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Correspondence
CORRESPONDENCE
TO THE EDITOB OP THE FBEEMASONS * MONTHLY MAGAZINE . Sie , —In accordance with the promise made in my last , I proceed to offer a few suggestions on the subject therein broached ; namely , " A New Society of Portrait Painters . " It has been , I regret to say , the habit of late years , with portions of the press , to overlook , if not to decry , the portraits of the Annual Exhibition in the Royal
[ The Editor does not hold himself responsible for any opinions entertained by Corresponden ts . ^
Academy—or , at least , when reviewing the Exhibition , to inform us , "that there is the usual number of ' ladies in white' and stiff-collared gentlemen with the conventional crimson curtain this year ; " or , " it seems to us that the portraits this year are the same as the last . " Again , we find others " deploring the extinction of portrait-painting in England !"
With such encouragement from a " free and enlightened press , " passed over in silence by some reviewers , and somewhat sneeringly noticed by others , from ignorance of art , or other causes , it would be no great wonder if this most important branch of painting should decline . There are other , and , perhaps , more direct influences brought to bearupon this " unprotected branch" of the Fine Arts . These must be postponed to some future opportunity , as the consideration of them , at present , would make this letter too long .
It is some comfort , however , to be able to state that the English school of portrait-painting is as good , and in some respects better , as a whole , than at any former period of its history . Nevertheless , there are many influences , some altogether unworthy of " gentlemen and artists , " which act detrimentally to the portrait-art itself , ruinously to the artist .
It is to remedy this state of things that it is proposed to form a new Society or Institute of Art , which should have for its object to plaee this extremely difficult portion ( portrait ) in its true light , by making it the principal , if not the only kind , for the present at least , to be exhibited in their gallery . The plan proposed is this : — First .. That all portrait-painters of recognised talent , not confined to London alone , should be eligible ; and that there should be no limit to numbers , talent being the great requisite .
Secondly . That they should be divided into members and associates : the members only having the power of election of officers for the government of the society . Thirdly . This government to consist of a president ( who retires after a certain time ) , and a council of twelve ( two or more to retire also , by rotation ) , thereby giving to all members a share in the government in due course , and a secretary and treasurer .
This , you will perceive , sir , is a mere crude outline of an extensive combination , which only requires a few men of intellect ( and artists are so ) to settle the details and bring into satisfactory working order . The mode of proceeding I should suggest would be , that a few of the principal portrait-painters , not in the Academy , should meet and discuss the best manner of making modifications and arranging details , and also of ^ announcing to artists and the public the intentions of the new
society . I hope that the effort will be found successful , and be acted upon . Artists have long professed to feel dissatisfaction with the present " irresponsibility " of the Hanging Committee , by which favouritism or chance decides unquestioned the placing of pictures . It is not much to the credit of artists that they have so long VOL . I . 3 u
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence
CORRESPONDENCE
TO THE EDITOB OP THE FBEEMASONS * MONTHLY MAGAZINE . Sie , —In accordance with the promise made in my last , I proceed to offer a few suggestions on the subject therein broached ; namely , " A New Society of Portrait Painters . " It has been , I regret to say , the habit of late years , with portions of the press , to overlook , if not to decry , the portraits of the Annual Exhibition in the Royal
[ The Editor does not hold himself responsible for any opinions entertained by Corresponden ts . ^
Academy—or , at least , when reviewing the Exhibition , to inform us , "that there is the usual number of ' ladies in white' and stiff-collared gentlemen with the conventional crimson curtain this year ; " or , " it seems to us that the portraits this year are the same as the last . " Again , we find others " deploring the extinction of portrait-painting in England !"
With such encouragement from a " free and enlightened press , " passed over in silence by some reviewers , and somewhat sneeringly noticed by others , from ignorance of art , or other causes , it would be no great wonder if this most important branch of painting should decline . There are other , and , perhaps , more direct influences brought to bearupon this " unprotected branch" of the Fine Arts . These must be postponed to some future opportunity , as the consideration of them , at present , would make this letter too long .
It is some comfort , however , to be able to state that the English school of portrait-painting is as good , and in some respects better , as a whole , than at any former period of its history . Nevertheless , there are many influences , some altogether unworthy of " gentlemen and artists , " which act detrimentally to the portrait-art itself , ruinously to the artist .
It is to remedy this state of things that it is proposed to form a new Society or Institute of Art , which should have for its object to plaee this extremely difficult portion ( portrait ) in its true light , by making it the principal , if not the only kind , for the present at least , to be exhibited in their gallery . The plan proposed is this : — First .. That all portrait-painters of recognised talent , not confined to London alone , should be eligible ; and that there should be no limit to numbers , talent being the great requisite .
Secondly . That they should be divided into members and associates : the members only having the power of election of officers for the government of the society . Thirdly . This government to consist of a president ( who retires after a certain time ) , and a council of twelve ( two or more to retire also , by rotation ) , thereby giving to all members a share in the government in due course , and a secretary and treasurer .
This , you will perceive , sir , is a mere crude outline of an extensive combination , which only requires a few men of intellect ( and artists are so ) to settle the details and bring into satisfactory working order . The mode of proceeding I should suggest would be , that a few of the principal portrait-painters , not in the Academy , should meet and discuss the best manner of making modifications and arranging details , and also of ^ announcing to artists and the public the intentions of the new
society . I hope that the effort will be found successful , and be acted upon . Artists have long professed to feel dissatisfaction with the present " irresponsibility " of the Hanging Committee , by which favouritism or chance decides unquestioned the placing of pictures . It is not much to the credit of artists that they have so long VOL . I . 3 u