DOI issue:
Nr. 230 (April 1916)
DOI article:An analysis of Futurism
DOI article:The Fogg Art Museum at Harvard
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43461#0206
An Analysis of Futurism
by the Cubists proper: those that are of a con-
crete subject rather than an abstract one. There
are, however, two more distinct processes possi-
ble that may include these and the large variety
of pictures may be found to contain these three
processes singly or in combination. Anyway, the
actual psychological processes of making them are
going to throw some definite light on the subject.
The simple comprehending of an object visually
and this same comprehending complicated by the
problem of graphically representing it, seem to be
almost different processes. I believe that a prim-
itive portrait, for instance, was a genuine likeness
of the sitter in the eyes of the artist, for I have
had just that experience myself. When painting
we seem to see things in terms of our process of
representation. To the artist who paints in
browns, the subject doubtless really looks brown,
and if his scheme happens to be purple-and-yel-
low, the subject appears in purple and yellow.
This is, of course, just while he is at work. Again,
if I want to lose myself in the dominant lines and
planes of a subject, I may become entirely ab-
sorbed in just that phase and what is a genuine
likeness to me may seem an absurdity to others.
And so I may paint a Cubist portrait of Mr. X,
selecting what lines and planes appeal to me and
arranging them according to a certain feeling for
line and form that I may call the inner harmony
of the figure; and 1 will have a likeness, seriously.
But this inner harmony that I may be striving
for is no new thing, for it seems to be the prime
requisite of all great art. It is that which causes
a motor response within us as with the Winged
Victory. It exhilarates us and holds our atten-
tion, leaving our mind free to the deeper revela-
tion of the artist. The Cubists have here confused
a means with an end.
Our empathetic response to the shape and lines
of a cathedral is one of exultation and serves its
purpose, but this paragraph neglects the fact that
as an organic unity it is, of course, beautiful and
also the satisfaction of the demands of the eyes
makes it beautiful.
Lastly we come to the type of pictures of which
the Battle of Lights at Coney Island is a clear ex-
ample. Here is a series of intense memory images
superimposed one upon the other; a composite
picture of what our memory has chanced to retain
of the many impressions received. Others of
somewhat the same type seem to be of visual
images of objects that have been seen but not
accurately fixed in the artist’s memory, and the
object, perhaps a nun, will be represented by a
charming pattern decidedly resembling the origi-
nal in its dominant lines though probably lacking
the signs by which we recognize it.
Of these three elements, the first, the visualiza-
tion of non-material subjects, seems to belong to
the psychologists’ laboratory and not to the art
gallery; the second, the emphasis of dominant
lines, can be significant only as a means to an
end and must be used to enhance the artist’s
wider vision of nature; but the last element, the
vague memory image, ought to have real possi-
bilities of development and if kept from mas-
querading under mystic guises will doubtless
prove a new field for art if not a great one.
These, then, are the processes by which, singly
or in combination, Futurist pictures are made.
But what of their theories, their aims and pur-
poses in producing these things, their attempts
at a direct experience of volume, a universal lan-
guage, and the inner harmony of the figure? The
universal language proved to be a purely individ-
ual one; the inner harmony is a means, not an
end. Lastly, the “experience of volume,” a prin-
ciple on which they lay great stress, is a problem
of transcendentalism; a problem for the meta-
physician and not for the artist. A little knowl-
edge is a dangerous thing and a slight acquaint-
ance with Kant seems to have led these Cubists
astray, for the experience of volume is the ex-
perience of a mental process, and though pure
extent is considered primitive, volume never can
be. Metaphysics is not for the amateur.
THE FOGG ART MUSEUM AT HAR-
VARD
Besides a Cassone panel by the so-called Paris
master, and a Pesellino, a Madonna and Child
by Fra Filippo Lippi, has been on exhibition
loaned from New York. Dr. Oswald Siren says
of it: “The Fra Filippo now on exhibition is one
of the master’s most interesting works. It is of
unusual artistic charm and historical importance.
There are only two paintings by this master in
American collections. The one is the picture in
the Morgan Library, unfortunately cut into three
pieces; the other, at the Boston Museum, is an
altar wing showing four Saints. The Fogg picture
is of special interest for any collection of early
Italian paintings.”
LX
by the Cubists proper: those that are of a con-
crete subject rather than an abstract one. There
are, however, two more distinct processes possi-
ble that may include these and the large variety
of pictures may be found to contain these three
processes singly or in combination. Anyway, the
actual psychological processes of making them are
going to throw some definite light on the subject.
The simple comprehending of an object visually
and this same comprehending complicated by the
problem of graphically representing it, seem to be
almost different processes. I believe that a prim-
itive portrait, for instance, was a genuine likeness
of the sitter in the eyes of the artist, for I have
had just that experience myself. When painting
we seem to see things in terms of our process of
representation. To the artist who paints in
browns, the subject doubtless really looks brown,
and if his scheme happens to be purple-and-yel-
low, the subject appears in purple and yellow.
This is, of course, just while he is at work. Again,
if I want to lose myself in the dominant lines and
planes of a subject, I may become entirely ab-
sorbed in just that phase and what is a genuine
likeness to me may seem an absurdity to others.
And so I may paint a Cubist portrait of Mr. X,
selecting what lines and planes appeal to me and
arranging them according to a certain feeling for
line and form that I may call the inner harmony
of the figure; and 1 will have a likeness, seriously.
But this inner harmony that I may be striving
for is no new thing, for it seems to be the prime
requisite of all great art. It is that which causes
a motor response within us as with the Winged
Victory. It exhilarates us and holds our atten-
tion, leaving our mind free to the deeper revela-
tion of the artist. The Cubists have here confused
a means with an end.
Our empathetic response to the shape and lines
of a cathedral is one of exultation and serves its
purpose, but this paragraph neglects the fact that
as an organic unity it is, of course, beautiful and
also the satisfaction of the demands of the eyes
makes it beautiful.
Lastly we come to the type of pictures of which
the Battle of Lights at Coney Island is a clear ex-
ample. Here is a series of intense memory images
superimposed one upon the other; a composite
picture of what our memory has chanced to retain
of the many impressions received. Others of
somewhat the same type seem to be of visual
images of objects that have been seen but not
accurately fixed in the artist’s memory, and the
object, perhaps a nun, will be represented by a
charming pattern decidedly resembling the origi-
nal in its dominant lines though probably lacking
the signs by which we recognize it.
Of these three elements, the first, the visualiza-
tion of non-material subjects, seems to belong to
the psychologists’ laboratory and not to the art
gallery; the second, the emphasis of dominant
lines, can be significant only as a means to an
end and must be used to enhance the artist’s
wider vision of nature; but the last element, the
vague memory image, ought to have real possi-
bilities of development and if kept from mas-
querading under mystic guises will doubtless
prove a new field for art if not a great one.
These, then, are the processes by which, singly
or in combination, Futurist pictures are made.
But what of their theories, their aims and pur-
poses in producing these things, their attempts
at a direct experience of volume, a universal lan-
guage, and the inner harmony of the figure? The
universal language proved to be a purely individ-
ual one; the inner harmony is a means, not an
end. Lastly, the “experience of volume,” a prin-
ciple on which they lay great stress, is a problem
of transcendentalism; a problem for the meta-
physician and not for the artist. A little knowl-
edge is a dangerous thing and a slight acquaint-
ance with Kant seems to have led these Cubists
astray, for the experience of volume is the ex-
perience of a mental process, and though pure
extent is considered primitive, volume never can
be. Metaphysics is not for the amateur.
THE FOGG ART MUSEUM AT HAR-
VARD
Besides a Cassone panel by the so-called Paris
master, and a Pesellino, a Madonna and Child
by Fra Filippo Lippi, has been on exhibition
loaned from New York. Dr. Oswald Siren says
of it: “The Fra Filippo now on exhibition is one
of the master’s most interesting works. It is of
unusual artistic charm and historical importance.
There are only two paintings by this master in
American collections. The one is the picture in
the Morgan Library, unfortunately cut into three
pieces; the other, at the Boston Museum, is an
altar wing showing four Saints. The Fogg picture
is of special interest for any collection of early
Italian paintings.”
LX