New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-04-12

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Us circle Of Greek philosophers profoundly lis
tea ing 10 the accents Of Socrats AID Plato, sld
of the secOId sort, greater part Of the Renais-
sance art aud nearly the whole Of the French under
the Louises and during tie Revolution On the
other hsnd If the True Ideal there are three
kinds; fret the Purist which seeks lofty aud serene
spiritual expression q. in he pictures Of Fies0le;
second, the Naturalis' which accepts life as it is;
| aud third, the Grotesque. which is the harmless
play of the imag nation. Among the, g Mr Ruskin
| designates Natural IdealIsm tie central aud
best, because taking both the good and evil Of the
world. it endeavOrs to hsrmOnize them ia unity;
Pursm is apt to affect the good exclusively and
| get untrue, sasmuch as human life is no! all good
while Grotesquism, having an affinity for exclusive
evil into the waDton, terrible aid cspricou.;
but Naturalism is the proper heatbful mean,
which idealizes Nature it is, aud not as we fancy
it ought to be The best and truest Art therefore,
| is Nature treated in certain manner by the hu-
man mind.
All which may be very well-and ia granily e1
pounded by Ruskn-but it seems 70 us that it
teaches very little. and is not very scientifically
stated. Everybody knows that Art is Nature
passed through the aembic of the mind; but what
everybody does not know and yet wishes to know
H. what Nature means in this connection and what
that peculiar alchemy of mind is By which it is
transformed. "Imitote Nature" Copy Nature"
"Betrue to Nature, cry out the critics. and yet the
very point and difficulty is to find out in what man
ner and how fa- you TO initiate Nature and
what parts of il are TO be Initiated. litera
transcript of external Nature in any art, it is ad
mitted on all hands, is offensive. Portraits like
those of Denner, which give every crack and hair
Of the skin, are specimens Of Dexterity, not Of
Art. Yet portrait Of the human face which
should not resemble the human face woald be an
absurdty But where is the line of distinction be-
tween literal copy and genuine picture to be
drawn Or, Sgain, in those arts which, as wholes.
seem to be perfected as they are removed from any
of the actual forms of external Nature, such as
Architecture and Music-what is their precise re-
ation to Naturei 1t is often said that Gothic
cathedral is development Of grove of trees, aud
musical composition the development OF chorus
of brds but development must be according to
some law or idea-and whence in these cases is
that law or idea drawni From external Nature
Pray tell us in what part of il : From the mind
it.elf!-then what becomes Of your doctrine about
copying Nature, Besides, there are lines and
forms and colors and sounds in Nature which are
anything but agreeabe-wkch are in fact repul-
sive--and how and when are these to be inflated
Mr.. Ruskin has labOriously battled with this
difficulty, in all his books and is compelled at last
to take refuge in "InspiratiOn." Toe great artist
he says, is the inspired genius who discerns intu
lively what he wants to do, and does it, he sees
the relation of his thought feeling TO Nature at
once and produces the result without thinking of
the why and wherefore In other words his oon-
ception and Nature are perfectly at one, and the
very mark of his genius is that no looks thus in
stnctively into the heart of Nature, grasps 1t, aud
gives it artistic form. But is not this singular
conclusion for one who contends that the rules OF
art are as ineligible the laws Of chemistry, and
who oil his life long has berated some OF the
worlds acknowledged geniuses for their violence
done to Nature There is no end to the reproaches
be has heaped on Claude, Poussin, and the modern
landscapists because Of their departures from Ma
ture and yet if they should plead their 'inspira-
ton" in def nse, what could Mr.. Ruskin say? BY
what standard out of themselves could they be
condemned?
Now, there are great truths in these doctrines OF
the imitation of Nature and the inspiration OF
genius, but they are truths which involve pro
found philosophy Of the whole subject of Art. We
cannot, of course, enter upon subject requiring
volumes instead of columns for its proper elucida-
ton in this place; but we may suggest word or
two The three grand constituents Of every work
of Art are: the purpose or feeling by which 1t Is
inspired, and which may DO called its life or soul;
the conception or intellectual treatment OF 1t,
which is its form; and the actual material eXecu-
ton or effect But the soul or life of it is OBJ
yiously the main thing out of which the form
should grow, as any other organization grows out
of its indwelling principle, while the effect should
be the mere sensible representation Of the form.
The true aim Of the Artist, therefore, is neither
the Ideal nor the Real in itself, but this organic
vitality BY which the Ideal and the Real are made
one-a sef.subsistent and complete whole. And
the true artist is he who nstinctvey perceives bis
objects in this triple unity, or, in other words,
whose feelings operating instantly through the in
tellect, take beautiful natural shape. He uses
Nature because he discovers that every part of Ma
ture is symbolica Of some motion of the soul-that
it is language, and that the same divine spirit
which breathes into him his affections and thoughts
has also passed through him to the outward world
to be condensed, if we may use the term, in cor
responding images. Nature, in all its varieties
and depths, is the emblem of the Spirit. The man
of genius is be who reads her mystic sigrs; and he