New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-05-10

subdued beyond its ordinary expression into ter
rifed stiffness l-realzing in the extreme Of
earthly horror what 10 promised in the fr0iton Of
heavenly hope, the lying down Of the lion and the
lambl
The woman stands for the human race. Bat
she is neither beautiful nor graceful nor com
msnding. We put it to the a. tst if the grandeur
OF the effect would not have been much enhanced,
! if, without concesling the supremacy OF the
chaotic elements in that awful moment-he had
intensified them by the dignity and grandeur Of
the victim. who is their greatest triumph. At
present there is no universal, symbolicsl effect,
more than in the overw helming OF any unfor-
tunate by any natural convulsion-and in the
prominence Of this subject, in picture Of this
character, the mind instinctively demands some
thing symbolic. 1t rejects the idea that the race
could perish like rat in q corner. "There were
giants in those days and their tragedy must be
Titanic. At least it must be so, when it becomes
the subject Of Art.
The other fatal defect, as work Of art, we have
already overwhelmingly, its unmitigated hor
ror No picture is success which, for this reason,
repels the eye from it's contemplation. The eye
reels about this canvas disturbed and dismayed.
Like atempest.tossed bird, it seeks but does not
find the green bough to which it may cling while
the roar of divine wrath RACES along the world
| This is point rarely omitted in any great work OF
this kind In the old representations OF the Chris
tian MART rdoms the eye rises to the peace OF the
palms waved by cherubs over the stake, or ak,
or wheel, % the soul Of the victim rose into the
repose OF heaven. The great exception TO this
law is its great proof the series Of freScoeE in
| San stephano Rotondo in Rome, which presents
the disgusting detail of blood, unrelieved. In
| Gericaults famous picture Of the Wreck ofthe
Medusa," on the other hand, although the extrem-
ity misery is depicted and the death ofthe corses
dashed to the raft is less awful than the life of
the famine stricken survivors-yet here the eye
and hope escape to the sail which appears upon
the horizon, and the heart begins to beat again
with the Hutter Of the handkerchief waved to at.
tract attention. As Ruskin says that no land
scape is entirely satisfactory that does not let the
eye out to the horizon, at least indicate how it
might get out so no picture is an artistic success
which extinguishes hope altogether If the heart
cannot beat the mind cannot enjoy The mean
ing Of the Ark is too much overlooked In Mr..
CHURcH's Deluge. The true dignity of picture
OF this theme would seem to lie in the contem-
platioR of the wide waste of waters from the Ark
itself
For the rest, Mr. CHURCH undoubtedly sus'
tains in this Exhibition the high rank he had al
ready attained. AS student of skies and waters
he is not surpassed among our artists; and if
these are the shells be shows from his first sea
side strayings, what will be the pearls Of subse-
quent Summers?
Mr.. CRANcH's contributions this year are also
better than ever before. We are struck with the
genuine Americanism OF the works he now ex.
hibits They show that he does not look with an
Italian eve or work with an Italian hand, upon
landscape whose spirit is entirely different. The
cool and lofty dignity of No. 3s, A Pine Grove,
commends itself at once to the worshipper in
those natural charlottesville in No. 373, An
AutumnAl Sunset we pass along the quiet
winding wood road deep into the luminous dis
lance of the picture, sure that we shall see no
castled summit ranging along the valley, nor
catch the frost work of distant Gothic spires melt
ing in the golden glow Of sunset. With little va
riety of composition and with no aim az tae
holder grouping o. the grander landscape TINS
artist always nfuses into his pictures the ieelng
he proposes Like most other American Lana
scsnists he shows a tendency to the more Sc
| ouestered and romantic aspects OF nature
whose delineatio is always bold attempt, for
the eve and memory instantly challenge the faith
fulpess of the likeness, since the forms are used
for their own sake and for their own sentiment
Therefore, it was that the Catskill mania was OF
,uch good service. None of the LandscaPists
turned Ulyssean mien to those aussere and beau
tiful syrens sitting upon the Hudson shores
COLE heard, and DURAND and CROSBY, hES-
sETT, CHURCH and GRANGE, and they all follow
ed gladly deep into tn heart Of the fascination,
and returned with diamond sprays from their en-
chanted forests. They brought sketches and
studies, and when they were hung upon the walls
Of the Academy, their close fidelity to nature was
the necessary standard of judgment. This year
there is less Catskill than usual, but the Caskil
training is evident throughout
Mr.. CRAScHs No $50, "sunset in the Wilder
ness" is the best large work we have yet seen
from him, and has already attracted much atten-
ton for the glow Of its sky, in which the clouds
do really float and fade. Its fine sweep Of lumin'
ousneu well overarches the graceful mountain
promontory in the middle distance, and they are
the best points of the picture. We could have
wished somewhat rocker rocks and more open
ness in the foreground, although the dead runA
is good and effective. On the whole the picture
is hardly interesting enough. In this respect 1t
is not equal to No. 10, "Vesuvius at Moonrise,
which has great poetic beauty, and is somewhat
different from Mr. CRANcHs usual manner. The
color of moonlight is not yet determined, and IL ls
treated here very successfully. The sentiment
Of moonlight which pervades this picture is very
beautiful and Just. The clewed sails OF the boat
perhaps too large bOat-the attitude of the fg
ures, the ripping calm Of the water, and the two
phantom sails duskily drawn upon the dark, with