ART.
THE ACADEMY.—II.
DOES the Academy justify its existence ? That is a question which every one who treats art seriously must ask. Before giving any answer to it some attempt must be made to realise what position the Academy can reasonably be expected to take up. It is, of course, absurd to expect that an unbroken succession of masters can be found to fill the posts of Academicians. It is equally absurd to expect that there can be forthcoming an endless series of masterpieces produced by artists outside the Academy, to be shown in the yearly Exhibition. These things are impossible, though much to be desired, ideals. But because they are impossible, it is not necessary to sit in the dust and make no attempt to raise the level of artistic production as high as may be. There is no doubt that outside the restricted circle of instructed opinion the influence. of the Academy overshadows all English art. Is this shade a sheltering and beneficent one, or is it like the shadow of some upas-tree, sterilising and deadly? In the first place, for the Academy to gain the confidence of people whose opinion is worthy of consideration it must be moat careful when it elects new Associates or full Members. Is such care practised ? Unfortunately, truth obliges one to answer that too often glaring absurdities are committed in the matter of selection, as, for example, when two new Associates are elected. One, perhaps, may be a real artist, and the other a person without taste or imagination, whose appeal is entirely to a vulgar or sentimental public. Too often also the pro- motion of an Associate to be an Academician seems to be for reasons of seniority rather than for artistic merit. If such things can happen, is it to be wondered that those who think seriously about national art are depressed ?
Much more far-reaching in effect, however, is the influence exerted upon contemporary art by the yearly Exhibition. No one will deny that this year, as in every year, there are to be found hung a certain number of pictures which are fine works of art. Besides, there are also works which, if they fall short of being in any sense great, can at least be regarded as true art. Their intention is sincerely artistic, and their execution is competent ; they are, in short, works produced by people who, if they are not geniuses, are at least artists. But of what is the rest, and bulk, of the Exhibition composed ? A picture in the fourth room will suffice to illustrate the first point,—the selection of Associates. Mr. Bacon's picture of the Coronation (No. 233) is a sad example of how it is possible to go wrong. Here was an historic event taking place in a building of unusual grandeur and mystery of light. But to what account has the artist turned his materials F It is hardly an exaggeration to say that a coloured supplement of an illustrated paper has been the result. If a large class of people desire coloured supplements, there will of course be people ready to produce them, and no great harm is done thereby. It is, however, a different matter when the author of such a work is dignified by election to a body which claims to be representative of the best art of the country. It must not be thought that a single unfortunate example has been chosen, and that injustice thereby has been done Mr. Bacon. In the Exhibition others of his works confirm the opinion that, how- ever much cleverness he may show in certain directions, his election by the Academy proves that that body do not act up to the great position they profess to occupy.
In the promotion to the honours of full membership the Academy show the same disregard of serious art. If it is a question of seniority, there would be no need of election. But as the process of selection is used, the public are bound to consider that a promotion to Academic rank represents the favourable verdict of the majority of the body. But what are we to think of such a promotion as the recent one of Mr. Mac- beth ? His pictures this year (Nos. 31 and 215) do not justify his election when we consider the number of Associates of high achievements passed over.
A great statesman once remarked that politicians so often adopted bad policies because they would not understand " that things cannot be and not be at one and the same time." The Academy cannot " be and not be at one and the same time" any more than other things terrestrial. It cannot at the same time be a private club or association which elects its members on personal and private grounds, and also a national institution whose sole object is the furthering of the cause of art. The question of the encouragement of good art is prominently brought forward when the work of the outsiders is con- sidered. It is impossible to doubt that the kind of picture which is accepted and hung greatly influences future produc- tion. If an artist who is not endowed with the most exalted conception of his art feels that a work is certain of rejection which has in it an appeal to cheap sentiment and theatrical effect, he may pause before he commits a crime against good. taste and true painting. But if when such a man goes to the Academy year after year, and sees hung in prominent posi- tions pictures the conceptions of which are common and the taste vulgar, of which the inspiration has been, not Nature, but false and scenic exaggeration, he has no encouragement to do better things. It is as true in art as in other things that negative criticism alone is useless, and that artists, like the rest of humanity, want to be encouraged to do better. Which is the more wholesome encouragement for a man who has capacity, but is also influenced by environment,—that he should feel: " If I paint that picture of a dressed-up baby and dog, or that lost child with the turned-up eyes, or that taking lady in the large hat, it is certain I shall be rejected at the Academy " ; or that he should feel and say " From past experience I know there are numbers of such works hung every year, and hung well, and I know also that after they have received the ball-mark of Academic sanction publishers will buy the copyright, and reproductions of my work will be scattered over the British Empire " P The effect of the Academy upon the taste of the less cultivated public must also be considered. There is no doubt that this institution is the sole guide to a great many people who have a real love for pictures, but who have had no education in art of any kind. They are puzzled and confused by ancient art, and fly to the Academy to gratify their taste for pictorial representation. Who can deny that such people are largely influenced by what they find at Burlington House ? They are quite ignorant, and know that they are so, and very naturally consider that if they see R.A. or A.R.A. after a painter's name they must treat such a name with special respect ; for have not those who represent the artists of the country con- ferred the dignity ?—and they must surely know. What wonder is it if such uninstructed people come away from the present Exhibition with a feeling that Mr. Goetz is a great artist ? Is not his Vox Humana (No. 664) a very large picture, and is not it hung with respect that could only be paid to a real work of art ?
There is not the least doubt that a body with the prestige of the Royal Academy could influence English art for its good enormously if it would take up the position that no picture should appear on its walls which was not animated by a truly artistic spirit, and was also competent in workmanship. If this course were pursued for ten years, there can hardly be a doubt that a great improvement would be manifest. The fact that every year enormous masses of hopelessly inartistic work are hung makes it certain that work of this kind will be produced. It must be admitted that before a reform could be made in the works of outsiders a reform in the ranks of the Academicians themselves must be effected. As long, however, as the present haphazard, and so unsatis- factory, elections from among the younger men go on this is hopeless.
There are, no doubt, also a good many pictures which find their way on to the walls on account of the kind-hearted- ness of the Academicians. Painters who have lost their public, or grown old without having secured their worldly position, obtain such philanthropic recognition. That such sentiments of kindness exist does credit to the hearts of the Academicians ; but can a society of the nature of the Academy be both an exhibition of art and a charitable institution ? That the charitable element should exist in some form is honourable and desirable, but it should not be a means of opening the door to inferior work, any more than should private friendship. That the reader may have the means of judging of the justice of the arguments which have been advanced in the present article, a list is given of some works, both of members and outsiders, which have influenced the conclusions here stated :—Nos. 20, 41, 46, 71, 88, 106, 111, 143, 148, 165, 170, 197, 216, 241, 289, 355, 374, 391, 432, 439,
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