DOI chapter:
Chapter XI Influences, Going and Coming
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.65493#0290
226
THE SPIRIT OF
in the many virtues of order, unity,
harmony, an underlying sense of na-
tural evolution and continuity. Our
civilization is not yet jaded, and does
not yet need prickings toward variety.
For American sculpture, the lesson of
Rodin’s genius, as distinct from the
lesson of the school, is that of the ti-
tanic conception and the exquisite
morceau, but not that of harmonious
collaboration. Meanwhile, it is cheer-
ing to see that the singular doctrine
of deformation distilled in France by
vigorous modern followers of Rodin
is at present neglected here; when we
turn modernist, as sometimes happens,
we choose the path of abstractions,
seeking perhaps Epstein’s “form that
is not the form of anything,” rather
than form amplifying itself into ugli-
ness, in defiance of classic balance and
measure. In fact, a recent piece of
the new poetry, written about a recent
piece of the new sculpture tells us that
XI
INFLUENCES
THE SPIRIT OF
in the many virtues of order, unity,
harmony, an underlying sense of na-
tural evolution and continuity. Our
civilization is not yet jaded, and does
not yet need prickings toward variety.
For American sculpture, the lesson of
Rodin’s genius, as distinct from the
lesson of the school, is that of the ti-
tanic conception and the exquisite
morceau, but not that of harmonious
collaboration. Meanwhile, it is cheer-
ing to see that the singular doctrine
of deformation distilled in France by
vigorous modern followers of Rodin
is at present neglected here; when we
turn modernist, as sometimes happens,
we choose the path of abstractions,
seeking perhaps Epstein’s “form that
is not the form of anything,” rather
than form amplifying itself into ugli-
ness, in defiance of classic balance and
measure. In fact, a recent piece of
the new poetry, written about a recent
piece of the new sculpture tells us that
XI
INFLUENCES