The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1922-02-24

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"A thing of beauty is joy for
ever Few things will give more
real Joy and true happiness than
recognition of the beautiful, ex-
preston Of the fine and good, an
appreciation of pure art
Art is expression. Man cannot
escapedoing things. He expresses
himself in all his actions. It is the
personal expression of the individ-
nal in material that conveys his
conception of what he is trying ID
project. Morris says, Nothing
made by mans hand can be indif-
ferent. it is either beautiful and
eIevating or ugly and degrading
If the expression has the greatest
possible efficiency it becomes beau
tiful and elevating; if not, it is de-
grading in proportion to its lack of
beauty.
Art is creation-not imitation.
Who is there that would not hest
tate to sit down on, or put his foot
on. a perfectly natural rose or lily?
Where is there a human being that
would care to lie down on pillow
with the painted face of even an
indian in the center? Who can
see nature insulted in various OBJ
jects by the sticking in of pins or
driving in Of nails. Nature has
its place, but it is not art, nor IS
the imitation of it art
All art must have purpose, It
must be useful and must fit the
purpose for which it was created.
The elements of use and need en-
ter into all art. Squared on by
the need. a man creates something
which will fill the need" If 1t
does not fill the need, it is not art.
1t is an art to decorate, but even
decoration must have purpose. In
order to be decorative, there must
be something that requires decora-
ton. that is, which is incomplete in
itself. AS soon as material of any
kind is added after a thing is com
plete, the result becomes an aggre-
cation, not a decoration.
Art is beauty Beauty is diff
cult to define because it is relative
just as heat S, or as goodness is.
The standard of beauty depends en-
tirely upon ones conception of it.
This does not mean that anything
that one considers beautiful is 50.
1t simply means that the p erson
person who judges may or may not
have a right mental standard of
what beauty really is. This stan
dard may be acquired approximate
ly by anyone, for it is determined
by certain principles. II the prin
ciples of harmony are understood
and applied. beauty will result
Good taste in all art is cultivated
or improved in most people by a
constant study and application o f
the principles which control artistic
Lack of knowledge and
good taste leads us into many ex-
pensive follies. and yet most of us
seem 20 let this part of our educa-
ton remain a matter of indiffer- ,
ence. But" says one, Il know ,
what / like and when 1 see it in
the shops / can buy it. don
need to be educated. for this gives
me satisfaction"
Observation viii demonstrate the
opposite. The very reason fashion
S so tickle is that Poop don't ,
know what they like. Not having !
/ basis of judgment. they think o
hey like a thing but in short
line their fancy has turned to dis
rust and dissatisfaction. Emerson
ays. 1--WE may seek the world over \
o find the beautiful but il We
lave it not with us we find it not. =
True art viii endure. Standards
Il beauty change as do standards
# ethics, but like true goodness
irt will stand the test of time. It
S lasting The longer we are as +
oeiated with it, the more beautiful a
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