ART.
THE DUDLEY GALLERY.
Tars Exhibition at the Egyptian Hall, though it is the youngest of all the Water-Colour Galleries, has always possessed a peculiar interest. For it is here that we look for evidences of the prowess of our younger artists, and try to discern the traces of rising genius. Founded some twelve years since, for the express pur- pose of affording to rising talent the means of making itself known, it has always adhered steadily to that purpose, till it has become the recognised medium by which comparatively unknown artists are brought into communication with the public. A great part of its success has been owing to the manner in which it has been supported by many older painters of established name and repute, who have aided, both by contributions and other assist- ance, in preventing the Dudley Gallery from sharing the same fate as has befallen many of the smaller Galleries, started avowedly for the same purpose. The names of Poynter, Watts, Marks, Macbeth, and many others, who contributed to its earlier exhibitions, were guarantees to the public that there would be at least some good pictures to look at; and started under such favour- able auspices, the Gallery has steadily advanced year by year in the public estimation, and improved in the quality of its works.
To criticise an exhibition like this, which is confessedly chiefly .composed of pictures by comparatively unknown or young artists, with anything like the minuteness which we bestow upon the Academy, or the collections of the Old Water-Colour Society, -would be alike unfair and useless ; and if we can perceive a steady advance in the right direction, and an honest attempt at the best -work which the artist is capable of, we should be perfectly satis- fied. Whether there is shown in the present Exhibition such an advance, and such an attempt, is the question before us ; and with some limitations it may, we think, be answered in the affirmative. Before proceeding to mention the pictures, we would call atten- tion to the fact that this year there are far fewer contributions by Artists of established reputation, which formerly aided so much in making this collection interesting; the fact is that the Dudley now feels itself strong enough to stand alone, and this accounts for a certain lack of the more striking pictures which we have seen here in former years.
For instance, there is nothing this year to compare with the .exquisite study by Poynter, of " Diana and her Nymphs before lEscalapius," which was so marked a feature of last year's exhibi- tion ; or with the " May-day Procession " of H. S. Marks, some years since ; or the picture by the same painter of the "Princess and the Pelicans," from some old fairy-tale ; or the delicious har- monies of golden colour with which Simeon Solomon used to light np the walls. In fact, with but few exceptions of any conse- quence, the pictures are landscapes. But they who can appreciate the quiet, tender beauty of nature, the whisper of the summer foliage, the murmur of rushing waters, the grey mystery of the eve, or the rosy promise of the dawn, may here find abundant -food for delight.
In many of the unpretending studies here we can trace a 'hearty love of nature,--sympathy with the joy and promise of the spring, deep-smiled content with the glory of summer, even reverence and love for the decay of autumn and the whirling blasts of winter. Anything like a detailed review of the drawings is out of the question within the limits assigned us ; and it will be -as much as we can do to give a few details as to some of the more noteworthy examples. There are four contributions here from members of the Royal Academy ; two of them by Yeames and Calderon, Associates, and two by Poynter, Academician. The example by Yeames of "Housetops in Venice" is slight, and quite unworthy of the painter's reputation. The picture by Calderon, entitled, "Her eyes are with her heart, and that is far away," the quotation presumably adapted from Byron's "Dying Gladiator," represents a young Greek girl, in very unsubstantial drapery, leaning against a fallen pillar, with background of deep blue mountains, and a flimsy foreground of grass and yellow flowers. The drawing, though not devoid of a certain grace peculiar to this painter, is an unsatisfactory one, the principal im- pression it conveys being that if the Grecian mamma was to find her daughter in such attire, in such a place, she would box her ears, and put her to bed, whence she has apparently strayed,— and that it would serve her right.
Of the two Poynters we must speak in very different terms. All who know anything of this painter are aware that whatever else we may think of his work, we may always be sure of its being most carefully thought out and skilfully executed. Both these things are evident in No. 527, "Michael Angelo" (design for the decoration of lecture theatre, South Kensington). It represents him seated on a dais in a marble alcove, with a half-finished torso in marble at his left hand. This is almost the only example in the Exhibition of real master's work, and with the exception of a little heaviness in the colour, which scarcely adds to the effect of the composition, there is nothing to be said of it but in praise. The drawing of the figure, and its majestic pose and solidity, are no less admirable than the painting of the marble couch and tesselated pavement. The other example of Poynter's work (485) is called " Shunnor Fell," and is a quiet English landscape, with a few very small figures in the foreground. Here the artist has totally surrendered all attempt at pictorical effect in his endeavour to attain perfect truth. Every undulation of the rising ground is most carefully indicated, and throughout the picture, past the thick clump of trees, up the steep sides of the great fell, with the soft cloud-shadows passing over it, and away into the dark bank of sombre grey clouds which overhang all, there is nothing but simple truth. How seldom such truth can be attained may be guessed by the rareness with which we meet with it.
We shall first notice the portraits, then the principal figure compositions (there are but two or three), and then the land- scapes, which comprise by far the greater portion of the ex- hibition. Nos. 85 and 105, by Edith Martineau, are two half-lengths of Mrs. J. L. Roget and the Rev. James Mar- tineau, the artist's father. They are both clever, painstaking studies, remarkable for freedom from affectation, and honest, good painting. The latter especially is a fine portrait, and has evidently been a labour of love. Miss Martineau is to be congratulated upon her success in perhaps the most difficult of all branches of art, and one that has seldom been attempted with any success by members of her sex.
The portraits by Mr. Clifford this year are less successful, wo think, than usual. Though they are finished with great care and extreme delicacy, there is a heaviness of effect about the back- grounds, and a disagreeable blackness in the shadows. The most pleasing of the three is the Viscountess Castlereagh, a beautiful, downcast face, which the artist has done full justice to ; while the painting of the white satin dress, with its gold embroidery, is as fine a piece of manipulation as could be wished. The por- traits by J. C. Moore, all of children, are noticeable for their delicate harmoniousness of colour and excellent accessories. In- deed, if these pictures have a fault, it is that Mr. Moore seems in danger of thinking more of the dress and entourage of his subject than the subject itself ; bronze boots, red apples, and old blue porcelain, are all very good in their way, but unless it is intended to be entirely decorative art, they should be kept in subordination to the face, which is hardly sufficiently done.
The first of the figure subjects which strikes the eye is No. 75, "A Handful of Warmth," by Edwin Bale. It represents a Breton peasant girl warming her hands over a pan of charcoal, while she rests from her spinning. Her face is slightly weary, and the figure and attitude are both expressive of toil and the hard duties of every-day life. The picture is pathetic, but not in the least morbid or sentimental, and is a decided advance on the painter's previous work. Another work by the same painter, which will be a greater favourite with many, is No. 844, " Easter." It depicts some nuns in an old convent garden, bounded by a high brick wall. One is gathering daisies, while her companion waits by her side ; others walk two-and-two on the grass-plot. Here, again, the prevailing feeling is one of quiet sadness, and it is carried out with great intensity and true pathos. The bare garden, with no flowers save the daisies ; the dull, high wall, shutting out the outer world ; the heavy garments of the nuns, and their placid, resigned faces, as if joy and sorrow, hope and love, and all that makes up life to us, had passed them by for ever, —all these render this picture a very complete and beautiful one.
No. 271, " I Will and Bequeath," by A. C. H. Luamore, shows an old Puritan in the act of making his will, in the presence of a black-gowned lawyer, who is pointing with his finger to the place where he is to sign. The picture is carefully painted, and all the accessories, such as the scattered parchments and open case, are true and correct ; but the interest is very slight, and the labour bestowed upon the composition is hardly compensated for by the result.
Amongst the landscapes, the two that occupy the most pro- minent places are Nos. 93 and 302, by Hamilton Macallum and Joseph Knight. The former is called, " Carting Sea-weed on the South Coast." It is a bright, sunny seascape, with two figures in the foreground engaged in loading a small donkey-cart with very purple sea-weed, while in the haze of the middle-distance fishing-boats lie at anchor against a low stone pier, idly waiting for the evening breeze. Little more can be said in its praise than that the painting of the donkeys is fairly good, and that the whole picture reminds us pleasantly of hot, summer days. The execution of it, like that of Colin Hunter, Peter Graham, and other members of the Scotch School, combines great breadth of effect with great carelessness of detail. The many admirers of this painter will doubtless think the picture charming, but ita is in no sense of the word a meritorious one, for it is quite evident that it is not the best work of which the painter is capable. That the artist is well appreciated may be seen no less from its position in the room than from the fact that it is valued at £262, a somewhat stiff price to pay for two donkeys, and more than three times that of Poynter's study of Michael Angelo.
No. 302 by Joseph Knight, is a very delicate, laborious draw- ing, of exquisitely harmonious effect. It represents, as its title says, " A Sandy Road " through a waste piece of ground, bor- dered on one side of the picture by thick clumps of dark olive- green trees, relieved against the cool greys of the evening sky. The rooks are flying home noisily, and the labourers trudging soberly along, and the whole picture speaks of quiet, uneventful country life at the close of the day. Perhaps the most pleasing of all the landscapes is No. 263, "A Homestead," by Ernest Waterlow,—simply an old English cottage standing in one of the quaint orchard-gardens which are so common in our midland and southern counties, with its scattered apple-trees and old-fashioned flowers, and two figures standing in the lush-grass, taking in the linen before nightfall,— a simple every-day scene enough, but treated with a poetry and a tenderness which we look for in vain so often. The same artist has two smaller examples this year, both of decided merit. No. 59, "Amongst the Bells at Torcello," by Harry Darvall, should be noticed as being a vigorous, faithful piece of very difficult drawing. The great bells are hung close to the spectator, amongst the beams and joists of the belfry, between which we catch glimpses of the quiet water and boats beyond. No. 86, " A Devonshire Orchard," by Charles Earle,—a vigorous drawing of turkeys underneath the entwining boughs of some old apple-trees, which renders the fowls with great truth, though the landscape part is a little confused. There are five studies of Mrs. Angell's here, all of still life, well worthy of her already established name. Of these, No. 95, " Raspberries," in an old grey porcelain dish, is as finished and faithful a study as anything of her great predecessor's, William Hunt. It should be mentioned thetas a rule Mrs. Angell makes no attempt at an artistic background, but is content with perfect rendering of her one subject, whether it be flowers or fruit. No. 491, " Plums and Greengages," by William Hough, may be mentioned as a successful effort in the manner of Hunt ; in fact it might be easily mistaken for that master.
One of the most interesting pictures in the Exhibition is No. 126, "Fishers of the Nile," by Heywood Hardy. This exhibits all the artist's well-known ease andforce in animal draughtsmanship. The half-dozen pelicans are cleverly grouped in various attitudes, in front of some dark reeds, while behind are the blue waters of the Nile and an evening sky. The pelicans do not possess all the quaint humour of those with which Mr. Marks has so often delighted us, but they are conscientious studies well carried out, and the picture is one of the most meritorious in the Exhibition. We can but allude passingly to Mark Fisher's clever studies of cattle, treated somewhat in the French manner, and reminding us a little of Corot ; to the two humorous studies by McCulloch, of the effects of liquor in ancient and modern times ; to a delightful study of early spring by Alfred Parsons, called "Daffodils," a most faithful and beautiful little picture ; to the four studies by Cotman, especially the one entitled " The Little Primrose-gatherer," a most pleasing picture of a cottage-girl, her lap full of primroses, struggling in a gust of wind ; to the picture of " Whitby," by
Walter Crane, whose name has been so much before the public of late, and whose two drawings this year are very harmonious and true ; and the two small Dutch compositions by George Clausen, evidencing honest and not unsuccessful effort at finding a beauty in the common-place, instead of seeking it in the abnormal. All these are deserving of attention, and many others ; for the Exhibition has a high level of skill in execution, and our only- regret is that so many of the pictures are but too evidently painted to sell, and are not efforts at an advance in a higher direction,. even at the loss of a little personal gain.
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