Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

above-mentioned places, particularly the picture, by Vandyke, of the Pembroke family at Wilton, and the Cartoons, by Raphael, at Hamp

ton-court.

Having completed this excursion, it was the intention of Mr West to return to America, and take up his residence in the city of Philadelphia. But in April, 1764, the exhibition of painting, sculpture, and architecture, opened for the inspection of the public, at the great room in Spring-gardens; and, by the express wish of Mr Reynolds, afterwards Sir Joshua, and Mr Richard Wilson, our young artist was induced to send thither two pictures painted at Rome, and a whole-length portrait of General Monckton, which he had painted during the winter in London for that distinguished officer. The favourable reception of those pictures by the artists and the public, together with the earnest entreaties of his friends, induced Mr West to remain in England. In the course of that year the amiable lady with whom, previously to his departure from Philadelphia, he had contracted an affection, left that city, in company with his father, and joined our young artist in London: they were immediately married, and settled in the metropolis.

[ocr errors]

The artists, who united in 1760 to form an exhibition of their works at the great room in Spring-gardens, became incorporated in the year 1765. Mr West was immediately chosen member, and appointed one of the directors. He drew at their academy in St Martin's-lane, and became one of their constant exhibitors, till the opening of the exhibition of the Royal academy in the year 1768. Mr West was graciously named by his majesty as one of the four artists to wait upon him and submit to his inspection the plan of the institution. This plan happily received the royal approbation, and the king commanded the deputation to take every step in their power to accelerate the establishment. The names of these gentlemen, besides Mr West, were, Mr Chambers, afterwards Sir William Chambers, Mr Moser, afterwards first keeper of the Royal academy, and Mr Coates. In the year previous to this event Mr West had been honourably mentioned to his majesty by Drummond, the then archbishop of York, on his finishing, for that worthy prelate, the picture of Agrippina landing at Brundusium with the ashes of Germanicus.' In order most effectually to serve Mr West, the archbishop introduced him, together with that picture, to the king,—a circumstance which gave his majesty his first knowledge of Mr West. His majesty was pleased to commission him at that time for the picture of Regulus, which was the first painting exhibited by Mr West on the opening of the Royal academy, in 1769. His next celebrated work was 'The Death of Wolfe,' painted in the modern costume,-a variation from the rules hitherto observed in historical pictures, which called forth much censure. West's answer to the king, who asked him his reasons for thus deviating from the usual course, is strongly indicative of his good sense and taste: "When it was understood," were his words, that I intended to paint the characters as they actually appeared on the scene, the archbishop of York called on Sir Joshua Reynolds, and asked his opinion; they both came to my house to dissuade me from running so great a risk. I remarked, that the event to be commemorated happened in the year 1758, in a region of the world unknown to the Greeks and Romans, and at a period of time when no warriors who wore their costume existed. That the subject I had to represent was a

[ocr errors]

great battle fought and won, and that the same truth which gives law to the historian should rule the painter. That if, instead of the facts of the action, I should introduce fiction, how could I be understood by posterity? I admitted that classic dress was certainly picturesque ; but, by using it, I should lose in sentiment what I gained in external grace. That I wanted to mark the place, the time, and the people; and to do this that I must abide by truth. They left me, and when I had finished the picture, returned. Sir Joshua seated himself before the work, and examined it minutely for half an hour, then, rising, said to the archbishop, West has conquered; he has treated his subject as it ought to be treated: I retract my objections. I foresee that this picture will not only become one of the most popular, but will occasion a revolution in art." Upon which his majesty observed, "that he wished he had known these reasons before, for that the objection had been the means of Lord Grosvenor's getting the picture, but that West should make a copy of it for him." He soon afterwards received an order to paint for the king The Death of Epaminondas,' 'Segestus and his Daughter before Germanicus,' and some other historical pictures. His next commission was for a set of seven large pictures illustrative of the reign of Edward III., and one of St George vanquishing the Dragon, all of which were placed in St George's hall, at Windsor, and rank amongst the artist's most successful compositions.

From the era of his pictures of Wolfe and Penn, we must fix a revolution of the dressing of figures in historical pictures, not only in England, but in Italy, France, and other countries where the art of painting is cultivated. It was for this that Mr West was so honourably distinguished by the first men in arts and science, as well as by the lovers of arts in Paris, when he went abroad with his youngest son to visit the Napoleon museum, in the autumn of 1802. He was received among them as a man who had conferred an honour on his country; and they bestowed upon him the appellation of the "Reviver of the Dignity of Historical Painting;" adducing as examples the pictures of Regulus, Wolfe, Penn, &c.

In 1772 his majesty was pleased to honour him with the title of his historical painter; and, in 1790, was pleased to give him the appointment of surveyor of the royal pictures. In 1791 he was unanimously elected president of the Royal academy; and, in the same year, was chosen a member of the society of Dilettanti. On his return to England from France, some cabals in the Royal academy induced him to retire from the chair, to which, however, after it had been, in the meantime, filled by Wyatt, the architect, he was speedily re-elected. In the year 1802 he was, without any previous knowledge, elected a member of the National Institute at Paris, in the department of fine arts. In the year 1804 he was appointed a member of the Academy of Arts at New York. In his first discourse to the Royal academy on his being chosen president, (a discourse which he permitted to be published,) he lamented, when in Italy, to observe the decline of the art of painting in that country. The more he investigated the cause of such degeneracy, contrasted with the glory and splendour of the art a century and a half before, the more inclined was he to impute it not only to the imbecile and corrupt taste of the patrons, but to the selfish manner of inculcating the principles of the art by those professors who elevated themselves to the dig.

i

nity of masters, and erected their petty schools in every town and city The professor was almost always the disciple of some such school as that over which he presided, and was retailing manner after manner, till the whole sunk into mannerism and insipidity. It was the duty of Mr West, in the station which he filled, to reprobate this mannerism, as well by precept as example; and it becomes us to remark, that, in the productions of his own pencil, he has imitated no master, but been content to draw his knowledge from a higher fountain, and instruct himself from the mistress of all art-unchangeable Nature.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

In 1802 he commenced painting a series of large pictures from Scripture, the first of which, Christ Healing the Sick,' was intended as a present in aid of the funds for building an hospital in his native town. The governors of the British Institution, however, offering him three thousand guineas for it, he consented to sell it, on condition of his being allowed to make a copy of it to send to America. His next works were, 'Death on the Pale Horse,' 'Christ Rejected,'The Crucifixion,' The Descent of the Holy Ghost,' 'The Ascension,' The Inspiration of St Peter,' and several others, all of immense size. His great picture of 'Christ Rejected' will for ages rank among the finest productions of art. He died at his house in Newman-street, where he had lived for halfa-century, on the 11th of March, 1820, in the 82d year of his age, after a severe illness of many months. His funeral was public, and was splendidly attended. "In all his works," says Allan Cunningham, "the human form was exhibited in conformity to academic precepts-his figures were arranged with skill-the colouring was varied and often harmonious the eye rested pleased on the performance, and the artist seemed, to the ordinary spectator, to have done his task like one of the highest of the sons of genius. But below all this splendour there was little of the true vitality—there was a monotony, too, of human character-the groupings were unlike the happy and careless combinations of nature, and the figures frequently seemed distributed over the canvass by line and measure, like trees in a plantation. He wanted fire and imagination to be the true restorer of that grand style, which bewildered Barry, and was talked of by Reynolds. Some of his works-cold, formal, bloodless, and passionless-may remind the spectator of the sublime vision of the valley of dry bones, when the flesh and skin had come upon the skeletons, and before the breath of God had informed them with life and feeling. Though such is the general impression, which the works of West make, it cannot be denied that many are distinguished by great excellence. In his 'Death on the Pale Horse,' and more particularly in the sketch of that picture, he has more than approached the masters and princes of the calling. It is, indeed, irresistibly fearful to see the triumphant march of the terrific phantom, and the dissolution of all that earth is proud of beneath his tread. War and peace, sorrow and joy, youth and age, all who love and all who hate, seem planetstruck. The Death of Wolfe,' too, is natural and noble, and the Indian Chief,' like the Oneyda warrior of Campbell,

A stoic of the woods, a man without a tear,

was a happy thought. The Battle of La Hogue' I have heard praised as the best historic picture of the British school, by one not likely to be mistaken, and who would not say what he did not feel. Many of

his single figures, also, are of a high order. There is a natural grace in the looks of some of his women, which few painters have ever excelled. West was injured by early success-he obtained his fame too easily it was not purchased by long study and many trials-and he rashly imagined himself capable of anything. But the coldness of his imagination nipt the blossoms of history. It is the province of art to elevate the subject in the spirit of its nature-and brooding over the whole with the feeling of a poet, awaken the scene into vivid life and heroic beauty; but such mastery rarely waited upon the ambition of this amiable and upright man.'

[ocr errors]

William Hayley.

BORN A. D. 1745.-DIED A. D. 1820.

WILLIAM HAYLEY, the friend and biographer of Cowper, was descended from a respectable family at Chichester. He lost his father in very early life, but continued to enjoy the care and protection of a judicious and affectionate mother. After receiving the rudiments of a classical education at home, he was sent to Eton, where he acquired considerable facility in writing both Latin and English verses. At sixteen years of age he was entered of Trinity hall, Cambridge, where he divided his studies between literature and art: taking lessons in drawing and miniature painting, and cultivating an acquaintance with modern continental as well as classical literature. He left college in 1767, without taking a degree, and entered himself at the Middle Temple.

[ocr errors]

The study of the law, however, did not engage him long. "Like most young poets," says Mr Southey, in the Quarterly Review,' "his thoughts were directed toward the drama; and he expected to obtain immediate fame and fortune by writing for the stage. Dryden had engaged to produce four new plays every year: he thought himself modest in his purpose of composing only two in the same space of time, and moderate in calculating upon a thousand a year from the profit. A newspaper supplied him with a subject for his first serious attempt. The story was deeply tragical: a son, condemned for a capital offence, takes poison, with which his father supplies him, to avoid the shame of a public execution; and, when it is too late, tidings come that a pardon has been obtained. It appeared to him singularly adapted for moral as well as dramatic effect. The piece was finished, and, having obtained the approbation of the partial friend' to whom it had been shown, was presented to Garrick by a gentleman intimate enough with him to expect sincere and summary proceedings. If you think it unfit for the stage,' said he, 'send it back to me with any mark of rejection, and we will pester you no more on the subject; but if you think of it as I do, and resolve to produce it, I will then bring to you my friend the author. But remember you are upon honour, and engaged not to ask even his name, unless you have previously determined to try the success of the play. After the anxious suspense of a few weeks' Hayley was informed that he was to breakfast with Garrick, who was delighted with the tragedy, and who accordingly, upon their meeting, declared that he bad not seen for years any new piece of which he could entertain such

« AnteriorContinuar »