Gents Mag 1843 part 2 p.451

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	Gentleman's Magazine 1843 part 2 p.451
landscape   painting
	Landscape Painting Book review. This extract is included, though it is not directly about The Lakes, because such a lot is made of the qualities of Claude, Poussin. and Salvator Rosa, in discussing the picturesque in this geographical area. The views of this author are, thus, interesting. They also provide an insight into the art criticism of the age; and perhaps the exclusiveness of art criticism today. Modern Painters: their Superiority in the Art of Landscape Painting to the Ancient Masters. By a Graduate of Oxford. 8vo. Vol.I. IF the lovers of poetry were to be suddenly informed that they had been all their lives worshipping at the shrine of false gods, and mistaking the effusions of ignorance and weakness for the inspirations of genius; if they were told that our elder poets - those venerable names that appeared in such unrivalled lustre in the reigns of Elizabeth and James - were ignorant of the art they professed, unacquainted with its essential principles, and working in feebleness and error; that in their delineations of human passion and character they deviated from nature and truth; that we must cease to look on them as the models of excellence, but turn our admiration to the modern school; that Shakespeare and Milton were not to be compared for power, or truth, or splendour of genius, or richness of invention, to Southey, or Shelley, or Sheridan Knowles; if such startling assertions were advanced, they could not well be more surprised than the connoisseurs and critics of a sister art will be, who have been bred up in admiration of the works of the old masters, and who have looked on their high reputation as authentic and undeniable, when they find the hitherto illustrious names of Claude and Poussin, of Titian and Salvator Rosa, of Vandevelde and Cuyp, placed, in very essential points, below those of Stanfield and Harding, of Fielding and Prout; while one single and illustrious name is elevated above all modern or ancient, and the assemblage of every excellence discovered and illustrated in the works of Mr. J. W. Turner. Such is the purpose of this work; and the boldness of its design is well supported by the diligence, and knowledge, and skilfulness displayed in the execution. The author has laid a solid foundation in the broad and philosophical principles he applies to the art; while, in the very minute, exact, and delicate criticism he delivers, he shows a practical and artist-like acquaintance with the details of the subject. If his theory is wrong, if his reasonings are incorrect, and his conclusions not warranted, it must arise from other causes than from unacquaintance with his subject, from indolence in the collection of his materials, or unskilfulness in using them; for undoubtedly he has deeply investigated the laws and principles of the art he discusses; he has dwelt on it with a lover's fondness, and studied it with a critics attention. He is also an eloquent and impressive writer; he has a command of expression adapted to the sentiments he wishes to convey, and can describe the captivating beauties of painting in the brilliant colour of poetic diction. It is the work of one who confidently believes in the opinions he maintains, and who is armed against any argument that can be brought to oppose him. It is not the production of a flimsy theorist, content to obtain a temporary reputation by shallow paradoxes and startling assertions, nor of one who from some partial motive is desirous to raise the reputation of a particular artist or school of artists above their rivals; but of a person who, having devoted a very great attention to a favourite subject, and having acquired an intimate knowledge of its productions at home and abroad, has pronounced to the world the truths he has discovered
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