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THE LONDON ART UNION.—EXHIBITION OF PRIZES. "Tun Art Union of London was established to promote the know- ledge and love of the Fine Arts, and their general advancement in the British empire, by a wide diffusion of the works of native artists, and to elevate Art and encourage its professors, by creating an in- creased demand for their works, and an improved taste on the part of the public." So runs the prospectus of the Society, but he would be a bold man who ventured to assert that these laudable objects were in any way attained by the expenditure of some four thousand pounds sterling on the works of art selected by the prizeholders from the different exhibitions of the year, and now offered to public notice at the Suffolk-street gallery. So poor, so mediocre is the collection, that the words of the prospectus seem to possess a deep ironical meaning. Certainly here are the means for a tolerably wide diffusion of the works of native artists, but whether the "professors" who have produced the rubbish which occupies so large a space on the walls, deserve further encouragement, whether after such speci- mens of their prowess there is probability of an increased demand for their productions, or whether the standard of public taste will be raised by their exhibition, are questions not very difficult of solution. Tree it is that the Art Union Council has no control over the choice of prizes won by the subscribers, and herein lies the chief reason why. Art, Unions tend to foster mediocrity. Each prizeholder selects for himself: he may have no idea of the difference between a good or a bad painting, in most cases he belongs to that large class who, if pictures be the subject of conversation, somewhat unnecessarily assure you that "they don't profess to be judges, they only know what they like"—a class with a decided preference for landscape or fruit pieces, generally speaking, but whether figure, fruit, or land- scape, the picture selected will in nine cases out of ten be hopelessly bad. To meet the requirements of this class, it was necessary that the." Art Union painter" should spring into existence. AccordineS, he appeared simultaneously with the formation of picture lotteries. The means he adopts for the ensnaring of prizehoIders are few and simple. He asks such suing for his works as correspond with the amounts given by the Society for prizes, and takes care never to be original. The latter is perhaps scarcely a work of volition, still it is
desirable That the artist who aims at" bagging a prizeholder "should never startle prejudice or arouse suspicion. He mast be conven- tionally dull and common-place. No unusual effect of colour, no atmospheric phenomena should be introduced in landscape; and in figure subjects, a girl springing at a cottage door or peeling turnips, a pair of blandly inane lavers, or an old dame holding a bible, and hopelessly staring into vacuity—in short, anything with as little subject as possible—will delight the fortunate prizeholder without taxing too heavily his reflective powers.
The figure pictures here are indeed lamentable, with but very few exceptions. 'This is the more to be deplored, as many works of equal price and far greater merit, by struggling and comparatively unknown men, have returned to their authors from the exhibitions un- sold. The best picture, though not that which was selected as the highest prize, is Mr. Barwell's "Hero of the Day," which was favourably mentioned in our notice of the Academy Exhibition. Blurred and uncertain as the execution is, there is at least earnestness and intention in the scene of contemporary life. More attractive, at first sight, but less honestly wrought, is Mr. Cobbett's "Market- day"—the 200/. prize. It is a speciously painted work, and leaves little impression on the memory. Mr. J. Morgan's " Pothooks"—a schoolmaster overlooking a raw country lad who is making his first efforts in writing, has much character and quiet humour, and is the most successful of the smaller figure pictures. "The Muleteer," by Mr. H. Weekes, jun., is a bad imitation of Mr. Ansdell's worst pecu- liarities. The majority of the works are landscapes. Some dozen are by the inevitable and indefatigable Williams family, whose art manufactures, together with those of Mr. Shaper, find much favour in the eyes of Art Union subscribers. So do the vivid landscapes of Mr. Gosling, whose brilliant greens " o'erstep the modesty of nature." When to these are added Mr. Abraham Cooper's theatrical cavaliers and unreal horses, a coldly literal view of " Saarburg Castle," by Mr. G. C. Stanfield, several "Quiet Pools," "Vales in Devon," and "Scenes in Wales," and a sprinkling of cattle, fruit, and flower pieces, of indifferent merit, a tolerably correct idea my be formed of the collection. I should not omit, however, to mention the two admirable Cornish views by Mr. G. Wolfe, so rich in detail, true in effect, and elaborate in execution, and a characteristic study of a young girl selling clothes-pegs, entitled "Little Gipsy," by Mr. lonavia, which hang in the Water-Colour Room. Mr. :Durham's marble group, "Go to Sleep," a child nursing a Skye terrier, would be improved by more expression in the features. Mr. Foley's spirited statue of "Caractacus" has been well reproduced on a small scale in bronze, twenty copies of which have been awarded as prizes.
The South-East Room is devoted to works by pupils of the dif- ferent schools in connexion with the Department of Science and Art, submitted in competition for money-prizes to the extent of 100/., which sum the Council of the Art Union have determined to set apart each year for the purpose of encouraging the practice of Design as applied to Manufactures. They consist of drawings in mono- chrome, of single figures partially draped from life ; of studies of animals from nature; designs for bookcases, sideboards, flower-vases, majolica dishes, &c. The Nottingham school contributes the best, and that at Lambeth the worst, specimens of drawing from the human figure. A group of Tigers, by Mr. A. T. Elwes, has much charac- teristic expression, and a study of stags, with no name appended to it, displays considerable feeling for pictorial effect and truth to nature. The Gothic style preponderates in the furniture. Mr. Payne, of Dar- lington, contributes a bookcase, which resembles four church windows of the flamboyant type, placed side by side with intervening pin- nacles. The sideboards have so many odd notches and niches, and other irregularities of form, that the task of dusting a roomful of furniture designed in the same manner, would assuredly be onerous. The majolica dish, by Mr. Tondo, of Birmingham, is almost the only one that evinces any praise of design. The head of the Queen, which, according to the conditions of the competition was to be the central subject, in this drawing looks towards the spectator—the only one out of the sixteen designs that has not been copied from the current coin of the realm. The surrounding ornament is simple and appro- priate, which can scarcely be said for most of the other specimens, in one of which her Majesty's head seems in imminent danger of being devoured by the enormous Chinese dragons that sprawl around it. It is in this room that the chief interest of the Art Union Exhibi- tion lies. Here, at least, is some striving after excellence (crude and inexperienced as most of the attempts are), which is a pleasant relief after the complacent vapidity and pretentious ignorance of which there is such a preponderance in the gallery. The print of the year is a line engraving by Mr. C. W. Sharpe, after Mr. Goodall's well-known picture of "Raising the Maypole." It is executed with skill and delicacy, and is one of the most favour- able specimens of the engraver's art that has been issued by this Society.
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