The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-01 00:00:00

THE ROYAL ACADEMY.

The Seth annual exhibition of the Royal Academy of
Arts was inaugurated on Saturday by the usual banquet.
The rooms were thrown open at two o'clock to the
guests, and several Cabinet Ministers and personages of
high distinction availed themselves of the opportunity
thus afforded to inspect at leisure the pictures contained
in the exhibition.
Sir CHARLES LOCK EASTLAKE, the President of the
Royal Academy, took the chair about half-past six.
Among the distinguished guests we observed—the Lord
Chancellor, the President of the Council, Lord J. Rus-
sell, Viscount Palmerston, the Duke of Newcastle, the
Earl of Clarendon, Viscount Hardinge, the Marquis of
Bath, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the President of
the Board of Trade, Mr. Sidney Herbert, the Bishop of
London, the Bishop of Oxford, the Bishop of St. David's,
Mr. Disraeli, M,P., Sir J. Palsington, M.P., Mr. S.
Walpole, M.P., Earl Grey, Sir G. Grey, M.P., the
Marquis of Clanricarde, Viscount Canning, the Earl of
Jersey, Lord Campbell, the Lord Chief Baron, the
Master of the Rolls, the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-
General, Lord Ashburton, Mr. J. Baring, the Governor
of the Bank of England, the Earl of Cawdor, the Hon.
Justice Coleridge, Mr. C. Dickens, Lord Elcho, Sir H.
Ellis, Mr. J. Forster, the Earl of Hardwicke, Mr. B.
Hawes, Mr. R. S. Holford, Lord Lyttleton, Lord Lo a-
desborough, Mr. Labouchere, M.P., Mr. Layard, M.P.,_-
the Lord Mayor, Mr. M. Milnes, M.P., Lord North
wick, Lord Overstone, Professor Owen, LordlSnh elislb omrner,
Lord Stanley, Sir G. Staunton, Sir R. IL
F. Peel, &c. The rest of the guests
consisted
g of the
professors, fellows, and associates of the Royal
Academy.
Altogether about 140 sat down to dinner, which was
provided by Messrs. Willis, of the Thatched House
Tavern.
The cloth having been removed, and "For these and
all Thy mercies given" having been sung by Mr. Hobbs
and a party of vocalists.
The PRESIDENT gave the usual loyal toasts, after
which the "Army and Navy" were given and responded
to by Lord Hardinge and Lord Hardwicke.
The latter in the course of his remarks said he could
not walk along the streets but he was asked by some or
other whether he had heard anything of the Baltic or
the Black Sea fleet. The public mind was exceedingly
anxious as to the state of affairs in these two seas. He
knew nothing about the operations intended to be un-
dertaken ; those who did sat opposite to him, and her
Majesty's ministers were able to give them every infor-
mation. (A. laugh.) But although he knew nothing
about what was intended to be done, there were cer-
tain great principles which he wished the public to un-
derstand, and which if they were duly recognised, were
calculated to alleviate their anxiety. In the first place,
ships were intended to fight with ships, and ships which
were wood and iron, were not intended to fight with
stone walls. (Hear, hear.) He advised the public to
think of the double danger to which we were exposed
from every other species of naval warfare except that of
ship meeting ship in fair contest. If this principle were
adhered to, he had no fear that our naval supremacy
would be endangered ; and he did not think it was
about to be departed from, because if it were, we
should no doubt have a large reserve force at home.
But if our ships were to engage stone walls, then the
public mind ought to be directed to meet disaster
and risk, because, although no one would have any ap-
prehension for the result if ships met ships, yet
there was a risk of disaster if anything else were tried,
which no power but that of the Almighty could pre-
vent. It might no doubt be said that there were two
great instances on record—Copenhagen and Algiers—
which proved that ships might engage stone walls with
success. But he thought an opposite lesson ought to
be drawn from these instances. In both cases it was
what was called "touch and go," and were on both oc-
casions as nearly beaten as our ships ever were. With
regard to the bombardment of Algiers, he believed that
if the guns had been in the hands of any but the Alga-
rifles, very few of our ships would have returned. By
negotiation and management that engagement was
brought to a successful termination ; but, as instances
of the success with which ships were able to engage stone
walls, he had always felt that great risks were run on
both occasions, and that the attempt had nearly lost us
our fleets. He wished the public to apply the lesson to
the Baltic and the Black Sea • and as we had no reserve
force at home, he did not believe that any such risks
would now be incurred. Unless, therefore, the Russian
came out of port, the present campaign would probably
pass without any serious act of warfare. He had every
confidence in the judicious conduct of our commanders,
in the zeal and gallantry of our officers, and in the exis-
tence of the same honest and determined fighting ma-
terial on the part of our seamen. (Cheers.) Such great
operations as those to which we had adverted were not
likely to be undertaken without the orders and com-
mands of the Government at home, and great actions
of this kind, differing from fair naval warfare, would,
he hoped, be avoided by commanders intrusted, not only
with the safety of their ships and crews, but with the
safety and independence of this happy land.
The next toast was " The Health of the Foreign
Ministers," responded to by Lord Clarendon. After
some complimentary sentences, he said :—I rejoice to
see that of two great specimens of art now before me
one, an excellent portrait of the Emperor of the French,
is by an English artist ; and another, a portrait of an
English nobleman, is by a French artist, and that both
are worthy to be placed side by side with that chef
d'oeuvre in the centre, the portrait of Lord J. Russell.
(Cheers.) The original of that picture of the Emperor
is fond of British artists, and I know that he looks for-
ward with infinite satisfaction to the competition by
English artists in the Exhibition which is to opened
next year in Paris. He ardently hopes that they will
contribute to that exhibition, and he has expressed a
confident expectation that great benefit will ensue, both
to French and Engish artists, from that competition.
The PIESIDENT next gave "the health of the noble-
men and gentlemen who have this day honoured the
academy with their presence." It has been remarked
that there are two direct modes in which art may be
promoted. One, which is indispensable, is by the en-
couragement of living talent ; the other is by the acqui-
sition from abroad of the master works of former periods
as models of excellence. With regard to the latter
mode, the time has been when one placed in the position
I have the honour to occupy might have felt some diffi-
culty in recommending it at a time when inferior produc-
tions by inferior masters have been valued and sought for,
and when struggling genius at home has been neglected--
when the works of such painters as Luca Giordano were
esteemed and those of Wilson were disregarded. It is a
happiness to acknowledge that both mistakes are now
corrected, and that the encouragement extended to living
votaries of art is liberal and comprehensive. (Hear.)
The purchase by collectors of the works of the old mas-
ters is in general judicious and discriminating, and, on
no ground therefore can exception now be taken to that
course. Every professor must feel it to be his interest
to uphold whatever really raises the standard of excel-
lence, while, as regards the connoisseur, the same study
by which he learns to discriminate excellence from mere
names also enables him to do justice to contemporary
merit. (Hear.) It may appear to matter little what
classes of the art-loving community may have a predilec-
tion for one department or the other, especially since
both kinds of amateurs are abundant, and since many
combine both forms of amateurship. I will only observe
that the noble ardour which our merchants and manu-
facturers evince in encouraging living and native talent
is calculated to communicate an impulse to a still
widening circle, to familiarise the greatest number with
its results, and to interest more warmly the people at
large. In fact, art, with its material appliances and
its humanising influences, is already evidently and un-
mistakeably snaking its way to the people—(cheers)—
and, while this desirable consummation is taking place,
it is for us to remember that in our darker periods—and
I speak not of very remote periods—the flame was kept
alive chiefly by means of the cultivated taste of the no-
bility and gentry of this country, and the present move-
ment may be strictly said to have originated with
them. And, whatever may be the future destiny of art,
we feel and know that stimulus of their approbation can
never be superfluous. (Cheers.) Gentlemen of the
Royal Academy,. I give you the health of the Lord Chan-
cellor and the noblemen and gentlemen who have
honoured us with their presence.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said, that if there were any
duty which he might be called upon to discharge for
which ho felt himself ill qualified, it was that of return-
ing thanks on such an occasion on behalf of the distin-
guished company who surrounded him, There were
among those who had the honour of being the visitors
of the Royal Academy many who were the patrons of
domestic artists, and who had also contributed to the
walls of the British Institution specimens of merit of the
ancient masters. With none of tese was he connected,
and from others would therefore more appropriately
have come the thanks which the visitors owed for the
reception they had met with and the unbounded feelings
of satisfaction w(itheavirrhichhey had gazed upon the walls
around theta. n.)
the youth of this nation tot had long been the custom of
vit the cabinets and collec-
tions in which the works offor-
mer days were to be found. the' great masters of t
used to be thought a
proof of great knowledge and
away, and
te to depreciate the
thismoderns in comparison with
fashion was passing
a glance at these
walls would still further remove
unfounded an
impression. He would not pretend ct)
upon the
them
Say, that, in
the opinion of artists, the productions around
would rival those of the Vatican, or those
of the Pitti Palace ; but let it be asked whether the con-
temporaries of Raphael, Titan, Guido,t.
of works they now
great masters, could have produced
paintings
sthe
hoer
Ira:a:Fie:in
andthe
The I)
'
saw ? (Hear, hear.)
the Pitti Palace were the collected works of different
ages, and not, like these, the production of a single year.
(Cheers.) Looking
at w,
the matter in this point of view,
our artists need not shrink from a comparison with the
most palmy , •
th • eie was no taste
days of art. It was said
s y
among the British public for anything but portraits.
God forbid that the taste for portraits should cease
amongst us, for it
showed
the strength of our domestic
affections, and that we loved to look upon the features
of those who were dear to 119. The use of portraits
well described oy one whom he Tight call a savage. The
Prince Le 800, when his portrait was taken, was asked
whether he understood the object of it. He replied.—
",.
Oh yes ; me understand it well. This Le 800 die
that Le 800 live !" (Hear, hear.) This was a com-
mentary upon portrait painting the most appropriate
that could be made. But portrait painting was not
all. Most admirable was that art which could bring
Italika 81: witkit, English walls, and which could
mala3lus, Is inklialking round these rooms, as if we
the
transperted tosths mountains of Switzerland or
~the Pyreneee, and -Nvb.hh 'enabled us to see Italian
~and Spanish scenes -without moving from the centre
of Charing-crosa. (A , gh.) He believed that there
_.
was not a country inAus ne which could produce better
npecirnens in fffe-higli.W iflrs of art, or whose historical
artists courd:rivai ors pete with the works upon these
walls. (Hear.) In looking round the rooms we might
enter into the feelifigs of the widow who was part-

look !
ing from her son, a young emigrant ; or we might
upon the calm and dignified features of the hero sleepingdomestic
on the eve of his execution. Turning to those
landscapes, in which our artists excelled,
we
might
be
reminded of the indolent way in which we sometimes
lounged away a day in a sea-coast tolwhnreitnhrtehihsmcioguhnttrayo.
Allow him to say, too, that his lega .
which represented the interior
d toe
knowledge that there was too muchof a
otruth in the pictuiorhe
the jury were debating. (A laugohij) He b
allowed to propose " The Health the Presidentegge and
The PREAIDENT—On the part of the members of the
members of the Royal Academy. (Cheers.)
Royal own, I thank you for the corn-
p have been honoured. The favour-
able
judgment that has been pronounced by his lordship
on the present exhibition will, I think, be ratified by the
public. It has not been usual, and for very sufficient
reasons, for the chairman on these occasions to invite
attention to any particular work, however remarkable,
and in deference to this customary reserve, I will con-
fine my observations to the general character of the
works displayed. The fact especially apparent in the
present exhibition of a great diversity of styles in
the works of art may be regarded as presenting one
of the most salutary indications in our school, since it
is directly opposed to a justly stigmatised routine, while
it is sufficiently free from lawlessness and undue caprice.
(Hear, hear.) As great painters have arisen in former
times, often at first exciting censure by their novel
aspirations, but gradually compelling an admiring assent
to their now canonised productions, we have been taught
their excellence, as yet unknown, may still remain to be
developed ; and it therefore becomes the duty both of the
teachers and promoters of art to lay no exaggerated
stress upon received types, but keeping the criterion of
nature and the conditions of representation in view, to
permit invention and practice to be as unfettered as
possible. (Cheers.) Within the limits which the essen-
tial elements of the fine arts sufficiently define is to be
found a variety of forms of art, each having its peculiar
excellence. Within these limits, and amid that variety,
taste need not and cannot be stationary, but like a pen-
dulum whose oscillations are narrowly circumscribed,
may be suffered freely to vibrate. (Hear, hear.) I
need not remind those whom I have the honour to
j address, that in art as in lettere,. every age still aiming
at excellence, seems instinctively to oppose the taste
of the immediately preceding period, while the new
direction is in general mysteriously adapted to new
mental requirements or to new outward wants. (Hear,
hear.) The general tendency of art now appears to be
towards the real, the individual, and the definite—
a tendency which, as regards its higher capabilities, if
less fitted to kindle the imagination, may edify and in-
struct, and may touch the chords of the purest feeling ;
while, in its practical results, it is sure to enrich its do-
main with new wealth gathered from inexhaustible
nature. (Hear, hear.) On that account I venture to
think that such a direction is well calculated to influence
satisfactorily the material uses to which the fine arts are
now beginning to be more generally applied. Again
thanking you, I beg to propose the health of another
distinguished guest—" The Chancellor of the Exchequer."
(Cheers.) To speak of the refinement in taste of one
who holds a prominent place among those to whom the
government of this country is entrusted, will, I hope, be
understood, as on other occasions of the kind, to befit
the place and the occasion rather than adequately the
individual. That respect which it becomes us to express
we offer, trusting that the claims of the arts of peace will
not be forgotten during the vigorous prosecution of a
just war. (Loud cheers.)
The CHANOELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Mr. President,
my lords, and gentlemen—Every person, however dis-
tinguished his station, or however great his fame, may
be well content with the honour which he has received in
,his life, if he have been happy enough to have his health
proposed and so accepted in such an assembly as this.
In selecting me for such an honour, your president has
gone far beyond either what is due to my official posi-
tion or my personal qualities. If you will allow me to
strike the truth, I should say that I understand the pro-
posal of the chairman as much more than a compliment
either to the individual or to the office. It was a de-
scription of parable, the meaning of which I take to be,
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is considered to be
the symbol of the pecuniary resources of the country
—(cheers and laughter)—and that the funds of a great
nation ought to be liberally dispensed for every civi-
lising purpose, and not least for the purposes of the
fine arts. (Cheers.) If I have been selected as the
symbol of this truth, I am glad to be the vehicle of
conveying or illustrating a truth at once so obvious and
sojust that it is acknowledged by all my colleagues, and
acknowledged (though upon this you may, perhaps, be
more sceptical) even by me. (Cheers and laughter.) Mr.
President, the position of public affairs is, as you have
told us, not altogether favourable. The calls upon the pub-
lic purse for other and ruder purposes are heavy, and are
not likely soon to diminish. At the same time I join
with you in the hope that while this great nation
braces itself up for great sacrifices for the purposes of
carrying on the war upon which it has entered, it will not
condescend to the narrow economy of stopping up all 1
the channels through which such fertilising influences
have been dispensed, and by means of which have flou-
rished education and the fine arts. (Cheers.) The scene
around us, on which so much has been said, inspires and
ratifies such a sentiment. It will be impossible for those
who have been honoured with the hospitable invitation
of this great corporation first to come and see the Bri-
tish talent exhibited upon these walls, and then to feel
that there ought to be a niggardly application of the
public resources to those purposes to which I have ad-
verted. I congratulate you and your brethren upon the
complete testimony which this exhibition presents of the
vigorous, thriving, and growing position of the elevating
pursuit in which you and they enjoy so high a place,
which is not only able, as has been said by the Lord
Chancellor, to transport us to other and far distant lands,
but which also so powerfully reflects upon these walls
those characteristics both of nature and of men, as they
are developed in England, which have been impressed so
strongly on British art. I will not further detain you.
I thank you for my own personal share in the toast you
have drunk, however small it may be, and I beg to as-
sure you of my cordial sympathy with the sentiments
that have been expressed by your president. (Cheers.)
The PiaSSIDENT—It will be remembered by those now
present, that on a former occasion—the year before last
—the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Disraeli)
invited a noble lord (Lord J. Russell) to co-operate with
him in any judicious scheme that might be devised for
1 promoting the fine arts in this country. (Loud cheers.)
Without alluding in any way to politics, I may mention
that the relative position of the noble earl and the right
hon. gentleman have been since that period changed, and
I beg to express a hope that such change in their relative
position will induce no alteration in the sentiments they
expressed relative to the productions of the fine arts.
(Cheers.) It is remarkable that on the occasion to
which I refer, it was observed by Lord Derby that the
right hon. gentleman appeared in this room in two places.
It happened that a very striking portrait of the right
hon. gentleman adorned these walls. (Hear.) I might
make the same remark now with regard to the noble
lord, for it happens that a very fine portrait of Lord John
Russell is opposite to me—(cheers)—and I could almost
fancy in looking at it that I am addressing his lord-
ship himself. (Hear.) Still referring to the hope that
the distinguished originals of these fine portraits have not
altered their opinions on the subject that interests us, I beg
, to give the health of Lord J. Russell and of Mr. Disraeli.
. Lord J. RUSSELL—I rise to answer for my part in the
toast that your president has proposed, and permit me to
say, that though no change has taken place in the senti-
ments that I then professed towards the right hon. gentle-
. man whose name has been coupled with my own, and
although political opposition has never produced between
us the slightest personal ill-will, while, on the contrary,
. I shall always be glad to see eminent talent like his re-
ceive that meed of approbation and support which it
ought to receive in a free country like our own, yet you
will permit me to observe that, as far as politics are eon-
earned, you, sir, certainly have produced a some-
what violent contrast. (Laughter.) I miss entirely,
those tender tints which are so remarkably character-
istic of your president—(continued laughter)— in his pic-
tures which reflect so well the delicacy and feeling and
refinement of mind that belong to him. (Hear.) But
he has departed very far from his own style of colouring
on this occasion—and has produced the most violent
contrasts—(laughter)---somewhat in the style of the pic-
tures exhibited in the early years of the Royal Academy,
when it was not unfrequent for distingnished artists on
the last days before the opening of the exhibition, to
throw in some violent reds or tawdry yellows in order
to make their pictures seen and remarked by the crowd.
You must, therefore, excuse me, while I pay, as I am
bound to pay, every sort of respect to the gentleman
whose name is coupled with my own, I must still say
that with regard to our political opinions that harmony
which ought to distinguish your president as a painter has
hardly been maintained. (Laughter.) In one respect,
however, there has been a point of agreement between
myself and the right hon. gentleman. Both of us have
had the honour of having our resemblance painted by a
distinguished artist, and we have become the illustra-
tions of anecdote mentioned by the Lord Chancellor.
Instead of the Lee 800 that dies, we shall leave behind
us the Lee 800 that will never die. We have both of
us had the good fortune to have our resemblances
painted with very great success by a man whose talent
I honour, and whose friendship I have the happiness
to enjoy. (Cheers.) I am glad to avail myself of this
opportunity to pay this eminent artist the tribute of
my regard and gratitude for the honour that has been
i done to me, and in that sentiment I sympathise, and
certainly agree with the right hon. gentleman. (Cheers.)
Mr. DISRAELI—Mr. President, my Lords, and Gen-
tlemen—I have on several occasions had the opportu-
nity,
i through your kindness, of entering these cham-
"r, on this anniversary, and have always been struck
with the triumphs of art and the triumphs of design
and Colouring, but I was not aware that rhetoric would
achieve in tasehroomsht.riumphs as singular ; because,
ora-
tory in the toasts haec
your president
accept-
Lace and approbation,
the noble lord would I
from experience
noble lord,
flat-
ter myself that this
exempted from fulfilling
hasieved a wonderful feat of
proposed for your
I was glad to anticipate that
the have answered for me, for I know
so
arduousmight count u
(Loudlaughter.)
difficulty of following the
a task. I hope
Onuegehtr ) I did, therefore,
it will not be considered an affectation ifpoln
you that I feel honoured in having
dated with a celebrated artist and am,
man. It must have been the inspiration of
moment when the president hazarded such assurebeing
name asso-
ciated states-
man, genial
(A laugh.) But lam not entitled to such a distinuertli'on.
and I amreminded of the Persian fable that when
a piece cf clay was asked how he happened he had
so fragrant a perfume, he replied he had had the good
fortune of living in the vicinity of roses. (A. laugh.) The
president has connected my career with the noble lord's
and the distinguished artist who has sent Lim down to
posterity, and has made me remembered for a short
time. lam obliged to the noble lord for the compli-
mentary terms in which he has referred to me this