Studio: international art (56.1912)

Modern Illuminations

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INTRODUCTION. I

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ILLUMINATED PAGES

such effort. But it is not unfair to state that only
one-tenth of the number of artists which each
century produces can enter the ranks of genius,
and it is only within these ranks of genius that true
inspiration, drawn from on high, independent of
study and copy, is to be found.

At present we can see all round us the necessary,
unavoidable reaction, welcomed by many for itself
alone, in favour of non-study and non-copying,
but it must be apparent that genius cannot be made
in this way, more than in any other way. By
studying and copying the lessons may be learnt,
but the lessons themselves are not final—no person
need pause when the lesson is learnt.

In the art of illumination
there is perhaps more
tendency to retrogression
than in any other branch
of art. The standard of the
Middle Ages has possessed
the minds of all illumina-
tors, and the comparative
scarcity of to-day’s demand
for decorated books leads
the decorator to associate
his work with a taste which
has passed away from
modern times. But the
illuminator of to-day must
shake himself free of these
hampering ideas. In spite
of the growth of typography
there is ample scope for
his talents, since the illuminated pages

production of beautiful
volumes is necessarily an
ideal in the mind of the
publisher. Fine work will
always be recognised and
patronised—more so now
than ever, since the cultured
public is always increasing
in numbers.

It is perhaps courage that
is lacking; courage to
assert personal convictions,
personal feelings, in an
art which has more than
the usual weight of shackles
upon it. Let the modern
illuminator wake up, and
take fresh soundings !
Granted that he is skilled
and learned, let him forget
what he has learned, or, to be more accurate, let him
leave to his subconscious mind the knowledge and
training he has acquired, and give unhampered play
to his own personal moods and feelings. If he has
knowledge and is an artist he will break no laws,
although while working out his ideas he ignores all
law.

In looking at the illuminations being done to-day,
one feels at once the overpowering influence of the
ideas held by those who decorated missals in the
Middle Ages. This in one respect is no evil, because
those missals are all that can be imagined most beau-
tiful and perfect. Their beauty and their perfection
can be analysed. Each page primarily satisfies the

BY DOROTHY G. FELTON

BY DOROTHY G. PELTON

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