The Express.
London, England, 1858-03-31 00:00:00

FINE ARTS.

THE SOCIETY OF FEMALE ARTISTS.
The second Exhibition of this Society proves that
the kdies are determined upon keeping up their " separate
miduknanos." And who would not wish them to have the
mini of htmontable independence, a fair field, and plenty of
avow? They are, however, still bashful. Unlike the
"private views" of other exhibitions, the lady.managere are
determined that instead of one day, their private view shall
extend over the whole of the present week. The Exhibition,
which is this year at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, in the
gallery which contained Lord Ward's collection, is now @p-
ranged, but will not be opened to the public till Monday next.
We were highly gratified yesterday at the increased attrac-
tiveness of this year's display, and with the great progress
of the various oontributors. Indeed, If we could say so gal-
lantly, we were surprised at the result of the emulation sti-
mulated by public competition. Apart from all considerations
11 SIN the Exhibition is highly interesting. It is, however,
Micah for the critic in such an anomalous position to divest
Wm& of the notion that innumerable eyes of fair
*shakos ere upon him, and in the gallery we coca-
elesslly experienced the sensations of a bashful under-
gesdnate finding himself unexpectedly alone in the
alddleof a bell-room. Pen in hand, however, and screened

PeettY• lovel7,

The strength of the 0011110ii011 consists, u might be ex-
pected, of water-colour drawings, from the greater con-
veshuse and cleanliness of the medium, and from the
peace:los being more consonant with conventional notions of •
lady-like employment. There is, however, surely no reason
why nature, who, as Burns says,
" Tried her 'prentice hand on men,
And then she made the lames o',"
should not in return be interpreted by her fair and
finished handy-work as suecesehilly in oil, sr by any
other means, as she is interpreted by the coarser and
less carefully completed sex. Among the contributions
of this description of worka those by Mn. Eliza-
beth Murray are pre-eminent in merit. "The Best
In the Market "—u No. 289 Is entitled—is a
supposed recommendatory exclamation made by an
fruitsencr, as she looks at the spectator with an irre-
sistible dimpled smile and winning glance from eyes
liquid yet 'alloy, while holding an apple, embrownad and
ripened by the same intense sun which bas bronzed her own
ruddy cheeks, in delightful contrast with the spoihnspemso
on her head. A fine, manly, picturesquely dressed so-
quaintance, lolls in playful familiarity on the stall, and gives
her • sparkling look of knowing vivacity as some badinage
seems to escape hom the tangled moustache and glistening
teeth. The husear-like negligence of his jacket, and the ease
of his whole attitude, the dusky complexion and hirsute
character of the whole man, equal, in evident truthfulness,
every other portion and detail of the picture. For technical
power and vigour, and perfect command of resource, we should
he at • loss to name many masculine performances which
weld surpass It. Equally effective acd picturesque is the
young Italian shepherd boy in No. 203; while the similar
lore in No. 341, in which the bust only is given, but life
the, Is still more remarkable for ire breadth of light and
shads, perfect drawing, and the really wonderful truthfulness
of sapresietun with which the young piper hails " The Dawn
of Day." The gale of the fall eye and the breathing parting
of the Ups an indescribable. la landscape Mrs. Eli. tbeth
Whiney is so bee gifted, as may be seen in the tropical vivid-
atee and vast sealivity of "The Peak of Teneriffe" (288).
The heightenisg of the tinted paper with the white lights in
"An Old flow at food" (238) Is squally masterly—we beg
parka, seistruselp. Those now phenomena of our civilisation
again a Ikea meow of wings.
Sin. Bathhouse Is also distinguished for breadth of ere_
wake, as ia "The Orphan" (221), and fiir a relined sense
of hefty, as In "A Bower in Summer-tinie" (162). Very
obareilag is the fair girl with her azure Greek boddice and
Karla busied cap, and very beautiful the summer glow suf-
balm the bower. The " Morning Star of Memory" (173)
Us great purity in its washes of colour, and Is sweetly sue-
gilse of the earliest age for tender retrospection. There is
the same rhique of costume in Ne. 201 and in " Ls Rose
de Leah Quatotza" (331).

Brenbech on the Moselle" is a very artistically treated
'endways, rich in colour, by Mrs. W. Oliver, and " Namur
on the Mame" (181), by the suns lady, is very bright and
beautiful. Some Algerine scene*, by Mrs. Bodichon, are re-
markable. They seem cold in colour, but this may be true to
the arid, parched climate. tea extr.,mes ae touellent, and we
know that anesthetic applications, or benumbing a part with
cold, produces the ululation of warmth. The " sere but not
yellow" leaves of the olives, and the gigantic aloes, cacti,
&c., in No. 170, are carefully studied. " The First Meeting.
of Florirel and Perdite" (260), by Mims E. Macirons, 4 a
urge, line drawing, but it hu been previously exhibited, or
h a repetition. " Old Houses to Rotten (302), by Mies Isa-
bella Jonas, would do credit to either of the Societies of
Painters in Water-colours.

Mrs. Hondas Murray, in"," Bambro' Castle, Northumber-
land" (204), has obtained texture with much spirit, and has
shown feeling for aerial effects by taking advantage of the
grantalous surface of the paper. In " Entrance to &ahem
Harbour, on the estate of the Marchioness of Londonderry"
(219), the difficulty of drawing the point of view chosen is
succesefully surmounted, and the waves, " cribbed and ma-
nned" between the two points of the harbour, dance very na-
turally. No. 254, by the semi lady, is still more powerful
and animated.

Miss M. Teknech's portraits (183) ere very creditable, and
in " The Wife" 011) the baby la particularly well done—
e", Weed, char►ctcristically enough, are nearly all the
annewous babies and children in the room. " A Winter
&tidy" (261), by E. Webster, is full of minute detail and
modest merit. "A Poacher in Embryo" (196)—a boy with
a bird's nest and string of eggs, by Mies Adelaide Burgess—
le se happy in execution as in title. We most also particularly
wimassad the following Miss Stone's " Scotch Cottage
Home (278) and " Tits Tweed and Eildon Hills" (306), Mrs.
Den's "Cathedral, Florence" (180), and " At Honfleur "
(266), by Mies Wilkinson. The works of Miss Jervono, Mrs.
Davidson, Mies Blake, Lady Belcher, and Miss M. Grieve,
also deserve attention.

The contributors in oil are worthily beaded by the matron
in art, Mrs. Carpenter. " The Little Boat Builder" (68)
le charmingly free in execution, and the portrait
in crayon of Dr. Arson (179) equally facile. There
is sufficient evklence in the " Ballad Singer of Con-
nemara" (81) that Mrs. Margaret Robbinson has studied
woke Mr. Media.; and the two heads, " Othello and Des.
demona" (129), we should have affirmed could have been exe-
cuted by none else. Both are precisely in the style of the
master, and the head gear and jewelled onsamenta of Othello
are even a hivzureble specimen of his skill in painting such
accessories. " The Bath" (47)—a chubby boy timidly sub-
mitting to the morning ablution—is a very pleasing subject,
by Mrs. E. M. Ward, but, to be candid, scarcely so carefully
painted as some of the works by the wife of the Royal
Academician. " The Gleaners" (28) is an admirable picture
by Kate Swift. The pathos of the subject of " Hagar and
thhasef' (36), by Miss M. A. Cob., is very much increased
by night being represented as impending. Very delicate in
haw are also " News from the Seat of War" (150) and
" The Love letter' (116), by the same artist. " Bettie'.
(140) is am exquisitely delicate miniature portrait In oil, by
Mrs. H. Moseley. The execution of No. 117 by Miss A.
Bhagat would place her well among the pre-Raphaelites.
The =perm landscapes by Mies Stoddart have some of
the vary highest qualities, and resemble the works of Cr...
wick. The character of everything touched by light is
brought out s lib great truth. The foliage is a little slickly,
but leafy and multitudinous, and the distance is pervaded with
atmosphere. In the landscapes of Mrs. Brown extreme
delicacy and discrimination are salient among other praise-
worthy qualities. The works of the Misses Lionel are very
suggestive of the name they boar. "A Bedouin Encampment
afar Mount Sinai" (128), by Mrs. Roberton Blaine, must
be, from ha freedom of msnipulation„the product of mature
sad latelligent practice.
The merit of the works of the following contributors to
this aspen:nest cannot wait+ the visitor's attention, viz..—
lama Genteel Richards (9), A. E. Smith, Mrs. W. Smith
(7), 0. Swift (101), Miss Yetts (106), Eliza Irving (108),
sad Mies Batas Tatar (126). And on one of the screams

displayed in their telex They an
not called simply Fruit, Flowers, or Game, but by
certain sentimental emblems. For example, to de-
cipher " Pleasant Thoughts" (162) we must consult
a little book we seldom refer to, on the "Language of
Flowers." "Love and Friendship" (40) is a group of
myrtle, roses, and ivy, and eo forth. We must nevertheless
mention, though it is almost invidious to @elect from a par-
terre of Bowers, that we were attracted more particularly by
the works of the following ladies, viz., Mos. Withers, Mrs.
V. Bartholomew, Miss E. Tunbridge, Eliza Mills, Mrs.
Rymer, Mrs. P. Phillips, Min Juliette Jac.ibson, Eliza
Walker, Mies Barrows, Mies R. (met, Mn. Harriers, Eliza
Lance, and Mies Florence Peal.

Copying is a branch of art in which the ladies particularly
mei, and in this exhibition there are several re-productions
of celebrated pictures of very high excellence.

MUSIC.

MR. HrLLAWS ORCHESTRAL CONCERTS.

Last night Mr. Mullah concluded, for this
swop, his series of these excellent concerts; and this last
wee the most excellent and the most successful that he has
ever given. The music was selected entirely l inthe works
of Beethoven ; and, when we say that the w included
one of the last, and certainly the greatest, efforts of the
mighty master's genius—the grand choral symphony on the
subject of Schiller's " Ode to Joy," and that this colossal
and most arduous work was performed in • manner
which, on the whole, has seldom been excelled in this coun-
try, we bare said enough to show that this was a concert of
the highest order. But this was not its only remarkable
feature; it included the famous " Choral Fantasia," in which
the pianoforte, the principal instrument, is blended with •
great orchestra and • powerful chorea in a manner entirely
original, and with an effect little inferior to that produced in
the Choral Symphony ; and it included, moreover, two of
Beethoven's theatrical works—his overtures to A-cnnatheiss
and to Fidelto.

The Choral Fantasia placed in a strong light the singular
—we may say unrivalled powers of Miss Arabella
Goddard. In addition to great execution and dramatic sen-
timent, it demands the utmost strength of hand which the
pianist can possibly exert in order to contend with the mares
of sound produced by the orchestra and the chorus. This
strength the performer possessed in the full swell of vocal
and instrumental harmony with which the pieoe is wound up,
the florid passages of the piano rang through the hall with
the most beautiful clearness and brilliancy. One of the
most remarkable features of this young lady's talent is
its versatility. In the depth and solidity of Bach, the
passionate impetuosity of Beethoven, the graceful simplicity
of Mozart, and the light and fasbioaable style of the day,
she is equally at home ; though it is evident that her bout is
in the great and beautiful in music, and that the illustrious
masters of the art are the objects of her love and her study.
The performance of the gigantic choral Symphony did in-
finite honour to Mr. Mullah, his orchestra, and his chorus.
Fur the execution of so arduous a teak, there were, neces-
sarily, defects, especially in the vocal part, but they were sur •
prisingly few and venial ; and the whole bore marks of
extraordinary care and pains on the part of the able
conductor. It was pleasant to °believe that this music—
which, only a few years ago, was set down by our most
aapient critics as strange, obscure, capricious, unintelligible,
and what not—was evidently not only understood, but
thoroughly appeciated and enjoyed, by a great popular
assembly.

In taking leave of these excellent concerts for this season,
we trust that their results have been such as to encourage
Mr. Mullah to continue them with undiminished spirit.

MISS JULIA ST. GEORGE'S ENTERTAINMENT.

Daring the present week Miss St. George is
giving, every conning at Sadler. Wells, a musical and dra-
matic entertainment, called " llome and Foreign Lyrics,"
which was first produced at Liverpool in the beginning of
last year, and has since been given in Ireland, Scotland, and
our chief provincial towns, with great and deterred success.
Miss St. George is well known to the metropolitan public as
an excellent comic actress and an accomplished singer; and
in this entertainment she unites her powers in both capa-
cities. Its plan is similar to that of Miss P. Horton, and it
possesses similar merit. The framework is a narrative of
an imaginary tour made by the fair entertainer through
many parts of the world, which gives occasion to the intro-
duction of a variety of description, anecdotes, and sketches
of character and manners, interspersed with vocal illustra-
tions of the national and popular music of different countries
By rapid changes of costume and clever "making up" she
transforms herself into a succession of personages, sad her
impersonations are full of liveliness and dramatic truth. She
parrs " from grave to gay, from lively to severe," and her
speaking and singing have many touches of pathos, as well
u strokes of humour. There is a charm In the engaging
simplicity of her manner, as well as in the grace and beauty
of her melody. The libretto, written by Miss Amelia
Edwards, has no small literary merit ; and the music, by
Mr. I. F. Duggan, is worthy of that distinguished young
composer. The entertainment draws crowded andirons to
Sadler's Wells. It is received with the warming applause;
and the principal vocal; pieces, particularly the "Zingers
Song," the " Song of the Neapolitan Post-boy," and the
"Highland Jacobite Song" are always encored.

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