1007. Woolner—Thomas Carlyle.—The strong, emphatic, penetrating style of Mr. Woolner, who searches under the surface of his sitter’s face, and records on its surface what he has found beneath, gave him the best of rights to deal with such a magnificent head as Carlyle’s—marked as that is by a most powerful dominating expression, with abundant points of subordinate detail and individuality. Mr. Woolner had, indeed, done a medallion of the great writer many years ago; now we get a bust worthily recording so memorable a man.
1027. Woolner—Reliefs from the Iliad (pedestal of the Bust of the Right Honourable W. E. Gladstone).—Here are three subjects executed on a small scale, with a singular amount of original force. The third, Thetis consoling Achilles, does not appear to me, in composition and suggestion, so remarkable as the other two. Pallas and Achilles at the Trenches, where the hero shouts to the Greeks a superhuman cry, while Pallas overshadows him with her ægis, is a most vigorous and admirable composition; indeed, but for its small size, one would be minded to call it the finest thing Mr. Woolner has yet exhibited. Thetis praying to Zeus on behalf of Achilles is hardly second to it. The sea-goddess rises on tiptoe to stroke the beard of the omnipotent cloud-compeller; and no single touch perhaps could have given the amplitude and primitiveness of the Homeric Pantheon more keenly than this. It is not exactly naïveté, and still less exactly humour, but something happily between both.
1053. Watts—Clytie; Marble Bust, unfinished.—This is an experiment in sculpture by our distinguished painter. I find it a very interesting one, and (pace the professional sculptors) a remarkable success. The head reverts over the right shoulder with a graceful and energetic turn; and these qualities, especially that of energy, are preserved in all points of view. The modelling of the bust and arms is pulpy and creased—more comparable in tendency to that of the Elgin Marbles than of later Greek sculpture. Indeed, I should surmise that the thoughts of Mr. Watts, as he worked, were mostly shared between Phidias and Michael Angelo. The spectator who finds some parts lumpy or rude should bear in mind that the work is avowedly “unfinished”—even if he does not deem the general conditions under which the experiment has been made sufficient to abate the picking of holes.
Possibly some readers of this pamphlet may use it to be referred to as they range through the Academy rooms, examining their contents. If this is the case, I should regret to pass over without a word of mention several works which, according to the scope and limitations of the pamphlet, I have not found an opportunity of reviewing in any detail in their proper order. After all, a great number of works against whose skilfulness and merit I neither raise nor suggest any imputation will be remaining totally unnamed. Meanwhile, a simple numerical list of contributions may be added to which I would rather direct attention thus barely than not at all. Some of them are productions of leading importance: others have modest graces which should not pass unobserved. The visitor must form his own opinion of whether and why they deserved specification.
- 28. Swinton—The Earl Bathurst.
- 29. T. S. Cooper—Descending from the Rock Grazing, East Cumberland.
- 49. Mac Whirter—Old Edinburgh, Night.
- 67. Grant—Miss Grant.
- 68. Fleuss—G. Makgill, Esq.
- 120. Grace—The Curfew tolls the Knell of parting Day.
- 124. Grant—The Earl of Bradford.
- 158. Eden—On the Thames near Pangbourne.
- 160. Harveymore—The Point, near Walton on the Naze.
- 168. J. B. Burgess—A Portrait.
- 170. H. Moore—Ebb-tide, Squall coming on.
- 176. Cathelinau—The Nurse.
- 184. Halle—Miss Jessie.
- 199. E. Gill—Storm and Shipwreck on a Rocky Coast.
- 205. Elmore—“Two Women shall be grinding at the Mill.”
- 206. Zuccoli—Wine Gratis.
- 208. Ditto—Preparing to cook Indian Corn.
- 222. Yeames—The Chimney-Corner.
- 241. Lehmann—Portrait of a Gentleman.
- 251. Nicol—A China Merchant.
- 267. Goodall—Mater Purissima.
- 272. Archer—Burial of Guinevere.
- 290. Watts—The Meeting of Jacob and Esau.
- 298. V. Cole—Sunlight Lingering on the Autumn Woods.
- 303. Wells—James Stansfeld, Esq., of Halifax.
- 321. Pott—The Minuet.
- 322. G. D. Leslie—Mrs. Charles Dickens, Jun.
- 327. Prinsep—A Portrait.
- 340. Frith—Scene from “She Stoops to Conquer.”
- 344. Perugini—Daphne.
- 345. Mrs. Robbinson—The Firstborn.
- 346. Radford—“No Man that Warreth” &c.
- 348. Lucy—The Forced Abdication of Mary Stuart.
- 367. Miss A. Thornycroft—Study of a Head.
- 378. Boughton—A Breton Pastoral.
- 387. Wyllie—Dover Castle and Town.
- 390. Calthrop—The Last Song of the Girondins, 1793.
- 400. Orchardson—Scene from “King Henry IV.”
- 403. Stanhope—The Footsteps of the Flock.
- 416. Whaite—Harvest on the Mountains.
- 420. Wade—A Stitch in Time.
- 452. H. Moore—Weather Moderating after a Gale.
- 467. Mrs. Ward—Sion House, 1553.
- 474. Crowe—A Chiffonnier.
- 478. Wells—The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
- 490. E. Frère—La Sortie de l’Ecole des Filles.
- 503. Hemy—By the River Side, Antwerp.
- 504. Nicol—Waiting at the Cross-roads.
- 520. Armitage—Herod’s Birthday Feast.
- 521. Lidderdale—The Exiled Jacobite.
- 523. Prinsep—A Greek Widow at a Tomb.
- 529. Hillingford—Before the Tournament.
- 531. Armstrong—Daffodils.
- 532. Opie—The Musical Genius.
- 542. Hayllar—Midsummer, Parham Hall, Suffolk.
- 551. Gale—Nazareth.
- 552. Goldie—A Child Martyr borne across the Roman Campagna to one of the Catacombs.
- 571. Miss Sandys—Enid.
- 579. Calderon—Whither?
- 580. Mason—Netley Moor.
- 615. Hodgson—Off the Downs in the Days of the Cæsars.
- 616. A. Hayward—The Haunted House.
- 636. J. E. Williams—The Bishop of Gloucester.
- 646. Archer—Bringing home Fern, Evening.
- 648. McCallum—Near the Buck Gates, Sherwood Forest.
- 656. Tourrier—The Cloisters.
- 657. G. D. Leslie—The Empty Sleeve.
- 671. Brennan—Via della Vita, Rome.
- 673. Crowe—Mary Stuart, February 8th, 1586.
- 683. A. Hughes—Mrs. Edward Rhodes.
- 689. Lobley—Fancies in the Fire.
- 727. R. Doyle—The Enchanted Tree.
- 754. A. C. H. Luxmoore—Searching for Treason.
- 763. J. F. Lewis—Camels.
- 764. Count G. V. Rosen—A Street in Cairo.
- 833. Hardwick—The Woods in Early Spring.
- 908. E. Edwards—Four Etchings, Wells, &c.
- 915. C. N. Luxmoore—Pen and Ink Sketches from Nature.
- 1001. Woolner—Hon. W. E. Frere, late of Bombay.
- 1029. Ditto—The late Robert Leslie Ellis.
- 1040. Böhm—Miss Cumberbatch.
- 1052. Ap Griffith—Cain preparing his Sacrifice.
- 1106. G. A. Lawson—The Maiden’s Secret.
- 1164. Tupper—Dr. Hyde Salter.
- 1169. G. Morgan—Study of a Head.
- 1194. Leifchild—The Rev. Thomas Jones.
PART II.
BY
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE.