IS 21,] A Tour in Search of the Piduresque at the Roj/al Academy. 49? 



turalist. However, while tlit- ficltls are in 

 varicgateti splendour, llie In.'os in blos- 

 som, ami promising rniiifiiiiiess, an op- 

 porlunily is aflurdi-d to llie lover of art 

 by the invitatory cxiiibilions of piclures, 

 which are collected in suitable situa- 

 tions; and which, at a trifling exjiense, 

 arc exposed to the judgment of the 

 critic, and the pleasure of the amateur. 

 When we enter a room walled by 

 scenery, history, and society, we feel an 

 instinctive gratiOcation at being per- 

 uiitted to converse v.illi our eye and 

 remark witlioiir uuilerstandin;;. VVlie- 

 ther we admire the sweet gr.iccs of a 

 bidy's group, tiie arch-winning of a 

 comic gesture, or the moonlight of a 

 cascade in a ruin; whether we deprecate 

 a saucy coxcomb's stare at us into 

 whichever part of the room we lounge, 

 or shrink from the importance of being 

 Surrounded by dukes, lortls, prebenda- 

 ries, and citizens, it is all alike, the 

 offence and delight rest with ourselves. 

 Pictures, so long as they breathe on 

 canvass, only breathe; their voice is 

 silence, and their object iierfcetiou ; we 

 therefore, if sometimes oB'eiidcd with 

 them, are never ofieiided by them; 

 There is this recollection in all por- 

 traits ; we are sure to behold them in 

 their 'Sunday clolhes,' with 'their 

 best bibs and tutkeis on.' To paint a 



delicate chimney-sweeper's effeminate 

 lady had given up the authority of the 

 ladle to noblemen's French cooks, for the 

 more civil aulhoiily of 'taking the 

 sack,' which I'alstafT himself would 

 have acknowledged to be necessary. 

 Since the established reputation of the 

 Society of British Artists, by liieir Crst 

 offerings in this respect with their «;oun- 

 tiymeu and to patronage, the Somerset- 

 House interior manifests an absence of 

 talent, which shines more brightly in a 

 more liberal sphere. Ever since our 

 remembrance of prying into the fati- 

 guing, high, odd, crowded, and hot, rooms 

 of the I'oyal Academy, we have la- 

 mented the unequal positions and lights 

 of particular pictures. But we do not 

 recollect observing an associate's or a 

 R. A.'s production being bung near the 

 roof or the lloor, or cornered so that 

 the paint looked like mud, or glared 

 like lighted sul[)hnr. A whole-lengtii 

 dowager is sure to take the lead, and a 

 staif-offieer the command; true, but 

 though a lady should take the wall, and 

 and a general the field, by his dimen- 

 sions, we cannot allow the gems of ge- 

 nius, and the studies of wearied nights 

 and unfed days, to be thrust out of the 

 Way, to the detriment of young asi>irants 

 who have often to contend with poverty, 

 and stand ay;ainst the influence of esta- 



Lady in a passionwould be preposterous, *blished repulation. We have heard 



though too many of the liaut ton have an 

 insulierable passion for painting : to paint 

 a genlleman without a smile would be 

 a distempered effort not deserving an 

 artist's reputation. It is somewhat 

 singular that animals are fond of being 

 classed, or artists, rather, are apt to 

 bring monkeys, dogs, cats, birds, and 

 reptiles, into the presence of an alder- 

 man's gaze, or a bishop's scan ; thus we 

 catch a dandy making |)ostures at an 

 ajjc; a sportsman enamoured of a setter; 

 an old maid complimenting the bristling 

 angle of a tabby grimalkin; a virtuoso 

 exclaiming bow jirettily the partridges 

 in 'still life' would look, were they 

 judiciously stuffed, and framed and 

 glazed ; we delect the sycophant watch- 

 ing the motionless concealment of ' a 

 snake in the grass,' and hear a masonic 

 ruler praise the easy fall of M'Adam. 

 With these entertaining and lively ;>;)«: 

 d'esprit, we fingered open our catalogue 

 of the present collection of pictures et 

 cet. presented this year at the I'ojai 

 Academy, Somersel-nouse, which 

 opened to tin; public the JJOlh of May, 

 ubeii 'Jack in the green' bad nearly 

 changed tu 'Jack in bis suol,' and tlio 



upon authority, that pictiues have been 

 rejected in great numbers for this exhi- 

 bition ; but we know that they were 

 first considered as eligible till the num- 

 bers of more particular favourites were 

 ascertained. 



It is, then, evident that partiality, 

 liowever it may frustrate the efforts of 

 the weak, by opening a rivalry in art, 

 competilion in exhibition, and the right 

 ap|)ropriation oi vi7-tu, will cause Britisli 

 Artists to persevere, and the Royal Art- 

 ists to compete, or lose that credit whicli 

 many of tbem have industriously ob- 

 tained. But justice ought to be fol- 

 lowed. Genius ought to be the lest. 

 Truth to nature the criterion. The 

 Hanging Committee are themselves 

 artists. They strangely enough commit 

 pohj-cide on the walls. This suspension 

 is called hanging by courtesy. Though 

 we allow many rejections, many very 

 inferior productions are accepted, whicli 

 are only fit for public- house parlours. 

 We will proecf.d, however, and enu- 

 merate our |)roniiscuous notices, pro- 

 vided the fat Diiehcss will condescend- 

 ingly remove her position and wave her 

 feathers out of our sight. We excuse 



iicr 



