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Auo. 9, 1851.]
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prtMiB.
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We should do our utmost to encourage the...
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with itself. But, apart from archaeology...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Auo. 9, 1851.]
Auo . 9 , 1851 . ]
arfte iira ^ en
759
Prtmib.
prtMiB .
We Should Do Our Utmost To Encourage The...
We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful for I the Useful encourages itself . —Gokthe . ' I
With Itself. But, Apart From Archaeology...
with itself . But , apart from archaeology or chronology of costume , it is inconsistent with the p . v & . nt . ivifcJi thft ftnrt nf <»« r « nf V . ^ . ^ ^ -. — . 1 —v » v « w ¦ w \
I IS- ? tZ £ ? " £ * , 0 f b a Urd — «> ea ^ ie -1 . i- . „ c prison ot acres , insnirprl it »;* i . aivme ¦ Yr 11
. » . ... ~— v . v . v * . v » sxmV } iic * ijijcn vvijcn ic might . Thrust before you as it is , it piques the j attention , diverts the mind from absorption in the *\ art / infit 1 vi s % c * r * 4-r % en si *\ e * si In 4-. «*** . - « . — Ja . L __ O " .. I yi « « * I
me lervour of Chi'iotS ™ f *• , " I mated it with the iSnS & S ^ S ^ h ^ S ^ and picturesque period . It L * hL ° * J ™ 'i * TiP _?
THE ISSUE OUT OF PR ^ E-RAPHAELISM . When a striking event happens in real life , the effect on the mind is such that , while your attention I is fastened on the persons and obiect immariiatpJv
. 1 pcawcjuiucoo , me ucsujduuiij auu me raiin of which , the figures should speak , and sets the speculation wandering to consider whether they could have maintained that fashion in the voyage of the ark whether they could have " got up" their washing in
in the heat , while those who are ascendincr arp nipped with cold : approach the same stage from opposite directions , and the figure you cut shall ht proportionately varied : the earnp * Lllf " ., f : -t
Connected with it , the objects around that have no I such connection , are forgotten—for them you are blind . The painter aims at the same result by inverse means : hp flimsi tn m 4 o + ua « , ^« f t ,: « i . ¦— - - «¦« * + ± + \\ tiif & llt
ana ironing sucn very complete style i In Hunt's picture of Valentine rescuing Sylvia , and Millais ' s of the Woodman ' s Daughter , the main subject is damaged by incidents yet more in-! ! i iuuo
admire in Giotto ,-that Raphael before his time whose great soul we see struggling from its prison ot death the miserable mechanical encasement of ® 7 * ™ ™ er ,-becomes _ a puerile , pedantic iiBciauonnice tnac
- wv- , *~* M .. j VsV W lllKsll he portrays , striking and impressive by isolating it , and to that end he omits the collateral objects which are not essential to his subject , or leaves those which are connected with it . in a -tvUr '^ i ria . ™^ ;«
jui , ojiiLc Lucy Lew . mrougn wnat looks iike incompetency . I recognize the desire of both artists to copy direct from Nature , without regard to merely conventional receipts for getting up " « ffects , " and I applaud their effort , as 1 have
- - , ot the depraved young fop " Takes pains To prove a weakness in the reins . " in the student who chooses tn io-nm- * M ;^^ ««^»
obscure and unemphatic condition . That is one means by which he attains unity of subject j such unity being the exact correlative of the all-possessing power of the same subject over the soul when
itedgrave ' s , to imitate the manifold , separate , individual aspect of the particles which go to make up I the whole—the foliage , the boughs , the distinct outline , the confused spiky agglomeration of grass earth , stalks , and leaves , that cmpose th » I biouuu in
and Raphael , to cut the acquaintance of Phidias and Agasias , to go back to the tutelage of Giotto and Angelico , to put on again the encasement of that miserable low Greek mannerism , and to \ pretend the " earnestness" with whir-h Tt »* h »» va
it is presented to the mind in the shape of a real event . A corollary of that condition dictates symmetry of composition in a picture ; a dictate very inadequately explained by the expediency
woociy spots . Still the mere fact that the spectator ' s point of view is a unit , contributes , to give that unity in Nature which these men violate thus doing to Art an injury , while they perform for it the true survir * r , f h ^ h ;' ~ \ u ~
, predecessors were trying to escape from enthralment . hw . h is not earnestness but levity ; and the ! most powerful of these fantastical youno- gentlemen appears to be compelled by the force of his ft ^ o uican
ot rendering the arrangement pleasing . In the first place , the symmetry is exactly analogous to nature : an impressive event excites a tendency to draw round it as round a centre ; as you may note in tne
dead , clay-moulded , inorganic lumpishnels of our conventional " effects . " For instance , in no spot will you see trunks of trees or green bushes receding from you in the distance , so ^ giouauuu ui iini
| ~ .,, w . tuiougn nis mannerism . The countenance of the girl kissing the dove is an inspiration of beauty , tenderness , and real earnestness—an earnestness which has forced the painter I to depart from the dry , hard , jejune manner of hi . scnooi
streets , when , some man having fallen in a fit , the crowd disposes itself around him in a concentric group . The painter aids that concentrative effect of an imnrpsskv ? PvPnt J « r «„! , ;„„
-w . xx ^ , so wholly unaffected by the intervening air and vapour , as in Millais ' s Woodman's Daughter . Regard the separate parts as studies , and they might pass ; but they are disj uuWUbVU lw cciuu
, ana to luxuriate m delicate forms , fleeting tints , and soft traits of tenderness . " fi J he . P . to vvhich Tennyson ' s lines from Mariana in the moated grange " are apnended . ia t
all the surrounding objects harmonize with it ; so far , at least , as not to mar the effect of verisimilitude . Again , it is desirable to avoid anv irllp
. „ , . umer . yinu no living I trees have trunks so like planed timber . In the , Valentine , the direct simplicity of the action is excellent ; the meanness of Proteus , the noble valentine
ne compJetest work we have yet seen from the same pencil . The girl is not Tennyson's Mariana , tone is not enough worn with weariness and waiting ¦ the room in which she sirs ic nnt <<\\ ~~ . \ „<¦„„ ..
stretching away of the field of view , which would of itself suffice to draw off the attention on a sort of exploring excursion . In this respect , therefore , I the painter does but follow the dictation nfn . t ,, ™ .
uigmcy or , the trusting repose of Sylvia as she nestles against her deliverer , are admirable , but Sylvia was beautiful , and why refuse to make her so ? Valentine must have been a stalwart ' lellOW . then Wn-V cnvo him «¦ . « r «» l , I ^ nr-. i i
, less eno ugh for the grange ; facts which corroborate the current tale that the picture was not painted to illustrate the lines , but that the quotation was suggested by the poet on seeing the picture . The usuie is that ot
the force of the spectator ' s own attention practically giving for his sight an analogous sort of limitation . By similar rules you explain the right of the j iier to select lor his
right hand Sylvia is squeezing Valentine's , not as an actress might do on the stage , but as Sylvia herself would have done , hard and harder stillbut , what is sherlfiino-wif . il K « - i ~ r « . i i ^ » ,,
a girl dressed in deep blue velvet , a nne girl , handsome , formed for pleasure , with the traits of strong sensitiveness ; she has been working at some piece of tapestry imitating foliage and 15 JlKe them
F composition personages of a suitable type : limited exactly to the external form and to an instant in point of time , he has none of the means by which in nature most actors in great cveims
Hunt chooses to violate a very well justified rule , that you should show both hands of every principal figure ; and he raises a puzzMwr pnltvy per- J ! i f 5 : ^ y »™^> y of his subject An ' d ' the ivijicu rroteus
" ' , anu vivid in colour ; she has been sitting , with her left side towards you , before a painted window ; mice playing about the room ' indicate the deadness of the quiet ; she has risen , and , with her hands nhicctl . »>„„ ! , „« !„;„„ u ,. '
acquire a sort of fitness for the occasion . Phis last rule Mr . Millais has strikingly violated in " The Return of the Dove to the Ark : " although it is true , that throughout the greatest events simple natures not only retain their simplicity , but by unity i of feeling acquire a more marked simnJicifv rl , nn |
""»•«« ' » 's hair , over the brow , Untv Y ° n Wn 5 J tle ¦ back ffro « nd , with some , mexphcahle light looks as if thc artist were not competent to hand . e hi , material . ; for the receding surface of ha . r , especially with the gfoss of youth upon it , never presents that sort of dry light to the * li ^ vv I
head thrown slightly sideways , she is relicving W sel by a backward bend from the long weaTin . ss ' of the stooping posture . . The two traces of the Prae-Raphaelite peculiarity , " n ' ^ h ^ 7 hara »> n «» of some of thj l fi . ' " , »»^ hne 88 of the attitude . Ksneciull J 111 the
before , still it is impossible that any person could undergo the events of . the Deluge , or watch thtflight of the dove and its return with all th »
The disposition to remain , of malice prepense in the apprenticeshi p state of Art , is partly aSS , e «« u »
" "" «»» " -o « ery tints are harsh : i , most cases of a surface presented to the sight at a " ne IS ? f l rtr WOUl ( 1 bc m »™ s ^ duedl £ inc light rejlected from M » ,. ,, .. ., •'
meaning of that return , and retain thc perfectly unaltered contour which you oh . seive in the girl dressed in . green . I do not Inean that hor , ,
— .,,, uy couunon consent , called the . " n , r | nos ness of tlle old Italian painters-the cvide ^ e " of tl . at feeling winch m . Tlc them aim in a direrl manner at the simple ,. v ,,,, ; lin / lf , . " . . V '
, r I " . ? lboW 8 throv " * n back ^ » " > K > csf suitw ieh Th ! I " a . K rassh » PP ^ . un « l th , 4 w ' from I ! . . f h «' . »? seeii p ,-csent 8 thc aet . on in i , «
would have got hollowed with suffering and Ininger - the miraculous nature of the event , and the force of faith , nught have obviated that physical result 1 ) 111 . I ( ll \ irw » vm i i J . ' ' have
tr «» stcd with the opposite one , when Art lnd ...
u , "™ angularity . The painter prefer * to lxliut the drawiiiir of ( lie . firr , ^ ,. ; ., . „_! .. ,. „
Th , > V > "*'" " «»« «»« a undergone the awful event , or protracted series of events without having the countenance set to an habitual ' I gravei —I do not say less nlacid . Or if ti ... i ,. 1 .... 1
— * " l lilIi ; < it : 'une ( l tmmf m < r t > f aceessories and st . U life , than to equal h a » n l ^^ T ^ A ^ I -te < l , uu . er the ) ow ( ireek pau ^ ^> X , ^ : ^ : ; anuiacture
expression of phys ^ al TOll £ 8 " , , / ^ nu nui ^ < J ? ' lllO - «* l ™» i «« i « tho fa ^ o than muc physical weariness . The genial features ; ? ..:: ™ 7 stw \ ?»™ » f -nines , ^ , i : ; ,
oe , n among the human animal * in t o „ « m « o unnnpressihle , B ,, eh a one would have hm , I Si "" Mllht lnstn " » » t f - ' - 1 »» P < - of he
• " , Cn . ahuc and his follower * str , ¦ ,
; " , y 1- 'T < ldi (; U ' ° »« "l «» in- » f the n de wlti 1 | W ' . < lyclHl ' a" ( 1 ih 0 ^ i't' » li" - Tohte h 8 lir . ° UI" 8 th <; e * c * Thep « « " » U » "ff ' ., . " \ l in ( ' st N «^ HimpliKitv- aurl vrt . UuZ
I ad it ;» V Vant of / ll ? ««»« l « im . s the costume . w I , . tIlJlt . «>« ' »« ' « »« trivial ; Ido not quarrel « arche nil ^ ' < ln 5 SK < ; ' T'" with lllllt k »»» <>< ^ pin ., lo « , worn by the girl in a purple hhio
iir-v ^ i ^ rr ^ f' - " ^¦ - •« - u ... ir ,,,, i ,, r ,, " ; .,: : t .. ' : '; »•¦"'" " !' . " ¦« ' " -t ti i k
^ f ^ tr * , ^!^" ^ I < Ullll , lCH Of CVniTBHlOII I nf . > ,... 1 . ^ * .. /• - ., ¦ ¦
fe : ™ ; ? " "" " ;" s " " - « ' - Si ^ <" : i .. r , u ; , ! , '" . t "" -, rayiii is " « ' «» - r . v . " "y Hie laet i nit . m ,,, / .., i-o « i ... , i tin /
,,, , ,,, « at ,,, , ti ,,, , ™ , ; r ; 7 , ; ' ;* : E ^^ iT'S ^ TifccS ^?^ . ¦ , vt ,-, M ,, iu ,, . ^ , s ,,, i , W 1 ! roll , r : « ... " ¦ i : ^ " ™ «¦"'
f ,, ii ,,, ; ,. _ I . „ . " •¦ o' «> - i- «» hi uicm lor following him out of it as well as int ., it art . v 7 CSC < , !<> Ul > l for lhr SIIr
I I ill ,, ' .. . •>«•»• . > iin'NS OI « i " H ,, "" " " " ^ , '" - »• »» ki" < l tl" « ™ , t i i » I „ ' " . """" " •; , i » - "'» l ; th .,. « ,.., I ,,- / ,,,,, , „„ lh accessories nt
wiin the suggestions revived l . u tl ... K ' auijient 8 ( ., il ., l ,, r ..- _ ,. . 1 .. . . ' tho ri ; «<» vcry Ol
11 * . -- --., « v # ! no nti . ii ; nn / i ; u i * ,- " * ! ' f ' , a ( : tl ° " « ' ««»« - ' «« i . ' « nd pr «) p . > rti » nate / y iiuio lor the observation of the p » iut « r . llulf of the artist h education must ho sought in the emotion < iiid aclion i \ f li /'/» . . 1 .. < . 1 ..... 1 1 .. .. 1 ....... 1 « ... » i .,. tii
^ consistent „ u 1 . 1 - «'» " «« « r me al «« u 3 i ^ t I 1 cv «» fth « < lrainiil » efor « ino . I Pctuw i : '" 1 C H , t ! udl ^ P inafore in Mr . AlilUuVs w excellentl y pamtod , and (| uitc coiwiutoat
o .-gaui , " . *'« , £ , ^' i , '"" , "I , " ' '"' , '') ' ' <> e vvo . MlorS * . -- ^ a ^ rx ^ ^ s ^; ,
-. r .. v j <« niin / ui tltUllly ( JiMi <* ••<* liju painter in Midland ; where lite him Hale action , where feeling is rv . strumcd , and Aim outward show of emotion almost reduced />/ ^ -ood breeding to the few occasions ov « r which proaidca tho Ulidei ' - akcr or the j ) ari « h dci / c .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 9, 1851, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09081851/page/19/
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