FINE ARTS.
HAYDON'S LECTURES.
MR. HAYDON is engaged to give a series of lectures on the art of Design at the London Mechanics' Institution ; and he delivered his first and introductory discourse, on the general principles of art, on Wednesday. It was the painter's first appearance in the capacity of lecturer, and his success was remarkable. He not only showed him- . self fully competent to instruct others in the theory and practice of his art, but be evinced a striking aptitude for the task. His frank and earnest manner, the boldness and vigour of his style, and the soundness and originality of his remarks, all combined to impress his audience, and give them an interest in the subject. The gravity of the matter was relieved by a pleasant vein of humour, which combined with a feeling of enthusiasm to give spirit and animation to the discourse. It was the eery oppsite of the Royal Academy Lectures—solid without &l- ases, and true without being trite. Mr. HAYDON'S main object in this lecture was to inculcate the ne- cessity of good drawing, and an anatomical knowledge of the human figure as the basis of all excellence in the art of design. He instanced the Elgin Marbles as the perfection of art in sculpture ; and combated the assertion that the Greek artists were not anatomically acquainted with the human form. He read an extract from an admirable letter of BURKE to BARRY, strongly urging the practice of drawing the figure ; and he attributed to a defective knowledge of drawing the slow ad- vance of high art in this country, giving a humorous account of the progress of a modern portrait-painter in illustration. He ridiculed the absurd notion that good drawing was incompatible with the other excellencies of the British school; and predicted its future supremacy, when artists should be properly educated, the public taste improved, and Government patronage afforded to painting and sculpture. The audience was not only attentive, but interested, though to many of them parts of the lecture were caviare ; and the lecturer gave no graphic illustrations of his subject-not so much as using the white chalk that lay beside him on the black board behind. At the closet Mr. HAYDON was rewarded by hearty and long-continued applause.
We rejoice, for the sake of the art, to see such a labourer as Mr. HarnoN in the field ; and we hope the reknit will be the establishment of a school of thawing in the Mechanics' Institution. The example will soon be followed. To no class of persons would drawing he more really useful. This is the ground where the good seed should be sown ; and the fruits will be evident in the improvement of our manu- factures and of the public taste. The growth of art must be upward, and the impulse be felt from below.
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