FINE ARTS.
THE ART-UNION PRIZE PICTURES.
THE pictures purchased by holders of prizes in the Art-Union picture- lottery form a little exhibition of themselves, filling the large room of the Suffolk Street Gallery ; where, being gratuitously exhibited, they attract great numbers of visiters. - The display this year says little for the taste of the majority of choosers : landscapes and homely scenes, rarely of the best, predominate almost to the exclusion of subjects of a higher class. This is a natural consequence of the system which vests the selection in the hands of many who are ignorant of art ; but it is directly opposed to the professed object of the Society, which was expressly established "for the promotion of the fine arts." The Com- mittee of Management emphatically state, that "to perpetuate and disseminate mediocrity is not the purpose of the Art-Union of London "; yet such and such only is the tendency of the present system ; for there are not a dozen of the chosen works above the mediocre level, and many far below it. The great increase of the Art-Union, which now numbers upwards of five thousand subscribers, and the iarge sum of money expended, amounting this year to 4,2861. 5s., including what is paid for pictures over and above the amount of the prizes, give to this asso- ciation extensive influence : whether it is beneficial or injurious to art, must depend on the way in which it is exercised. Judging of the tree by its fruits, we must say this influence is injurious ; as we shall show, and as any one conversant with pictures may ascertain by a visit to Suffolk Street.
The prizes are thus arranged- 1 of £300 £300 1 of 200 200 1 of 100 100 2 of 80 160 2 of 75 150 4 of 60 240 6 of 50 300 10 of 40 400 10 of 30 300 16 of 25 400 20 of 20 400 20 of 15 300 40 of 10 400 133
£3,650 The balance of 1,3501. goes to produce an engraving to be given to subscribers, and to pay expenses.
The disproportionate number of small pictures, that, however good so far as they go, do not involve much thought or refinement of skill in their production, is alone sufficient proof of the tendency of such a system to encourage slight performances, and those of a lower class, in preference to works of higher pretensions ; even if the selection were judiciously made in every case. It may suit the liking of the public and the talent of the mass of artists ; but it certainly does not tend to raise the taste of buyers or stimulate the best exertions of producers. Artists noting the direction of the current of patronage from the Art- Union, will paint pictures to catch the uncultivated, priced so as to meet the anticipated demand ; and thus work down to the low level of po- pular taste. The prices given for the pictures, too, are regulated either by the modesty of the artist or the liberality of the prize-bolder; not by the intrinsic value of the work : the present selection affords one or two remarkable instances of this arbitrary valuation. The 3001. prize was originally intended to be appropriated to the purchase of Mr. STONE'S picture The Stolen Interview of Charles the First with the Infanta of Spain ; but the Committee, ascertaining that the price ori- ginally put upon it by the painter was only 2001., interfered ; and the owner added 100/. of his own money to purchase Mr. MACLISE'S Sleep- ing Beauty : the nominal price of this picture is 500/. ; but the artist, we are told, actually received only 4001. for it ; stipulating, however, that 5001. should be named as the price, because he had refused a less sum before. The second prize, of 200/., purchased Mr. Ilimix's water- colour picture The Oath of Vargas, for which the artist demanded that sum from the first. The third prize, 1001., is thrown away on a vulgar daub not worth as many shillings, An Arcadian Nymph, by M. LATILLA ; with no merit either of design or execution ; but had it been as good as it pretends to be, it would not be worth half the sum. There are other less flagrant instances of excessive sums given for worthless or inferior pictures ; and let us not omit to add, there are some few where moderate prices are affixed to works of sterling worth.
The obvious remedy for these abuses is to follow the practice of the Society for the Encouragement of British Art, and award prizes of pictures chosen by a committee of enlightened connoisseurs, responsible for the exercise of their judgment to the body of subscribers : but this plan is not popular ; at least it would seem not, from the fact that the So- ciety just named has but few subscribers, and is scarcely known. The privilege of choosing is of itself a great inducement to people to subscribe ; and we doubt if it could be taken away altogether without a great dimi- nution of the subscription. But a middle course might be adopted ; and we think the Committee are bound to take some steps to remedy the existing evils. Suppose the Committee were empowered to choose the pictures for the higher prizes, or to exercise a veto on the selection of them—this revision of the list of prizes, diminishing the proportion of small works, would counteract some of the injurious influences at present in operation ; and if it could not confer taste on the mass of choosers, it would at least impress them with a sense of responsibility in making their choice.
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