The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-04-26

so wen estaollshed that creek Sculpture
and Modern Art, by Sir CHARLES WALD.
STEIN Cambridge University Press)
will attract the readers for whom IL is
Intended. II is reprint. as the title page
further informs us OF two lectures de-
livered to the students OF the Royal
Academy In London. II undertakes, in
fact, To supply these and other students
with some principle which shall serve
them for guide in the confusion and
unsettlement which Mt present prevail as
to the practice of art. To revert TO the
practice OF the Greek sculptors. with
the authority which their work has i'm
posed upon mankind for two thousa nd
years, appeared to the lecturer as e,igi-
bic method as could he had for the
application OF touchstone.
The first lecture is very largely de-
voted to technical considerations In
particular II traces the influence OF ma
terial. al first wood. afterward clay, to
he trans ated or not into bronze. and
finally marble. upon the technique OF
Greek sculpture. The tracing, In that
sculpture. of the treatment Of hair as
1t was developed from the most archaic
remains extant to the perfection OF the
Phidian period, yields curious and in
teresting results at the hands q an
arch@ologist of so wide and minute a
knowledge and critic Of so much pene-
tration. II IL shown to have depended
largely upon the material employed. and
also to have traditionally survived the
original material ana been translated
into another for which 1t could not In
the first place have been devised From
this instance an expansion TO the treat
xf
Is easy. Especially Is II shown how
certain parts were left comparatively
unfinished. certain minutie designedly
neglected. in order the better to en-
phasze the points to which the artist
meant to compel att anton. All this is
eluCldated by series Of photographs
which make the discussion entirely
clear. II is further actualized by mod
Urn instances. from MIchelangelo, In
the tombs of the Mcdicl TO Rodin, VINO
has OF course carried the wise and
salutary neglect" OF negligible parts
further than any Of his predecessors
The conclusion is that the limit to the
attempt at producing natural Illusion
by means Of technique Is to be found
in the essential nature Of the material
which the artist uses" But the student
is duly warned against initiating the
temerities which the masters may EN-
ploy with felicity an> success until he
is thoroughly grounded In the tradi-
lions of his art He must by no means
think about the individuality" Of his
handwriting until he has learned how
10 form his letters In the orthodox
fashion. Each innovation must prove
that II is the fittest for the purposes
for which 1t Is introduced. II 1t is not
II may become fashion. but soon dies
away II II Is II establishes what we
may call an artistic and technical ira
dition. You may endeavor to produce
fashion In art which may ultimately
become tradition; but you must not
follow fashion. though you may and
ought TO follow n tradition while you
are learning"
In the first lecture, thus rapidly sum-
married., there Is little or nothing dis
putab.e or that tends to excite contro-
versy. In this respect the second. The
Subject Matter of Art" Is different
What | object To In the work. and ETH
more In the spoken or written theories
OF many NJ the innovators of our day
IS not their positive achievement when
they have really produced some hing
that tells a new story, hut their opposi-
ton to what they call beauty" This
Is pretty clear call to arms. II covers
other forms Of art than the plastic and
the era phic, with which the lecturer is
directly concerned. and embraces litera-
ture and music as well. One thinks OF
Richard Strauss and De Busy quite "a
promptly as of the Cubists and Futur-
lists. and indeed those innovators are
both OF them expressly mentioned Sir
Charles objects to the term beauty" as
complex and misleading" and prefers
harmony" which. however, may apply
10 the work OF art Itself as well as to
the subject. Perhaps "normality" would
come az near expressing W at he means
AZ he puts II, the study of physiology
must precede the study OF pathology.
especially In art" lie opposes the preva-
lenCe and persistence OF Greek sculp-
turc to the modern theories that Il does
not matter what subject you take one
being as good as another. and that the
presumption of selecting Is the unpar-
donahle sin. THE reason for this per
slstcnce in TIE influence OF Greek art IL
10 he found In the fact that the ancient
Greeks, for the first time In human his
tory, presented the world with an art,
the Dominant feature of which was the
complete fusion Of naturalism and ideal
ISM The lecturer would apparently
not resent the imputatlon To him Of the
belief caat n legitimate object OF the
scu'ptor's ART II to find the typical In
the individual He distinguishes sharply
between the Ideal statues OF the Greeks
ana their portrait statues. and indeed
adduce7 two examples of what We now
call genre" In Greek sculpture, the
"lIoy with Goose and the statuette
of u patient in the last staroS OF con.
SUMPTION. But as "a warning AGAINST
the modern tendency To choose ugliness
Ia" uiduocs the "NiVillc II auim r." Of
liudin. for ot1crS Of whose works he
haS expressed the warmest admiration.
JuStifNlng even the quest 'on1be and 20
much questioned "Ililzac" hs a loeiti-
mate solution OF the particular prob ON.
l'ui TINS other work he finds unlustined
ana an art site mistake. having a sub.
I~'t unsuitable To scripture. though
suitable Ia poetry, This because Il is
said to have been inspired by Villon's
famous poem. which the present critic