The Present And Future Of British Art.

commerce , wc have left them like hay , straw , bricks and cotton , to . find a market where they could ; and , proud of mechanical poiver , AVC have used it like a brute force , separated from invention , unconnected with design . Thus , like Frankenstein , we have been punished by the demon of our OAA ' creation . To place this subject more clearly before our readers , we have in former numbers sketched the progress of British art , and shall now

consider its present condition , and possible future state . The progress of art upon the continent , and in England , is the result of very different causes . Christian art arose in Italy from the religion which placed that favoured land at the head of modern civilization . As that reli gion spread , art was honoured , kings were its patrons , mighty princes its protectors . With the people it became a religious feeling . Not dissimilar was its condition in

Germany and France . But in England , art , at least , "for the million , " was ever an alien . Religion withdrew its support , the . State never gave it and from the Heptarchy to George IY ., only . three kings owned its influence . For centuries it was but the pride and the property of the court and the nobility . To what cause , then , are we to ascribe its recent importance ? Not , as some would induce us to believe , to the increase of luxury , but

the extension of education . Art is a property now inherited b y tho rich , and worked for b y the poor ; appreciated as a source of recreation , ancl acknoAvled ged as a power of commercial prosperity . Still , we cannot regard its present condition with unmixed satisfaction . It bears the fruit of rapid and peculiar culture , and shows the consequence of its neglect by religion ancl the state . Let us consider it under tivo great divisions—Esthetic , or the fine Arts ; and Art Decorative and Ornamental . And , first , as to History and Portraits .

_ Historical painting in England is a melancholy subject to consider . One would naturally suppose that , among an educated ami refined class , the higher ' branches of art would be cherished . Yet it is not so . Whether this may be ascribed to the incrcasinrr energy of theological discussion , to the keen excitement of politic . ^ or the all-absorbing worship of fashion , wc know not ; but this much is evident—the public are too much occupied to spare one moment for

the more serious and important branches of art-Were it otherwise , there can exist no doubt , but that talent could be found to meet the demand . The exhibition at Westminster Hall in . 1 . 8-18 proved this . The pictures of " Ricnzi Haranguing , " and '' Luther Listening to one of his Hymns , " with others " might be cited to refute opinions uttered not from knowled ge , but ¦ lazarded to put a gloss lectBut IIOAV after the efforts

upon neg . , unsuccessfull y made to produce ancl establish historic painting can AVC expect their continuance whilst memory recalls Haydon persuing from disappointment , and when wc saw five pictures by a living artist rescued from the neglect of England by the zeal of the Scottish Academy—pictures ivhich would do honour to any age , and which now grace the Avails of the Ediuburirh Royal Institution Y

_ 1-ortrait pamlmg , once so preeminent , is noiv failing in its importance . Rising artists too often paint portraits , but not pictures , since no portrait can be considered as a valuable tribute to art , umess , without any reference to resemblance , it is in itself a hue transcript of human nature . Since the days of Sir Joshua Reynolds , England has been unapproachccl in pictures of this description , combining that Avhich is endeared unto friends , and most valuable to mind to ivhich

every the fine arts are a fccliii" - I : cw things , indeed , can be more important in art than the development of mental expression ; and still fewer are those objects upon winch the mind so willingly lingers as upon those breathing representations of men whose attainments have improved , gratified , or enriched mankind . Yet , if regression he manifest-hereis the artist onlto be blamed ? think not

, y We He is , like all other men , subject to the humour of the timesand noiv , as every one will have a likeness , and one to order ancl at as _ cheap a rate as possible , ancl with the least possible delay can it be matter of surprise that , thus " cabined , cribbed , conimciy mid left without a choice , the painter should be sli-drrrapid , ' ancl dexterous ? " ° '

--. iindscapc painting , in oil and water , has been long eminent in England , both for its truth and poetic merit : and there are examples of the latter ivhich probably are equal to any ever produced at any period of art . Nor is theirs a limited expression the sublime , the terrific , tho enchanting aspect of nature , the solitude of waste , and each domestic rural scene , are all reproduced with a refined successTheir technical treatment is

. equal , to their conceptive feeling ; their chiar' oscnro is unrivalled ; for these works require only to be seen , through the medium of engravings taken from them , to prove how- perfect they arc by thus rendering tlie effect in black and white . We refer '

particularly to Turner , whose greater works have connected the English school with the storied honours of the past—evincing as these do the fidelity which recalls , the poetic spirit which enhances , local scenery , combined with that historic and natural interest which gives a picture a place at once in refined enjoyments and in human life . Whatever , however , the ability of the artist , it must , more or less , be affected by the condition of public taste . Actuated by

this , if not derived , painting should give a stimulus to moral , religious , and political improvement , and tend to promote the virtues by consecrating the great examples of mankind . But is this its destiny ? Has it been so ? Do we not too often find a well painted cabinet , a piece of china , or a chair , call forth more admiration than subjects important to social welfare ? It is not that this class of art is bad : on the contrary , it has great

merit ; and if perfect execution be carried throughout a work , with fine colour , expression , and true perspective , "the result must be valuable . Here , however , the failure unfortunately generally is , that everything is painted better than the figures and the flesh , so that the manual often completely supersedes the intellectual . Li ght pictures are also too much esteemed for their mere quality of AA'hitcnessAvithout any consideration of tone

, , colour or general effect ; for , if the objects be presented to the eye but in a tolerably faithful degree , the spectator rarely inquires further . Hi g h distinction is attainable in this style , although it never can be the first ; and even that must be purchased by effort pushed to the utmost and a great outlay of time . And will the public , as it thinks now , ' repay the artist for such long and laborious exertion ? In the saddest spirit of truth we replywe believe

, not . Nevertheless , that art at the present time is degenerating , AA'C deny ; its tendency is to a familiar , lowering style , in which the dexterity for painting mechanical objects is held of more value than the precious results obtained by highly cultivated mental intelligence . This wc think may be received as a just view of the present condition of art in its higher branches ; the possible

future advance we may consider hereafter , and IIOAV proceed to examine the state of art and prospects as applied to decorative and ornamental purposes . One would naturally suppose that a people so devoutly commercial as the English ' , would seek not alone its extension , AA'ould desire not only to create a market in every spot inhabited by man , but to hold the command of that market by every means within

their poiver . This gratifying fact , however , is disproved by every document . Our commerce , indeed , seems to ebb from civilization , and to flow with greater force the more it streams toivards savage life . Iii European countries it declines ; with the swarth African , the Chinese , ancl Hindoo , it increases . This applies chiefly to articles of clothing . For notwithstancling our resources , the enormous capital employed , our great power in

machinery , the enterprise of our merchants , the skill and unceasing industry of our artisans , it was urgently asserted that our manufacturers ivere excluded from the continent by their inferiorit . y in the arts of design , and overborne by the pressure of foreign goods , introduced into the United Kingdom solely from that cause . This created alarm ; the Board of Trade became excited , even Downing Street ivas moved , A committee of the House of Commons ivas appointed in 1836 , which amply justified whatever a frightened interest expressed . Mr . Martin , the celebrated painter , complained of the want of correct design in the

china trade ; Mr . Papworth of its absence m the interior decorative architecture of houses , and in furniture ; and Mr . Cockerell , ofthe adoption of bad styles of architecture arising from a similar ivaut of educated information . Nor was this all . It was slioivn that all ideas of ori g inality were abandoned by our manufacturers ; that , whatever the article of trade , its design was either a direct piracy , or to be pirated at the shortest notice ; that to blend ,

imitate , or distort the productions of others , was a prevailing rule . It was their bread , of which they buttered both sides . Nor can it be saicl they were entirely to blame . Whatever the manufacture , hoAA'ever liberal the manufacturer's expenditure for designs from the best artists ( of which , excepting in the hi gher branches of trade , as goldsmiths , & c , there were but feAv ) , they had no protection for capital thus employed . If Runclell . and Bridge

engaged Flaxman , Baily , Howard , or Stothard , at an outlay of £ 1 , 000 per annum , within one month the design was copied AA'ith but slight alterations , by the meanest competitor . In decorative ironwork , in all branches ofthe silk trade , calico printing , paperhanging , the practice was the same . Thus no man felt disposed to secure talent the profit upon which he could never call his own . And such Avas the state of the law then—that it recognized no property in design ! This was , perhaps , natural , the state never having considered the arts of design worth a statesman's notice . But it was not less ruinous . There ivere also other