Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1864-04-20
master, and IN order to give full play to his

d
in tire size OF the figures which is unpardon-
able. While the man in the coonskin cap is
drawn almost full size, the one standing on
the rock and holding the flag is only
half the length of coonskin's left arm
And yet there is no distance between them.
-Coonskin could turn around and reach the
rock the other stands with his hand. The
width of the flag is equal to one-t third the
| heISht OF the man holding il, and yet the
stripes and stars appear as distinct at that
! distance as though they were but twenty
feet off. If we make scale of twenty parts
the flag fills one, the man holding it three,
coonskin fifteen, and the men immediately in
the foreground, twenty. This proves either
that the man on the rock is drawn too small
or the man in the coonskin cap and his group
are too large, The error consists in repre-
senting the man on the rock far Oft while
the rock itself is near.
As d dynamic composition, it is harmonious
throughout The procession is not only in
motion forward, but each figure has an indie
pendent and appropriate action of its own
| No two persons are in the same attitude
One extends his hand and points out the
| landscape, one is climbing, one reaches over
| and goads the off OK some hold tie wagon
from upsetting and all have accordant mo-
| ton.
| | have neglected to mention that this paint
| ing Is the work of Mr.. Emanuel Leutze a
| German artist of well-known reputation the
| same who painted q" Washington Crossing the
| Delaware, n Mrs Schuyler firing her Corn
| fields, " The Carnival of Venice q Puritans
| escaping to America" and many Others of
less note. OF these the best is that of Mrs.
| Schuyler firing her cornfelds, though another
| Is more widely known. The reason of the
| superiority in this case is that the compost
| ton contains fewer figures, and the action is
| centralized and harmonious Mr. Leutze's
| forte Is in dramatic rather than historical or
pastoral composition. Where one has given
| US SO many good productions, regret exceed
| lngly to speak harshly of any but while this
picture in the Capitol has many excelIencies,
| 1t contains more blemishes than any other by
| the same artist. The figures are well drawn.
| the expression forcible and appropriate, the
drapery is graceful and natural, while much
| of the coloring is faulty. pair of mules,
! chocolate colored, have on aghite harnesses
which has very unpleasant effect, the
straps of the harness crossing in such a man
| ner as to give them the appearance of shele-
| tons ! The sunset is dead, heavy, yellow
| paint, rather than the soft golden tint of ma
| ture. The artist claims some indulgence on
| the ground that the view is too near. But
| he is entitled to little consideration on that
| account. He must adapt his picture to the
{ circumstances. The wall is immovable and
| so IS the point from which it must ever be
| viewed. But the severest criticism is yet to
| come and that is, that the artist has failed
| to conceive the character and scope of his
| subject. He has has given Us train of emf
grants crossing the mountains and called it
| the migration OF Empire. 1t may not be out
of place to alIude to the origin of the title of
| the piece. The occasion which produced the
poem was this: Bishop Berkeley, of England,
| who took much interest in the growing pros
| poets of the American colonies about the
do -
| the United Colonies and establish college
| in Rhode Island with the aid of ten thousand
! pounds appropriated for that purpose by Par
| lament. As he was about ready to sail he
produced the poem commencing:
| Then shall be sung another golden age,
The rise of Empire and of Art.
Westward the course of Empire takes its way.
To represent this idea Mr.. Leutze has given
US train of covered wagons, such as one can
| see at any time in the far west. With equal
propriety he might have represented John
| Alden, taking home his Puritan bride Priscil-
| la, on the back of a white OK. That would
have been romantic. Here We have nine
rifles, four dogs and a violin, but neither
pillow, spade or blacksmith's bellows. Some
one suggests that these may be in the wagons
Rifle barrels protrude from one or two of the
wagons but no pillow beam. Empire, | appre-
bend does not travel under cover-a city set
upon a hill cannot be hid. A more appropri-
ate title for the picture would be IMMIGRANT
Trageling, or Crossing the Mountains, a more
humble theme, but that is all it represents
A fatal defect in it is, the unpromsing view
ahead. The country towards the west appears
to be continuous succession of mountain
tops. say appears, for it is not quite distinct
ana 1t is a little uncertain what the artist in
tended to represent. Some of them, however,
are distinct, and from the tops of three, a
volume of smoke shoots straight upward
showing volcanic formation. And when the
choppers shall have cleared away the tree
which obstructS the road, the train will pro-
ceed on its journey over this interminable sea
of mountains. | conclude that the promised
land is not yet in sight, for in the whole pic
ture there is not tree sufficiently large to
make fence rail.
The coloring of the picture is too high,
| and there is a super-abundance of yellow
throughout the whole. Not only the entire
| length of the sky, but the mountain tops
scarfs, shawls and other portions of the drap-
| cry are of the same yellow. The compost
| ton comprises the figures of twenty men Gin
| Guiding one black, seven women, two of
| them having infants, and several children
| There are also nine covered wagons, about
! ten oxen, pair of mules and some cows and
| young cattle. Bat there is nothing which
! inspires one with the idea of grandeur-noth-
| the move. The persons comprising the train
| are all of the same class and would all 20 to
| farming, but unfortunately they have moth
| ing to commence with, and viii therefore
| take TO hunting with their dogs and guns.
Westward the Course of Empire takes
its ways" but if this is empire, it is getting to
| travelling incoq,aito
! If the painting is not complete failure, it
| fails entirely of coming up to the dignity of
| the subject. As representing an emigrant train
| it Is open to severe criticism-as representing
| commonwealth on the march, it is failure.
Empire does not go pioneering, it makes no
| reconnaissance in force. have seen no crit
| icism on this painting, and am not aware that
| any has ever been written. l have, howev
| er, seen some notices of it by correspondents
| who make an indiscrimiDate use of the ad
| iectives grand" beautiful" Splendid"
magnificent" as applied to it; and in ques-
tioning the justice of the popular adulation
| it has received, l know not that my views
will be sustained by any artist in the country.
| If my notice is lengthy, the sI-Ject is extern
sive. 1t is one Of the largest sized and most
| conspicuous paintings in the United States,
| for which Mr.. Leutze received the sum of
| twenty thousand dollars MONTICELLO