The National Register.
London, England, 1812-06-21 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

Mr. WII.KIE's EXHIBITION.

This Exhibition has closed much sooner than the public expected,
owing to a circumstance which Mr. WILKIE could neither foresee or
prevent; however, for the satisfaction of those who have not seen the
excellent pieces exposed there to public view, we will continue and con-
clude our observations upon them.
No. 10. if Family Picture, painted in 1810.—No. 11. Portraits e a
Clergyman and his ;flip, painted in 1807.--Islo. 15. Portrait of a Lady
gf Quality, painted in 1807 —A hand favoured by Providence with such
talents as Mr. WILKIE is possessed of, cannot touch any subjectwithout
having masterly marks of the genius that puts it in motion and directs it;
like the fostering breath of Zephyr, wherever it acts, abundance of
flowers will rise to the enchanted eye. But we wish Mr. WILKIE to con-
skier seriously, that when he sits down at his easel and chains at the foot
of his chair, his imagination, that impatient Fairy, who burns to take
him away from the slavish drudgery of imitating this or that nose, of
colouring this individual eye brow, or tinging this particular shade of
hair, he deprives the whole world of some cliefid'reavres of his own
creating, and robs himself of several rays of glory. We are far, very
far from depreciating the merit of Portrait painters, of whom an author
often luoted before, says, with his usual elegance—

Promotheus like, fraught with celestial ray,
Our nearest friends, from Nature, THESE portray;
And on the lasting canvas hid them live.
A parent's face to orphans they revive;
Or to the widow's eye, by magic art,
Retrace the faithful partner of her heart,
Whom death has doom'd to silence and repose;
And thus, with fictious joys, sooth real woes."
We coincide fully with his admiration of their skill and the usefulness
of their talents; but if Nature has pointed to us a road, a special path to
immortality, why deviate from it ? Seldom the same genius can excel
in different parts of the art of painting, and although TITIAN) Roßeers,
and VANDYKE , are illustrious exceptions to the generality, yet we would
sincerely advise the steady and exclusive practise of the same sort of
Style, rather than to risk, in another sphere, the lustre which we have
acquired, or are constantly improving, in that which Nature or accident
has designed for us.
No. 12. The Rent-Day, painted in 1807.—We never laugh more
heartily at a jocose story than when it is seriously told. This is the
very reason why this picture is one of the most enjoyed and admired
!n the room ! See the calculating tenant, the good farmer's wife (who,
by the bye, carries something, ift her features and air, above the
Common cast) and her pretty daughters; see the man button-
ing. and the buttoned man ; the clown who rests his teeth on his
end the well-cloaked phthisick whom you hear cough ; see all
and say whether we can flaul such characters in many of the ancient

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masters' performances ? and whether you can lark at all these serious
creatures without laughing. The eating-party too! how cleverly ex.
pressed ! but none has perhaps more expression than the busy buttler
striving with all his might to draw a cork in favour of those at whose
houses he had been so well received; and,who, wishing to repay here, at no
expense of his own, all the civilities he has received before,hyperbolizts
all his cares and attentions. But description cannot give an idea of the
whole; it must be seen. This piece was painted fur, and is in the pos.
session of, Lord Mulgrave.
No. 14. Alfred reprimanded by Me eat-herd's Wife.—This national
anecdote i; here consecrated by the pencil of Mr. NVILICIE to the admira-
tion of the public ; had we more room we would have expatiated upon
this subject, suffice it to say, that the Master is seen every where in it,
but more especially in the lad talking to a girl in the back ground. It is
Mr. WILKIE'S own portrait.
No. 15. The Wardrobe Ransacked, painted in 1810; in this humorous
scene, there is a sweetness of colouring, and a freedom of manner.
which is somewhat different from the steady stippling style of the Dutch
school. It resembles much more to CI; zuz E and FRAGONARD tkan to
any other master. The old Man's face is admirable.
N 0.16. The Card-Players, painted id 1810.—A subject often treated
by TENIEES, BROWER, HEMSKIRK, and others, and made out with a
great deal of fun and success, but none of their performances can ex-
hibit that humour, that overflowing of joy that the winners express,
contrasted with the disappointed face of the steady and thinking loser,
whose partner shows by his excellent attitude, how mad he is with the
bad fortune of his cards : the corner of the picture, on the right of the
beholders, presents a window and a well-stored table, painted in a man-
ner which resembles that of MIERIS and WANDERWER7, for truth
and high-finishing.

No. 17. Sunday Morning, painted in 1805.--One of the earliest per-
formances of the Artist, and ere he ever had seen any paintings by Te-
NIERS, or any other of the Dutch or Flemish schools. We admire here
the freedom of a hand taught by Nature alone, and of a mind unwarped
by any of those shackles which the evil spirit of imitation imposes upon
beginners.
No. 18. The Country Fair, painted in 1804.—This would be sufficient
to give a name to any painter. We find it in the stamina of all the flowers
which this young academician has strewed upon the rest of the pictures in
the room, the figures are nearly all Portraits, and the scene test Pit-
lacey, in Scotland. We really grieve that we have no room to give a
minute account of the interesting groups which compose the taut enseits.
We, and must conclude by declaring, that no man has ever attained, in so
short a time, and at so youthful a period in life, to such a degree of per-
tection in the style he had adopted.
The small picture of the " Jew's Harp," which was bought of Mr.
WILKIE the late 1)r. ANN EsI.EY , for 2.5 guineas, about four years
ago, was knocked down last Monday at Panties's for 77 guineas, which
is more than two-thirds of the oriE,inal price. The Marquis of BLAND...
ro P D is the purchaser.

DRAMATIC REGISTER.