4

ADDRESS TO THE READER.

COURTEOUS READER,

In the commencement of our acquaintance, which I hope will be long, pleasant, and useful to both, allow me to convey to you some idea of the character of the work with which you are for the first time presented. You of course wish to be made acquainted with its general plan, the objects it is intended to embrace, and the mode in which it is meant to treat them. Should you feel disposed to ask, what occasion there is for such a work, a very natural question upon the appearance of a new one, I shall not shrink from answering you; and in addition, I shall add a brief catalogue of the heads of certain matters the work is intended to contain. At the same time I would request that you should exercise your judgment freely upon all that is presented, and form your own opinion rather than use that of another, making as many allowances as you can for the defects you will inevitably discover, and remember if you please, that the writer is a painter, and one who does not take up the pen in the place of the pencil, but resumes the one when he can no longer continue the use of the other, and that even the leisure of a man pursuing an arduous profession, like air which has already served the purpose of respiration, loses something of its freshness and elasticity.

Thus much by way of preface and apology.

*

As I have said, my grand object in bringing forward this work is to open a source of information on the subject of the arts of design, and to attempt the cultivation and refinement of the public taste. Under these two heads may be ranged almost all that the work is intended to embrace. You will ask, perhaps, Are there no such sources of information open to the public? Alas! if I am obliged to reply in the spirit in which it is asserted this work will be conducted, I must honestly confess I do not believe there is a single one to be found. I will tell you the reason for this. Nothing that is offered in the way of instruction or comment is derived from men whose knowledge is of a learned and practical character combined. The only efficient information which can be offered or obtained must come from the painter. I may even go a step farther than this, and assert that to teach what is desirable, it is not enough to possess the requisite knowledge, without, at the same time, having a real and unfeigned interest in communicating it. You will, perhaps, be disposed to ask, Are all

*It would be highly unjust not to make an exception in favour of a monthly periodical entitled the Art-Union, a work which has been called into existence within the last four years, is full of good feeling towards art and artists, and is ably and independently conducted by its editor.

the works which have appeared, and been produced by such men as Reynolds, Barry, Fuseli, Opie, Shee, and others, useless? I answer certainly not; and offer as a reason, that they are the production of artists. I am convinced of the great utility of such works, and am certain that if a legislative enactment could be made to enforce the reading of them once a quarter in every family in the United Kingdom, that a most essential service would be rendered to the cause of art, IF, before that were done, the public could be prepared for their reception by an appropriate education.

In the present condition of things, the grand drawback upon the efficiency of these writers is, they address themselves to the painter, the dilettante, and the man of taste; and thus they are above the comprehension of the general and indifferent reader.

You will perhaps wish to know what is my opinion of the literature of the day relative to matters of art, and what I think of the effusions and criticisms of the public press generally, and perhaps be disposed to believe that I regard all such as utterly useless to the interests of art. You are mistaken: I consider both as instruments favourable to the project to which this work is devoted; and I am delighted to see not only a greater number of pens employed, but also that artists even are slowly rousing themselves, and applying their strength where it is so much wanting. I witness with sincere satisfaction the appearance of every stray essay that falls under my notice and other effusions on the subject of art which I at once know come from the hand of the painter, and I make certain of the good they will produce. As the cause of such men is my cause too I hasten to join them; and as I see the deficiency of their force, and the vantage ground which ignorance and bad taste have taken, I am the more desirous to plant a battery, to protect if possible the possessions their prowess have won from the enemy, and, as their numbers are small, to join them with the most efficient force I can muster. As to the utility of the writers of the public press, I am disposed to regard that as a matter of far greater importance than is generally assigned to it, and worthy of much consideration as a valuable adjunct in the cause of art.

It has been too much the practice with artists to look upon newspaper criticism with indifference or disdain; to attach too much importance to it in one way and too little in another, and to form a false estimate of its influence. While some have depended upon it for reputation, others have treated it with contempt, regarding it as feeble, faulty, and utterly worthless. Unconscious of their own supineness, artists are too apt to overlook the advantages derived merely from the activity of the press, in the bare notice it affords of the productions of art, to say nothing of its capability of judging correctly occasionally by the force of natural taste alone, and that this activity has been the means of keeping alive a subject which might, for any thing they themselves have done, have fallen a dead letter. Considered in another way, it must appear unreasonable and unjust to accuse those of ignorance who have had no opportunity of gaining information, whether

men.

this be applied to the public generally or to any particular class of It is not to be overlooked that no more has been done to inform those who write upon art than those who are called upon to judge of its merits, to patronise its productions, and to respect its professors, while great obligations are due to both. The public press will ever be a grand ally in the cause of art, if only as affording that excitement which all matters of human interest require to keep them alive, let its judgment be ever so feeble or faulty.

The reader will therefore see that none of these agencies are rejected, held in disdain, or considered useless; but they cannot be regarded as affording that information on which the interests and advancement of art and the cultivation and refinement of taste depend.

One important function in the grand plan of this work will consist in furnishing the information necessary for a just comprehension of art, from its highest attributes to its most subordinate merits. This will be attempted in various modes, and by a variety of devices and illustrations. It will embrace a full, clear, and comprehensive system of instruction applicable to the condition of every class of students, including the philosophy of pictorial representation, the various attributes and characters of the several departments of art, its theory and principle, its mechanical processes and practical details.

There is another important particular that will never be lost sight of in this work, which is to put the reader in possession of those facts and particulars with which a painter necessarily becomes acquainted in the course of his practice, to comment upon them certainly, but in most cases to leave the deduction to the good sense of the reader. This work is taken up under a full conviction that it is possible to put the reader into full possession of a knowledge of art, even as regards the more speculative and abstruse particulars, by the assistance of his good sense only. It has been too much the practice hitherto to treat all persons out of the pale of the profession as incapable of comprehending the mysteries of Reynolds, and Barry, and Northcote, and others complain of this absurd practice, and all declare that the deepest mysteries of art can all be simplified and made accessible to common intelligence and good

art.

sense.

You have now, most courteous Reader, to be informed of another function, the exercise of which this work proposes to itself, and which may be considered of a more important character than that which has been already explained. I must introduce it to your notice by a few prefatory remarks.

If we view mankind but as one grand mass of students, and divide them into two classes-those who are labouring to KNOW, and those who are learning to DO- we shall discover a striking disparity in certain particulars of their several conditions. We shall see that the most extraordinary pains have been taken to assist the one, and that little or nothing has been done to aid and direct the other. Supposing these two grand departments of human acquisition to be ranked

under the names of KNOWLEDGE and TASTE, you will perceive that the one has been cultivated with unceasing assiduity and pushed to the utmost extent, fortified with abundant facts, and made secure in the most elaborate and satisfactory deductions, while the department of taste has been and remains still utterly neglected.

Now whether you incline to the opinion that the one is practicable ground and the other not; that the field of knowledge affords space and promise, and is sure to produce fruit, and to make an ample return for the labour bestowed upon it, while that of taste is uncertain, and may be left to its own spontaneous production; you will at least not dispute the proposition I have put forward, or deny the fact that, from some cause or other, the one is well cultivated and fertile, the other neglected and sterile.

This is sufficient for my present purpose; and you will learn from what is here advanced what it is intended, upon future occasions, to elaborate and prove.

You will farther, perhaps, wish to know how a knowledge of the arts of design are calculated to exert an influence upon taste generally, and how the principles of the one are connected with those of the other. I must beg of you here to be satisfied with the only answer I can at present afford you, which is, that the proof you require is just the task I propose to execute upon some future occasion.

Taste is a subject which, it appears to me, has received but little just consideration, and is rarely spoken of but as one upon which people have agreed to dispute, and never to come to an adjustment of their differences. It is clear that taste is either intuitive or educational: if the first, all attempts to communicate it must be useless; if the last, it is to be taught and learned. If the inquiry being left in a condition at once unsettled and unsatisfactory affords any reasonable plea for its being submitted to farther investigation, there is ample encouragement for setting about it. It may be remarked, en passant, that we acknowledge the existence of objects of taste and men of taste. The first possess the attributes, and the last the requisite powers for judging of them: tests are applied which decide whether those objects have really these attributes or not, and whether those who judge apply them correctly or not; but it appears to be believed that there are no principles which can be used as guides in either case!

It is too much to assume the importance of a discovery in such a matter; but if really men can be taught to judge of productions, which are acknowledged to be the proper and the highest objects of taste, and the principles can be pointed out and clearly defined upon which these productions are formed, and upon which their excellence rests, and by which they are judged and valued, it will appear at least extraordinary that the study is entirely neglected and abandoned as hopeless or useless.

As a passing remark perhaps you will allow me to say, that I think, in the education generally of the day, I perceive a strong bias towards the cultivation of the KNOWING FACULTIES of the community, and

that there is a proportionate neglect of the culture and exercise of the FEELINGS with which the human creation is endowed by nature. As a painter perhaps I have very little to do with this, other than that as far as art addresses itself to the sensibilities of man it fails in proportion as these are defective; and that as a man I have a natural desire to see my species as perfect as possible. Altogether I must tell you, although I lay no very great stress upon the matter, that I am disposed to regard art, if perfectly brought into play, as a powerful auxiliary in a cause which, it appears to me, stands at this time greatly in want of support.

I have now put you in possession of the two grand objects of my work. I call them two for distinction's sake, but you will see they apply directly to one end, namely, to cultivate a knowledge and a taste for works of art.

Being fully aware that no work can be efficiently useful and instructive which is tedious, and that mere didactic matter is too apt to assume that character, the Editor, with a view of diversifying and relieving the matter, and of giving a more popular character to the work, proposes giving

An Account of his Four Years' Residence in Italy, which will embrace his opinions of the principal works of ancient art now remaining; the present condition of art in Italy and the Continent generally; his thoughts on the practice of sending students to Rome for study; the character of students, habits, &c. He will notice many picturesque localities, and attempt some descriptions of the scenes, character and customs of the Italians.

With the same object some lighter matter will be introduced, under the title of Gossipings with a Painter, which will probably embrace some of the topics and passing occurrences of the day, connected with the general object of the work.

Anecdotes of Art and of Artists.

An Inquiry into the Causes which have advanced or retarded the progress of Art.

An Investigation of the Merits of ancient and modern Art. A View of the present Condition of foreign and native Art. Application of the fine to the mechanical and ornamental Arts. Artistical Knowledge identified with the general Improvement in Matters of Taste.

Reviews of Works connected with Art.

An original Hypothesis of Beauty.

An Essay (in parts) on Taste.

Illustrations connected with the subject in hand will occasionally be given; they will not be elaborate, but of an artistical rather than a popular kind.

As the plan put forth for the decoration of the new houses of parliament constitutes a subject of general interest, and is a matter of the first importance to the arts of England, a series of articles, forming a complete essay, will be given, under the title of A Glance at the