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Untitled Article
national taste . This time is yet to come—but come it will , when good government shall have made education universal—that the fine arts in England will far excel all that the ancient world has produced , which is short of perfection . The accumulated knowledge of ages will be improved upon , so soon as mankind shall be
convinced that the true art of procuring selfish gratification is to administer to the happiness of their fellows . I am speaking of the higher branches of the art ; for there are profitable branches at present , such as copying the wretched faces and persons of Wealthy individuals for hire . In this , the principal requisite is a Chinese fidelity of hand , capable of being controlled by an
unblushin ^^ p ahdering sycophancy * . This is mechanical work , like that of an engrossing clerk , to be performed by the inch or the ^ ard ; and the skilful flatterer is generally more successful at it than the skilful painter . Witness the things which exhibitions are usually saturated with and called * Portrait of his or her Majesty / or some spare earl , or duke , or countess , or marchioness , on seeing which the lips involuntarily pronounce the quotation ,
• A tailor made thee t «* White satin or velvet , or broad cloth or gold lace , we turn away from in disgust , to seek for the works of intellect , or the images of intellect , if they may be found . We stop at the name of Martin ; and , glowing with delight at what he has achieved , we think what he might have done had knowledge unfolded to him
her ample page / ere the plastic season of youth had fled away . Martin is not one of the herd ; he has a versatility of talent ; and early instruction might have made of him poet , painter , sculptor , and architect ; probably engineer , in addition . A painter should be all ; for how can he represent the works of art , who does not understand them ?
The gross ignorance displayed by many of our historical painters , must raise a smile on . the countenance of an educated foreigner . It is lamentable thus to behold ignorance combined with excellence , —to see talent wasted for want of ordinary instruction . I remember , some few years back , a fine picture at the Royal Academy , entitled Richard and Saladin . ' The attitudes
* I once passed a morning with an intelligent portrait-painter , highly delighted with his witty description of the various animals who came to him to be ' done into paint . ' ' I loath my profession—no !—trade , * he said ; ' my metier is historical painting and composition , and I think I have talents for them ; but were I to pursue them , 1 should starve ; so , to this vile trade , — * * ' My poverty , but not my will , consents . " '
f- I have often been at a loss to know the reason of the obloquy showered upon tailors ; but I suppose it must be , that they are confounded with sempstera , which is a feminine kind of employment , though not more so than that of a shoemaker . The French word ' tailleur , ' from whence it is derived , is equivalent to statuary ; ' and it evidently requires some knowledge of anatomy . The Highland proverb giving * the measure of a well-made man' for the tailor ' s use , is evidently anatomic in its origin * ifanTOnuto Cellini was accustomed to cut out his own garments .
Untitled Article
8 On the State of the Fine Arts in England .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1833, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2606/page/8/
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