ART:
THE ROYAL ACADEMY.—[THIRD Nonca.]
IN JOHN PHILLIP the English School has lost its ablest master of that true dexterity which expresses the greatest amount of truth with a minimum of apparent labour. " There are in all objects," says Haydon in his lectures, " great characteristic distinctions which press on the senses and affect the imagination ; these the man of comprehensive views sees, transfers, and hits off by touches, leaving the aggregate of useless particulars to the imagination of the spectator, while the man of narrow understanding dwells only on the aggregate of particulars, deceiving himself that the leading points will come." Thus dexterous execution is properly the result of active sagacity in perceiving and selecting essential ingre- dients, and can no more be acquired and practised without thought, than the thought can be adequately expressed with- out skill in execution. Good execution is, in fact, the means by which Art supplements its own shortcomings, and is enabled to suggest.to the spectator's imagination what its imper- fect powers of imitation prevent it from absolutely express- ing. It is often aped by empty flourish and slap-dash, but with as little similitude as that which exists between fine poetry and sonorous nonsense-verses. It is not a common accom- plishment with English* artists, and is perhaps too much under- valued by them. Pre-Raphaelitism having laboured long and hard at " the aggregate of particulars," and having brought forth little but disappointment to those who hoped that thence "the leading points would come," has not, as might have been expected, issued in a general determination to study and seize upon "great characteristic distinctions." Mr. Millais, indeed, is a notable, if a solitary, exception, for he is at this moment the ablest per- former with the brush that the English School can boast ; and it is fair to presume that this ability was in great measure due to his former painstaking industry in the early days of pre-Raphaelitism, and to a consequent recognition of the limits within which imita- tion, pure and simple, was possible. For though by dwelling only on the aggregate of particulars the mind of the spectator will never be interested or his imagination stirred, yet artists, like other persons, learn best by their failures. There are some good examples of Mr. Millais' power of execution in the present Exhibition ; as the head of the negro boy sitting cross- legged behind Jephtliah's chair (289) ; the shield in the same picture ; and, best of all, the child's face in " The minuet" (628). The painting of the bed-furniture in the same artist's " Sleeping " (65) and " Waking" (74) is of inferior merit ; the cotton and woollen substances shine too much, and have too smooth and slippery a texture. l Ie is better in representing surfaces that re- flect, as the shield already mentioned, and the satin cushion in " Sleeping " (65) ; though those who know how the Belgian artists Alfred Stevens and 1Villems excel in all these particulars, will be disposed to think that Mr. Millais has still much to learn.
A little too much, this, of the mechanism of painting. But, indeed, Mr. Millais' pictures lead naturally to such considerations; for the cleverness with which they are painted is too ostentatious and the flourish of trumpets too audible. Look at them as often as you will, the trumpets are never out of your ears, and the trick which dazzled at first ends by being a little repulsive. It is clever painting, but not serious art. "The minuet" (628), a pretty child in old-fashioned attire standing up for a dancing lesson, is by far the best picture exhibited by the artist, and is distinguished from the others by this, that the flavour of its subject survives the admiration felt for the mere mechanism of its details. Of serious art seriously treated, Mr. Wynfield, Mr. E. J. Poynter, and Mr. Hodgson are the principal exponents in this year's Exhibition. Mr. Wynfield's picture, " Oliver Cromwell the night before his death " (494), is a great advance on anything he has previously painted. The moment is well chosen to recall a critical passage in English history, and the conclusion of the first act in the Revolution then interrupted, but no long time afterwards
completed. The Protector lies in a room dimly lighted by a candle, which is hidden behind the bed-curtain, but shines full in the dying man's face. Two women of his family kneel in the foreground, and through an open door are seen some grave ministers of religion whom the seriousness of the occasion has also brought together in the attitude of prayer. The picture is singularly impressive ; the head of Cromwell possessing considerable dignity, though less of character than would have been imparted to it by a Zoffany. Zoffany, indeed, is an excellent model for the study of artists who paint figures on a small scale. Mr. Poynter's picture, " Israel in Egypt" (434), is by this time widely known, as it well deserves to be. The brutal physiognomy of the taskmaster who lashes the toiling Israelites from his seat on the heavily laden car to which they are harnessed, gives the key-note to the picture ; and this is well taken up by great expressiveness as well as variety in the attitudes of the over-taxed slaves. There is a touch of true poetry in Mr. Hodgson's picture of a church at " Evensong" (599), where, in the ruddy light of evening that streams across the aisle, the living are at prayer among the solemn effigies of long-dead knights. "Early Puritans of New England" (657), by Mr. Boughton, also deserves to be mentioned here. The band of grave persons filing to worship at peril of their lives, and on the watch for Indians and wild beasts, are painted with much appreciation for character. But why have they no shadows? On the darkest day an opaque object like the human body will intercept some light from the ground on which it stands. To be sure, the Baron Leys does not allow this. But nature is a better guide than Leys.
History-painting is clearly not Mr. Frith's proper employment. It is surprising bow unimpressive is his " King Charles the Second's last Sunday " (132). Here is a large, picture, carefully painted, crowded with figures, with every opportunity for contrast of character and display of colour, yet nothing to arrest serious attention, and scarcely anything to excite curiosity. It is utterly unreal. A want of reality is also the fault of "The dawn of the Reformation" (301), by Mr. Yeames. Wycliffe is giving copies of his Bible to " the poor priests" and bidding them make known the Gospel. He stands at his door, and the messengers are taking his book and setting out on their mission. The "situation" is feebly and stagily represented. Much better is his less pretentious " On bread and water" (139), where a child has been set at the end of a long oak table with the above-mentioned sorry fare, the distastefulness of which is heightened by the sight of some roast beef at the other end of the table. The composition of this little picture gives it a strength and importance which is very much wanting in the Wycliffe. It is remarkable, indeed, how much dignity is imparted to a picture, however homely the subject, if the composition be good. Thus, Wilkie used to give a vigour and dignity to such subjects as "The blind fiddler" and " The rent day," by distributing his masses in a way that would have equally suited a cartoon by Raphael.
Mr. Fettle's " Treason " (322) has some force ; and if his object was to make treason contemptible, he must be allowed to have succeeded, by giving to his knot of conspirators heads that pro- mise nothing but meanness, fear, and (except the ecclesiastic) imbecility. " Falstaff's Own" (430), by Mr. H. S. Marks, is no less a success in exhibiting the utterly unsoldierlike condition and want of military spirit of the "pitiful rascals" whom the knight had enlisted, so much to the benefit of his own pocket, and so little to that of the cause they were to sup- port. Mr. G. Leslie contributes three pretty pictures, of which the prettiest is "Ten minutes to decide" (131). What the subject for decision is does not clearly appear, but as it has to be made by a young lady, the nature of it may be guessed. Mr. Leighton is not in force ; his principal venture, " Venus disrobing for the bath" (589), being awkward in posture and of a dull clay colour, which as it certainly is not true to human nature, so it does not suggest the divine, the only way of representing which on canvas is by an exaltation of humanity. A beautiful little picture by Mr. Poole, very daintily coloured, called " Rest by the wayside" (203), is so small that it may be overlooked. But this cannot be afforded in an Exhibition which is so generally
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