DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41193#0025
not to despise any man who does not pretend to be Lecture II*
what he is not; and that which will be the instru^ Art and the
ment that it shall work with & the food that shall Beauty of
nourish it shall be mans pleasure in his daily la^ the Earth,
hour, the kindest and best gift that the world has
ever had*
Again I say, I am surethatthisiswhatart means,
no less; that if we attempt to keep art alive on
other terms, we are but bolstering up a sham, and
that it would be far better for us to accept the other
alternative, the frank rejection of art, as many peo^
pie, & they not the worst of us, have already done *
T o these and not to me you must go if you want
to have any clear idea of what is hoped for the fu^
ture of the world when art is laid within her tomb.
Yet I think I can in a measure judge from thepre^
sent tendency of matters what is likely to happen
to those things which we handicraftsmen have to
deal with.
'When men have given up the idea that the work
of men's hands can ever be pleasurable to them,
they must, as good men and true, do their utmost
to reduce the work of the world to a minimum;
like us artists they must do all they can to simplify
the life of man, to reduce his wants as much as
possible; & doubtless in theory they will be able
to reduce them more than we shall, for it is clear
that the waste of tissue caused by a search after
beauty will be forbidden: all ornament will cease
from the work of men's hands, though still, wher^
d 17
what he is not; and that which will be the instru^ Art and the
ment that it shall work with & the food that shall Beauty of
nourish it shall be mans pleasure in his daily la^ the Earth,
hour, the kindest and best gift that the world has
ever had*
Again I say, I am surethatthisiswhatart means,
no less; that if we attempt to keep art alive on
other terms, we are but bolstering up a sham, and
that it would be far better for us to accept the other
alternative, the frank rejection of art, as many peo^
pie, & they not the worst of us, have already done *
T o these and not to me you must go if you want
to have any clear idea of what is hoped for the fu^
ture of the world when art is laid within her tomb.
Yet I think I can in a measure judge from thepre^
sent tendency of matters what is likely to happen
to those things which we handicraftsmen have to
deal with.
'When men have given up the idea that the work
of men's hands can ever be pleasurable to them,
they must, as good men and true, do their utmost
to reduce the work of the world to a minimum;
like us artists they must do all they can to simplify
the life of man, to reduce his wants as much as
possible; & doubtless in theory they will be able
to reduce them more than we shall, for it is clear
that the waste of tissue caused by a search after
beauty will be forbidden: all ornament will cease
from the work of men's hands, though still, wher^
d 17