UC-NRLF $B 13T filb EKS DAY EXHIBITION MCMXVII CO in H O CARNEGIE INSTITUTE PITTSBURGH Digitized by the Internet Archive i/i 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/catalogueofexhibOOcarnrich FOUNDER'S DAY EXHIBITION SIR HENRY RAEBURN, R.A. Lady Elibank CATALOGUE OF AN EXHIBITION OF EARLY ENGLISH PORTRAITS AND LANDSCAPES LENT BY MR. JOHN H. McFADDEN APRIL THE TWENTY-SIXTH THROUGH JUNE THE FIFTEENTH MCMX VII CARNEGIE INSTITUTE DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS PITTSBURGH A Copyright 1917 ^\A^ ^ Carnegie Institute FOREWORD THE richest period of English art is represented by the paintings in this exhibition of Early English Portraits and Landscapes, which in- cludes canvases by Hogarth and Wilson, by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Romney, and Raeburn, by Lawrence and Hoppner, and Constable and Turner — men whose masterpieces are the glory of the national collections of art in England and Scotland, and of many private collections in those countries as well. Indeed, it may be said that not only are the works of these great painters the glory of the national collections of art in England and Scotland, but they contribute to the artistic wealth of the entire world, and lend distinction to any collec- tion in which they may appear. It would doubtless be difficult to define just how greatly the painters of this period influenced each other in their work, but this much is certain: the power and influence of a really great work of art is instant and far-reaching. The most potent influence in the develop- ment of art is art itself. For instance, the influence of Constable upon modern landscape art is fully recognized by the ablest landscape painters of our time. His powerful works, painted with great directness and sincerity and possessing as they do the essential qualities of truth and harmony, have done much to stimulate and advance the art of land- scape painting. It is at least interesting to note that wherever art 3C0346 has risen to a high degree of perfection it has been advanced by artists more or less closely allied, and that the artists of great genius who were born in Eng- land during the eighteenth century and who worked during the same period and under the same influences, bear an interesting relation in this respect to other groups of artists of other periods and of other countries. The Greek sculptors, Phidias, Polycletus, Myron and Calamus, lived and worked during the latter part of the fifth century B.C., the golden age of Greek art. In Italy, in Florence and Venice, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, Michaelangelo, Raphael, and Titian were painting their important frescoes. And the golden era of Dutch painting is compressed into the brief period between 1625 and 1670, the period of Frans Hals, Rembrandt, Pieter de Hooch, Meindert Hobbema, Jacob van Ruisdael, Gerard Terborch, and Jan Vermeer. In later times, the art of France was greatly advanced by two distinct groups of painters — the group of 1830 and the modern impressionists. There is a prevalent impression, especially among writers, that a few great artists have been born at rare intervals, but it is very probable, if not certain, that the power and influence in any one period of two or more men of great or exceptional intellectual power, acting and reacting through their art upon each other has been responsible for the extraordinary develop- ment and achievement of art at certain times in the history of the world. The English school of painting first became of inter- national importance during the eighteenth century, and its highest achievement has been in the field of portraiture and landscape. In portraiture, distinction and beauty of line and form, and a profound knowledge of the subtle quality of colour: in landscape, a tendency toward a direct and simple representation of the truth of nature: these are characteristics of English art of the eighteenth century. Thom ac Hogarth has been frequently referred to as the founder of the English School because he was the first man of great genius to appear. Born at the very end of the seventeenth century, in 1697, he was already famous in London for his paintings and engravings at a time when Sir Joshua Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Romney were still young boys. Hogarth's first notable success was a series of six paintings, a moral story told by consecutive scenes representing phases of London life. In his portraits there is a certain force and directness, and an unerring grasp of the character of his subjects. Richard Wilson, who was seventeen years younger than Hogarth, was the earliest of the English landscape painters, a pioneer in that field of painting which has since become of great importance. His paintings, ignored and unappreciated during his lifetime, are com- ing to be more and more valued. That Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, and George Romney, three men of rare ability, all lived and worked in London during a period of about fifteen years, and yet, because of jealousies and misunderstand- ings, were not even on terms of cordiality, seems an extraordinary fact. Reynolds, the oldest of the three men, was already in 1752, a young man of thirty, established in his studio in London, and famous and successful as a portrait painter. In 1760 he moved into his large house in Leicester Square; and the same year marked the beginning of the success in Bath, of Thomas Gainsborough, who was a few years younger than Reynolds. In 1774 Gainsborough, his reputation and success as a portrait painter assured, moved to London and took a large house in Pall Mall. Cordial relations were never estab- lished between the two men, although they felt the greatest respect and admiration for each other's art. In 1775 George Romney went to London from the north of England, where he soon divided the patronage of the great and wealthy with Reynolds and Gains- borough. Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Romney have each left a series of beautiful and masterly portraits. Their canvases are a record of the great men and beautiful women of their time. Gainsborough painted not only the portraits upon which his reputation was made, but landscapes as well. And while it is as a portrait painter that he is most widely famed today, in the other field of art his achievement is noteworthy. Sir Henry Raeburn, a Scotchman, born near Edin- burgh and living there all of his life, was the greatest of the Scotch portrait painters, and one of the greatest painters of the English School. Raeburn visited London only three times. On his first visit he met Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was very gracious to the young man. But living apart as Raeburn did from the group of men in London, he was never brought into close personal association with the other painters. Honours came to him in good measure and unsolicited during his life- tinie, and since his death the appreciation and demand for his pictures has steadily increased. Sir Thomas Lawrence must also be numbered as one of the foremost of the early English portrait painters. His career is one of unbroken success. Before he was twenty, we find him well established in London as a portrait painter, and enjoying the patronage of nobility and royalty. One distinction after another came to him, and his personal popularity furthered his artistic success. George Morland, the landscape painter, interpreted the life of the English country-side. His intimate scenes of cottage life, of wayside taverns, of stables and horses, were very popular, and the engraved reproduc- tions which were made from them were as much in demand as the Hogarth engravings had been fifty years before. John Crome, who was five years younger than George Morland, was also a landscape painter. He sought to reproduce the beauty of nature, the truth of light and atmosphere, without the introduction of anecdote or incident. John Constable went, as did Crome, direct to nature for his subjects, and strove to interpret through his art the beauty which he observed in the fields and woods. Idealism in art was contrary to Constable's firmest convictions, and truth to nature was the belief which he both practiced and preached. This tendency toward the simple representation of the truth and beauty of nature which Constable so steadfastly upheld has been an influ- ence which has impressed itself upon modern landscape painting. Even Claude Monet, the recognized founder of modern impressionism, has been inspired by the same sincere desire to reproduce the profound truth of nature, but with a more scientific knowledge of the property of light. Crome lived most of his life in Norwich, his native town, in the East of England. Constable's early life was passed in the SufFolk country, although later he lived in London at Hampstead, where he painted many pictures of Hampstead Heath. Thus both these men were country-bred and were familiar from boyhood with the aspect of nature which later they painted with truth and fidelity. Turner, on the other hand, was born in London and passed his boyhood there. Poetic and imaginative, in his art he created idealistic landscapes, "golden visions," Constable has called them. He worked in his studio, not in the presence of nature, and his landscapes are imaginative compositions, representing harmonious combinations of brilliant and beautiful colors. They have poetic feeling and dramatic splendor, and are works of the highest merit. J.W.B. CATALOGUE JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A. Born at East Bergholt, England, in 1776. Died in London in 18^7. Student at the Royal A cade my , London. "In looking at such faithful transcripts of nature as are exhibited in the landscapes of Constable, it would be difficult to point out any one quality or excellence which pre-eminently distinguishes them; and perhaps it will be found that this oneness or individuality constitutes their principal charm." Mr. Purton on Constable's Art Leslie's Memoirs of Constable "And of all pictures that ever were painted, Constable's pictures are the most thoroughly and purely rural. . . Even in his very manner of work, so utterly original that there is no precedent for it in any former style of painting, there was a strange and profound harmony with the rusticity of the painter's heart." Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Portfolio Papers 1 The Lock, Dedham 2 The Dell at Helmingham 3 Hampstead Heath: Storm Coming Up DAVID COX Born near Birmingham, England, in 178^. Died at Harborne Heath in 18 ^g. "With his rich, brilliant, bold and finely colored painting, David Cox stands out as perhaps the greatest of Con- stable's successors. Like Constable, he was a peasant, and observed nature with the simplicity of one who was country-bred." Richard Muther, The History of Modern Art 4 Going to the Hayfield 5 Girl Crossing a Rustic Bridge JOHN CROME, called Old Crome Born at Norwich, England, in iy68. Died at Norwich in 1821, " His originality, his invention, his skill, seem best shown in the light of morning and evening, in the sweep of hills, in the air of the seacoast, in the sluggish waters of rivers and harbors, with sails and buildings against golden skies and white clouds." John C. Van Dyke, Old English Masters 6 Blacksmith's Shop, near Hingham, Norfolk 7 Landscape JOHN CONSTABLE, R. A. The Lock, Dedham THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A. Born at Sudbury, England, in 1727. Died in London in iy88. Pupil of Gravelot, St. Martinis Lane Academy, and Frank Hay man. Was one of thirty-six original members of the Royal Academy. Sir Joshua Reynolds observes of him: 'Whether he most excelled in portraits, landscapes, or fancy pic- tures, it is difficult to determine," and Ruskin calls him "the purist colourist of the English School." *■ *If ever this nation should produce a genius sufficient to acquire to us the honourable distinction of an English School, the name of Gainsborough will be transmitted to posterity, in this history of the art, among the very first of that rising name.* This was the opinion express- ed by the President of the Royal Academy (Sir Joshua Reynolds) within a few months of the death of his great brother-artist; and now, nearly a century later, the splendid genius which marked Gainsborough as a worthy compeer of Hogarth, Wilson and Reynolds is still pointed at with pride by those who believe in the existence of Native art." George Brock-Arnold, Gainsborough "The landscape of Gainsborough is soothing, tender, and affecting. The stillness of noon, the depths of twilight, and the dews and pearls of the morning, are all to be found on the canvases of this most benevolent and kind- hearted man. On looking at them, we find tears in our eyes, and know not what brings them. The lonely haunts of the solitary shepherd, the return of the rustic with his bill and bundle of wood, — the darksome lane or dell, — the sweet little cottage girl at the spring with her pitcher, — were the things he delighted to paint, and which he painted with exquisite refinement, yet not a refinement beyond nature." John Constable in a lecture at the Royal . Institution of Great Britain in 1836 8 Lady Rodney Anne, daughter of the Hon-. Thomas Harley: married in 1781 George, second Lord Rodney; died in 1840. 9 Landscape SIR JOHN WATSON GORDON, P.R.S.A. Born at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1790. Died at Edinburgh in 1864. Was elected associate member of the Royal Acad- emy in 1841 and to full membership in 18 §1. Was one of the founders of the Royal Scottish Academy and became its president in 18 §0, the year he was knighted. "In many ways Sir John Watson Gordon's art is worthy to be placed beside that of Sir Henry Raeburn. Less gifted as a craftsman, and less certain in draughtsman- ship, there is yet in all his work such strength and charm of presentment, such lovely colour, so great an apprecia- tion of the national character, that it falls little short of his illustrious predecessor's." Blackwood's Magazine^ 1895 10 Sir Walter Scott The novelist and poet; born in 1771; died in 1832. THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A. Lady Rodney GEORGE HENRY HARLOW Born in London in lySy. Died there in 1819. Pupil of Hendrick de Cort, Samuel Drummond and Sir Thomas Lawrence. 11 The Misses Temple 12 The Temple Leader Family 13 Mrs. Weddell and Children WILLIAM HOGARTH Born in London in i6g'j. Died in London in 1764. " He was the first of English genre painters, and though a century and a half has passed since his practice, he remains the greatest. For myself I hardly know where I may light upon another instance anywhere in which an endless fertility and ingenuity of invention has been allied with technical powers of execution so sane and so unerring — in which gifts of the dramatic are joined so completely to those of the pure painter." Frederick WedmorCy Masters of Genre Painting " without a school, and without a precedent, he has found a way of expressing what he sees with the clearest simplicity, richness, and directness.*' Sidney Colvin, Portfolio 14 A Conversation at Wanstead House The residence of Sir Richard Child, afterwards Vis- count Castlemaine and Earl Tylney. 15 The Fountaine Family Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676-175 3) the famous col- lector, with his sister Elizabeth, wife of Colonel Ed- ward Clent, their daughter and her husband Captain W. Price, and the auctioneer Christopher Cock. JOHN HOPPNER, R.A. Born in Whitechapel, London, in 1758. Died in London in 18 10. Student at the Royal Academy. "Hoppner was the gifted and intelligent heir of a distin- guished tradition; he had an innate sympathy with fresh, innocent youth, so that when his sitters were in accord with his own temperament he could produce a picture which was not only fit in point of external attractiveness to hold its own in the company of the masterpieces of his age, but possessed also a virginal grace and beauty char- acteristic of the man's temper.'* Campbell Dodgson, Burlington Magazine, 1909 16 Mrs. Hoppner Phoebe, daughter of Mrs. P. Wright, the American modeller in wax; married in 178 1, John Hoppner the artist; died in 1827. SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, P.R.A. Born at Bristol in 1769. Died in London in 18^0. Student at the Royal Academy. Elected associate member of the Royal Academy in 1793^ and to full membership in 1794* Knighted in 18 ij by George IF, and elected president of the Royal Academy in 1820, "One age of the great men and the courtly beauties of England, will live to posterity on the canvas of Rey- nolds. Another will do so on that of Lawrence." Allan Cunningham, The Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters "He had a remarkable gift of producing likenesses at once striking and favorable, and of always seizing the finest expression of which a face was capable; and none could ever claim that Lawrence had not done justice to the very best look they ever wore." Fanny Kemble on Lawrence, Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower, F.S.A., Sir Thomas Lawrence 17 Miss West JOHN LINNELL Born in London in 1792, Died at Redhill in 1882, Student at the Royal Academy and a pupil of John Farley, "John Linnell carried the traditions of the great era on to the new period: at first revelling in golden light, in sun- sets and rosy clouds of dusk, and at a later time, in the manner of the Pre-Raphaelites, bent on the precise exe- cution of bodily form." Richard Muther, The History of Modem Painting "He has a very genuine passion for nature, a sense for large and dramatic effects." The Spectator, 1892 18 The Storm GEORGE MORLAND Born in the Haymarket, London, in iy6j. Died in London in 1804. " He was perhaps the most important master of the brush that the EngHsh school produced at all. His pictures have the same magic as the landscapes of Gainsborough." Richard Muther, The History of Modern A rt "No picture of Morland's worth noticing is without its unique charm of tone and atmosphere: his greatest achievements are masterpieces of drawing and model- ling as well, of largeness of thought and grasp of con- ception." /. T. Nettleship, George Morland 19 The Cottager's Family 20 The Fruits of Early Industry and Economy SIR HENRY RAEBURN, R.A. Born at Stockbridge, Scotland, in lys^- Died near there in 182J. Elected an associate member of the Royal Academy in j8i2 and a full member in 181^. In 1822, when King George IF visited Scotland, he was knighted, and the next year he was appointed His Majesty* s Limner for Scotland, "The two painters with whom one is inevitably tempted to compare Raeburn are Hals and Velazquez." Sir Walter Armstrong, Sir Henry Raeburn SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P.R.A. Master Bunbury "Few painters anywhere have balanced the claims of pictorial interest, technique, and characterization so justly as he. His portraiture takes high rank, not only in the work of the British school, but amongst the finest achievements in a difiicult and fascinating art.** James L. Caw, Scottish Painting, Past and Present. i620'jgo8 " He was a born painter of portraits. He looked people shrewdly between the eyes, surprised their man- ners in their face, and had possessed himself of what was essential in their character before they had been many minutes in his studio. What he was so swift to perceive, he conveyed to the canvas almost in the moment of conception." Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisgue 21 Lady Belhaven Penelope Macdonald of Clanranald; wife of the seventh Baron of Belhaven; died in 1816. 22 Master Thomas Bisland Afterwards entered the Church and became Rector of Hartley Mandit. 23 Master John Campbell of Saddell 24 Colonel Charles Christie 25 Lady Elibank 26 Mr. Laurie of Woodlea 27 Sir Alexander Shaw 28 Portrait of a Gentleman in Green Coat SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P.R.A. Born at Plympton, England, in 172^. Died in London in 1792. Pupil of Thomas Hudson in London. In 1768, on the establishment of the Royal Academy, he was chosen its first president, and was knighted by George IF. In 1784. he became Principal Painter in Ordinary to the King. "The link that united him to Michael Angelo was the sense of ideal greatness — the noblest of all perceptions. It is this sublimity of thought that marks the first-rate genius; this impelling fancy, which has nowhere its defined form, yet everywhere its image; and while pur- suing excellence too perfect to be attained, creates new beauty that cannot be surpassed!" Sir Thomas Lawrence in an address to the students of the Royal Academy " Romney, when some of his friends thought to please him by disparaging Reynolds, said, *No, No, he is the greatest painter that ever lived, for I see an exquisite beauty in his pictures which I see in nature, but not in the works of any other painter.' " Leslie's Memoirs of Constable "Sir Joshua Reynolds was, on very many accounts, one of the most memorable men of his time. He was the first Englishman who added the praise of the elegant arts to the other glories of his country. In taste, in grace, in facility, in happy invention, and in the richness and harmony of colouring, he was equal to the great masters of the renowned ages He possessed the theory as perfectly as the practice of his art. To be such a painter, he was a profound and penetrating philosopher." Edmund Burke's Obituary, Leslie's Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds GEORGE ROMNEY Miss Finch 29 Master Bunbury Charles John, son of Henry W. Bunbury and Cath- erine( Goldsmith's " Little Comedy") Homeck ; bom in 1772; entered the army and died in 1798. 30 Edmund Burke The great orator and author; bom in 1730; died in \ 1797; an intimate friend of the artist. i ;i GEORGE ROMNEY i Born at Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire, England, in 1734- Died at Kendal, England, in 1802. Studied with the I painter Steele, at Kendal. Never exhibited at the Royal "* \ Academy and therefore was not elected a member of that ■ institution. * "As an artist Romney ranks among the greatest of our 1 painters, both as a portraitist and painter of imaginary subjects, and his fame will endure as long as the charm- J ing creations of his brush last." [ Lord Ronald Sutherland Cower, F.SA ., \ Romney and Lawrence \ "George Romney holds the mean course between the \ refined, classic art of Sir Joshua Reynolds and the im- ^ \ aginative, poetic art of Thomas Gainsborough." 1 Richard Muther, The History of Modem Painting j 3 1 Mrs. Dorothy Champion Crespigny ■ Daughter of R. Scott; married in 1783 P.C. de Cres- ; pigny; died in 1837. 32 Mrs. Crouch Mary Ann Phillips, the actress; born in 1763; mar- ried Mr. Crouch, a naval officer; died in 1805. 33 Miss Finch 34 Lady Grantham Mary Jemima, daughter of Philip, second Earl of Hardwicke; born 1757, married in 1780 Thomas, Baron Grantham; died in 1830. 35 Head of Lady Hamilton Romney's famous model, Emma Hart; born about 1761; married Sir William Hamilton in 1791; died in 1815. 36 Mrs. Tickell Miss Ley, daughter of a naval officer; married first in 1789, Richard Tickell, and secondly in 1796, J. C. Worth ington. 37 John Wesley The founder of Methodism; bom in 1703; educated at Christ-church, Oxford; visited America in 1735- 37; died in 1791. 38 Little Bo -Peep JAMES STARK Born at Norwich^ England, in 1794. Died in London in i8^Q. Pupil of John Crome and later a student at the Royal Academy, 39 Cattle in a Dell GEORGE STUBBS, A.R.A. Born at Liverpool in 1724. Died in London in 1806, In 1773, was elected President of the Society of Artists, In 1780, he was elected an associate member of the Royal Academy. In 1781, was elected to full membership in the Academy, but refused to comply with the conditions of membership, and so the Academy rescinded the election. "There have been many painters of horses since but none so true and powerful as he." E. F. Lucas, British Pictures and their Painters 40 Landscape with Figures JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R.A. Born in London in 1775. Died there in 18^1. In 1787, entered the school of the Royal Academy, and for a short time worked with Sir Joshua Reynolds. Elected an associ- ate member of the Royal Academy in 1799 and to full membership in 1802. "To colour perfectly is the rarest and most precious (technical) power an artist can possess. There have been only seven supreme colourlsts among the true painters whose works exist: (namely, Giorgiona, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, Correggio, Reynolds, and Turner)." John Ruskin, Modern Painters " the tendency toward brilliancy of light and colour became the most marked feature of his style; and disregarding individuaHty of form or local colour, he made light with all its prismatic varieties the sole object of his studies." Cosmo Monkhouset J. M. W. Turner 41 The Burning of the Houses of Parliament WILLIAM WILLIAMS 42 Courtship 43 Matrimony RICHARD WILSON, R.A. Born at Pinegas, Montgomeryshire, England, in jyi^. Died at Llanberisy North Wales, in 1782. Was one of the foundation members of the Royal Academy. "To Wilson, who was ten years the senior of Reynolds, may justly be given the praise of opening the way to the genuine principles of Landscape in England; he appear- ed at a time when this art, not only here, but on the Continent, was altogether in the hands of the manner- ists." John Constable in his Fourth Lecture at the Royal Institution in 1836 44 Westminster Bridge, London, 1745 ajj^j-tx^jjij^j^j X THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW Books not returned on time are subject to a fine of 50c per volume after the third day overdue, increasing to $1.00 per volume after the sixth day. Books not in demand may be renewed if application is made before expiration of loan period. i0»i-7,'27 t ' iJ.>c.:>v>-t 360346 AD 46^ UNIVEE^ITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY