George Vertue, born 1684, a scholar of Michael Van dergucht, was one of the most industrious artists that this country has ever produced. He has left a nume rous collection of portraits, many of them very respecta ble, many book cuts, Oxford almanacks, and antiquities of all kinds; and he made many drawings in water co lours, with the view of engraving them. We are like wise greatly indebted to him for his Lives of the Eng lish Artists, a work for which he was indefatigable in collecting information, as well as in procuring portraits of the artists. The manuscript work came into the hands of the Hon. Horace Walpole, who revised and published it. It abounds in much curious and interest ing information, anis well known. He died 1756.
We have several works executed with great spirit and taste, in a very artist-like manner, the productions of Arthur Pond and George Knapton; among others, a set of plates, in imitation of chalk, and washed drawings, from the designs of the great Italian masters: some of these are in chiar' oscuro, with etched outlines. They flourished about the year 1740.
The first artist of any school, who has been com pletely successful in rendering with the truth, spirit, and character of the originals, the landscapes of the great Italian masters, (not even excepting Edelinck and Au dran, in their beautiful works in this way,) is Francis Vivares : he was a native of France. It appears that he did not apply himself to the arts till he was conside rably advanced in life. He learned the principles of the art from Chatelain in London ; but being a man of great genius, he improved on the style of his preceptor, and acquired such freedom in etching as had never been possessed before by any engraver: the foliage of his trees is delicately and lightly expressed; and his effect is deep, broad, and clear. His finest works are from the pictures of Claude Lorraine, and possess infinitely more of the character of the originals than those of any other engraver.
He must be considered as the founder of the English school of landscape engraving, and although (except by Woollett) he has never been equalled, the light which he gave to succeeding artists has been the means of keeping up that decided superiority in this department which this school possesses above every other. lie brought his plates to a state of considerable finish and ef fect with the point, and put the last touches on them with the graver.
The landscapes of Woollett stand unrivalled for beau ty of execution, and may be considered the most perfect models of style for landscape. Like Vivares, he carried his plates a considerable way with the point, and gave them the necessary depth with the graver, touching them up in the more delicate parts with the dry point.
His works have all the delicacy and clearness of the French masters, with all the spirit and taste of Vivares. He likewise executed several historical plates and por traits with great success. His chief works are the large landscapes, which he has engraved from R.IVilson, and others ; the Death of General Wolfe, after West ; and a small portrait of Rubens, after himself. In tracing the progress of this branch of the art, we cannot withhold our admiration from these two great men, who, from the state of total insignificance and neglect in which they found it, raised it at once to such dignity and perfection. The earliest landscapes we have of any importance from the works of the great painters, arc the engravings of Bolswert, after the pictures of Rubens. They are exe cuted with his usual ability, in the large broad style which distinguishes his historical works ; but, being en tirely with the graver, give a very inadequate idea of the character of the foliage, the quality of surface of the several objects, or the brilliancy and splendour of Ru bens. The large set of landscapes by Audran, after Ni col° Poussin, exhibits a nearer approximation to the true style of landscape, than those of Bolswert, being executed in a style of much greater delicacy ; but, from the unmanageable nature of the graver for such subjects, with which they are entirely executed, they are still very defective in character and spirit. The landscapes of Balechou, which are unrivalled for clean cutting and dex terity of handling the graver, display a most erroneous conception of the true object of art, and afford, notwith standing their astonishing mechanical excellencies, very imperfect representations of the aerial nature of clouds, the liquidity of water, or the richness and variety of na ture in the foliage of trees. The discrimination of Vi vares and Woollet pointed out the defects of their pre decessors; and, more particularly in the works of the latter, we find all the truth of nature united to all the beauties of mechanical skill.