[ 174 ] [March J, 



THE MONTHLY REVIEW and REGISTER of the FINE ARTS, 



The value and rank of every art is in proportion to the mental labour emploijed in it, 

 or the mental pleasure produced by it." Reynolds. 



Exhibition of the Works of BRITISH 

 AViTlHTiS, placed in the Gallery of the 



BRITISH INSTITUTION, PuU Mall, 



for exhibition and sale, 1821. 



THE spirit of the manairers of this 

 Institution seems to be flagging, 

 and the exertions of the. artists to be 

 drooping — the leading directois do not 

 attend to the selection of the works, 

 nor do they lionour the private view of 



ziers, does not seem disposed to accept, 

 with much more coolness than Sir An- 

 thony Absolute. The apothecary's boy 

 is grinning through the window at tlie 

 fun. This picture is admirably painted, 

 and the architcctuie of the antique 

 mansion and apotlieca of the son of 

 iEsculapius capitally designed : as i» 

 t!i(s beautiful village and scenery of the 

 distance. The picture is spoiled by 



tlie pictures witli their presence as they the yellow landscape at its side, and it 

 were wont to do. Whether this be the " "'" ' ' "^ " '*'' " 



cause or the effect of the declining state 

 of the higher walks of art in general, 

 or of this exhibition in particular, we 

 are not prepared at this moment to dis- 

 cuss : but the fact is, tliat painting is 

 not advancing, nor true patronage in- 

 creasing in the ratio we once fondly 



was not till we concealed it with 

 catalogue, that we could in tlie least 

 perceive its intrinsic be.auly and truth 

 of colour. 



12. T7ie importunate author, from 

 Les Facheu.r,of Moliere, by G. S. New- 

 ton, represents to the life, the single- 

 ness of mind and self-importance of au 



hoped it was. The concq\iences of author of the old regime, reading his 



this defection of sphit among the lead 

 ing directors, are first, a damp thrown 

 upon the artists and over the rooms 

 they used to honour ; and ne.vt, tiiough 

 not least, their leaving the selection and 

 rejection of works sent for exhibition, 

 and the arrangement of them in the 

 gallei-y, to less competent and less re- 

 sponsible persons, to the manifest dis- 

 pleasure of the artists ; whereas in 

 former and more prosperous days of 

 the institution, the rank, the talent 



verses to a man of rank, who is more 

 intent upon the accelerating hands of 

 his watch, than the slowly moving feet 

 of the poetry. The expressions and 

 character of the personages of the scene, 

 are happy, but the execution is coarse 

 and ill-finished, and the colouring not 

 harmonious. Mr. Newton should look 

 at a few of the Metzus and Mieris's of 

 Lord Staftord. or Mr Thomas Hope. 



14. ylthol Highlanders returned from 

 hunting the red deer. D. Wilkie, R.A. 



and the uuiuipeacliable impartiality of The freshness of nature, and easy un 



the noblemen who condescended to aflfectedness wliich pervades this little 



select and arrange, always pleased this picture, reminds one of Mr. Wilkie's 



gentle race. best days, before he was set a gadding 



The exhibition as it is, displays much after Macgilpsand Rembrandt's taste, 



and growing talent in secondary art. His own pure style was so excellent 



namely, disguised portraiture, common 

 j)lace landscapes, and laboured jokes 

 of humoious subjects, with a few ge- 

 nuine, classical, historical landscapes, 



that it was an evil hour and unfriendly 

 advice which first seduced him from it. 

 AVe hail his return to his own genuine 

 simplicity with imafTected pleasure. 



a <roo(\ portrait or two in masquerade, His Finished Study of the Reading of a 

 and some two or three pieces of genuine JHll bears the same character. 



20. The landing of the Trojans to 



humour, new and racy in joke, aid 

 excellently painted in their imitations. 

 Such is No. 4. 77(6 broken tcindoiv, by 

 M. W. Sharp, where a young urchin, 

 the scape -goat of some others who are 

 escaping the pnnishment due to break- 

 ing windoAvs, is caught by a village 

 compounder of chemicals and galeni- 

 cals, who pointing to the dilapidated 

 panes, near to which is the arch inscrip- 

 tion, " advice gratis,*' threatens suin- 

 maiy punishment. Which said gra- 

 tuitous advice the young friend to gla- 



consnlt the Oracle of Apollo at Delos. 

 W. Linton, is the best classical land- 

 scape in the Galleiy. This artist has 

 made considerable advances since his 

 Anacreontic revels of last year, and 

 appears from his works to be a scholar, 

 and a lover of the highest style of his 

 art. The temple of Apollo is restored 

 from the best authorities and with the 

 skill ofan arcliitect; while the exquisite 

 buildings which adorn the city, are 

 classical and well composed. The an- 

 tique 



