International studio (61.1917)

Aesthetic Hysteria


DUCKLINGS AND CATS

BY LIEF NEANDROSS


BAIGNEUSE

BY GARDNER HALE

k ESTHETIC HYSTERIA
/\ BY W. H. DE B. NELSON
* Because some crossgrained mule-
teers hurled stones at Don Quixote
affords no justification for casting abuse at the
recent exposure of the Independents, especially
since their intentions are excellent and their view-
point in many respects praiseworthy.
Certain factors, of which more anon, conspired
to convert their show into a fiasco, for a fiasco it
most assuredly was. Some failures, however, are
but the forerunners and heralds of success and
we venture to hope that in 1918 a very different
judgment will attend their enterprise. It would
be erroneous to stigmatize the recently con-
cluded mammoth concentration of aesthetic hys-
teria as an experiment broken on the wheel of
public opinion, and therefore not to be repeated.
We need such aids as the Independents to bolster
up the joie de vivre which has been so sadly dis-
counted nowadays by the hysteria of nations in
conflict.
The good ship Independent was wrecked upon
the Scylla of No Jury and the Charybdis of
Alphabetical Hanging. These were the main
factors which brought distress. “Open Shop”
for art is a failure and must give way to selection
by jury. Some people think marriage a mistake

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