Art Subjects and their Treatment. 367 



E. Landseer's " Connoisseurs " in this series, it would be placed 

 at their head. The artist is making a sketch, and two dogs, 

 looking over his shoulders, are criticising the work, evidently 

 with more intelligence than human connoisseurs often display. 



Landscapes form the last great category to which we shall 

 allude ; and among the most elegant and pleasing is " The 

 Village Smithy," by Creswick, who has in this instance managed 

 to forget the mannerism which so sadly detracts from the 

 average merit of his works. A landscape ought to be beautiful 

 or it is not worth painting, and it ought especially to exhibit 

 those charms of light and colour which are evanescent in their 

 effects, which the true artist should be the first to recognize, 

 and which he only has the power to retain. Instead of content- 

 ing himself with somewhat tame green trees, over-polished 

 rocks, and soapy streams, Mr. Creswick has this year given us 

 a beautiful effect of contrasted light. A cool evening sky, 

 with a crescent moon, graceful trees, and a flowing river, con- 

 trast exquisitely with the red light from the village smithy. 

 The delineation is at once natural and poetic. All of us may 

 have seen something of the kind, and fancy clings fondly to 

 such pleasantly-tinted recollections. We should all like this 

 picture, and are half- vexed that, with so many other good 

 things, " private property " should swallow it up. The thought 

 makes us exclaim with Proudhon, La jprojpriete c'est le vol. The 

 Linnells are of course in the landscape series ; and the " Shep- 

 herd's Mount/' by W. Linnell, is very fine. What we regret 

 with them, and many other artists, is that they stereotype a 

 manner. You see fiery skies of a particular red tint, corn of 

 golden brown hue, and blue distances in certain combination, 

 and you are sure it is a Linnell — father or sons. Nature cannot 

 look so much alike to this clever family. She is infinitely 

 varied ; why cannot they avoid travelling on one path till they 

 have made a rut ? 



We know not under what head to place the very mannered 

 and very popular productions of Mr. Hook. In the true artistic 

 sense of the term they are not landscapes, but Hoolcscapes. He 

 forms a theory of the sort of rock and water that will go with 

 his brown faced men and boys. It is not like nature, nor is it 

 an artist's bettering of that which he sees. Clever it un- 

 doubtedly is — sell it undoubtedly does \ but it has grave faults 

 in the eyes of those who love the actual as seen in an ideal light. 



We have brought our examination to a conclusion. We 

 have made no attempt to note all the pictures in the several 

 series that might deserve comment. Our object has been to 

 arrive at some notion of the state of the artist-mind, from its 

 choice and treatment of subjects for pictorial work. We find, as 

 all honest critics must do, much to praise and Be proud of, but 



