FINE ARTS.
TIIE NEW ROYAL EXCHANGE.
MEncEn's HALL has been converted into a temporary exhibition-room for the designs sent in for a new Royal Exchange ; the public being admitted by tickets. The contrast of its present appearance to what it will be on the Oth of November is amusing enough : the long tables are covered with plans and sections in lieu of plates and dishes, eagle and elephant (paper) supplanting turtle and venison--L-albeit sonic of the designs might be mistaken for confectionary devices. The dis- play attracts as much attention in the City as if the Royal Exchange that is to be were among them ; -which it is not. Many persons go away with the impression that " the prize drawing"—so called because it obtained the highest of the three premiums—is the one to be erected. • This is a very natural mistake; for the lucky holder of the highest prize in the lottery of competition used to have the erection of the build- ing; but the Royal Exchange Committee, or their advisers, manage mat- ters differently. Before going any further, it is necessary that we should explain the mode of proceeding adopted in this instance ; for it is both new and ingenious. We beg to be understood as speaking of "the Committee " only as the ostensible party ; we do not give them the credit of concocting this notable scheme, which they have been unconsciously made instrumental in carrying into operation : perhaps, indeed, they will be astonished when they sec: the matter in the saute light as bystanders do. A foolish prejudice exists in favour of competitions for public works, and exhibition of the designs to avoid popular clamour and pay a seeming deference to opinion, while in reality giving the job to whom they please, the Committee hit upon the followinc, expe- dient. They advertised for designs' offering premiums for the three best ; but not pledging themselves chimer to employ the successful candi- date, or to adopt his plans. Architects who had got ideas were invited to furnish them whilst one in the background, having none of his own, could be euq>loyed to adapt and. carry- them into effect. To insure the due dissection of any plan that may be submitted, a Cerberus was appointed to dismember the devoted designs, whose fragments may be required to piece out the new composition. The sufferers are compensated for their labour and pains by premiums ; and consoled for the loss of reputation by the comfbrtable assurance that their respective contributions to the joint-stock edifice will never be recognized. Thus the thirty-eight sets of drawings that line the Mercer's Ball are merely a screen to the pro- ceedings of a trio of deep dogs whose business it is to pick the brains of their less profound brethren. " Walk up, ladies and genlinen! here you shall see what you shall ?tot see—all the plans for the new Royal Exchange, what's not a-going to be built :" such, in showman's phrase, is the invitation tacitly given by the Beadle of Mercer's Hall. The show is well worth seeing, however ; and we recommend the curious to take a peep—Wednesday is the last day. The several designs are numbered ; but not being arranged either ill numerical order or according to their merit, all is confusion. It will save the visiter much trouble and time to confine his attention to the eight that have been chosen as most profitable for being pilfered from,— for, to do the brain-pickers justice, they have pounced upon their prey with toothsome flings. The great mass of victims manifest a prodigious quantity of misap- plied labour and perverted ingenuity. The eye is ;perplexed by an
assemblage of structures of all sorts of styles, known and unknown ; domed and steepled, porticoed and colonnaded—some plain to Quaker- ism, others too tawdry for a gin-shop, The majority seem intended for churches or theatres, baths or bazaars, prisons or palaces—for any thing, ia short, but an exchange for mercantile uses : here towers a tall cari- cature of Grreco-Egyptian architecture, in the shape of a Brobdignag letterbox, with slits serving for doors and windows—there a huge dome, with slices cut out of it to let in light and air. In one design, ac- cording to the " Report," the merchants are imprisoned in a " stone jog" a hundred feet deep—in another they are elevated on a platform 'reached by a flight of steps : in some of the selected designs, it is said there are whole suits of apartments based on nothing, passages dark as those of the Pyramids, rooms without ehimnies and chimnies with- out flues : and " in most, if not all, what are called fhlse bearings ' ap- pear to such an extent, that it cannot be said that they would be durable edifices."
Eight designs were selected by the trio of professional judges—Sir ROBEWf &MIME, Messrs. JOSEPH Gwrisr and Pin sus HA now lex, (Mr. BtitaY was nominated, but wisely declined to act)—for the eon- siaerstion of the Committee : these are divided into two classes, each class arranged in order of merit. The first class consists of five, either of which the judges consider may be erected for the prescribed sum of isessm/.—viz. first, No. 36 ; second, No. 43 ; third, No. 37 ; finirth, No. 33; fifth, No. 37. The second class is composed of such as they are of opinion would much exceed 150,000/.—viz. first, No. 50 ; sesond, e. 46 ; third, No. 27.
We will endeavour briefly to characterize the general features of the three prize designs, as well as the impression left by a cursory glance will allow.
No. 36, which obtained the first premium of 300L, is bold, but com- monpInce, and somewhat vulgar : the West or entrance front has a por- tico of six lofty Corinthian columns, with an " attic " (as it is termed) above, ornamented with the arms and crests of the City, of the Mercer's Company, and. of Sir THOMAS GRESHAM ; a portico adorns the arched entrance of the Cornhill front, and a square bell-tower rises above the East end.
No. 43, to which the second premium of 200/. was awarded, is in the Italian style : the West front is composed of three tiers of arcades ; and its effect is neat and elegant, though not well suited to the site, or in accordance with the neighbouring buildings ; neither does the range of windows with Greek pediments along the North and South fronts har- monize with the semicircular arches of the arcades, or with the round- headed windows of the East front, which last is in the heavy modern German style.
No. :17, rewarded with the third premium of 100/. The West front has a sprawling portico of Corinthian columns extending its whole width ; the four central columns open into the area of the Exchange, giving the portico a divided appearance : the South and North fronts consist of a monotonous range of three-quarter columns, the height of the building, with a window between each,—producing an effect some- what similar to the Royal Institution. The interior of the court looks heavy and cold ; the columns being too big for the confined space they enclose.
Passing over the other two of the first class, neither of which arc par- ticularly remarkable, we come to the three forming the second class, namely, those that have been rejected on the score of excessive cost. No. 46 is imposing, but too showy for its purpose, and overstepping the bounds of pure taste ; and No. 27 is altogether bizarre : but No. 50, the first in order of merit, is a magnificent design, mid deserves atten- tive consideration. The West or entrance front has a noble portico of ten Corinthign columns, rising the full height of the building, crowned with a pediment richly adorned with groups of sculpture : the columns are larger than those of the Paris Bourse—to which edifice, by the way, it bears some resemblance, but is no imitation, and indeed would be a finer building. The North and South fronts correspond ; and each is composed of a colonnade, the columns of similar proportions to those of the portico, with arches between them opening to a range of shops under the arcades : the East end is in corresponding taste ; and the in- terior of the merchants' area is chaste, and at once solid and light. The whole is massive and simple ; the elegant details being subservient to that unity of effect resulting from a symmetrical plan and harmony of parts : the grandest feature is of course the portico, which would be the finest in this country, (Mr. Winsiss's notwithstanding!) and seen on the approach from Cheapside, would have a most commanding effect. In a word, it is as far superior to all the rest as Mr. BAnav's design for the Parliament Houses was to its competitors. Its distinguished claims to preConinence, indeed, are admitted by the judges themselves, who have placed it first in its class : unquestionably it ought to have received the first prize—nay more, it deserves to be carried into effect. Why, then, has it been set aside? On the ground of alleged excess of cost. Its author states that it could be erected for 150,000/., including the sculptures; but the trio of architect-judges say no ; and so, without further investigation, a grand design, that would be an ornament to the City and an honour to the country, is rejected at once. Is this to be suffered ? The only pretence for asserting that this building cannot be raised for the prescribed stun, is the sculpture of the pediment ; which the "Report " leads us to infer is considered an essential part of the design. This we take leave to deny : indeed, the effect of the building would, we think, be improved by simplifying these ornaments, and it !mild scarcely be injured if they were omitted altogether. In withhold- ing from this design the first prize, to which it is indisputably entitled, a flagrant injustice is committed : in preventing its erection, the arts of the country sustain a loss. Ihit flue whole set of designs are condemned by a sweeping sentence of disipudification : it is stated that, " without many alterations, none of them are capable of being made durable structures." We call for proofs. r.he vague phraseology of the Report—a rigmarole from which it is difficult to extract a meaning—leads to the inference that each indi- rdual design is so radically defective in construction, that if built on Its present plan it would tumble down. Now this we do not and cannot believe; neither will the public believe it. But if it be so, surely the defectlye parts of those that are selected for the consideration of the Committee ought to be specified : whereas, by enumerating a few ca- pttal errors in some, all incur the imputation of being faulty. This looks very like trickery ; at all events it is an unfair mode of procedure. That our architects as a body are indifferently versed in the science of construction, no one will deny : the Brunswick Theatre, whose walls were crushed under the weight of its roof—the Tower of Fonthill, which slid down like a stage-trick—and the Pimlico Palace, where Mr. NASH had suspended his pudding-basin dome, so that at the first vibration of the ball-room floor it would have been the doom of the whole Court.— are among the most notorious instances : but that thirty-eight architects should have manifested such extraordinary unanimity of incapacity as to scud in plans capitally defective in solidity of structure, is an assump- tion too monstrous for credibility. The explanation is obvious : the judges, by damning the whole set of designs, have thrown the job into their own hands. The poor Com- mittee, perplexed in the extreme, get rid of the difficulty by awarding time prizes, and handing over the three sets of designs, bought with the premiums, to the judges, with a recommendation to " take thei. into consideration, and prepare a plan and specification for a new Royal Exchange, such as in their judgment should be carried into exe- cution !" How the arbitrators must laugh in their sleeve at the in- nocent simplicity of their dupes ! The idea of cutting and carving three designs, with scarcely a feature in common, so as to patch up a. building out of them all, is too ludicrous: whether one is to be lopped and pruned for use, or the limbs of a second grafted on to the stock of a third, or all are to be chopped to pieces, and the disjceta membra stuck Iii) in a new limn, the Committee, knowing not, care not. They have got rid of the trouble and responsibility, and the lucky trio have secured a good job for themselves.
NOW we do not accuse the Committee of intentional unfairness ; neither do we impeach the character of the arbiters—" for sure they arc all ho- nourable men :" but we do arraign the conduct of. the business from first to last. There is too much ground for suspicion of sinister purpose sons:where; and injustice is actually done. As our object is not to irealpate individuals but to expose mismanagement, and, so far as we may be able, to remedy the evil, we will point out where the error lies, and how it may be rectified.
The first step was a false one : in not pledging themselves to let the author of the chosen design erect his building, the Committee gave cause for the inference (which was drawn at the time) that the archi- tect of the Mercers' Company- would have the job ; though the only justification of employing any one else would be the incompetency of the original designer. The subsequent proceedings confirm the suppo- sition that time employment of their own architect was contemplated from the first.
In referring the consideration of the designs to three architects eminent for talent, experience, and character, the Committee were doubtless actuated by an honourable motive ; but there was no need for entirely resigning their own judgment : every man of ordinary capacity, who has looked at buildings with an eye to their archi- tectural effect, is able to form an opinion of their beauty and fitness ; and the majority of intelligent persons will be found to prefer the good to the bad. The Committee, while mistrusting their own dis- cernment, have been too confiding in the impartiality of the professional referees. However honest an artist may be, he has a natural bias in favour of some particular style, not to mention the feeling of jealousy ascribed to the craft : the most upright man among them must be in- sensibly influenced by these feelings in some degree. Even in the science of construction "doctors differ." The mistake of turning over three designs to as many different architects, for them to concoct a new one out of the lot, is self-apparent.
If the Connuittee desire to act fairly to all parties, let the judges be required to state the disqualifying circumstances attending each of the selected designs ; and allow the authors to answer the objections—ay, and amend the defects, if not too glaring. No man could produce on a short notice a complicated plan in which some faults might not be found, that he himself would perceive on revision ; and this 'without any impeachmeut of his knowledge and ability. His chief attention is paid to the effect of the exterior.
Time question of cost is another point : before deciding that a build- ing caunot be erected for a certain sum, let the author of the design be required to submit his estimate to the test, as Mr. BARRY was ; and if the sculpture be the only disqualifying feature of a design otherwise eligible, the author ought to be allowed to prove by a fresh drawing that the sculpture is not essential to the effect of the edifice. The propriety of these suggestions is obvious. At all events, it is the duty of the Connnittee to see that justice is done, and that they are not made tools of. There is yet time to rectify their mistake, and reap the be- nefit of the competition, which their unlucky " recommendation " vir- tually sets aside, leaving them just where they were at first.
Popular ignorance is at the root of all this : professional men, "wise in their generation," take advantage of it. John Bull is purblind in matters of taste ; he is deterred from exercising his senses by fear of committing himself; and those who would profit by his dim-sighted- ness throw dust in his eyes. Regarding all that he is not cognizant of as a mystery, he surrenders his right of judgment, and becomes the dupe of interested persons : in what concerns his individual self, he will have his own way, but in a public matter he becomes a child, and is guided entirely by others. When he was in the leading-strings of the amateurs, he got on pretty well—at any rate he secured a handsome House of Parliament. In seeking for a Monument to Nelson, he must needs try to go alone, and run his head against a post. Now, in looking for a new Exchange, be has been put into a professional go-cart by his dry-nurses ; and they amuse him with pretty pictures while they are preparing a nice new toy of their own making. Poor Johnny !
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