DOI Heft:
Nr. 335 (April 1925)
DOI Artikel:Eglington, Guy: Art an other things
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19985#0070
inceRDACionAL
a complete set of stage properties in order to
function, and only begins to be interested in
tilings when it has so softened their outline as
to belie their real nature. Playful--em-
phasizes the lightness of things. Vivid--
sharpens their outline. Intense--heightens
their luminosity.
Imitation—The only sincere compliment one
painter was ever known to pay another.
--of Life—The Aristotelian definition of art,
whereby is meant not photography, not a
naturalistic imitation of appearances, but an
imitation of the processes of life which underlie
and condition those appearances.
Impersonal—A quality which distinguishes every
great work of art, giving it the appearance of
having been made, not by a man's hand, but
by an elemental force, as sun, rain and frost
carve shapes in the face of a granite boulder.
So soon as one can follow the processes of a
man's mind in a work, whatever its magnifi-
cence, it falls short of the highest class.
Impressionism—A brickbat epithet hurled at the
exhibitors of the Societe Anonyme des Artistes
Peintres, Sculpteurs et Graveurs in 1874, a time
when many of them, Monet at their head, were
still busy sunchasmg with the aid of ChevreuPs
d ivisionist theory. Clever press-agenting turned,
however, a bad egg into a battle-cry and many
of them soon woke up to find themselves
famous as exponents of a theory in which they
no longer believed and had long since discarded.
--ist—Accurately used, one who employs only
pure colors in pure fashion; lays his colors on,
that is, in small touches, mixing them optically
to obtain his demi-teintes. Colloquially, a group
of painters, including Monet, Manet, Renoir,
Degas and Pissarro, none of whom, technically
speaking, qualify for the title. Vulgarly, a
synonym, in the mouths of those who don't like
it, for all modern art, however ancient.
Inhibition—A large placard in the soul of man,
bearing the mystic letters DON'T, when his
whole being cries out DO. Another most valu-
able invention of Mr. Freud, since it explains
why the great mass of the American nation is,
and will remain, solidly conservative. By the
same token, it reduces the field, from which art
is likely to spring, to a pitiful handful.
Insanity—State of mind ascribed to living artists,
by those who have vested interests in the dead.
The uncomplimentary connotation of the epi-
thet evidenty outweighs truth in the opinion of
those who use it, since to reproach the moderns
with too much sanity were far more telling.
Inspiration—A fuel, found variously, according
to the individual temperament, in what the
romantics of the last century called Nature
under foreign skies and in a woman's, euphe-
mistically speaking, eyes. In its most con-
venient form it comes in bottles.
Intellectual—A man "got between two stock-
fishes." One whose brain overpowers the nat-
ural motions of his blood. One in whom thought
and emotion are separate processes, who lacks
the faculty of throwing his entire being, all the
functions of his body no less than of his mind,
into experience. More vulgarly, one who is not
averse to giving his mind at least as much
exercise as he gives his body.
Invention—Freshness of vision. The faculty of
seeing forms in unexpected interplay one with
the other.
ADDENDA TO FIRST INSTALMENT
Aesthete—Almost extinct species, which aimed
at performing every action in life, even the
least appetizing, with beauty. Oscar Wilde, it
will be remembered, purified the foul air of the
Strand with a lily. And even today no actor
will permit himself to be seen in public without
a carnation. Painters, however, are less deli-
cately minded.
-ics—The science of beauty—our little science,
dear amateur.
Art Critic—Vulgarly, a journalist who has grad-
uated from the social page and doesn't yet write
well enough to be entrusted with fashions or
murders. Philosophically, a creator of legends,
under cover of which art may be made to appear
attractive.
--Dealer—A wizard who persuades the public
to spend good money for things which they have
not the least desire for.
- Editor—A watchdog, whose business is to
see that the susceptibilities of the great public
are not offended.
- Lover—With apologies to the thousands
who haunt "varnishing clays"—one who buys
works of art.
Expert—Here, my dear amateur, is where we
stage a graceful fadeout.
seventy
APRIL I925
a complete set of stage properties in order to
function, and only begins to be interested in
tilings when it has so softened their outline as
to belie their real nature. Playful--em-
phasizes the lightness of things. Vivid--
sharpens their outline. Intense--heightens
their luminosity.
Imitation—The only sincere compliment one
painter was ever known to pay another.
--of Life—The Aristotelian definition of art,
whereby is meant not photography, not a
naturalistic imitation of appearances, but an
imitation of the processes of life which underlie
and condition those appearances.
Impersonal—A quality which distinguishes every
great work of art, giving it the appearance of
having been made, not by a man's hand, but
by an elemental force, as sun, rain and frost
carve shapes in the face of a granite boulder.
So soon as one can follow the processes of a
man's mind in a work, whatever its magnifi-
cence, it falls short of the highest class.
Impressionism—A brickbat epithet hurled at the
exhibitors of the Societe Anonyme des Artistes
Peintres, Sculpteurs et Graveurs in 1874, a time
when many of them, Monet at their head, were
still busy sunchasmg with the aid of ChevreuPs
d ivisionist theory. Clever press-agenting turned,
however, a bad egg into a battle-cry and many
of them soon woke up to find themselves
famous as exponents of a theory in which they
no longer believed and had long since discarded.
--ist—Accurately used, one who employs only
pure colors in pure fashion; lays his colors on,
that is, in small touches, mixing them optically
to obtain his demi-teintes. Colloquially, a group
of painters, including Monet, Manet, Renoir,
Degas and Pissarro, none of whom, technically
speaking, qualify for the title. Vulgarly, a
synonym, in the mouths of those who don't like
it, for all modern art, however ancient.
Inhibition—A large placard in the soul of man,
bearing the mystic letters DON'T, when his
whole being cries out DO. Another most valu-
able invention of Mr. Freud, since it explains
why the great mass of the American nation is,
and will remain, solidly conservative. By the
same token, it reduces the field, from which art
is likely to spring, to a pitiful handful.
Insanity—State of mind ascribed to living artists,
by those who have vested interests in the dead.
The uncomplimentary connotation of the epi-
thet evidenty outweighs truth in the opinion of
those who use it, since to reproach the moderns
with too much sanity were far more telling.
Inspiration—A fuel, found variously, according
to the individual temperament, in what the
romantics of the last century called Nature
under foreign skies and in a woman's, euphe-
mistically speaking, eyes. In its most con-
venient form it comes in bottles.
Intellectual—A man "got between two stock-
fishes." One whose brain overpowers the nat-
ural motions of his blood. One in whom thought
and emotion are separate processes, who lacks
the faculty of throwing his entire being, all the
functions of his body no less than of his mind,
into experience. More vulgarly, one who is not
averse to giving his mind at least as much
exercise as he gives his body.
Invention—Freshness of vision. The faculty of
seeing forms in unexpected interplay one with
the other.
ADDENDA TO FIRST INSTALMENT
Aesthete—Almost extinct species, which aimed
at performing every action in life, even the
least appetizing, with beauty. Oscar Wilde, it
will be remembered, purified the foul air of the
Strand with a lily. And even today no actor
will permit himself to be seen in public without
a carnation. Painters, however, are less deli-
cately minded.
-ics—The science of beauty—our little science,
dear amateur.
Art Critic—Vulgarly, a journalist who has grad-
uated from the social page and doesn't yet write
well enough to be entrusted with fashions or
murders. Philosophically, a creator of legends,
under cover of which art may be made to appear
attractive.
--Dealer—A wizard who persuades the public
to spend good money for things which they have
not the least desire for.
- Editor—A watchdog, whose business is to
see that the susceptibilities of the great public
are not offended.
- Lover—With apologies to the thousands
who haunt "varnishing clays"—one who buys
works of art.
Expert—Here, my dear amateur, is where we
stage a graceful fadeout.
seventy
APRIL I925