NEW EXHIBITIONS.
THE number of exhibitions recently opened, and the pressure of more important matters on our limited space, compel us to be content with a brief notice of their leading features, in order to clear off arrears. KR. ANGAS'S PICTURES OF NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA. This is the most interesting exhibition of the season. Such informa- tion as the Chinese collection afforded us of the Celestial Empire, and as 2dr. Catlin's exhibition did of the North American Indians, does Mr. An- ma's collection give us of the Aborigines of New Zealand and Australia. ' in the course of three years' travel through these and other countries, du- ring which the artist penetrated the interior and lived among the Natives, his pencil was never idle; and every scene- or person at all characteristic that met his eye was painted on the spot. This gives a freshness and spirit of' truth to Mr. Angas's pictures • and these rare and valuable quali- ties are not obtained at the expense Wart : on the contrary, the colouring is harmonious, and the finish remarkable, though without too much labour. The number of the water-colour drawings is so great that we cannot attempt to give a detailed account of them: we must be content with stating, that nearly all the principal chiefs of New Zealand—including the renowned John Heki and the infamous Rauperaha and Ranghiaeta, with other celebrated characters--are portrayed with minute fidelity; and the picturesque costumes and scenery of the islands as well as the dwel- lings of the Natives, are depicted with vivid force and exactness. The most striking peculiarities of the country and Aborigines of Australia are likewise sketched with care and vigour; but the repulsive physiognomy of the Australasian natives—the lowest in the scale of humanity—renders this portion of the collection less attractive though equally curious. The views in both these countries are mostly striking from their peculiar cha- racter, which appears to have been preserved with conscientious fidelity in every case; and the drawings of plants, insects, birds, &c., are extrisitaly finished.
Besides these pictures, which fill about three hundred frames, some con-
taining four or more sketches, Mr. Angas has brought home a little mu- seum of curiosities: Native weapons utensils, implements, dresses, carvings, and models of canoes, specimens of birds, minerals, &c., which completely fill one of the largest rooms in the Egyptian Hall. Mr. Angas is about to publish coloured fac-similes of his drawings, with descriptions in two large works, one illustrative of New Zealand and the other of Australia.
ME. suarrion's slortrass.
In another apartment of the Egyptian Hall, Mr. Hayden exhibits two
large pictures of historical subjects—The Banishment of Aristides, and' The Burning of Rome by Nero. They form part of a proposed series of six pic- tures, illustrative of "The Horrors of Anarchy," "The Injustice of De- mocracy," "The Cruelties of Despotism," "The Tyranny of Revolution," "The Blessings of Justice," and "The Limited Monarchy," that were de- signed by Mr. Haydon six-and-thirty years ago to adorn the old House of Lords; though the painter seems to have no expectation of their being bought for the new Houses of Parliament, and appeals not to the Royal Commission but to the public.
These two pictures exemplify, the one the merits, the other the defects
of Mr. Haydon's painting: the Aristides is one of his best works, the Nero one of his worst. The incident of The Banishment of Aristides is simply told, in a plain, homely manner. The moment of time is chosen when the exiled patriot, quitting Athens, appeals to the gods against the popular in justice. The look and gesture of Aristides are appropriate and expressive; and the sentiment, though not of the most elevated character, is real, and not overcharged. His wife, wth an infant in her arms, turns upon the jeering rabble a Siddonian glance of indignation; while their little son holds by his father's robe, looking too unconcerned. A soldier standing by the wayside, casting a malicious leer of exultation on the banished man, is- intended to represent Themistocles; but neither the act nor the physiog- nomy is worthy of that renowned rival of Aristides. Indeed, neither in conception nor in treatment does the picture come up to the ideal grandeur of the historic style. Nero Fiddling while Rome was Burning is a colossal caricature: coarse alike in idea and execution.
THE SUFFOLK STREET EXHIBITION.
The collection of daubs with which the persons calling themselves the "Society of British Artists" have filled the Suffolk Street Gallery, that they, unfortunately for art, hold possession of, includes so few pictures worthy of notice—and these are, with scarcely an exception, of so defective or mediocre a character—that it would be waste of time to criticize them; more especially as the majority are manufactured for the purpose of meeting that large demand for bad paintings which the Art-Union has created. The ludicrous absurdity of many performances, and the glaring defects of most of them, excite astonishment and ridicule; but these give place to graver feelings when the discredit brought upon British art by what is here done in its name is taken into account. The indications of talent that are here and there perceived in the better sort of pictures, only increase regret that the possessors of it should be identified with a set of painters who sacrifice their reputation in the effort to convert a public gallery into a sale-shop for beguiling unwary Art-Unionists. It is a remarkable evidence of the in- jurious influence of this commercial confederacy on its members that the few among them who really show talent and ability paint worse find worse every year.
DR. THIBERT'S COLOIEZED MODELS.
A remarkable exhibition, of unique character, has recently opened at the Cosmorama Rooms in Regent Street; consisting of a numerous and curious collection of coloured models, or pictures in relief; formed by Dr. Thibart; who has employed a new and durable material, invented, we believe, by himselL
The collection is divided into two separate and distinct portions, arranged in different rooms. One portion, of a popular-nature, calculated to please the eye with a sense of illusory imitation, is composed of groups of fruit, fish, birds, &c., modelled in high relief, and coloured to imitate the realities; each group being attached to a painted background and framed, so as to be that monstrous creation of vulgar art a picture in relied The other, and infinitely more curious and valuable portion, is an extensive museum of pathology; comprising models, cast from nature and coloured to the life-- or rather death—of almost every local disease incidental to humanity. The morbid appearances of every part of the human frame .external and internal, are imitated with scientific accuracyand artistic skill.
The material of which Dr. Thibert's models are formed is neither wax nor plaster, but a substance bard and not brittle, and which receives oil paint, so that nothing short of actual violence can injure them, and they may be washed if need be.
Some models on a large scale of highly magnified representations of veins arteries, nerves, the Ina., and some of the tissues of the body, are so generally interesting, that we would suggest their being removed into the room where the picturesque models are; as ladies cannot enter the Museum of Anatomy.
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