DOI Heft:
No. 269 (August 1915)
DOI Artikel:The lay figure
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21213#0238
The Lay Figure
THE LAY FIGURE: ON ART
AND THE NATIONAL SPIRIT.
“ Have we a prophet amongst us ? ” asked
the Art Critic. “ Is there any one who can foretell
what the future of art will be, and what are to be
its developments in years to come ?”
“ Speculations about the future are rather
unprofitable,” said the Man with the Red Tie;
and the prophet’s role is always a thankless one.
Why trouble about what may be ? ”
“Because there is a certain fascination in what you
call speculation,” returned the Critic ; “ and because
it is a natural instinct to wonder what will be the
future consequences of present-day happenings.
We all of us like to imagine that we have the gift
of prophecy.”
“ It needs no prophet to foretell the future of
European art,” broke in the Plain Man. “ Art
is dying—beyond hope of recovery. War has
killed it.”
“Why should war kill art ? ” questioned the Critic.
“ Is peace a necessity for its existence ? ”
“ Of course it is,” replied the Plain Man. “ Art
is a luxury and a product of peaceful and luxurious
times. Its purpose is only to amuse; and neces-
sarily it disappears when people are faced with
the serious facts of life and have neither money to
spend on luxuries nor time to give to amusement.”
“ So, as Europe is at war European art disappears,”
commented the Man with the Red Tie; “and we
need not worry ourselves any more about it,
present or future ; is that your argument ?”
“That about sums it up,” agreed the Plain Man.
“ We have had a long spell of peace and we have
been pretty prosperous for a great many years,
so art has had a very good innings, and we have
wasted a good deal of time and money on it. For
the future we shall have to do without it; it goes
the way of most of our other luxuries.”
“ There speaks the practical, common-sense man
who is not afflicted with imagination,” laughed the
Man with the Red Tie. “To him art seems to be
a luxury or an amusement because he has never felt
the need of it. That it can be counted among the
necessities of human life has never occurred to him.”
“Art a necessity! What nonsense!” cried the
Plain Man. “ How can it be a necessity ? ”
“ Because it is needed for the effective expression
of human ideas,” answered the Critic. “ Because
art is the medium through which the thoughts and
feelings of the human race are best made manifest.
By a nation’s art the national spirit is most plainly
declared, and the level of that nation’s intelligence
218
is most clearly established. The nation that has
no art is, like the man who has no artistic sense,
undeveloped both mentally and spiritually.”
“ But if it was all that, it would flourish just as
much in war as in peace,” protested the Plain Man.
“ Nothing would kill it. But look at facts. Who is
thinking about art now ? I tell you it is dead.”
“You mean that you are not thinking about it,”
said the Man with the Red Tie. “ But have you
ever given it a thought except in your spare
moments ? Have you ever regarded it as part of
your life ? To you it has only been an amusement,
and you say it is dead simply because you have no
time just now for amusing yourself.”
“Yes, the people who say that art is dead are
those who have never realised that it is alive,”
agreed the Critic. “War cannot kill art unless
it kills first the spirit of the nation by which that
art was produced. Look at countries like Poland,
Bohemia, and Serbia ; is their art dead ? ”
“Then if art cannot be killed why are you
worrying about its future ? ” asked the Plain Man.
“ It will go on just the same whether there is war
or peace.”
“ No, there you are wrong,” cried the Critic.
“If war changes the national spirit it will change
too the art of the nation. If war makes us less
frivolous, less luxurious, and less careless, if, as I
believe it will, it strengthens our character and
leads us to think more seriously, our art will
become stronger and greater, finer in spirit and
more noble in its aims. Art will shed the
frivolities and affectations which have grown upon
it in times of peace, just as the nation will throw off
its peace-produced slackness and love of ease.
But exactly what will be the nature of the change
it is not easy to forecast at this moment—that is
why I want a prophet who can see into the future.”
“ Reason out the future by the analogy of the
past,” suggested the Man with the Red Tie. “ The
nations you have just quoted provide you with
sufficiently striking instances.”
“Yes, they prove that even when, as a conse-
quence of war, adversity overtakes a nation art is
potent to keep alive the national spirit, and is often
a bond of union between peoples of the same race,”
agreed the Critic. “ In Poland, after many years
of dismemberment the national spirit survives and
is eloquently expressed in the works of her artists.
Among the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia and
their near relations, the Serbo-Croats, art is of para-
mount importance as a means of expressing national
aspirations. War, I say, does not kill art.”
The Lay Figure.
THE LAY FIGURE: ON ART
AND THE NATIONAL SPIRIT.
“ Have we a prophet amongst us ? ” asked
the Art Critic. “ Is there any one who can foretell
what the future of art will be, and what are to be
its developments in years to come ?”
“ Speculations about the future are rather
unprofitable,” said the Man with the Red Tie;
and the prophet’s role is always a thankless one.
Why trouble about what may be ? ”
“Because there is a certain fascination in what you
call speculation,” returned the Critic ; “ and because
it is a natural instinct to wonder what will be the
future consequences of present-day happenings.
We all of us like to imagine that we have the gift
of prophecy.”
“ It needs no prophet to foretell the future of
European art,” broke in the Plain Man. “ Art
is dying—beyond hope of recovery. War has
killed it.”
“Why should war kill art ? ” questioned the Critic.
“ Is peace a necessity for its existence ? ”
“ Of course it is,” replied the Plain Man. “ Art
is a luxury and a product of peaceful and luxurious
times. Its purpose is only to amuse; and neces-
sarily it disappears when people are faced with
the serious facts of life and have neither money to
spend on luxuries nor time to give to amusement.”
“ So, as Europe is at war European art disappears,”
commented the Man with the Red Tie; “and we
need not worry ourselves any more about it,
present or future ; is that your argument ?”
“That about sums it up,” agreed the Plain Man.
“ We have had a long spell of peace and we have
been pretty prosperous for a great many years,
so art has had a very good innings, and we have
wasted a good deal of time and money on it. For
the future we shall have to do without it; it goes
the way of most of our other luxuries.”
“ There speaks the practical, common-sense man
who is not afflicted with imagination,” laughed the
Man with the Red Tie. “To him art seems to be
a luxury or an amusement because he has never felt
the need of it. That it can be counted among the
necessities of human life has never occurred to him.”
“Art a necessity! What nonsense!” cried the
Plain Man. “ How can it be a necessity ? ”
“ Because it is needed for the effective expression
of human ideas,” answered the Critic. “ Because
art is the medium through which the thoughts and
feelings of the human race are best made manifest.
By a nation’s art the national spirit is most plainly
declared, and the level of that nation’s intelligence
218
is most clearly established. The nation that has
no art is, like the man who has no artistic sense,
undeveloped both mentally and spiritually.”
“ But if it was all that, it would flourish just as
much in war as in peace,” protested the Plain Man.
“ Nothing would kill it. But look at facts. Who is
thinking about art now ? I tell you it is dead.”
“You mean that you are not thinking about it,”
said the Man with the Red Tie. “ But have you
ever given it a thought except in your spare
moments ? Have you ever regarded it as part of
your life ? To you it has only been an amusement,
and you say it is dead simply because you have no
time just now for amusing yourself.”
“Yes, the people who say that art is dead are
those who have never realised that it is alive,”
agreed the Critic. “War cannot kill art unless
it kills first the spirit of the nation by which that
art was produced. Look at countries like Poland,
Bohemia, and Serbia ; is their art dead ? ”
“Then if art cannot be killed why are you
worrying about its future ? ” asked the Plain Man.
“ It will go on just the same whether there is war
or peace.”
“ No, there you are wrong,” cried the Critic.
“If war changes the national spirit it will change
too the art of the nation. If war makes us less
frivolous, less luxurious, and less careless, if, as I
believe it will, it strengthens our character and
leads us to think more seriously, our art will
become stronger and greater, finer in spirit and
more noble in its aims. Art will shed the
frivolities and affectations which have grown upon
it in times of peace, just as the nation will throw off
its peace-produced slackness and love of ease.
But exactly what will be the nature of the change
it is not easy to forecast at this moment—that is
why I want a prophet who can see into the future.”
“ Reason out the future by the analogy of the
past,” suggested the Man with the Red Tie. “ The
nations you have just quoted provide you with
sufficiently striking instances.”
“Yes, they prove that even when, as a conse-
quence of war, adversity overtakes a nation art is
potent to keep alive the national spirit, and is often
a bond of union between peoples of the same race,”
agreed the Critic. “ In Poland, after many years
of dismemberment the national spirit survives and
is eloquently expressed in the works of her artists.
Among the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia and
their near relations, the Serbo-Croats, art is of para-
mount importance as a means of expressing national
aspirations. War, I say, does not kill art.”
The Lay Figure.