SOCIETY OF ARTS THE MULREADY COLLECTION.
At its house in the Adelphi, the Society of Arts displays the first of a series of annual exhibitions, which are intended to aid, with a general sub- scription, in forming a gallery of British art.
"The exhibition will consist of the pictures of some one eminent living artist, of his studies and sketches, and of engravings from his pictures. "The funds to be thus raised will be applied, firstly, m giving the artist whose works are exhibited a commission for a picture, and secondly, in the purchase of pictures already painted. These pictures will be presented from time to time to the National Gallery; and thus, together with the works of British artists already the property of the nation, will help to form a gallery which shall worthily re- present British art."
Mulready is the painter whose works are selected for the first exhibi- tion. The collection of paintings may be said to extend in a double line round the great room; some more, with a number of academic drawings, sketches, and studies for pictures, are in a smaller room. In the large room the pictures are disposed somewhat in the order in which they were painted, the earliest date being 1806, the latest 1847; so that the visiter is enabled to form a survey of the artist's progress.
As a whole, this assemblage of pictures strikes you, even on entering the room, with the beautiful effect produced by unity and harmony. The painter has the domain all to himself; no inconvenient contrasts-and be it remembered that even a better picture may form a detrimental contrast with a worse-put his colouring " out of tune "; he sets the key, and keeps it; and the eye of the visiter adopts it as the tone of nature for the nonce. The only jarring will be where the painter is inconsistent with himself.
The earliest pictures are principally landscapes, some with figures, and little bits of still life; as time advances, the figures become the principal object of the picture, and the display of character the principal aim of the design; later still, to mere character is added a deeper sentiment.
In the several branches of execution the progress of the painter varies considerably. The_Agare, which is .at first a-mere :accessory, when made more prominent, a little strained or ultra-homely; with the development of knowledge and manual dexterity, the forms become more perfect; the power to portray physical beauty sharpens the artist's sense of it and his desire to seek it: in composition, drawing, and design, the painter has gained power. Perhaps the classic modelling a little blunts the expression of individual character: the power of catching the character of real life seen in " the Fight Interrupted "-a country schoolmaster breaking off a boxing-bout among his pupils-painted in 1815, has suf- fered no diminution in 1821, when "the Wolf and the Lamb" was painted; but the beauty of form has greatly increased: in the "Haymaking" (Burchell and Sophia) of 1847, individuality of character has decidedly merged in more classic contour.
In the matter of colouring the progress of the painter appears to us to be inverse. He has aimed at power, and has degenerated into a style which painters call " hot." He has sought to imitate special tints with a brilliant effect, and has become strange. A survey of the change that has stolen over his works suggests the idea that he has been labouring in a solitary chamber, seeking peculiar effects, and has pampered his appetite for them until his taste was deadened by its own satisfaction and needed more of the same spice. He can hardly paint now without introducing a mixed tint-some neutral kind of green or blue or murrey colour-which looks as if it were coppered over. His pictures are finished up until a pro- cess like " stippling" converts the surface to a clothlike texture. But above all, he is not content without insisting on the display of the very paints, so that they obtrude themselves: you do not lose sight of them till you are beyond the proper distance for the distinct view of the design and its several objects. In these respects, the latest pictures, for all the in- creased power of handling, bear no favourable comparison with the earliest, especially the landscapes. Those early works are sober, but substantial, real, and luminous-sober-coloured objects, seen, as in real nature, by the light of day. Take as samples of what we mean any of the early land- scapes in the first three pages of the catalogue: others occur subsequently, but we mention those to be specific.
With all these faults, Mulready remains a true painter. Beauty, senti- ment, and character, distinguish his works. His power of drawing is ex- plained by his academic studies-good lessons to reclaim your " dashing " students. And if his earlier landscapes excel in particular points, still they are his. Few men can display a collection of works so complete, so varied, so chaste, so fastidiously devoid of indifferent productions.
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