dogs and game, and the plough horses with their old driver. We are
not quite clear as to what it all means; some of the objects seeming
rather to have been dragged in than naturally to have come thither;
the tablecloth spread in the ploughed field appearing rather out
of character, and the left-hand corner of the picture having
altogether somewhat of a crowded aspect: but these are trifles not
worth dwelling upon. The painting is evidently unfinished. The
subject of Mr Landseer's second picture, a shepherd digging the
stragglers from his flock out of a snow-drift, is of less interest
than that of his larger work; but, in an artistic point of view, it
claims higher praise. His snow is admirable, the tender gray tints
are full of light, and distributed with surpassing skill; and the
earnest laborious face of the delving peasant is very vigorous and
characteristic. Mr Landseer is so accurate an observer of brute
nature that it is with extreme caution we venture to criticise his
animals, but we must say that the wool of his sheep in this painting
has a hard and cork-like look. Upon the whole it is a question with
us, when we revert to some of this artist's former productions,
whether he is painting as carefully as he used to do. Looking at
his Waterloo Dialogue, we say no; but an affirmative starts to our
lips when we examine his last and smallest picture in this year's
Exhibition, Lady Murchison's dog. With this the most fastidious
would be troubled to find fault. It is a gem of admirable finish.
If Mr Landseer's power of drawing, in the grander contours of his
designs, were equal to the skill he displays in the details, he
would leave nothing to desire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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