The Central Nevadan. [volume] (Battle Mountain, Nev.) 1885-1907, 1888-11-08
The susie In Art.

Athens. were 50 accustomed to the
spectacle of "the human form divine,
clad in the scantiest of drape,y, that
figures created by the sculptor or the
painter aroused no emotion except that
of artistic admiration or its reverse.
Wives and daughters Of Enahshmen
in India are somewhat shocked at first
by the spare clothing Of native nindoo
servants, but, as in the case of vice,
familiarity hegeis indifference, ana
members Of what is considered su-
perior race attach no more Importance
to the dress or undress Of Hindoo
servant than it bestoas upon the
nah edness OF some lower animal. But
students IN every country have oppor
tunities for becoming familiar with the
naked human figure, in Their studios at
least, and il is probable that such per-
sons have been able to discard, in
some oegree, the prejudices entaiied
by earlier training. The average
American boy on girl is not brought
up IN IA hot hnuse ur an a.flst s studio.
aud from the first moment that infant
eyes open upon "A world of wonder and
delight they observe that "Plato's
man the hiped without wings is
apparently as much indebted To the
tailr or mliliner 40 to what in ma
tarer years they learn t, recognize as
nature Thus elmate and geography
enter largely into our conceptions Of
moral and artistic propricty, but there
is another element which exercises
greater influence upon the modes of
though, of modern society Whether
for good or evil We do not regard life
from the same point Of view as that
from which the contemporaries ot
Phidias looked upon il; Apart alto
geiher from merely climatic irna
ences. our atli ude toward art and
nature differs from that Of earlier
Athens in hat We have some sem
blance # "a mora. idea" which had
no existence among the brilliant and
happy oilers Who laughed their joyous
lives away amid the ''sumrher isies OF
Eden lying III tiaik purple spheres of
sea ~ Matthew Arnold has we'll
observed, It Is fortunate for the world
that juices eario before Greece IN the
order national d,,qpments, and that
the Roman idea If duty sureeeled
and snpplanied the ''cnlture and
beauty" Of Hellas. The characteristic
Institutions nf the United States owe
u.a,e to the legislation of Noses, the
Sermon on the Mount, and Institutes
uf Jusiinien ,lian I" the esthe,ie iu!lu.
ences If Gfeece. We may iao,,iiv, re.
adjust, or repuiiaic certain principles
Of Roman Jurisprudence, bat we are
unable by any effort OF will to breaa
With the associations and traditions OF
twenty centuries Of Christianity
"Judea, sail Goethe, ''has gwen US
the moral idea. aud the world ean
never afford to let that great idea
perish. The main object IT pictorial
ART is IT, afford pleasure. The artist
has the entire world of animate aud
lnanlmaie nature from which To select
his subjects. The American people
have wide circle OF interests, and
are fully alive to the splendor and
paihos of the world around them.
They never tire Of mountains, seas,
sunsets, green fields, grand actions,
historic groupings, high effort. heroic
suffering, and ali the countless details
of palace or of ce,tage life. They alsn
like to gaze at brave men and beautiful
women. hut as rule, they prefer to
see Them comfortably and decertly
elsthpd Chicaan Evaninef Inurnal