New York Literary Gazette
New York Literary Gazette, Craighead & Allen, 112 Fulton, 10 cents, James Aldrich ed.,WV Oxley proprietor, 43 Ann st, $4/yr. APS has Feb-July 1839.
praises Knick new ed, Knick advertises, as does Alfred Miller ptgs at Apollo Gallery and Stout’s statue of Victoria at Stuyvesant. Clark & Edson advertise a Whig daily press for sale. Saml Colman advertises, and they review his books. Say that hope last page of journal will be for ads for books, the arts.
Feb 2: Shelley’s crit of sculpture in Florence for London athenaeum. Prospectus: crit impartial and manly, not organ of personality slander or malignity that attract ephemeral notoriety of contemptible and ignorant. Organ of a literary club (Pantagruel Club), whose orig papers will appear in its columns. Am and Euro contrib, crits on books pics and drama under competent hands. Exhib of ptgs at Acad FA Barclay st, Whichelo destr of Jerusalem gives size, admirable; Revolt in Paris Giraud more faults but admirably conceived; Dubufe magnificent, gem, green curtain before Circassian slave, canting age, Princess of Capua in worst light, well worth patronage Feb 9 and 16 has articles on Odd Fellows; Noll Ramble does Sketches about Town, FG Halleck
Mar 2 Delanoue Painter’s Studio 9 Cant of criticism fr Fraser’s. Praises weekly the Student. 23 Emerson’s Nature, likes Freeman Clarke’s Western messenger
30 Levy’s sale of ptgs, for Tammany Hall; one day in the past newspaper notices and bill posters announce public sale by Moses Levy of rare oil ptgs by old masters, saw the rudest roughest contemotible specimens except design, prob bought on spec in Low countries, but presented as estate of English nobleman, sell for 5 shillings, Levy praises Madonna as good likeness. Paff mentioned too. Those sold by Michael Angelo brought highest prices, suppose customers confuse him with Mike Angell, an artist who does transparencies for elections at Tammany Hall.
praises Brigaldi eminent Italian artist ceiling fresco imitates oak finish, neutral tints, Orville Dewey’s new church. Leo’s Virgin and Child. Correggio. Defends novel readers.
April: 6 Essay on Ptg: visit to Marsiglia’s studio, signed H, editor says it would be given great attention if you knew who the author was. Few patrons, no old masters to estab correct standard of taste., levelling spirit of the present day, but where are the public galleries where people can acquire taste. France has but the Louvre.let rich prefer Venus to confectionary, gallery rather than billiard room. Cole, Chapman, Mount and Inman are appreciated, let this continue, in humble amateur who buys a daub for a shilling at Levy’s or travller who gives thou for orig in Italy. Marsiglia’s ptgs at his rms in Broadway, open to public who wish to examine several orig old masters, Rembrandts, Domenichino and Correggio, must acknowl they are originals, every peculiarity of the artists apparent, goes on to sketch them—Remb a style of his own, Correggio a spiritual effeminacy.
Allston, Expositor, Albion have read it for 10 years, gmanly tone. 13 got cheated in their steel engr of Boz portrait; Retzsch’s masterpiece Game of Life is coming. 20 transl fr French, club paper includes Dick Solus; Professor barber orig sketches fr my note book, St George v meritorious, Exhib of NAD hasty view think it’s best ever, competent hand will do crit notices
May 4, crit notices of NAD prepped by a gman fitted to write by educ taste and a full knowl of his subj, judicious and impartial crit demanded by public press. Hist Ptgs: chief interest of exhib fr no and excellence of these, first in importance is Weir’s Indian Captives, size of life, gives long descriptiom, Indian not red enough to differentiate him fr white jailer, as compared with Wilgus portrait. fatal fault is want of dignity in captive, effeminate and mean rather than grand, not untamed son of forest who in phys sense is noble, but Indian in our old settlements, cowed and infected by whites. Agate’s Columbus and the Egg, disagreeable in color, hard texture, figs not well drawn, but backgrd good. Verbryck, Chas I in studio of Van dyck, conception just, play of feelings on Chas vs affectedly careless attitude, faultless, tho want of nature and reality in the heads, laudable in serious style. John Cranch’s valley of shadow of death, execution inferior to conception, faults obvious to commonest apprehension, rocks like cakes of soap, crude limbs, drapery without grace, bad management and unartist-like air of composition. Imag power in the fiends, goblin wonderful, hellish triumph; Xtian attitude erect. Ludicrous not far fr terrible.
May 11, notices Wm L Stone and Queen Vic. NAD: disting betw hist pics and pics of incident and character founded on vulgar usage and convenience, not principle. A true hist pic, embodies thought sentiment, even hist truth sacrifieced to ideal truth or idea which controls the desig. So in Weir’s Indian captives, even if Pequods were really puny, doesn’t justify Weir showing them that way, because Indian in a hist pic shld be poetically treated as a representative of the race (ideal of savage warrior). Trumbull’s Declaration of Indep is an example, it is a document rather than a picture, invaluable despite John Randolph’s heartless sneer. Huntington’s Lovers Surprised then is a hist pic, Chas Ist era, all subord to whole, but details not well done, Lady not pretty enough, lover not energetic enough, too much a study. WS Mount Boys Trapping, the opposite of the historical, imit nature without subord of parts, perception of char acute and nature accurate, not right to compare him to Dutch, who treated common life in highest style of Art. faults are repeating same faces and crude coloring, only offensive in large portraits. But Boys Trapping one of his happiest efforst, refreshing naturalness, autumn, snow delicate shadows. Edmonds’ Penny Paper is too much in manner of Wilie/study of engravings, figures have air of being fron prints, ewsboy with unthinking face not like the shrewd sharp featured youngsters. Barkeeper and negro sparring characteristically American. His Commodore Trunnion is good. Deas Devil and Tom Walker and Walking the Chalk, young artist last year disting with Shooting for a Turkey, consid merit of a certain kind, here too, but incline to caricature, not pleasing to contemplate degradation of human nature unless excite moral sympathies, as in Dickens or Hogarth. LP Clover Rejected Picture a spirited sketch. Stuart Watson Boy fishing in old masterish style, lurid clouds fine. Studio by TP Rossiter not worthy of artist who did Token.
May 18 NAD: seems agreed that present exhib inferior to preceding ones, but critics little reason, in lscapes inferior to last, no portrait so attractive as Ingham’s McNeven, but in hist and narrative compos higher character. Brilliant year for Inman and port ptrs, if not Ingham, then Durand, freeman, Frothingham and Page in new style ha become critic favorite. Powell not improved much, but Harris and Huntington too. Miss Chapman romantique portraits, but spared his lscapes and histories. Giovanni Thompson won’t patronize acad so unjust to merit, but have Gambardella, and Sully. His Mrs Wood, inspired and glorified, truth and delicacy brilliant yet soft, don’t mind rude negligence to accessories. His port of a child also a gem, esp eyes and mouth, carnations better than nature. His Macbeth not characteristic, not pleasing, but negress nurse and child, sooty versus red and white, perfect simplicity of compos in best taste. Page opposite of Sully, abandons imitation of Nature, but copies her, tho this is diff betw Artist and Artisan, his Boy and Hobby Horse too servile a copy of horse, truly Chinese, ludicrous reality, boy stiff, sickly and overshadowed by horse. His port of a lady of Lorillard family triumphs over his theory, attempt to express pores of skin doesn’t ruin it.
May 25 1839 NAD:. Page portraits of RB Minturn and Col Stone, muddy, action ill chosen in Stone, violent, not characteristic, handscholarly delicacy, will ever rise above the representation of the animal man. Inman is prince of port ptg, much sd of his mannerism, but never makes sitters ridiculous, spirited and lifelike action of heads balanced by rigorous decorum, dexterity of handlig. Port of H Stebbins finest color, shaven cheek. Sofa in group of lady and children judicious.Two children on piazza accessories perfect. Ingham popular, highly artificial. fine relief, decorum (keeping).
Jun 1 reviews Allston exhib in Boston, ELH, at length, loves it. Poem to a Carlo Dolci Madonna. July 6 poem? on dying gladiator in Rome, by John; Dr John Dell on statues of Michael Angelo in Florence, Leo’s Last supper.
Jun 8 NAD: improvement of artists requires exhib of daubs many wish to exclude. Huntington full length, want flexibility, luxuriant modelling of the bust. JE Freeman sweet portrait of brothers, bad drwg/foreshortening. Frothingham noble, vigorous, masculine, free of affectation, drwg incorrect, ambitiously unnatural color attempts to commpensate. Durand port Ithiel Town, dull and mealy, scarcely probably. His Lady elab finish we don’t like but others do. Alexander’s wife, well observed attitude, pleasing, still a little muddy. Harris old gman one of best, juicy softness, unctuous. Gambardella vivacious lady, in plastic style of mod Italians, mrable. Wilgus admirable Indian chief. Fink port pleasing, Kellogg, Rossiter near Newton in color, Mooney cold but clear, HP Gray promising.
Aldrich on dueling, real and false honor. Orville Dewey, Coleridge, Wordsworth. Harry Franco is clever. Sad re death of Leggett. Hobbes
Jun 22: NAD: Durand, Richardson, Oddie, Eastman, Hows, Doughty, consid pretension, yet none replace romantique splendor of Cole and fresh vigorous nature of Huntington, tho neither is a consummate Artist. Cole a poet not a painter, labors under disadvantage of inadequate form, motion and time can’t be painted, can affect feelings only by single impression, tho his Desolation is indeed a Picture. Ingham’s Great Adirondack pass, mouse colored velvet rocks and oaten straw trees, locality only interesting to Geologist. 9 landscapes by Richardson v artificially colored, but depth and lustre, aerial distnces, clear water. Oddie lscape v natural, well observed portrait, not generalized, atmosphere of accurate linear perspective and light, not metallic waves.HC Selous didn’t do 63 Lake of Lucerne, HC Hows did, too blue, figs good. Mt Gothard by same refreshing, purity, tho companion is scene-painty. Doughty imag and poetical, delightfully composed, foliage montonous, mannered. Eastman in mapping style of which Weir is master, good for cadets, not Art, color intolerable, cattle giganctic. J Evers pleasant. 123 extraord bad. Smillie excellent. JR Bleecker’s Amer Scenery as good as anything we ever saw fr him. Casilear pleasing, resembles Durand.
July 13 1839 last issue, Oxley must be absent from country for several years; subscribers will get the Expositor in advance