Evening star., 1926-11-04
By Leila Mechlin.

magazine (the American Mercury.
that he is getting sick of art" Why?
Because he has apparently lost the IL
fusion of his youth and Is confusing
talk about art with art itself. lie
started out as young man 10 De a
painter, and recalls somewhat scorn-
fully the days when he was a student
at the Pennsylvania Academy OF tne
Fine Arts, when art did mean some
thing to him, and when he complain
ed bitterly because it did not mean
as much to every one else. Then. he
,, confesses, it was a great hardship
and serious calamity to live In a
country and a society without art.
Now he considers it IAN obscure null
sance" This change of attitude, ne
seems to think, took place with the
publication of his first book. since
which time the illusion has vanished
and the struggle has been toward ac'
tuality.
Notwithstanding Mr.. Hergesheim'
er's great success as writer OF nc
ton, no one could read the pages or
his most recent essay on art without
feeling that the man Is really impov-
erished-that he has lost something
which once gave flavor to life.
X n X r
Despite the wrongnesS OF Mr.. Her
gesheimer's conclusions, some or MS
complaints are well founded, such, Tor
instance, as that with regard to the
present-day wordiness Of art. Un'
doubtedly much that is written about
art Is confusing, and leads the reader
away from, rather than toward, un-
derstanding. Mr.. Hergesheimer, fur
thermore, in his attitude toward art
sides with the artists, those who pro-
| duce the very thing Of which he com.
| plains. He objects to laymen'S crltl-
cisms. So do the painters themselves,
arguing that one who has never paint
ed a picture cannot realize the full
significance Of achievement or failure.
And how can one?
X 4 X *
Mr.. Hergesheimer also complains
that the amateur has been suppress
ed, and he would have us believe that
no great art has been produced since
art became a profession. Here he ut.
ters half.truths.
Granville Barker, in a lecture en-.
titled "Why Worry About Art?" once
said that a people were not truly
musical or artistic until the masses
became producers; that those coun-
tries in which almost every one play
Gu SOIilc AiSII uNlSHI VI SdA6 VI WuAo
tied as they worked were the ones in
which music was really appreciated.
The same with painting and drawing,
sculpture and architecture.
It Is true also that art suffers
through the self.consciousness of the
artist. When an artist becomes self
conscious he loses his spontaneity.
When he lays special emphasis on
pleasing the public the quality of his
art promptly deteriorates. This Is q
peculiarly individualistic and self
conscious age, in spite of which, how.
ever, some very fine art Is being pro-
duced.
Mr.. Hergesheimer is not peculiar in
disliking much of the twaddle about
art which may be heard today dis
guised under the title Of appreciation
courses, but this Is not art, and 10
chances to 1 it has been going on for
several centuries. After all. what does
1t matter? Art abides and is as sig
nif1cant, as soul.stirring, as everlast-
ing as 1t was in the days before print
ing the locomotive and the radio were
ever invented.
X * X X
Another distinguished novelist, in
this case an .Englishman, William j.
Locke, began his professional career
as an artist, an architect. but happily
he has been able to retain the illusion
of beauty and the enthusiasm toward
art enkindled by his youthful studies.
Every now and then Mr.. Locke writes
an essay on art, and when he does it
is enlightening and thought-provok-
ing. Mr.. Hergesheimer claims that
the illusion Of beauty is chiefly a
feminist movement, but certainly no
L,o - D.
loved Vagabond," THE Red Planet"
and other we'll known works, a weak
sister.
When Mr.. Locke writes Of art, fur
thermore, 1t is with the understanding
of the artist. This Is particularly ex-
emplified in his most recent novel,
"Perella," just from the press. The
heroine Is young girl, the daughter
of a journalist, who turns to copying
as means Of livelihood. She was not
a creative artist, but she was keenly
sensitive to beauty, and when she cop
led the works Of the great masters did
so in spirit of reverence and Joy.
One Of those with whom she came in
contact in Florence, Sylvester Gayton,
was supposedly a great connOisseur of
art, and in drawing his character Mr..
Locke has set standard for art
critics, and in his talk has manifested
the real spirit of art, that spirit which
has. like torch, enlightened the ages.
There Is no effusiveness, no froth in
this talk; the language Is simple; the
thought expressed rings true; it is
thoroughly understandable and it
makes us forget the foolish twaddle of
which Mr.. Hergesheimer complains.
\ X y
Says Christopher Morley, in his lit.
tie book entitled Where the Blue Be.
gins" Having fun is not quite the
same as being happy" This very ex.
cellent saying may we'll be applied to
art. The collector may have lots of
fun acquiring masterpieces, but un.
less he has a genuine love Of art he
will not find real happiness in his pos.
sessions. There are a good many peo
pie that have fun talking about art; il
is only those who love art, however
who find happiness In it. Even knowl
edge, great knowledge, will not serve
the same end.
X *A
But to return again to "Perella.' u
It Is interesting to have a copyist, a
mere copyist, upheld today as one
worthy Of admiration in the art world
for 1t Is rather the present fashion tC
look down on such. Yet the foremost
painters Of our time have not dis
dained to copy the works Of the great
masters for their own instruction. A
few years ago the American Fedora
t1on of Art assembled an extremely
interesting collection Of copies OF
paintings by the old masters made BY
American artists, among whom were
Chase and Beckwith and Whittemore
1t will be recalled also that a copy BY
Sargent of a work by Velasoues
brought an extremely large price last
year in London when this great paint
ers effects were sold.
The Corcoran School of Art in thi.
| city Is the outgrowth of the privilege
extended by the Corcoran Art Caller,
| in its earlier daYS to oconyists-xo1,nr