We admit, with pleasure, that a very gratifying change has within these few years taken place in this country ; the public taste is rapidly improving, and we trust that the period is not far distant when the privations above alluded to may no longer be a theme of complaint to our native artists. And while we have not hesitated to remark with freedom the particulars in which we conceive our prac tice as yet deficient, we are far from being insensible to the great excellence of some individual artists, in both quarters of the island ; and most cordially participate in the general feeling of gratification, excited by a late in stance of distinguished honour conferred on our respect ed countryman, Sir Henry Eaeburn.
There is a branch of painting upon which we have not as yet touched at all, and we fear that our limits will scarcely admit of our exceeding a very few observations; we allude to Economical or House Painting. Within these few years, a very remarkable improvement in this mode of embellishment has begun to appear, but a great deal still remains to be done before we can equal the pro ficiency of Italian artists even in this humble sphere of the art. With us, the practice is chiefly confined to that of a mere handicraft, where little refinement is sought for, beyond the simple usage of the painter's shop, the mix ing up of colours, and their smooth application to the wall. Whereas, in Italy, the study and acquirements of a house painter are little inferior to what is requisite for the higher branches of the art ; and, in fact, the practice of both is not unfrequently combined. They are more conversant with the science, as well as with the practice, of colouring; with the rules of harmony, and with the composition of ornamental painting in all its branches; so that their works might be transferred to canvas, and ad mired for their excellence. In fact, the great frescos of the first masters, which have been the admiration of ages, were but a part of the general embellishment of the churches and palaces of Italy. And the most celebrated names in the list of artists, have left memorials of their fame in the humble decorations of the arabesque, in which all the exuberance and playfulness of fancy is displayed, as well as the most enchanting harmony of brilliant colours. It is in this essential point of harmony that our practice is particularly defective; we rarely see, in the simple painting of our apartments, any combination of colours that is not in some part offensive against even the com mon rules of art; if there are any rules observed, save those of mere caprice or there arc certain combinations pointed out by the laws of optics, which can as little be made to harmonize as two discord ant notes in music. The unpleasant effects arising from such erroneous mixtures and juxtapositions, we are often sufficiently aware of, without having the skill requisite to assign the reason, any more than the painter who chose them.
This accounts for the prevalent use of neutral colours in our ornamental painting, which is less liable to offend by whatever bright colour it may be relieved; and like wise the safer and more agreeable combination of the different shades of the same indefinite colour. But no
sooner do our painters attempt any combination of decid ed colours, than they fail. The ornamental painting in Italy is almost entirely in decided colours, of the most brilliant hue, and yet always inexpressibly pleasing in the combinations, because the rules of harmony are known and attended to. Neither is this proficiency confined to the decorations of palaces, or the more elaborate and ex pensive works; we have seen in dwellings of a much humbler cast, and indeed in general practice, the most graceful designs of ornament, painted, not in the simple manner of camayeu, but displaying every possible tint of bold and vivid colouring, and melting into each other with all the skill and harmony of a piece of brilliant music.
We shall not exemplify the particular defects of har mony so conspicuous in our practice, as it would lead us into tedious details; we would only hint to our master painters, that it is a matter requiring far greater study than they seem aware of, as so few examples occur of skilful combination in their works. And as to the subject of ornamental painting, as yet we merely tread the thres hold; there remains a great deal to be learnt of that pleas ing art, but we fear that the means are beyond the reach ol that class, from which the practitioners in the branch of house painting are usually trained. It is, notwithstand ing, obvious, from the very beautiful and correct imita tions of the varieties of wood, so much in use at present, that there is far from any want of capacity, were it direct ed to the many excellencies of which the art is suscepti ble. And the present seems a favourable moment, when the practice is undergoing a change, to endeavour to lead it into a still more extensive field of improvement. To introduce somewhat of the address and elegance to which this art has been brought in Italy, in the study of their infinitely varied modes of embellishment, by combination of colours; of their superior imitations of marbles, basso relievos, and drapery, in which they display so much truth and elegance of fancy ; and of their arabesques, trellis work, and the more delicate mode of entablature painting. Young men intending to prosecute this branch of art, after having acquired sufficient familiarity in the attain ments of the drawing academy, would experience incal culable benefit from a few years study and practice under some ol the best foreign masters. It would be the means of obtaining for the art itself a higher place in the scale than shat it now holds, as a mere trade• where the skill and assiduity of a handicraftsman seems to be all that is considered necessary. With the study and acquirement of correct taste and more extensive information, it might easily be made to resume its rank as a liberal art.