New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-01-17
THE FINE ARTS.
~s. p,.se,dorf schooi-Lessiss's Martyraom
II HuGA.

a. s,,sI,;no our promise Of critical examination
g Ta..;nS,. Martyrdom of Huss, and the DusseI-
dorf School of Painting delsy occAsioned by tue
.,ovd Of more imperative but not more congenlsl
duties. In the meantime, we do not understand
,hst the Dusseldorf exhibition or Lessings pc
ture have fallen of in popularity and perhaps tne
greater familiarity of the public with the subjects
we are about to discuss, may give to our 'O'Ne'
what tardy remarks degree OF usefulness -
which they could not otherwise attain
First word as to the position Of 'ne Dus'ei'
dorf school in existing Art
There are three distinct schools OF painting IN
Europe-psmely, the German, the French and the
Enel,b. Each is marked by the social, political,
religious and metaphysical characteristics OF its
nation.
English Art, after Houndering through period
of hundred years, and producing various kinds
Of painting, in Reynolds, Gainsborough, Moreland
and BENJAMIN West, has finally developed dis
tinct and, in some respects, an original school
As examples Of originality, Constable, Landseer
and Turner stand foremost, though fine talent has
also been busily engaged in other directions than
,beirs--not, however, with an equal degree of
originality, but always with skill and considerable
success Inc ueCIucu VI eHaS SSNDNl
are rustic and rural, as in the pictures of genre
from Gainsborough down to Collins and in the
landscapes Of Turner, Constable Copeley Field
ing, and others. At the present time the English
school 10 full Of talent, brought out and developed
mainly by the competition for the Royal commits
sion TO decorate the new House Of Parliament
Prior to that commission, and since the death Of
West, the most distinguished Painters Of historic
or epic composition were Hayden, Mulready, Les
lie, Eastlake, Etty and Maclise bat now there
are some dozen young men whose works take rank
IN the higher walks of Art, and who are endowed
with sincere love of grand historic representa-
ton. We may confidently look for great things,
within the next fifty years, from these artists and
their Successors in the English school.
While England has been painting out its rural
sentiment, until she has just now commenced
new career, France has founded and matured
school whose characteristic traits result in great
measure from her social and political changes.
We have not the space to enter into an exposi'
ton Of French Art prior to the revolution Of 1893.
Suffice it to say that previous artists with few ex-
ceptions, had only pandered to the lewdness
which was az essential element in the corrupt
courts Of French monarchs and not until, in po-
htical France the words Virtue and Brotherhood
were substituted for God and Faith, did those
artists appear to whom she is now indebted Tor
her great school, David was the bold and sue
oessfu pioneer in heroic and classic Art IN France.
To him is due the honor of having rescued it from
the degraded condition in which it had long been
sunken. A genuine republican at heart, inspired
by love of the ideal, seeing that gorgeous dream
- e. ant nnpanH QhnQf
be realized, utterly dspelled and only an internal
chaos remaining in its place, he naturally turned
Tor subjects of his pencil to the classic histories oil
Greece and Rome. Davids works and influence
were the foundation of the school. Then came
eros, Leopold Robert, Gericault, Vernet De la
Roche, Ingres, Papety, Couture, Diaz, TroyoT
Deoamps, and others. At this day. if the French
School is not generally recognized az foremost in
Europe it is undeniably the second, the German
being first. We must say, however, that the
reasons for giving the palm to Germany, II are
fully explained, might not be found altogether SUI
Rcient,
We have thus succnctly referred to the English
and French Schools, in order not only to locate
them where they respectfully belong, but because
we may have occasion TO refer to special works
belonging to one or the other.
The German School is distinct and peculiar,
Rrst, for its metaphysical character and then be-
cause il has no middle term, no medium range oil
character and treatment It either deals In imi-
tston OF downright vulgar externality, or it scars
AWAY into the heaven ofthe ideal until it becomes
divine The great chiefs of ideal art In TINS
school are Overlook, Cornelius and kaubach-
Overlook leads the reproduction oil thesOhristian
or relgious style, and adopts as bus models the
works of Pintirichio, Perugno, and HaphaeI-
Cornelius is in another walk; he isone OF the most
successful follow of Michael Angelo, proofenough
of his genius and claim to renown. Adopting the
manner Of that great master he pursaes his method
of treatment in every essential particular, still
preserving the originality of his own powerful
mind. Midway, between these men stands Kaul'
bach as were the pivot and center of the art OF
this age, having burst the trammels Of convention
nj thought and from his internal fire and force,
moulded forms which breath Of the divinity OF God
and of the humanity Of man, in the Jeruslem, the
Huns, and the Babel, all monuments OF immortal
fame. Having accomplished ali that the other
two are capable of in their own ways, he has still.
in reserve his own idiosyncrscy which stamps his
werks and leaves on the mind Of their beholders
the indisputable impression of original genius.
As every comet has its tail, these iIustrious
men have their hosts OF followers. They are the
ideal artists of Germany--the artists in whom the
poetic and reflective elements Of character pre-
dominate over the sensuous and Perceptive.-
Their works are the results of an incredible
amount Of artistic eruditon every symbol ne
oessary to their perfection is frsught with mean
ing, and every figure towers from the beautiful
into the sublime. Simple anecdote is not enough
br them, though rendered with an epigrsmmstic
power which may move you to laughter, perhaps
10 tears 1t is not their aim to do either Of these