New-York tribune., 1871-04-22
FINE ARTS.
THE EXHIBITION OF THE ACADEMY or nrs,o~
lSecood Article

this and every exhibition. We do not share An h, -,
ing Is true that many OF the pictures are OF sin
ugness many are feeble copies Of had models man,.
the careless and presunptuous work ot hand. ,ba, ~
can he trained 10 artistic effort But we have M, -.
passed the tentative period Of our aesthetic hls,orv
We are revolving In a circle OF exne,i,oo,
We are learning the true course ~ ,.
lean talent, the true path whereto n {. e.uod
For the present the largest and mo.t Iiro,,,
hospitality should be given by the Academy 20 every
variety Of essays Perhaps In some OF these ,rcor.
ous and absurd failures there may exist the germ q,
distinct and individual assertion which will he woss
attention when fairly ar'icuatel We do not oh,oc. ..
the painting OF crude pictures by beginners hati.,o
be expected But they must not expect TO get b,v,
prices and high praise for the they spoil IN learn
ing TO draw The days Of the student days OF or.
pense, not Of profit.
1t only after toilsome and scfsai0cing year, that
the ease and Is gained which Justiaes haste and
dash Of composition. beginner who paints in hurry
Is worse than q veteran who lcks his pictures into In
sipid sickness and vapdity In the South Room here
are two pictures hanging together which preach whole
sermon upon this text. One Ia portrait, by Mr. White
horne OF rather attractive subecta young gOodlOok
Ing man. The artist has posed him WELL has evidently
appreciated the capabilities Of the study, and has made
what must he likeness; but IL is hard casron
There grace OF tenderness dlcacy about IT, 1t
might well have been photograph carefully coored
order The coors OF the stters face there
but nothing else He caught and kept In anexbaustc
receiver while the painting went on. Hanging Just
below II s the other kind Of work-a portrait Of an old
gentleman, by william Hunt Here s picture painted
swiftly but not hastily. There ia OF the surrine
OF the scratching that you in the hurried WORK
Of idleness ignorance. There il only the labor Of
few hours in this remarkable picture yet there the
inevitable result Of years OF honest study In It's rough
ana unfinished state II Is yet second 10 few IN any OF the
| elaborate portraits that surround IT,
One OF the best OF the portraits this year is that
Of Mr. L. O. sellsted President OF the Buffalo Academy
Of Design painted by himself II Is possible to con
ceiye more utterly unaffected piece OF realism. This
habit Of artists painting their portraits ghy
TO be commended. They are thoroughly acquainted
with the subject, they perfectly appreciate all the
strong and weak points In his character, and above ALL
they bring such afectionate and genuine devotion
10 the work that the result is almost always the very
highest expression OF their abilities portraitpant
ers. Only in painting mistress IA artist moro
thoroughly happy; and RaphaePs picture Of himself
is better than the Fornarina. Van Dyck never drew.
face so refined and beautiful bis own appears on
the canvas side by side with that Of he Earl OF Bristol
Rubens has In a dozen places immOrtaized his gal
liant and courty head and figure Yelazquez and Murilo
both compensated themselves for the base and sorid
masks OF princes and mobiles they were compelled 10
draw by thinning those powerful and noble heads which
admire to-day The ownership OF Nr selstedts por
|
ainy belong the Buffalo Academy where will ser
at once as page Of history aud a model OF portrait
painting.
There are several pictures in this South Room which
strike one more on second visit than In the glare OF
gasight the opening evening. Mr. Louis Lang has
Jephtha Daughter which better than he usually does
II IT, OF course wholly true in color and drawing,
but the faults not glarng as was TO have been
expected and the pettiness and want OF keeping which
are this artists besetng sins have been quite success
fully met and resisted and the picture pleasing com
position Mr. Buffers italian Boy playing the violin IA
full OF real promise. 1t is not only gracefully and ygo
| ously drawn, but is marked bS genuine and
| manly sentiment and a mastery management OF
light and color There "a why the young gen
tlenan who painted this picture should not attain very
rapdy to positive excellence The ambitious work OF
Mr. Knight Othello at the House OF Brabantio" does
not grow upon II is theatrical aud not dramatic, and
the handling Of the accessories deficient In vgor aud
originality. Mr.. Halls Spanish Scene has his usual
wooden youth and maiden but the picture Is bright and
cheerful in color and the red umbrella ia effective with
out being ntrusively boiserous. Mr. Pages portrao Of
Wendell Phillips is OF the works OF this brilliant and
| sefwiled artist which is worthy OF almost un
mixed praise He sacrifices something OF course TO his
peculiar theories Of colorng but the portrait IL never
theess an admirable catching not only the face bus
the very spirit OF the subject It'll when we pase from
such excellent work as this to the fantastic midsummer
|
preciate what we all lose in Mr. Pages perverse neglect
OF his own high capabilities Mr.. Harts "GOden Hour
less pleasing by day than by night IL greatly 81
| mired by many account OF the yellow hght "iu
which be has stained his foreground But II seems 10 US
vicious de force-admirably done. but not worm
| doing You could have produced rho same effect wins
Claude Lorraine glass IL you chose, without spouns
| a large picture in the process.
In the West Room the two admirable AMI
| mai pieces by the Brothers Beard excite most
attention. We have mentioned James H. Boards
| "Growing Danger" and never pass " without
renewed pleasure nIt is charming picture, well studied
and most successfully executed. William H. Beard ha'
a scompanion-pece called "Pets on Spree, representing
n par of squirrels and pair Of canary birds who have
escaped from their cages and are attaching Tue
debris of a luncheon of fruit and vine one
~ the SQUIRRELS has fallen in hopeless inebrieb
on the cloth and the other devong himself TO deep
potatlons from an exquisitey painted wlne-gs' i"s
canary birds are also I'm most dsreputaDle oOhdion'
They have drunk so much wine that they cannot eat e
grapes with any skill or grace The picture DesueS n'
ing all OF Boards peculiar and sympatheue nunoi'
very cool and refreshing in eolor-a most aooep'Soo
summer piece Mr. Grannis has an eccentric sSe'cn
| htoh ough, IN have been much better-two cats on
| bouse.,on against the ClOugh exposes :"
an unfeeling public a couple OF young lovers at P
nic-which gives rise 10 the old inquiry, nat oan ~
| ace in each otherP They are as bad as the iaiu"P
which frames them. There is picture Dy MI Do'''"
| called "Ia Belle Jardiniere," which has Certain
niouancy about IT, and makes YOU wish ne h'u nn'"s
moro Of IT, There are some portraits OF soh''e'non
in this room which hbels If the originals Ne' Ke"
| tlep,ep. and some portraits OF ladies' "n'cn A'
| less attractive than any woman that ever "Io. %
| Tbere are the usual number oi nun ~
-, ,,ooos which can hardly be called works OF art
nut which are more or less well done In their degree
Mr. Mr. Browns study of pansies is pleasantly grouped
n
one VI y" .So corrsor, basket of grapes, by Rufus
wr,,nt The "Dos's Head" by Charles T. townsend e
very spirited Most of the landscapes III 's lO0I '
deficient in force. We must except So s-