The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-24 00:00:00

FINE ARTS•

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY IN LITHOGRA-
PHY—RULLAWANDEL'S LITHO TINT IL-
LUSTRATIONS.
A most valuable improvement has'been made
in lithography, by a German artist, M. Hulls
mandel, which requires only to be known, to be
generally appreciated by all who take an inte-
rest in the progress of the Fine Arts. - Like most
important improvements, it is extremely simple
but simple as it is, it has baffled fora long series
of years the ingenuity of the ablest lithographers
in Europe, some of Whom pronounced it im-
possible, and the -majority, impracticabie At
last, after twenty' yearS' sedulous devotion to.
the subject, M. Hitilmandel‘ has obtained
the desired results; ' and as his discovery is one
likely to revolutionize the whole art of engraving,
as at present carried on, we subjoin his own in-
terestingaccount of it :—" Ever since the infancy
of lithography, hundreds of persons connected
with the art, 'have endeavoured to produce im-
pressions from stone, executed with the brush, in
the same manner as drawings are 'made with
seppia or Indian-ink. It was natural enough
that artists should make every effort to super-
sede the tedious and elaborate process by
which alone a liquid could be rendered avail-
able for the purpose of drawing on stone ; all
attempts, however, at producing variety of tints
by using the ink thicker or thinner failed,
the fainter lines either disappearing altogether,
or printing as dark as the thick ones. In the
efforts made to use ink as a wash, the result was
still more disastrous, producing only one dirty
mass of indistinctness, amid N which the original
drawing was scarcely to be traced. I also,
among hundreds of other artists," Hultman-
del goes-on to say, " for nearly twenty years, di-
rected iny attention to the brush style without
success, until about a twelvemonth since, when
the means suggested themselves to me of ob-
taining results which had been previously de-
clared impossible. The whole of the prints now
submitted to inspection are executed with a brush
on stone, in the- same manner as they would
have been drawn on paper, with seppia, &c.
Hence in these impresions all the raciness, the
smartness, and the beauty of touch are apparent,
hitherto only to be found in original drawings
on paper, the natural consequence of a process
which enables the artist to produce his ideas as
they are conceived. These impressions are, in
fact, all original drawings, and not the concep-
tions of men of talent, transmitted by the en-
graver. That no question may arise as to the
possibility of multiplying, theta to almost anv
extent, I may be permitted to add, that the present
drawings had been printed to the extent of
eight hundred, before these impressions were
taken, without any perceptible deterioration."_
The importance of a discovery like this to the
Fine Arts is incalculable, and we can imagine
what magnificent 'worls would now exist in the
collections of connoisseurs and amateurs, had
Rubens, Titian, Vandyke, and other great mas-
ters of art, been provided with such means of ex-
tending and multiplying their productions. The
extreme beauty of the tints are not among the
least remarkable features in the discovery.
Such lights and shades as it enables the
artist to give ! Such fforce and richness, and
rare picturesque effects ! How admirably
would it not have suited. the purposes of a Rem-
brandt, with his deep, broad shadows; or of a
Claude with his sunny, lustrous perspectives!
We shall confidently inope to see the master-
pieces of Wilkie transfe; rred, by means of this in-
vention, to stone, for nothing can give a more
vivid idea of his broad fbrcible colouring,
and those exquisite touches of character
tbr which he is so remarkable. Imagine
copies of his " Chelsea Pensioners," " Blind
Fiddlers," and "Pesiny Weddings," equal,
or all but equal, in truth and vigour
of effect, to the original paintings—circulated by
thousands among the people, and ornamenting
the humble dwellings of our English and Scottish
labourers! Here will be a revolution worth
looking forward to—A. quiet, social revolution,
not brought about b 3 ► bloodshed or the strife of.
contending fictions, but by the ennobling and
beneficent powers of .genius, and whose imme-
diate effects will b 6,, to improve, refine, and
elevate the habits of the humbler-classes of so-
ciety ! But it is time to give some notice
of the various Plates that are now lying
before us. Here is a sketch from a
painting by Harding, which possesses, by means
of the artful distribution of its tints, and the
spirit with which they are laid on, as much
breadth and force as :the original itself. The
subject is a ruined castle, standing on a wooded
eminence which forms the intermediate distance
in the landscape; in tlne front ground is a bridge,
over which some peasants are passing, and 'in
the remote distance, blending their faint grey
summits with the limizon, are billowy ranges of
mountains. Nothing; can surpass the bold-
ness and vivacity of effect visible through-
out this sketch. Me rich foliage of the
wooded heights is not stiff and formal, and
wiry, as it is so al .t to be in engraving on
steel and copper, nor sooty, as we often see it in
the ordinary lithograt ihs; but waving, and rest-
less, as we find it in :nature, and varying in its
shadows. Just betwe en the ground, in a level
meadow at the base of the hill, and the lower
branches of some m asisive full-foliaged oaks, a
little pool of water is seen, glittering like a
sheet of silver in the sunshine ; and the
lig:st here thrown 1, is quite dazzling in its
effect, and has not (Alen been surpassed even by
oils. In another Ph tte we have a view of the
interior of a ruined -.cathedral, with its broken,
mildewed columns st reaving the ground, and the
rays of an evening sun shining in through its
Gothic windows, making desolation, if possible,
still more desolate. 'acing the spectator is a
solitary individual wit( i is busy digging a grave,
and has just thrown u p a skull, on which the
sun's rays directly fat I, giving a terrible reality
to its ghastly whitertioss. The old man seems
well placed in such a situation; for • he, too,
is . a ruin, as we see by his wan, decrepid
figure, and the relax ed energy of his features,
in-Which extreme age and weakness are most
effectually shadowed fisrth. A third Plate re-
presents a Forest G 1 atle—one of those hushed,
umbrageous, sylvan sketches, which Wouver-
mans so loved to pailst. A fine vista is here
visible through an opening in the wood,
and the perspective is managed with the
utmost adroitness. la the foreground, a
tumbling brooklet is seen making its way
in fmai over small rocks and mounds of
earth; but otherwise, all is stillness—perfect
stillness—the repose od the grave without its
gloom. la a fourth Plate, we !save a spirited
sea sketch, whose freshness and nature will in-
stantly remind the spectator of Ruysdael and
Vanderveldc. A brig is. scudding full sail before
a brisk wind, while the risen waves are tossing
her about, as if she were a mere cork on the wa-
ter. What a spirit of Rie an d animation breathes
throughout this fine sketch The shifting clouds,
here congregated in heavy masses, there broken
up into light, detached fragments, with gitams
of sunshine bursting through them, tell us
that it is a bracing, autumnal day, and
that the vessel is making her way safely
and rejoicingly, despite th e mad waves that dash
over her prow. Of a fay different character is
the Plate representing a in sther watching by
.the
sick-bed of her child, whi ch is as full of quiet
pathos, as the sea-piece is o f boisterous rejoicing.
The room is lit only by a s ingle rush-light, arid
the farthest corner of it is consequently in
deep, black shadow. At th'e foot of the couch,
near a table on which :.stand one or two
physic bottles, is seated -the solitary figure
of the mother, • whoSe faces :s turned from
the spectator, but we can readily guess at its
expression, when we glance at the features of
the restless invalid, which seem worn down with
pain and disease. The amsious parent evidently
fears that the shadow of' th e Destroying Angelis
already failing upon her child, else wherefore
that crouching figure, th at downcast bead,
and that hand spread out, as if in the
nanny of despair? We have mentioned some
of those Plates that have most struck us by
the skill and spirit of their execution, but all
of them deserve notice, for they are dashed
off with an ease and a creeds( an unknown, till
now, to the lithographic art. Mr. Hullmandel
will great celebrity by them; and most
gain
deservedlyso, f'or his discovery -will be the means
of multiplying our intellectual e njoyments; and
diffusing a taste for the Fine Ar,is, in their most
sterling, unadulterated form, amongil—t thousands
who hitherto have never devsated so much as a
thought to the subject. When our leisure serves,
perhaps take the opporttenity of' again
'3le
referringlia to tles e Plates.