134 THE FINE ARTS. 
establishing an English School from meeting with success. In the next 
century the first name that occurs of any Englishman who had raised 
himself to eminence as a painter is Svr James Thornhill, and he is 
less remarkable for himself than as the father-in-law of Welliam Hogarth 
(1698-1769), that great man with whom the English school of painting may 
be said to commence. Unversed in academic rules, and to the last not con- 
spicuous for technical skill in his art, Hogarth derived his inspiration from 
the nature immediately around him. Sometimes regarded as merely a 
satirist, a larger object was before him; to amend mankind as well as 
amuse them was his task. ‘“ Zhe Harlot’s Progress,” “ Marriage a la 
mode,” “ The Rake’s Progress,” &c., which have been spread by the graver 
throughout the world testify to the extent and variety of his powers. These 
“ serious dramas,” as they have sometimes been called rather than paintings, 
deserve the closest study, as the most minute accessories tend to carry out 
the purpose of the artist. In the words of Charles Lamb, other painters we 
look at, but we read Hogarth. 
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), the great luminary of the English 
school, was gifted by nature with exquisite taste in his art, which, improved 
by foreign study and diligent investigation into the true principles of paint 
ing, places him at the head of the English school of portraiture. Splendor 
of coloring and graceful composition are the characteristics of his pictures. 
He was perhaps most happy in children and female heads; many of them 
have never been surpassed for truth and purity of effect. The few historical 
pictures he painted were not calculated to increase his fame. As first Pre- 
sident of the Royal Academy established in 1768, Reynolds exerted great 
influence in the progress of the arts, and his lectures or discourses on paint- 
ing, delivered before that body, will long perpetuate his name asa classic 
and enlightened writer on art. Among the first academicians we find the 
names of West, Wilson, Gainsborough, and Barry, who all deserve separate 
mention. 
Benjamin West (1738-1820) was born in Pennsylvania, and after study- 
ing his art in Italy, he settled in London in 1763. He soon attracted the 
attention of George III., and chiefly through his patronage was enabled to 
execute the numerous historical works for which he has been celebrated. 
Posterity has failed to confirm the judgment of his contemporaries. With 
one single exception, the Death of Wolfe, in which he first ventured 
to break through the old conventionalities of treatment, his works are 
viewed with indifference, and their academical correctness is not sufficient 
to rescue them from the charge of insipidity and feebleness. West suc- 
ceeded Reynolds and was the second President of the Royal Academy. 
In Lichard Wilson (114-1782) the English for the first time had a 
landscape painter who could be compared with the great old masters. His 
style was formed by a study of Italian nature, and met with little 
encouragement from the patrons of his day; his career was an unhappy 
one, but the pictures which he painted, to provide the mere necessaries of 
life, are now purchased at enormous prices as the ornaments of the choicest 
galleries. 
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