The National Register.
London, England, 1809-03-05 00:00:00

15A

• 110 W far Commercial Pair(tire may be beneficial tb the
Arts, is a outstion dot tieeided. It may with cer-
tainty be asserted, that the artist win) looks forward to
p2euniary reN; lad Alone will nes er attain excellence.. The
great intOtersi ‘vhose names are Irked up to with reve-
rcuce, knew nut what it was to bargain with a purchaser
14 the remuneration of their labours. Honour was their
•ohject. With that degree of competency which enabled
Men' to 11‘,C1 they wrought with perseverance unextin-
guishable, and tnaeavoured to render their lives distin-
guished and illustrious; not opulent and luxuriou3. A
different principle unavoidably arise among a.free and
commercial people. Where rank may be obtained by per-
sonal exertion, and where wealth is the great mechanic
power by which those exertions produce their effect, it
:will not be forprizing that the first object of almost c' cry
votary of 11.!e arts should be found to be pecuniary emolu-
Meta. To be sure no artist can expect by the mere sale
.of
his laborious productions to arrive at any considerable de-
gree of riches in comparison with the inercluint or the
trading agricuiturist ; but when he finds a regidar mart
open for the fruits of his toil, he must necess,irily he iden-
tified with other speculators in hard cash, and will soon
learn the art \of estimating

" The worth of any thing
" By the mere money it will bring." •
tXcellent as the plan of the But rise INSTITUTION apphars,
(and 1 fear that it is the best plan we can expect from the
fregociuting patronage whit:h the poor arts will ever obtain
this country)—)et—(( would repress the idea if 1 could)
--yet; 1 ant persuaded that it will tend to encourage false ,
taste ;—to encourage endeavours to please, not to excel,—
to excite those competitions tor price and not for fame,
'which must; necessarily, render the arts despicable, and
sink the thia ;;Fuithitts Hob the mercenary speculator.
la the list of Subscribers to this Institution, I observe
the names of many of our nobility distinguished by capital
lefters, and prtAixect to the sum of one hundred guineas
eat h. This sounds Magnificently, anti makes indeed a very
tapitol appearance: But; alas, painters are not made by
subscription;—the family of Jlederi—and what is the
family of the MiarriA iu comparison with many of those
iiriti;h families Ivhich are seen in this list?—The family of
the .iledecisilni not cent Mlle themselves with a company
of coadjutors %shot they intended iv raise the arts of their
ctnintry to the highest pitch Of excellence. No—person-
ally—individually—they patronized each selected artist—
and rendered their country, in Ihat departMent of Genius,
the wonder—the eternd admiration of the world I
But if is time to turn from this critique on the Institution
itself, and to select from those specimens of its utility,
biell it offers to public examination, such Aubjects as we
May with impartiality either approve or condemn:
•
The Myra of Nra.soN, by .1. 11. ig among the
first that claims our attention. The subject can never lose
its interest in the British bosom. In every point of view
in which such an occurrence is capable of being e?Aibited,
it must rivet our regard, and in some respects stifle the
ardour of criticism by more acutc,,,,ontl more endeared
sensations. .11r. bevis has chosen the moment in which
our national hero expired ill Ike cock-pit of the Victory.
The place is not favourable for effect : nor hai the artist
beeii able to overcome the disadvantages of position to
Which he was thus condemned. Perhaps he fancied that
be gained some depth in the scene by placing enormous
figures in the front, and decreasing. the natural size of the
figure= io the hark ground. lie has thereby injured his
picture in the most material point. He has made the prin-
cipal figguru, even allowing for the fore-shortening in the
tecumhent position, much too small. The surrounding
group possesses liknesses undoubtedly ; but they have not
any expression. Every countenance lotAs as if- it was
selling (rather paimtvlly perhaps) 4efore the eisel of Mr.