DOI Heft:
No. 385 (April 1925)
DOI Artikel:The lay figure
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21402#0246
THE LAY FIGURE: AN INTRO-
DUCTORY LETTER. 0 0
" This," grumbled the Colonel, " is a
beastly uncomfortable chair. You fellows
may be strong on art, and high thinking,
and all that, but I'm hanged if you're
much good when it comes to practical
things." a a 0 0 0
The company looked at him respect-
fully—as the Young Highbrow's uncle, he
was a somewhat novel and alarming
visitor. Certainly his chair (a triangular
thing presumably designed as a memorial
to Euclid, constructed by Village Industry,
and presented to the Critic on the occasion
of his silver wedding) did not suit him.
" Just as soon sit on a bally shooting-
stick," he complained. 000
The Young Highbrow is without rever-
ence, even for such an uncle, and he
broke the embarrassed silence. " It's a
poorish chair," he said, " but you know
you always complain if you get into a
proper armchair, and say you catch
lumbago or something getting out of it.
No furniture suits you. Why only yester-
day you were cursing the dining room
table because it was the wrong shape.
What you want is skipping before break-
fast, ten-mile walks, and so on." a 0
The company now did not know where
to look, but sat in frozen horror awaiting
the explosion. This took a surprising
form. The Colonel chuckled heartily.
" Let him wait," he said. " He'll want
alterations in his table all right. Runs in
the family. He'd be doing better to
design something now to meet the trouble.
The corporation table. Concavities for the
convex. What ■(" 0 0 0 0
" Jolly good idea," assented the Plain
Man, whose figure also begins to acquire
dignity. " Quite new too. Full of decora-
tive possibilities." A general laugh eased
the tension. 00000
" I apologise humbly for the chair,"
said the Critic, " but I suppose it repre-
sents an attempt to break away from the
rigidity of pattern, much as would the
suggested dinner table, only with perhaps
less excuse. And there is certainly a need
for such a breaking away. Furniture
generally tends to be severely limited so
240
far as originality goes. Imitation of
designs which have found favour at
various earlier periods, and persistent
convention in regard to the cheaper types
of furniture—that is really about all that
the age of the machine seems to produce.
I can imagine the face of a wholesale
manufacturer confronted with the sug-
gestion that he should set up a new plant
for corporation tables without a guarantee
of some definite sale." 000
" Our trouble," said the Old Artist
thoughtfully, " seems to me that we don't
know what the machine can do. I'm sure
I don't, and I doubt if the younger fellows
do either. I'm too old to begin now, but
it would pay them to go into the matter.
Granted that the machine is capable of
serving the ends of art—and I'm coming
round to a belief in that doctrine—it is
just as necessary to learn its possibilities
and limitations as those of pigments and
surfaces, which we've been studying for
centuries." 00000
" Well," the Young Highbrow put in,
" suppose I really bent my great mind to
it, studied all the processes of manufac-
ture, and set about designing noble tables
for my uncle, or splendid stands for his
umbrellas "—he pointed at the Plain
Man—" or covers for gramophones which
suggested music rather than office fittings,
how should I get a living out of it i
Would the manufacturer appreciate his
chances?' From what I know of him . . ."
" It's all right," said the Colonel, " he
doesn't know anything of him. Carry on,
Sir," he nodded to the Old Artist. 0
" I don't know that I've got much
more to say," he replied smiling, " and I
see his difficulty. What we really seem to
want is some sort of introduction from
the studio to the factory." 000
" Dear Sir," chanted the Young High-
brow derisively, " I beg to introduce
bearer, who knows your business inside
out and is prepared to turn it like that at
short notice, yours faithfully." 0 0
The Critic laughed. " There's some-
thing in it, for all that. A really good
letter showing the manufacturer how he
might gain from the introduction—it
would be a useful composition." 0 0
The Lay Figure.
DUCTORY LETTER. 0 0
" This," grumbled the Colonel, " is a
beastly uncomfortable chair. You fellows
may be strong on art, and high thinking,
and all that, but I'm hanged if you're
much good when it comes to practical
things." a a 0 0 0
The company looked at him respect-
fully—as the Young Highbrow's uncle, he
was a somewhat novel and alarming
visitor. Certainly his chair (a triangular
thing presumably designed as a memorial
to Euclid, constructed by Village Industry,
and presented to the Critic on the occasion
of his silver wedding) did not suit him.
" Just as soon sit on a bally shooting-
stick," he complained. 000
The Young Highbrow is without rever-
ence, even for such an uncle, and he
broke the embarrassed silence. " It's a
poorish chair," he said, " but you know
you always complain if you get into a
proper armchair, and say you catch
lumbago or something getting out of it.
No furniture suits you. Why only yester-
day you were cursing the dining room
table because it was the wrong shape.
What you want is skipping before break-
fast, ten-mile walks, and so on." a 0
The company now did not know where
to look, but sat in frozen horror awaiting
the explosion. This took a surprising
form. The Colonel chuckled heartily.
" Let him wait," he said. " He'll want
alterations in his table all right. Runs in
the family. He'd be doing better to
design something now to meet the trouble.
The corporation table. Concavities for the
convex. What ■(" 0 0 0 0
" Jolly good idea," assented the Plain
Man, whose figure also begins to acquire
dignity. " Quite new too. Full of decora-
tive possibilities." A general laugh eased
the tension. 00000
" I apologise humbly for the chair,"
said the Critic, " but I suppose it repre-
sents an attempt to break away from the
rigidity of pattern, much as would the
suggested dinner table, only with perhaps
less excuse. And there is certainly a need
for such a breaking away. Furniture
generally tends to be severely limited so
240
far as originality goes. Imitation of
designs which have found favour at
various earlier periods, and persistent
convention in regard to the cheaper types
of furniture—that is really about all that
the age of the machine seems to produce.
I can imagine the face of a wholesale
manufacturer confronted with the sug-
gestion that he should set up a new plant
for corporation tables without a guarantee
of some definite sale." 000
" Our trouble," said the Old Artist
thoughtfully, " seems to me that we don't
know what the machine can do. I'm sure
I don't, and I doubt if the younger fellows
do either. I'm too old to begin now, but
it would pay them to go into the matter.
Granted that the machine is capable of
serving the ends of art—and I'm coming
round to a belief in that doctrine—it is
just as necessary to learn its possibilities
and limitations as those of pigments and
surfaces, which we've been studying for
centuries." 00000
" Well," the Young Highbrow put in,
" suppose I really bent my great mind to
it, studied all the processes of manufac-
ture, and set about designing noble tables
for my uncle, or splendid stands for his
umbrellas "—he pointed at the Plain
Man—" or covers for gramophones which
suggested music rather than office fittings,
how should I get a living out of it i
Would the manufacturer appreciate his
chances?' From what I know of him . . ."
" It's all right," said the Colonel, " he
doesn't know anything of him. Carry on,
Sir," he nodded to the Old Artist. 0
" I don't know that I've got much
more to say," he replied smiling, " and I
see his difficulty. What we really seem to
want is some sort of introduction from
the studio to the factory." 000
" Dear Sir," chanted the Young High-
brow derisively, " I beg to introduce
bearer, who knows your business inside
out and is prepared to turn it like that at
short notice, yours faithfully." 0 0
The Critic laughed. " There's some-
thing in it, for all that. A really good
letter showing the manufacturer how he
might gain from the introduction—it
would be a useful composition." 0 0
The Lay Figure.