DOI issue:
A foreword by the editor
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19430#0009
A FOREWORD BY THE EDITOR
T is very necessary at the present time to review the
position of affairs in the art world before attempting to
arrive at any conclusion about the prospects of the
future. A good deal has happened recently to change
the conditions of existence in this country and to pro-
vide for solution a completely new set of social problems.
By this change the progress and development of art
have been seriously affected, and in industrial art especially influences
have come into operation which are full of dangerous possibilities.
Already, indeed, they have had the effect of appreciably crippling most
forms of artistic activity ; they have created difficulties which limit the
opportunities of the art worker and hamper his freedom of action, and
they have imposed on him the need to revise and reconsider the whole
scope of his practice.
These influences call for careful analysis ; they are of two classes, tempo-
rary and permanent—or at all events so far permanent that they are
likely to persist for a generation or longer. The temporary ones, caused
immediately by the war, were shortage of raw materials, lack of unskilled
labour, diversion of skilled labour to other than artistic purposes, and
increase of expenditure by the thriftless ; the permanent ones are the re-
duction—due to the great growth in taxation—in the spending power of
the people, redistribution of income with, as a result, an alteration in the
character of the public demand, and, lastly, a great addition to the cost
of production. The temporary influences have by now waned so much
that they hardly need to be considered ; while they persisted they pro-
duced a general shortage, with a supply unequal to the demand, and
then a feverish effort to provide, at the extravagant prices which the
thriftless were prepared to pay, quantity rather than quality.
But the permanent influences cannot be disregarded if the architect, the
designer, and the other workers in the applied arts are to avoid disaster.
The extravagant and undiscriminating demand which required quantity
and took no account of quality seems, on the whole, to have been satis-
fied, and there are signs that from now onwards the selective sense of the
public is likely to make itself definitely felt, with, it may fairly be ex-
pected, a better appreciation of the efforts of the artist and the designer.
This inclination towards better things will not, however, be enough by
itself; the artist will have to guide it, and to do this properly he will him-
self have to look ahead and not only to foresee what are going to be the
requirements of the public, but also to provide in advance what will be in
request.
Therefore, it is plainly a matter of urgent importance for him to study the
1
T is very necessary at the present time to review the
position of affairs in the art world before attempting to
arrive at any conclusion about the prospects of the
future. A good deal has happened recently to change
the conditions of existence in this country and to pro-
vide for solution a completely new set of social problems.
By this change the progress and development of art
have been seriously affected, and in industrial art especially influences
have come into operation which are full of dangerous possibilities.
Already, indeed, they have had the effect of appreciably crippling most
forms of artistic activity ; they have created difficulties which limit the
opportunities of the art worker and hamper his freedom of action, and
they have imposed on him the need to revise and reconsider the whole
scope of his practice.
These influences call for careful analysis ; they are of two classes, tempo-
rary and permanent—or at all events so far permanent that they are
likely to persist for a generation or longer. The temporary ones, caused
immediately by the war, were shortage of raw materials, lack of unskilled
labour, diversion of skilled labour to other than artistic purposes, and
increase of expenditure by the thriftless ; the permanent ones are the re-
duction—due to the great growth in taxation—in the spending power of
the people, redistribution of income with, as a result, an alteration in the
character of the public demand, and, lastly, a great addition to the cost
of production. The temporary influences have by now waned so much
that they hardly need to be considered ; while they persisted they pro-
duced a general shortage, with a supply unequal to the demand, and
then a feverish effort to provide, at the extravagant prices which the
thriftless were prepared to pay, quantity rather than quality.
But the permanent influences cannot be disregarded if the architect, the
designer, and the other workers in the applied arts are to avoid disaster.
The extravagant and undiscriminating demand which required quantity
and took no account of quality seems, on the whole, to have been satis-
fied, and there are signs that from now onwards the selective sense of the
public is likely to make itself definitely felt, with, it may fairly be ex-
pected, a better appreciation of the efforts of the artist and the designer.
This inclination towards better things will not, however, be enough by
itself; the artist will have to guide it, and to do this properly he will him-
self have to look ahead and not only to foresee what are going to be the
requirements of the public, but also to provide in advance what will be in
request.
Therefore, it is plainly a matter of urgent importance for him to study the
1