FINE ARTS.
SOCIETY OF BRITISH ARTISTS.
Wrixixorx would we pass over unnoticed the deplorable spectacle 'Which the Gallery in Suffolk Street now presents, out of a charitable feeling for the artists who are unfortunate enough to have contri- buted towards it ; but it is right the public should be made aware that the discredit belongs not to the exhibitors, but to the little knot of no- bodies calling themselves the Society of British Artists, in emulation of the three tailors of Tooley Street who called themselves "the people of England." These persons, scarcely half-a-dozen of whom are known beyond their own select circle, have contrived to scrape toge- ther a sufficient number of spoiled canvasses in frames to cover the walls, and thus prolong their existence as a " society" for a few months longer : all the usual forms of an exhibition are gone through, with sonic new ones peculiar to themselves. The members of the " Society," with a view to rescue their " talents" from obscurity, not only put their own performances in the best places, (in imitation of the Royal Academy,) but print their names in staring letters in the cata- logue; and, by way of making up for the deficiency of visitors, levy a tax on the artists who send in pictures, in the shape of a " registration- fee" of five shillings ; but for which, indeed, they could not perhaps have opened their gallery this year. Their other contrivances for raising money—namely, the offer of a free admission for self and friend to annu:d subscribers of a guinea, and to subscribers to their " convey- sazioni "—do not appear to be equally successful, judging from the empty state of the rooms : indeed, in addition to the, school children, we would recommend the admission of all adults decently clad who might apply ; and if volunteers enough were not to be had, that they should " send out into the highways and compel them to conic in." We noticed, by the way, a man in livery busily engaged in doing no- thing it is to be hoped he is not of the class that STEELE had to wait on his guests.
We are not ridiculing the poverty or ill-success of a set of men united to promote the cause of art : we only deride the petty arts of those who have sacrificed a once hopeful though struggling institution, to their own personal vanity, and who have excited the disgust of their brother artists by impertinent and injurious treatment of men infinitely superior to them in talent. Of the very few noticeable pictures, there is scarcely one in which the beauties are not overbalanced by defects; and the progress ammig the members of the Society is in the backward direction. HAI-- DON'S Samson and the Phili.stincs, ( I60,) is a lamentable imtarice of knowledge and skill debased to neumerism, and of talent and energy perverted by conceit : it is too evident that in this picture the painter has been more occupied with himself than his subject. Mr. HAVB0N, instead of endeavouring to form a clear conception of Samson in the act of bursting his bonds, appears to have been thinking how he could make a display of his powers of drawing : the result is an exaggeration of those points of form that were meant to he beauties, into deformities—contorted limbs, excessive muscular de- velopment, and feet with triangular terminations a la I useli ; while the sentiment is ludicrously falsified. Samson, instead of snapping the cords like threads with the perfect ease of superhuman strength, is represented starting out of the picture, with staring eyes like a furious maniac freeing himself from holidage by a prodigious effort ; while Dalilah lies coiled up in a Fuseli4.cie attitude, looking on with com- placency, as though she had' endued him with his power instead of having sought to rob him of it:
The Folly if Acarim, (710 is depicted by E. TRENT'S, with his
usual minute and literal truth. There is nothing new in the idea of representing a usurer comfortless in tbe midst of his bonds and securities ; the old man, moreover, is an old acquaintance ; but the character is well expressed, the painting elaborately wrought, and the picture makes the right impression, and strongly too. H.
O'NEILL has made a very clever approximation to the character of a Sybil in his unnamed picture, No. 497; and T. &Lime has represented The Old English Gentleman, (376,) with so smug and homely a look of reality, that the old beggarmau who partakes of his hospitality has a more patriarchal air of dignity. The accessories of the scene are extremely well painted, and show the artist to be pm. ficient in the mechanism of painting. E. LATILLA has exchanged his flaunting hues for the cold and dirty tints of Iluni.sTostn, whose style he has imitated in several pictures of Italian peasants, which are more remarkable for force than either refinement or animation.
Hunt.srora exhibits portraits only, and his manner of painting is sadly deteriorated ; his flesh tints are raw and leaden, and his drawing wiry and feeble. The only striking portraits age a whole-length of Miss Helen Faucit, as the "Lady qf Lyons," (238.) by Miss DRUMMOND—a faithful, expressive, and pleasing likeness, powerfully painted; and a half-length of a young midshipman, by S. LAwancE, aptly called Thoughts on the First Voyage, (428,) for the noble boy, resting his head on his hand, seems musing on the parting from home, though with a look of calm resolution, denoting a bold and courageous spirit : the drawing is admirable for the union of vigour and elegance, and the handling is free and masterly. Among the scenic pictures, an Interior of Milan Cathedral, (226,) by HOLLAND, and The 41Icmnons—Sunrise, (2040 by W. MULLER, are the most remarkable ; but both are too gaudy in line : Ifoixasis has doubt- less represented the gorgeous scene faithfully, but the harmony of' tone, transparency of tint, and finished execution requisite to produce aft agreeable ensemble, are wanting. We regret to see such powers as this artist possesses injured by haste and carelessness. TOMKINS has several picturesque street scenes in Roilen and other Continental cities, forcibly painted, but in a hard, coarse manner, that smacks too strongly of scene-painting, for easel-pictures.
TENNANT'S sunny landscapes and coast-scenes are the best in the room ; and next to them are SHAVER'S rustic scenes with figures. ALLEN has greatly fallen oft' this year : his green landscapes, once so fresh and sparkling, are now crude and cold, wanting both warmth and harmony of tone. WILSON'S sea-pieces are still feeble and unsatisfac- tory ; and II0FLAND'S landscapes tame and insipid in their tranquillity.
There are a very few water-colour drawings, the most prominent being a large view of Zell, on the Moselle, (6240 by R. L. GALE, which has some nicely-pencilled foliage.
Sculpture there is none to speak of: two or three models are stuck about the rooms, but they seem out of place, and attract little notice.
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