DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42067#0180
156
Style
productions seem to us so much bound by a hard and fast style
that there is little room for the expression of individual feeling and
for the freedom of the creative genius. I recall the instance of
an Indian from Vancouver Island who was suffering of a lingering
malady that confined him to his bed. He had been a good painter
but his productions did not differ stylistically in any way from those
of his tribe. During his long illness he would sit on his bed,
holding his brush between his lips, silent and apparently oblivious
of his surroundings. He could hardly be induced to speak, but
when he spoke he dilated upon his visions of designs that he could
no longer execute. Undoubtedly his was the mind and the attitude
of a true, inspired artist.
The general character of the artistic productions of man, the world
over, shows that the style has the power of limiting the inventiveness
of the productive artist; for, if we grant that potential genius like the
one just described is born in all cultures, then the uniformity of art
forms in a given tribe can be understood only by these limitations.
The restriction of inventiveness is not due, as might perhaps
be supposed, to the habit of copying old designs and to a sluggish-
ness of the imagination of the artisan who finds it easier to copy
than to invent. On the contrary, primitive artists hardly ever copy.
Only in very exceptional cases are found working designs such as
we employ in embroidery, dressmaking, woodcarving and architecture.
The work is laid out in the mind of the maker before he begins
and is a direct realization of the mental image. In the process of
carrying out such a plan technical difficulties may arise that compel
him to alter his intentions. Such instances can easily be discovered
in the finished product and are highly instructive, because they throw
a strong light upon the mental processes of the workman. We may
see particularly in richly decorated basketry how such difficulties arise
and what influence they exert upon the development of the design.
Even in the making of mass products, like the pottery which we
described before, (pp. 132 et seq.) copying is evidently not practised.
The patterns are so simple and require only a small number of
Style
productions seem to us so much bound by a hard and fast style
that there is little room for the expression of individual feeling and
for the freedom of the creative genius. I recall the instance of
an Indian from Vancouver Island who was suffering of a lingering
malady that confined him to his bed. He had been a good painter
but his productions did not differ stylistically in any way from those
of his tribe. During his long illness he would sit on his bed,
holding his brush between his lips, silent and apparently oblivious
of his surroundings. He could hardly be induced to speak, but
when he spoke he dilated upon his visions of designs that he could
no longer execute. Undoubtedly his was the mind and the attitude
of a true, inspired artist.
The general character of the artistic productions of man, the world
over, shows that the style has the power of limiting the inventiveness
of the productive artist; for, if we grant that potential genius like the
one just described is born in all cultures, then the uniformity of art
forms in a given tribe can be understood only by these limitations.
The restriction of inventiveness is not due, as might perhaps
be supposed, to the habit of copying old designs and to a sluggish-
ness of the imagination of the artisan who finds it easier to copy
than to invent. On the contrary, primitive artists hardly ever copy.
Only in very exceptional cases are found working designs such as
we employ in embroidery, dressmaking, woodcarving and architecture.
The work is laid out in the mind of the maker before he begins
and is a direct realization of the mental image. In the process of
carrying out such a plan technical difficulties may arise that compel
him to alter his intentions. Such instances can easily be discovered
in the finished product and are highly instructive, because they throw
a strong light upon the mental processes of the workman. We may
see particularly in richly decorated basketry how such difficulties arise
and what influence they exert upon the development of the design.
Even in the making of mass products, like the pottery which we
described before, (pp. 132 et seq.) copying is evidently not practised.
The patterns are so simple and require only a small number of