Studio: international art (88.1924)

THE EXHIBITION OF STUDENTS'
WORK AT THE L.C.C. CENTRAL
SCHOOL. a a a a 0

BEFORE a just estimate can be formed
of the work accomplished by the
L.C.C. Central School of Arts and Crafts,
it is necessary to take into consideration
not only the main purposes for which
such a school is organized, but also some
of the difficulties which have to be sur-
mounted. It is no easy matter to reconcile
the demands of those, on the one hand,
who clamour for predominance of com-
mercial factors, and, on the other, the
idealists whose sole outlook is aesthetic,
with scant recognition of trade require-
ments. One may, generally speaking,
assume that the most vital function
exercised by our schools of art lies in

WOODCUT BY MISS
CICELY GRIFFITHS

(L.C.C. Central School)

" THE SHOW." ETCHING
BY J. H. AMSHEWITZ

(L.C.C. Central School)

their opportunities for raising the standard
of beauty and fitness in industrial pro-
ductions. Most of the students, however,
have to be equipped for earning a liveli-
hood, and if the young designer is to
stand any chance of securing a post in a
business house he must clearly be able
to meet the demands of his employer
and satisfy the tastes of the public,
otherwise the manufacturer will have none
of him. Between these somewhat con-
tradictory standpoints some sort of com-
promise is inevitable. No doubt the
designer has to be well acquainted with
the types of design in current demand,
and be able to provide variants of these
for the manufacturers' needs, but con-
tinuous exercises along artificially estab-
lished lines, to the exclusion of experi-
mental efforts and pioneering excursions,
must tend, ultimately, to destroy the
artist's real creative power. He may emerge

73