each act ended with a
general call ; and at last the certain wu raised amidst
a general waving of hats and handkerchiefs.

The decorations of the Louse were touch admired, peirti-
calerlythehannony between the curtain and theceiling, both
being painted to represent white lace stretched on a ground
of pink mho. • The new lighting and ventilation--entruated
to the experienced hands of the Messrs. Def ries- -seemed to
give universal satisfaction. Most of the old Vestrim deco.
rations have beat retouched and restored, and the prevail-
ing colour of t►e boxes is a pea-green.
The drama was preceded by a farce of very slight pre-
tensions, called A Sudden Attack. It is not the clearest
nor the most amusing productioo that we have witnessed ;
but placed chiefly in the band, of Mean. Widdieomb and
Shore it served very well on a first night to introduce the
more solid past of the entertainment.