The sun., 1907-12-10

slerI-Vanl.- oncs spoke Of the "cosy sub
Unity Of RaphasI's -Viaion Of EDekief;
one might paraphrase the epigrAm BY de-
scribinR the pictures OF Velasques az boxed
In eternities. Dostoievsky knew such
sensation when ne wrote Of "a species OF
eternity within the space OF a square foot
But there are many connoieseurs who ind
evidences Of profounder and more naive
faith in the angular loveliness of the Flemish
Prinitives than in all the religious art OF
Italy or Spain.
~Tbe study OF art" asserts Mr.. Berenson.
-as distinct from art Sancying and from the
biography OF artists. should be In the hrst
place a study OF specific ideas embodied
in works OF art This principle he con-
stantly puts in practice OF the most felic-
itous kind. Felicitous is the word that best
describes not alone his prose style. but also
his critical temper. The pedantic pose Is
repugnant 20 his bright. elastic nature.
His four books on Italian Renaissance are
the best corrective Of Rushin's rhapsodies
that we have read. And while he is a little
given TO formulas his reasons are In the
main excellent, Such a high ideal OF art
in general as he strives for is apt to be
'isooncerting to the sentimentalists, 20 the
prettifers. to the senSualists. For the
greater public art must be a sweetmeats
taste. For the average writer art Is
theme with variations.
But Mr.. Berenson is almost fiercely pos
sessed by his passion. Urbane he is when
writing about the views OF other men.
wholly impassioned when descanting upon
his beloved Italians What could be more
logically severe than this: For no art can
hope to become classic that has not been
archaic first. The distinction between ar
chastic imitation and archaic reconstrpc-
ton, simple as it is. must be clearly borne
in mind. An art that is merely adopting
ready made models handed down from an
earlier time Is archaistic. while an art that
is going through the process Of learning 70
construct figures and discover the attitudes
requiredforthe presentation Of oftactilevalues
is archaic. There is. for instance.
little OF the archaic in most Egyptian art
and as little in Aztec carvings or Alaskan
totem poles. On the contrary, a painter
still among us. Degas. may boast of being
archaic" Sudden and gratifying inference!
His conclusion is. as may be we'll imagined.
in the mode pessimistic. Vitality will
reappear only when artists recognize that
the types. shapes. attitudes and arrange
ments produced in the course Of evolution
are no more TO be used man spent cartridges
and that the only hope Of resurrection lies
in the disappearance of that facility which
is in essence an enslaving habit Of visual
izing conventionally and of executing by
rote. Then artists shall again attain tactile
values and movement by observing the
corporeal significance OF objects and not
their ready made aspects which were ali
that the realists like Caravaggio cared
about. Italy has failed to produce
a single great artist" in the last three and
a half centuries he maintains. How true!
Yet the Dutch and English and French
realsts created new world. No one now
adays may deny the Innocence of the eye"
10 the great impressionists. Germany
wrested from Italy the supremacy in music,
and the Frenchmen OF 1880 and 1857 declared
war upon the degenerate Italianate spirit
that had so long strangled newer. fresher
vision. But what modern art owes Italy
may be fully realized by reading Bernard
Berenson's four books on the Painters Of
the Renaissance.