New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
AESTHETIC CRITICISM.


Ing. Pen, Pencil and Poison. The Critic as Artist;
The Truth of Masks 12mo, PIP. 25s. Dodd' Mead
Co.
There is certainly much humor in Mr.. oscar Wilde
Formerly he so conducted himself to become the
cause Of wit in Others Now. his salad days being at
an end he Is bent upon demonstrating that he is WHY
In himself. II is true that the methods he ehlPoSS -
not original and that il has been used oeioio ~
writers not conspicuous for intelligence i"o -
consists in making believe 10 take serious siou,
soalns, all accented principes The follower OF this
plan gravely denounccS every Principe s's'eH, VI
Thought rule of conduct and literary ana arusuo No
which has commended Itself to men. ne "'' ~,
In paradox He takes especial dehsnV III "'o
superiority for ideas which 10 the mslOilOy nu0 'PP
incredibly silly or merely monstrons Az oo'Voni MS
r,,o. e NO, particularly lofty, though his attitude Is
scon,pl ond natronizing in the extreme. Lolnhg on
no.,.hoard olympus he delivers judgment upon inc
frauties NJ mankind Now TO do thls KING Vi
,,pc IN is 10 make the writer tresomeB RIDICULOUS ;
hut 10 do it we'll is TO enhance the gaSeV Oh 'c ia
en- and IL will have be admitted that Mr. "lioe
80 80 n do IL very well indeed. lie has in
- y.v pieked up a style which is really fine in It's
,yav and which Is peculiarly fitted to be the VeihOie
=, ench vapa,ies as are presented in this volume
lie T. epigammatic, too and not few oil MS epsrdis
are nncommonly neat. while some are brilliant
The essays and dialogues, into which forms MS
a,o,on,iorss are thrown treat mainly of art and
critciSm There Is an interesting paper on wayne
wright tie artist forger and murderer, ana curious
naper on The Truth of Masks; but the graVameh {"
the book is the authors views, or alleged views VI
the subjects first mentioned. The Decay oil Lying
Is as might have been supposed, lament ana criu-
cism combined. Mr. Wilde poses as regrcttlng ble
decline of that fine spirit Of mendacty which formerly
made the world a much pleasanter place TO dwell H.
A hateful prediction for facts has grown up. Even
,t.,otors ar, forgetting how TO lc They
never rise beyond the level OF Misrepresentation, ana
actually condescend prove, to discuss, TO argue
fNom he
with his frank fearless statements, his superb IRE
sponsbility his healthy natural dsdain of proof OF
any kind OF the bar Mr. Wide tmnks h'to
better "The mantle of the Sophists has fallen upon
Its members Their fegned ardors and unreal rhetoric
are delightful They can make the worse appear
the better cause as though they were fresh from Leon
line schools. and have been known to win from re
Iuctant inries triumphant verdicts of acQutal for
their clients even when those clients, often hap
pens were clearly and Enthusiastically innocent" Also,
Newspapers. even, have degenerated. Thcy may
now be absolutely relied upon One feels 1t as one
wades through their columns II Is always inc ui
readable that occurs"
But IL is living in art that Mr. Wilde chiefly pleads
.or through the mouth of Vivian, who declares that
N modern days the fashion Of lying has almost fallen
INTO disrepute. Many young man starts In HE WIFI
a natirnl gift for exaggeraton which, if nurtured IN
congenia and sympathetic surroundings, or by the
imitation of the best models might grow into something
really great and wonderful But rule he comes 10
nothing. He either falls into careless habits OF &C
ruracy or takes equenng the society OF the aged
and the well-informed Both things are equally 1atal
10 his Imagination. and In short time he develops
morbid and unhealthy faculty Of ruthteiling, mas no
hesitation in contradCting people who are much
Younger than himself, and often ends by writing novels
which are so like life that can possibly beneVe
IN their probability" Against this form OF degeneracy
the essayis lifts up his voice. and after bringing railing
accusations upon most of the better known writer's Oh
fiction OF the day, lie has this to say OF America fac
he contends are vulgarizing mankind. 1.-The crude
rommercalism of America its materalizing spirit It's
Indifference 10 the poetic side of things, and It's lack OF
imagination and Of high unattainabe ideals, are
entirely due to that country having adopted for us
national hero a who. according 70 his own con
lesson was incapable of telling lie, and 1t Is not too
much TO say that the story of George Washington and
the cherry tree has done more harm, and in shorter
space OF time than any other moral tale in the whole
Of literature"
According TO Mr.. Wilde 1t is a mistake to suppose
that art follows nature On the contrary, ii Is nature
that follows art The argument whereby this thesis
is maintained is both ingenious and amusing ard In
deed the whole dialogue will be found highly enter
tanning and refreshlngly extravagant Perhaps. how
ever the two dialogues The Critic as Artist VIII
most interest those who appreciate such whimsical
literature, and they may certainly be commended TO
the prayerfu consideration Of those impatient and not
very logical authors who fret openly at the very
existence OF criticism Mr.. Wilde tells them that
the Office of the critic is higher than that Of the artist
that it is also the difficult that it is much easier
10 make a thing than to discuss it, that the author
really writes only TO provide n motive for
the critic; and that the highest art is
.rtcism Moreover. these hcNtica positions are
defended with equal audacty and craft that authors
deficient on tho of humOr and its appreciation
might, it is easy to imagine, take the discussion IN
dudgeon, aad grow angry over it. Tame criticism
that is aesthetic criicism-is we are told "bOth
.p1i rdp &c iudeT
1.-THE critic occupies the relation to the work Of
art that he criicses the artist docs TO the visible
world form and color. the world Of passion
and Of thought. He does not require for the
perfection of his art the finest materials. Anything
will serve his purpose" Criticism is creative, be-
cause il works with materials, and puts them into a
form that is at once new and delightful. What more
can one say of poetry Indeed would call criticism
a creation within creation. For just as the great
artists from Homer and Aeschylus down TO Shakes pcac
and Keats did go directly 20 life for their subject
matter but sought for ii in myth and legend and
ancient tale, so the critic deals with materials that
others have, it purified for him, and to which
Imagination form and color have been already added.
Nay more would say that the highest criticism, being
the purest form Of personal impression, is In its way
more creative than creation, it has least reference
to any standard external ITSELF and is in fact its
own for existing and as the Greeks would put
It, In itself and TO itself an end"
OF course these citations not to be regarded
sufficiently indicating the method of the argu-
ment which is copiously and often beautifully illus
traed In passages which, whether they be
senscal, are very delightful reading, and withal
scholarly. In the elaboration OF his scheme, however
the author to the conclusion that contemplation
is the only worth seeking. and he thus identifies
himself aesthetically with Hindu philosophy and with
that Of Schopcnhauer. The whole book is a defiance
and tour de force" and in confessng that really
did not think Mr.. Oscar Wilde had il in him to produce
so well-wrOught and ingenious volume We have not
the least idea of Gepreciang his work, only let us
hope We are right in assuming that his purpose was
not serious. As jest his dialogue is admirable, but
viewed in other light the judgment upon IL would
have to undergo rather radical revision.
Nrm 11nhllrntinus