Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1911-04-28
MODERN Painting and It's Relation to
the Old Masters"

me lolloWlng is the lecture given
by Mr.. Boynton of Spokane at the
exhibit ofpaintings at the college last
week:
The fact that you are here tonight
means that you are somewhat inter-
ested in pictures and | suppose that
you have nearly all pried into pic
lures and into books that have been
written about them. You have all
no doubt discovered pictures that
you were pleased with and others
you tried to convince yourselves YOU
liked because of something someone
has written and because they are ac-
cepted as classical since time and
passing generations have set their ap-
prevail on them. And some more re-
cent and quite modern productions
you were in doubt about since there
is no test of time by which they are
proven. Now with the old masters
the good has survived and time has
Weeded out most of the bad and we
are on safer ground when we accept
them, but because the good and the
bad are still before us and in great
variety in the moss of contemporary
work we are sometimes bewildered
and know not what to admire unless
Wehave a standard that is both broad
and eXacting and even then we must
proceed with great caution.
But even more bewildering is the
problem of reconciling the two as
having much in common, and the
first impression is of the contrast
they present, shall endeavor to
point out the analogy, the logical
growth which to me is evident.
shall discuss these things from
my own viewpoint and in the terms
of the craft, the terms applicable to
color and form, simply as color and
form.
For although to you and to the
artists audience generally, there
may be many other things in a pic
ture and you are pleased and enter
tanned by fancy allegory to the artist,
but there is nothing of so much i'm
portance as color and form And
he eXerts himself a little with fancy
allegory and sentiment only to be-
guile you to a feast of color and form
which is his poetry.
should not tell you anything you
would benefit by or give you any
real insight into pictures if | did not
begin at the beginning In the
first place | think most people get a
knowledge of pictures or sort of
stock of art conversation about them
out of books about pictures. But
the people who write lengthy discus
sions on art are making literature
(Which may be very good literature)
out of the subject or incident which
the painter has chosen which served
! him only to furnish symbols for mas
| terly arrangement. To the writer
the all important thing is the por-
traying Of the incident so that if a
| few terms from the accepted technical
vocabulary of art were omitted the
work which began as description of
| a picture or criticism becomes a
| first-class fable or allegory or dis
sertatiOn on morals or religion of his
own creation, based on the same
theme the artist has used. But the
real poetry of the artistic quote
/ Mr.. Whistler: The marvel
GUS invention that shall have put
form color into such perfect harmony
that eXquisiteness is the result, is
quite lost on him. and gets barely a
/ few lines of mention at the end of a
| long article. Now all these things
may be observable in a picture and
| the imagination may be carried to
any point but they contribute moth
/ ing to the judgment of good and bad
in painting, for good and bad in
4 ptiiliIih lC bCliil thai apply W Tie
artist first to contuor and form, to
tone and design.
Poetry fancy and allegory contri-
butte nothing to dignity of design to
the grace of line and the music of
color and tone. One has but to
study Japanese art to discover this
Now painting is craft just as the
making of beautiful rugs or of jewel
ry is a craft and in just the same
sense. The old Italians recognized
/ it as such and a pupil served an APP
premiership in masters studio as
he did in a goldsmith's shop. Con-
| sequently originality was less in evil
dence than excellence of work, which
| is no discredit to their productions.
Their mastery use of proportion, de-
81 gn and color is evidence of this.
We all appreciate jewelry and like
crafts as purely decorative arts and