DOI Heft:
No. 232 (July 1912)
DOI Artikel:The lay figure: on the education of the artist
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21157#0194
The Lay Figure
The lay figure: on the
EDUCATION OF THE ARTIST.
“ I often wonder whether modem artists
are not a bit over-educated,” said the Man with the
Red Tie ; “ whether they are not trained too care-
fully and too elaborately, and whether our system
of art education is not too complicated.”
“ An artist, surely, cannot be too carefully
trained,” returned the Art Critic; “ but a careful
training is not necessarily either elaborate or com-
plicated. It can be quite simple and yet it can be
carried out with the most scrupulous care.”
“ I admit the distinction,” agreed the Man with
the Red Tie ; “ careful training and over-education
are not the same thing. But do you accept my
suggestion that there is a tendency to-day to make
the whole system of art teaching too complex ?
That is the point I want to discuss.”
“ I think there are two tendencies to be noted at
the moment,” replied the Critic. “ One, which is
a survival from the past, is in the direction of an
excessively systematised type of education; the
other is in the nature of a reaction against the
older system, and leads to a rather casual and go-
as-you-please manner of training which has, I feel,
some distinctly dangerous possibilities.”
“ How fond you are of discovering dangerous
possibilities in everything that is new or pro-
gressive ! ” cried the Young Painter. “ Because
some people have had the sense to reject the
stupidities of the old system, you croak about
dangers to art and you imagine all kinds of
possible disasters. Why are you such a hopeless
pessimist ? ”
“ If a desire for common-sense methods in art
education is a sign of pessimism, then truly I am a
pessimist, and I glory in it,” laughed the Critic.
‘T object to both the tendencies I have just re-
ferred to, and I want to see the education of the
artist put on the right lines.”
“ But what need is there of art education at all?”
demanded the Young Painter. “To the clever
man who is endowed with the artistic faculty what
is called education is a positive disadvantage. It
destroys his spirit, it takes away all his originality,
and it turns him into a mere machine. It does
him infinitely more harm than good.”
“Those, I quite agree with you, are the dis-
advantages of the bad system,” said the Critic.
“ They are the consequences of attempting to train
a number of men of varying individualities in
exactly the same way, and of trying to make them
all conform to a regulation pattern. But because
172
I think such an attempt is foolish, it does not
follow that I would abolish art education entirely.”
“ But don’t you think that the real artist, the
man with the true faculty, would give a good
account of himself whether he were systematically
trained or not ? ” broke in the Man with the Red
Tie. “ And don’t you think that an elaborate
system of education would hurt him and take away
from him much of his capacity?”
“ I think that the really strong man would break
through any system and find his own way,” replied
the Critic. “ The only use to him of education is
that it saves him the time he would have to spend
in finding out for himself the rudimentary things
which he must learn sooner or later. The people
whom the bad system really hurts are those with
less commanding capacities who can be made or
marred by their training. I want to see them
properly taught—carefully educated.”
“ What do the duffers matter ? ” sneered the
Young Painter. “ They are no good, anyhow. We
only want big men; let the others go.”
“ You cannot always get the big men when you
want them,” declared the Critic ; “ and therefore
you must fall back on what you call the duffers.
And among these minor men there are plenty who
are quite capable of doing good work if they are
given a fair chance. But I do not think they have
had a fair chance under the old, elaborate, complex
system, and I do not see that they will have any
better chance under the new, careless, casual
methods; therefore I plead for care and considera-
tion to bring out the best that is in them.”
“And how is this care and consideration to be
shown, may I ask ? ” inquired the Young Painter.
“ By adopting methods of education which will
allow of the development of individual talent,”
replied the Critic ; “ by abolishing the system which
prescribes a pattern to which every student must
conform, and by removing the disadvantages of a
method of training which kills more capacities
than it encourages ; but also by not turning out
into deep waters the struggling beginner who has
never been taught to swim. Educate your duffers
in such a way that you will make the best of them,
not the worst, and incite them to show some sort of
independence and personal conviction. If you
deny them the support of a hard-and-fast system
you must give them something in its place, or else
all their miserable lives they will be mere parasites
on art, illiterate hangers-on, useless to themselves
and every one else.”
“ Oh, save them from that, by all means,” laughed
the Man with the Red Tie. The Lay Figure.
The lay figure: on the
EDUCATION OF THE ARTIST.
“ I often wonder whether modem artists
are not a bit over-educated,” said the Man with the
Red Tie ; “ whether they are not trained too care-
fully and too elaborately, and whether our system
of art education is not too complicated.”
“ An artist, surely, cannot be too carefully
trained,” returned the Art Critic; “ but a careful
training is not necessarily either elaborate or com-
plicated. It can be quite simple and yet it can be
carried out with the most scrupulous care.”
“ I admit the distinction,” agreed the Man with
the Red Tie ; “ careful training and over-education
are not the same thing. But do you accept my
suggestion that there is a tendency to-day to make
the whole system of art teaching too complex ?
That is the point I want to discuss.”
“ I think there are two tendencies to be noted at
the moment,” replied the Critic. “ One, which is
a survival from the past, is in the direction of an
excessively systematised type of education; the
other is in the nature of a reaction against the
older system, and leads to a rather casual and go-
as-you-please manner of training which has, I feel,
some distinctly dangerous possibilities.”
“ How fond you are of discovering dangerous
possibilities in everything that is new or pro-
gressive ! ” cried the Young Painter. “ Because
some people have had the sense to reject the
stupidities of the old system, you croak about
dangers to art and you imagine all kinds of
possible disasters. Why are you such a hopeless
pessimist ? ”
“ If a desire for common-sense methods in art
education is a sign of pessimism, then truly I am a
pessimist, and I glory in it,” laughed the Critic.
‘T object to both the tendencies I have just re-
ferred to, and I want to see the education of the
artist put on the right lines.”
“ But what need is there of art education at all?”
demanded the Young Painter. “To the clever
man who is endowed with the artistic faculty what
is called education is a positive disadvantage. It
destroys his spirit, it takes away all his originality,
and it turns him into a mere machine. It does
him infinitely more harm than good.”
“Those, I quite agree with you, are the dis-
advantages of the bad system,” said the Critic.
“ They are the consequences of attempting to train
a number of men of varying individualities in
exactly the same way, and of trying to make them
all conform to a regulation pattern. But because
172
I think such an attempt is foolish, it does not
follow that I would abolish art education entirely.”
“ But don’t you think that the real artist, the
man with the true faculty, would give a good
account of himself whether he were systematically
trained or not ? ” broke in the Man with the Red
Tie. “ And don’t you think that an elaborate
system of education would hurt him and take away
from him much of his capacity?”
“ I think that the really strong man would break
through any system and find his own way,” replied
the Critic. “ The only use to him of education is
that it saves him the time he would have to spend
in finding out for himself the rudimentary things
which he must learn sooner or later. The people
whom the bad system really hurts are those with
less commanding capacities who can be made or
marred by their training. I want to see them
properly taught—carefully educated.”
“ What do the duffers matter ? ” sneered the
Young Painter. “ They are no good, anyhow. We
only want big men; let the others go.”
“ You cannot always get the big men when you
want them,” declared the Critic ; “ and therefore
you must fall back on what you call the duffers.
And among these minor men there are plenty who
are quite capable of doing good work if they are
given a fair chance. But I do not think they have
had a fair chance under the old, elaborate, complex
system, and I do not see that they will have any
better chance under the new, careless, casual
methods; therefore I plead for care and considera-
tion to bring out the best that is in them.”
“And how is this care and consideration to be
shown, may I ask ? ” inquired the Young Painter.
“ By adopting methods of education which will
allow of the development of individual talent,”
replied the Critic ; “ by abolishing the system which
prescribes a pattern to which every student must
conform, and by removing the disadvantages of a
method of training which kills more capacities
than it encourages ; but also by not turning out
into deep waters the struggling beginner who has
never been taught to swim. Educate your duffers
in such a way that you will make the best of them,
not the worst, and incite them to show some sort of
independence and personal conviction. If you
deny them the support of a hard-and-fast system
you must give them something in its place, or else
all their miserable lives they will be mere parasites
on art, illiterate hangers-on, useless to themselves
and every one else.”
“ Oh, save them from that, by all means,” laughed
the Man with the Red Tie. The Lay Figure.