DOI Heft:
No. 297 (December 1917)
DOI Artikel:The lay figure: on problems of reconstruction
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21264#0144
The Lay Figure
THE LAY FIGURE: ON PROBLEMS
OF RECONSTRUCTION.
1 NOTICE that a good deal of attention
is being given just now to questions of
reconstruction after the war,” said the
Critic. “ It seems to me that among
them the future development of art ought to be
included.”
“ Is art likely to be any different after the
war ? ” asked the Plain Man. “ I should have
thought it would have gone on again just as it
was before. How can you change it ? ”
“ There are lots of ways in which you can
change it and there are lots of ways in which it
ought to be changed," declared the Man with
the Red Tie. " I am hoping that the war will
really do a service to art and give it a new lease
of life.”
“ But I suppose people will go on painting
pictures just as much after the war as they did
before,” objected the Plain Man ; " and I suppose
there will be just as many exhibitions as ever.”
“ Picture painting is not the only purpose of
art, and holding exhibitions is not the only way
of showing its activity,” broke in the Critic.
“ Personally, I should be glad to see fewer
pictures.”
“ What else is there for an artist to do ? ”
inquired the Plain Man. “ If he does not paint
pictures I take it that he ceases to be an artist.
Do you propose to divert artists into other
occupations ? If you do, . I agree with you
entirely because I think it is time that most of
them did something useful.”
“ There speaks the popular voice,” laughed the
Man with the Red Tie. “ Pictures ! They are
the beginning and end of the artist’s vocation.
If he does not paint pictures he is not worthy
to be called an artist ! What a delusion ! ”
“ Yes, that is, unfortunately, the popular
attitude,” agreed the Critic; “ and it is an
attitude I want to see definitely changed. We
have been overdone with pictures of late years
and we have taught far too many of our art
students to look upon the exhibition gallery as
their only legitimate sphere of activity. It is
about time that we made people understand
that a man may be an artist, and a great one
too, even if he never painted a picture in his
life.”
" How can that be ? A man is not an artist if he
does not do art work,” asserted the Plain Man.
128
“ Certainly, there I am wholly in agreement
with you,” returned the Critic. “ But what
you do not see is that there are a great many
varieties of art work in any one of which an
artist may become eminent and do valuable
services to his country. I want the artist to
be diverted, not from art into other occupations,
but into those forms of art in which his help
is especially wanted.”
“ Art in everything ! Is that your idea ? ”
scoffed the Plain Man. “ Are we to live in
an atmosphere of useless ornamentation, and
are we all to pose as languid aesthetes ? ”
“ Most decidedly not,” cried the Critic. “ Art
in everything by all means, but not as a pose
and an affectation. Let the artist have his
fair share in directing the actual needs of life
and make his influence felt in the creation of
vital things. We do not want facts made orna-
mental or disguised by a veneer of decoration ;
we want them to be practically and essentiallv
artistic.”
“ But art is not practical; it is only an
ornamental accessory to existence and has
nothing to do with our actual needs,” argued
the Plain Man.
“ Then obviously the problem of reconstruc-
tion that we have to consider is how it is to be
changed from an ornamental accessory into a
practical necessity,” exclaimed the Man with
the Red Tie.
‘‘Exactly; that is the whole point of the
argument,” replied the Critic. “ If in the past
art has failed to satisfy our practical needs,
that is surely a twofold reason why in the future
it should be developed along more useful and
helpful lines. We want our houses to be not
merely pretty to look at, but designed with the
fullest sense of artistic fitness. We want the
things we use to be artistically suited to the
purposes to which they are to be applied. We
want our manufactories and business houses to
be directed by artists who will encourage
efficiency in production and maintain a high
standard of taste. We want the artist’s inter-
vention wherever things have to be done that
can be made better by being made artistically.
We want art to be recognized as one of the
fundamental facts of life. That is why recon-
struction is necessary and why we are so anxious
to set about it as soon as possible.”
“ All right. Carry on,” said the Plain Man.
The Lay Figure.
THE LAY FIGURE: ON PROBLEMS
OF RECONSTRUCTION.
1 NOTICE that a good deal of attention
is being given just now to questions of
reconstruction after the war,” said the
Critic. “ It seems to me that among
them the future development of art ought to be
included.”
“ Is art likely to be any different after the
war ? ” asked the Plain Man. “ I should have
thought it would have gone on again just as it
was before. How can you change it ? ”
“ There are lots of ways in which you can
change it and there are lots of ways in which it
ought to be changed," declared the Man with
the Red Tie. " I am hoping that the war will
really do a service to art and give it a new lease
of life.”
“ But I suppose people will go on painting
pictures just as much after the war as they did
before,” objected the Plain Man ; " and I suppose
there will be just as many exhibitions as ever.”
“ Picture painting is not the only purpose of
art, and holding exhibitions is not the only way
of showing its activity,” broke in the Critic.
“ Personally, I should be glad to see fewer
pictures.”
“ What else is there for an artist to do ? ”
inquired the Plain Man. “ If he does not paint
pictures I take it that he ceases to be an artist.
Do you propose to divert artists into other
occupations ? If you do, . I agree with you
entirely because I think it is time that most of
them did something useful.”
“ There speaks the popular voice,” laughed the
Man with the Red Tie. “ Pictures ! They are
the beginning and end of the artist’s vocation.
If he does not paint pictures he is not worthy
to be called an artist ! What a delusion ! ”
“ Yes, that is, unfortunately, the popular
attitude,” agreed the Critic; “ and it is an
attitude I want to see definitely changed. We
have been overdone with pictures of late years
and we have taught far too many of our art
students to look upon the exhibition gallery as
their only legitimate sphere of activity. It is
about time that we made people understand
that a man may be an artist, and a great one
too, even if he never painted a picture in his
life.”
" How can that be ? A man is not an artist if he
does not do art work,” asserted the Plain Man.
128
“ Certainly, there I am wholly in agreement
with you,” returned the Critic. “ But what
you do not see is that there are a great many
varieties of art work in any one of which an
artist may become eminent and do valuable
services to his country. I want the artist to
be diverted, not from art into other occupations,
but into those forms of art in which his help
is especially wanted.”
“ Art in everything ! Is that your idea ? ”
scoffed the Plain Man. “ Are we to live in
an atmosphere of useless ornamentation, and
are we all to pose as languid aesthetes ? ”
“ Most decidedly not,” cried the Critic. “ Art
in everything by all means, but not as a pose
and an affectation. Let the artist have his
fair share in directing the actual needs of life
and make his influence felt in the creation of
vital things. We do not want facts made orna-
mental or disguised by a veneer of decoration ;
we want them to be practically and essentiallv
artistic.”
“ But art is not practical; it is only an
ornamental accessory to existence and has
nothing to do with our actual needs,” argued
the Plain Man.
“ Then obviously the problem of reconstruc-
tion that we have to consider is how it is to be
changed from an ornamental accessory into a
practical necessity,” exclaimed the Man with
the Red Tie.
‘‘Exactly; that is the whole point of the
argument,” replied the Critic. “ If in the past
art has failed to satisfy our practical needs,
that is surely a twofold reason why in the future
it should be developed along more useful and
helpful lines. We want our houses to be not
merely pretty to look at, but designed with the
fullest sense of artistic fitness. We want the
things we use to be artistically suited to the
purposes to which they are to be applied. We
want our manufactories and business houses to
be directed by artists who will encourage
efficiency in production and maintain a high
standard of taste. We want the artist’s inter-
vention wherever things have to be done that
can be made better by being made artistically.
We want art to be recognized as one of the
fundamental facts of life. That is why recon-
struction is necessary and why we are so anxious
to set about it as soon as possible.”
“ All right. Carry on,” said the Plain Man.
The Lay Figure.