NEW PRINTS.
JOHN LEWIS has lithographed those two admirable studies of Spanish female character which he exhibited in the Water Colour Society a season or two ago, and which were presented to Prince GEORGE of Cambridge by the Queen, to whom the prints are dedicated. T he Spanish Lady, with her black mantilla arid veil, and fan and rosary, is demurely seated in the corner of a chapel of some Gothic cathedral, casting a sidelong glance from beneath her large full eyelid at some gallant, who has much more of her devotion than the picture of the Virgin before her. The Spanish Peasant Girl, with a white kerchief round her head, that shows to advantage her swarthy complexion, is lolling out of an open window decorated with vine-leaves and flowers, casting a leer of recognition on some stalwart muleteer perchance. There is a roguish twinkle in her eye, and a sunny smile on her face, while the lickerish twist of her .half-opened mouth gives her a slang sort of air, quite in keeping with the character, and forming a striking contrast to the sly wickedness of the Lady. The Peasant Girl reminds us of Molina-Ws pictures ; but only because it is a faithful and congenial study of Spanish nature. It is, we think, the most living transcript of an individual person representing a class that LEWIS has produced; the expression is identical. It is powerfully painted too, and without any mannerism.
These prints are also very forcible specimens of lithographic drawing; and promise to be as popular a pair as any we know of.
Previous page
