New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-07-18
HISTORICAL PORTRAITS or ENGLAND.
THE NATIONAL GALLERY AT KENsMGroN.

unwOnted aSSiduity-work which Will interest IOI-
egners" only when it's general result can be summed
up while the air is stirred bynothng more novel thn
talk about the casual mob side of the channel
and the splendid displays of Pars-yOur correspond
entwishcs to take his readers in agnaton through
an exhibition which though it has hardly yet been
spoken of on this side of the water and is visited by
hardly a hundred persons a week, is certainly one
of the most important and interesting that has ever
been arranged for any public. refer to the second
special exhibition OF National portraits now open a'
South Kensing ton. This must not be cohIuseu Win
the National Portrait Gallery which IS always open
at Westminster. It's history IS this; Anew years
ago some gentlemen got together and arranged at the
ssonth Kensing5On Museum an exhibition OF mn
iatures ram lies from all parts OF the Kingdom
were invited 10 contribute Tor a time thelr lduuy
miniatures to this exhibition, the most compete
guarantees of security being given. The iavoIaDle
response so general that under the caIel9l nus
tOrical and authentic supervision OF FIoude' hlng9
lev and others the exhibition was entirety s!CcesSlu
IT then occurred TO Earl Derby thaJ an VI
English portraits would be of great value Doth III
an historical and artstlca point OF NleW: III Sttei
to the Lords of the COmmittee OF touhcil Oh Euuoa
fion Lord Derby wrote: " | have long thought that
a National Portrait Exhibition, chTOnOogically ar
ranged might not only possess great HISTORICAL inter
est by bringing together Oh an ee n %
might also serve TO Illustrate the progress ana C0hd
tOn at various periods of British art My idea there
fore would be to admit either portraits OF eminent
men Though by inferior OF unknown artists, or p0r-
traits NV eminent artists though of obscure I'M
known individuals" Lord Derby then offered ior
the purpose his fine collection OF PORTRAITS az
Knowsley The Lords of the COMMITTEE coin ii4
with his idea and arranged that theIe Sh0uiV
he three exhibitions: HE hist We nto a1ST
came down to the reign of William ana MARY,
which began in 1859. The exhibition OF last year was
extremely interesting, although there was OF course
much discussion and question TO the authenticity
of portraits and so on. There was an eSpeclal IN
pOrtance in the collection OF the portraits Oh the LII
hi al
tho range of which he was the mghest peak, Dut
upon which he depended much for his eleyauon
But this second Exhibition, which was opened on the
LIST of May, is better than the 1rst Ihere Is very
little doubt concerning the reality OF any enc OF eSe
portraits. Most OF them are the heirl0oms OF Ihe
families Of England, and their history Is KNOWN one
thing however, remarked at once ana that is Jnlt
these newer pictures have not generally more tIes
than the older ones OF last year oOIleCtlon
There was an odd illustration of the freshness OF one
of these old pictures OF last year III was portrait Oh
Thomas Earl of Arundel, painted by Rubens, and be-
longing TO the Earl of Warwick. There were many
who believed, and The Ath6RGUm openly declared,
that its face had been painted upon and spoiled
The picture, however, on subsequent examination Dy
experts turned out not to have been tempered with
since il was first painted. The secret is probably 10
be found in the fact that there never has been great
school of portrait painters in England since tnat OF
Vandyke and his followers-DObsOn, Riley, Green
hill and Wrght-whO painted most OF the more re-
cent pictures of last years exhibition AL me iIst
of the period embraced by the present exhibition,
the great court and fashionable painter was Sr refer
IalV who was followed in the same capacity by
Kneller. After Kneers death IN ll23 the 1aShlOna-
BILE painter was Dahl, Swede, who was accurate,
but Heavy in his style. Sir John de Medina aFien-
ing also gained distinction IN the early part Oh laSt
century, and some OF ms portraits are very spl5eu
Indeed up to the time of HOgarth (boIn lOJL dled
1854 the portrait painting OF England seems 10 nave
been almost exclusively in the hands OF foreigners
Beside those named, there were Nanderbank, NanloO
and Vanakin. The English artl is We're sitting at
the feet of these and they were so dependent upon
one of them (Vanakln) for the draPery ia IIetr
pictures that HOgarth made satlflcll paint
ing of the English painters attending the
Dutehman's funeral in a body. William HogaTth,
having served his apprenticeship as engIaNtI Hauo
q runaway matcli-and any one who sees her pOr-
trait i'm this exhibition VIII not WONDERLAND AFTER
ward tried 10 support his young VIE by pOrttat
painting. He painted nature with truth ana genus,
as the portraits by him here would show were he
without fame: but the fashionable world at that
time patTonized rather Hudson, one OF the WoISI
painters who ever lived They are properly lmpaled
Tor il i'm the lfeesS cOOrs which represent them on
these walls Nevertheless HOgarths appeal rom
tradition to truth was heard and after nm rose up
his children and grandchildren IN aTt-Reynods
sGansbOrOugh Laurence. ana others, whose greatest
works are at this moment Valnly competing Wlth the
fashionable galleries OF London mere are on exhl-
biOn SEQ portraits extending TO the year 1900 from
which period the portraits of next years eNniDtlon
are to date On entering, one Is at once IN the time
of Kneer 1t really seems either that hneller hau
a way of painting all ladies alike, or that az the
court beauties" were alke-whch y not at all I'm,
possible i'm the time of William and Mary. Now ana
then however, old GOdfrey's tough heart seems to
have been animated in the case OF the beautiful
Lady Middleton, who Is hney represented as ssheP
erdess in low red drapery. full length with lamb
10 her right This was one OF the beauties OF tne
court" whom the Queen proposed to have painted III
one of the Kings absences ne famous to o EoS
against it, saving, Madam, If the King was to ask
for the portraits of all the wits IN his court would
not the rest think he called them fools =" most
powerful face and brow 1.-THE wig prevents all further
criticism of the head IS this OF Andrew Fletcher OF
Saltouu-the man who said, Let me make the bal
lads of a nation care not who makes its laws" In
this Thoughtful, keen, face, with Its sahent points,
there IL folded up that eyenttu life vince bore INN
A. D,v1ao gofN 4OfIq
which led him, Outlawed by his government TO
wander through the world, which found HIM tight
ing in Hungary and brought HIM again TO England
with the Prince of Orange. There are here four eX-
traOTdinary pictures of Sir Isaac Newton The first
is by Iey and represents a handsome youth, with
tender soft ewes and flowing brown hair, broad fall
ing collar black gown, white sleeves, his hands
resting on globe. Near to 1t Is withholding tmn
snow-haired old man which one could hardly believe
related to the brown-haired youth. This IS signed
90 Kneller 1889 :" but il was not much the New
ton that physi0gnomst would admire as one Win
cropped hair and square face PAINTED 9 Rn Jas
Coli Mag" But there is no portrait OF the man VINO
made NewtOn's greatest discovery posSlble-kepler;
Thomas CARLYLE refuses to believe IN the greatness OF
Lord BacOn intellect because he did not recognize
the grand discoveries made under his nose by heper
what the Chelsea philosophers feelings were when
wandering through tho galleries he saw hundreds OF
the paper nobility and of Kepler, may be more
easily imagined than expressed. hnelleT mas also
painted with evident gusto the sohd Dutch lace ana
low forehead of Bishop Burnet; DuJ his robes as
Chancellor of the Garter are sloyenly enough one
of the peculiar faces have ever looked upon IS
this Qy Kneller) of John Locke There is another OF
him. too painted in extreme old age by an unknown
hand He has tremendous but not dlsagreeaOie
nose and large, queer eyes, with knots over them,
and slight fTOwn, very pronounced chln-the
whole face full of power and intensity. There are
great many portraits Of William Ill, representing
him from boyhood up. That which seems best to
show what the man really was is picture sent by
the Queen. representing him In ar1nor, with baton
I'm his hand, and negro attendant behind him. The
nose is long and hooked the brow rather strong and
The eve pensiYe DR.. South, one would say from his
cially that of the Bodeian Library which has been
often reproduced but there is one by Kneller here
hnsn ewes are for hTgthneSS OF the most peculiar