New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-06-04
ARTISTS OF THE FUTURE.
T,uF cROsVFNOR GALLERY.

IfR's NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. P0RIRAIIs-ChCiL
IAwsON's FINE LANDSCAPES.
IFRoMAS OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRIbUSE'l
LONDON, May lathe GrosYenor Dailery
exhibition achieved no small notoriety last
veor the great masters who are living
some generations in advance OF then tilne
sent their pictures to it, and the less precOcous
artists who had proof Of the deterioration of the
ACADEMY in the fact of its rejection of their works.
felt malignant pleasure when Sir COutts Lindsay
invited them to be hung on his crimson satin and
ciIded walls This year many of the premature and
a few of the disafected Teappear and the collec-
ton is further enriched by contributions from per-
sons who exhibit in both galleries impartaiIv. Al
together one would expect the show to be a toieIa
bly, cTeditable one; nevertheless, for some reason
ar other If gives the impression of being somewhat
than last years. Perhaps this IS OWING
merely TO the novelty having worn of. Inc great
Burie-Jones's mystery having once been revealed,
awe is beginning to deteriOrate into CRITICISM ana
that again into irreverenee cannot but thlnK u
fortunate circumstance for this artist that bis first
name happened to be Burne. Had he been Tom,
Dick or Harry Jones, not only would he not have
produced so remarkable pictures, but the world
would not have been beguiled into taking them so
seriously. At least, cannot conceive of man own
ing any appellation less eccentric than Mr. Joness,
painting such a work as that called "Perseus and
the Graie." We have beard of apples of gold IN
pictures of silver and perhaps specuated as to how
thew looked there; but when we behold man IN
brass cloak and three ladies in tin gowns, we shall
be ready humbly to accept anything. Whether the
metal is laid on the picture, or whether as seems
more probable, the picture is engraved and painted
on the metal know not, neither do care; but the
effect is little less than petrfyng The three Graie,
bereft of their single eye, are cropping grievously
about in their tin drapery while the brazen robber
is syy making his escape out of the midst of them,
with the eye (which, according to Mr.. Burne-Jones,
is nothing more than round brass button brightly
polished by use) grasped firmly between his telonl-
GUS thumb and finger. Unless the Grai@ were deaf
as well as bind Perseus must have found infinite
difficulty in subduing the rattle of his metallic
drapery sufficiently to conceal his whereabouts.
Lett distinctly understood that this tin and brass
is by no means mere silvering and gliding. 1t is
solid massive metal laid in thick plates, and VIC
lenty carved into folds; against such garments the
bullet of an ordinary army revolver would hatten
harmlessly. Now, a single picture such as this
might one would think, be allowed to stand alone,
q nOaumentum are paenRias of the genius and I'M
cOnventOnality of the accomplished artist. But Mr.
Burne-JOnes's genius would appear to be quite IN
satiable. "Perseus and the Graie," we are ruth
lessly informed by the catalogue, is the first OF
series intended to illustrate the story of Perseus.
How we'll the head of Medusa will look. with her
snaky locks treated in pure brass, alto Teero She
will be a GOrgOn. indeed. This is really very aw-
full project of Mr. JOness. Does he "paint" bis pic
lures in a blacksmith's shop, with an anvil for
palette and hammer for brushf Will no member
of the Philanthropc Society nteTcede with HIM
And if he still remained unmalleable. might we not
be justified in dealing with him as his name sug-
gests7 Surely it would be no more than satisfac-
ton of common justice to burn Jones at the stake,
as a hereto to the religion Of art which he pro-
fesses.
There are other pictures of his here. chiefly small
ones painted ten years ago. 1t is sufficient to say
Of them that he has improved since 1868. Such
productions as 'Day," might" Luna" and the
four Seasons, will not, we may hope, be repeated;
and one is at loss to conceive why Mr.. Jones
should exhibit them or allow them to be exhibited,
now. Possibly il is from kindly desire to eneour-
age us by palpably demonstrating that he has done
worse than he is doing, and may, consequently, do
better than he is doing in the future. 1t will not
do however. to dismiss this artist with nothing but
blame and udicule. He Is manifesty conscientious,
though his aesthetic perceptions have aninextreable
"kink" in them; this deformity he mistakes for
genius and cutivates it with pathetic assidulty in
stead of strait htening it out at whatever cost His
designs belong to what may be called the dyspeptc
school; every face he paints illustrates the lament
able consequences of late suppers, biOusness sent
mentality, and plentiful lack of understanding.
The eoorng of their dresses. on the other hand
OF whatever it may please Mr. Jones to call those
indescribable dry-goods in which he swathes his
meagre personages-is often pure and brilliant IN
the extreme, producing cleanness and sweetness
of effect such as has hitherto been attainable
in water cOlOrs only. This is Mr.. Jones's sole
artistic success and it Is no small one; but, as
might be anticipated he lacks the power to manage
it tremendously. and perpetrates nsantles with it
that make one almost regret that he possesses it.
He evidently thinks much and painfully about his
pictures, and pants them with kind of religious
feryOr and self-cOmplacency. But not less evident
is 1t that Mr. Joness mind is saved from appearing
as shallow as it actually is only by its exceeding
narrowness. He is invincibly pigmy very we'll
meaning honest, diligent pigmy who is perhaps not
accountable for the depravity OF his digestive or
gans but who will never be giant save in his own
imagination. 1t is cOnsOling to remember that
there are no such seeds of truth or vitality in his
method as can render possible any such calamity
as its surviving him. He has disciples and imita-
tors nOw it is true but they are for the most part
even Of less consequence than be, and hopeessly
moribund OF else they merely entangled in his
tolls at the outset Of that promises better
things. OF the latter class, the most encouraging
example is Mr.. Albert Moore, whose graceful we'll
draped figures fresh and pure of tint as roses, cow
slips and appe-bIossoms, and relieved against sim
pie curtaiDed backgrounds, form as agreeable a
feature as the Grosvenor Gallery contains.
As for the lucubratons of Mr. Whistler they come
like shadows and will so depart, and it is unneees-
sary to disquiet ones self about Them. What Mr..
Whistler lacks is courage. He has in him the
groundwork, so to speak, Of an artist he can lay
the foundations Of picture. but he dares not con-
fess that he has not the power to complete it, and
uncanddly attempts to fOist off his raw suggestions
of form and color as finished works. His pictures
have the anpearance Of being seen through me-