The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1889-08-15
HISTORIC ORNAMENT.
Why Drawing Teachers Should Teach His
tOric Ornament.

tOric Ornament.
BY w. T. Harris, LII. d.
The cause of industrial drawing is
in the ascendant, and as the one gen
eral branch of industrial training it
may justly claim its prominent place.
In American arts and manufactures
there is abundant ingenuity and tech
nical skill. 1t is the lack of aesthetic
taste which prevents American manu-
features from making their way broad
in competition with the rival com
modities of France and Great Britain.
The old maxim, "De gustitus non est
disputandum," is not true as an ETH
cal mandate nor as dictate of prac-
teal common sense.
Works of art and ornament that
shall command the markets of the
world must pay their respects to the
standard of the beautiful set up by the
Greeks. Other standards may win a
temporary vogue in this or that pro-
vince, but they will not hold their own
in different hooks nor in many pro-
vinces of the world market at any one
time. The reason for this has been
often demonstrated in works on the
philosophy Of art, the Greek nation
atty alone among all historic peoples
made religion of the beautiful, and
their definition of the beautiful may
be expressed in our language as the
representation of freedom in material
forms. lnanimatc matter is caused
to assume the form of living body; it
is made to conform to some inner pur-
pose or design, rs though soul dwclt
IN 1T and used this body of matter for
the expression of its designs and the
attainment of its purposes.
The appearance. of mathematical
regularity and symmetry is the lowest
order of the beautiful beauty that
soon becomes tiresomc to the spccta-
TOR In the teaching of drawing
throughout the country there is evil
IDENTIFY too much stress laid upon the
two lower steps in art-the production
OF regularityand symmetry. 1t should
pass through these steps only on the
way to the third stcp-the expression
of harmony. Harmony alone is some
thing above the laws of regularity and
symmetry, is the step that expresses
the Greek standard. 1t alone ex-
presses freedom. Harmony uses regu-
larity and symmetry, and subordinates |
them to the expression of purpose |
and design. 1t makes unity of its
ornament by making all its parts
show an adaptation to the purpose of
the soul within the work of art For the
artist endows matter with soul. Just |
as the poet personifies and animates
nature, so the artist personifies wood |
and mineral substances, and makes
them take on the semblance of life
and free movement undertaken for the
accomplishment of purposes Around
vessel made of potter's clay, or wood,
or metal, there coils vine, choosing
its path upwards toward the light, but
stopping at intervals more or less ca
PRECIOUS to expand into symmetrical
leaves, blossoms and fruit.
Around vase are represented
groups of joyful youth in action or in
repOse-a glimpse of the eternal
springtime of life. The vase itself in
its contours spurns the simple geo.
metric forms of the cube, the cylinder,
or the globe, and scars away from
these as though moved by vital i'm
pulse from within to produce the oval
or primitive life form-the curve that
continually breaks away from abstract
conformity to law or constant
measure, such as is found in
geometric shapes like the
circle or ellipse. Not content
with this in the form of repose it adds
oval to oval antithetically. 1t plays
with lower forms in order to express
its perfect freedom and spontaneity.
1t moves outward on an oval, and
then inward again as though it pro
posed to close its curve and complete
its egg form, but changing its purpose
It expands again in reversed oval
II then stops suddenly and girds itself
IS though with some external cincture.