The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-10-08
THE REPUBLIC.

all old masters not great masters; therefore
great masters not all old masters--consequent-
ly, some great masters are modern masters, and
accordingly the merits of picture have nothing
to do with its age. Qaod erat demonstrandum. This
is the great fact, simple as it may appear
Ii cannot be denied, however, that the taste for
art in this country has, within the past low years,
grown stronger ard purer. IL peryades, too, not
as heretofore class, but the masses of the people,
who, having become famiiarized with good works
Of art, longer easily satisfied WITH nor i'm
posed on by, poor ones. There is little question
that the annual collection and distribution of pic
lures by the various unions in large cities have
done much towards fostering and improving this
taste. Other causes may be found in the inven-
ton OF the Daguerreotype process, 1.-THE exactness
and truthfuness of Photographic ikenesses silently
and impercepubly teaching people to discriminate
between accurate and faulty drawing, and render
ing more obvious particular defects in ar) and in
the spread spirited and reliable engraved copies
of the productions of the best living foreign artists
We rejoice that it can longer be said with truth
that the fine arts do not flourish in this country
that their refining influence is not felt it should
be; and that artists languish for want of sup
port. We rejoice at this and yet we COM
PEELED to confess that the encouragement, if not
the appreciation of art, is conspicuous in other
cities than in this-a fact that may be accounted
for in part by the uctuating character of pop
ulation, and the general lack of wealth among the
permanent residents of Washington. We think,
however, that we already discern the COM
mencement of different state of things, and we
hope that our metropolis may yet be as distin-
guished and attractive for it's public and private
collections Of pictures it now is in other re-
spects.
The landscape by Mr.. Brent, which has provoked
the foregoing remarks, is, if not the best, certainly
among the best which his face pencil has produced
The subject is highly poeticsl one, and presents
TO the eye the familiar face of nature in of her
most pleasing aspects. The rocky foreground
the shallow winding stream, heckcd with foam,
(the water of which is remarkably transparent and
full of movement)-the group Of trees occupying
the middle distance full of pleasing variety in their
light and shadow-the more distant woods, 'hushed
in broad sunlight" to the right, the glimpse Of
cold oceans gray and melancholy waste" render
it one OF the most suggestive and delightful pic
lures which it has been our good fortune TO sec
The clements, it will be SEEM OF the most ordi
nary kind; but their beautifully compact DISPOSE
ton constitutes the charm OF this simple kind OF
material Like other similar works of the painter
this to have been closely studied from nature
the LEAKAGE is worked out with much freshness o
color, and the atmosphere will be noticed o
| it's striking merits Freedom and frmness arc the
characteristics of the execution. The work is an
other proof Of that high ability by which the
of the artist has already been made famous.
r. s. c.