DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42067#0390
350
Conclusion
suggested that this may be due to the symmetry of manual move-
ments as well as to the observation of right and left symmetry in
animals and in man. We also observed that rhythmic repetition
runs ordinarily in horizontal bands and pointed out the general
experience that natural objects of the same or similar kind are
arranged in horizontal strata, such as Woods, mountains, and clouds;
legs, body and limbs. Rhythmic form seems to be closely related
to technical processes, although other causes of rhythmic repetition
are revealed in poetry. The simplest technical processes produce
a simple repetition of the same motives, while with increasing virtu-
osity more complex orders become the rule. The more virtuosity
is developed, the more complex are the rhythms that are liable to
make their appearance. The ability of primitive artists to appreciate
rhythm seems to be much greater than our own.
The desire to emphasize form made itself felt in the application
of lines to the rim. We also observed the tendency of the rim
designs to become exuberant and to encroach upon the decorative
field. No less important is the tendency. to attach ornament to
prominent places of the decorated object and to divide the decora-
tive field according to fixed principles.
While the features so far considered are common characteristics
of art the world over, they do not explain the style of separate
areas. We considered this problem in some detail in the field of
decorative art. Here our attention was first arrested by the fact
that purely formal art, or perhaps better, art that is apparently
purely formal, is given a meaning endowing it with an emotional
value that does not belong to the beauty of form alone. It is an
expressionistic element that is common to many forms of primitive
art. It is effective because in the mind of the tribes certain forms
are symbols of a limited range of ideas. The firmer the association
between a form and a definite idea, the more clearly stands out the
expressionistic character 'of the art. This is true in the graphic and
plastic arts as well as in music.' In the former a geometrical form,
in the latter a sound cluster, a particular type of musical phrasing,
Conclusion
suggested that this may be due to the symmetry of manual move-
ments as well as to the observation of right and left symmetry in
animals and in man. We also observed that rhythmic repetition
runs ordinarily in horizontal bands and pointed out the general
experience that natural objects of the same or similar kind are
arranged in horizontal strata, such as Woods, mountains, and clouds;
legs, body and limbs. Rhythmic form seems to be closely related
to technical processes, although other causes of rhythmic repetition
are revealed in poetry. The simplest technical processes produce
a simple repetition of the same motives, while with increasing virtu-
osity more complex orders become the rule. The more virtuosity
is developed, the more complex are the rhythms that are liable to
make their appearance. The ability of primitive artists to appreciate
rhythm seems to be much greater than our own.
The desire to emphasize form made itself felt in the application
of lines to the rim. We also observed the tendency of the rim
designs to become exuberant and to encroach upon the decorative
field. No less important is the tendency. to attach ornament to
prominent places of the decorated object and to divide the decora-
tive field according to fixed principles.
While the features so far considered are common characteristics
of art the world over, they do not explain the style of separate
areas. We considered this problem in some detail in the field of
decorative art. Here our attention was first arrested by the fact
that purely formal art, or perhaps better, art that is apparently
purely formal, is given a meaning endowing it with an emotional
value that does not belong to the beauty of form alone. It is an
expressionistic element that is common to many forms of primitive
art. It is effective because in the mind of the tribes certain forms
are symbols of a limited range of ideas. The firmer the association
between a form and a definite idea, the more clearly stands out the
expressionistic character 'of the art. This is true in the graphic and
plastic arts as well as in music.' In the former a geometrical form,
in the latter a sound cluster, a particular type of musical phrasing,