The Minneapolis journal., 1904-08-22
THE SCULPTOR AS THINKER
What
To Succeed, He Must Know W


To Succeed, He Must Know What
People Are About.
VIM. Ordway Partridge In the Forum.
stand, first of all, his point Of depar-
ture He must have thought out his
own relation to his time and people.
Above all, he must master the gram
mar Of the language which ne at
tempts to speak. If he lacks thousht
and mastery of technique, what pos
sible hope can he have of executing
aught else but the pleasing, fanciful
work Of the moment? 1t is an al
together different matter to achleVe
something which impresses the world
with the idea that art Is thought,
crystallized into permanent form.
When the young sculptor once be-
comes conscious Of the possession of
technical facility, it requires great
| strength of character on his part to
enable him to curb his impatience and
to make technique wait upon thought.
The almost fatal thumb facility which
one acquires in the schools Of Paris
Is often mistaken for genius. But in
sculpture, as in the other arts,
thought is always supreme. NO
amount of cleverness or superficial
handling will atone for the lack of a
proper. understanding Of the
sculptor's meter and of it's fixed limt-
tations. Therefore, the mere techn1-
can finds himself at a loss for ideas
when called upon to give expression
to the yearning Of his people or to
, some artistic need that they feel; and
: the consequence is that he is COM
PEELED to fall back on the traditional
| methods Of men who were often as
barren of artistic conceptions" as him
. self Hence, the hopeless array OF
9 pitiful statues in our public streets
and parks-works that have no
) artistic reason for existence. How
few are the men who understand
!; what their people are about. How
! few approach the main stream OF the
. peoples desire!
) What we need in sculpture, as in
e the other arts, is, first of ALL think
ers and these must be possessed OF
sufficient technique to make their
conception comprehensive to the
: people; otherwise their thought will
;. resolve itself into a mere abstraction
He who runs may read, and he who
: thinks must find sufficient to thinh
|. about as he fingers before a statue OF
: passes it day by day. There is a say
ing In vogue in Paris which defines
my meaning in part, namely, thai
most men work for the salon rather
!, than for art. They cultivate a species
. | Of sculpture which is characterized by
e a theatrical quality and which cries
9 out at you as you pass because OF
. some contortion Of form, instead Of
I'LL iSSSluS you Will a. oSlioS " AA~'A
monious beauty. The new movemen
n in sculpture, which is revealed in g
h measure by the breaking away Of {
l. few men from the National society II
the attempt to reconstruct that or
: ganization, if possible, implies, first O.
:; all, an expression of dissatisfaction
): with traditional methods. 1t is only
E a phase of a general upheaval that i:
:: passing over this land Of the future
: akin to the movement of the social
ist in other spheres Of artistic activity
= The poets have found their exponen
L. in Edward Markham, whose verses OF
g. 1.-The Man With the Hoe reflect thi
sentiment. The movement signifies j;
D noble discomfort with accepted idea
o. and with the names of men who hav
: too often been used to conjure with
: We are tired Of living in strict ac
cordance with types associated witt
- history and story.