Evening star., 1925-10-01
THE NORTH WINDOW
BY Leila Mechlin.

What Is 1t all about?" asks the
bewildered layman who perchance has
partially perused .discursive art
| magazine or overheard a heated dis
cussion at one Of the summer art col
| onies with regard to modern art and
its significance. TO the majority,
without technical knowledge, such talk
| Is more or less jargon, hence the COM
mon supposition that art H. for the
| few. What has an art commission to
do with trolley poles, says the irate
business man; why should any one
| pay $500 for a single painting, scorn-
| fully inquiries the youth who yearns
for Rolls-Royce. There is reason
| In and for all of these questions. and
at this time of year when a new art
season Is opening it Is not ill-advised
to give them heed.
X X
A great many people for a great
many years have tried to define art
and none has really succeeded, for art,
after all. Is an intangible thing,
| demonstrable but indefinable -
divine spark which flashes out now
and then In the works of man, no
| one knows precisely how or when or
where-rarely. If ever, the same, and
yet invariably unmistakable. Some
think of art merely in the terms of
painting and sculpture; some go even
farther afield and suppose it to be
solely pictorial. This is all wrong
Art may enter into the design of
many articles of utility, in dress, in
furniture, In the furnishings of ones
mouse. The great monuments Of art
testifying to the civilization of past
ages are architectural, sculptural; the
glory OF the renaissance is handed
! ooWn TO us In magnificent paintings
II is measure of the advancement of
| man, 1T Is an inherent part of life,
| lt goes on and on, whether we will
or no. We may retard it's progress or
ADVANCE II; we can never more than
| temporarily snuff out the spark.
r y X X
During the last three months hun.
dreds OF pictures have been painted
| by American artists Some will ask
| why. In most instances the reason
| Is Tor love of art, for love of the doing.
| mere Is no certain market for works
| OF are, particularly cotemporary art,
| so that the artist has no assurance
whatsoever of commercial reward
oItehtimes he or she faces starvation,
| and yet the impulse persists.
There is much which is unpleasant
and derogatory in Margaret Kennedv's
novel, The Constant Nymph," which
mas had and is still having wide read
ing. but 1t does set forth in an amaz.
lnely true manner the attitude of a
gifted artist toward art AS degener.
ate as were Sanger. the musical genius,
ana his family. with whom this story
deais, their art was never debased
either through poor rendering or COM
merclaliZation. 1t was a spiritual quail
| lty, held precious, and hence serving
TO redeem. Judged by common stand.
ards. the life these people led was de.
plorable, but the author makes 1t plain
tnat poor and pitiabe as they were
they possessed a wealth which the
weathiest might envy. At least, what
they did as artists was done from the
| sheer love of beauty, not to please nor
for reward.
The Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Stanley Baldwin, on two occasions re-
| Gently has been called upon to speak
at formal dinners given by art associa-
| lions In London, and on both occa-
| Slons, according to c. Lewis Hind
/ in the Outlook. he has pleaded for a
| return to beauty in cotemporary art
denouncing the cleverness which seems
TO De the earmark of current produc-
| ton.
I'm each of his speeches." says Mr..
| Hind, he counseled artists and others
| implicitly, II not explicitly that II is
! through love only that we can remake
! the world"
On both occasions Mr.. Baldwin
| aroused his audience to excitement.
| stirring them by the ancient magic
! or good man speaking good things ~
/ Mr. Baldwin is a nephew of Edward
| Poynter. president of the Royal Acad.
emy, and of Burne-Jones. He is first
! cousin OF Rudyard kipling. BY heri.
| tage and tradition he has a right to
know art, but he speaks as a man of
| affairs. as one of the leading states
men of the day, and he counsels the
| people to give heed to art and to
| recognize It's Importance in the life of
the individual and of the nation.
| X + X
Commenting upon Mr.. Baldwin's ad.
dresses, Mr.. Hind himself says: IF
an artist has not the feeling for beauty
| in him he cannot express il in his
work. 1t is strange how few artists
have this sense of beauty. 1t Is rare.
| Cleverness is common. Therefore
| there are more clever pictures and
statues than beautiful pictures and
statues. And the strange and salts
| factory thing is that the public wants
beauty. l have watched" he adds, by
way of personal testimony, "the Wis.
itors to the Royal Academy exhibit
tions, and have marked the effect upon
them of beauty-usually little thing.
You cannot mistake that look in their
eyes. Beauty-spiritual beauty-has
held them"
| And he is right-this is art.
| x X
| Interesting articles on 1.-THE Place
of Art in the Life of the Child and of
| the Adult" have lately been con.
| tributed to an educational journal,
School and Society. by Albert w.
Barker of the public schools of VIII.
mington, Del. In discussing the place
of art in the child's education ne says:
I'VE are making life more expensive,
but have we made 1t deeper or fuller?"
And his conclusion is that we have
| not. The child's mind. he declares, is
open and eager-indeed, Is reaching
out and yearning for adventure in
| spiritual fields. Children, he says,
want to be pirates, savages, grand
| ladies and the like because of this de.
sire for colorful adventure. To have
their attention centered, therefore, on
the so-called practical things alone
has, he claims, narrowing and de-
vastating effect" He approves of
teaching art as a vocation, of letting
| the children know that art means
home decoration and the choice of
| clothes and furniture, but he insists
that the child should not be allowed to
pass through the years of mystery
and wonder without having looked
on color and shapes for the sake of the
loveliness Of their beauty" And hav-
| ing expressed this conviction, he be-
comes more specific, and says:
| This means that we shall hang
some good pictures mot merely pic
lures of good things) on the walls of
the schoolroom and shall not talk too
much about them.''
| All, there is the rub Things felt,
lived, as well as discussed and seen.