New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-06-21
THE FINE ARTS.
Exhibition Of the National Academy

The rul,,,pae Of Portraits is always Inc fe''"AO"
~ .i..-f n..-,,og The objection however,
ines M, AGAINST the quantity ou' '"e suaN''
,,.r T,,,o,e,. Rubens and VandycA are names S's
"~''' No., and 10 consccraie any number Of
- oC this kind portrait well managed
81 the finest Of pictures portrait ID WHICH
,,ss,o0estjon Of individual nature and character j.
.aeonately expressed is picture OF e1hausiess III
,.,sst Portrait implies, however pecullar Po"ei
md orpanizaiion in the artist Not the most maS'ei
~ manipulation OF the most striking likeness
Vbs,heY OF countenance or Of costume, suulce 10
fine portrait
por,ra PAINTING IS branch Of the highest an anu
not department OF Dagueueoiype or OF wax "oiA'
nis not the fixed pennanence OF transient Moo''
no, the pyeasqnfest eryressi9a," the wry wfn-
HES and bottle nose or the complexion creamy a. d
,ose-leafs texture 1t is representation OF the
general impressiOn made by the subject upon Ihe APP
nyeciating mind of the artist Hence artist can be
a successful Portrait Painter who has not me IN
stinct of character nor any spectator be Judge
of portrait considered as work Of art VINO mas
no, the same delcacy of perception The universal
feeling Of friends respecting any Individual portrait
illustrates this principle Rarely IS husband salts
fed with the picture Of his wife, rarely child with
that OF the parent 1t is because they 90 not them
selves know what IS the essential character Of the
person they love- OF because the artist has failed to
nerceiye IL The portrait which satisfies universally
,s one of Daguerrean cxactness Of detail 70 the
crnoned t-bosom and the single hairs. But that
;s tho sinpIe satisfaction OF imitation Ike the rehec
tIon in mirror or the plastic precision OF waX-"ofA
Such portrait IS not necessarily work OF art ana
Of course does not fall within the limits OF genuine
artistic criticism
The elder Painters, who did not scon to paint real
Philosophers and Poets and Kings, and found II a
work as agreeable 20 their reverence for Art as the
fashoning Of ideal forms front the eaturcsof Models,
made their portraits poems. Poets were poetic IN
them. Kings were regal and Queens lovely II Alex
ander had wry neck, or the Philosopher cast IN
hseve the Painters did not rely for success upon the
accurate imitation Of these defects but they painted
The Singer and the Thinker and the Ruler. For the
charm Of these characters not accidental but es-
sential and their universal interest for all men and
for all times lay in that charm. Homer Is rep
resented blind But the Imagination does not
gam by II. Blindness nowhere appears IL Homer,
rs IN no way associated with Homer better por-
trait would open his eyes except that now the treat
ment has become traditional, that the mind ac-
cepts il without repusion Yet II an artist were to
paint Hamlet, Cat and asthmatic, the Imagination
would properly recOn disguised. I'm portrait the per
son must show as he appears to the mind, not as he
looks TO the eve We do not want Tcrpschoro asleep
or roposing, nor do insist upon WaShIngtons bag
wig and knee buckles. And If tins is true of Cos
tune as It undoubtedly IS, how much truer IS II OF
that which is costumed and which lends TO dress
what character ii has We do not care TO see Ben
jamin Franklin ma Roman toga, nor our Mothers
and Sisters draped as Grecian danes. There are
prophecies OF treatment which suggest themselves to
The same instinct which fits the Portrait Painter for
his task The perception of the due relation OF cos
tune to character is implied is genuine artistic &C.
MUS To hang the Drulica drapery of Norma upon
the form of lovely lady OF Newly ork who under no
circumstances would go into wood alone at mid
night TO sing heather hymns TO the Noon Is quite as
absurd to rage against statue OF Washington be
cause there are brass buttons lace cravat upon
II. Tinan's portraits Of Venetian Mobiles are Vene-
iian songs. They are the representation OF forms
and faces that sti look haughtily or lovelly down
upon the poet who passes IN the palace shado" De-
low. Possibly those gentlemen had weak eyes or
other affections sometimes, or even SOued 1neh oc-
cas,onally. or they were not really handsome but
only suggested characteristic beauty to the artist
"who So transparent wrought,
Il almoSt sceired as II the body thought
And IN the Immortality OF Porraure we now see
those mortals as If disemboded, their forms moulded
bv that which was essentially themselves which
made them not only personal, but intellectual, indl-
yiduals The same thing appears in Vandyke'S por'
traits of the Marquis aad MarcmoneSs Brgnole, IN
Genoa. They are lyrics OF superb life, the far and
the heroic figures OF Mobiles who made and who
make Nobility poetic fact. Nandykes portraits OF
the English Charles l. are of the same kind. Then
impression Is regal and esta that of Kings always
should be- Looking n them the spectator breathes
the rich air Of Royalty. Nero should not have been
painted so, for History records and the mind figures
him as a monster But it was CharleS'S too chNaric
sentiment of the rights of Royalty that lost mm ms
crown and his life and 50 he is well treated IN Ant
as Vandyko treats him. Charles Is no monster not
even tyrani 70 the Imagination and, spite OF De
mocracy and the rights OF man, he Frances right
royally through the Imagination over the canvas
of Vandyke.
We are following too far these general specuia-
TONS but we must strike one parting blow for Por-
trait which is the mode to decry, mot for tte por
traits, which indeed, more csustic critics might eX-
press their Willingness 10 strike at . The greatest
pictures in the world represent scenes less
sacred, and the figures OF those scenes are always
portraits and precisely Of the Kind whichwe claim Is
alone the proper portrait melodious verse OF
Winters embalms the fact.
" The kVlhdriuaS lalr Young ltc,.
Once more upon her lover Shons.
Whose model II an angels grace
lie borrowed nom her own
With these pleasant lines so0ening any Rh'daman-
thine tendencies let Us cast our last glance upon the
Academy walls.
Upon entering the large hall the eye ranging
round the room is attracted by picture hUnS on the
middle of the right wall, and giving The KEY OF color
to that side Of the room II is AR A2sc PrccSS. 1897