The sun., 1916-08-20

pie are being claimed By too many
other things besides the ine arts. Art
has lost its hold of the public. Other
factors Of social life have become more
alluring and absorbing. Il 10 q lam
entable fact that painting and poetry
have been unable to develop 40 a. to
keep abreast with science. Music, on
the contrary, has progressed. 1t has
hourished in spite Of electricity and
petrol. 1t h still vigorous and as
young as x-rays.
The cause OF II all IL probably TO
he found in the growing desire in the
public mind for excitement. Life to-
day IL rapid and strenuous. The pleas
ures must be stimulants. for Its sensi-
bilities are faded. Anything requiring
a contemplative interlude for Its proper
assimilation is passed by in the head
long rush. Contemplation In a faculty |
lost to this generation. Rest, leisure,
quiet. which were once a part Of life,
are now rare things. prescribed and
tolerated as cures for the more and
more frequent ervou b~reakdowns.
But unfortunately calm and leisure
are positively essential to the appre-
citation Of the fine arts. The a
why music has kept abreast Is seen in
the development OF the orchestra.
Rest and calm are not expected in the
concert room and theatre; excitement
Is taken for granted. Hence modern
music succeeds because Of It's STIRRING
orchestral effects a In spite Of the
fact that melody for its " sake has
been left behind with earlier and more
sedate epochs.
A natural reflection upon these facts
would be that the fine arts also should
have their orchestral excitement: and.
as a matter Of fact. this conclusion
has been tried often enough. sensa-
lions In art are only too common. bu,
they seldom have more than ephemeral
success. and that only by much press
puffing. Since they rarely come as a
logical development OF things gone be-
fore, II IL a fair surmise that curiosity
rnther than aesthetic sensibility re-
wolves III turnstiles admitting to such
things. Curiosity Is not picture loving.
nor does II last long. The love Of pic
lures must be better fostered than by
such mes ms or IL will surely die. Per-
haps It Is not unreasonable to hope for
q future advent Of leisure and calm
when the stress Of life has eliminated
and a reaction sets In.
At any rate II Il to the advantage Of
painters to keep art healthy and un-
sophisticated. that 1t may again be-
come a nations asset and a peoples
delight, as It was In the Netherlands
during the seventeenth century and in
Belgium in the nineteenth century,
! when. rs Richard Muther tells us. that
country had private collections by the
hundred. Wealthy merchants rivalled
one another for the pride OF owning
works by their celebrated painters"
This II an ideal worth striving for.
When the day arrives that every ''man
IN the street ~ an eager connoisseur
instead OF a shy shrinker. as he is to-
day. then painters will have their rosy
time again. Experiment and research
are necessary to growth: but popular
approval Is necessary to life. There is
reason to believe that painting has
grown pedantic and aloof. Young stu
dents especially have been anxious 20
be numbered among the a%ristocracy
Of art. and have fallen before the temp
tation Of moulding their methods upon
those Of the pioneers. and thus adding
new crimes to the sum total of art.
Certainly many crimes have been COM
mitted in the names Of Manet and
Monet.
1t Is misleading 70 hear that because
art and observation have made great
developments along certain lires. that
therefore. what lies behind those de-
ve!opments Ia M longer tenable. The
human mind IL variable. %sccep,inE
many views OF the same thing. accord
ing to CLINE, time and temperament
and this variableness makes demands
in every possible direction. so that ar,
never really grows old or stale. 1r
respect I o this. Constable. though rish'
In his practice. was marrow In his view
when he shamed Bea 1mont's brown
tree by his green one.
That green one has since been com
peted against in turn by Corot's era,
one. Side by side with the most ad
vanced ideas 1t frequently happens
that those OF old days stand Arm ant
equally convincing, Proof OF this it
the multiplicity OF styles accredite,
to-day. Were truth and beauty onl,
found where the latest pioneers hav,
pushed their researches. then all othe
painting would he d.scredited. l
often is-by the pioneers. Becaus
Corot's trees are good for being loos
to the point Of nehulosity. II does no
follow that Rousseau's are bad for he
ing firmly defined. Truth IL mani
Tested in many apparently confictinI
ways.
II Is too often forgotten that tn
painters Of old charmed their publ
possibly more than modern painter
can charm to-day. In the matter O
color many old masters cannot now b
excelled. in spite OF modern advan
tages. Yet one has memories o
= critiques in the press that were con
| formations Of the old painting as be
ing out~orn and united for moder
ideas Of life. These little revolts seer
= to be due to a misconception of wha
art really is. The objections sprln
: mostly from the subject matter {
2 pictures. Saints. classic heroes an
, divinities. as we'll as formal landscape
are brought to be subjects appealin
only to persons who affect cultur'
= We are given to understand that al
, il only a live thing when 1t dc
picts ironclad warsh!ps. motor car
crowded streets, effects Of electrI
lights. modern social conditions, spol
and costume. Journalists who comm
. these shallow reflections to print mu!
be unaware that mere subject matte
a Is not art. and that the aesthetic prir