New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-05-10
THE FIN f ARTS.
The National Academy of Design.

The National Academy OF Design
III.
Tho nictures of Mr.. CHURCH in the Exhibition
show that his Summer studies upon the seasnore
are 10 have rich results. All his contributions Oh
this year, with one exception, are properly mafine
piotures-the exception, No. 1893, Lake scene on
Mt. Desert Island" is not altogether pleasant
from a somewhat metallic monotony of hue bat
shows that deep and delicate study Of ciouu
scenery for which this artist is 90 Justly dlsrn'
suished. The long, serene bars OF vapor that hot
in the sky on the right Of the picture, lmpsrs a
tranquility to the whole scene-which the spec
tator would hardly have otherwise felt, yet which
10 essential to the proper impression OF the land
scape. No. 81 "Beacon, off Mt Desert Island,
10 another Of the artists gorgeous sEy'scdpe'' II
he will tolerate 30 doubtful term. By skllfully
starting upon low tone he has legitimately pro
duced fine effect of setting ~ sunlight stream.
ing through cleft in the cloud by dash of bril-
liant color along the horizon
The sentiment of this picture land the senti'
ment of pictures is the sole ground upon which
the exoteric critic may speak with authority is
finely sustained throughout. The gloom Of gath
ering night breathes cool along the canvas. The
sails of q few vessels stretching out to sea, aud
the surf combing over the rocky ledge upon which
stands the Beacon, forming the central point Of
the foreground of the picture, are full Of broad and
genuine feeling. These are the poetic strokes,
with which the subdued brilliance Of the ranks OF
high clouds 10 in admirable harmony. There Is
great repose in the picture. As the spectator
looks, he muses. and the sea and the shore aud
their eternal mystery and sadness gather in his
mind, even AZ the evening gathers over the PIC
ture This work of Mr.. CHURCH is deservedly
one of the most popular in the Gallery for 1t Is
broadly conceived and its feeling and ASSOCIATION
command universal sympathy.
We are not to forget however. that the time
represented in this picture is matter OF doubt
among the spectators. There are partisans both
of sunset and OF sunrise One side asserts that
the lisht In the middle distance OF the sky 10 too
white and cool for the evening, and the other tnat
the water is too dark for morning; but both agree
that it Is that character of atmospheric phenome-
ma in which morning and evening effects resemble
each other. 1t is q question, however to De re-
solved only by the closest observation and know
ledge of these precise effects, and meanwhile the
uninitiated may adopt as they please, the morning
or evening theory. For our own part the sugges-
ton and sentiment of the picture seem to indicate
evening, although sueh feeling might, perhaps
be traced to special association.
No. ll6, " An Old Boat" is also singular sue
cess 1t ia very small picture, representing an
old boat high upon the shore, and the fog stealing
in over the sea. The moist, white opacity OF the
mist 10 remarkably well rendered. We do not
recall any finer sketch of that peculiar effect.
The most important and ambitious picture
which Mr. CHURCH exhibits, Is No. l, " The
Deluge" The artist here comes boldly in con
trast with great names and without success. We
wish to acknowledge in The Deluge,' however
the same high aim at composition which we have
already commend cd in Mr.. CRoPsY's Southern
Italy,, and trust in simplicity Of material, which
10 quite characteristic Of Mr.. CHURcH's style
and is an indication Of self assured power.
But the present conception of the Deluge, with
out offering anything essentially new IN the con
ceptiou. is inadequate There is a tradition o.
treatment in this and similar subjects, which is
sure to produce a commonplace effect, II II IS not
Illustrated with very remarkable skill Raphael
painted traditional themes in a traditional man
ner but he Infused into them 80 individual char
acter that the Madonnss and Saints, although cast
in the Peruginesque mold, were still RaPhaePs
and not Perugno's. 10 there anything IN this
work that would not occur to any tyre who pro-
posed to paint the Delugel The storm, the IN
nndaslOn, the Ark and the human interest which
Mr., 0HuRcH supplies by TIE figures OF mother
ana enad, by whom Quaking tiger crouches,
and oil gathered upon a rock Just topping into
sne seys'-shese are obvious, and require some
thing else to separate Mr.. CHURcH's from all
other Deluges.
Without undertaking the irrelevant question
OF what pictare Of the Deluge might be, it is
clear that the Significance of the Arb should be
made very manifest. Viewing the traditional
event artsticay, it is the Ark which destroys the
unmitigsted borror Of the story. Upon the Ark
The Imagination Hoss out beyond despair into
'ne calm Of hope, and feels that the race is pre-
served. But this picture is the contemplation Of
unmisigated horror Even the sun seems about
70 DO quenehed and the AK is an uncomfortable,
o,1en indissDguisbsble, dot upon !he chaos The
euie' objects Of human interest are submerged
sO"n and the group already mentioned. The tiger
H0' Psraiyzed with fear. bat seems 70 be snarlins
SP'a 'os woman and child, az II he were at home