Black-and-White Exhibition

The Black-and-White Exhibition.

Rossetti, William M. "The Black and White Exhibition." Academy (June 17, 1876): 215. Web. 21 Sept. 2011.

Rossetti states that the exhibition contains 603 specimens and that he hasn't had time to view most of them, so he will only comment briefly on certain works. He proposes to divide the artwork into two categories, one for drawings, the other for pictures produced by other means such as engraving and etching.

While Rossetti sees a lot of work showing good skill and execution, he faults the exhibition for not having more complete studies ready for execution for painting. Also, he states that there is an overabundance of small works-"fatiguingly" so.

Rossetti comments on several works and artists, noting with special satisfaction a work by H.H. Gilchrist, son of the Blake biographer, who painted from a Spenser couple and Blake, says Rossetti, would have liked both the painting and the couplet and would have found both to be within his typical range of thinking, although the painting looked more like Richard Dadd than Blake. This latter criticism is mentioned by Rossetti in his analysis of Blake, whose paintings were sometimes mistaken for works by Dadd.

After extensive notes on the first category that are mostly mentions and listings, Rossetti comments on fewer of the second category, but with more detail. He concludes with more titles in mere listing, explaining that the review is incomplete.

Alphonse Legros, one of the Cheyne Walk regulars, is reviewed as "a manly performance, simple with all the simplicity of art and knowledge" (322).