The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-27 00:00:00

FINE ARTS.

W SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER
COLOURS.

This popular exhibition was opened to the
public on Wednesday last. It contains upwards
of three hundredpaiatings in water-colours, some
of which appear on a first hasty glance to have
all the breadth and substance of oils. The col-
lection, as a whole, is hardly so good as its last
year's predecessor, but there are several clever
pictures in it, and two or three that may be pro-
nounced to be of superior excellence. No. 19
represents " A Dinner at Page's House ;" the
scene is taken from the first act of the "Merry
Wives of Windsor," and shows us Falstaff seated
at -table in all his glory, filled with sack
and all sorts of dainty viands, and chucking Mrs.
Page under the chin, who submits to his famili-
arities with a truly philosophic equanimity. The
figure of tile flit knight is perfectly characteris-
tic; his attitude is one of voluptuous indolence;
and his face has that good humoured, oily ex-
pression which the late Stephen Kemble used to
hit off so admirably. Bardolph, who stands be-
hind "plump Jack" is easily to be recognised by
that erubescent enormity which he called a nose:
The picture is spiritedly painted, and the artist is
Wehnert. No. 60, " The Oath o• of Vares," is
by Hagha, the subject is historical, and repre-
sents the furious Spanish fanatic, Jean Varges„.
who. ve,d tu tlielixtt*tli. century', -protiontmig,
iu the CO-Uncil Viriiiiiber of the Duke of Alva,
an oath of extermination against all heretics..
There-is considerable vigour in the • drawing of
the figure, as also in that of the bigoted monk
who stands near him. No. 75, " Rebekah at
the well of Nahor," is chiefly remarkable for
the grace and picturesque beauty of the group-
ing of the figures. round the well. Rebekah,
however, is very tamely drawn, and one
would never guess, from her countenance,
that she was a Jewess. No. 83, " Dausenau,
on the Saline," is a pleasing landscape sketch
by Robertson, some of whose water-colours
have of late attracted much attention. No.
91, " The Bombardment of St. Jean d'Acre,"
by Campion, is a cleverish picture—especially
that portion of it which depicts the explo-
sion of the powder-magazine. Here, there is
some forcible and judicious colouring, the artist
having resisted the temptation to overcharge his
colouring. No. 108, " Old Mortality," by Wei-
gall, is a fancy pOrtrait of the enthusiastic old
Covenanter whom Scott has pourtrayed so mi-
nutely and beautifully in one of the " Tales of
My Landlord." He is looking down pensively
on a rude, mouldering tomb-stone, with his pony
by his side. The expression of the benevolent
zealot's face is full of appropriate meaning. The
mountain back-;round is well defined. No. 156,
" The Battle dAgincourt," is the joint produc-
tion of Warren and Weigall. The chief per-
sonage in the picture is of course Henry the
Fifth, who is shown in the act of defending
the life of his brother, the Duke of Gloucester,
after he has been unhorsed, and thrown to the
grbund by the Duke D'Alencon. There is much
of Cooper's vivid colouring in this picture, which
is replete with animation. No. 175, " Valley of
the Rhone, Switzerland, with Castle and Village!
of Martigny," is one of the most effec:ive paint-
ings in the Exhibition. It is from the pencil of
Oliver, who has handled a difficult perspective
with consummate skill. No. 177, " Sunset,
View on the Tyne," would have been better, if
the artist had not thrown too much yellow into
his colouring. Of the remaining pictures, the cle-
verest is No. 214, " Mary, Queen of Scots'
Farewell to France," which shows the unhappy
Queen looking fondly from the deck of her gal-
' ley towards the fast receding shores of that land
Ito which she was destined never again to return.