New-York tribune., 1874-12-22
FINE ARTS.


The dull times of which wc have all heard
30 much of late have mado themselves felt not only In
the trades that minister to material wants-in
the shops Of the butcher, the baker, and the
candlcstickmaker-but iu the art world "a woll Our
rich Americans have been buying fewer pictures and
statues Of late Visitors to GOups pleasant gallery on
the corner Of Twcnty-secondst. and Ffthave. have
seen the signs Of this inactivity walls whose tapestry
OF pictures hos long remained unchanged as whoic'
though from time TO time new conner nus displaced an
old friend But within week or two there has been an
entire change; almost all the old pictures have been
taken down aud their places supplied by fresh inorta-
,ons many Of them being Of considerable merit.
The place of honor In tho room-he center OF the west
sdc-has been awarded to on Amcrican-if We may Call
Mr.. B0ughton an Amercln-whO is represented Dy a
largo picture from Of the late Royal Academy Ex
hllitions. The title is "The Heir Prcsumptive," the
subject little mannikin lord accompanied by his gov
erness aud followed by Cufre leading pony, taking
constitutional in the Park that will one day be his Toe
old forester has been setting out and staying young
oak the heir presumpve OF the forest and as the child
passe before he passes stops III MS Work 10 en-
10y the bliss of bowling to lord The melancholy ittIe
episode Is we'll in tuuo with the andscope-an antumna
passage with "wai,ing winds and naked woods. and
meadow brown and sere." The only light comes from
leadon sky-a sky that Mr.. BouGhton seems to have
made his own, though he does not paint 1t with tho
technical skill with tho variety that MI McEntee'
with whom this time of year Is also avorite puts lhto
his best pictures STILL here as In other recent WORKS.
tho landscape best part Of Mr. Boughtons pctur
and is not often that even his figures arc so unsas
factory He has little power. apparently. to represent
figures IN motion but these figures are uncOmnOnly
wooden, even for him. Tho gOverness is tho best OF
thcru much too starched and prude Tor human
natures daily food, and whose morning poker appears
to have been swallowed this time with unusual relish
The little boys hat to have an uneasy feeling that
it belongs to some ono else, and to be unsettled
~rhat thnp to afn fa
walking Of the picture instead OF IN the road ana
this taken with the disspated hat fOrebodes Ill for the
boys future The less said about Cuee and the pony
the better II Is not to see how the horse got where
he is there being neither rockers nor wheels Visible On
the whole the picture plainly mistake, and we must
regret that Mr. Boughton should think 1t necessary to
take such large to ll with so little. Ho can
finger lutte most daintly but he is ever cracking It's
strings with strainng them to chant like bassviol
Awork much better worthy Of the ohief place In q
gallery is Kucmmerers "The seashore at Schevenin-
This is the important work Of tho young artist
who made so marked an impression Last year BY his
"Quarrel In Garden" La Dispute" This Is picture
likely be popular than the other for tho drama
more domestic and less Intense The shore stretches
out under q that sharpens all the shadOws. and
drives In lesson "hat there is no suoh thing as an
outline !" aud here the fashionable people taking
their sesa under the gray sky At the right Is the bank
on which stands the hotel and few Of the villas that
neichboi 1t in line perk their conventional heads over
the cliK OF the groups on the sands the two
most Important are the old sbbe seated be-
tween the two ladies and listening with pin
guild pleasure to their chat, and the invalid
lady to whom her companion is reading, while
an tpuustiye mustache out of neighbornR bahchair
gives the cue to O magazine watering place story
Among the ladies at the right. sitting as spectator
merely Ia the artist hImself handsome young fellow
but not too his fair companions think OF him
only as one man more and little suspect that there's
nd fo,th hatn mi nj m
There s great ceverness In this work. and no Less OBJ
seryatou Of human nature than study Of natures its
merit Is here not in discovery the artist has
made nor in any saes Of wit or satire u s only clever
record Of facts and fer OF exceptional value Only
wa cannot help thinking what Hogarth would have done
for us with such scene-Hogarth or Leecn. They
would have given rs both more incidens snd more
criticism IN proportion to the size OF tne canvas than
Kaemmerer has done
little picture BY Messonier puts life and color into
one Of Violet le Duos woodcuts bis Dictionary. and
shows us the sennels on the ramparts OF medieval
dopjon dawdng away their idle hours This tall young
fellow trife too much like 0uneer on the Bouevards
OF to-day turns he turns the corner and dngs back
retort TO his testing mates they sit in tho shadow Of
the penthouse while he ia p full sunlight Ths 10 but
little bit Of Meissoner, but far ss execution goes
he has nut az much OF himself into 1t he could into
larger picture.
The 0erome near II is also q good specimen Of the
artist though the subject Ia 90 uninteresns that II We
will be interested must neglect the man himself-a
Guard of the time Of Louis XIII and study his dress
and surrounding With what ptec:sOn everything is
pa,nted with what sure hand and touch that kuOws
exactly what to record and what to leave uurecorded
The staircase at the foot Of which this clumsy
fellow Is standing 10 notable one; 'ts the
glory Of the Palais Royal and o masterpiece
Of DesOrgues, the baustrade Of wrought and
chiscled iron being Of the finest works OF Corbin
Rcheeu" GGr6me has introduced the same staircase,
showing 1t to us in it's full effect nearly so and this
same Guard stands at its foot. The Cipher C. A. r."
wrought into the scrolwofk Of the design, that Of
Cardinal Armand dc Richelieu.
water color py L. D6tac-a Cavalry Review-wil
be found repay all The study that be given to
men and horses alike alive. 1t another pert Of the
room there small Oilskctch by the artist 'TwO
Officers engaged IN a Reconnaissance "a good illus
tratlon II Que were peeded that master put space
and SIZE into any canvas, however small There Ia also
clever watcrcOlor by j. q. Vibert "An
Ecclesiastical Quarrel" full Of life ana spirit
but "a little too near the border-land Of farce;
very pretty pastoral by Giraud In which We look be-
tween the garden branches at two young girls Of
whom reads to the other. who plies her stichery with
pleased looks and mind divided between the lover
the novel aud else IN real lfo. LcOn-y EscO
suras large canvas, marie de Medicis sitting for her
Portrait to Rubens" is like Lesrc's Une Aubadc au
Cner" sklllful piece OF brlcabrac painting. but has
les interest for those who for something
picture than curiosity. Lcsrels picture IL by
far the better Of the two. for, beside the excellent
nna painting there ~ much play OF character In
the circle OF MUSICIANS, whereas IN EscOsuras pec0
Maiic dc Medicis, who WAS In truth as hOmely as q
fence hattored Of all rcasOn made TO look
like Jolly, healthy washerwOinan, while Rubens, who
sec ns to have handsome man lat least he always
paints himself sob looks here IKE n'lschevous monkey:
Esr0,uras furniture aud brcbrac too, is all new aud
shiny, aud wanting Ia texture. but L"sei's IL painted
with great skill and kept ITS fTle relations. The
quaint lutte staircase and the tapestries will ho rccog
nzcd hy tu0se who aaye yistod the Cuuy Museum IL
PAriA