EXHIBITION OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS. "There are two great schools of art-the imitative and the imaginative. The latter is the most noble and enduring." LONGFELLOW. "Survey the whole, nor seek slight faults to find." РОРЕ. We have on the present occasion to record the death of Phillip, the Academy and public sustaining a great loss by the sad event. At the opening banquet the President passed a high eulogium on a departed brother, and the Prince of Wales gave additional force to his sympathetic regrets by observing that his own travels in Spain had enabled him most fully to appreciate the characteristic pourtrayals which came from that eminent artist's easel. But the words of the Chancellor of the Exchequer were so very remarkable that we give them verbatim as nearly as may be with their delivery: "I believe," he continued, "that intellectual creations have in them a sort of spiritual affinity with their creators that never ceases; and I hope that they may whisper to him in the Elysian fields, where he may be wandering at this moment, that we remember him with sentiments of affection and admiration." 'Ere the type with the above was set, the deaths of Stanfield and Baily have been announced. In this the ninety-ninth year from the foundation of the institution, 1,195 works of art are enumerated, and of these 668 are paintings. In offering the use of our marked catalogue, we do so conceiving that most of those productions likely to prove generally interesting are noted, though several may have escaped our attention, the limited space at disposal prohibiting much more than an enumeration, rather than a descriptive account. As for criticism, of which little will be found, Pope's couplet must suffice between us and the reader: ""Tis with our judgments, as our watches; none Go just alike, yet each believes his own.' The suggestion tendered by us to advancing artists has, we are gratified to observe, been responded to by increasing representations of animal and marine subjects, and we trust for a further display in forthcoming seasons. We commence with the East or Great Room, 5, "The Cousins," by G. D. Leslie, demanding notice from its truth to feeling and peculiar tone of colouring. The town cousin has called in at the farm upon her country cousins, who by no means disconcerted at the presence of the London belle, yet unwittingly gratify her vanity by a certain amount of deference which her dress, manner, and style of conversation inspire. The three appear to be perfectly well-bred young damsels, and if the difference of education, fortune, and position have favoured the one, there is no vulgar assumption on her part, while on theirs the knowledge that she has advantages over them does not betray them into K K any want of self-possession, though perhaps they are not entirely at their ease. 8, "Rebekah," by Goodall, R.A.; 12, "Three Dogs," by Moseley. 18, "Talbot and the Countess of Auvergne, by Orchardson.; 19, "The Stinging Nettle," by Smallfield.; 20, Mouth of the Harbour," by Naish; 24, "The Ride," by Le Jeune, A.; 25, "The Doctor," by Pettie, A.; 33, "The Ladies Isabel and Florence Taylour," by Buckner. ; 49, "Up the Glen," by Creswick, R.A.; 50, "Stragglers,' by Dobson, A.; 55, "An incident at Allerton when visited by Oliver Cromwell and his officers," by C. Landseer, R.A.; 58, "The Hon. Lady Filmer," by the Hon. H. Graves; 62, "Bullfinches," by Miss A. Dundas, are noted; 65 and 74, "Sleeping" and "Waking," by Millais, R.A., being beautiful examples of this artist. In 72," Her Majesty at Osborne in 1866," Sir Edwin Landseer places before us the best portrait of the Queen we have had in later years. Dressed in a black habit, her Majesty is reading a letter, seated on a black pony, at whose head a gilly stands. Envelopes of other epistles lie open in the road, with a pair of black gloves, a couple of dogs being introduced, both of which are black, the only relief to the immediate foreground being found in scattered papers and a big red seal upon a torn cover. The middle distance shows us two of the Princesses, and would they were nearer, with a young Prince present, one hand on the bit, the other on the pony's mane, the gilly-in the phraseology of the turf-"nowhere. " The Queen's gracious permis sion for the engraving of such a picture as that, would have received grateful recognition from her loyal people the world over. In 75, "Alice and Eleanor, twin daughters," we have a charming work by Sant. 81, "On the river Eden," by Creswick, R.A.; 82, "The Hon. Mrs. Seymour Egerton," by Watts, A.; 90, "A Treasury of Waters," by Redgrave, R.A.; 91, "Digging for Sand-eels," by Hook, R.A.; 94, "Mountain Pathway, near Mentone," by Hopkins; 100,"Boy and Game," by Morgan: 102, "Hylas and the Nymphs," with 108, Venus," by Frost, A., and 107, "The Poor Man's Friend," Faed, R.A., we have marked. 66 116, "First at the Fence," represents a fair equestrian (our courtesy introducing the epithet, the back of her head only, and not her face, being visible to us). The picture is clever, though the hind-legs are obviously too short for the horse's body. The embankment and skeleton hedge on its top need greater force, and how many hounds the lady may have killed or maimed are left to conjecture, but she has galloped through the pack. 124, "Deer at Chillingham Park," and 144," Wild Cattle of Chillingham," are by Sir Edwin Landseer. 125, "Driving Home Sheep," by R. Butler; 130, "The Land we Live In," by Lee, R.A., we note, with 132, "King Charles the Second's last Sunday," by Frith, R.A., the best picture he has painted, extreme care having been taken in the details, and we are delighted with two spaniels and their pups. We confess, however, we cannot realize fact in the scene of excitement and commotion before us. 133, "The portrait of Mrs. Shand, of Edinburgh," entitles Mr. Herdman to great praise. 138, "Mother Cary's Chickens," by Hook, R.A., with 139, 143, 153, 156, and 158, we note, drawing attention to 152, 166, and 191 -the two first "Scotch Lassies," the last "Antonia," a Spanish woman, by the late J. Phillip, R.A. 171," Limpet Gatherers," by Monro (in Hook's manner), and 173, "A Beck in the North Country," by Creswick, R.A., we mark. 183, "The Duchess of Sutherland," painted by Sir Francis Grant, being in the President's best style of treatment. 184, 190, 192 we may mention. 199, "A Skirmish off Heligoland," is Stanfield's only picture in this year's collection. 200, 203, and 205 are not to be omitted. 208 is a grand Landscape, by Whaite; and 215, "Mrs. Denistown," by Sant, A. 216, "A Winter's Night's Tale," by Maclise, is lighted up unintelligibly, and effectiveness being thus materially lost. 225, "Red Grouse, Ducks, and Snipes," by Hold, we note. 235, 236, 237, with 242 (a very pretty bit on the "Road from Funchal to St. Anna," by Lee, R.A. Amongst the portraits of men of name are the "Dean of Chichester," by J. E. Williams; "General Sir Hope Grant G.C.B." by Sir Francis; "Lord Stanley," by the same; "The Duke of Cleveland," by Weigall; "The Dean of Westminster," by Watts, A.; "The Earl of Sefton, on a roan," by Pearce; and "Henry Holland, Esq., Governor of the Bank of England," by Knight, R.A. The pictures for special notice, according to their numbers are-5, 30, 50, 58, 65, 66, 72, 74, 75, 91, 100, 107, 116, 130, 131, 132, 133, 138, 144, 173, 183, 191, 199, 208, 215, 216, 223, 242. MIDDLE ROOM. In 224, by C. Lutyens, we have a representation of hog-hunting from the brush of an artist who was in the army, we believe, and a partaker in the sport. Then follow 256, "The fisherman's Rest," by Lee, R.A.; 270," Highland Stots," Corbould; "Highland Sport" and "Calvary," 279 and 397, by R. Ansdell, A.; 282, "A Cowherd's Mischief," and 292, "Herrings from Banff-Fishers clearing their Nets," by Hook, R.A.; 301, "Locked Up" (a couple of "doggies"), D. Cooper; 330, "A Stampede from a Wolf," Carter; 339,Birdnesting," Eddis; 362, "The Porter's Room" (with a very cleverly painted setter), Underhill; 374, "The Head of the Drove," and 385, "Red Deer," C. Jones; 376," In Difficulties" (a hunting incident, but too high to make out what), Tolley; 380, "A Scotch Terrier's Head," Miss A. Dundas; 403, "Cub-hunting-Noon: Lullingstone," Hendrie; 410,"Waiting for Hire," Cooper, A. (a beautiful picture) -all these representing subjects that cannot fail to be specially attractive to our readers. 255, by Nicol, A.; 271, "Luther," by O'Neil, A.; 281, "A Vestry Meeting," Ritchie; 289, "Jephthah," Millais, R.A.; 290, "The Dole." Lobley; 291, "Why so Late?" O'Neill; 298, "Peace to this House," Dobson, A.; 304, "The Dawn of the Reformation," Yeames, A.; 317, "The Trio," A. W. Cooper; 322, "Treason," Pettie, A.; 326, 327, 329, with 338 ("The Duenna and Her Cares"-her "Cares" being of a-type not likely to submit to the durance of a duenna); 346, 348, 349, 352 ("The Last Day in the Old Room"one of Wyburd's pretty and elaborately-finished bits), 353, 356, 371, 373, 375, 377, 378 (a fine picture by Hart, R.A.), 382, 384, 388, 391, 405, 418, 420, 445 are also marked. |