January 1854, vol. 31, 65-78
The anonymous reviewer is almost certainly Peter Bayne (1830-96), journalist and author. The attribution is based on striking similarities of style and content to another evaluation by Bayne found in his ‘Essays in Biography and Criticism’ (Boston, 1860), pp. 281-333, entitled Ruskin and his Critics. Bayne was not above drawing upon one of his own articles, modifying it slightly, and publishing it anew. He edited the ‘Edinburgh Witness’ and the ‘Weekly Review’; in 1879 he published ‘Letters from my Masters— Carlyle, Tennyson, and Ruskin’. See Introduction, p. 15.
…The most important and effectual way, then, to advance art in a nation, is to teach that nation to observe man and nature; and in the particular art of landscape painting, he who would advance its perfection, or promote its patronage, must lead the artist from the studio into the field, and teach men in general to love the face of their great mother, and to know it when they see it. And now to bring this to bear upon our immediate subject. We claim for Mr. Ruskin an honor which is independent of every conventional rule and every professional partiality— an honor, in the accordance of which all men, whether professional or not, and however much they may differ from him in minor points, may be freely invited to join us. We believe that the influence of the beauty of nature is always in itself good, and we believe that it is by awakening a love for that beauty, and leading men to mark and trace it,
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Publication information:
Book title: John Ruskin: The Critical Heritage.
Contributors: J. L. Bradley - Author.
Publisher: Routledge.
Place of publication: London.
Publication year: 1996.
Page number: 211.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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