New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-06-01
THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
III.


,,or,io, ~ this exhibition. which is OF course
g. che largest. must follow the time-honored
,,,a.bod and try 10 say whether IT Is good
49, ri orr moderate as a whole. There are two
ravs of iudgiug such an exhibition. lou may
strike an average, or you may take those "oiAs III
n which by common consent are the pictures Oh 'he
year and determine. II you can what stahuaru Oh
excellence they reach No very favorable estimate
ran he obtained by the first method. Inc eNhlDl-
tion contains large number OF pictures 10 "hlcH
81 o,itbct n,ertorious seems the fttest to apply
The artist has taken pains, and be has produced
work not perhaps unpleasing but certainly noV
;snirtipg TO the beholder There is often the prom
;se Of excellence but of actual excellence not
much No new man has come deciHvely 10 tne
front MFR. j. W. Waterhouse spot the "eii-
known Associate of the AcauonD H'
made certain impression Win us
,.cnn~tltinc the Oracle" but the picture
will NOT warrant raptures. 1t is heavy ana uhcer
tain in touch and formal IN composition Inc
pictures purchased by the Council on the AeaueniS
moi necessarily by young are supposed TO lndl
~. - sorro ,ysv the tone of the exhibition as a
xbole what are they Mr. John Petite, K A.
"a the antbor of The vigil which ~ one. MI
Pettie has a trick of painting the foil OF hsnt ON
steeI surfaces and the hilt of his knights SWORD Is
luminous The figure is a lay model the cnurCn
hnforo the altar of which he kneels reminds one
N tbe Cathrdrals which there are always moh :"
IondoD ready to do at 81 per square ioot' III.
seymour Lecas's Rebel Hunting after Cuiioden
IA fnn Of crude vigor and clever trek;
- sensational sadly wanting in Dig
oItv and IN sef-restraInt. Mr.. DaYd Mur-
r.Ts INV Love has gone Sailing is
landscane or rather a botanical and geologlcal
s,nAv nainted with immense courage IN the )uXta-
nositiop of eolors that requires something oes,noS
conraoe TO get thcm on friendly terms; resembling
nature az much as a Diapers pareet OF patterns IT,
sembes perfect dress. If such works as THESE are
the best hope of the immediate future Oh louns
England with brush and palette, the prospect -
Int a dreary one. 1t is still more dreary IL 20"
turn to the past. The exhibited pictures OF some
Ill tno1yn Acadenieians are simply astonishing
Mr. Gamers acres of Photographic cattle ia colofS
I have suoken Of before. Mr.. Henry l. Weiss
"Ioaoing at a Quarry on the line. OF course
would not find place, l Will venture 10 say
in the upper tier of provincial eNnioI-
lition in France Mr.. j. e. Herberts kuth
~ NeaI-time with the Reapers IN the tlold OF
Roazu IN, the hardness and hatneSs and slnperlnS
prettiness of seven and srxpenny oieosr%pn'
'vht~h lake to be the lowest form OF pictorial IL
lustratiou. Mr. HOrsleys Hide and Seek hangs
beside itthey are both the line in the principal
.,,Iar-v--starins hot. trivial and utolerable And
,ba LAT might be extended till you grew weary oil
diSparasne afieetIves. The ease Is osone tor crl
.ism but for condemnation and protest
r..rs try the other method and take look,
.borqb II must be a rapid one, at the bait-dozcn
o;,rres most talked Of and about which the great
=. orovvd Gathers day by day. They are Had
ian in England by Mr.. Alna-T adema' r. A.;
"Crmou and phgenia" by Sir Frederick Leleh-
TON p r. A.: An IdylI. 1745,' by Mr.. J. h. MIL
Ia,s. X. A.; Venetian Life" by MI Luxe rides
A. Marriage de Convenience by Mr.. w Orch-
a,dson. r A. These are but i've, aud II Is dlrhcuIt
90 name sixth which by the test of popular sui
,age has won place distinctly above IT'S cOhpeu-
tors.
NJ, Alma ia d-ma's "Hadriau in England VISIT
a. pomauo. British Pottery is not to be seen as
- ought 70 be- although it hangs IN the centre Oh
a. wat wall Of the third gallery, sometimes called
- ho,,oretr room 1t obviously needs 10 he tilted
uh+l forward in order to bring the figures IN the
,.r mart of the picture, which Is painted III very
COMPLICATED perspective, into their right relation
vitb the eve of the spectator yentured 10 say a.
ouch IN an AcademiGIan whom met III front Vi At.
-, 10 answered "TadeIna thought so too and
onn,ed to the Hanging Committee TO alter H. ana
- refused You that little picture on the ieIt,
a. fra,,e of which overhangs Tademasf They sara
a.. could not disturb that And so a master
80. ono of few in this exhibition is not to have
Justice done IT,
Ins+i.s or no Justice. this "Hadrian' is OF an ex-
.olence 20 which on the whole no other picture ID
,hisavNibition attaiaS To ind it> counterpart
yon mnst 20 to the Grosvenor, and once more cum
tarplate Mr. Burne Jones's King Cophetua ana
tbe Bergar Maid" The two are alien IN sentiment
tl 90 from motives which viii never bring
,hai- authors 10 work hand in hand; hui they have
,bis in common that they aro each IN It's way the
-. word of contemporary art IN England. MI
al, T,deua has come nearer go modern days than
h. rsuolv does in selecting the second century OF
+bs Christian era as his period The date OF Had
,ia,'s vislt to Britain England Is mlsnomerl' Il
n 10 The picture is the largest, OF nearly So
tbat Tadema has produced, and he mas mica
+Ijs large canvas with work as enDoId'e
g = ,,.ra the ornament Of bOudOir. | am not
snre that the eye not first caught Dy the inquire VI
a., ell, naked slave mounting the staircase, on
tbe landing of which quite in the upper half Of the
,;o,rr. stands the Emperor surrounded by
80 of 6oures A wall of mosaic holds up this
49,. b.nea+h and beyond which are seen wOTkmen
sl,o,,,,s the pots of which completed examples
crowd the space above the imperial group All
+ba.e nie.es of faIenee are copies from existing
specimeus of pottery IN the British Museum IL ls
eedl.ss 20 saw with what Incompatible dexterlty
ond accuracy their form, and surface, and pattern
.ro,ro5uced. Not less wonderful Is the balance
.-eT,I norts Of the composition, or the unerr-
81 instinct with which pink, and purple, and Pom
- red. and many more shades Of red
are barmonzed with each other, and
with the difficult green visible in the garments OF
+be ,,alt;tnde. There is foliage painted with as
,npcb feeling as If it were marble or bronze III
--bicb Mr. Tademas critics would have US
,bipk that be takes an almost exclu-
sive Interest," forgetting as they do how often he
has filed his space with interest manly human
10 ,-rless of the fact that the attractiyeness
I'll srlerd,d work is far more historical or BIO
s,ranbical thar merely archaeological should add
That Was wrong in speaking Of it the other day a.
-, American commission The picture was painted