1929. Te 
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} 
FINE ARTS’ EXHIBITIONS. 
—— 
THE exuberance of matter pressing upon 
us for notice at this season, precludes the 
mecessity of any general comparisons, whe- 
ther ‘ odious” or agreeable. We shall 
therefore proceed at once to give the most 
satisfactory positive account that our limits 
will permit, of the chief exhibitions opened 
to public inspection since our last notice. 
The most important is that of the Royal 
Academy, where we meet with a collection 
ef works highly creditable te the general 
state of art among us, and including many 
individual examples, in many different de- 
partments, that have never been surpassed 
in our own country, and rarely in any other. 
It must be admitted at once, that not only 
the mest conspicuous, but the most meri- 
torious objects of this year at the Royal 
Academy, are the portraits by Sir Thomas 
Lawrence. They are eight in number; 
and though each has something to distin- 
ish it ina peculiar manner from all the 
est, it is difficult to determine which should 
arry off the palm of praise and admiration. 
Three are whole-lengths, the size of life ; 
nd for airy grace of style, and mingled 
tila and fidelity of execution, they have 
never been surpassed, even by this accom- 
plished artist himself. That of the Duchess 
of Richmond (102) represents the very per- 
fection of natural beauty, heightened to its 
acme by all the inimitable graces of high 
blood and breeding; that of the Marchioness 
of Salisbury (193) includes an intense in- 
tellectual vivacity of look which rivets the 
eye with a sort of talismanic power; and 
the capital one of the Duke of Clarence, has 
a still and unpretending gravity about it 
‘that cannot be too much admired. Next 
in merit and effect to the above, are two 
which include an extraordinary union of 
force of character with happy facility of 
_ style: they are(135) Lord Durham, and (97) 
Miss Macdonald; there is a look of what 
our neighbours called minauderie about the 
Jatter, which is executed with singular deli- 
cacy and nicety. The other portraits of 
_ Lawrence are a not very agreeable one of 
_ Southey (172), a fine one of Mr. Soane 
_ (338), and a somewhat stiff and starched 
one of Mrs. Locke, sen. (455.) 
__ Among the Historical works this year, 
the most conspicuous is that of Benaiah, by 
‘Etty (16). 
“ He slew two lion-like men of Moab.” 
; SAMUEL. 
It displays considerable power of conception 
‘and execution ; and there is great and very 
‘striking merit in the chiaro-seuro ; but the 
-work is of overgrown size, and has not much 
that will recommend it to general admira- 
tion. ‘The little work by the same artist, 
‘on the subject of Hero and Leander (31), 
has ten times more real merit; but even 
‘this is of a nature that will cause it to be 
M.M New Series.—Vou.VII. No. 42, 
generally passed by unnoticed. These are 
the only works by Etty. Hilton has a 
large work of the historical class, “‘ The 
meeting of Abraham’s servant and Rebecca” 
(180), in which he has adopted a tame and 
feeble general manner, that does not augur 
well forhis progressin the art. Unfortunately, 
in the historical class we have also to rank 
the chief of Wilkie’s productions of this 
year. We but little expected, and still less 
are we pleased with, the striking change 
that seems to have taken place in the ideas 
of this distinguished artist, as to the line of 
art in which his great talents are available. 
He has given us, instead of his former un- 
rivalled pieces of humour and character, 
monks, priests, and princesses going through 
the serious mockery of bathing pilgrims’ feet 
—amazons fighting furiously, and priests 
debating gloomily — shepherds singing 
hymns to Madonnas, and sinners kneeling at 
confessionals. This is a grievous contrast to 
what we looked for at the hands of Mr. 
Wilkie. Has his own pilgrimage to the 
Eternal, City made a saint or a Roman of 
him 2We shall abstain from criticising 
his new class of works, till we ascertain from 
what causes and motives they have pro- 
ceeded. 
In point of mere colouring, and, indeed, 
we may add, in almost every other particular 
except choice of subject, Mr. Briggs’s pic- 
ture of Margaret of Anjou flying with the 
young prince, after the battle of Hexham, 
and confiding him to the care of robbers, is 
the very best historical work on a large scale 
in this collection. There is a coherence, a 
consistency, a general harmony in the produc- 
tions of this artist, which would alone place 
him in a high rank. But he has, more- 
over, an excellent conception of individual 
character, a fine taste in colouring, and 
much graceful ease in his style of handling. 
Nevertheless, he is far from having hitherto 
performed what we are entitled to expect 
from his various powers ; and one reason of 
this is, that he has not hitherto made a 
judicious choice of subject. He paints scenes 
in which his powers of conception and his 
skill in delineating character, are too much 
tied down to certain specific claims upon 
them. In the department of external nature 
we have a few fine, and several highly agree- 
able and meritorious productions. Calcott’s 
“ Dutch Ferry’? (66) is a work of rare 
power and beauty, shewing all the artist's 
best qualities in their best point of view. 
Collins’s “ Morning after a Storm” (166) 
is equally pure and simple; yet with more 
of manner, and consequently less of nature : 
for Calcott has less manner than any other 
distinguished artist of his day. Constable, on 
the other hand, has more of manner than any 
one else; but it is a bold and original man- 
ner, and one which is at least founded on a 
4Q 
