The Express.
London, England, 1860-04-06 00:00:00

FINE ART&

EXHIBITION OF THE SOCIETY OF
BRITISH ARTISTS.
(mom) AXD CONCLUDING (OTICIL)

The present exhibition of the Society of British
Artists, Suffolk-street, being so much above the
average, we could only find space in our former
notice for reviewing the figure subjects. The land-
scapes are so numerous, and in many oases so me-
ritorious, that they have been reserved for treat-
ment in a separate article.
It is with pleasure we note the continued
improvement of Mr. Vicat Cole. This artist
has devoted himself to the study of the fami-
liar beauties of our Surrey hills, and none
but • loving student could have succeeded
in representing their distinguishing features so ed-
tnirably as this gentleman has done m his " Harvest
Time, painted at Ilolmbury Hill, Surrey" (106).
This panoramic view includes the highest eminence
of the range of hills diversified by golden corn-
fields in the foreground—with their tender, velvety,
undulating surfaces and purplish complementary
shadows—by wooded slopes in alternate diaper of
sun and shade, by level pasturage broken by hedge-
row and water, and by distant reaches of hill and
down, till the eye loses their soft outlines in the
far-off horizon. It is such lovely scenery as this
which has gained for English landscape its distinc-
tive character, and by the study of which English
landscape painters have acquired their unrivalled
reputation. Where can such verdure as this be
seen, or such an epitome of all that is requi-
site to form the most pleasing varieties of the pic-
turesque 1 We could dwell on a thousand beau-
ties in this picture, but we must content ourselves
by expressing unqualified admiration of its rich
and most beautiful colouring. Little less inipor-
taut than this picture is the "Spring Time" (16)
by the same artist. The wild flowers, plants, and
grasses in the foreground are exquisitely painted,
yet with none of the hardness of dull chuckling
labour. Mr. flyer, also, has surpassed hie former
efforts this year. " Tantallon Castle" (Si), with
its ruinous walls and bluff promontory, its
rock and wreck-strewn botch, and its accom-
paniments of stormy sky and angry sea, has
a kind of poetical and epical completeness. The
execution throughout is excellent. The dash and
animation in such a scene as this is, however, rather
misplaced in No. 476—" On the Lleder, North
Wales." The glitter and sparkle are too uniformly
distributed. There is a too evident straining for
effect. Though the parts taken separately are
truthful, there Li a want of breadth, repose, gene-
ralisation, and central interest.
Mr. H. J. Boddington has a very fresh and sunny
little view, " In Betchworth Park, Surrey" (23) ;
the felled timber and other accidental accessories
make up a pleasing composition. It is surprising
that the painter of such a nturpult as this should
perpetrate such a large, comparatively uninteresting,
monotonous painting as No. 145—" On the Hills,
North Wales." The locality not being definitely
given awakens the suspicion that the work has
been painted in the artist's studio merely from re-
collection. Mr. A. Clint also, as usual, gives
several coast scenes and sunsets, which have very
little reference to nature, nor are they redeemed, as
in the case of Turner, by imaginative power or
chromatic beauty. The stormy scenes on the Devon-
shire coast (Nos. 261 and 616), by this artist, an