Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-08-25
THE REACTION HAS STARTED.

THE REACTION HAS STAHIED'
To the last No. OF the Sewanee Re-
view G.. y. Rose contributes an article
entitled "a plea for Sanity in Art Criti-
clsm." which contains some striking
thoughts on the fadism OF the DAY MI
Rose scores "art, for art sake as MUS
trated in bald realism. and the mon
strosities that any one who can acquire
dexterity can execute. He does not,
however. ignore realism, for he truly says
"tbe ideal to be Of any value
must be based firmly upon the real
and fortihes the contention by citing the
fact that when the Greeks and the
Italians OF the Renaissance mad fairly
mastered the real, they did not pause
moment but launched forth into the
bright realm OF the ideal" His plea Is
for O combination Of the two-for art,
for the sake Of that art which, while
true TO nature, is something beyond mere
reproduction Of form and color, and the
working up of startling effects. He
would clothe the body Of realism in the
spirit OF art.
Mr.. Rose both praises and criticises
Ruskin The great English critic, he
says, "has done much for the cause OF
art. Few persons amongst English
speaking races cared anything about II
when he reused them with the trumpet
peal OF his marvellous eloquence, and the
impulse that he gave has grown and
grown until every magazine Is con-
strained. I'm order to satisfy the public
demand, to have an article upon art In
every issue But his judgments were
strangely faulty" And yet Ruskin's
definition Of art would seem to harmo-
nize with Mr.. Roses. Says Ruskln:
Fine art is that in which the hand,
the head and the heart 80 together.
Greatness of art consists, first, in earnest
and intense Selling of natural facts;
then. the ordering these facts by
strength of human intellect, so as TO
make them, for all who look upon them,
10 the utmost serviceable, memorable,
and beautiful And thus great art is
nothing else than the type OF strong
and noble life, for. as the ignoble person
in the dealing with all that occurs IN
the world about him, sees nothing
clearly-looks nothing firmly in the face,
and then allows himself to be swept
away by the torrent and memorable force
Of the things that he would not foresee
and could not understand so the noble
person, looking the facts of the world
full in the face and fathoming them with
deep faculty, then deals with them, in
unalarmed intelligence and unhurried
strength and becomes, with his human
intellect and will, no unconscious nor In
significant agent i'm communicating their
good and restraining their evil"
The general tenor of Mr.. Roses article
may be well Judged from the following:
"Just at present art seems to be simply
drifting. Impressionism appears TO be
still having considerable vogue, par
ticularly in America, which always imi-
tates Partisan fads If you go to the
salon you will see a great deal of real
ism, some of it dull and commonplace,
some of il brutal, some of it charming.
You will see also a good deal of washed
out, shadowy idealism, that is little bet
ter than dreams of pictures. You Will
find few pictures in which the ideal is
realized and made tangible as in the
productions of the greatest masters"
Mr.. Rose says further, that "art fol-
lows literature, for it is easier TO express
new ideas in words than to embody them
i'm living forms, and as literature is now
beating about in an aimless manner,
vainly seeking the true path that will
lead to "a higher development, art is do
ing the same" This is true and timely.
And of the two great divisions Of art.
sculpture seems to be beating about
more aimlessly than painting. Architec-
ture also seems to be drifting. But
the reaction is coming. Indeed, it has
started. Already some Of the most noto-
rious fads in the way of recent litera-
ture are being forgotten; in late years
houses have been built that their owners
would raze if they could afford to do
so; a spirit of revolt against competition
for sculpture-a fruitful cause of debase-
ment of the sculptor's arts abroad,
and there are signs Of a sanity in art
criticism that would turn realism, pure
and simple, TO the wall. The cheapness
and commences Of art, so-called and
the tremendous rush of mediocre writer's
into the magazines of the day and TO
book-making, are having wonderful
effect in stimulating public appreciation
of real art and really meritorious litera-
ture.