The Gallery of Modern Rita Artists, is a title that
the contents of the volume do not bear out ; for the pictures engraved are, with one ex- ception, water-colour drawings; and we look in vain for specimens even of some of the greatest painters in that style. The choice of subjects, indeed, appears to have been regulated rather by the facility which the proprietor had of obtaining drawings, than by the eminence of the artist. Not that the productions in the volume are themselves of an inferior description, nor the work of ordinary talent : there is one spe- cimen of BosaNeTos: and another of STANFIELD, though neither TUR- NER, COPLEY FIELDING, HARDING, 14EwINT, nor PROUT, are contri- butors. Should another volume appear, these deficiencies may be sup- plied. All that the volume does contain, however, is good. There are half-a-dozen imposing designs and striking landscapes, by CATTER- MOLE ; the like number of architectural views by ROBERTS; two or three of Nasies clever designs, and of Cox's charming landscapes and sea views ; and some of the best and most characteristic examples of the style of AUSTIN, BENTLEY, COTMAN, HAVELL, HOLLAND, NES. FIELD, PYNE, ROEINS, VICKERS, &e. The engravings are not of the most finished and brilliant description, but they are very good, and convey the feeling as well as the manner of the painter; and this, con- sidering the extreme cheapness of the work, which was published in eialacenpenny numbers, each containing three plates, is saying a great deal. We are glad to see works of this class multiplying, for they will increase the public interest in the progress of our native school of art, and show its supremacy over all its Continental contemporaries in one department at least—landscape.
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