FINE ARTS.

oLD wATER-cot,oull sociETY.

Tuts favourite exhibition maietalas its preis2minence ia Scottie Pic- tures and Studies of Character, but is this year deficient in De- signs of Figures where a story is told, Li-twit and CATTERMOLE are both missed, and there is no one to flu the void their abse;tee has left. A large picture had been sent from Italy by Mr. Lim's, hut it bad not arrived when the Gallery opened:* Mr. CArrsmsloi.E. we regret to hear, has been prevented by illness from contributing. The place of honour is not unworthily filled by a clever and powerful dsliwing 91 a large size by F. TAyi.lin, The Morning of the Chase, (119)—a hunting- * Some apprehension is felt liir the safely of this picture, as it his not arrived with the vessel by which it was announced to have been sent. We understand. that it is a most elahorate work, having occupied the artist for several months: the subject is the Easter Festival at Rome—um scene of imposing splendour that would task the skill of the greatest painter. We are reluctant to suppose that it is lost ; but its detention merely will he a great disappointment. It is conjectured that, being a representation of a grand religious ceremonial, it may have been prevented from leaving the Papal States.

party preparing to mount at the porch of an old country-house ; which has evidently been painted in rivalry of EDNVEI LANDSEER'S " Return from Hawking:" it is an animated group, with more of rustic and homely character than its prototype, and both dogs and horses are well drawn ; but the execution, of course, is not comparable in finish and elegance with ',AMMER'S dexterous handling, and being but a second- band idea, it wants the charm and spirit of a spontaneous conception. In Landscape, HARDING takes the lead: his four pictures have more and originality, than Gown' FIELDING'S forty repe-

vigour, freshness, of himself. In a grand composition called Morning, (127,) he linos

his illustrated the exalting burst of eloquence in -which Bracsx describes

an Italian sunrise-

.. Thy morn is up again, the dewy morn, With breath all incense and with cheek all blf om, Laughing the dna& away with playhd scorn, And thing as ir earth contained Ito torah."

It is an imaginary scene of ionic ; the Tiber reflecting a flood of re- splendent light, that illumines the crumbling temples on its banks with a ruddy glow ; while the distant dome of St. Peter's is thrown into aim eclipse, as if the old glories of " the NW»: of Nations," had arisen to shed new lustre over the "chaos of ruins." The poetry of the sahject is felt and expressed with congenial sentiment, and the artist has lavished his finest skill in depicting the refulgent glow of sunlight diffused through the pure and cloudless atmosphere of a Southern clime; the fervid blaze being tempered by the refreshing coolness of a spark- ling rill half hidden in the fbreground, and the warm hues counter-

balanced by the gray smoke and the verdurous tints of foliage. In striking contrast with the glowing brilliancy of this Italian morn- ' ing, is the cool sober tone ()I' a woody landscape, A I'ku, in Drud- ged'? Park, Leirestershire, (192,)—a fine old English " pleasance," the birth-place of Lady JANE GREV a glade skirted with sturdy forest-eaks yet in their prime, with a pool in the midst, opens a peep of the chininies and gables of the old red-brick lodge, just dis-

cernible in the distance among the trees; and the repose of the sylvan scene- which has more the aspect of an open chase than an enclosed park-k not disturbed by a group of peasants and cattle coining down the p: thi I I the open foreground. The trees are drawn as no one but Ilsitnesi can draw trees ; their trunks are solid, and their clustering branches Nvould yield a good fall of timber : we could wish, however, that the turf had a more soft and elastic look, aml that the Hinge were more wavy and umbrageous. Dorhing,.Than Burg lill, (21.) is another characteristic bit of English home scenery ; the little town nestling between bosomy hills golden with fertility, and chequered by the pass- ins slaslows of the shilling: clouds, bright with sunshine and charged with frai:1111 showsrs. Zell, on the Moselle, (1::9,) is particularly ad- ! mirable for the subdued tone of its general effect ; and, like the rest, it / is full of atmosphere, in which genial warmth and breezy freshness are pleasantly blended.

COPLEY FIELDING'S numerous productions, every one recalling some

well-known effect under which lie has represented similar scenes, almost preclude individual notice : stormy seas with gloomy skies, smooth sunny (loves with ;thy distances, mountains and moors with rising

mists or haling, showers' abound on every side ; and were they twice as numerous, would be no lsss welcome. A i.)i.,4(1,,/ )7,,;• the 7 olin and COle 1 lIchnshy, with pail V Drummond I 'ark, (I; t)—the trees and housstaps gilded with the ruddy glow of sunset—is a scene full of re-

pose and beauty, and differs in effect from the' rest. In his View of the Mont Staflit, (13.) the grandeur of the desolate isle under a

sombre sky is materially impaired hy the vapoury thinness of the mass of rock : indeed, COPLEY FIELDING s manner is tending to meagreness and feel,1(::e‹,:, and he would do well to guard agaiast these daects- the rc:sulk, probably, of' mechanical facility- and over-production. Dewiss is not in full strength this year ; and we observe with regret symptoms of too exclusive reliance on his reputation, and on the efficacy

of old methods of imitating natural effects: the rich bronze tone of his landscapes, enlivened with purple tints and sparkling lights, still remains; but the execution is too often loose and heavy. Ills liest are A Distant rew ty' Doerr Castle, (1(11,) and Omoingfon Costfc, (231)—a white country-house, embedded in foliage. In his lar",c picture, .Inintinz--View in Me High Park, at Lowther, (78,) the root and bole of the fallen tree want solidity of' substance ; and the whole is deficient in keeping, the

lumpy Ibrais of the distance crowding forward out to the foreground in a ennfu,ed heap. DAVID Cox has left the plushy sands and dewy meads sparkling with light and breezy freshness, for the mountain and forest ; and instead of

a variety of little sweet sunny glimpses of hay-fields and sedgy streams, he has given its a few large and sombre pictures, on a scale beyond the power of his peculiar manner to render effective : lie shows himself at home) however, in die pictured Hall of Hardwicke, of whose stately Portrait Gallery he has given three views, (82, 80, mid 040 that are admirable for correct perspective, harmony of colour, and a sober purity of tone rarely seen in gorgeous interiors like this.

Ets SS s large views of Killarney, (63,) and Eton, (247,) and two smaller cues of Mulgrave and Lismore Castles, (286 and 203,) painted for the Queen, and /Vitt at Portsdown, (3120 are agreeable and effective, though all are treated too much in one style. 1.3saitErr's sunset and

twilight (Ikets are mellow and chaste in tone, though his manner is weak and washy his little sketch with a waggon, called Fine Afternoon,

(2690 is glowing with the warnith and brightness ttf a summer andjiNt lylow it is a Baygage-li'a!,gon, (2680 by Pa pawn ICR TAYLOR, With 11,,I,Ier relief and inure level colouring, but wanting the breadth

and luminousness of Bsuitistas Gs:stem:sr exhibits two soft and mellow moonlight scenes, ot' which Lock Long, Scotland, (110,) is

the finest and largest painting. Nssran.n has given the prismatic effects or sunlight on a waterlidl very beautifully in !Malady,. y 'kick -Yorill Wales, (31). CALLow's views of' Lyons, (:15,) and

(77,) are boldly sketched; but the purply-brown tint which he washes over every object, by way of' giving tone to his pictures, oblite- rates all local colour, and reduces theta to monographs. In Architectural Scenes, PROUT is conspicuous his large view

of prague, IL) for firmness of outline and breadth of effect is equal to its best efforts. HOLLAND we rejoice to see producing his bright

local hues of foreign cities with a fuller and more liquid pencil, pre- Sort mg the sunny glow of the Southern atmosphere in the transparent medium : the scene at Lisbon, (54,) with a procession of nuns emerging

from a convent, and that at Venice, (248,) where two 'Venetian ladies are taking the air on a terrace, are full of character ; and in the Piazza Signori, Verona, (2010 he has almost attained the vivid reality of dioramie painting. JOSEPH NAST! has only one large drawing, A !loom at Knowle, Kent,(148.) for he has been too much engaged on his forthcoming second series of "Old English Mansions" to paint pictures; but this is, we hope, the precursor of many similar interiors : the quaint Gothic room, with large bay-window of curious form, is hung with tapestry, the corners of which being turned up, show passages leading to other apartments, and furnished with a carved oak cabinet, against which rests a suit of armour : a lady with a lute is the solitary occupant, lint a flood of light and atmosphere gives space and cheerfulness to the quiet chamber. BENTLEY has greatly improved, and has almost entirely discarded the tumid exaggerated style he used to affect in his sea-pieces and coast- scenes ; and in a view of Santa Salute, from the Piazetta, Venice, (153,) he lias emulated the force and clearness of STANFIELD and the bright local colouring of' I ioLLAND.

In Marine Subjects, CHAMBERS is preNninent for characteristic truth hi nautical scenes: the floating icebergs of the Northern seas in Greenlandman hearing up to leave the Ice, (44,) the cool bright calm of an autumn evening on the water in German Reapers haring Amsterdam, (tak) and the tumultuous heaving of' a stormy sea in Dover Pilot- Lugger rt ening to Harbour, (2580 are depicted will, equal vividness : the effects of placid motion in the waves is conveyed w ith extraordinary power in the last-mentioned pictnre. There are landscapes by W. TURNER, F. NASH, W. Scorr, J. VARLET', and J. IlynNE, and architectural views by F. MAck ENzin, and cattle and deer by 1111.i.s, that possess merit each of their peculiar kind ; though mannerism is the besetting sin of most, Of the few Designs, those by Mrs. SEYFFATITH are the most pro- minent ; but the want of distinct charaater and strong expression renders her brilliant colouring and intrenious composition insipid: her largest performance, Will floneyo,inlis !Ireton, (2090 is very elaborate, but the eye is lost in a maze of figures, or rather costumes. SamensNorr has a sumptuous taste Ihr scents; of pageantry, but such a ,m!1;!et :Is Columbus hybre the Gnincil at Salamanca, (232,) is quite beyond his powers. dons W. WI:mita. has no large picture this year ; but his broad, pure, and glowing style 1.4. is SeQn in several single heads and figures, with agreeable exin-esziion : and he has one charming little design of a Girl and Child, (I oh) seated in a secluded vale, over which the sun is setting, the buy intently listening to the story that the sweet girl is telling bins. F. STONE 1:as a lovely study of a forlorn young beauty with a late sighing for a lover to wake its strains, (275,) that reminds us of NEWTON, 1)11I With:Ha being an imitation.

BUNT'S comical ploughboys provoke laughter on every side ; but their drollery is only a part of the extraordinary power of these transcripts of rustic character : the purity, harmony, and liveliness of the colouring, and the force of' the imitation are wonderful ; and give to his represen- tations of the most simple and homely objects a value beyond what far nobler aims often attain. Gir/ Steeping, (400 is a bouquet of bright hues ; and An Interior, (321)—a cottage bed-room, its white-washed walls reflecting the morning light, and the patchwork quilt, mottled paper-box, and the pale greets dress of the girl at tin: window, filling the eye with sot-ions colours—is all light : the keeping is perfect : llootnin never painted an interior so fresh, pure. and airy, and radiant with day. Equally true to the more hotly gisw jag. tones of the costly furniture tif' a sw»p:uous boudoir, is the interi,w with a Lady and Mandolin, (133,) where he has paintcrl a ellair covered with a rich damask or ca; velvet of crimson and gold colour : his grapes, melons, &e. are ripe, blooming. and juicy, and palpable to the toueh ; and his flowers have that intense verdurous brightness of hue that is only seen in fresh vegetation. I his studies of girlhood are eh:truing, for the sim- plicity of homely beauty and character : Peasant Girl, (24,) with a pitcher, might be the heroine of one of Wonoswoasai's ballads; and Miriam, (313) has a Scriptural air of earnestness. The finish of this last is beautiful : indeed yr has improved in deficit ey of t ;melt without lessening the force of his painting. In the life-size heat of a Mulatto (124,) the utmost power of colour is attained, though not with agremtble effect ; and the face has not such a living look of nature as his smaller pictures) the handling is too visible. Ills tribes of country- urchins with clouted shoots arc as droll as ever : one is grimacing through his grandmother's spectacles ; another, reading, has stuck in the middle of a hard word ; a third, amazed with open mouth and staring eyes, is letting the milk stream run out of the pan he holds ; a fourth, angliug, watches the fl et with a stare of ludicrous delight, as if I:e could hardly believe his sines til:a he had got a nibble. In fine, whatever BUNT attempts in the imitation of II at ore and individual character, he achieves with marvellors truth and clearnes'i : he is unrivalled in producing the appearance of actual reality and the effect of colour by daylight.