itt.
A question is agitating the art-world at the present time, more especially that younger portion of it which hopes to make a sensation st the next great annual picture show. It is, whether there will be any exhibition at the Royal Academy this year or not ? The late frost, among its numerous other crimes, has been guilty of stop- ping the alterations now taking place in the elegant building in Trafalgar Square, and though the contractors are bound to finish the work by the 1st of April (absit omen)—bound, no doubt, under the inevitable heavy penalties—I fear there is at least a chance of the exhibition being deferred beyond the usual period.
I paid a visit the other evening to El Buen Retiro at Ken- sington, the residence for some six years past of the brothers Chalon, R.A.'s. Here I had ample opportunity of inspecting -some of the earlier works of those facile artists. That portion of the public who only know them by pictures exhibited of late years, when the sight began to fail and the hand to lose its cun- ning, will scarcely be prepared for the announcement, that both these gentlemen, but more especially Alfred, were surpassingly clever caricaturists. A volume of caricatures of all the operatic, and many of the theatrical celebrities, that have appeared in the metropolis during the last half century, will be a fine bone of 'contention between theatrical publishers and amateurs at the artists' sale. The sketches are slight, being chiefly in water- colour, but are very remarkable for the spirited pose of the figures, the contortions and foreshortenings of the features in the act of singing, the admirable footlight effects, and the facile manner in which the glare and glitter of the theatrical costumes are in- dicated. The likenesses, although caricatured, are very striking. I can testify to those of Pasta, Grisi, Mario, Paganini, Rachel, ace as being extraordinary resemblances. All these are by A. Chalon. Some portraits of artists, from memory, by both the brothers, though less numerous, are equally good—one of Wilkie making an after-dinner speech, being particularly fine for its strong character and individuality. Others there are of Fuseli, Turner, Leslie, Mulready, Webster, &c. A more elaborate draw- ing shows a copying day at the British Institution in the com- mencement of this century. Here we may see President West hard at work, in a long coat and top-boots, and Sass and Daw, with other notabilities of the day, whose fame, however, has not survived them. The Chalons possessed many of the sketches made at the Club, of which they, Landseer, Leslie, ITwins, Stan- field, &c., were members. One of the finest is by Sir Edwin. It is entitled " The Critical Moment," and represents a duck stir- rounded by dogs, who swim towards her with eager eyes and open months. They are rapidly closing in—a black retriever is about to make the final snap ; but you feel, by the slightly curved neck and elevated body of'the duck, that in less than another moment she will dive under water and thus elude her pursuers. It is a most masterly sketch, and we may some day see it as an engrav- ing in all the print-shop windows. By the way, I hear that Mr. Holman Hunt's " Claudio and Isabella," which was one of'the chief attractions at the Academy Exhibition of 1853, is about to be engraved. I can hardly imagine that this will be a popular print. The subject, like some others of Mr. Hunt's, is somewhat -awkward c " The Awakening Conscience," for instance—a pic- ture which paterfamilias found some difficulty in explaining to his female friends or relatives.
The Artists' Society held their first eonversa.zione of the season,
• at Langham Chambers, on the 12th ultimo. There was a nume- rous gathering of artists, with or without beards, and a very fair show of paintings and drawings, many of them being of more than average merit. Among the more noticeable were two studies of Eastern heads, by Mr. Carl Haag; one of Mr. Oakes's fore- ground landscapes ; two clever pictures by MT. George Leslie, son of the late Academician. But the picture which perhaps attracted most notice, was one by Mr. P. H. Calderon, the painter of "Broken Vows," &c. The subject is taken from an incident in the famous but disastrous Retreat from Moscow. A wounded soldier returns home to find that his sweetheart, having given him up as lost or dead, has withdrawn from the world and retreated to a convent. The painter represents an interview between the lovers in the conventual church. Grief and disappointment are forcibly depicted in the soldier's head; the girl lifts her eyes to Heaven, thankful for his safe return, but forgetful for the moment of the barrier she herself has raised between their love. The pie- tare is well and vigorously painted, showing a marked improve- ment on all former works from Mr. Calderon's hand. Though not perhaps what Mr. Ruskin would designate as a " precious " picture, I have no doubt it will be one of the most prominent works at the forthcoming exhibition of the British Institution.
At the last general election of the Royal Academy, Mr. Poole was made a full member ; and Messrs. Feed and Ansdell, painters, Mr. Barry, architect, son of the late Sir Charles Barry, and Baron Iderochetti, the well-known sculptor, were elected Associates.
DRY POINT.
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