FINE ARTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4480, 23 March 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

FINE ARTS.

We have before us the report by the Committee of Management of the.-Royal Association for Promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland, for'the year 1874-75, and it records an amount of progress and success unexampled in the history of similar institutions. Tigs society "was established in 1833—the first formed in the United Kingdom—and it

is the model-after which many other kindred associations have j been founded in Britain. To the Edinburgh Association the public are in no small degree indebted for the rapid and satisfactory ' progress • which imitative art has made in the home country during the last quarter of a century.. It has done much to foster .'and promote artistic education ; it has ministered to the refined pleasure of many persons in various and remote parts of the civilised world, and been the. means of elevating and improving,the popular taste to a due appreciation of genuine t works of art, the contemplation of which has a refining and ennobling influence on the mind and character of the people. The annual report states that 1 since the .establishment of the association, upwards of forty years ago, its various Committees of Management, consisting of many of the most eminent Scotchmen of the day, have expended no less a sum than £130,000 in the acquisition" for the members of paintings, and sculpture, selected chiefly from the exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy, in the purchase of pictures for "permanent preservation in the Scottish National Gallery, and in the pro r duction and circulation of engravings and illustrated works amongst the-subscribers. Ttie expenditure of this large sum in the direct encouragement of art in Scotland, besides fostering and diffusing among the public a love of the fine arts, has materially promoted the formation of a great National {School of Art. Every year the names of Scottish artists are becoming more and more celebrated, and their paintings are more and | more' sought after. The association have | every reason, therefore, to be satisfied that j the object for which the society was insti T , tuted is being carried, out with the happiest I results. V* . . The support so con : I

stautly extended to the association by its wellwishers at home and abroad is extremely gratifying to th<s committee, evincing, as it does, the confidence of the public in the mode in which the affairs of the association are conducted. Nothing is more striking in the history of the association than the genial and kindly interest taken in its success by our countrymen all over the world 5 and your committee confidently trust that, thus supported and encouraged, the association -may continue to prosper as'steadily in the future as it has done iu the past." It is stated that the subscriptions received for the past year amounted to the large sum of £S,CIS lis, and the report shews how these funds have been dealt with by the committee in the interests of the subscribers and the Association. One of the speakers at the annual meeting, in moving the adoption of the report, used these words : —" Such an Association, which had existed for more than forty years with increasing revenue and usefulness, need hot, he thought,' fear now to meet any storm that might blow upon it. Its roots were so widely spread over the whole world that it might bow, but it would not break before any such cala-, mity, and he was glad to think that its roots had so spread because by. the high purposes it had, the Association had shewn itself devoted to such good and worthy aims that it had received sympathy and subscriptions not only from this country and countries at hand, but subscriptions and support from almost every country above which the sun rises." The selection of pictures and other! works of art is confided to a committee' (elected annually) of gentlemen of acknowledged aesthetic acquirements, and in whose, impartiality the utmost confidence can-:be' reposed. 'THe"practice adopted by thisjAs-j sociation is followed on the Continent, and is acknowledged to lie preferable to that pur--sued by the London Art Union.. -The subi scrip&on is one guinea per annu«n,: and each) subscriber has a chance of [obtaining, at the! animal general distribution, a valuable work;

'ii ofenn gflj w)i I fIH H-- is »dißtnbot6d'°to v ftll' t imb»' "scribers. year as forty-two paintings, by artists of -world-wide celebrity; were distributed by lot, ranging in money value from £ISO to £3 35.. ,The names f ot the suc--cbssful holders of prize tickets are published: Xt may here be mentioned f that at aTecent drawing, a gentiemaii inWellington obtained .a.prise .worth,one.hundred guineas. The volume issued'for the year 1874-75 'consists of sir beautiful large-sized engravings in illustration of- the":-M Bride #of Lammeri moor." There is a descriptive sketch printed of These engravings are remarkable for their fidelity to the original-designs -and'-their--high'- artistic merit. As excellent specimens of the pictorial art, they are indeed oC far more in-' trinsic value than the yearly subscription.' The next o£ Sir Walter Scout's novels selected by the committee for illustration is "Ited Gauntlet," and the following are* the subjects to;„be:. illustrated: —l. Sunsetr on the Solway Sands; storm rising; horsemen hunting salmon. 2 L The supper party at Kedgauntlet's cottage. " 3. Redgauntlet and Dairaie Latimer on their way .to Shepherd's Bush intercepted by Joshua Geddes.. 4. Steenson demanding a receipt for his rent 'from Sir Robert Redgaimtlet (Wandering Willie's tale). 5. The smugglers' brig, Jumping * Jenny, delivering her cargo " to. boats alongside. 6.; Peter Peebles capturing Allan rairford. These engravings will also be beautifully bound, in unison with the volumes of previous years, and issued to subscribers for the current year. On looking over the extensive list of members, we find that there are a considerable number in other part 3 of New Zealand. 1 In Christchurch there are 23 annual "sub-| •scribers ;-Greyinouth, 17 ; Invercargill,'-41; .Milton, <45.;,. Napier, 36 Dunedin, 77 ; Oamaru, 15j Timaru, 21; Wanganui, 36; and Wellington,' 71. Mr.: William Mitchell, Scarborough Terrace, Parnell, has been ap-j pointed honorary secretary for the. proyince of Auckland, from whom tickets,can be' obtained for the' next annual distribution, which takes place in July next. We have no doubt a goodly number of subscribers will rbe obtained. We heartily ..commend the objects of this society to the' support of our readers and the general public. .