New-York tribune., 1879-04-12
SCOTTISH PAINTERS.

iFRoMAN OCCASIONAL CoRREsPoNpENro OF THE TRIBuSE.l
FDINBURGH Feb 12.-From the annual eX
hibltion Of the Royal Scottish Academy very fair
idea NAV be obtained both of the condition of the
fine arts IN Scotland and of the peculiar forms OF
artistic expreSsonmost consonant with the Scottish
character and most acceptable TO Scottish
sentiment The Exhibition is not how
ever restricted TO the artists Of Scot
land The names Of Alma Tadema and sew
eral English artists appear in the catalogue
but it would not be just for that reason TO subscribe
10 Ibe Aihcg0mR's dictum that " as usual' the best
paintings are sent from England. If by that Is
meant that the best paintings are the works Of
English artists. the opinion will hardly bear serious
consideration. Ii is true that Mr.. Hugh Cameron
Mr. John Facd, Mr.. James Archer and other
exhibitors are resident in London, but no feat
of imagination can with tho help of the mere
fact of residence. convert Scotchman
into on Fnglshman. All the paintings, on the con-
trary that are characteristics and most of those de-
serving Of commendation for artistic mcrlt arc
Scotch. II might be SAID that If all the works
of English artists, and many of those Of Scotch
artists resident in England and abroad were taken
from the walls of the Academy, the Exhibition
would aS a whole suffer little loss while its Scottlsh
character IN which alone one cares to consider H.
wonld be so much more emphatically pronounced.
few weeks ago Scotland, from John o Groats TO
covering of snow. Within the limits of my own
wanderings from the Tay TO the Gala and jed
snoW-capped hills bounded the horizon, and the
valleys seemed TO slumber in dormant stiffness
under the feecy covering Of Winters MANTLE In
the far north we read of the greater severity OF
the storm. of trains being showed in, and rail
ways blocked, of frozen cattle and fockS that were
lost in the drifts. Al present the ground is clear
Frost aud snow have gwen way to mist and rain,
and the landscape lies under depressing SKY OF
dull leaden gray. In Summer, according to all ac-
counts, the heat is seldom uncomfortable and never
oppressive. The rains are, rule. frequent and
copous and The unveiled face of the sun is not by
any means everyday sight.
These are facts to be kept constantly IN mind IN
looking at the landscapes of the painters OF Scot
land II is seldom-n such scenery. for example,
as that depicted by Waller II, PatOn-that gsam
OF warmth is felt. There are on every hand IN the
Academy Wiutry scenes in village and country,
dark and stormy seas with lowering Clouds hills and
moors that look chill and bleak under the cold blue
and-gray skies. mountains partially obscured by "a
ragged fringe Of trailing mist, lochs that in the
clear light have a steey, icy sheen and
hills whose rugged sides bear broad patches of eur
purpling heather. dulcd by heavy driving rains
They are ian short Scottish scenes, seen under the
atmosphegcal effects due to the moist climate and
latitude of Scotland From these facts we are led to
the most marked feature Of the ExhibtiOn-its in
tenseIy Scotch character. / remember hearing the
late Colonel +. B, Thorpe, while painting what
he called "The Border Inquest "a group
of bisons snuillng at short distance
the dead body Of an Indian, one of
the canvasos with which he fond of
amusing himself in his leisure houTs-say Of the
Academy exhibition in New-YOrk that it was not
sufficiently illustrative either Of American charac-
ter or history or scenery, and might in these re-
spects Just as appropriately have been held in Lon
don or Paris as in New-York. Whatever justice
was il the complaint it is one that can never be
made regarding the Exhibition of the Royal
Scottish Academy. There are few Orr
entail scenes. gImpses of Venice and
Paris and others but these merely serve to give en-
phasis to the Scotch character of the Exhibition in
every rcsuect and notably in landscape. lnclud-
ing the sculpture and architectural drawings there
are i'm all LOIS works exhibition. Among these
have counted twenty Give views Of Edinburgh and
its surroundings as far as Roslyn and the Pentland
hills Roslyn Castle alone has been taken as
a subject by five artists By w. F. Valance,
who looks at II from Lee Wood; by John
McLeish W. Bcattic Brown. who gives the bridge,
and by William Baird and John Lennio, who both
give interior views of the south aisle. Looking
further we find views of St MouanCe, BaDnock-
burn. Loeb Achray. Glen ErrOchy, Largo Bay,
Ieiss Tarbet Aberdeen, Loeb CarrOn, and OF
hundreds Of other Highland glcns and lochs and
Lowland valleys villages and streams, mingled
with turbulent seas and bits of storm-beaten
coast The Scottish artist finds within his own
country both the means OF education
nnd an abundance Of themes. Ho studies at the
National schools of Art and then takes to the hills
and woods and streams to try his "'prentice hand"
OF foreign influence, eyon if be NAV have studied
abroad. he shows no sign. Whatever therefore, may
no +be reach of his art or It's power Of expression
1T smarkod by all the sturdy independence that
whether iusv or not Is usually associated with the
typical Scottish character.
II Is evident moreover, that between the Scot
fish landscape painter and his theme there IS a
close and represent sympathy. The Nature OF
his love is Nature "a she reveals herself II Scotland
and il is 10 the depicting of her stern or fearful
charm, that he brings his art He has studied her
in every mO0d-in gladness, IN tears, IN anger III
fckenosS IN sulleu cOldneSs, and when her brow
is contracted with threatening frOwn. lie en-
ters into her every caprice, and has pictured every
feature of her chan gcful face. What her pre-
yailiug mood is Is disclosed by a singular and rather
amusing fact that scene fair as the garden
of the Lord shown. not under smiling sky that
10 a stranger would seem 10 haTmOnize with the
beauty Of earth, but under hoaYy clouds or ram.
The artists preference Is based upon natural facts
HIS art, therefore, Is not only Iddrpendenl
aud sympathetic, but Is essentially non
est The effects ~een abroad IN tho nclds are
studied in tho wOrking-r0om, aud reproduced upon
canvas. often with Tenderness Of feeling ana gen
orally with truth. The Scotch artist prefers the m
depreciation Of Nature To investing neI Win iancied
charms snd his work therefore literal rather than
imaginative. ,.,t,
exceptions supplied by Waller II. Patton and hls
work. IN both wattr-col0rs and on. HIS IN Glen
Cloy AranV consists OF brook rushing along KS
rocky bed and on either hand timely tinted moss,
scrub and grass upon Knobs ana stones Ills
Burn. Loch Vcnnacharsido," also III water
.k,, ctr nd U-T5