New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-05-01
FINE ARTS.
Exljbi,ior Of The NntioRnl Academy.

possille. since not motion, but only 'he ehec' o'
motion. can be represented,-and secohu, ny
means ofthat reminiscence to excite 'ho"sno OF
ero,ion This recognition is the fundamental
rrcinie of criticism upon works OF landscape art
There is y Kind of iugglery in pictures and statues,
! for they nre the result of means whose use Is
known TO very few. statue always "h'P'soa
pron me ~ once said to us an acute observer, anu
in the same way, the mystery OF brilliant coiorS
confuses the majority of spectators.
Pm. There need be no more difficulty in estma-
,no tbe absolute Of a character picture thah Oh
noon. Ant. in whatever form, IS simply language
=. aim ;s the communication of ideas, when Is
tho final cause of all speech. A picture must,
therefore. mean something, or it is not WORK oil
o,t snv more than pile of bricks is a house.
Bearing this in mind, and also, the TWO very amer
ent values OF landscape painting already indica'eu'
and ofwhich, that which reveals, so 10 speak, Iio
sense Of the landscape is absolutely and IN all ca
COS inferior TO that which man'fests its s0W,-we
will leave our damnable postulates and begin.
We have already spoken of CAPKLLENs N0rTe-
rim forests (4l01 It's ofthe three finest land
scapcs in the exhibition, KESsETT's two large
ones being the others. The scene represented
We noticed last week. Ii is not exclusively Nor
weeian II is the gloomy grandeur oil any MD
forest nook of the kind in any country where gen.
nine wildness is possible. In England such scenes
arc known only in faint approximation. But with
MS every venturous sportsman, every truant boy
the summers Endynon-know those dank, Shiny
rocks. and roots, and moss-ta OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
torn;d green. slight shimmering water-thOse rot
ting trunks whose stawart youth strained In the
storms of dead centuries-that sun-saturated
moss greening and gracing the forests tragedy
the fat eathery Hly-pads and water-blooms-
that vague sense of rank and loathsOme life in
snake and weed These, that make the scene a
symbol of a grand old barbaric Morse king dying in
silent and tremendous gloom, are more or less ia
miliar to the people Of a country where the pri-
meval seal of nature is still somewhere set This
scene the artist has given us with majestic vigor.
From the night of the back forest solitary bear
climbs over PROSTATE trunk with that lesurely
movement which intensifes the wild solitude of
the scene by showing that the beast fears no other
than foes of its own kind. Hence it is not
vague or meaningless accessory, nor introduced
from any conventional principle of the necessity
of figures in landscape, but for the very purpose OF
increasing the landscape ehect desired. Into the
centre of the scene, down upon messy trunk on
the waters edge, strikes a sunbeam, sliding along
the rock and cleaning tremblngly away in the
water. This, also emphasizes the gloom 1t is
trick, but of Natures playing. Not only does
the contrast amin ate the painting, and give good
bit of brilliant and effective color, but, upon the
ray of sunlight certain sentiment ldes into the
scene, ameliOrating its sternness and more subtly
touching the sympathy of the observer. Perhaps
the gush of sunshine is too much concentrated for
the sake of interest-possibly there would not,
under the circumstances, be chasm in the foliage
above sufficiently large to pour such a volume of
light into that cave Of night, without betrayng its
presence elsewhere in the air and foliage; and the
latter may seem too eaden and Opaque in tint;
but measured by any standard it is a noble pic
ture-simple and grand and austere.
Close beside it hangs KENsETT's Reminiscence
Ofhe White Mountains (1l7.) In his cOntribu-
tions this year MIR. kENsETT sustains and confirms
his reputation. His genius is essentially tranquil
There is Il broad repose upon all his works, gen
eral placid effect united with the most conscien-
tious detail. His studies of rocks-the individu-
region he paints, are no less remarkable than the
general impression. We do not allow that he has
any master in landscape in the country. Other
artists and especially Englishmen, are drawn to
spccialitcs in landscape, and in them they excel
But kENsETT, although always seeking quiet
effect, will find it among lonely mountains or upon
meadows and streams, or in any natural feature
1t is not sea-shore only, in which some men like
Stanfed are eminent nor the cattle-scenes which
lar kind of landscape in which certain artists are
Justly great, but it is the supreme and universal
repose of Nature in all these particular scenes,
that he loves and deneates. Hence few pictures
more directly affect the spectator than his. lou
are conscious ola soothing and inspiring influence.
Like south winds in May, like June roses their
penetrating loneliness oyerpowers you.
1t is not strange that the character of his feel
inc affects his treatment. There is sometimes
delicacy of handling that Injuries his BREADTH and
a grayshness in the greens which is too cool. But
the effect sought is so clearly conceived that he
never fails to attain it. He has less waste in his
works. more uniformly successful than any
painter we recall. From his unshrinking depend
ence upon Nature and close study of her forms and
effects. there is reality in all he does which be-
comes poetic through his imag ination. He is not
an imitator copyist of Nature, because he sees
with his heart and mind, as well as with his eye.
This redeems the extreme tranquility of his land
scapes from monotony, and makes them interest
ing, although they only simple scenes. This
also assures his originality, because whenever a
man opens his heart well as his eye to Nature,
she addresses him as individual Many good
poets suggest other poets-many painters other
painters but KENsErT suggests nothing but Ma
ture. 1t would be impossible to say, from the OBJ