DOI Heft:
No. 390 (September 1925)
DOI Artikel:The lay figure: on subject and sentiment
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21403#0206
'HE LAY FIGURE : ON SUBJECT
AND SENTIMENT. a 0
** I often wonder whether we shall ever
see a revival of the old type of subject
picture/' said the Plain Man, who had been
turning over the pages of a book on
painters of the Victorian era. u There is
something to be said for it after all, I
believe." 00000
44 Nonsense ! It is unthinkable/' cried
the Young Highbrow in indignant protest.
** Now that we have at last emancipated
ourselves from the ancient absurdities, is
it likely that we should ever revert to
them i We look forward, you must remem-
ber, not backward." 000
14 Yet, more unlikely things have hap-
pened," the Critic broke in. 44 Look at the
present for a moment and tell me whether
you emancipated people have really shed
the subject picture. I seem to remember
quite a number of what I should call stock
subjects painted by friends of yours. Are
these absurdities { ** a 0 0
" No, certainly not : because if the
subject does chance to be old the spirit in
which it is treated is new," argued the
Young Highbrow. " It is the revelation
of the artist's mind that matters, not the
material with which he deals. Any motive
that enables him to express his personality
is legitimate." 0000
" But that applies equally to the subject
painters of the past," declared the Plain
Man triumphantly. 44 The personality
of the artist determined the manner of
treatment just as much then as it does now.
By your own showing the old kind of
subject picture was as legitimate as the
present one : so why should it not come
back i" 0 0 0 0 0
" Because nobody wants it," the Young
Highbrow replied with much irritation.
" Because the artists are not likely to waste
their time on that sort of rot and because
the public would not accept it if it were
offered to them. There is no demand now
for namby-pamby prettiness and slushy
sentiment." 0000a
** It seems to me that you are like the
school-boy who when he was asked to
define sentiment said it was the mud that
settled at the bottom of a river," chuckled
the Plain Man. 0000
200
" Truly, wisdom from the mouths of
babes," agreed the Young Highbrow.
" The mud has settled ; why seek to stir
it up i The stream is clear ; can't you
leave it alone i " 0 a * 0
" Even a clear stream can be polluted by
the garbage that floats on its surface,"
returned the Plain Man ; *' and garbage,
I think, is worse than mud." 0 0
44 Gently, my friends ; you are becoming
coarse," said the Critic, who had been
listening to the argument. " I will credit
you both with an honest desire to keep the
stream of art as free from pollution as
possible. But I am inclined to believe that
there are a great many people still—as
many, perhaps, as there ever were—who
would welcome the pleasant picture which
has in it the right touch of sentiment;
human nature has not changed so much
as you may think. After all, why should
sentiment be excluded from the subject
picture i What would you have in its
place i ** 0 J 0 & 0
" Design, decoration, rhythm, harmony
of line and colour, and, above all, the
manifestation of a personal and indepen-
dent mind," answered the Young Highbrow.
" A picture should be an expression of an
aesthetic emotion and an artistic conviction,
and decidedly not a secondhand piece of
stupid story-telling." 0 0 0
" Quite so," agreed the Critic. " But
a picture can be distinguished by all these
qualities and still have as its subject some-
thing that will appeal to lovers of healthy
and honest sentiment, and I think it will
be a better picture if it is capable of making
such an appeal. You must not confuse
sentiment with cheap and washy sentiment-
'ality; one is the product of a seriously
imaginative mind, the other is the outcome
of a feeble intelligence. You are avoiding
the issue unless you realise what
a wide difference there is between
them." a 0 a 0 0
44 For my part, I should find a picture
much more interesting if it had a subject
that meant something." commented the
Plain Man ; " and I should prefer a good
story well told to a display of the incom-
prehensible emotions of some mentally
defective painter. They only annoy me.
Why should I not have what I like f* 0
The Lay Figure.
AND SENTIMENT. a 0
** I often wonder whether we shall ever
see a revival of the old type of subject
picture/' said the Plain Man, who had been
turning over the pages of a book on
painters of the Victorian era. u There is
something to be said for it after all, I
believe." 00000
44 Nonsense ! It is unthinkable/' cried
the Young Highbrow in indignant protest.
** Now that we have at last emancipated
ourselves from the ancient absurdities, is
it likely that we should ever revert to
them i We look forward, you must remem-
ber, not backward." 000
14 Yet, more unlikely things have hap-
pened," the Critic broke in. 44 Look at the
present for a moment and tell me whether
you emancipated people have really shed
the subject picture. I seem to remember
quite a number of what I should call stock
subjects painted by friends of yours. Are
these absurdities { ** a 0 0
" No, certainly not : because if the
subject does chance to be old the spirit in
which it is treated is new," argued the
Young Highbrow. " It is the revelation
of the artist's mind that matters, not the
material with which he deals. Any motive
that enables him to express his personality
is legitimate." 0000
" But that applies equally to the subject
painters of the past," declared the Plain
Man triumphantly. 44 The personality
of the artist determined the manner of
treatment just as much then as it does now.
By your own showing the old kind of
subject picture was as legitimate as the
present one : so why should it not come
back i" 0 0 0 0 0
" Because nobody wants it," the Young
Highbrow replied with much irritation.
" Because the artists are not likely to waste
their time on that sort of rot and because
the public would not accept it if it were
offered to them. There is no demand now
for namby-pamby prettiness and slushy
sentiment." 0000a
** It seems to me that you are like the
school-boy who when he was asked to
define sentiment said it was the mud that
settled at the bottom of a river," chuckled
the Plain Man. 0000
200
" Truly, wisdom from the mouths of
babes," agreed the Young Highbrow.
" The mud has settled ; why seek to stir
it up i The stream is clear ; can't you
leave it alone i " 0 a * 0
" Even a clear stream can be polluted by
the garbage that floats on its surface,"
returned the Plain Man ; *' and garbage,
I think, is worse than mud." 0 0
44 Gently, my friends ; you are becoming
coarse," said the Critic, who had been
listening to the argument. " I will credit
you both with an honest desire to keep the
stream of art as free from pollution as
possible. But I am inclined to believe that
there are a great many people still—as
many, perhaps, as there ever were—who
would welcome the pleasant picture which
has in it the right touch of sentiment;
human nature has not changed so much
as you may think. After all, why should
sentiment be excluded from the subject
picture i What would you have in its
place i ** 0 J 0 & 0
" Design, decoration, rhythm, harmony
of line and colour, and, above all, the
manifestation of a personal and indepen-
dent mind," answered the Young Highbrow.
" A picture should be an expression of an
aesthetic emotion and an artistic conviction,
and decidedly not a secondhand piece of
stupid story-telling." 0 0 0
" Quite so," agreed the Critic. " But
a picture can be distinguished by all these
qualities and still have as its subject some-
thing that will appeal to lovers of healthy
and honest sentiment, and I think it will
be a better picture if it is capable of making
such an appeal. You must not confuse
sentiment with cheap and washy sentiment-
'ality; one is the product of a seriously
imaginative mind, the other is the outcome
of a feeble intelligence. You are avoiding
the issue unless you realise what
a wide difference there is between
them." a 0 a 0 0
44 For my part, I should find a picture
much more interesting if it had a subject
that meant something." commented the
Plain Man ; " and I should prefer a good
story well told to a display of the incom-
prehensible emotions of some mentally
defective painter. They only annoy me.
Why should I not have what I like f* 0
The Lay Figure.