New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-04-08
THE FINE ARTS.
The Washington Gallery.


esre.,ly desire the establishment Of good Perna-
usnt gallery Of works ofart 10 the Ciyto shch our
,o,.the oresept exhibition Is devoted-thst eanoot
tortesr expressipz ou- cordial hope for re afsest Pc
c,pisyv,nccees Such success is souldsnIy deserved
Nv the excellence Of the Exhibition alone. Inc pro
oorfion Of really good pictures among the whole nun
Der h unexamped In portraits there are some "aen
modern art has not excelled Nothing can be hner,
for ipftsnce than No. 2 SrUAgTs Gea Ga'e5 II IL tAe
,erfee,;on Of life character and art; representation
We zee in the old SOLDIER with ma bravery ms rasn
ness his virtues ard his futs, faithfully, but TAR
more wildly than he depicted to US 10 the psgeo
history and il 10 DOPE with the free, unconventional
hand cf an artist who thoroughly knows how TO use BIS
materials for the end he has in view No work In tne
Gallery csn in Judgment be pronounced superior
10 this Along with il do hesitate 70 place No.
"a A Fsraole Head by HICKS. Tois picture was fret
exhibited some eight ten years since before the
sris, had visited Europe but he may be proud Of 70
me end Of his life II is admirable for It's real and IN
tense character the fine OF its temper
smept the vital qualify Of the flesh, the melancholy
depth Of the eyes, the rchoess and harmony OF the
soloring and the skill and keeping Of every detail
Such pictures make lasting regulations. No w. the
Od Captain portrait by WooDyILLE, Is forcibly
tainted but is conventional and comes TOO evidently
from the school Of Mr. Dusseldorf" PAGE, also has
one or two Of his characteristics portrsits which from
heir sonberness Of color and depth Of tone, might
have been produced half millennium ago.
Here TOO are some Of CoLEs very finest productions.
How the uxuraDce and glory Of the Isliaa afternoon
Ia poured over the Vep Of FOrence No 6l) and what
broad and inevitable daylight battles the pomp OF his
Consammation Of Empire Go l2l) Some Of the best
thines Of DURAsD are here also, landscape compost
lions full Of the sweetest and most delicate sentiment,
and of tender rustic nature 10 whose gentle OyeDess
the critic joyfully submits. KENsETT's IndiGH Rea-
dscops NO SD is worthy 10 be mentioned in the same
category CHURCH has single landscape Twilight
NO ~ exhibited in the Academy Of 1881 we there
sought to do justice to it, solemn and sublime genius
and now repeat the praise we gave 1t then. Among
the figure compositions LEUTzEs First Iaio0ieU
Of Heary YIIL and AHRe BOLeyn is one Of the very
best pieces have from that fresh and mus
sulsr artist Il indicates delicate feeling of character
and care and study in execution. The stately beauty,
and naughty and touching jealousy Of Queen Cstharine
are finely conceived and painted No such praise can
be bestowed on the Hester PJyHNs and LiHle Pearl,
NO u or the ReDs from Lexington, (No 3l) by the
came artit-both are caricatures the yellow glare Of
light in the latter is especially bad On the other side
Of the room lie LKsLrrs immortal little picture Of Ann
humor, and delicate beauty of color, endow il with
insybsustble charm. MAcLIsEs S1eHad no. GO is
striking the drawing is bold and vigorous and the fig
ures finely modelled but the color is abominable let
the reader notice the red shadows everywhere en-
,loyed in It, shadows flesh linen silk and wood
were always Of one hue In The Bandits Confession,
NO TD by BRoDIR, the head Of the penitent robber
snd the venerable horror struck monk po werfu The
Bopes of Lore No 90 by REDEL, 10 iulllengtb por.
trait of Cupid in the natural costume with his wings
entaBged among flowers. IL IL fantastic and pretty,
and likely TO be much admired, the same principle
we suppose as an Indian admires a gaudy six penny
hthograph because il il bright and unlike anything
seen In nature So Is this Cupid And while IL is thus
unlike nature it Is not ideal II expresses no idea
any shadow Of one. Thus 1t Is reilly absuTdity-a
predicate which may safely be attached to the whole
tribe of modern pictures and sculptures from antique
mythology The Missionary, (No lUe)by HICKS, iscNcci
lent; the face IL fun Igouseeng landscape
charminely fresh aud summer-like. We are sorry TO
saw that RorHERMELs Patrick Henry Cl Is not equal
10 the opinion we had formed OF his works though even
more studied and elaborate than usual 1t is ali con
fusion In which the eye vany seeks for center or cir
cumferesce Boy Nth Pen and Paper. no. 81 by
Sir joshua REYNOLDS, We have heard praised to our
thinking, without good reason. There is nothing about
u
tone and the dirt accumulated on IT, surface. Nots
single part OF II lie well drawn, really suggests the
objec, IL Is intended to represent This picture comes
from the gallery of j. Lenox Esq we could wish, for
the sake Of the public that 1t had been accompanied by
some treasures which according report, nclud
ed the same gallery. for instance one two
gems by Turner. MoUNr has several pieces in the col
lection replete with his genial Of character and
comic humor but much "a we admire them, they
make us regret the lack OF artistic culture they beray
What an artist Mount would have been had he only un
derstood more thoroughly the use Of pigments and
brushes and the laws of his art
But though there are many other pictures on the
walls which deserve special mention we mus, leave
these cursory observations for the particular works that
give the CELERY lie name In all there nise Of hese
two being busts of WASHINGTON in marble, one by
HoupoN, the other by PowESs. That OF Houdou has
entirely the air of faithful Likeness OF the as he
was that of Powers represents him according to the
artists idea not without resemblance indeed, since
everybody knows was meant for Washington, but
we think Ii has value portrait, and little
an ideal work Powers is great in the representation
Of actual nature which he carries to wonderful de
gree ofperfec,on but nc does not exhibit those higher
qualities of genius and Imagination, which produce
greatness In the ideal creations OF art and when he
tempts that sphere he fails.
The largest portrait Of Washington is the familiar
full length by srrARr this is doubtless very valuable
AZ giving idea Of the as heappesrsi in matursr
age, but speture II is weak compared with the head
OF Gen Gates by the same artist, LEvrzES Bashisg.
Dorchester Rishs NO, 90 and his iosne WssA
iNstoR, (s4l are neither of them pleasing. Whist
stony and disagreesble eyes the former lie afflicted
with, and how Ia the other ever to set through the
thicket he Is engaged INF
But let come to the pronxnent feature OF the Gal
lery. This Of course is LKUrzES picture OF BasA
isssos erossiss the Delaware, which Is placed in most
advantageous light at the esd of the large room 1t
has been exhibited here before and is well known to
the public but we have yet to thorough criticism
Of Ito merits. Nor do we propose now to undertake
one, but simply to express frank opinion on one or
two points hiss stirring picture, full Of life move
ment and electricity And Il takes direct hold Of its