DOI Heft:
No. 270 (September 1915)
DOI Artikel:The lay figure
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21213#0310
The Lay Figure
THE LAY FIGURE: ON SOME
ASPECTS OF ART TEACHING.
“There seems to be a general tendency at
the present time to revise our social and political
habits and to search out ways of amending our
national methods,” said the Art Critic. “ I hope
that while we are in this frame of mind the need
for improvement in our system of art education will
not be forgotten.”
“ Does it call so urgently for improvement ? ”
asked the Art Master. “ Does it not answer its
purpose quite reasonably well as it is ? ”
“No, indeed,” replied the Critic. “It has, I
think, its full share of imperfections; and now is
the time, while we are in the mood for self-criticism,
to recognise them and to do our best to remove
them.”
“ But our methods of art education have been
thoroughly reformed during the last few years, so
surely there is no need to upset them again now,”
objected the Art Master. “They are efficient
enough, and to pull them to pieces merely for the
sake of change would be absurd.”
“Are they so efficient ?” questioned the Critic.
“ Have they attained perfection ? Has the thorough
reform you talk about eliminated all deficiencies ?
I think not.”
“And I think with you,” broke in the Manu-
facturer. “ I look at the question, naturally enough,
from my own point of view : and I can only say
that in art education as it is at present con-
ducted I find many deficiencies which might be
corrected.”
“ Why, it is particularly in the interests of men
like you that the changes I am talking about have
been made in our system of art education,” cried
the Art Master. “ We have altered the whole
scheme of teaching expressly to fit the students for
their work as designers and workers in various
forms of industrial art.”
“ Yet you have not succeeded in making this
scheme agree with the ideas of the men who are
expected to employ these students,” commented the
Critic. “ That is just my argument. Evidently
you have not yet got the scheme right if the
manufacturers, including even those who are known
to take a keen interest in your art schools, are still
able to say that it does not produce the results
which they expect.”
“But what more can we do?” asked the Art
Master. “We train our students thoroughly in
the principles and practice of design; we give
them a comprehensive knowledge of all schools of
290
decorative art; we teach them to draw and to
paint; and we impress upon them the value of
sound tradition. Where are the imperfections in
such a system ? ”
“That is for you to discover,” retorted the
Manufacturer. “ I can only judge by results.
These students of yours, with all their training, are
very rarely of much use to me when they come to
my works fresh from school. They are excellently
trained, no doubt, but their knowledge is so
largely theoretical that they have to be taught
from the very beginning the practical side of what
they have to do. Cannot you save me a good deal
of that trouble ? ”
“ Ah, yes, that is the point ! ” exclaimed the
Critic. “ There is too much theory and too little
practice. What I should call the right training for
the designer includes the actual knowledge of how
to do things. He should not only be able to
design but also to make the things he designs.
He must be an artist of course, but a craftsman
as well.”
“ Do you mean to suggest, then, that the art
school should be turned into a workshop ? ” asked
the Art Master.
“Well, why not, if the student is to take his
place in a workshop when he leaves school ? ”
returned the Manufacturer. “ Why not accustom
him from the very beginning to the part that he
intends to play ? ”
“Yes, and why not make him a thorough work-
man while you are about it ? ” agreed the Critic.
“ Let him learn his trade while he is at school
so that he can go straight to the work that awaits
him outside. He will be all the better artist, I
believe, if he knows how to put his ideas into
actual shape.”
“ He will be very much more the sort of artist I
want,” declared the Manufacturer; “ because he
will not put before me suggestions so impossibly
complicated and so unpractical that it is simply
waste of time to consider them at all.”
“ That is true,” said the Critic. “ As a craftsman
he will know the value of straightforwardness and
simplicity, and he will have learned the artistic
importance of fitness in his design. He will curb
any tendency he may have in the direction of
redundancy or extravagance because he will perceive
that this tendency inevitably leads him to un-
practical results and to wasted labour. He will
know what he can do because he will know how
it should be done.”
“ Oh dear, more reforms! ” sighed the Art
Master. The Lay Ligure.
THE LAY FIGURE: ON SOME
ASPECTS OF ART TEACHING.
“There seems to be a general tendency at
the present time to revise our social and political
habits and to search out ways of amending our
national methods,” said the Art Critic. “ I hope
that while we are in this frame of mind the need
for improvement in our system of art education will
not be forgotten.”
“ Does it call so urgently for improvement ? ”
asked the Art Master. “ Does it not answer its
purpose quite reasonably well as it is ? ”
“No, indeed,” replied the Critic. “It has, I
think, its full share of imperfections; and now is
the time, while we are in the mood for self-criticism,
to recognise them and to do our best to remove
them.”
“ But our methods of art education have been
thoroughly reformed during the last few years, so
surely there is no need to upset them again now,”
objected the Art Master. “They are efficient
enough, and to pull them to pieces merely for the
sake of change would be absurd.”
“Are they so efficient ?” questioned the Critic.
“ Have they attained perfection ? Has the thorough
reform you talk about eliminated all deficiencies ?
I think not.”
“And I think with you,” broke in the Manu-
facturer. “ I look at the question, naturally enough,
from my own point of view : and I can only say
that in art education as it is at present con-
ducted I find many deficiencies which might be
corrected.”
“ Why, it is particularly in the interests of men
like you that the changes I am talking about have
been made in our system of art education,” cried
the Art Master. “ We have altered the whole
scheme of teaching expressly to fit the students for
their work as designers and workers in various
forms of industrial art.”
“ Yet you have not succeeded in making this
scheme agree with the ideas of the men who are
expected to employ these students,” commented the
Critic. “ That is just my argument. Evidently
you have not yet got the scheme right if the
manufacturers, including even those who are known
to take a keen interest in your art schools, are still
able to say that it does not produce the results
which they expect.”
“But what more can we do?” asked the Art
Master. “We train our students thoroughly in
the principles and practice of design; we give
them a comprehensive knowledge of all schools of
290
decorative art; we teach them to draw and to
paint; and we impress upon them the value of
sound tradition. Where are the imperfections in
such a system ? ”
“That is for you to discover,” retorted the
Manufacturer. “ I can only judge by results.
These students of yours, with all their training, are
very rarely of much use to me when they come to
my works fresh from school. They are excellently
trained, no doubt, but their knowledge is so
largely theoretical that they have to be taught
from the very beginning the practical side of what
they have to do. Cannot you save me a good deal
of that trouble ? ”
“ Ah, yes, that is the point ! ” exclaimed the
Critic. “ There is too much theory and too little
practice. What I should call the right training for
the designer includes the actual knowledge of how
to do things. He should not only be able to
design but also to make the things he designs.
He must be an artist of course, but a craftsman
as well.”
“ Do you mean to suggest, then, that the art
school should be turned into a workshop ? ” asked
the Art Master.
“Well, why not, if the student is to take his
place in a workshop when he leaves school ? ”
returned the Manufacturer. “ Why not accustom
him from the very beginning to the part that he
intends to play ? ”
“Yes, and why not make him a thorough work-
man while you are about it ? ” agreed the Critic.
“ Let him learn his trade while he is at school
so that he can go straight to the work that awaits
him outside. He will be all the better artist, I
believe, if he knows how to put his ideas into
actual shape.”
“ He will be very much more the sort of artist I
want,” declared the Manufacturer; “ because he
will not put before me suggestions so impossibly
complicated and so unpractical that it is simply
waste of time to consider them at all.”
“ That is true,” said the Critic. “ As a craftsman
he will know the value of straightforwardness and
simplicity, and he will have learned the artistic
importance of fitness in his design. He will curb
any tendency he may have in the direction of
redundancy or extravagance because he will perceive
that this tendency inevitably leads him to un-
practical results and to wasted labour. He will
know what he can do because he will know how
it should be done.”
“ Oh dear, more reforms! ” sighed the Art
Master. The Lay Ligure.