Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-07-16

less It Is pleasant - e. pictures painted
by poets-by men who have evidently
had ideas 10 express, aud have thought,
and felt, ard wrought POLITICALLY. These
great ElgIishmen have not merely
painted well, but they have painted
about something; their pictures tell
storieF, and suggest stories when they
do not tell them. Ileave to skilled crit.
icism the discussion Of their compare
tive artistic merits, aud speak ss one Of
the cOnfessedly unlesrned in art when
say that their pictures interested me far
beyond any others. We certainly had
no cause, considering all things, to be
ashamed Of the show Of Americ IN paint
ings in comparison even with many of
the English, and stili less with those of
other nations. There were not many
positively poor, and there were many
strikingly coed, especially landscapes
| painted with sympathy and por-
traits painted with character; but
| they showed q distrscting variety
OF influences, and they did not
detain you and cali you back again and
again 90 tell you something more, and
to add yet this suggt ion and that.
Some did so, but most did not; per.
ception Of their merely artistic qualities
exhal st=d them-the point at which the
English pictures began more deeply to
| d5lght. They Were too often uustOried
like our scenery, without our seenery's
eX Cuse. You felt that American art had
made vast advances on the technical
side, but that ii lacked what English art
| has got from its intimate association
with literature; that it was not poeticsl;
that generally its subjects were seen, not
deeply felt and thought; il wanted
charm. OF the French pictures the most
striking were the horribly fascinating
"Rispsh Defending her Dead Sons from
the Vuture"-a powerful achievement
OF CHASTITY fancy, painted with prodig
ious realism and knOWledge-and Caro-
lus Daran's deliHiCusly fascinating por-
| trait of MademOiseile CrOisette (0i the
| Theater Francaige) on horseback. Com
paratiVely few Of the pictures are yet in
position, and the display mad nothing Of
the strongly distinctive quality Of the
| English. Whole rooms devoted to the
French were barred against the public,
but enough was visible to en-
phssize the national taste for the
nude. When one caught sight Of
| this in paintings just uDpacked
and standing agsinst the wall, it was as
if the subjects had been surprised before
they had time to dress for the Centen-
NAL, so strongly is the habit of being
clothed expressed in the modern facs. In
| the Austrian room were some needless
exposures, for which the vast and rather
| cumbrOus gOrgeCusness of the 'Homage
Of Venice to Queen Catherine Cornar0n
hardly stOned, with all its overdressing.
But that is an interesting picture. The
Belgian rooms are very incomplete, and
not very characteristic. Among the
Swedish pictures were some beautiful
landscapes, full of the cold northern
sentiment, with the dark water and the
birchen shade. From Mexico and South
Amepca there were curious specimens
of the c0-histOTical, such as used
to please US fifty years ago, and some
portraits of national statesmen, interest.
Ing for their evident faithfulness. Italy
had sent 40 pictures that commended
themselves to special remembrance.
Her strengthen her Weakness-was
her sculpture, which had at its best the
| character of illustration. | believe there
were few things ideal, and with all the
exquisite execution and pleasing fanci-
fulness OF conception, the capricious aud
the absurd int0lerably superabouDded.
Indeed, England alone OF all the for
eign countries bad sent of her best art to
the Centennial. At almost any sale of
| French pictures in Boston you see the
work OF more famous painters; here
there is not one first-rste name; and this
was true Of the continent generally. The
show impressed one as that OF pictures
| that had not sunePedpd at home