THE ARTS.
EXHIBITION OF THB ROYAL ACADEMY.
Tsa display of pictures this year is remarkable for the continued progress of a change which we noted during the last few years—a general &ap-
es of the most ambitious class of pictures, and a general elevation of the lower classes towards the mean level. The strength of the present exhibition lies among the younger men and the class of character pictures. As usual with this numerous collection we begin by a survey of the whole in the order of the catalogue; except that after a survey of those on or below the line, in each room, we take another look round at those in the same room above the line.
One of the first pictures to arrest the passing glance, close to the door of the great room, is the portrait of M. Guizot; more, however, for the sake of the sitter than of anything peculiar in the work of art. Beneath it is a clever design by Mr. Egg, " Henrietta Maria in distress, (after the . Fronde riots in Paris,) relieved by Cardinal de Retz." " Tilbury Fort— wind against tide" introduces the well-known hand of Stanfield, with his clear blowing atmosphere. Prince Metternich, by Phillips, companions M. Guizot,—a bland-looking old gentleman. " Religious Controversy in the time of Louis the Fourteenth," by Elmore, is an animated group of Protestant and Roman Catholic clergy. "Clearing off at sunset" is a group of ruminants, by Sidney Cooper, with an effect of the setting sun breaking through rain. On the North wall, Mr. Dyce's " Omnia Vanitas," a female penitent, does scanty justice to his faculties: the countenance is earnest, but the forms are common and the colouring is heavy. In a
Scene from Henry the Eighth," by Mr. Leslie, Wolsey is recognizing the masked King, who unmasks with a right royal burliness,—a bright but harsh painting. No. 60 is the first of Mr. Etty's works, which are nume- rous, and in his usual manner.
On the North wall," River scene in North Wales" brings before you the first of Lee's many and excellent leafy landscapes. Mr. Knight has several portraits, beginning with Mr. John Bright, M.P. " Lear disin- heriting Cordelia—in progress in fresco in the new Houses of Parliament," by Mr. Herbert, is the first striking picture, and perhaps the most so in the exhibition: the figure of Cordelia, passive and self-collected, is very sweetly conceived. " The Wreck-buoy " is one of Turner's sportinga with the patience of the Hanging Committee and the public. " A See-saw " is among Webster's happiest bits of boyish character: a heavy lad bumps one end of a plank upon the ground, to the terror of a light and timid companion at the other end; while a jolly fellow sitting on the tree-trunk that serves as a fulcrum is enjoying the expression of alarm. in the coun- tenance of the rising young gentleman.
On the East wall, in " The Forester's Family," by Edwin Landseer, a woman, children, and fawns, are grouped in a beautiful composition. "Coloured study for fresco in the House of Lords—Griselda's first trial," is the most animated and expressive design that we have seen by Mr. Cope: a cartoon of the same, on a large scale, is in the drawingroom. " The Sy- rens," by Mr. Frost, is a group of certain ladies peculiar to the Royal Academy,—an idealized version of the class whence our models are drawn, meretricious but not tempting: Ulysses must have been a very weak fellow indeed if he was in danger from such lovely virgins as these. Mulready ex- hibits an academical study of the nude, under the title of " Ladies bathing." Creswick begins his breeze-stirred landscapes with " A glade in the forest." Leslie gives a capital scene from Dos. Quizate--" at the Duke's." Mr. East- lake's solitary work is au abstract idea of Helena, in All's Well that End's Well--a beautiful woman, with a tender expression and an outline so soft- ened that she seems to be melting into mist. " Lugano,"—a capital piece of Italian marine scene-painting by Stanfield. "A slide," by Webster, is the F.:1.feet picture of the collection. Two files of sliding boys have untimely crossed in converging tracks, and blend in a mass of entangled limbs: most are laughing; one unhappy fellow uplifts a countenance con- vulsed with an excruciating paroxysm of crying; benumbed spectators stand upon the banks of the frozen pond: it is all full of life and character, bright as the frozen sun that tints the ruddy boys. This work stands between a remarkable pair—two pictures by Mr. Jones, if pictures the sketches may be called. Mr. Redgrave paints " A stream at rest "; and other landscapes attest the fact that a painstaking and loving copy of na- ture in the landscape form is his forte.
We pass, for the present, pictures by Lee, Uwins, and others, on the South wall, and stand before a strange work by Turner, who does not wish us to forget that he can't paint the human form. He calls it " Venus and Adonis": it might be described as a clever parody on the Titianesque com- position of colour; but the general effect is obtained by a process which makes the picture, on examination, look dead and dingy, not brilliant. In " The Breakfast," by Witherington—a rustic group—the figures are more prominent than the landscape; not a gain for the spectator. Wither- ington is not equal to himself this year.
Going more into the middle of the room and glancing round at the upper pictures, one sees " The Desert," the sketch of a dead lion, by Edwin Landseer; an allegorical picture by Mr. Watts, typifying " Life's Illu- sions"-' Mr. Lucy's version of Cromwell admonished by his daughter Mrs. Claypole; and a variety of portraits; among which Prince Albert, by Mr. Say, is conspicuous. We have of necessity passed many pictures which will arrest the glance of the visitor; only mentioning those which he is bound to have seen even on the hastiest survey; and in the remaining rooms our enumeration must be not less cursory. In the Middle room, there are Goodall's " Hunt the Slipper," a group of sportive youth, with most of whom the game is a mere pretext,—gay and animated; "Cattle returning from the meadows," by Lee and Sidney Cooper; " The Duet—andante con moto," a group of young amateurs lis- tening (or not listening) to two young lady performers, a refined social sketch, by Frank Stone ; the "Destruction of Jerusalem," by Roberts, (who seems to be competing for the post hitherto filled by John Martin,) a half bird's-eye view of a great city, powdered with armies; "Benjamin West's first effort in art," by E. M. Ward,—the boy sketching an infant niece, full of force and character; " Isabella," from Keats's Eve of St. Agnes, by Mr. Millais, (a new name to ua,)—a design of considerable feeling, disfigured by an affectation of uncouth medimval stiffness; "Autumn," a eattle.piece, by Sidney Cooper; " Daniel Defoe and the Manuscript of Robinson Crowe," by E. M. Ward—the immortal author repulsed by a fashionable bookseller's clerk, while a lady of fashion enjoys the full favour of the trader in his own reception-room,—a still more lifesome
and characteristic work than the other; " Viscount Hardinge at Ferozhu- shur," with three of his Aides, by Mr. Francis Grant; " Coming of
Age," an old English scene of festivity, by Frith; Colly Dogs," by Edwin Landseer; " Rhodopis the Greek Cinderella," by Charles Land- seer; " Passing Showers," one of Creswick's best pictures; " Tristram Shandy's Father instructing the Breechesmaker," by Elmore; " The soli- tary Pool," Redgrave's best landscape,—solitude living in vegetation; " Innocence and Guilt," one of Rankley's painted sermons, but not one of his best; " Sandpits," a landscape by J. Linnell; " Quixote and Sancho," excellently characterized by J. Gilbert; " Drawing for the Militia," by Phillip,—too high to be seen well, but animated and varied in the design; " The Death of Gelert," a beautiful legend of a faithful dog, graphically rendered by Anadell; Adelaide Kemble as Semiramide, by Grant; and Mr. Patten's " Coifi," which we have already noticed,—the most considerable historical piece in this exhibition.
In the West room—A portrait of Lamartine by Phillips, (formerly no- ticed in this journal); " The Return of Ulysses," a marine landscape in which Linnell boldly attempts the impossibility of painting the full blaze of the sun,—a moderated sequel of his " Eve of the Deluge"; a very beauti- ful version of the legend of Gilbert a'Becket and the Eastern Princess that followed him to England, by Armitage; "Mountain Scenery—North Wales," by Lee and Cooper; " Lady Macbeth" listening for the murder of Duncan, by Elmore; " Launce's Substitute for Proteus'e Dog," by Egg,— highly dramatic; " The Outcast of the People,"—a striking religious sen- timent embodied by Herbert; "Academy for instruction in the discipline of the Fan,"—a fancy from the Spectator of 1711, realized by Mr. A. Solo- mon; " Evening Scene in the Highlands,"—a powerful effect of dying day, by Landseer; " The Blackberry-gatherers," by Poole; one of Mr. Danby's strange effects, " Zurich " the pretext; " Arthur and /Egle in the Happy Valley," one of Martin's inscrutable designs; and " The Wolf-slayer," Ansdell's large picture for the season.
In the Miniature and Drawing-room, Thorburn, as usual, reigns su- preme: his most noticed work is a portrait of Lady Newport ; but there are several others very fine; and the most beautiful, perhaps, is that of' Lady Elizabeth Lawley. The principal work in the Sculpture room is a pleasing group of the Graces, by Baily; but the collection is much more varied than usual; with the usual endless show of portrait busts.
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