Evening star., 1923-08-16
The North Window
By LEILA MECHLIN

A little book, OF an unusual char
acter was laid on the writer's desk
short time ago by the postman. 1t
| came from Calcutta, India, and was
| the first of a. series of monographs
on modern Indian artists. Ordhendra
Coomar Gangoly Is the name OF the
author, the subject, Khsitindra Nath
Misunderstanding sounding names.
| both. to western ears. Mr.. Gangoly
Is the editor of Rupam, a sumptu-
Gus magazine published periodically
and dealing exclusively with Indian
art.
This book is a remarkable example
of the bookmaker's art-paper, type,
| letterpress. illustrations and binding.
but its particular interest lies in the
fact that whi' 1t avowedly presents
an artist of he new school" and
deals with modernistic tendencies in
art, the illustrations show extraor-
dinary kinship with the most
| undoubtedly they are Indian, but in
spirit they are closely allied with the
works of the greatest masters OF the
Chinese school This Is something
that we have not before come across
III HlouoTT OT1entHl art, IOT Ine
| majority of cotemporaries have felt
the influence of the west, which has
| been detrimental, or through an effort
TO overcome such influence have too
closely copied the Oriental art of the
| past
Mr. Gangoly prefaces lis essay with
quotations from Burne-Jones and
from Kandinsky. The former is
Burne- Jones statement that the more
materialistic science becomes. the
more angels he intends to paint, their
| wings being his protest in favor of
the immortality of the soul; whereas
the kandinsky quotation Is a defini
tfon of good drawing. drawing that
| cannot be altered without destruc-
tion of it's inner spiritual value. quite
! irrelevant Of its correctness as
ence." Obviously the intention is to
show that tthe purpose of art Is not
| mere reproduction, but Interpretation,
or rather, as the author reminds US
Santayana has said: THE remodeling
glimpse Is given into the ideals Of
the modern Indian school of art
The modern Indian painters, we are
told, have for the most part no in
terest in the sights and scenes of
modern life, and SO have deliber-
ately set themselves to illustrate the
stories of old romance. sweet legends
| and poetic fables, beautiful romantic
dreams Of something that never was.
never Will be. in light that never
shone. In land no one can define or
yes divineiy beautifui" Gnay oesire-a form
| And to an extent. one examining
| the reproductions OF this Bengal
painters works must admit that to
a degree he has accomplished this
! purpose. Certainly this Indian
painter has a remarkable sense of
| decorative values, an amazing power
OF setting forth with great simplicity
/ Significant compositions full of the
mystery, the symbolism and the
sumptuousness of India at her best.
| There is a kinship between the art
OF Mazundar and that Of the Russian
Bakst, though the latter has in 1t an
| element Of the barbaric which is alb
ent'from that of the former Mr.
Gangoly suggests a similarity be-
tween this painters works and those
of the early religious painters of the
west, such. for example. as Fra An
gelica's Christ and the Emmaeus Pill
grims." and he ventures the hope that
| through art perhaps the east will
work out with the west "a new spirit
ual rapprochement." This is indeed a
| message from a new and an uneX-
peeted quarter.
| 4 4
| The arrival of the Gangoly book
brings to mind one of the most de-
lightful books on art ever written,
Form and Color" by the late l..
March Phillips. an English author,
published some years ago by Scrib-
ner's Sons. and not nearly as much
known or read as it should be. In
| the most charming fashion, and with
rare clarity as we'll as bfilliance, the
author describes the essential char
lacteristics and essential differences
of eastern and western thought as
expressed in terms of eastern and
western art. Briefly he explains that
there are two essential elements in
art form and color; that form has
dominated art whenever and wher-
ever the intellectual faculty was
dominant in life; Color has dominated
art whenever and wherever the emo
tioneL faculty has dominated life
concluding that thus. by the traces
| they have left in art the two great
currents of ideas which have illu-
mined the mind and spirit of man
may be traced in their ebb and flow
and in their interaction upon each
other. He claims that every spiritual
impulse which has quickened the soul
of man, has come out of the east, just
as every practical invention or intel
lectual conception has come out OF
the west. form being the art idiom OF
the west, color the art idiom of the
east And of all this he makes no
mystery, but leads the writer, as II
were, by the hand, first to-. see the
i Of RI he tfay
understand the viewpoints of east
and west through a study of the art
which stands as witness.
There are chapters on Byzantine
architecture, on Indian thought and
Indian art, as well as on Greek
Christian point of view, on Venice
and the Renaissance, when and where
in fact. east and west did meet with
resultant glory. 1t is a philosophical
work, yet one full of romance. a book
on art which none can think dull and
all must find informing.
| writer in the London Times lit
erary supplement recently has called
attention to the increasing popularity
of the art of music as compared tc
the other arts. more especially. thai
of poetry, but likewise painting
sculpture, architecture, etc. The rea'
son for this, he says, is the greater
emotional appeal of music, the vital
ity of which is obvious, while that
of poetry is concealed. Music as.
| saults it's hearers, seizes upon them
while poetry patiently awaits hei
hour" This Is a nice distinction
and one equally applica 10 paint