30 MARCH 1839, Page 19

PROCT'S_ SKETCHES.

PROUT'S second volume of Sketches in France, Switzerland, and Italy, is on the eve of publication. A comparison. of' the present with the former volume strikingly exhibits the advantages of the new mode of imitating a sketch on tinted paper, by printing a tint with raised lights upon the black and white drawing, over the old method of printing on tinted paper and touching in the whites by hand not only are the touches of' white the -work of the artist instead of the mechanical print- colourer,—and moreover unchangeable, being in fact the paper itself appearing through the tint,—but delicate gradations of light and tint are given that would not be attainable by any other means. Pnotar's Sketches, however, do net display the resources of tinted lithography to such effect as HARDING'S and NASH'S : to which, indeed, none other are equal, in that homogeneous union of the tint with the drawing, by which the tint represents the atmosphere of' the view, without inter- fering with our notions of the local colour of objects : but PRUUT'S Manner is SO peculiar, and so utterly different from the modern style, that this is not to be looked for.

The lasting popularity of Pliorr's drawings is owing, not to his strong, heavy, and even rude pencilling,—though Ms vigorous and crusty touch is not without its charm, even now,—but to the force and distinctness with which he represents the scene, the result of the breadth and simplicity of his effects of' light and shade, and the picturesque view which he takes of objects. ln looking at his drawings, you seem to stand on the spot and see what he saw : though the architectural de- tails are roughly and uncouthly made mit, and the figures are conven- tional indications, yet the whole Scene lives before you, with more vivid reality than in the most highly-finished drawings of many other artists. The solid principles of Puotar's art, and his own clear and graphic per- ception, combine to produce this effect. The sketches, twenty-eight in number, are for the most part town views and street scenes. Home, Venice, and Milan, furnish subjects familiar by fret [tient repetition ; and, though the artist's homely man- ner is not so well suited to the elegance of classic and Italian architec- ture, as to the quaint and cumbrous picturesqueness of the buildings of Strasburg., Schaffhausen, and Geneva, in whose crowded narrow streets, crumbling walls, and grotesque carvings, PROCIT'S pencil delights, still St. Mark's and Santa Salute, the fretted pinnacles and lofty pillars of 31ilan cathedral, and the fragmentary ruins of the Roman Forum, are among the most attractive sketches. The Bridge of Sighs is at once

an example of broad massing effect and of the successful blending of the tint with the drawing : he pencilling is more finished, the tint is neutral gray, and the lights are fewer; therefore they do not appear crude and harsh, as in some others, where the tint is of a thick drab hue, like London fog. The volume is dedicated to the Queen ; PROHT being Painter in Water-colonrs to her Majesty.