Full Text: 1867-1870
"Dudley Gallery. Cabinet Pictures in Oil. The First Winter Exhibition." The Art-Journal, 1 December 1867: 269.
Certainly the gallery contains remarkable, not to say abnormal and aberrant, works... Also among the aberrant eccentricities of genius must be reckoned the productions of Simeon Solomon. ‘Love in Oblivion’ is suggestive to the imagination of more than paint can render, or the catalogue explain. Mystery looks out from the whole picture; a glory of colour shines from the canvas. There is often in the works of Mr. Solomon, however unsatisfactory they may be, somewhat of prophetic burden and poetic song, as in old Hebrew legends.
"The Fourth General Exhibition of Water-colour Drawings. Dudley Gallery." The Art-Journal, 1 March 1868: 45.
Eccentricity has always distinguished the Dudley Gallery. And what can be more singular and abnormal than the productions—clever withal—of Simeon Solomon, Spencer Stanhope, C. P. Slocombe, C. Rossiter, A. B. Donaldson, and H. E. Wooldridge? Solomon is a genius of eccentricity, he can do nothing like other people, and in being exclusively like himself, he becomes unlike to nature. As for choice of subject, most religions of the world have struck by turns the painter’s fantastic and splendour-loving fancy. On the present occasion ‘Bacchus,’ ‘A Patriarch of the Eastern Church,’ and ‘Heliogabalus, High Priest of the Sun,’ obtain from the painter about equal favour, whether as to ritual, robes, or anatomies. The latter, however, would not be recognized by the College of Surgeons. ‘Bacchus’ is a sentimentalist of rather weak constitution; he drinks mead, possibly sugar and water, certainly not wine. The idea is that the young fellow is the inspirer of Art and Poetry, the beloved of the Muses; and the painter, it must be confessed, has thrown over his work a certain aroma of poetry and colour. The background is in scale and management false, yet on the whole the picture possesses, as we have said, unmistakable signs of genius, only run a little mad. ... Opposed to the classic is the mediaeval; each is found in ultra form in the Dudley Gallery. Indeed, there are artists, such, for example, as Simeon Solomon, who are divided equally between the two opinions, and thus on either horn of the dilemma they fall far short of nature. ... The works of Miss Solomon are always clever and frequently singular; ‘Memories’ recall, indeed, past memories of the lady’s pictures in intensity of colour, earnest striving for a meaning, and general eccentricity of treatment.
"Dudley Gallery. Cabinet Pictures in Oils. The Second Winter Exhibition." The Art-Journal, 1 December 1868: 280.
’A Study from Nature,’ by Miss Solomon, is brilliant for light, colour, and transparency; we do not often in these days encounter a more felicitous attempt at flesh-painting. ‘A Roman Lady,’ by Simeon Solomon, is not of the artist’s best.
"Dudley Gallery. Fifth General Exhibition of Drawings." The Art-Journal, 1 March 1869: 81.
The works which next challenge notice are the contributions of Mr. Simeon Solomon, who has seldom shown in so great brilliance or - singularity. The artist stands alone, although signs appear of a new and rising school in which he might shine as chief. ‘Sacramentum Amoris’ is perhaps the best example of one of the painter’s many manners, that of the classic warmed by colour and softened by romance. The drawing and anatomy are more than usually careful, though the forms still want firmness of articulation, as for example at the knee-joint. Robert Bateman, like Simeon Solomon, divides his affections between the graceful idealism of the classic, and the hard singularity of mediaevalism.
"The Royal Academy. The One Hundred and First Exhibition. Second Notice." The Art-Journal, 1 July 1869: 201.
... ‘The Toilette of a Roman Lady’ (787), by Simeon Solomon. The last work should have obtained a better place than in a corner above the line. ... Again, wholly distinct in style from any of the three classic works just mentioned [Watts’s Orpheus & Eurydice, Leighton’s Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon, and A. Moore’s A Venus] comes ‘The Toilette of a Roman Lady’ (787), by Mr. Simeon Solomon. This remarkable composition, unlike the figures of Mr. Moore and Mr. Leighton, evinces joy and rapture in colour; the romance of modern and middle-age Art has infused warm tone, and swelling exuberant form, into the severity of the classic. Mr. Solomon has evidently received as a suggestion to his picture certain well-known mural paintings of Pompeii; we recognise analogous types even to the full, thick, Roman throat. The style is somewhat decorative, and pertains to periods of decadence; nevertheless, this is one of the artist’s very best efforts; it has more power and firmness than drawings recently exhibited in the Dudley Gallery. Close by hangs a refined subtle work, distinguished by colour, ‘Helena and Hermia’ (785), by Miss R. Solomon; the manner of brother and sister naturally is not wholly unlike.
"The London Art Season." Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, August 1869: 220-239.
"The Toilette of a Roman Lady," by Mr Simeon Solomon, naturally allies itself with the classic school of Roman painting as handed down to our times in the mural decorations of Pompeii. We think it a pity, however, that an artist should emulate a style of decadence. The plea for the revival of the classic is, that it leads back to periods which, untainted by decay, remain unalterable standards of perfection for all time. Yet evidently Mr Solomon has, like other of our artists, made an effort to impart to his composition the allurement of romance and the colour of Venice. It is only, as already hinted, by some such device that antique styles can commend themselves to modern tastes. (page 224, column 2)
"The Dudley Gallery. The Third Winter Exhibition." The Art-Journal, 1 December 1869: 369.
... [T]he visitor will at once recognize valuable contributions from G. F. Watts, R.A.; G. D. Leslie, A.R.A.; W. F. Yeames, A.R.A.; S. Solomon, A. B. Donaldson, and F. Talfourd. ... Yet does this winter exhibition usually make itself remarkable for a class of works seldom seen in equal force elsewhere. In the present season, for example, there are pictures by Simeon Solomon, ... which it is needful everyone should see who would understand the existing and more abnormal phases of our English school. Mr. Solomon exhibits a characteristic specimen of his latest manner, ‘The Bride, the Bridegroom, and Friend of the Bridegroom’ — eminently mystic and unintelligible, yet almost Eastern in the harmony of its colouring, and essentially classic in its type of beauty. The figures, however, want strength, and the sentiment is tinctured by affectation.
"Dudley Gallery. Sixth General Exhibition of Drawings." The Art-Journal, 1 March 1870: 87.
These Dudley people are proverbially peculiar. Thus it would be hard to find anywhere talent associated with greater eccentricity than in the clever, yet abnormal, creations of Walter Crane, Robert Bateman, and Simeon Solomon... . The pictures of Simeon Solomon present like interesting problems, which whether problems in poetry, philosophy, or Art, remain, it must be confessed, after these attempted solutions or pictorial elucidations, painfully enigmatical and perplexed. Thus, ‘The Three Holy Children in the Fiery Furnace’ (45), are at once childish and sublime; pretty as small dolls, yet significant as prophecies. The artist rises to a higher sphere of thought in ‘The Sleepers, and One that keepeth Watch’ (625).
"The Royal Academy." The Art-Journal, 1 June 1870: 161-172.
Somewhat of this monotone of sentiment usually afflicts the figures with which Mr. SIMEON SOLOMON peoples his pictorial compositions. 'A Youth relating Tales to Ladies' (77), is, for example, alarmingly lackadaisacal. Certainly these "tales" could not have sparked with wit, they do not provoke merriment. Mr. Solomon and Mr. Leslie need tonics, possibly even a course of bitters might be of service to their constitutions and compositions. (page 163, column 1)
"Dudley Gallery. Fourth Winter Exhibition." The Art-Journal, 1 December 1870: 373.
Mr. Simeon Solomon also must find that nature puts him out: ‘The Evening Hymn’ (56) is non-natural: such a figure could not sustain life for four and twenty hours, and so this sadly-stricken creature sighs out his soul, and looks suicidal. Mr. Armstrong’s ‘Lady with a Cat’ (205) might play second in Mr. Solomon’s ‘Evening Hymn,’ and the cat could join in the
Certainly the gallery contains remarkable, not to say abnormal and aberrant, works... Also among the aberrant eccentricities of genius must be reckoned the productions of Simeon Solomon. ‘Love in Oblivion’ is suggestive to the imagination of more than paint can render, or the catalogue explain. Mystery looks out from the whole picture; a glory of colour shines from the canvas. There is often in the works of Mr. Solomon, however unsatisfactory they may be, somewhat of prophetic burden and poetic song, as in old Hebrew legends.
"The Fourth General Exhibition of Water-colour Drawings. Dudley Gallery." The Art-Journal, 1 March 1868: 45.
Eccentricity has always distinguished the Dudley Gallery. And what can be more singular and abnormal than the productions—clever withal—of Simeon Solomon, Spencer Stanhope, C. P. Slocombe, C. Rossiter, A. B. Donaldson, and H. E. Wooldridge? Solomon is a genius of eccentricity, he can do nothing like other people, and in being exclusively like himself, he becomes unlike to nature. As for choice of subject, most religions of the world have struck by turns the painter’s fantastic and splendour-loving fancy. On the present occasion ‘Bacchus,’ ‘A Patriarch of the Eastern Church,’ and ‘Heliogabalus, High Priest of the Sun,’ obtain from the painter about equal favour, whether as to ritual, robes, or anatomies. The latter, however, would not be recognized by the College of Surgeons. ‘Bacchus’ is a sentimentalist of rather weak constitution; he drinks mead, possibly sugar and water, certainly not wine. The idea is that the young fellow is the inspirer of Art and Poetry, the beloved of the Muses; and the painter, it must be confessed, has thrown over his work a certain aroma of poetry and colour. The background is in scale and management false, yet on the whole the picture possesses, as we have said, unmistakable signs of genius, only run a little mad. ... Opposed to the classic is the mediaeval; each is found in ultra form in the Dudley Gallery. Indeed, there are artists, such, for example, as Simeon Solomon, who are divided equally between the two opinions, and thus on either horn of the dilemma they fall far short of nature. ... The works of Miss Solomon are always clever and frequently singular; ‘Memories’ recall, indeed, past memories of the lady’s pictures in intensity of colour, earnest striving for a meaning, and general eccentricity of treatment.
"Dudley Gallery. Cabinet Pictures in Oils. The Second Winter Exhibition." The Art-Journal, 1 December 1868: 280.
’A Study from Nature,’ by Miss Solomon, is brilliant for light, colour, and transparency; we do not often in these days encounter a more felicitous attempt at flesh-painting. ‘A Roman Lady,’ by Simeon Solomon, is not of the artist’s best.
"Dudley Gallery. Fifth General Exhibition of Drawings." The Art-Journal, 1 March 1869: 81.
The works which next challenge notice are the contributions of Mr. Simeon Solomon, who has seldom shown in so great brilliance or - singularity. The artist stands alone, although signs appear of a new and rising school in which he might shine as chief. ‘Sacramentum Amoris’ is perhaps the best example of one of the painter’s many manners, that of the classic warmed by colour and softened by romance. The drawing and anatomy are more than usually careful, though the forms still want firmness of articulation, as for example at the knee-joint. Robert Bateman, like Simeon Solomon, divides his affections between the graceful idealism of the classic, and the hard singularity of mediaevalism.
"The Royal Academy. The One Hundred and First Exhibition. Second Notice." The Art-Journal, 1 July 1869: 201.
... ‘The Toilette of a Roman Lady’ (787), by Simeon Solomon. The last work should have obtained a better place than in a corner above the line. ... Again, wholly distinct in style from any of the three classic works just mentioned [Watts’s Orpheus & Eurydice, Leighton’s Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon, and A. Moore’s A Venus] comes ‘The Toilette of a Roman Lady’ (787), by Mr. Simeon Solomon. This remarkable composition, unlike the figures of Mr. Moore and Mr. Leighton, evinces joy and rapture in colour; the romance of modern and middle-age Art has infused warm tone, and swelling exuberant form, into the severity of the classic. Mr. Solomon has evidently received as a suggestion to his picture certain well-known mural paintings of Pompeii; we recognise analogous types even to the full, thick, Roman throat. The style is somewhat decorative, and pertains to periods of decadence; nevertheless, this is one of the artist’s very best efforts; it has more power and firmness than drawings recently exhibited in the Dudley Gallery. Close by hangs a refined subtle work, distinguished by colour, ‘Helena and Hermia’ (785), by Miss R. Solomon; the manner of brother and sister naturally is not wholly unlike.
"The London Art Season." Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, August 1869: 220-239.
"The Toilette of a Roman Lady," by Mr Simeon Solomon, naturally allies itself with the classic school of Roman painting as handed down to our times in the mural decorations of Pompeii. We think it a pity, however, that an artist should emulate a style of decadence. The plea for the revival of the classic is, that it leads back to periods which, untainted by decay, remain unalterable standards of perfection for all time. Yet evidently Mr Solomon has, like other of our artists, made an effort to impart to his composition the allurement of romance and the colour of Venice. It is only, as already hinted, by some such device that antique styles can commend themselves to modern tastes. (page 224, column 2)
"The Dudley Gallery. The Third Winter Exhibition." The Art-Journal, 1 December 1869: 369.
... [T]he visitor will at once recognize valuable contributions from G. F. Watts, R.A.; G. D. Leslie, A.R.A.; W. F. Yeames, A.R.A.; S. Solomon, A. B. Donaldson, and F. Talfourd. ... Yet does this winter exhibition usually make itself remarkable for a class of works seldom seen in equal force elsewhere. In the present season, for example, there are pictures by Simeon Solomon, ... which it is needful everyone should see who would understand the existing and more abnormal phases of our English school. Mr. Solomon exhibits a characteristic specimen of his latest manner, ‘The Bride, the Bridegroom, and Friend of the Bridegroom’ — eminently mystic and unintelligible, yet almost Eastern in the harmony of its colouring, and essentially classic in its type of beauty. The figures, however, want strength, and the sentiment is tinctured by affectation.
"Dudley Gallery. Sixth General Exhibition of Drawings." The Art-Journal, 1 March 1870: 87.
These Dudley people are proverbially peculiar. Thus it would be hard to find anywhere talent associated with greater eccentricity than in the clever, yet abnormal, creations of Walter Crane, Robert Bateman, and Simeon Solomon... . The pictures of Simeon Solomon present like interesting problems, which whether problems in poetry, philosophy, or Art, remain, it must be confessed, after these attempted solutions or pictorial elucidations, painfully enigmatical and perplexed. Thus, ‘The Three Holy Children in the Fiery Furnace’ (45), are at once childish and sublime; pretty as small dolls, yet significant as prophecies. The artist rises to a higher sphere of thought in ‘The Sleepers, and One that keepeth Watch’ (625).
"The Royal Academy." The Art-Journal, 1 June 1870: 161-172.
Somewhat of this monotone of sentiment usually afflicts the figures with which Mr. SIMEON SOLOMON peoples his pictorial compositions. 'A Youth relating Tales to Ladies' (77), is, for example, alarmingly lackadaisacal. Certainly these "tales" could not have sparked with wit, they do not provoke merriment. Mr. Solomon and Mr. Leslie need tonics, possibly even a course of bitters might be of service to their constitutions and compositions. (page 163, column 1)
"Dudley Gallery. Fourth Winter Exhibition." The Art-Journal, 1 December 1870: 373.
Mr. Simeon Solomon also must find that nature puts him out: ‘The Evening Hymn’ (56) is non-natural: such a figure could not sustain life for four and twenty hours, and so this sadly-stricken creature sighs out his soul, and looks suicidal. Mr. Armstrong’s ‘Lady with a Cat’ (205) might play second in Mr. Solomon’s ‘Evening Hymn,’ and the cat could join in the