FINE ARTS.
THE ROYAL COMMISSION.
THE first fruits of the Royal Commission surpass the most sanguine expectations, in respect both of quality and quantity the artists have shown themselves worthy of the encouragement held out to them ; and their first efforts in a style of art new to the British school do honour to the genius of the nation. The Cartoons for the Fresco competition were sent into Westminster Hall last week ; where they will be pub- licly exhibited so soon as the arrangements for this purpose are com- pleted. Their number is reported to be one hundred and seventy, and the majority are said to be of a superior character : such is the excellence of so many that the judges find it difficult to award the prizes to some without doing injustice to others ; and the necessity of increasing the number of premiums beyond the eleven advertised'is contemplated. This gratifying intelligence is, however, only hearsay ; and allowance must be made for the effect of surprise on the minds of the judges, as well as for the exaggeration of rumour : but we are quite prepared to find these flattering anticipations realized to a very considerable and satisfactory extent. Those who judge of the talent of artists from the annual exhibitions form a very false estimate : the picture-makers are not the only designers ; indeed, a very small proportion of them possess inventive power and skill in design. The prosperous painters of smug faces, sleek animals, and pretty scenery, are clever at covering canvass with colour ; but of the higher art of drawing the figure, and depicting character in action and expression—of telling a story, in short—few of them know any thing : it is altogether a different branch of art. More- over, the great majority of competitors on this occasion, we will venture to say, are students : young men whose aspirations are too high, and whose views of the qualifications requisite for an artist are too expanded for them to rush into exhibitions with crude and imperfect attempts at painting ; and who have been endeavouring to supply by diligent study at home, or in the ateliers abroad, the deficiency of education that they have so sensibly felt in the Royal Academy. The cartoon, it should be remembered, is only a preparation for the picture : it is the idea expressed in form, by means of light and shade without colour ; and notwithstanding it contains the vital essence of the future work, it is not a thing complete. The power to produce a cartoon does not necessarily imply the skill to paint a picture, either is oil or fresco : there is no reason to doubt the acquisition of the requi- site skill, though the art of the colourist may prove greater or less than that of the designer : for instance, it may happen that the author of an inferior design may produce a more agreeab!e picture, and vice versa. But as a test of the intellectual capacity of the painter, and of his possessing the knowledge and mastery essential to the prodnc- lion of a great work of art, the cartoon is sufficient ; inasmuch atria admits of the display of the rarest and most exalted power, and demands- the exercise of skill the most difficult of attainment. The Royal Commission has likewise intimated to the sculptors, that statues in bronze and marble will be required for the new Houses of Parliament; and has invited the artists to send in specimens of their ability in the first week of Jane next year. Each sculptor may send. two models, in any material commonly used, of ideal or portrait statues, or groups ; the figures not less than three feet nor more than six feet in height. The specimens need not be executed purposely, but may be selected from among the works produced by the artist within five years previous. In order to provide a suitable place of exhibition for the sculpture, notice must be given t t Mr. EASTLAKE, the Secretary, on or before the 15th March next, by every sculptor who intends putting in his claims. No premiums will be given : the prizes will consist of commissions for statues.
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