DOI Heft:
Nr. 168 (March 1907)
DOI Artikel:The lay figure
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20774#0190
The Lay
HE LAY FIGURE: ON NA-
TURAL ADVANTAGES.
“ I am very much inclined,” said the Art
Critic, “ to think that the idea of cosmopolitanism
in art is being carried a great deal too far at the
present time. There seems to me to be some
danger that all the artistic characteristics by which
in the past different nations have been distinguished
will entirely disappear, and that the same ideals and
the same methods will prevail all over the world.”
“ But we have often been told that art should
have no nationality,” objected the Man with
the Red Tie, “and that if you allow it to fall
under the influence of national prejudices its
vitality will be diminished and its powers of expres-
sion will be dangerously limited.”
“ I do not see why there should be any more
danger of such ill effects being produced in the
future than there has been in the past,” returned
the Critic; “national influences have left their
mark plainly enough on the work of the old
masters—indeed most of these masters reflect
absolutely the atmosphere by which they were
surrounded, yet we do not despise them on that
account, nor do we accuse them of lacking vitality.”
“ Even so,” said the Man with the Red Tie,
“but I am not at all sure that these masters would
not have been greater than they were if they had
had the chances which are open to the modern
student of seeing what artists in other parts of the
world were attempting and achieving.”
“ A profitless speculation ! ” laughed the Critic.
“The facts of the past are immutable, and we
need not worry ourselves about what they might
have been. I think, however, that you do not quite
appreciate what I say about the danger of cosmopo-
litanism. I do not mean so much to imply that
we should give way to national prejudices, as that
we should avoid denationalising ourselves entirely
in art. We ought not to disregard our natural
advantages; we ought rather to turn them to the
fullest account and to use them to give specific quali-
ties and definite character to our art—-and what is true
of us is equally true of other nations. Why should
we send our students abroad to be trained ? Why
should we allow them to be taught to despise their
own country as a source of artistic inspiration ? ”
“ Good Heavens ! ” interrupted the Art Student,
“ do you really suggest that we should learn art at
home ? or that there are any new ideas to be
got in this country? We must go abroad to find
out what art means. Everything worth thinking
about is utterly used up here.”
168
Figure
“ That is the common cry, I admit,” replied the
Critic, “and yet it seems to me to be simply the
voice of ignorance. Because foreign experiences
have the charm of novelty, the callow youth finds
them extraordinarily interesting. After he has
come home again the memory of them induces
him to see his own country through foreign
spectacles, and the result is usually disastrous.”
“ But surely,” broke in the Man with the Red
Tie, “ Art education is better conducted in some
countries than in others.”
“ Why, of course,” agreed the Art Student, “ we
have no one in this country who can teach; and,
even if we had, we should learn more abroad than
we ever could here. We have no art atmosphere,
no wish to improve, no new ideas, nothing that is
of the least use to a modern art student. The
only hope for our art is in the foreign notions by
which we can liven it up.”
“ And you do not mind if, for the sake of this
livening up, you destroy all that is best and most
characteristic in a native art,” sighed the Critic. “ Is
it worth while, do you think ? ”
“ I cannot see that there is the least use,” replied
the Art Student, “ in keeping it alive. We want
a fresh art in all countries where the old one is
decrepit and out of date.”
“ There is the whole thing in a single sentence ! ”
cried the Critic. “ You want a fresh art! And this
craving for novelty is merely the morbid craving
of men who have no individuality and who must
depend upon others for their ideas and their in-
spiration. They cannot see that each country has
its own natural advantages. The student who goes
abroad for his training more often than not merely
learns how to record what his teachers have seen
for him; and what they do not know he becomes
incapable of learning for himself. Am I not right
when I say that this sort of cosmopolitan art is a
danger and a curse ? It is free from national pre-
judices, I readily admit, but it is hedged round
by the narrower prejudices of some class master
who does not care what his pupils know or do not
know so long as they do what he tells them. The
pity of it is that for want of the ability to see, for
want of the power to receive impressions at first
hand, the younger artists despise what they ought
to worship, and neglect what they should treat with
the profoundest respect. I am no advocate of
convention, but I do say with conviction that
the sane, wholesome art traditions which native
masters have established should be kept free from
every foreign addition.”
The Lay Figure.
HE LAY FIGURE: ON NA-
TURAL ADVANTAGES.
“ I am very much inclined,” said the Art
Critic, “ to think that the idea of cosmopolitanism
in art is being carried a great deal too far at the
present time. There seems to me to be some
danger that all the artistic characteristics by which
in the past different nations have been distinguished
will entirely disappear, and that the same ideals and
the same methods will prevail all over the world.”
“ But we have often been told that art should
have no nationality,” objected the Man with
the Red Tie, “and that if you allow it to fall
under the influence of national prejudices its
vitality will be diminished and its powers of expres-
sion will be dangerously limited.”
“ I do not see why there should be any more
danger of such ill effects being produced in the
future than there has been in the past,” returned
the Critic; “national influences have left their
mark plainly enough on the work of the old
masters—indeed most of these masters reflect
absolutely the atmosphere by which they were
surrounded, yet we do not despise them on that
account, nor do we accuse them of lacking vitality.”
“ Even so,” said the Man with the Red Tie,
“but I am not at all sure that these masters would
not have been greater than they were if they had
had the chances which are open to the modern
student of seeing what artists in other parts of the
world were attempting and achieving.”
“ A profitless speculation ! ” laughed the Critic.
“The facts of the past are immutable, and we
need not worry ourselves about what they might
have been. I think, however, that you do not quite
appreciate what I say about the danger of cosmopo-
litanism. I do not mean so much to imply that
we should give way to national prejudices, as that
we should avoid denationalising ourselves entirely
in art. We ought not to disregard our natural
advantages; we ought rather to turn them to the
fullest account and to use them to give specific quali-
ties and definite character to our art—-and what is true
of us is equally true of other nations. Why should
we send our students abroad to be trained ? Why
should we allow them to be taught to despise their
own country as a source of artistic inspiration ? ”
“ Good Heavens ! ” interrupted the Art Student,
“ do you really suggest that we should learn art at
home ? or that there are any new ideas to be
got in this country? We must go abroad to find
out what art means. Everything worth thinking
about is utterly used up here.”
168
Figure
“ That is the common cry, I admit,” replied the
Critic, “and yet it seems to me to be simply the
voice of ignorance. Because foreign experiences
have the charm of novelty, the callow youth finds
them extraordinarily interesting. After he has
come home again the memory of them induces
him to see his own country through foreign
spectacles, and the result is usually disastrous.”
“ But surely,” broke in the Man with the Red
Tie, “ Art education is better conducted in some
countries than in others.”
“ Why, of course,” agreed the Art Student, “ we
have no one in this country who can teach; and,
even if we had, we should learn more abroad than
we ever could here. We have no art atmosphere,
no wish to improve, no new ideas, nothing that is
of the least use to a modern art student. The
only hope for our art is in the foreign notions by
which we can liven it up.”
“ And you do not mind if, for the sake of this
livening up, you destroy all that is best and most
characteristic in a native art,” sighed the Critic. “ Is
it worth while, do you think ? ”
“ I cannot see that there is the least use,” replied
the Art Student, “ in keeping it alive. We want
a fresh art in all countries where the old one is
decrepit and out of date.”
“ There is the whole thing in a single sentence ! ”
cried the Critic. “ You want a fresh art! And this
craving for novelty is merely the morbid craving
of men who have no individuality and who must
depend upon others for their ideas and their in-
spiration. They cannot see that each country has
its own natural advantages. The student who goes
abroad for his training more often than not merely
learns how to record what his teachers have seen
for him; and what they do not know he becomes
incapable of learning for himself. Am I not right
when I say that this sort of cosmopolitan art is a
danger and a curse ? It is free from national pre-
judices, I readily admit, but it is hedged round
by the narrower prejudices of some class master
who does not care what his pupils know or do not
know so long as they do what he tells them. The
pity of it is that for want of the ability to see, for
want of the power to receive impressions at first
hand, the younger artists despise what they ought
to worship, and neglect what they should treat with
the profoundest respect. I am no advocate of
convention, but I do say with conviction that
the sane, wholesome art traditions which native
masters have established should be kept free from
every foreign addition.”
The Lay Figure.