,a ,,child',s ,,guide ,,to ,,pictures ,illustration3 ,copyright1 #aijf1 by ,detroit ,publishing ,company4 ,view on the ,seine4 ,homer ,d4 ,martin4 7,also called 8,the ,harp of the ,winds407 ,a ,,child',s ,,guide ,,to ,,pictures ,,by ,,charles ,h4 ,,caffin ,,author ,,of 8,,how ,,to ,,study ,,pictures0 ,,new ,,york ,,the ,,baker ,,taylor ,,company #aijh ,,copyright1 #aijh1 ,,by ,,the ,,baker ,,taylor ,,company ,published1 ,july1 #aijh ,,the ,,trow ,,press1 ,,new ,,york ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,feeling ,,for ,,beauty #aa ,,ii4 ,,art ,,and ,,her ,,twin ,,sister1 ,,nature #ba ,,iii4 ,,nature ,,is ,,haphazard2 ,,art ,,is ,,arrangement #cj ,,iv4 ,,contrast #dj ,v4 ,,geometric ,,composition #ee ,,vi4 ,,geometric ,,composition 7,continued7 #fc ,,vii4 ,,the ,,action1 ,,movement1 ,,and ,,composition ,,of ,,the ,,figure #ge ,,viii4 ,,the ,,classic ,,landscape #hc ,,ix4 ,,naturalistic ,,composition #ie ,x4 ,,naturalistic ,,composition 7,continued7 #ajf ,,xi4 ,,the ,,naturalistic ,,landscape #aag ,,xii4 ,,form ,,and ,,color #abi ,,xiii4 ,,color #add ,,xiv4 ,,color--,,values--,,subtlety #afj ,,xv4 ,,color--,,texture1 ,,atmosphere1 ,,tone #ahj ,,xvi4 ,,color--,,tone #bjd ,,xvii4 ,,brush-,,work ,,and ,,drawing #bai ,,xviii4 ,,subject1 ,,motive1 ,,and ,,point ,,of ,,view #bcj ,,illustrations ,,facing ,,page ,view on the ,seine ,homer ,d4 ,martin ,frontispiece ,la ,disput del ,sacramento ,raphael #ef ,jurisprudence ,raphael #ff ,the ,manitou ,lunette ,e4 ,h4 ,blashfield #hf ,dido ,building ,carthage ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner #ib ,the ,sower ,j4 ,f4 ,millet #ajj ,young ,woman ,opening a ,window ,j4 ,vermeer #ajh ,crossing the ,brook ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner #aah ,paysage ,j4 ,b4 ,c4 ,corot #abh ,washington ,crossing the ,delaware ,e4 ,leutze #adj ,prince ,balthazar ,carlos ,velasquez #afh ,the ,little ,white ,girl ,j4 ,m4 ,whistler #agf ,the ,mystic ,marriage of ,st4 ,catherine ,correggio #aib ,light and ,shade ,george ,inness #bjb ,evening ,anton ,mauve #bdf ,a ,,child',s ,,guide ,,to ,,pictures ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,feeling ,,for ,,beauty ,some of you1 ,i expect1 collect photographs of pictures in connection with your history studies4 ,these portraits of the principal characters and pictures1 illustrating great events1 places1 costumes1 and modes of living of the period1 add greatly to the interest of your reading4 ,they bring the past time vividly before your eyes4 ,but it is not this view of pictures that we are going to talk about in the present book4 ,i shall have very little to say about the subjects of pictures--partly because you can find out for yourselves what subjects interest you2 but mostly1 because the subject of a picture has so very little to do with its beauty as a work of art4 ,for it is this view of a picture1 as being a work of art1 that ,i shall try to keep before you4 ,i remember seeing the photograph of a picture hanging in a place of honor on the wall of a girl's room2 and ,i asked her why she had chosen this particular one out of many that she had4 ,you see that1 in order to help anyone1 you have to try to get into their minds1 and find out how their minds are working2 and as much of my work is with girls and boys1 ,i try to get from them hints as to the best way of helping them4 ,well1 this girl1 let me tell you1 bubbled over with life and fun1 swam like a fish and climbed trees like a squirrel2 but she had her thoughtful moods1 when1 as often as not1 she would lay out her collection of photographs of pictures on the floor1 and not only look at them1 but think about them4 ,and ,i have no doubt that she was in one of those moods1 when she chose out this particular print and hung it on her wall1 in order that she might see it often4 ,so ,i asked her why she had chosen it1 and she said3 8,because ,i liked it40 ,i asked her why8 8,oh1 ,i don't know10 she said4 ,now that is just the sort of girl or boy for whom ,i am writing this book4 ,not that ,i think that girl would have liked her picture any better for knowing why she liked it4 ,then1 8,what is the good10 you ask1 8of writing a book to help her to know80 ,a very shrewd question and quite to the point4 ,let me try to answer it4 ,when the girl said she did not know why she liked the picture1 ,i think she meant that she could not put into words what she felt4 ,it was the feeling with which the picture filled her that made her like it4 ,i could understand what she meant1 because ,i remembered an experience of my own4 ,the first time that ,i saw ,raphael's ,disput1 which decorates a wall in one of the rooms of the ,vatican in ,rome1 ,i had set out with my guidebook1 intending to study all the paintings by ,raphael that decorate these rooms4 ,i entered the first room and1 ,i suppose1 looked round the walls and saw three other paintings2 but all ,i recall during this visit was the ,disput4 ,i sat down before it and remained seated6 ,i do not know how long1 but the morning slipped away4 ,what ,i thought about as ,i looked at the picture ,i cannot tell you4 ,my impression is that ,i did not think at all2 ,i only felt4 ,my spirit was lifted up and purified and strengthened with happiness4 ,returning to my hotel1 ,i read about the picture in the guidebook4 ,it appeared that one of the figures represented ,dante4 ,i had not noticed it1 and as ,i read on ,i found out other things that ,i had missed2 that1 indeed1 the whole subject1 so far as it could be put into words1 had escaped me4 ,i had no knowledge of what the painting was about2 only ,i had felt its beauty4 ,since then ,i have studied the picture and discovered some of the means that ,raphael employed to arouse this depth of feeling1 and the knowledge has helped me to find beauty in other things4 ,so1 to go back to my girl friend1 ,i would not disturb the beauty of her feeling with teachy-teachy talk1 any more than ,i would talk while beautiful music was being played4 ,but1 suppose in a simple way ,i could make her understand that ,i1 too1 felt the beauty of the picture2 and1 as ,i have learned a little how to express feeling in words1 should try to tell her how ,i felt the beauty4 ,might it not add to her pleasure1 if she discovered that ,i was putting into words some of the feeling that she herself had1 and perhaps suggesting other beauties that she had not felt8 ,well1 that is what ,i hope to do for you in this book1 to put some ideas into your head1 that will lead you to look for and find more and more beauty in pictures and in nature and in life4 ,ideas1 mark you1 not words4 ,we shall have to use words1 but words are of no account1 unless they make you feel the idea contained in them4 ,i say feel2 and you will notice ,i have used these words1 feel and feeling1 several times already4 ,i have done so because ,i want to impress upon you that the enjoyment of beauty1 whether in pictures or any other form1 comes to us through feeling4 ,it may lead to thinking1 and perhaps should1 but it does not begin with thinking or reasoning1 as does1 for example1 algebra or geometry4 ,nor can we1 as we say1 8get it down fine10 in the way we do with the ,latin declensions4 ,when you have learned them thoroughly1 you know them once and for all1 and you know about them just what every other girl and boy who has learned them knows4 ,with feeling it is otherwise4 ,what you feel is different to what ,i feel2 we can never feel alike4 ,no two people can4 ,so ,i am not going to tell you what you ought to feel about pictures2 nor am ,i going to try and persuade you to like one and not like another4 ,therefore1 this book would not be much help to you in passing an examination about pictures1 if anything so foolish could be supposed4 ,but ,i hope it may start your imagination off in a great many new directions1 and help you to discover more and more of beauty not only in pictures1 but in life4 ,for we should study pictures not solely for their own sake1 but also as a means of making our lives fuller and better4 ,if you ask me what is the most beautiful thing in the world1 ,i shall not say art1 although ,i am writing about pictures--but life--its fullness of possibility and abundance of opportunity4 ,especially young life2 the lives of you girls and boys1 who1 as yet1 have so few mistakes to regret1 so much to look forward to of promise and fulfillment4 ,what you will make of those lives of yours may depend a little upon schools and teachers1 parents and friends1 money and health1 and many other things1 but most of all upon your own wills4 ,i wonder if you have read the life of ,robert ,louis ,stevenson8 ,he had only such education as many other boys of his time had1 little or no money1 and very poor health4 ,but what a deal he made of his own life and how he helped the lives of others6 ,what a fellow he was for fun1 and how he loved wisdom2 a great worker and a greatly conscientious one2 not satisfied unless his work was the very best that he could make it4 ,and the reason was that he loved beauty as well as wisdom2 and in his life and writings1 because in his own inward thoughts wisdom and beauty went hand in hand4 ,i know of no better example of the full life2 of a life made the most of1 in the best and truest sense1 with gladness and strength for itself and for the lives of others4 ,while his body sleeps on an island mountain1 overlooking the vast beauty of sky and ocean1 his spirit stays with us4 ,the secret of the fullness of ,stevenson's life was that1 so far as in him lay1 he left no portion of the garden of his life uncultivated4 ,there were no waste places1 every part was fruitful4 ,he did the best that he could for his poor1 weak body2 kept his intellect bright with learning1 his fun alert with hope1 his friendships warm with sympathy2 and kept his life and work sweetened and purified and strengthened by the love of beauty4 ,he was in a high sense in love with life--his own life1 the lives of others1 and life in art and nature1 and the abundant harvest of his garden is the love that countless men and women and children bore him and still maintain4 ,such fullness of life is rare4 ,boys and girls1 and for that matter men and women1 cultivate some part of themselves1 and let the rest go to waste4 ,and the part which is most apt to be overlooked is the sense of beauty4 ,we train our bodies and our minds1 but neglect those five senses1 which are just as much a part of us4 ,it is true that men train their senses for the practical purposes of business3 the watchmaker1 for instance1 his delicacy of touch2 the tea producer1 his senses of taste and smell2 the mariner1 his senses of sight and sound4 ,but business1 though necessary1 is not everything4 ,we do not confine the exercise of our bodies and minds to work and business1 but use them also for enjoyment1 and train them for this purpose4 ,do we not learn to swim1 play ball and tennis1 and practice other bodily exercises for the pure enjoyment of them8 ,or in our leisure moments busy our brains with study of bees1 machinery1 history1 all kinds of difficult subjects not as work1 but as a relief from work8 ,we call them our 8hobbies10 and indulge them for pleasure1 and find that the pleasure improves our health and spirits1 and in the end even makes us do our necessary work better1 and so find more pleasure in that also4 ,for it is in what we know best and can do best that we really take most pleasure4 ,and though life cannot be all pleasure1 yet pleasure1 rightly understood1 should be one of the chief aims of life4 ,and one of the chief sources of pleasure is to be found in the beauty that reaches our minds through the senses1 especially through the senses of sight and sound4 ,let me illustrate in a simple way how one child will gain pleasure from her senses while another doesn't4 ,both have their five senses in working order--smell1 taste1 touch1 sight1 and sound--and have been in the woods gathering flowers4 ,they reach home4 ,one throws her handful down on a sofa1 table1 or chair1 or the nearest bit of furniture1 and goes off to do something1 or it may be nothing1 leaving the flowers to wither and become an untidiness4 ,what made her gather them8 ,perhaps1 because she is full of health and had to run about and do something2 perhaps1 because she has not quite gotten over the fondness that most of us had1 as babies1 for breaking and tearing things4 ,it amused her to break the big stems and tear off the vines or pull up the little plants4 ,or possibly she was really attracted by the beauty of the flowers1 but soon tired of them1 and went off to other things4 ,not so1 however1 with her companion4 ,she spreads a paper on the table1 lays out her flowers1 brings one or two vases1 and settles down to the pleasure of arranging them4 ,she picks up a flower1 and while she waits to decide in which vase it shall be put1 see how delicately she handles it6 ,you can tell in a moment she has a feeling of love and tenderness toward the flower4 ,she puts it in a vase1 and then her eye travels over the other flowers to decide which shall bear it company4 ,what color1 what form of flower will match best the first one8 ,and while she is making the choice almost unconsciously she sniffs the fragrance of that spray of honeysuckle4 ,well1 she lingers so long over the pleasure of arranging her flowers that we have not time to stay and watch the whole proceeding2 but presently1 when we come back1 we find the vases filled and set about the room where they will look their best2 this one in the dark corner with the wall behind it2 another on the window sill1 so that the light may shine through the petals of the flowers4 ,and we think to ourselves what taste the girl has6 ,for 7have you ever thought of it87 we use the word taste1 which originally described only the sense of tasting things with the tongue1 in order to sum up a finer use of the senses of sight and sound4 ,and this finer use of the senses1 such as ,stevenson cultivated1 so that his life and works are beautiful as well as wise and good1 we too may cultivate1 and it is the object of this book to help us do it4 ,i call it a guide to pictures1 but ,i want to make it much more than that--a guide for the wonderful organs1 your senses1 that they may grow more and more to feel the beauty that is all about us in nature and in life1 as well as in pictures and other works of art4 ,so beauty is really our subject1 beauty in nature and in art4 ,the two are separate1 though united as twin sisters4 ,as ,i write1 many of you are enjoying your summer vacations1 face to face with nature4 ,the health of the mountains or the sea is in your blood2 your bodies know the joy of active movement2 your minds are filled with the interest of new scenes and adventures1 of sports and fun with friends4 ,but every once in a while ,i think it likely that your happiness is increased by something beautiful you have seen in nature4 ,perhaps even now1 as you read these words1 there comes to you the memory of some sunset1 or moonlight on the water1 of early morning mist creeping among the tree tops1 or ,i know not what of nature's beauty1 suddenly revealed to you because you were in the mood to receive it4 ,you were in the company of a friend1 and you drew your arm closer through his or hers1 and both were the happier for the beauty that was before you and had entered into your hearts4 ,or perhaps you were alone1 and the eagerness came over you to make some record of your joy--in a letter to a friend or in some poem for no eyes but your own4 ,you felt the need to give utterance to your joy in nature's beauty4 ,you had in you a little of the desire that stirs the artist4 ,and this brings us to the other kind of beauty1 which is not of nature1 though it is of nature's prompting--the beauty created by the artist4 ,we are going to study the work of artists who create beauty in pictures4 ,but do not make the mistake some people do1 of thinking that it is only painters who are artists4 ,an artist is one who fits some beautiful conception with some beautiful form of expression4 ,his form of expression1 or as we say1 his art1 may be sculpture1 painting1 or architecture2 or some handicraft1 as of metal or porcelain or embroidery2 or it may be music1 the composing of music or the rendering of it by instrument or voice2 it may be acting or some forms of dancing2 it may be poetry or even prose4 ,the artist1 in a word1 is one who not only takes beauty into his own soul1 but has the gift of art that enables him to communicate the beauty to others by giving it a form or body4 ,if he be a musician1 he gives it a form of sound2 if a painter1 a form visible to the eye4 ,it is his power of creating a form for the beauty which he feels that makes him an artist4 ,and in its various forms--poetry1 music1 painting1 sculpture1 architecture1 and the rest--art is man's highest expression of his reverence for and joy in beauty4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,art ,,and ,,her ,,twin ,,sister1 ,,nature ,a ,work of ,art is ,distinguished by ,selection ,in the previous chapter we talked about beauty1 and noted that there were two kinds--beauty in nature and beauty in art4 ,let us now look a little more closely into this distinction1 so that we may grasp the idea of what a work of art is4 ,since what the painter puts onto his canvas is visible to the eye1 it will generally represent or suggest some form in nature4 ,so the painter is a student of nature4 ,but not in the same way as the botanist who studies the forms of trees and plants which grow above the ground1 or the geologist who explores the secrets of the earth below the ground4 ,these we call scientists or scientific students1 because the object of their study is exact knowledge of nature4 ,they address themselves directly to our intellects and teach us to know the facts of nature accurately2 but the painter appeals first to our sense of sight and helps us to feel more deeply the beauty of the visible world4 ,unless we thoroughly grasp this difference we shall never properly understand what painters try to do1 nor be able properly to enjoy their pictures4 ,so here1 at the beginning of our talks together1 let us look into this difference4 ,we have said that the painter represents or suggests some form in nature4 ,sometimes he represents the actual appearance of nature1 as when he paints a portrait or a landscape4 ,at other times he suggests the possible appearance of things1 which he has never seen but only imagines1 as the old ,italian painters did when they made pictures of ,st4 ,george1 killing the dragon1 or of ,christ in the manger1 with a choir of angels hovering above4 ,they had never seen a dragon1 but from their study of the lizard1 which in hot countries like ,italy may constantly be seen basking on the hot rocks or darting away at your approach1 they imagined a form and painted it so that it suggests an actual creature4 ,so1 for their angels1 they studied the forms and movement of children1 as they ran and played1 with hair and skirts streaming in the wind2 also the wings and the flight of birds1 and the appearance of the sky4 ,nature was1 as it still remains1 the artist's teacher4 ,just in what way he learns of her and uses her lessons1 ,i am going to try and show you4 ,but first let me remind you that nature and art1 though so close together that ,i have called them twin sisters1 are quite separate4 ,i do so because many people confuse them together4 ,frequently you will hear a person say of some view of nature that it is 8beautiful as a picture40 ,well1 very likely it is1 but as we shall see1 not in the same way4 ,or some one will exclaim1 as he stands in front of a picture1 8,it looks like nature40 ,so it does2 and yet it is not really like nature4 ,why both these remarks are in a small way true1 but in the big sense not true1 we shall discover1 ,i hope1 presently4 ,meanwhile1 suppose we lay the book aside and look out of the window4 ,are you living in the country or city8 ,in either case you are looking out at nature1 as the painter understands the word4 ,for1 while we who are not painters1 when we talk of nature1 have in mind the earth and sky and water1 and the living things that move therein1 as beasts1 birds1 and fishes1 and the forms that live but do not move1 trees and flowers and seaweed1 for example1 and also the chief of living and moving creatures--man2 the painter uses the word nature in a wider sense4 ,with him it means everything outside himself1 so that it includes things made by man3 streets1 buildings1 chairs1 and tables--the thousand and one objects that man's brain and handiwork have fashioned out of the materials of nature4 ,but you are waiting at the window1 looking out1 perhaps1 upon a street--a row of buildings1 many people on the sidewalks1 carriages and carts1 passing before your eyes2 or else into the garden of your country home1 with its trees and shrubs and flowers1 and possibly a view of fields and hills and woods4 ,in each case the woodwork of the window frames in the view4 ,move slowly backward and you will notice that the view grows smaller and smaller2 advance again and the view spreads out farther and farther2 step to the left and some of the view on that side disappears1 but you will see more toward the other side4 ,imagine for a moment that the woodwork of the window is a picture frame and you are deciding how much of the outside view you will include in the picture4 ,if you own a kodak and are in the habit of taking pictures1 you move the camera or your position until the image in the 8finder0 seems to be about what you wish to photograph4 ,whether you thus use the 8finder0 or the window frame1 you are selecting a bit of nature for a picture4 ,this should make clear to you one of the differences between nature and art4 ,nature extends in every direction all round the artist1 an unending panorama from which he selects some little portion to form the subject of his work of art4 ,but he carries his selection still farther1 for even in the part of nature that he has selected there is so much more than he could ever put into his picture4 ,take another look out of the window4 ,what a mass of details the whole presents6 ,and1 if we fix our eye on any one of its parts1 it also is made up of a number of details4 ,it would be impossible for the artist to paint them all4 ,and so1 also1 if your view from the window is a country scene and you look at one object1 that elm1 for example4 ,do you think it would be possible for an artist to paint all the scales of the bark1 all the spreading limbs1 much less all the little branches and twigs and the countless leaves8 ,as the artist cannot possibly paint everything1 he must choose or select what he will leave out and what he will put in4 ,once more1 the characteristic of art is selection1 while that of nature is abundance4 ,we talk of nature's prodigality2 we say that she is prodigal of her resources1 flinging them around as a prodigal or wasteful man flings around his money4 ,you know1 for example1 how the dandelion scatters its seeds broadcast over the lawn2 how the daisies spread over the fields until the farmer calls them the 8white weed02 how the woods become choked with undergrowth and the trees overhead crowd one another with their tangle of branches4 ,the lawns and fields must be continually weeded2 the woods cleared and thinned4 ,man1 in fact1 when he brings nature under the work of his hand1 is continually selecting what he shall weed out and what he shall let remain4 ,and so the artist with the work of his hand--his work of art4 ,suppose we make believe that we are watching an artist as he begins his work of selection4 ,the one over there1 sitting under a big1 white umbrella with his easel in front of him1 will serve our turn4 ,if he will let us look over his shoulder1 we shall see that with a few strokes of charcoal upon his canvas he has already selected how much of the wide view in front of him he will include in his picture4 ,it finishes1 you see1 on the right with a bit of that row of trees that stand against the sky1 and on the left with that small bush1 so that in between is a little bit of the winding road1 with a meadow beyond dotted with cows4 ,he has squeezed some of the paint from the tubes on to his palette1 and takes up his brushes4 ,now watch him 8lay in10 as he would say1 8the local colors02 that is to say1 the general color of each locality or part of the scene4 ,the general color of the sky is a faint blue2 of the trees on the right1 a grayish green2 of the bush on the left1 a deeper green2 of the meadow1 a yellowish green1 while that of the road is a pinkish brown1 for the soil of this part of the country1 we will suppose1 is red clay4 ,all these local colors he lays in1 covering each part with a flat layer of paint so that his canvas now presents a pattern of colored spaces4 ,yet already it begins to 8look like something40 ,we can see1 as it were1 the ground plan1 on which the artist is going to build up his picture4 ,but now he must stop1 for his paints are mixed with oils and take some time to dry1 and he cannot work over the paint while it is sticky4 ,a few days later we pay him another visit4 ,he has been busy in our absence2 the picture looks to us to be finished1 and we begin to compare it with the natural scene in front of us4 ,in nature those trees on the right stand so sharply against the sky that we can count their branches4 ,evidently the artist hasn't1 for in his picture he has left out a great many of them2 indeed1 he has put in only a few of the more prominent ones4 ,see1 too1 how he has painted the trees2 he hasn't put in a single leaf4 ,instead he has represented the foliage in masses1 lighter in some parts where the sun strikes1 darker in the shadows4 ,when we compare his trees with the real ones1 they are not a bit the same1 and yet the painted ones look all right2 we can see at once that they are maples and in a general way very like the real ones4 ,the artist hears us talking1 and he says3 8,my business1 you see1 is not to make real trees2 that's nature's business2 ,i'm a maker of pictures1 and in them ,i only suggest that the trees are real4 ,i try to make you feel that these are maple trees0--and he points to that part of the picture with his brush--8and ,i hope also to make you feel their beauty4 ,i don't give you an imitation of nature1 but a suggestion of nature's truth4 8,now see10 he says1 8how ,i have painted those cows3 just a few dabs of brownish red and black and white1 showing against the green of the grass4 ,do they suggest cows to you80 8,yes10 we say in chorus4 8,well1 ,i hope they do10 he replies1 8and that you don't say #8yes' merely to please me4 ,but if you had never seen a cow would you know from these dabs what a cow is really like8 8,i am sure you wouldn't10 he goes on without waiting for an answer2 8and if the farmer gave me a commission to paint his favorite prize cow1 ,i am sure he wouldn't be satisfied with these dabs4 ,and ,i should not blame him4 ,no1 in that case ,i should place the cow where ,i could study it closely3 the long1 straight line of the back1 the big angle of the hips1 the strong-ribbed carcass1 and its covering of glossy hair1 the mild liquid eyes1 and damp nose4 ,these and a great deal more ,i should paint1 if ,i were near the cow4 ,but look at those cows over yonder4 ,they are a long way off1 and consequently look very small4 ,i can't see in them the different points that ,i know a cow has2 to my eyes from where ,i sit they look as ,i have painted them4 ,for an artist does not paint what he knows to be there1 but what he can see from here4 8,look10 he continues1 picking up a tiny pointed brush4 8,see what happens1 when ,i paint what ,i know to be there60 ,and with quick1 deft strokes he proceeds to sharpen the lines of the back of one of his cows in the picture1 and give her four very decided legs2 to hang a tail2 and give her horns2 and titivate the head1 put in an eye and make the tongue curl round the muzzle4 8,why1 it looks like a toy cow60 we exclaim4 ,and so it does4 ,and now1 instead of intruding any longer on our artist friend's time1 let us see where our visit to him has brought us4 ,we have noted that one difference between nature and art is1 that nature is inexhaustible in her effects1 and that an artist selects from her only some little part to make his work of art4 ,secondly1 that he does not paint the whole of what he has selected1 but out of it again selects certain parts2 sufficient not to imitate the original1 but to suggest its appearance4 ,thirdly1 that natural truth is not the same as artistic truth2 that while the scientific man studies one thing at a time so that he may know what is there1 the artist tries to obtain an impression of the whole scene1 and paints each part of it1 not as he knows it to be1 but as he can see it from his fixed position4 ,by this time you can better understand that to say of nature 8,it is as beautiful as a picture10 is a loose way of talking4 ,nature is beautiful in the endless variety of its effects2 a picture1 for the one or two effects1 choicely selected by the artist4 ,and to say of a picture that it looks like nature is equally inaccurate1 for the artist does not imitate nature but suggests it1 which1 as we have seen1 is a very different thing4 ,however1 ,i should tell you1 that some painters do imitate nature4 ,i have seen a picture in which the painter had represented a five-dollar bill1 pinned on a board1 and so accurately had he imitated the bill and the board that1 until you were close to them and passed your hand over the flat canvas1 you would not know it was a picture4 ,and there is a story told of a ,greek painter1 ,zeuxis1 that he once imitated a bunch of grapes so exactly1 that the birds flew down and pecked at it4 ,but1 although it is a fact that a great many people think this exact imitation of nature a very fine thing1 they do so because they have not seen many pictures or found out what a work of art really is4 ,i am inclined to think that1 by the time you have finished this book1 if not sooner1 you will look upon such examples of skill and patience as labor in vain1 so far as art is concerned4 ,it is all very well for the conjurer to boast that the quickness of his hand deceives your eye4 ,but the aim of the artist is not deception4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,nature ,,is ,,haphazard3 ,,art ,,is ,,arrangement ,we have seen that the characteristic of nature is abundance1 while that of art is selection4 ,now let us note another difference between the two--nature is haphazard1 art is arrangement4 ,i do not forget that nature works by laws2 that the workings of nature are not accidental1 but the result of certain causes which produce certain effects2 so that the operations of nature produce an endless chain of cause and effect4 ,thus in the fall1 because the sap flows downward in the tree1 the fiber of the leaf's stalk is gradually weakened1 until the leaf by degrees loses its hold on the branch1 and1 because everything obeys the law of gravitation1 falls to the ground4 ,but where will it fall8 ,that may depend upon the force and direction of the wind4 ,it may happen that the wind is from the north or from the west2 that its breath is soft1 or that it blows a gale4 ,i say it 8may happen0 so or so2 for this is our habit of speech4 ,when we don't understand the cause from which an effect springs1 we use the word 8happen10 as if the affair were an accident or chance4 ,but a scientific man would say that such words as 8accident0 and 8chance0 are inaccurate1 and would tell us why the wind was blowing from a certain direction at a certain moment1 and tell us why it was soft or fierce4 ,and yet1 why should the tiny leaf have been ready to let go just at the moment when the breeze came8 ,upon what particular spot will the dandelion seed1 after floating far in the air1 alight8 ,we may believe that the moment and the place are controlled by one ,great ,mind to whom everything is plain4 ,but to our finite minds1 whose capacity to understand is limited1 such things are not plain4 ,they seem to us like chance1 and their results appear to our eyes haphazard4 ,compare1 for example1 the appearance of nature with that of a well-kept garden4 ,the latter has straight paths1 intersecting one another2 trim borders with rows of lettuces and radishes2 separate plots1 reserved for peas1 corn1 spinach1 potatoes1 and other crops4 ,even the straggling vines of the cucumbers are kept within certain bounds4 ,everywhere is an appearance of order and arrangement1 beside which the tangle of growth in the woods1 or even the dotting of trees on the hillside1 seems haphazard4 ,or look out into the street1 which1 as you remember1 in the painter's sense of the word is a part of nature4 ,the city authorities have laid out the lines of the street1 but the buildings vary in size and style2 each one according to what happened to be the need and the taste of the man who built it4 ,and the appearance of the sidewalk and roadway will vary from day to day and hour to hour1 according to what may be the number and the character of the people and of the vehicles1 as they happen to move or stand still4 ,compared with that garden1 the appearance of the street is haphazard4 ,compare two parlors4 ,one is a medley of furniture and bric-a-brac1 of all sorts of sizes and shapes and colors1 picked up at auction sales1 or in the shops1 each because it happened to be a bargain or to strike a moment's whim1 and then set in the parlor where there happened to be room for it4 ,the other parlor1 on the contrary1 shows signs of order and arrangement4 ,there are fewer objects in it1 and they have been carefully chosen and arranged for the double purpose of making the room comfortable and agreeable to the eye4 ,it is an illustration of good taste in selection and arrangement4 ,the haphazard of nature we enjoy4 ,but the confusion of the parlor distresses us1 if we have any sense of selection and arrangement4 ,this sense the artist possesses in a marked degree1 and on it he bases the making of his picture4 ,we have already noticed how he selects1 but may have to mention it again in describing how he arranges1 since the two acts are mixed up together1 as when you select some flowers and then arrange them in a vase4 ,when we first made the acquaintance of the artist in the previous chapter1 he had already1 you will remember1 8roughed in0 with his charcoal the objects he was going to paint4 ,we were so interested in what he had selected1 that we paid little attention to the arrangement of the objects4 ,it is this that we are now going to study4 ,his canvas is on the easel1 its bare white surface inclosed within the four sides4 ,he is going to fill this space1 not only for the purpose of suggesting to us the appearance of the scene he has selected1 but in such a way that the actual arrangement of the objects--the pattern which they make upon the canvas--shall give us pleasure4 ,this he calls his composition4 ,the word1 as you know1 if you have studied ,latin1 means simply 8putting01 or 8placing together40 ,but1 as the artist uses it1 it always means that the placing together shall produce an effect that is pleasing to the eye4 ,it is only when it does1 that the result can properly be called a work of art4 ,for you will recall what we said in the first chapter1 that the artist is one who fits his conception with a beautiful form4 ,and this form is his composition4 ,now1 before we go any farther with the artist's method of composition1 let me invite you to do a little composing on your own account4 ,that wall in your special room or den where you hang your favorite photographs--how is it arranged8 ,are the photographs pinned up higgledy-piggledy1 so as to crowd as many as possible on the wall8 ,is your only idea just to hang them up where you can see them8 ,or have you placed them together in such a way that their actual arrangement1 as they spot the open space of your wall1 is agreeable to your eye8 ,for1 in a way1 your wall1 before you hung the photographs1 was like the bare canvas of the artist4 ,the four edges inclosed it2 the space is yours to do with it what you wish4 ,suppose1 now1 that you are starting with the wall bare4 ,your family has moved into a new house1 or the old one is being repaired4 ,there is your plaster wall1 as white as the artist's canvas4 ,you are allowed to decide what shall be done with it4 ,what will you do with it8 ,oh6 you are going to choose a paper4 ,well1 what shall it be8 ,yes1 pretty1 of course4 ,but pretty by itself1 or when your pictures are hung8 ,for1 if you choose a paper with a large pattern of many bright colors1 it may interfere with the effect of the pictures4 ,you don't wish to do this8 ,then it will be well to choose a paper that is not too prominent2 one that has a small pattern1 or none at all1 only a single tint4 ,some people prefer a neutral tint2 one1 that is to say1 which is neither one thing nor the other2 not very green1 or blue1 or red1 or yellow1 but rather so2 some color that is difficult to define4 ,for1 because this paper does not attract particular attention1 it allows the photographs1 hung upon it1 to show up more prominently4 ,however1 the papering is your affair1 and you have made your selection4 ,at last the workmen1 their ladders1 their paste pots1 and shavings are cleared out of the room and you can begin to arrange it4 ,you have placed the furniture where it best fits in1 looks best1 and seems most comfortable1 and now you turn your attention to each of the four walls4 ,once more1 is the placing of the photographs to be higgledy-piggledy1 8any-old-how10 just to show them1 or are you going to arrange them carefully1 so as to make each wall a pleasing composition8 ,we will suppose you decide upon the latter plan4 ,how will you proceed8 ,i can imagine you choosing one of two ways4 ,either you will select your biggest picture1 or the one you prize most1 and place it in the middle of the wall1 and then place the others on each side of it1 so as to balance one another4 ,or1 you will feel that such an arrangement would be too stiff and formal1 too obviously balanced1 and will sprinkle the pictures over the wall space1 so that their arrangement is irregular and looks as if it were accidental1 and yet seems balanced4 ,for1 if you are trying to arrange your pictures in the way in which they seem to you to look best1 consciously or unconsciously you are working to secure a balance4 ,yes1 one of the principles of artistic composition is balance4 ,like all the principles1 adapted by artists1 it is founded on an instinct of human nature4 ,have you ever noticed that when a man carries a bucket of water1 he holds the free arm away from his body8 ,he does it by instinct1 to offset the drag of the bucket on his other arm and to balance his body4 ,have you ever walked upon the steel rail of a railroad track8 ,most of us have1 ,i imagine4 ,we tread pretty firmly for a little while1 and then we totter4 ,out go our arms immediately to restore our balance4 ,we walk up and down the deck of an ocean liner1 when the sea is rough1 and slope our bodies to the movement of the vessel4 ,why8 ,to keep our balance4 ,if we lose it we are hurled across the deck in a very undignified fashion4 ,on the contrary1 what a beautiful spectacle is presented when a good skater balances backward and forward2 perhaps an even more beautiful one1 when a good dancer who feels the joy of movement sways to the rhythm of the music4 ,so1 to maintain a balance is an instinct of human nature2 to lose it produces ugly results2 while beautiful ones may be secured from it1 especially if the balance is rhythmic4 ,another principle1 then1 of artistic composition is rhythm1 and this1 too1 is founded on an instinct of human nature4 ,let us see what rhythm is4 ,a small boy has found an old pot1 catches up a stick1 and begins to belabor the pot and make himself a nuisance4 ,by and by he gets tired of his own noise1 imagines his pot a drum1 and hits it with rhythmic strokes1 one following the other in measured beats4 ,watch how his legs begin to move to the time of the strokes1 and how the other youngsters fall in behind him4 ,left1 right1 left1 right1 on they march2 their legs and shoulders swinging to the rhythmic beat4 ,i wonder if they know they are following an instinct1 pretty nearly as old as humanity4 ,probably they don't1 and wouldn't care if they did4 ,all they know is that they are having a good time4 ,that's just it6 ,and they are having the same sort of good time that the primitive man gave his friends1 when he first hit on the idea of clapping his hands together in rhythm4 ,later on he found he could get more stirring effects and save his hands by rhythmic hammering of one piece of wood upon another4 ,then came along a primitive ,edison who perfected the principle and put tom-toms on the market4 ,and so1 in time1 music came to be invented4 ,for the basis of music and of the pleasure that is received from it is its measured beat or rhythm4 ,it is1 however1 not only from the actual measured beat1 appealing to our ear1 that we gain pleasure1 but also from the suggestion of rhythm to our sense of sight4 ,a man stone deaf can enjoy watching a dance4 ,he has never heard a sound in his life1 but his sense of sight is stirred to pleasure by the spectacle of measured repetition of the movements4 ,similarly1 the measured repetitions of stationary objects gives us pleasure1--the measured repetition1 for example1 presented by the ,west ,point cadets1 as they suddenly halt1 either in close formation or in open ranks4 8,how beautiful60 we exclaim4 ,and it is because the ,athenians realized the beauty of measured repetition and the pleasure that it gives to the sense of sight1 that they surrounded their great temple1 the ,parthenon1 with ranks of columns1 arranged at equal distance from one another4 ,for1 though they may have learned the beauty of repetition from studying the tree stems in the woods1 yet1 when they built their work of art1 they avoided the haphazard of nature1 and introduced order and arrangement by making the repetitions measured4 ,behind the columns1 however1 high up on the outside of the temple wall they set a frieze or band of figures4 ,it extended clear around the temple1 representing a procession of people on their way to the great festival of the goddess ,athene4 ,the remains are now in the ,british ,museum2 but1 doubtless1 you have seen casts of portions of it1 and will recall some in which young men are riding1 the head of each horse overlapping the body of the one in front of it4 ,there is here no longer an actual measured repetition1 as in the case of the columns4 ,the bodies are not separated by exact intervals1 nor do they repeat the same forms4 ,the youths differ1 so do the horses1 and the actions of the forms are dissimilar4 ,and yet the arching of the horses' necks1 the prancing of the forelegs1 and the bodies of the youths swaying to the movement of the horses are so arranged1 that there is no break or interruption or confusion1 but the whole seems to flow up and down regularly4 ,there are no actual1 measured intervals or actual repetitions1 yet the feeling of both is suggested4 ,the arrangement of the forms is rhythmic1 in that it suggests rhythm4 ,and the principle of this also the ,greeks found in nature1 as you may1 if you watch the waves rolling shoreward4 ,but all this while the artist's canvas is standing white and bare upon the easel1 and must continue to stand4 ,for1 when he gets to work1 ,i want you1 not only to see what he does1 but feel the meaning of his intention4 ,and we can best enter into another person's feeling1 if we have experienced something of his feeling in ourselves4 ,so1 ,i have rummaged among our own experiences1 in order to make you feel how much we have in common with the artist4 ,he and ourselves are creatures of like nature1 with similar senses1 similar sources of pleasure and pain1 and similar instincts leading us to do and to like similar things4 ,only the artist has keener senses1 and has cultivated his instincts and study of nature1 and has drawn from them certain practical hints to help him create his work of art4 ,among the instincts that we share with him are1 as ,i have tried to show--first1 an instinctive preference for order and arrangement2 secondly1 the need of balance and the pleasure we receive from it2 thirdly1 the increased pleasure we derive from balance1 when it is accompanied with rhythmic repetitions4 ,these are the principles on which he relies when he makes his composition4 ,for let me repeat1 and not for the last time1 that the purpose of his composition is not only to suggest some scene of nature1 but to make the composition itself a source of pleasure to our sense of sight4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,contrast ,in the previous chapter we discussed balance and repetition as elements of composition4 ,we have now to study another element--that of contrast4 ,this also results from a natural love of change and variety4 ,how sick we should get of candy1 if we had nothing else to eat6 how tired of sunshine1 if there were never a cold or wet day to make the sun seem extra beautiful by contrast6 8,jack10 as we know1 8will become a dull boy10 if his studies are not enlivened by play2 but how worse than dull--stupid and ill-tempered--if his play were not relieved by something serious4 ,yes1 contrast is the salt of life1 without which living would be tasteless and insipid4 ,more than this1 ,i can hardly believe that a boy or girl can grow up to be brave and true1 a really fine specimen of manhood or womanhood1 unless some shadow of hardship and pain has passed over the sunny period of youth4 ,we have to learn to take the bitter with the sweet1 and it is through meeting each1 as it comes along1 as a part of the day's work1 that we gradually build up character4 ,so contrast1 it seems1 serves two purposes in life--it adds to the pleasure of life1 and it gives force and worth to character4 ,its effects in art are very similar4 ,the artist employs it to give variety and at the same time character and distinction to the pattern of his compositions4 ,you can find out for yourselves how he does this1 if you take a piece of paper1 a pencil1 a pair of compasses1 and a straight-edge4 ,first draw a rectangle4 ,this is the space to be filled or developed into a composition4 ,now draw a vertical line up the center of it4 ,you will admit that this is not interesting by itself2 but cut it at right angles with a horizontal line1 and immediately the figure begins to have some character4 ,immediately1 also1 if you have any eye for balance--and almost everybody has--you will begin to notice that it makes a great difference at just what point the horizontal line cuts the vertical4 ,in the first place1 whether the arms of the horizontal are or are not the same length--then1 at how high or how low a point on the vertical line they branch out4 ,you can experiment with these two lines until the cross seems to you to look its best4 ,you could not draw anything much simpler than this figure2 and yet it is sufficient to illustrate two principles of contrast in composition--first1 that the contrast is interesting1 and second1 that it is made more interesting1 when the contrasted parts are carefully balanced4 ,now take the compasses and1 centering on the point of intersection of the two lines1 describe a circle4 ,the latter will introduce into the figure a still further contrast between curved and straight lines4 ,and again your sense of balance will be brought into play4 ,how far will you make your circle extend8 ,it is for you to say1 because you are trying to satisfy your own feeling for what will look best4 ,now1 as a contrast to this circle1 add four smaller ones at the extremities of the cross4 ,next1 from the center of the big circle draw radiating lines4 ,as a last touch of contrast1 suppose you draw a segment of a circle in each of the four corners of the rectangle4 ,by this time we have built up a composition1 the pattern of which consists of contrasts4 ,but1 as ,i dare say you have noticed1 it also consists of repetitions4 ,and once more ,i will remind you that both the repetitions and the contrasts are balanced4 ,contrast1 repetition1 and balance--these are the simple elements of composition4 ,our pattern or composition is a very simple form of geometric figure4 ,if you feel disposed1 you can amuse yourself by devising other kinds of simple patterns2 starting1 for example1 with a circle inside your rectangular space2 or1 selecting1 to begin with1 a circular frame and starting with a triangle or square inside of it1 and in either case continuing to build up or embroider your design with additional features4 ,in this way by varying the shape of your original frame and the character of the pattern that you put in it1 you can go on indefinitely inventing designs4 ,all these1 ,i want you to observe1 are geometric in character4 ,they are based upon the figures which you find in geometry--the square1 rectangle1 triangle1 and circle4 ,now just as the acorn may in time become the great oak tree1 so this simple basis of geometric design is at the root of the compositions of the great ,italian pictures and of thousands of other pictures1 even to our own day4 ,their compositions are based upon a geometric plan4 ,the only difference is that your plan is clearly visible1 while theirs is more or less disguised4 ,the reason is that they do not fill their spaces1 as you did1 with simple lines1 but with forms--figures1 columns1 buildings1 draperies1 trees1 hills1 and so on4 ,consequently1 when we speak of the 8lines0 of their compositions1 we often mean rather the direction which the figure1 or the object whatever it may be1 takes4 ,thus1 a standing figure may take the place of your vertical line2 the slightly undulating top of the hills behind it may correspond to your horizontal line2 a curving group of angels1 floating in the air1 may suggest your circle2 while your diagonal line may be replaced in the picture by the branches of a tree that spread in a diagonal direction4 ,in other words1 what you have done 7shall ,i say87 stiffly with compasses and straight-edge1 the artists do freely and loosely4 ,yet1 ,i repeat it1 underneath this seeming freedom1 if you search for it1 you will find the basis of a geometric design4 ,this ,i hope to show you in the following chapter4 ,meanwhile1 there is another use for contrast that you should know4 ,it is the contrast between the light and the dark parts of a picture4 ,it is employed1 in the first place1 to make the objects in the picture look more real4 ,if you fix your eyes on any object in the room or out of doors1 you will observe that some parts of it are light and some dark1 and that there are various degrees of lightness and darkness4 ,it is the light on an object that enables us to see it4 ,if there were no light on it--if it were in complete darkness1 that is to say--nothing would be visible4 ,and1 while it is the light that enables us to see the object1 it is the degree of light on some parts of it and the various degrees of darkness on others that enable us to realize the shape of it4 ,in other words1 the contrast of light and dark1 received by the eyes1 communicates to our brain the sense of form and bulk4 ,that it should do so seems to be the gradual result of a habit1 unconsciously acquired4 ,those who study such things tell us that we began to perceive things1 not through the sense of sight1 but by the sense of touch4 ,the baby reaches out its little hand to feel for the mother's breast2 it burrows its way to her warm body2 is comforted by the feel of her arms around it4 ,when the child is older and you present her with a doll1 you may be disappointed that she does not at once show pleasure4 ,instead of her face lighting up with joy1 as you hoped it would1 she stares at the doll in rather a dull way4 ,but presently she stretches out her hands1 and takes the doll into them and begins to feel it all over1 and at length clasps it in her arms against her body4 ,it is by the sense of touch that she seems to have assured herself that the doll is 8real40 ,when she is older1 however1 if you offer her a new doll1 immediately her face lightens with gladness of welcome4 ,for1 in the meantime she has learned to know a doll by sight1 and now when she gets it into her hands she turns it round and round that she may look at it1 patting the face1 however1 and the dress1 and lifting up the lace of the petticoats and handling the sash1 because1 although she has grown to recognize things by her sense of sight1 she has not lost her delight in the sense of touch4 ,nor will she1 ,i hope1 as she grows older4 ,indeed1 artists1 knowing how much pleasure people derive from the feel of things1 take great pains1 as we shall see in another chapter1 to paint the surfaces1 or1 as they suggest it1 the texture of objects1 in such a way as to make us feel how pleasant it would be to touch them4 ,besides1 it makes the figure seem so much more real1 if they suggest to us that1 if we touched the face1 it would feel like flesh2 or1 if we could pass our hand over the dress1 it would seem soft and mossy like velvet1 or smooth and polished like satin4 ,but1 to return to the contrast of light and dark4 ,although it is by this contrast that we get an impression of the form or bulk of an object1 most people are not aware of the fact4 ,they have grown up in the habit of recognizing things by sight1 without being conscious of how they do so4 ,they just see things4 ,artists1 however1 have had to learn the reason and how to apply it to painting4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the history of modern painting extends back about six hundred years4 ,in the thirteenth century1 the paintings which decorated some of the churches in ,italy were painted in what is called a conventional way4 ,that is to say1 a certain custom was followed by all the painters4 ,they represented the heads and hands of their figures1 but the bodies were covered with draperies1 under which there was little or no suggestion of any form or bulk4 ,for the whole figure appeared flat4 ,it was as if you should make a little figure of clay or paste1 and then pass a roller over it1 until its thickness is flattened down into nothing but length and breadth4 ,the figures1 in fact1 gave no appearance of being real and lifelike because1 as artists would say1 there was no drawing in them4 ,there was nothing to suggest that the figures had real bodies4 ,by degrees1 however1 people grew tired of these unlifelike figures1 and a painter named ,giotto 7#abff8-accg7 became the leader of a new motive in painting4 ,it was simply to try and make the figures look real and the scenes in which they appeared seem natural4 ,instead of following a convention1 he used his eyes and studied nature4 ,he was no longer satisfied to fill in the background of his picture with a flat gold tint as the conventional painters had done4 ,he wished to increase the reality of his figures by representing them in real surroundings1 sometimes in a room1 sometimes out of doors4 ,instead of being content to make his pictures flat1 representing only length and breadth1 he set to work to create the suggestion of the third dimension--depth4 ,he would try and make you feel that you could walk from the foreground of his picture1 step by step1 through to the background2 and that1 as you reached each figure or object in the scene1 you could pass your hand round it and feel that it had real bulk4 ,i said 8step by step0 and ,i lay stress on it4 ,for what ,giotto tried to represent was not merely some figures in front and then a big gap that you had to jump over before you reached the background1 but what the artists call the 8successive planes0 of the scene--the step-by-step appearance of the scene4 ,perhaps you will grasp better what this means if1 when you next go to the theater1 you carefully observe the scenery1 representing some outdoor effect4 ,on each side of the stage1 very likely representing tree trunks1 there is a series of 8wings10 one behind another at a distance of say five feet1 while across the stage1 hanging down from the 8flies10 is a series of cut cloths1 representing foliage1 that correspond with the wings and seem to be branches of the tree trunks4 ,well1 these cloths and their wings correspond to the 8successive planes0 of a picture4 ,they lead gradually back and you can actually walk in and out of them4 ,but1 when you reach the back cloth1 you are stopped1 so far as your legs are concerned4 ,if you are sitting in the auditorium1 however1 your eye goes traveling on and on a long distance1 for the back cloth is itself a picture1 in which there is an illusion of successive planes4 ,the artist's word for representing the successive planes is perspective4 ,if you stand between the rails of a trolley line or railroad and look along it1 the lines seem to draw together or converge4 ,yet in reality you know that they are equidistant from each other all the way along4 ,but1 since our power of seeing becomes less and less as objects are farther removed from us1 so to our diminishing sight the size and distinctness of the space between the rails appears also to diminish4 ,in the same way you will observe that the width of the street seems to diminish1 and the people and wagons appear smaller and smaller1 according as they are seen farther and farther back in the successive planes4 ,the houses1 too--you know that if you stood in front of any of the houses1 exactly facing it1 the upright sides would appear to be1 as they are1 of equal height1 and that the windows and cornice would appear in parallel horizontal lines4 ,yet1 as you stand in the street and look along the houses on either side1 they present a different appearance4 ,in the case of each house the upright side1 nearer to you1 seems higher than the one farther off1 and the rows of windows and the line of the cornice appear to slope downward4 ,for the houses as they take their places in the receding or successive planes seem to diminish in size4 ,this1 you see1 is another example of what we have already said1 that the artist does not paint what he knows to be facts1 but the appearances1 as he sees them from the point where his eyes are--his 8point of sight40 ,you remember how in an earlier chapter that artist represented1 or rather suggested the cows in the distance by a few dabs4 ,that was how he saw them from his point of sight4 ,i could not tell you then1 but you will understand now1 that he was obeying the law of perspective1 and was representing the cows as they appeared in their own proper plane of the scene4 ,do you remember that when he drew in their horns and tails and other details1 they looked like toy cows8 ,we can now see why4 ,they contradicted their surroundings2 they no longer were at home in their own plane2 their plane was a good way off1 but they were represented as if close to our eyes2 and1 as we saw how small they were1 they seemed to us like toy cows4 ,you see1 it is entirely a matter of how things look to the eyes4 ,the painter1 as ,i have said1 does not represent the facts as he knows them to be1 but the impressions which the facts make upon his eyesight2 and these impressions1 by the way in which he renders them1 he hands on to us4 ,his picture is not nature1 but a suggestion or illusion of nature4 ,now1 although ,giotto had discovered that1 to make you feel that you could walk back through his pictures1 he must represent the successive planes1 he only partly found out how to do it4 ,it was not until nearly a hundred years later that a painter named ,masaccio learned how to fill the whole of his picture with a suggestion of atmosphere1 so that the objects took their places properly in their proper planes1 and it was still later before artists thoroughly worked out the methods of perspective4 ,the greatest difficulty that they had to surmount was how to 8foreshorten0 their figures1 or represent them in 8foreshortening40 ,a simple way of understanding what this means is to stand in front of a mirror and stretch out your arms to left and right1 like the arms of a cross4 ,each extends a long way4 ,but now bring them in front of you and stretch them toward the mirror4 ,at once they look shorter1 or at any rate you cannot see their length4 ,they appear foreshortened4 ,or you may practice a still more 8violent0 example of foreshortening1 if you are able to place the mirror where you can see your body1 when lying down with the feet toward it1 for now the whole length of the body appears foreshortened in the mirror4 ,the surface of the latter1 you observe1 corresponds exactly with the surface of a picture4 ,it is a flat plane upon which is produced the appearance of successive or receding planes1 and though you cannot see the length of your body because it is foreshortened1 you are made to feel its length4 ,it was a long time before artists overcame the difficulty of representing this effect2 and the first pictures in which it was accomplished were naturally regarded as wonders4 ,since it is not the purpose of this book to teach you to draw ,i will mention only one of the principles involved4 ,it is the one we have already been discussing--the contrast of light and dark1 or1 as it is called1 8chiaroscuro40 ,artists soon discovered that1 if an object has bulk1 that part of it which is nearest to the light will reflect most light2 the parts less near1 less light2 while the parts that are exposed to no light will appear dark4 ,as this was how the artists saw the objects1 it was so they tried to represent them4 ,they learned to 8model0 the object1 that is to say1 to represent it as having bulk1 by reproducing in their pictures the contrasts of light and dark4 ,at first the contrasts were crude1 chiefly of the very light and very dark1 but by degrees the artists became more skillful and learned to represent also all the varying gradations of less light and less dark4 ,by this time they were better able to surmount the difficulty of foreshortening4 ,you will see how1 if you will again stand in front of the mirror and stretch out one arm toward it4 ,the simplest test is made1 if you can arrange that the light shall be directly at your back1 for then it is reflected by the mirror on to the front of you4 ,in this case you will notice that your outstretched hand receives the most light1 because it is nearest to the light4 ,if it were represented in this way in a picture1 our habit of seeing the highest or brightest light on the highest or most directly exposed surface of an object would make us feel that the hand projected in front of the body4 ,if1 however1 you stand before the mirror with light falling upon you from one side1 the picture in the mirror will be quite different in appearance4 ,the light and shadow will be more broken up and diversified4 ,some part of your hand1 it may be simply the edges of the fingers1 will catch a high light1 even if it is not the highest2 and light probably will fall on your forearm1 between the wrist and elbow1 and again upon the upper part of the arm4 ,broadly speaking1 your arm presents three planes of form--the hand1 the forearm1 and the upper arm4 ,and1 though to your untrained eye the light on all of these planes may seem the same1 to an artist's eye it would vary according to the angle at which the light hits the plane1 or1 as the artist himself would say1 according to the angle of the plane4 ,these angles vary all over the figure1 as you may be able to see if you examine your picture in the mirror4 ,to mention a few1 in a general way1 there are several angles around each of the shoulders1 about the breast1 round the neck1 while the face1 with its projecting nose1 its receding eye sockets1 its rounded cheeks and so on1 presents a regular patchwork of angles of plane4 ,or shall ,i say1 the whole figure presents a whole multitude of facets like a cut diamond8 ,only1 unlike the diamond1 its facets are uneven in size and irregular in shape4 ,and just as the light on the facets1 here very light and elsewhere not so light1 informs us of the shape of the diamond1 so do these differently lighted angles of plane1 when presented in a picture1 give us the suggestion of the figure's shape4 ,and now study the shadows in your mirror picture4 ,they result from the opposite of what we have been talking about4 ,in their case the angles of plane are turned away from instead of toward the light1 and some parts1 such as the hollows of the folds of your dress or coat1 seem to catch no light at all and to be quite dark4 ,i expect you find it much easier to detect the various gradations of dark or shadows than those of the light4 ,and a great many artists1 especially in olden times1 seem to have seen the shadows more than the lights--for they represent the former with more subtlety1 that is to say1 with a keener eye for variations1 than they do the latter4 ,indeed1 the subtle rendering of light is particularly an accomplishment of modern artists4 ,well1 if you have carefully studied your portrait in the mirror1 ,i think you must have discovered how large a part the contrast of light and shadow plays in the appearance of the figure1 and therefore1 what an equally important part it plays in producing an illusion of reality in the picture4 ,i do not forget that an artist by simply drawing an outline with a pen or pencil can also suggest to us the appearance of an object4 ,but1 if he does so1 it is by the help of ourselves1 for he relies on our imagination to supply what he has omitted4 ,finally1 before we leave the mirror portrait1 ,i should like to ask you in which of the following ways you see it3 ,do you see it as a bold1 simple composition of light and dark8 ,or are you conscious of a hundred and one little details about the clothes and face and hair and so on8 ,the former is what artists call the 8broad0 way of seeing nature4 ,many artists see nature in this way and represent in a bold1 free1 broad manner simply the big general facts4 ,others1 on the other hand1 as you may be1 are conscious at once of the great variety of details of which the whole is composed1 and represent the subject in a highly detailed manner4 ,neither is the right nor the wrong way4 ,thousands of fine pictures have been painted in both ways4 ,on the other hand1 if you find you grow to like one way more than another1 it will be because you yourself1 as well as the artist1 have the habit of receiving impressions in that way4 ,do not on that account think other people wrong for receiving impressions differently and therefore preferring the other sort of picture4 ,we cannot help having preferences1 but they shouldn't prejudice us against the preferences of others4 ,,chapter ,v ,,geometric ,,composition ,in the previous chapters we talked about the elements of composition4 ,we found that the composition or arrangement of figures and objects in the picture is designed by artists for two purposes3 ,firstly1 to represent some subject2 and1 secondly1 to represent it in such a way that the arrangement itself will be a source of pleasure4 ,this second purpose is what makes the picture a work of art4 ,and we found that the artist1 in order to make his composition give pleasure to our sense of sight1 relies upon the pleasure that we derive from repetition and contrast1 and upon the instinct that we all have for keeping our balance4 ,the elements of composition1 in fact1 are repetition and contrast in a state of balance1 sometimes with the added charm of rhythm4 ,we also found that one way in which artists contrive to make this balance of repetition and contrast is by playing1 as we may say1 upon the simple geometrical patterns of the rectangle1 triangle1 and circle4 ,now let us study an actual example1 and for the purpose ,i have chosen ,raphael's ,disput4#a ,it is painted on a wall of one of the 8,stanze0 or suite of rooms in the ,vatican1 the home of the ,pope1 in ,rome4 ,raphael painted many other decorations in these rooms1 but this was his first one1 executed when as a young man of twenty-five he had been summoned from ,florence to work for the powerful pope1 ,julian ,,ii4 ,raphael had been a pupil of ,perugino1 and he took one of the geometrical designs that his master had already used4 ,the pupil1 however1 improved upon it4 ,observe1 first1 the shape of the space that ,raphael was called upon to decorate4 ,it is known as a lunette or moon-shape4 ,now it was this space and no other1 that for the time being1 he had to decorate4 ,what he put into it1 must be suggested by1 one may almost say1 must grow out of1 the particular shape of this space4 ,in fact1 the outside lines of the lunette1 and the lines inside1 must together form the pattern of the composition4 ,now observe how he did it4 ,briefly1 he put into it a number of curved lines1 that would repeat the curve of the outside1 and sometimes also be in contrast to it4 ,likewise he introduced horizontal lines1 to repeat the bottom edge1 and vertical ones in contrast4 ,let us examine it more closely4 ,not quite in the center but nearly so1 is a small circle1 on which appears a dove4 ,this circle arrests our eye1 and its effect is to make us feel very certainly that part of the composition is above it and part below4 ,it is repeated above by a much larger circle4 ,this is not completed2 for its regularity of ,illustration ,illustration3 ,la ,disput del ,sacramento4 ,raphael4 shape is interrupted by the two figures1 seated one on each side4 ,the circle seems to pass behind these till it merges with the clouds below4 ,both the small and the large circles repeat the outside curves of the lunette4 ,on the other hand the curve of the clouds1 and the figures seated upon them form a contrasting curve1 and there is another one higher up1 formed by the two groups of floating angels4 ,in the center1 above the larger circle1 is a figure with a nimbus that points up1 carrying our eye toward an imaginary center1 somewhere outside the picture1 from which start the radiating lines4 ,so the impression of that part of the picture that we have been examining is of uplift4 ,by successive steps the eye and1 through it1 the imagination1 are invited to mount up4 ,and now for the part below the small circle1 separated from what is above by an open space of clear blue sky4 ,do you notice that the band of figures stretching across this part takes the form of a curve1 repeating the curves of the circles but contrasted with the two important curves of cloud8 ,its effect is to prevent one's gaze from soaring altogether upward4 ,this downward curve1 as it were1 tethers the composition to the ground firmly in the two corners4 ,and now note that the central feature of this lower part is the altar1 an equilateral1 in strongest possible contrast to the curves and circles above it4 ,that it may have still stronger emphasis1 observe how its horizontal lines are repeated down to the bottom of the picture by the steps1 so that the eye1 as it were1 mounts the steps to this central feature4 ,further the equilateral is again enforced and also balanced by the vertical and horizontal lines1 forming a suggestion of equilateral figures in the corners4 ,the one on the right is actually a doorway2 the black part is the door4 ,some artists might have felt it was a drawback to have a bit thus cut out of the picture4 ,not so ,raphael4 ,there1 as elsewhere in these rooms1 he takes the doorway into his composition and makes it serve a very useful purpose of emphasising the corner1 and then invents another structure to strengthen equally the corner opposite4 ,now note the radiating lines of the pavement4 ,in a general way they repeat the radiation of the lines at the top of the picture2 but they are farther apart and bolder1 as befits the bolder character of the lower part4 ,have you discovered the point from which these lines of the pavement radiate8 ,by using a straight edge to each in turn1 you will find that all the lines1 if continued would meet within the little circle of ornament that stands upon the altar4 ,to this point also the gaze of many of the figures is directed4 ,some of the figures1 however1 are standing so that though they gaze towards this center1 the lines of their bodies lead our gaze upward as well as towards the center4 ,then again1 beside the altar is a figure with its arm pointing upward1 so that our eye and imagination are not permitted to stop at the little circle4 ,for ,raphael had to bind the lower and upper parts together and make one united composition4 ,very easily the stretch of the sky might have divided the whole into two parts4 ,lest it should1 he has softened the contrast of the lower and upper curves by introducing on the one side a building1 on the other a low hill with delicate trees springing upward4 ,now let us pause for a moment1 and observe the general effect of the lines1 which we can do by turning to the skeleton drawing on transparent paper4 ,it lays bare the plan of the composition1 and we can see that it is a geometric composition of repetition and contrasts1 of horizontal1 vertical1 diagonal and curved lines1 balanced so as to unite into one single impression4 ,to myself the impression is of looking into the interior of a circular building1 with a vaulted roof4 ,i remember just such a building in ,rome2 the ,pantheon1 built in honor of all the gods1 but now1 as in ,raphael's time1 a temple of the ,church4 ,as you enter it an altar faces you across the stretch of pavement1 and the lines of the architecture1 as it circles round you and above you1 are very similar to these lines1 while overhead the ribs or radiating lines of the vaulted ceiling suddenly stop1 for there is a circular opening at the top1 through which you can see the sky1 and the light strikes down through it in diagonal shafts of light4 ,i wonder if ,raphael had the ,pantheon in mind when he composed this picture8 ,very likely1 for he must have seen it2 and he had a wonderful gift for receiving impressions and making use of them4 ,and this building1 both for its unusual shape and particularly from that wonderful opening1 carrying one's imagination upward from finite space to the infinite spaciousness of sky1 is peculiarly impressive4 ,it fits in also with the conception that ,raphael seems to have formed of the subject which the picture commemorates4 ,for the name of the picture is misleading4 ,it does not represent a dispute or argument1 as the title ,disput would suggest4 ,the real subject is an allegory of the ,holy ,catholic ,church--the ,church on ,earth and the ,church in ,heaven1 the ,church ,militant and the ,church ,triumphant4 ,and it is the idea of the ,church on ,earth as held by the ,roman ,catholic ,church that is represented4 ,you may not be a ,roman ,catholic yourself1 any more than ,i am1 but none the less let us try to enter reverently for a few minutes into the conception of the picture1 since it will help us to see how wonderfully the composition grows out of the idea4 ,to the ,roman ,catholic the highest act of worship is the service of the ,mass4 ,here1 in consequence1 the altar at which it is celebrated is made the most prominent feature of the lower part of the picture4 ,it forms1 as it were1 a keystone of the arch of figures2 the bishops1 doctors1 and faithful of the ,church on ,earth4 ,their worship is directed towards the altar on which rests the receptacle in which the ,sacred ,bread is reserved4 ,on earth the ,church reveres the ,bread as the ,body of ,christ2 a symbol of the ,body of the risen ,christ in ,heaven4 ,above the altar hovers a dove1 symbol of the ,holy ,spirit1 through whom the ,words of ,holy ,scripture make known the ,glory of the ,christ4 ,the sacred books are borne by baby forms1 8for of such is the ,kingdom of ,heaven40 ,above the symbol of the ,holy ,spirit1 sits enthroned the ,christ1 with hands uplifted1 showing the wounds that the nails made4 ,on one side sits the ,virgin ,mother1 on the other1 ,john the ,baptist1 who prepared the way before ,him2 while to right and left is a row of ,apostles1 ,saints1 and ,martyrs4 ,above the circle of glory appears the figure of ,god the ,father1 with hands upraised in blessing4 ,on either side of ,him float angels and the sky is thick with baby faces of ,cherubs and ,seraphs1 singing 8,hosanna40 ,down through their midst descend shafts of golden light from the far off infinite ,sun of ,righteousness4 ,whether or not ,raphael had in mind the ,pantheon1 his rendering of the allegory far excels the grandeur even of the beautiful temple4 ,for his own temple is composed of earth and sky4 8,the ,earth is ,his ,tabernacle10 and the ceiling thereof the vault of the ,heavens themselves4 ,suspended in it is the vision of the ,holy ,trinity1 and the throngs of the heavenly hosts1 whose praise and adoration are the mighty echo of the prayers and praises down below on earth4 ,thus1 you see1 with what simple clearness ,raphael grasped the idea that ,pope ,julian ,,ii asked him to commemorate4 ,it is as logical as a proposition in geometry1 and on simple principles of geometric design he built up the idea into a picture4 ,how the simplicity of the idea has been elaborated with a variety of beautiful thoughts1 and how the simplicity of the design of the structure has been hung1 as it were1 with rich embroideries of detail1 ,i must leave you to search out for yourselves4 ,if you do1 you will find that each figure represents some example of repetition or contrast1 each a separate beauty and meaning4 ,in conclusion ,i will ask you one question4 ,do you perceive the rhythm that prevails in this balance of repetition and contrast3 how from the bottom of the composition the successive waves of pattern flow upward1 as the thoughts of the ,faithful mount in successive waves of prayer and adoration8 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,geometric ,,composition 7,continued7 ,here is another example of geometric composition4 ,it is also by ,raphael and is painted on one of the walls in the same room that the ,disput decorates4 ,but1 while the latter's geometric plan was very noticeable1 this one is more disguised and the whole design has a much greater appearance of freedom4 ,it is recognised by artists as one of ,raphael's most beautiful compositions1 and one of the finest examples of space decoration in existence4 ,but before we examine the plan on which the decoration of this space has been built up1 let us study the subject4 ,it is usually called ,jurisprudence1 that is to say the principle of ,law--both the making and the administering of laws4 ,in the ,disput the subject1 as you remember1 was ,religion2 in two of the other panels in this same room ,raphael has represented ,philosophy and ,poetry4 ,here he set himself to represent the idea of ,law4 ,the idea1 you observe4 ,in all these four panels1 it is an idea1 not an event or incident1 that is represented2 but an idea--something that has existence only in the mind4 ,for all the subjects represent abstract ideas2 ideas1 that is to say1 abstracted or removed from the experience of the senses4 ,we cannot1 for example1 see religion or ,law2 nor touch1 taste1 smell1 nor hear them4 ,we can see the policeman on his beat1 or the judge in court1 or the members of the legislature--the men who1 respectively1 maintain1 administer1 and make the laws2 and we can see the record of the laws in books4 ,but the idea or principle of ,law which has caused men to construct all this machinery for the making and enforcing of the laws1 exists only in the mind4 ,therefore1 when ,raphael was asked to paint the subject of ,jurisprudence or ,law1 something that no one has ever seen or will see1 what did he do8 ,he asked himself the question3 ,when people have a respect for ,law1 how does it show itself in their acts8 ,in the first place they are very careful in the making of the laws2 they found them upon the experience of the past and shape them to fit the needs of the future2 they exhibit ,,prudence4 ,secondly1 in the enforcing of the laws1 they exhibit two qualities3 ,,firmness and ,,moderation4 ,though they firmly uphold the law1 they remember that 8earthly power doth then show likest ,god's ,when mercy seasons justice40 ,raphael1 then1 determined to represent the idea of ,law1 by representing three of its qualities3 ,prudence1 ,firmness and ,moderation4 ,these three again are abstract ideas4 ,no one has ever seen them or will see them2 we can only see the results of them1 the acts which they influence man to do4 ,so if ,prudence1 ,firmness and ,moderation have no visible shape1 how could he represent them to the eye8 ,he probably took a hint from a form of a stage play that was popular in his day4 ,at any rate he did what the authors of these 8,moralities0 or 8,allegories0 were in the habit of doing4 ,for they introduced as characters in their plays the ,vices and ,virtues2 making an actor1 for example1 personify ,gluttony or embody in his own person the idea of ,gluttony4 ,thus1 a fat man would be chosen for the part1 and he would pad himself so as to look still fatter2 he would make his face shining and greasy1 and perhaps cover the front of his coat with grease1 to suggest what a greedy and dirty feeder he was4 ,he would come on the stage eating1 and anything he had to say or do would help the audience to realise that the only thing he lived for was to stuff himself with food4 ,this was called an embodiment or personification of ,gluttony2 for the idea of ,gluttony was suggested in the person of the actor by the peculiarities of his body and behaviour4 ,while the personifications of the ,vices were for the most part comic1 those of the virtues were beautiful or heroic1 so that these ,moralities or ,allegories were as popular with the crowd as with people of taste4 ,sometimes the allegory was represented1 not with figures moving about the stage1 speaking and acting1 but as a stationary group1 in which the figures were raised on steps1 so that a very imposing composition or tableau was presented4 ,and no doubt1 when these were given on a grand scale artists often arranged the spectacle4 ,on the other hand1 the artists were not slow to adopt the same idea in their pictures4 ,the great altarpieces and large decorations1 painted by the ,italian artists of the ,fifteenth and ,sixteenth ,centuries are to all intents and purposes allegories4 ,such certainly is this ,jurisprudence of ,raphael's4 ,he has personified the three virtues of ,prudence1 ,firmness and ,moderation4 ,to ,prudence he has given two faces4 ,one is old1 for it gazes back over the long past2 the other has the freshness of youth1 as it peers into the future4 ,it is looking at itself in a mirror4 ,why8 ,for everything in these allegories is intended to convey a meaning to the minds of the spectators4 ,perhaps there are two reasons4 ,the face is gazing at the reflection of itself1 as it now is2 for ,prudence1 besides taking note of the past and looking toward the future1 must know the present4 ,again1 since a mirror reflects what is in front of it and shows us our face as others see it1 it was used by the artists as an emblem of ,truth4 ,and to know the truth is wisdom1 and to act according to truth and wisdom is prudence4 ,so1 when you see a figure holding the emblem of the mirror1 you may be sure the artist is personifying the idea of ,truth1 or ,wisdom1 or ,prudence1 or all three combined4 ,on the bosom of ,prudence is a winged head2 perhaps intended for the head of ,medusa1 which turned to stone every one who looked at it4 ,if so1 it is an ,illustration ,illustration3 ,jurisprudence4 ,raphael4 emblem here of the terribleness of ,prudence1 when offended4 ,she is gentle in herself1 but a terror to evil doers4 ,at her side a baby form holds a torch4 ,this was used as the emblem of that which enlightens the world--,learning2 and suggests here that ,prudence is illuminated by learning1 perhaps also1 that truth and wisdom and prudence are themselves lights which lighten the darkness of the world4 ,the figure to the right of the ,torch-bearer offers ,prudence a bit and reins4 ,it is with these that men control horses2 so they were adopted by painters as an emblem of control2 and1 knowing this1 we recognise that the woman who holds them is intended to personify ,moderation4 ,her whole bearing suggests modesty1 which is a form of moderation1 for both words imply that a person has the sense to know how far it is right to go1 and where it is fit to stop4 ,but note the figure of the woman on the right4 ,she is of powerful build1 seated in a positive sort of attitude that has nothing of the gentle retiring character of the other figures4 ,she is a personification of ,firmness1 armed for defense1 with helmet1 cuirass1 and greaves4 ,but1 though she carries no weapon of offense1 she holds in leash one of those pumas with which the ancients used to hunt big game4 ,she will1 if necessary1 pursue and pull down the law's transgressors4 ,meanwhile she bears an oak branch1 the emblem of strength and victory in civil life1 as opposed to the laurel of war1 for her victories are those of peace4 ,the little ,cupids1 or ,amorini1 as the ,italians call them1 except the two who carry the mirror and torch1 are put in simply to increase the beauty of the composition4 ,i have dwelt first upon the subject of this decoration1 because it is a key to so many of the old paintings and to many modern ones as well4 ,their subjects represent abstract ideas personified1 embodied in human form2 the particular idea being shown by the emblems which accompany each figure4 ,people had come to recognise that such and such an emblem indicated such and such an idea1 and1 whenever a painter wished to suggest that idea1 he represented a figure with the familiar emblem4 ,now1 too1 that we have grasped the meaning of this allegory of ,raphael's we can better enter into his manner of representing it4 ,since the idea is an abstract one1 he has expressed it in an abstract way4 ,that is to say1 he has not attempted to represent real life1 or the figures as doing any real thing4 ,it is true they are life-like and their actions are quite natural2 but the positions in which they have been placed were chosen in order that the arrangement of their limbs and bodies might produce an effect of beautiful rhythmic balance4 ,perhaps this was ,raphael's only thought1 for he was above everything an artist1 whose work in life it is to create forms of beauty4 ,yet he had a mind so ready to receive all kinds of impressions that1 living as he did in a very lawless age1 when men were guided more by self than justice1 he may have realised how beautiful would be a reign of law and order4 ,anyhow1 this decoration in a wonderful way possesses just those characteristics that would belong to a state of society in which justice or justness were the natural habit and not merely a thing enforced by law4 ,how simple life would be if every man did to others what he would have them do to him1 and instead of rivalry and suspicion1 what a harmony there would be6 ,it is harmony and simplicity that are the chief characteristics of this decoration4 ,the simplicity is very marked4 ,there are three principal figures4 ,i believe1 if there were nothing else but these1 the balance of the composition would be complete1 and certainly the allegory would be explained4 ,but balance is not necessarily harmony4 ,in a school debate1 for instance1 ten of you on the right of the room may say 8aye10 and ten on the left may say 8no10 to a subject which is being discussed between you4 ,there is a balance--ten on one side1 opposed to ten on the other4 ,but in this decoration there is harmony4 ,you have only to look at the picture to be sure of it4 ,you cannot detect any rivalry between the three figures1 although one of them is so much more massive than either of the other two4 ,all of them seem drawn together into one chord of feeling1 the leading note of which is the head of ,prudence1 lifted above the heads of her companions and seen alone against the open space of the sky and in the place of chief importance--the center of the arc of space4 ,please remind me presently to say a word about the placing of this head1 for just now ,i do not wish to interrupt the subject that we are considering--the harmony of the composition4 ,this is brought about particularly by the ,amorini that1 as it were1 bind the three figures into a garland of festoons4 ,note1 first1 the two which are on the extreme right and left4 ,the wing and arm of the former and the inclination of the latter's whole body suggest diagonal lines4 ,these cut across the angles of the space1 or as they say in geometry1 subtend the angles2 tying their two arms together and also offering a strong contrast to their direction4 ,the baby figures also keep the composition from running away to nothing at the corners1 for they serve the purpose of making the pattern curl up at each end4 ,or suppose we think of the pattern of the composition1 as if it were partly made up of a wreath1 such as we use at ,christmas time to festoon our houses4 ,imagine a nail driven into the wall where the head of the baby on the left hand is4 ,attach the wreath to it4 ,now drive another nail into the puma's head and between this one and the first nail1 let a loop of the wreath hang down so that it follows the direction of the baby's body and a bit of the oak stem4 ,this direction1 if you look at the picture1 suggests a festoon4 ,now continue to make festoons--first along the arm of ,firmness up to the hand of the ,cupid2 now another from that point along the line on the ,cupid's wing and arm and up the arm of the next little figure2 another from the top of the mirror1 following the curve of the arm of ,prudence up to her head4 ,so far1 on the left side of the painting we have four small festoons4 ,but ,i wonder if you can make out another one a long one1 the ends of which are fastened to the head of ,prudence and that of the baby in the left corner4 ,it follows the slope of the figure of ,prudence until it reaches her foot1 the direction of which starts it across the gap between her and ,firmness1 where the line reappears1 following the folds of the latter's drapery1 at first along the floor and then above her greave up to the baby's head4 ,and now for the right hand side of the painting4 ,in the first place there is a repetition of the long festoon4 ,this one is suspended from the head of ,prudence to the top of the wing of the ,cupid in the right hand corner4 ,it dips down along the curve of the torch1 down through the folds of ,moderation's drapery to her feet and then rises up and passes round the back of the child4 ,but hanging above this main festoon are two rows of smaller ones4 ,firstly we find a very shallow festoon from the head of ,prudence to the hand which holds the bit2 another from this point to the top of the head of ,moderation4 ,below this1 however1 is again a festoon from the bit1 along the droop of the reins to the hand which holds them1 from which point there is still another along the arm up to the head4 ,now1 ,i do not for a moment wish you to think that ,raphael chose points in his composition and then arranged that the lines of the limbs and draperies should form festoons between them4 ,in examining his work1 ,i am trying not to tell you how he did it1 but to explain what has been done4 ,and here1 clearly visible1 are what ,i have called1 festoons4 ,we might describe them by some other name--as ripples of movement4 ,for as the water in some shallow brook ripples over and between the stones dancing in the sunshine1 so these curves of movement1 now in light and now in shadow1 flow between these figures and flow over them1 until the whole composition is a woven mass of rhythmic undulations4 ,rhythmic8 ,yes1 it is just because these ripples or festoons present such a beautiful example of rhythm1 that ,i have dwelt upon them4 ,in fact it is the rhythmic movement of the composition that gives to this painting its greatest charm4 ,in the following chapter ,i shall have more to say about the rhythmic movements of the figures4 ,let us conclude this one with a few words about the geometric plan on which the composition of the 8,jurisprudence0 is based4 ,as ,i have said1 it is not nearly so apparent as that of the ,disput4 ,the latter's plan looks as if it might have been laid out with straight edge and compasses4 ,it was1 as ,i have told you1 adapted from a composition by ,raphael's master1 ,perugino1 and he1 very possibly1 may have adapted it from some one else's plan2 for in those days1 artists did not see any harm in starting with another man's design1 and altering it a little1 or perhaps making it more elaborate to suit their own purpose for the moment4 ,but in the short time that elapsed between the painting of the ,disput and the ,jurisprudence the pupil had made great strides4 ,he had found his own strength and was working in the glory of it4 ,therefore the ,jurisprudence exhibits a freedom of design1 which so disguises the ground plan1 that it is difficult to be sure of what it is1 although one still feels that it is geometrical4 ,the first thing we note is that the artist has strengthened the bottom line of the lunette by repetition4 ,he has carried a stone bench along the entire width1 which also serves as a seat for the figures4 ,do you see the advantage of making the figures seated8 ,if ,raphael had represented them in a standing position1 he would have had to make them smaller in order to get them entirely into the space2 and this would have lessened the feeling of bigness in the composition4 ,so he invented a device by which he could represent them seated4 ,further1 he has raised the bench in the center by the addition of another step1 so as to lift the composition naturally in the part where the space to be decorated is highest4 ,thus from the corners1 or angles of the lunette there is on each side a gradual rise up to the head of ,prudence1 that suggests a pyramid or a triangle within the curved space4 ,the same triangular effect is repeated in the pattern1 made by the figures of ,prudence and the ,cupid who holds the torch4 ,the curve of the torch is so arranged as to balance the slope of the woman's legs4 ,so the geometric plan may be the repetition of a smaller1 inside a larger triangle1 contrasted with the curve of the lunette4 ,on the other hand1 if you look at the painting again1 you notice that the ,cupid with the torch is balanced by the one who holds the mirror4 ,their bodies have a vertical or upright direction1 and then the tops of the torch and the mirror supply points which the eye seems to join by a horizontal line1 so that a rectangle occupies the center of the composition as it does in the ,disput4 ,this strong contrast of a rectangular form to the curve of the lunette1 and then again the contrast of the diagonal lines1 formed by the ,cupids' figures across the angles of the space1 may be the simple geometric elements out of which this composition grew4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,action1 ,,movement ,,and ,,composition ,,of ,,the ,,figure ,when a few pages back ,i spoke of the movement of the figures ,i was using the word as artists understand it4 ,they do not mean by it that the figure is represented as moving its limbs or body4 ,for this they use the word 8action40 ,they speak of the action of the figure4 ,but when they talk of 8movement0 they refer to the way in which the action is expressed4 ,they mean that one1 continuous stream of energy winds in and out through all the undulations of the action4 ,thus1 in the figure of ,moderation3 the action consists in the fact that she is seated1 with her legs extended to one side1 while her body turns in the opposite direction1 and while the hands are stretched out in the direction that the body faces1 the head is turned away4 ,if you compare the action of this figure with that of either of the others1 you will see how much more complicated it is2 how many more windings it makes4 ,and an artist would say that this figure has a fine movement1 because through all the windings or undulations of action one can feel a continuous stream of energy2 so that every part of the figure contributes exactly its natural share to the action1 and the lines of the figure1 from the toe to the hand that holds the bit1 flow continuously and harmoniously4 ,the only way in which you can see for yourself how fine the movement is1 is to study it very carefully1 and by degrees you will begin to discover how wonderfully the flow of movement is expressed4 ,it may help you1 if you put yourself into the same position1 that is to say1 make your own body represent this action4 ,at first it may seem a little awkward1 but presently1 as you adjust your body to the actions1 you will find that it seems easy and natural1 for you will have secured a perfect poise4 ,and1 after all1 it is the perfect poise in the action of this figure of ,moderation that helps to make the movements so fine4 ,now turn to the figure of ,prudence4 ,here the action is much simpler4 ,the body faces in the same direction that the legs extend4 ,but it leans back a little4 ,if you try the action yourself1 you will find it difficult1 for the stretching out of the legs makes you wish to bring your body forward1 so as to make the balance easy4 ,but ,raphael1 knowing this1 has made ,prudence prop up her body1 as it were1 by leaning its weight on her left arm4 ,do you see how this forces up her left shoulder8 ,the representation of this and the drawing of the arm make us feel what a pressure of weight downwards the hand has to support4 ,artists1 you will find1 usually make some one part of the figure carry the chief weight4 ,sometimes they may paint a standing figure in which the weight passes straight down through the figure and is supported evenly by the two feet1 like a column bearing down on to its base4 ,but1 more often1 they make one leg carry the chief weight1 or1 as in this figure1 one arm4 ,then it becomes very interesting2 first1 to study the part of chief muscular strain1 and secondly1 to note how all the other parts of the action harmonise with it4 ,for example1 in this figure of ,prudence1 although the arm sustains the chief pressure1 a considerable amount must bear down through her trunk#b on to the seat4 ,but1 if we compare her trunk with that of ,moderation1 ,i think we shall feel at once that the latter is supporting the greater weight4 ,in fact1 the point of greatest muscular action in the figure of ,moderation is at the base of the trunk4 ,but to return to ,prudence4 ,we have noted that the left shoulder is raised higher than the right4 ,now observe the inclination of the head as it leans gently forward on the neck to gaze into the mirror and the easy action of the arm that holds the light mirror4 ,equally easy and without effort is the action of the legs4 ,in fact1 except for the firm quiet pressure on the arm1 the whole figure suggests a gracious repose4 ,not only is the expression of the face sweetly meditative1 but the same feeling1 as the artists would say1 of exquisite repose pervades the entire figure4 ,you should learn to look for this in pictures4 ,do not be satisfied only with a beautiful face2 but expect to find the beauty and the same kind of beauty expressed in the action and movement of the figure4 ,for it is in this expression of feeling that an artist shows his skill4 ,compare the feeling in the figure of ,moderation4 ,it is no less marked1 though the feeling expressed is a different one4 ,it is also quiet and gracious1 but it does not suggest repose4 ,corresponding with the flexible1 winding movement1 the feeling is rather one of reaching out1 as if in pleading or tender invitation4 ,however1 it is often very difficult to explain in words just what the feeling of a figure expresses2 and perhaps it is better not to try to do so4 ,the main thing for you is to get the habit of feeling the feeling4 ,now let us study the feeling of ,firmness4 ,like that of the central figure1 it suggests repose2 but a repose not so much of gracious meditation1 as of strength and force4 ,in a moment1 if need be1 this figure would rise to its feet1 thrill with alertness and put forth its strength4 ,meanwhile1 as it sits1 the line of pressure is straight down through the center of the trunk1 and it is the lower muscles of the back that are supporting the chief weight4 ,one shoulder is raised1 not however1 because it has to bear any pressure as in the case of the central figure1 but simply because the trunk inclines a little toward the puma4 ,observe1 though1 that the head is held erect over the central line of the figure4 ,if it were not1 the feeling of firm strength in the figure would be lessened4 ,on the other hand the face is turned to one side1 in order that by its contrast of direction the movement of the whole figure may be more effective4 ,for1 ,i wonder if you have noticed that the movement in every case presents a chain of contrasts and repetitions4 ,start1 for example1 with the left foot of ,firmness1 and move your finger over the direction of the figure2 first up the calf of the leg to the knee2 then off toward the right to the hip2 then leftward up the body1 then again to the right at the slope of the shoulders2 then slightly to the left up the neck1 and lastly note the face turned to the right4 ,you will have found that your finger has described a series of zig-zags4 ,if you start with the other foot1 the figure will equally present a series of zig-zags1 though some differ from the former ones4 ,similarly1 if you begin with the foot of ,prudence1 your eye travels up to the knee2 then horizontally toward the lap2 next up the slight backward slope of the body2 then in the opposite direction1 when you reach the neck and head4 ,the contrasts in the figure of ,moderation are so marked1 that ,i am sure you can make the zig-zag for yourself4 ,i have used the word zig-zag because ,i want you to feel how marked the contrasts are1 and to realise that it is by means of these contrasts that an artist composes his figures4 ,the zig-zag1 however1 in the actual figure has rounded angles2 it is indeed rather a series of alternate curves to right and left1 somewhat like the curves described by a skilful and graceful skater1 cutting figures on the ice4 ,and it is this series of curves that give the effect of rhythm as well as harmony to the figures in this picture4 ,for1 as you may have seen for yourself1 the principles on which an artist composes a single figure are the same as those he uses in the composition of several figures into one picture4 ,he relies upon repetitions and contrasts to produce a balance1 which because of its rhythm of parts shall ensure a harmonious whole4 ,the only difference in the case of the picture is that the composition is made up1 not only of figures1 but of the empty spaces of the background also4 ,as artists would say1 the composition is an arrangement of full and empty spaces2 and its beauty depends upon the harmony and balance between them4 ,in the ,jurisprudence1 for example1 it is remarkable how the space filled by the figure of ,prudence1 corresponds in size and even in its wedge shape to the empty space formed by the upper and lower step of stonework4 ,for the rest1 the quantity of space occupied by the other two figures seems to be about equal to the empty spaces around them1 though the latter1 instead of being solid masses are broken up and distributed4 ,but you will notice1 how large a stretch of empty space is left at the top of the lunette1 so that the eye is drawn upward and the dignity of the whole decoration thereby elevated4 ,note also1 what a quiet impressive spot the head of ,prudence makes against the background of the sky4 ,there is1 as it were1 nothing to disturb its gracious repose4 ,this device of setting a figure against the background of the sky1 ,raphael may have learned from one of his masters1 ,perugino4 ,at any rate1 both employed it1 with beautiful effect4 ,you may often see in nature the beauty of this effect2 when1 for example1 on the top of some rising ground a tree1 or a figure1 or a church spire1 stands against the sky4 ,if the object is motionless1 it seems to become more impressive because of the vastness of the sky4 ,or1 should the objects be children at play 7,i can remember a picture of this71 then their sport seems to take on more joyousness1 freedom1 and buoyancy1 from the vastness of the sky4 ,and now1 a short description of the way in which this decoration was painted4 ,it is what is called 8fresco10 an ,italian word that means 8fresh40 ,the name is used because the painting is done while the plaster of the wall is still fresh1 that is to say1 not 8set0 or dry4 ,the following is the process4 ,the wall was first covered1 as in our houses to-day1 with a coat of rough-cast plaster1 which was allowed to dry thoroughly4 ,in the meanwhile the artist had prepared full-sized drawings of his figures4 ,as soon as he was ready1 a thin coating of smooth-finish plaster was spread over such portion of the lunette as he could paint in a day4 ,upon this the drawing was placed and an assistant would go over all the lines with a blunt-pointed tool1 pressing hard enough on the paper to leave a mark in the plaster underneath4 ,there1 when the paper was removed1 appeared the figure1 enclosed in grooved lines4 ,then the artist set to work and laid in the color1 using paint that was mixed1 not with oil1 but with water to which some gluey substance was added4 ,the plaster1 you remember1 was still damp1 but since it contained plenty of cement1 dried or 8set0 quickly1 and as it dried1 the paint dried with it1 and became a part of the plaster4 ,when it was done1 the artist1 if he wished1 could add a few decisive strokes4 ,the following day another portion of the lunette would be treated in the same manner and so on until the whole was painted4 ,it is a method1 you see1 that left the artist no chance of fumbling over his work4 ,he had to make up his mind beforehand exactly what he meant to do1 and to do it quickly4 ,hence1 with an artist so skilled as ,raphael1 the work has the extra charm that belongs to what has been done easily and fluently4 ,you know how much pleasanter it is to listen to an easy1 fluent speaker than to one who hesitates and corrects himself continually4 ,so1 too1 in a work of art1 the feeling that it has grown easily under the artist's hand adds to our enjoyment of it4 ,it seems to be a spontaneous expression of himself4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,classic ,,landscape ,we have seen in the previous chapters how ,raphael built up composition from a simple geometric plan1 on the principles of repetition and contrast1 rhythmically balanced4 ,other ,italian artists worked upon the same lines1 and with such skill and grandeur of invention that the ,italian pictures1 especially of the ,sixteenth ,century1 are still considered the finest examples of this sort of composition4 ,it is distinguished by being what we may call 8formal10 or 8conventional40 ,the figures are arranged1 that is to say1 not as you would be likely to see them in actual life1 but according to a rule or formula or convention4 ,the idea has been not to represent a real scene1 but to display the figures and their surroundings in such a way as to produce an effect of beauty2 sometimes a simple one1 more often one of great impressiveness or magnificent splendor4 ,the figures and other objects have been so arranged and so drawn as to furnish an orderly pattern of beauty and dignity4 ,the subjects of the pictures might be taken from the ,bible story or from the legends of ancient ,greece1 or be simply invented to set forth the pride that the people took in their cities--the pomp and glory of ,venice1 for example4 ,but1 no matter what the subject might be1 the aim of the artist was first and foremost to paint a thing of beauty4 ,and in this search for beauty he soon discovered how much depended upon the surroundings of his figures and the objects that he introduced4 ,when he desired the simpler kind of beauty he set his figures in lovely landscape scenery with hills and trees and winding streams2 when he was bent on grander effects1 he added architectural settings4 ,for the architects of that day were erecting noble buildings with columns and arches1 vaulted roofs and domes2 partly in imitation of the remains of ,roman architecture1 but also designed in a fresh spirit of invention to fit the new purposes for which the buildings were required4 ,thus arose that vast temple of the ,roman ,church1 ,st4 ,peter's4 ,it is what is called a classic building2 because its style is in many respects like that of the old classic ,roman temples1 which in their turn had represented a new use of the still older classic style of ,greek architecture4 ,the painters1 then1 inspired by the work of the architects1 discovered how much dignity they could give to their own compositions by introducing architectural features4 ,sometimes they would introduce columns1 or a flight of steps or a balustrade1 sometimes a whole building2 or represent the figures grouped in a street or square1 surrounded by buildings1 or often inside a building1 standing under a vaulted ceiling4 ,these are only a few of the architectural features1 so freely used by the ,italian painters4 ,let us study their value to the composition4 ,some people who live in country homes are fond of flowers4 ,they grow cluster-roses1 honeysuckle1 wistaria and other long-armed climbing plants over their verandahs4 ,if they are fond of gardening and not satisfied merely with a lawn and a few shrubs1 they will erect arches and trellis-work on which vines may cling and cluster4 ,in the first place1 they know that these slender1 straggling plants will thrive better1 if they have some support2 they will not be so torn by the buffets of the wind1 and their limbs and leaves and flowers will get more sunshine4 ,secondly1 they will show to better advantage1 because of the contrast of their winding1 wreathing forms and irregular masses with the firm1 strong1 simple lines of the verandah or trellis-work4 ,united they form a prettier composition1 than would the vines and cluster-roses1 if huddling in an unsupported tangle4 ,the principle is the same in the composition of a picture1 where the vines are represented by the action of the figures4 ,to their irregular masses of drapery and undulating lines of limbs the architecture presents at once the contrast and support of decided lines and clearly defined masses4 ,and since the classic style of architecture1 which was used1 is so noble1 it added nobility to the composition4 ,even the penny photographs of the ,italian pictures will prove to you that this is so4 ,study them and find this out for yourselves4 ,now1 the example of the ,italians1 in this respect1 was followed by other nations1 especially the ,french4 ,the latter continue to this day the painting of beautiful pictures in which the figures are combined with landscape and architecture4 ,and our own ,american artists are doing the same thing1 as you can see if you have a chance of visiting the ,library of ,congress1 at ,washington1 or any other of the public buildings throughout this country1 in which the walls have been decorated with mural paintings4#c ,so far we have been speaking of the use of architecture to support the figures4 ,in time1 however1 artists found a new use for it4 ,they employed it to support the landscape2 which brings us to a talk about what is called the 8,classic ,landscape40 ,nowadays1 when so many artists paint nothing else but landscape pictures1 it may seem strange that the ,italians of the ,fifteenth and ,sixteenth ,centuries used landscape only as a support for the figures4 ,it was not because they were blind to the beautiful scenery of their own country1 for1 when they did introduce it into their pictures1 they represented it in a very lovely way4 ,but always as a background to the figures1 which you are made to feel are the principal features of the picture4 ,the reason is that the public for whom they painted demanded figure subjects4 ,the ,church required pictures that would bring home to the hearts of the people who could not read the beauty of the ,bible ,illustration3 ,the ,manitou ,lunette4 ,e4 ,h4 ,blashfield4 ,story2 rich men and women wished to decorate their palaces with scenes from the old ,greek legends2 while cities adorned their public buildings with allegorical subjects in which the pride they took in their own municipal life was set forth in figures1 personifying the character of its greatness4 ,moreover1 those were stirring times in which the rivalry between the cities and between the noble families led to constant wars and plottings4 ,men1 beginning as nobodies1 rose rapidly to power4 ,not1 as they do to-day in our country1 by using their brains and energy in the peaceful pursuits of industry and trade and learning2 but through brute force1 guided by brains that schemed to win by fraud and violence4 ,so it was man that1 as we say1 cut the chief figure in these times2 man's power and woman's beauty4 ,mankind was so interested in itself that it spared little thought for the beauty of nature4 ,it is true that architects built noble houses on sites commanding beautiful views and laid out the gardens with fountains1 trees and flowers4 ,even this however1 was for the glorification of some man or woman4 ,but the love of nature which leads artists to paint landscapes and the public to value such pictures is a different thing4 ,in the love of nature man forgets himself2 he is absorbed in the beauty of the natural world outside himself2 he is fond of nature for its own sake4 ,it was not until the ,seventeenth ,century that artists began to study and paint the landscape in this spirit4 ,when they did so1 the landscape took the first place in their pictures1 and the figures1 if any were introduced1 became the unimportant features1 kept small and put in merely to enliven the scene4 ,by this time landscape painting1 as a subject distinct in itself1 branched out into two directions--the naturalistic and the formal4 ,the naturalistic was practised by the ,dutch artists1 who painted the out of door life and appearance of ,holland so truthfully1 that to-day when we look at their pictures we can see the meadows and streams1 the mills and the farms1 exactly as they were three hundred years ago4 ,but the subject of natural landscape we will study later on4 ,the other kind of landscape ,i have called formal because1 instead of being drawn directly from nature1 it was made up1 like the ,italian figure pictures1 according to a rule or formula or convention4 ,just as in those pictures the figures were represented as grander and more beautiful than people usually are in real life1 and were arranged for the purpose of a handsome composition in attitudes that people do not usually assume1 so with the formal landscapes4 ,the artists tried to make them more grand and imposing than ordinary nature1 and composed them according to an artificial plan4 ,they did not in their picture represent any real scene in nature1 but built up a number of natural details into a composition1 constructed on a geometric plan4 ,and especially they introduced details of classic architecture2 so that these formal designs are often called classic landscapes4 ,if you turn to the illustration you will see at once that the artist has not represented the natural landscape4 ,the very title1 ,dido ,building ,carthage1 shows the classic influence4 ,the subject is taken from ,virgil's neid1 ,book ,i1 line #dbj4 ,turner1 the great ,english artist1 who in #ahae painted this picture1 had never seen ,carthage2 nor had he ever seen any spot on earth like the one represented here4 ,what he had seen was the work of ,claude ,lorrain1 a ,french artist of the ,seventeenth ,century1 who lived in ,italy and invented this kind of landscape4 ,turner himself preferred to paint the natural landscape2 but1 since the people of his own day admired the classic landscape of ,claude and his followers1 he wished to prove that he also could paint like ,claude1 if he chose2 and as well as the ,french artist4 ,therefore1 when he died1 he left this picture and another classic landscape1 ,the ,sun rising in a ,mist to the ,national ,gallery1 on condition that they should be hung alongside of two by ,claude ,lorrain4 ,so1 while studying this picture we are really studying the principles on which ,claude built up the classic landscape1 and on which his followers worked for nearly two hundred years1 until the love of nature won out and the naturalistic landscape took its place4 ,the geometric plan of this picture is very simple4 ,you can discover it by joining the upper and lower opposite corners by two diagonal lines that cut each other in the center4 ,this produces four triangles2 of which the top is given to the sky1 the bottom to the water1 and the two sides to the land and buildings and trees4 ,sky and water occupy more space than the other two parts2 but since the latter are filled with details of bold design1 they attract extra attention1 so that the balance between the full and empty spaces is kept true4 ,the balance is a harmonious one4 ,you will perhaps realise better what this means if you think for a moment of a balance that is not harmonious2 for instance of a pair of hanging scales1 in one pan of which there is a flat round one pound weight1 exactly balancing a pound of candy in the other pan4 ,we should not call this a harmonious balance4 ,if we examine why it is not1 it will help us to understand the meaning of harmony in composition4 ,the reason is that there is no relation between the box of candy and the one pound weight1 except that each weighs the same4 ,on the other hand1 in the picture every detail has some relation to the other details1 and all are related to the whole4 ,the whole1 in fact1 is a woven mass of contrasts and repetitions1 in exact relation2 very much as a composition of music is made up of exactly related contrasts and repetitions of sound notes4 ,alter one of these and there will be a discord1 unless some other notes are altered to restore the harmony4 ,similarly if the artist had altered the shape of one of the details in his picture1 or its color1 or its lightness or darkness1 there would have been a discord in the effect of his picture2 it would no longer present the appearance of perfect oneness4 ,he would have to alter some other parts to restore the harmony4 ,in studying the picture to try and discover how the effect of harmony is produced we find ourselves studying the contrasts and repetitions of which it is composed4 ,and1 first the contrasts4 ,one big one is the contrast of the architecture with everything else in the picture--the contrast of these quiet stately masses1 which seem so firm and strong1 compared with the shimmering surface of the water and the tremulous mistiness of the sky2 the contrast also of their decided lines with the irregular spotting of the figures1 and with the irregular masses of the trees and foliage4 ,the big tree1 although it is motionless in the quiet air1 seems as if a breeze would stir it2 the water has ripples of motion2 some of the figures appear to be moving1 while others are only still for the moment1 and the sky--it is palpitating with the actual stir of the atmosphere1 as the upper air gradually cools and draws up the warmer air from below1 and this warmer air cools into mistiness4 ,but the buildings stand immovable and solid4 ,while all around them either moves or could move1 they seem to suggest the force and permanence of what does not change4 ,or perhaps we may feel that grand as the buildings are1 stately and magnificent1 yet the sky is lovelier1 for the buildings are limited to their one size and shape1 while the sky seems a part of that which has no limits or boundaries4 ,it draws off our imagination into the mystery of distance and of the unknown4 ,so the impressions which the contrast of the architecture arouses are not only such as the eye can see1 but such also as the imagination can feel4 ,this1 no doubt1 is one of the secrets of the pleasure which so many people have found and still find in classic landscapes4 ,and now for another series of contrasts3 those supplied by the lights and darks4 ,in the original picture these contrasts would depend partly on the color of the various objects2 but here1 in the black and white reproduction1 we may think of the pattern simply as one of very dark spots and very light ones1 threaded together by others of varying depths of greyness4 ,again1 what an important part the sky plays6 ,it is a flood of light1 against which everything forms a silhouette1#d more or less dark1 relieved by spots and streaks of light4 ,the water1 but for the pathway of reflection1 is shrouded in shadow4 ,shadow1 too1 is wrapping itself round the tall building on the left1 and slumbers drowsily among the trees on the opposite hill slopes4 ,the artist1 you will notice1 has varied the distribution of shadows4 ,on the left the gradation from very dark to very light is continuous4 ,it is as if the first building struck a loud strong note1 and the sound gradually diminished toward the distance4 ,on the right1 however1 the foreground is lighter1 and the dark gradually increases1 swelling up1 as they say in music1 in a crescendo effect and then passing in a diminuendo far off into the distance4 ,in fact1 on both sides of ,illustration3 ,dido ,building ,carthage4 ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner4 the picture the arrangement of dark and light is rhythmical4 ,i have only touched upon the broad general plan of contrasted darks and lights1 and must leave you to study for yourselves the intricate and subtle effects with which the picture abounds2 for example1 the fine threads and little dots of light and dark that form a tangle on the left bank2 or1 on the right1 the mass of leafage in half shadow against which the trunk of the tree shows very dark4 ,you know the old proverb about leading a horse to the water4 ,i can draw your attention to these things1 but ,i can not make you feel their beauty4 ,i think1 however1 ,i can promise you1 that1 if you are sufficiently interested in what we are talking about to really study this picture1 to explore carefully the lighter parts and peer into the shadows to see what lurks within them1 its beauty will make itself known to you4 ,as ,i myself am examining a black and white reproduction of this picture1 that lies before me while ,i write these lines1 there is music coming from the next room4 ,it has stopped1 and ,i wish it would begin again2 for music seems to fit in with the impressions that this picture stirs in my imagination4 ,nor is this merely a fanciful idea4 ,music is one art and painting is another4 ,they are different1 it is true1 but yet are sisters with much in common4 ,and why not8 ,for they come from the same parents--the hand and the mind of man4 ,and through the harmony of the light and dark of which this picture is composed there floats1 it seems to me1 the fancy of a melody4 ,i think it comes from out the endless distance of that sky2 gently floating toward us1 and crooning over the objects in the foreground1 as a mother murmurs a lullaby over her baby while it falls asleep4 ,but it is not altogether crooning1 for see that tree's dark1 round mass of tone6 ,how it thumps itself into our notice1 while its force spreads up the hill1 and then leaps across the water1 and stirs with a different kind of energy in the dark building on the left4 ,there is nothing of the feebleness and the helplessness of a baby in this picture4 ,it suggests rather1 big and mighty effort1 growing toward the time of rest4 ,it is not the music of a lullaby ,i seem to hear1 but the evening hymn of sturdy workers as they cease for a little from their toil4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,naturalistic ,,composition ,in the preceding chapters we have been studying formal1 or conventional1 composition4 ,we have seen how the artists arrange their groups of figures and the position and gestures of each figure according to a rule or formula or convention1 the basis of which is a geometric plan1 on which they build up a balance of repetitions and contrasts4 ,and we have noted that these formal compositions are artificial arrangements2 that the figures are not grouped as you might expect them to be in real life1 nor in positions that men and women usually assume4 ,and these formal compositions we have seen were also called1 classic2 the last example being the classic landscape in which nature has been made to look more grand by the addition of features of classic architecture4 ,we reach now another principle of composition4 ,it is the arrangement adopted by the artist1 whose motive is to make his picture represent nature naturally2 so ,i call it naturalistic composition4 ,but1 as we have noted before1 the artist is not satisfied merely to represent nature2 he wishes in the first place to make his picture a thing of beauty4 ,nature is not always beautiful2 so he selects from nature and arranges his subject in such a way1 that we shall not only recognise how true the picture is to nature1 but feel also how beautiful it is as a work of art4 ,its beauty1 you see1 is founded1 not upon a formal plan1 but on its truth to nature4 ,here for example1 is ,the ,sower by the ,french artist1 ,jean ,franois ,millet4 ,if we have ever seen a man scattering grain1 we recognise at once the picture's truth to life4 ,but ,millet's intention was not only to make us know what the man is doing1 but to create an impression on our minds that shall make us feel a sense of beauty1 through the way in which the picture represents the incident4 ,as a young man1 ,millet had studied the examples of ,greek and ,roman sculpture in the ,museum of the ,louvre in ,paris1 and learnt through them the classic principles of composition--the balance obtained by rhythmical repetition and contrast4 ,and these principles1 as we shall see presently1 are applied to this figure of ,the ,sower4 ,i hope to show you that this is the secret of the picture's beauty4 ,although the action of the figure inside the shabby clothes is quite natural1 the movement is rhythmical4 ,in fact it represents a mixture of the classical and the naturalistic motive4 ,firstly1 the naturalistic4 ,we know at a glance what the man is doing4 ,the forms in the picture1 the colors1 the light and shade1 make an impression on the eye which is immediately telegraphed to one of the centers of the brain4 ,the result is that we know the picture represents a man in a field sowing grain1 while from the color and light in the sky1 and the shadows creeping over the field1 we know that it is twilight4 ,this direct thought stirs us to further thinking2 for we recall that laborers start for their work in early morning1 so this one has probably been toiling all through the day4 ,but we notice that his actions are still vigorous1 he should be tired1 yet he is working as sturdily as at any time during the day2 perhaps with even more energy1 in order that he may finish sowing the field before the darkness comes4 ,in fact1 the arrangement of forms1 colors1 and light and shade has made a strong impression on the thinking part of the brain1 stirring us not only to observe1 but to draw conclusions4 ,and this1 of course1 is what ,millet meant that it should do4 ,but this was not all that he intended4 ,most people of his day must have thought it was2 for nearly all the critics1 or persons who are supposed to be able to judge of the value of a picture1 and nearly all the connoisseurs1 who are supposed to be able to appreciate its beauty1 turned up their noses and shrugged their shoulders4 8,this is horrible60 they exclaimed4 8,a common laborer in his dirty clothes1 doing his miserable work4 ,ugh6 how vulgar6 ,this is not art2 for art should be concerned with beauty4 ,why does not the fellow paint some beautiful girl in beautiful draperies8 ,phew6 ,take the picture away1 it smells of the farm40 ,you see they confined their criticisms and appreciation to what the picture was about--its subject2 and because they did not like the subject1 they condemned the picture4 ,they got no further than knowing and thinking1 they did not permit themselves to feel4 ,but it was on their feelings also that ,millet wished to make an impression4 ,through the arrangement of line1 form1 color1 and light and shade he sought to stir that other part of the brain to which messages are telegraphed by the senses1 with a result that we are made to feel4 ,let us analyse the composition2 and see how it illustrates the principle that we have been discussing of balance1 and rhythmic repetition1 and contrast4 ,we will begin with the latter4 ,note1 then1 how the sloping line of the field cuts across the picture4 ,this diagonal line is contrasted with the perpendicular sides of the picture1 and with the upright direction of the figure of the man4 ,it forms1 however1 another contrast2 it divides the light from the dark4 ,the sun has gone down behind the slope2 so that1 while the sky is still luminous with a lovely glow1 the ground is in shadow1 dreary and heavy looking4 ,so1 too1 the figure of the man4 ,the light is at his back1 so that what we see of him is shrouded in gloom4 ,against the gloom of the ground his figure shows comparatively indistinctly1 but the upper part stands very sharp against the light4 ,there is a strong contrast between its heaviness and gloom and the lovely radiance of the waning light2 while down below the figure looms out of the gloom and heaviness1 as if it were a part of them that had gathered into definite shape4 ,yes1 though his head may stand against the sky1 the man is part of the earth4 ,right away1 is there nothing in this to make us feel8 ,millet1 at any rate1 had often felt the poignancy of contrast1 in his own life and in the lives of others4 ,he had known what it was to see his wife and children short of food1 to have his own stomach empty1 while his mind was full of beautiful ideas1 and his cottage full of pictures1 that some day men would buy1 but not yet4 ,he had seen little bright faced children standing at the open grave of the father or the mother2 the happy young bride at the altar1 and among the congregation the young widow2 and evening after evening1 as the darkness fell1 the lonely figures in the field1 toiling out their short lives1 whilst behind them spread the everlasting beauty of the sunset1 and a few miles off in ,paris1 where he came from1 the lights were gleaming and people were making ready for pleasure1 though there too1 as he knew from his own experience1 people starved4 ,yes1 it is through experience that we learn to feel deeply1 and it is to experience that the contrast of this picture appeals4 ,when we recognise that by this contrast of light and darkness1 ,millet sought to express the dreary routine1 day in day out1 early and late1 of the peasant's lot in a world where nature is so beautiful1 and there can be so much beauty in life1 we may imagine to ourselves what would be the effect of raising or lowering the diagonal line4 ,to have given more lighted space1 would have made the figure stand out too prominently so that it would have dominated the scene1 and the scene itself would have seemed too spacious4 ,velasquez1 in his equestrian portraits1 kept the horizon line low1 so that ,philip ,,iv1 for example1 or his minister1 ,olivarez1 is made to appear a very important person in a very large world4 ,but ,millet wished us to feel the lowliness of the peasant1 bound close to the earth in very narrow surroundings4 ,again1 to have raised the horizon line1 would have destroyed the balance between light and darkness1 which now is absolutely true4 ,this balance suggests a feeling of repose2 shall ,i say of acquiescence in the necessity of the contrast8 ,for ,millet did not consider himself a reformer whose work is to set things right and to do away with contrasts2 but an artist1 whose aim was to harmonise the contrasts and to find some balance between the lights and darks of life2 just as ,stevenson out of his weakness and strength made his life a beautiful one4 ,and now let us study the lines of the figure4 ,in the first place you will agree that they enclose a form which is unmistakably that of a man sowing grain4 ,it was necessary for ,millet to arrange the lines1 in some way that should convey this impression4 ,but there are many other ways in which they might have been arranged1 so as to obtain this result4 ,for in the act of sowing a man takes many positions and any one of these would have done1 if all the artist had desired was to make us know that the man was sowing4 ,but ,millet wished to do more4 ,as a boy he toiled in his father's fields1 so he had ,illustration3 ,the ,sower4 ,j4 ,f4 ,millet4 a fellow-feeling for the peasants2 and as he watched them1 day after day laboring so faithfully1 he found a big idea in their work4 ,it was something like this--work is necessary1 and to do our own share of it as well as we can is the big thing for each of us4 ,and the oldest work of all and the most necessary is the growing of the wheat4 ,to-day the seed is laid in rows by machine-drills2 but in ,millet's time it was scattered by hand1 just as it had been since man began to sow4 ,this sower1 then1 that he watched was a descendant of a long line of sowers1 stretching back to the beginning of civilisation2 and still in the fields of ,barbizon he was doing his humble share of the world's necessary work4 ,millet felt the bigness of this idea2 and in his imagination the man was no longer ,jacques or ,jean--a sower2 he became 8,the ,sower10 a type--a big heroic type4 ,then1 as ,millet felt him to be1 so he set to work to paint him1 choosing such lines as would convey this big feeling to us4 ,observe1 first1 the balance of the figure3 how the weight of the body is planted almost equally on both feet4 ,if you try to put yourself in the position1 you will find that you can raise neither foot without moving the body4 ,if you wish to raise the back foot1 you must move the body forward till the weight is on the right foot2 or1 if you would raise this latter1 you must move the body back till the weight is over the left foot4 ,the center of gravity or of mass runs down through the body and between the legs4 ,now sway your body backward and forward a few times1 and then bring forward the left leg in front of the right1 so that the position of the feet is reversed4 ,now sway again forward and backward4 ,i ask you to do this that you may feel how freely the body moves in this position4 ,and ,i ask you to stride1 that you may feel that the position in the picture is only a momentary one1 leading on to a natural advance4 ,for this perfect poise of the body on the feet is not a stationary one1 that in time will seem stiff1 but part of a moving one1 that has the freedom and the naturalness of life4 ,and the movement is a swift one4 ,we can feel it is so from the length of the stride2 for it is only when you are moving quickly1 that you can take long strides1 and still preserve the balanced1 rhythmic swing of the body4 ,we have spoken of the poise of the body on the legs2 now let us note the action of the right arm4 ,the action1 ,i need hardly say1 begins with taking a handful of grain from the bag2 then the arm is swung back to the right to its full extent1 and then again brought back to the bag4 ,between these two points--that of the bag and that of the full extent--the arm is poised in motion1 just as the action of the body was poised between the backward and forward motion of the legs4 ,we can feel that the arm is moving1 and1 at this instant it is moving backward1 for our own experience when we walk and swing our arms naturally is that each arm goes back as the leg on that side goes forward4 ,the man's arm will reach its furthest point backward when he brings his full weight on the right foot4 ,in a word1 the poise of the arm and the poise of the leg correspond4 ,they present an example of repetition of balance4 ,it is enforced1 you will observe1 in the composition by the arm being made parallel to the direction of the backward leg4 ,this is another instance of repetition2 and there are still others3 the repetitions of the waist line1 the shoulders1 and the hat brim2 of the bandage on the left leg1 the line from the shoulder through the thigh1 the apron1 hanging over the arm1 and of the echo1 as it were1 of these1 in the tail of the distant ox and the arm of the driver4 ,these repetitions1 and others that you may discover for yourself1 help to bind the composition together and also to make it rhythmic4 ,and now for contrast1 we have noted the big one made by the diagonal line1 dividing the composition into light and dark4 ,let us note those appearing in the figure4 ,first there is the big contrast of the figure's own diagonal line from the shoulders down through the right leg4 ,it is contrasted most forcibly with the sides of the picture1 the horizon line1 and the direction of the right arm and the left leg4 ,the latter are practically at right angles to the figure--strongest of all contrasts of line4 ,it is to all these vigorous contrasts that the energy and assertion of the figure are mainly due4 ,but there are other contrasts in the figure4 ,do you notice that the swing of the arm brings the trunk of the body1 or the torso1 as it is called1 along with it8 ,swing your own arm and you will find your torso following its direction4 ,if the man's arm were to reach its full extension1 his left shoulder would appear and his torso would front us nearly full4 ,if his hand should reach the bag1 the right shoulder would come forward until the torso would be seen almost in profile4 ,however1 neither of these extremes is presented4 ,the swing of the torso is poised between the two4 ,but do you observe that the swing of the torso and arms is across the path of direction of the swing of the legs8 ,while they swing forward and backward1 the arms and torso swing alternately from right to left and left to right4 ,imitate this action with your own body1 step forward briskly with a swinging stride and at the same time swing your arms and torso4 ,if you feel the exhilaration of the action as ,i think you will1 you will realise that it is the wonderful way in which ,millet has suggested this contrast of the swing1 that makes the action of the figure so stirring4 ,by the contrast of its lines1 it expresses energy2 by the contrast of swing1 so free1 so rhythmic1 so vigorous1 it lifts us to enthusiasm4 ,but finally observe the position of the head and the direction of its gaze4 ,while below it the torso and arms swing from side to side1 the head is fixed1 leaning a little forward in the direction of the onward movement1 its eyes firmly set on what is ahead4 ,within the head is the brain which directs all the action of the figure4 ,but the face is shadowed over1 and through the shadow the features appear coarse and heavy4 ,we feel that the brain1 though prompting the man to do his work to the utmost1 is after all a dull brain1 in pitiful contrast to the vigor of the body4 ,heroic though the figure is in the grandeur of its free1 swift movement1 as grand1 if you will take my word for it1 as a ,greek statue1 yet it is but that of a humble peasant1 unconscious that he is doing aught but that which he has to do4 ,there you have the idea as it presented itself to the imagination of ,millet6 8,the ,sower0 is a striking illustration of the point with which ,i started this book2 that the beauty of a picture does not depend upon the subject1 but upon the way it is represented4 ,,chapter ,x ,,naturalistic ,,composition 7,continued7 ,in ,the ,sower1 by ,millet1 we found that1 though the composition was naturalistic1 it was based upon the classic principle of rhythm of line4 ,we shall not discover this principle in the present picture of a ,young ,woman ,opening a ,window4 ,the arrangement of the figure and its surroundings is simply natural4 ,the picture is by ,johannes ,vermeer#e of ,delft1 so called because this town in ,holland was his birthplace and the scene of his life's work4 ,born in #afcb1 he is one of those famous ,dutch artists of the ,seventeenth ,century1 of whom ,i have already spoken4 ,we were talking of landscape painting and mentioned that in this century the art branched out in two directions4 ,landscape up to that time having been used as a background for figures1 became then an independent art1 cultivated for its own sake2 and the artists treated it in two ways4 ,on the one hand1 some applied the principles of geometric composition to an artificial building up of bits of nature into what is called the formal1 or classic landscape2 while other painters represented the natural landscape naturally4 ,these latter were the ,dutchmen1 who treated figures also in the same realistic spirit4 ,that is to say1 whether they painted portraits or figure pictures or landscapes1 their aim was to represent the actual subject as they really saw it4 ,they did not substitute an artificial arrangement for the natural appearance of people and things2 nor did they try to obtain beauty by altering and improving upon nature4 ,their motive or purpose was to render the beauty that is actually in nature4 ,so1 for the most part1 they chose subjects of familiar every day life4 ,this picture1 for example1 represents simply a glimpse of home life1 of a ,dutch girl in well-to-do circumstances4 ,perhaps the artist intended to make a portrait of her2 probably his intention was only to paint a genre picture1 that is to say1 an incident of every day life4 ,not so much1 however1 for the sake of representing the incident1 as of making it contribute to a subject of abstract beauty4 ,how he has done this ,i hope we shall see presently4 ,meanwhile1 ,i want you to grasp the distinction between simply representing an incident1 as you or ,i might have seen it1 if we had been present1 and ,vermeer's motive of using the incident as a peg on which to hang some beauty of light and color and texture4 ,i mean1 it was the beauty of light and color and texture that made him pleased to paint this picture2 and probably he would have been just as pleased if some other girl had been standing there1 or some other objects had been spread upon the table4 ,perhaps a familiar example will illustrate this distinction4 ,two people start off for an afternoon's walk4 ,one sets out because he wishes to call upon a friend who lives on the other side of the wood4 ,to pay this call is the object of his walk2 for the friend is building a new house4 ,as he walks along he is busy wondering how far it is advanced1 whether the plasterers have finished their work2 and as he returns home he is thinking about the house he has seen and how he himself1 when he builds a house of his own1 will plan it differently4 ,in fact1 the incident of his friend's being engaged in building is what interests him1 and has been throughout the afternoon the motive of his walk4 ,his companion1 on the other hand1 agrees to go along with him1 not so much because he is interested in the house1 although he is to some extent1 but mostly because he loves a walk4 ,he enjoys the exhilaration of the exercise2 he is fond of the wood through which they have to pass4 ,he will have a chance to hunt for the first signs of spring--the early skunk-cabbage1 the shy peep of the violet through the dead leaves underfoot1 the rose blush of the maples overhead1 the piping and flicker of the first bird-arrivals and so on4 ,the real motive of his walk is the joy of exercise and of the beauties met with on the way4 ,visiting the house was but an excuse4 ,there is the same distinction among painters4 ,to some the representation of the incident is the main thing2 to others1 the rendering of the beauties which it involves4 ,vermeer1 like the other ,dutch artists1 of the ,seventeenth ,century1 belonged to the latter ,illustration3 ,young ,woman ,opening a ,window4 ,johannes ,vermeer4 7,property of ,the ,metropolitan ,museum of ,art47 class4 ,since1 however1 his subject is the peg on which he hangs his arrangement of light and color1 let us begin by examining it4 ,a young woman is standing between a table and a window4 ,with one hand she opens the casement while the other grasps the handle of a brass pitcher that stands in an ewer of the same material4 ,perhaps she is going to water some flowers that are outside on the window sill4 ,her costume consists of a dark blue skirt1 buff-colored bodice1 and a broad collar and hood-like cap of thin white linen4 ,the table is covered with an oriental cloth1 on which is a yellow jewel case1 while over the blue chair lies a cloak of lighter blue4 ,on the gray wall hangs a map4 ,this and the table cloth may remind us1 that the ,dutch of that period1 although they were fighting for their political liberty against ,spain1 found means to build ships and carry on trade across the sea with far distant countries4 ,possibly the girl was the daughter of some sea-captain or prosperous merchant4 ,anyhow the picture1 beside being a beautiful painting1 is very interesting to us to-day as an illustration of the domestic life of a ,dutch girl of some two hundred and fifty years ago4 ,and the same interest belongs to all the old genre pictures4 ,they make the past still alive to our eyes2 just as the genre pictures painted to-day will show some future generation how we lived4 ,but this1 ,i repeat1 was not ,vermeer's first thought4 ,on the other hand1 ,i do not wish you to think that he was not himself interested in the subject of his picture4 ,he was1 ,i am sure2 but in another way4 ,he1 no doubt1 arranged the figure with great care and carefully selected and grouped the surrounding objects4 ,but1 in placing the girl1 he did not try to get the graceful lines that ,raphael1 for example1 would have imagined4 ,vermeer's desire was to keep the pose and gesture natural4 ,in this he was simply following the general motive of the artists of his country and of that time4 ,but his own particular motive in representing the girl in the act of opening the window was that the clear outside light might stream in at the back of her figure and blend with the dimmer light of the interior4 ,i said that we would study the kind of beauty that this picture possesses2 and it is to be found in the rendering of the light4 ,the ,italians1 busy with their grand classic compositions1 would not have thought of this4 ,their motive was the beauty of form1 arrayed in beautiful draperies1 and so arranged that the figures should produce beautiful patterns of line and form4 ,to make a motive of the beauty of natural light was a discovery of the ,dutch4 ,they were artists1 you see1 and therefore in love with beauty4 ,but they confined themselves1 almost entirely1 to real subjects of every day life1 and accordingly had to find out the beauty that may be in these familiar things4 ,and it was not long before they learned how much the beauty of things depends upon the light in which they are seen4 ,before we go any further in our study of the picture1 let us see if we cannot be sure of this from our own experience4 ,whether you live in a city or in the country1 how differently you feel when you start out in the morning1 according as the day is fine or not4 ,under a bright sky everything takes on a cheerfulness that is communicated to our own spirit4 ,let the sky become downcast and the appearance of objects becomes dulled4 ,often too1 some familiar object that we have passed time and time again without particular notice1 suddenly attracts us4 ,how beautiful6 we exclaim4 ,if we try to discover the reason of the beauty1 we shall find very likely1 that it is due to some effect of light4 ,it need not be a bright light1 on the contrary1 it may be a soft light1 such as wraps itself around objects like a gauzy veil1 when the sky is thick with vapor4 ,do you remember that line of ,tennyson's--8,waves of light went over the wheat08 ,he had been watching a field of wheat1 spread out smoothly like a pale golden carpet in the yellow sunshine4 ,suddenly1 a soft breeze passes over it1 and as the stems bend their heavy heads of grain1 and recover themselves1 ripples of light travel across the field4 ,the poet notes it in his memory1 for a future poem4 ,so1 if we use our eyes1 we may note countless examples of the beauty which is added to the simplest things by light4 ,in fact1 the changing effect of light will correspond to the changing expressions that pass over the human face4 ,the ,dutch artists1 as soon as they became really interested in the nature and life around them1 quickly recognised this fact1 and made it the chief motive of their pictures4 ,they were no longer satisfied with mere realism2 that is to say1 to make the figure and the objects around it look as real in the pictures as they did in actual reality4 ,they sought to render the expression of which these objects were capable1 under the influence of light4 ,if you do not understand this ,i think you will1 if you place a bunch of flowers in some dark corner of the room1 look at it a little while1 and then move it to the window4 ,now1 as the light falls upon the flowers and shines through the petals1 the whole bunch is transfigured4 ,it has taken on a new appearance of beauty4 ,like a face that has suddenly lighted up with an expression of happiness1 the flowers seem alive with radiance4 ,they too1 have their expression and it will change with the changing of light4 ,for look at them again toward evening1 when the light is low1 and their faces1 not less beautiful1 will show a quite different expression4 ,now the light which streamed in at that window in ,delft1 when ,vermeer painted this picture1 was a very cool1 pure light2 one would say1 from seeing the original picture1 a morning light in ,spring1 it is so pure and fresh and fragrant4 ,yes1 one can even feel the fragrance of its freshness1 so exquisitely has the artist suggested to us the impression of the lighted air that steals into the room1 filling it with purity4 ,see1 how it bathes the wall2 even the bare gray becomes radiant2 how it gleams on the girl's shoulder1 and filters through her cap1 making it in parts transparent1 so that one sees the background color through it4 ,note also1 how it roams among the objects in the room1 caressing the under part of the girl's right arm1 bringing out the softness and plumpness of her left wrist2 splashing the ewer and touching the pitcher1 the table cloth1 and other details with glints of sparkle1 like notes of gladness in a melody of tender freshness4 ,even in the reproduction one can feel the freshness that pervades the room1 and the delicate quality of the lighted atmosphere that envelopes the figures and fills every part of the scene4 ,i mean1 that not only is this effect of light visible to our eyes1 but it also stirs in us a sentiment or feeling of gladness and refreshment4 ,still more will the original1 if you have a chance of seeing it in the ,metropolitan ,museum1 ,new ,york1 where1 though a very small picture1 it is one of the gems of the collection4 ,for there you will feel also the effect of the color1 yellow1 gray1 and various hues of blue4 ,they are all cool colors1 the blues especially1 and very pure in hue1 which increases the sensation of freshness4 ,a moment ago ,i spoke of the picture as being like a melody4 ,it will suggest to some imaginations the blitheness of a spring-song4 ,the fact that a painting may sometimes seem to have the tunefulness or harmony of music ,i have already mentioned in a previous chapter4 ,the reason is that painting and music1 although different arts1 have certain elements in common4 ,later on1 when we shall speak of color1 ,i shall try to suggest to you the correspondence between sound notes in music and color notes in painting4 ,but for the present ,i will remind you of an element1 common to both arts1 of which we have already spoken--rhythm4 ,in ,raphael's ,jurisprudence1 ,i pointed out to you the rhythm of movement in the figures4 ,it flows through the forms of the figures in rippling1 wave-like lines of direction4 ,but nothing of that sort is apparent in ,vermeer's picture4 ,there are repetitions and contrasts in the arrangement of the full and empty spaces2 but they represent rather a pattern of spots2 we are not conscious of any rhythm of line4 ,then1 in what does the rhythm consist8 ,if you think of that line of ,tennyson's--8,waves of light went over the wheat10 you may perhaps discover for yourselves the kind of rhythm in this picture4 ,to give you time to think it out1 before ,i tell you1 let me ask you1 if you have noticed that in a flower-bed in the garden a number of blossoms of different colors will 8dwell together in unity10 but if you pick some of these and bring them indoors and begin to arrange them in a vase1 the colors will seem to clash4 ,that they do not appear to clash in the flower bed is because the out-of-door light envelopes everything1 soothes the violence of the colors and brings them all into an appearance of harmony4 ,similarly in this picture1 the light streaming through the window brings all the different spots of color into a single harmony of effect4 ,they are no longer separate and independent1 but drawn together and united by the veil of lighted atmosphere4 ,of this again1 we will speak when we reach the subject of color4 ,but the rhythm of this picture1 in what does it consist8 ,yes1 in the movement1 not of form1 but of light4 ,uniting all the colors into a single harmony1 it flows in and out through the lighter and darker parts of the composition2 sometimes in a broad sweeping flood1 as on the wall2 sometimes in little pulses of movement1 as it leaps from point to point2 now losing itself in the hollow of a shadow1 then reappearing in the gleam of a fold2 all the while streaming through the picture in a continuous ebb and flow4 ,in fact1 as we study it1 we gradually find that the light does for the parts of this composition what the lines of direction did in ,raphael's--it unites them in a rhythmic movement4 ,do not be disturbed1 if at first reading these words convey little meaning to you2 or if at first sight you do not feel the rhythm of the composition4 ,it is there1 however1 and some day1 if you are really going to be a student of pictures1 you will feel it yourself4 ,for the present1 if you will accept my word for it1 ,i wish you to understand that this rhythmic effect of out-of-door light represented a new motive in painting4 ,the ,italians of the great period did not see it4 ,it was the discovery of the ,dutch realists1 those artists of ,holland in the ,seventeenth ,century1 whose study was the real appearances of nature and life4#f ,their pictures were not as grand as the ,italians'2 for they were small in size1 and were not built up on the magnificently formal plan that gives such a dignity and distinction to the ,italian pictures4 ,nor are their subjects so heroic and impressive4 ,they represent only the facts of every day life4 ,yet they have a great beauty of their own1 because they rely on the inexhaustible beauty of light4 ,it is on this same beauty that after two hundred years artists of our own day are relying4 ,they have gone back to the example of ,vermeer and the other ,dutch artists1 and are applying it to the study of similar subjects4 ,they are painting nature as it shows itself to them in its envelope of lighted atmosphere4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,naturalistic ,,landscape ,we come now to the other arm of the ,y1 about which we spoke in a previous chapter4 ,landscape had been used as a background to the figures1 until in the ,seventeenth ,century some artists began to make it the chief subject of their pictures4 ,but no sooner was landscape painting practised as a separate art than it branched into two directions4 ,we followed one of these and saw how ,claude ,lorrain invented the formal1 or classic landscape2 taking bits of nature1 some from one place1 some from another1 and building them up into an artificial composition1 which he made more grand by the addition of classic architecture4 ,it was not unlike the way in which a handsome house is built2 the materials1--stone1 wood1 marble1 and so on--are brought together from various places1 hewed to certain shapes designed by the architect1 and then put together according to the rule or formula of building4 ,the main difference is that1 though the classic landscape does not represent any actual spot in nature1 it still bears a resemblance to nature4 ,but it is nature worked over by the fancy of man1 and improved according to his own idea of what is beautiful4 ,the artist did not paint nature because he loved it as it is but because it furnished him with material for making a handsome picture4 ,and this picture-making use of landscape continued to be popular with artists and the public well on into the ,nineteenth ,century4 ,meanwhile the other branch of landscape painting had been started in the ,seventeenth ,century by the ,dutchmen4 ,they1 as we have seen1 were interested above everything in themselves1 their own lives and surroundings4 ,this was the state of mind of the whole people1 and the artists gave expression to it in their pictures4 ,they too1 were picture-makers1 who by their skill of painting and their love of beauty made their pictures beautiful works of art4 ,but the subjects that they represented were seldom imaginary ones4 ,they painted what they actually saw2 and with so much truth that their art has been called an art of portraiture4 ,they made portraits of people1 portraits of the outdoor and indoor life1 and portraits of their towns and harbors1 and of the country that surrounded them4 ,so1 by comparison with the formal or classic landscape1 we may call their landscapes naturalistic1 for they represented nature as it actually appeared to their eyes4 ,but their art died with them4 ,as soon as ,holland had secured her independence1 her artists began to travel to foreign countries1 especially to ,italy4 ,there they set themselves to imitate the great ,italians1 and so far as landscape was concerned1 joined in the popular taste for the classic kind4 ,it was not ,illustration3 ,crossing the ,brook4 ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner4 until a hundred years later1 namely at the end of the ,eighteenth ,century1 that an ,english artist1 ,constable1 revived the naturalistic style of landscape4 ,he was a miller's son1 whose boyhood had been spent amid the simple loveliness of nature4 ,later he went to ,london and studied painting2 but while he worked in the big city1 his heart was in the country1 and he suddenly made up his mind to go back to the old scenes1 and paint what he knew and loved4 ,he had seen some of the landscapes of the old ,dutchmen1 and resolved that he would do what they had done4 ,in his own words1 he would be a 8natural painter40 ,it was not long before the example of ,constable led some of the younger ,french artists to study the old ,dutch pictures in the ,louvre4 ,they were dissatisfied with the methods of painting upheld by the older artists4 ,it seemed to them a waste of time to set up a model in a studio1 and then1 instead of drawing it as they saw it1 to correct it according to some standard of perfection4 ,nor did they find any interest in putting a number of such figures into artificial groups1 in order to build up some grand composition1 supposed to represent some classical subject or story of the old time4 ,they were full of interest in the life of their own time1 which was the period following the ,revolution1 when ,france felt young again and vigorous1 and the young artists and poets and fiction-writers were eager to express in their work their joy in the reality of life4 ,when life was so real and so full of promise1 why should they look back to the times of the great ,italians and occupy themselves with the artificial and make-believe8 ,among these younger men was one1 ,theodore ,rousseau4 ,he was not only independent in character and determined to see things with his own eyes and to represent them as he saw them and felt them1 but he had a great love of nature4 ,this led him away from the city into the country2 where he studied the skies and the trees1 and all the objects of the landscape with an ever increasing love and knowledge1 until he came to know nature1 as few have done1 and to feel toward it1 as a man feels toward that which he loves best in all the world4 ,his favorite spot in nature was that which surrounds the ,palace of ,fontainebleau1 an ancient residence some thirty miles from ,paris1 of the kings of ,france4 ,it is a rolling tract of ground1 broken up with rocky glens and thick with forest trees1 especially the oak4 ,on the outskirts of this enchanting garden of wildness1 in the little village of ,barbizon1 ,rousseau made his home1 and around him gathered other artists1 fascinated by the beauty of nature4 ,among them was the ,jean ,franois ,millet whose picture1 ,the ,sower1 we have already studied4 ,he for the most part painted the peasants1 working in the fields or tending their flocks2 but the others1 among them ,dupr1 ,corot1 and ,diaz1 painted the landscape1 while ,troyon introduced cows into his pictures and ,jacque1 sheep4 ,with all of them the motive was to represent nature as they saw and felt it4 ,they are known as the ,fontainebleau-,barbizon group of artists1 and their example has had very great influence on modern art4 ,i shall speak of it presently2 meanwhile will continue the story of naturalistic landscape4 ,it is a very interesting fact that while these ,french artists were going straight to nature for their subjects and inspiration1 some ,american artists1 knowing nothing of the ,frenchmen1 were doing the same thing4 ,a similar love of nature and longing to paint it as they saw and felt it drew them from the city to the beautiful spots that border on the ,hudson ,river4 ,their leader was ,thomas ,cole1 who made his headquarters among the hills and valleys1 the waterfalls and luxuriant vegetation of the romantic ,catskills4 ,other names are those of ,thomas ,doughty1 ,asher ,b4 ,durand1 ,john ,f4 ,kensett4 ,sometimes they painted the grander aspects of the scenery2 the broad ,hudson sweeping past its headlands1 or the lakes with their girdle of mountains2 but quite as often the simpler loveliness of smiling meadows and cosy farms4 ,but always with the sincere wish to represent1 as faithfully as they could1 the natural beauty that they loved4 ,gradually1 however1 as the country expanded ,westward and the pioneer spirit of the nation was aroused1 ,american artists began to attempt bigger subjects4 ,church1 ,bierstadt1 and ,thomas ,moran attacked the colossal wonders of the ,yellowstone and the ,rockies4 ,it was no longer the beauty of nature that inspired them1 so much as its marvelousness and immensity4 ,as many people believe1 they tried to do something that is beyond the power of painting to express4 ,for on the comparatively tiny space of their canvasses they did succeed in expressing some of the appearances of nature's grandeur1 but they hardly made you feel it4 ,i believe myself it is impossible that they should2 for an artist can only make you feel in his picture something of what he himself has felt2 and he must have thoroughly mastered his own feeling before he can express it4 ,but in the presence of the stupendous works of nature1 as far as my experience goes1 the feeling masters ourselves4 ,amid the vastness of the height and depth and breadth and the grandeur and glory and marvel of it all1 our spirit is swept out of us4 ,we see the mighty volume of water coming over ,niagara and hear the roar of its might2 but not as we gaze into the face of a friend and listen to the voice that we have learned to know and love so well4 ,in the one case our feeling is all brought to a center of attraction1 in the other it is caught away and carried beyond our comprehension4 ,we can only lose ourselves in wonder4 ,well1 artists discovered the truth of this4 ,constable and ,rousseau lead the way1 and now it is the usual habit of the landscape artists to study nature as one studies the face and form1 the expression and action of a friend4 ,one cannot know a number of friends as intimately as one or two4 ,so they have confined their pictures to the few and simple aspects of nature2 one little fragment at a time1 studied with loving intimacy and represented with the faithfulness of sincere and thorough knowledge4 ,in doing so1 they have learned like ,johannes ,vermeer and other ,dutch artists of the ,seventeenth ,century1 that much of the beauty and almost all the expression on the face of nature are due to the effects of natural light4 ,light has become the special study of the modern painters of the naturalistic landscape4 ,and they have carried it further than the other artists did4 ,helped by the scientific men1 who have examined into the color of light1 the modern artist has found out how to represent a great variety of the effects of light3 cool or warm light1 the light at a particular hour of the day1 at a particular season of the year1 and in a particular kind of weather4 ,in fact1 the light that he represents in his pictures is a faithful rendering of some one of the countless conditions of natural light4 ,you remember how the light in ,vermeer's picture drew all the parts of the composition into a harmonious whole and gave it rhythm4 ,so too1 in these modern naturalistic landscapes the artist has ceased to depend upon line and form in making the composition4 ,the latter is now rather an arrangement of masses of lighted color4 ,we will talk more about this when we come to color2 for the present1 it is enough to remember that we must not expect to find in modern naturalistic landscapes the same handsome patterns of composition that we find in the classical4 ,the modern have less dignity1 but a more intimate charm4 ,we do not stand apart from the scene and admire it2 we rather enter in to it and enjoy it4 ,it is something with which we are familiar in nature1 but we are made to feel a greater beauty in it through the personal feeling that the artist has put into his work4 ,the ,french have a term for this kind of landscape1 which well expresses the artist's motive and the feelings which his picture inspires in us4 ,they call it the 8paysage intime40#g ,literally translated this means 8intimate landscape02 but it may be rendered more freely a landscape in which we recognise how intimately the artist has studied his subject4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have given you a sketch of the growth of naturalistic landscape in the ,seventeenth ,century up to our own day1 when this branch of painting has become fully as important as that of figure subjects4 ,now let me briefly describe the change that has taken place in the motive of the landscape painter4 ,the motive1 or aim of the early ,dutchmen was to make their pictures resemble as much as possible the actual landscape4 ,they were1 as ,i have said1 8portraits0 of the natural surroundings4 ,in their desire that the portraits should be lifelike these artists painted in as many of the details as they could4 ,moreover their point of view was objective4 ,by 8point of view0 ,i mean the way in which they looked at the landscape2 and ,i call it 8objective10 because they looked at it simply as an object in front of them to be painted as nearly as possible lifelike4 ,this is the usual point of view of the modern photographer4 ,you go to him to have your portrait taken4 ,he poses you as an object in front of his camera4 ,his aim is to make a portrait that will be like you1 and will also please you because it is a good-looking picture4 ,he will do the same for the next person that comes to him1 and for the next1 and so on4 ,all of them are simply objects to be photographed4 ,he has no personal feeling toward any of them2 his point of view is objective4 ,but1 suppose he makes a portrait of his own child4 ,he will wish it to be more than a likeness that any one would recognise4 ,he wants it to be a reminder in after years1 when she is grown up and changed1 of how she used to look as a little one1 in moments when to her mother and himself she seemed more than ever a darling4 ,to him1 you see1 she is not merely an object to be photographed2 his point of view towards his own child is not objective2 on the contrary it is influenced by his personal love for her2 the picture is to be a likeness plus something more--a reflection of his own feeling4 ,this personal kind of point of view is called 8subjective10 the opposite to objective4 ,perhaps you will understand the difference between the two more clearly by the following sentence3 8,the photographer photographs ,mrs4 ,x40 ,the photographer is the subject of the verb1 photographs1 8,mrs4 ,x40 is the object4 ,in this case the object is of more importance than the subject because it is ,mrs4 ,x4 who pays the money and has to be considered4 ,but change the words in this way--8,the father photographs his little one40 ,now1 so far as the taking of the photograph is concerned1 the father is the more important4 ,he is the subject of the verb1 the one who is going to do something and do it his own way1 so as to represent something which he1 the subject1 has in his mind4 ,his point of view is entirely his own--the subjective4 ,observe how this will affect the way in which he takes the photograph4 ,the little one has just come in1 we will say1 from a romp in the meadow4 ,her hair is tumbled and the light plays through the silky strands2 there is a sparkle of sunshine in her eyes2 her lips are parted in a sunny smile as she stretches out to her father a podgy hand1 tightly clasping a bunch of daisies4 8,little love0 he thinks to himself1 8what a picture60 ,he seizes his camera1 and tells her to stand still a minute4 ,what is it1 do you think that he is going to try and catch8 ,i need hardly say it is the radiance in her face4 ,perhaps her podgy hand too2 but first and chiefly that expression of happiness and love2 for it is an echo1 as it were1 of the happiness and love that he feels in his own heart toward her4 ,if he succeed1 the picture will be as much an expression of his own subjective feeling toward the child1 as of the child herself4 ,if you see what ,i mean you can now begin to understand how ,constable1 and1 even more1 ,rousseau and the other ,fontainebleau-,barbizon artists looked at nature4 ,no longer an objective point of view1 like the old ,dutchmen's1 it was a subjective one4 ,to them nature was not merely an object of which to make a portrait4 ,it was something they loved1 and1 because they loved it1 they painted it1 and in such a way that their pictures embodied the feeling which they had for nature4 ,they are full of the artist's personal feeling1 or as it is sometimes called1 sentiment4 ,a landscape of ,rousseau's sets our imagination working4 ,it may represent an oak tree and a rocky boulder1 half hidden in ferns and vines1 some little spot in the forest of ,fontainebleau4 ,as we look at it we become more and more conscious of the strength and vigor of the tree2 the firmness of its huge trunk1 the mighty muscles of its brawny arms1 the grip which it has upon the ground1 and our imagination may begin thinking of the roots hidden below the ground4 ,while the branches spread out to the sunshine and the air1 the unseen roots reach out and grip the soil and grapple with the rocks1 anchoring firmly the tree against the storms of weather and time4 ,and perhaps we begin to feel1 as ,rousseau himself did1 that the oak is a symbol of the might of nature2 and how she silently works on regardless of the changes that happen in the lot of comparatively short-lived men4 ,or we look at one of ,corot's pictures of the twilight1 in which the trees seem to have sunk asleep in blurs of shade against the pale1 faint light that is fading from the sky2 and the hush and tenderness of the daily miracle of nature's rest steals over our spirits4 ,it is as if we were listening to the pensive melody of some sweet lyrical poem1 very gently and reverently read2 such a one1 perhaps1 as ,longfellow's 8,hymn to the ,night40 ,on the other hand1 to receive an impression like that of ,rousseau's picture1 we must choose a poem that tells1 not of rest1 but of the grandeur of human effort1 and must read it in a strong voice and confidently1 as if we were sure that to be strong and faithful to the end was a grand thing4 ,indeed1 so many landscapes1 not only by the ,fontainebleau-,barbizon artists1 but also by modern men who are following in their footsteps1 are full of the suggestion of poetry1 and we speak of them as poetic landscapes4 ,this does not mean that they illustrate any particular poem1 but that they affect one's imagination in somewhat the same way as poetry does4 ,the reason is that such artists have the spirit of poets4 ,for nature arouses in them deep emotions1 and their pictures1 like the poet's verses1 not only describe the beauty of nature1 but express the sentiment1 or feeling1 of their own souls4 ,on the other hand you must not expect to find this suggestion of poetry in all modern naturalistic landscape4 ,there are still artists whose point of view1 like that of the old ,dutchmen1 is objective4 ,they are content to paint the beauty of nature simply as it shows itself to their eyes4 ,nor need we argue as to which is the better way1 this1 or the subjective point of view4 ,we may prefer the one or the other2 though1 perhaps1 it is better for us to keep our minds open to the beauties of both4 ,illustration3 ,paysage4 ,j4 ,b4 ,c4 ,corot4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,form ,,and ,,color ,when we began to speak about composition we continually used the words 8line and form40 ,gradually1 however1 as we left the subject of formal composition and talked of naturalistic composition1 we found ourselves substituting the words 8colored masses40 ,it would seem then as if there were a distinction between these two things2 that form was on one side of the fence and color on the other4 ,yet that would contradict our experience2 for we know that everything which has a form or shape1 visible to the eye1 has also color that we can see4 ,and most things that have color are seen to have a shape or form4 ,not all2 for example1 when the sky is a cloudless blue1 or when we gaze over a distant expanse of sea4 ,still1 as a general experience1 color and form are identical4 ,the face of a friend--you recognise it by its color as well as by the form of the features2 and1 should you have the sorrow of looking upon that face when it is dead1 the change in the color would make you recognise the once familiar features as strangely different4 ,yet1 notwithstanding the identity of form and color1 we find a certain separation between the two1 when we come to study pictures4 ,the reason is that some artists are more sensitive to form1 others to color4 ,as ,i have already said1 an artist paints only the particular impression of an object which his eye receives4 ,every eye has its own particular way of seeing4 ,even the eye1 most sensitive to form1 will not see it as other eyes will2 nor will any one color seem the same to every eye that is chiefly interested in color4 ,this is only another way of saying that the varieties in nature are inexhaustible4 ,nevertheless1 although no two elm trees are exactly alike1 all elm trees are sufficiently similar to be recognised at once as elm trees4 ,so with artists1 some group themselves as painters of form2 others1 of color4 ,in the old ,italian days this distinction separated the artists of ,florence from those of ,venice4 ,the ,florentines--,leonardo da ,vinci1 ,michelangelo1 ,raphael1 among the greatest--were masters of form2 the ,venetians1 especially in the persons of ,giorgione1 ,titian1 ,tintoretto1 and ,paul ,veronese1 were masters of color4 ,the one group saw especially the shapes of things1 the other saw the world as an arrangement of spots or masses of color4 ,the ,florentines1 in consequence of their interest in form1 took great pains with the outlines of their figures4 ,the outlines were clearly defined2 in the mural paintings the figures were enclosed by an actual line2 and always the figure shows distinctly against the background4 ,for1 having drawn the figure very carefully1 the artist did not let the color1 that was afterwards laid on1 lap over the line or interfere with the subtle undulations of the outline4 ,they were in fact1 a school of great draughtsmen1 who relied principally on the beauty and vigor of the drawing4 ,the ,venetians1 however1 were great colorists1 relying on color2 and may be spoken of as painters rather than draughtsmen4 ,yet they too1 of course1 were masters of drawing4 ,they could represent the action of the figure as well as the ,florentines1 but unlike the latter1 did not care for the clear outline4 ,on the contrary1 they softened or blurred the outline slightly1 in closer imitation of nature4 ,if1 for example1 you look carefully at a tree1 you will not find that its shape is enclosed by a hard line4 ,the light creeps round the edges of the trunk and of the masses of foliage in such a way that the outlines are softened or slightly blurred4 ,it is the same with a figure seated in a room2 here and there its edges may seem sharply cut out against the background1 but in other parts the edges will seem to melt into the background4 ,in other words1 as we look at the figure1 what we are most conscious of is not its outline1 but its mass of color in relation to the other masses of color that surround it4 ,now1 this distinction1 between the way in which the ,florentines and the ,venetians saw and represented objects1 still appears in modern art4 ,in fact1 ever since the days of the great ,italians there have been artists who relied on drawing and artists who relied on color4 ,for over a hundred years the importance of drawing has been upheld by the great school of art in ,paris maintained by the ,french government4 ,one of its famous teachers1 ,ingres1 used to tell his pupils 8form is everything1 color is nothing40 ,perhaps he only meant by this that1 as long as they were pupils1 the only necessary thing for them to think about and learn to represent was form4 ,because to draw well is so important for any artist1 and it is a thing that can be thoroughly taught and learned4 ,the ,french school takes as its standard of excellence the perfect forms of classic sculpture and the great works of the ,florentine artists4 ,although the student may be drawing from a living model whose form is not perfect1 he is taught to correct the imperfections of this or that part1 in order that the figure1 as it appears in his drawing1 may be as near as he can get it to classic perfection4 ,but color1 as we shall see presently1 is so much a matter of each person's feeling1 that it is impossible to reduce the teaching of it to any method or standard4 ,so perhaps that is what ,ingres had in mind4 ,he meant that1 for the time being1 his students should consider form to be everything1 color nothing4 ,on the other hand it is generally understood that he meant much more than this1 that he was telling his pupils what he himself considered to be the whole duty of an artist4 ,let us try and enter into his point of view4 ,i can imagine some of my readers saying that the phrase1 8form is everything2 color1 nothing10 is nonsense2 because color plays so important a part in our enjoyment of sight4 ,just think what a dreary world it would be1 if everything1 for instance1 were a uniform gray6 ,quite true1 and ,ingres probably would have agreed4 ,as a man1 he no doubt enjoyed the pleasures of color4 ,but it was as an artist that he was speaking4 ,he was stating what he believed to be the proper subject of his own art4 ,in the first place he was evidently one of those artists who see the shape rather than the color of things2 to whom form makes an irresistible appeal4 ,in the second place--and mark1 for this is very important--he was not thinking of how things appear in the actual world1 but how they should be represented in art4 ,he was one of those artists who are not interested in naturalistic painting2 who do not profess to paint nature4 ,on the contrary1 like the great ,italians1 he only borrowed from nature certain materials in order to build them up into a formal composition of his own creation4 ,he would have told you that he was not representing the works of nature but creating for himself a totally different thing--a work of art4 ,on the other hand1 many artists will reply1 that the work of art need not be a totally different thing4 ,that they themselves1 like the ,dutch of the ,seventeenth ,century and all the modern painters of the naturalistic composition1 combine the two4 ,it is by representing nature1 that they create a work of art4 ,here1 you see1 is a sharp conflict of points of view4 ,one group of artists1 loving nature1 desires to represent it2 the other1 perhaps not loving nature less1 certainly loves art more4 ,this latter group1 therefore1 tries to improve on nature1 and to use it only for the creation of something that it feels to be different and superior to nature4 ,while the one set of men wed nature to art1 the other divorce art from nature4 ,between the two there is a ,great ,divide1 which no amount of talking can bridge over4 ,the only conclusion to be reached is that there is right on both sides4 ,for the one group1 because of the kind of men composing it1 its own way is the right way2 and for the other1 for the same reason1 its way4 ,we1 as lookers on at the dispute1 will do well to learn to see the beauty in both kinds of picture4 ,you may as well know the names by which the two points of view are known4 ,with one1 the naturalistic1 we have already become acquainted4 ,the other is called by the artists who practise it the 8idealistic40 ,they will tell you that they paint 8ideal0 subjects4 ,by those1 however1 who disagree with them1 their point of view and method are apt to be called ,academic4 ,the word ideal1 used in this sense1 has the meaning 8more perfect than in real life40 ,when a person says3 8,the ideal way to spend a summer holiday0--we know even before he utters the next words1 8would be10 that he is going to tell us something that he does not expect to enjoy4 ,it is how he would have things1 if he could arrange them according to his own idea of perfection4 ,now this is what the artist means when he calls his picture an ideal one4 ,personally1 ,i do not like this use of the word1 because it seems to imply that this kind of picture is superior to the other4 ,and the artists who paint this kind of picture believe that it is2 we1 however1 who are simply students of pictures1 longing to enjoy the beauty of all kinds of motive and ways of painting1 will not admit this4 ,we go back to the fact with which ,i started this book3 that the value of a picture does not depend upon the subject but the way in which the artist has rendered it4 ,because a man portrays some noble incident from poetry or the ,bible1 or invents some scene out of his brain1 it does not follow that his picture will represent a higher degree of beauty or a finer imagination than one which only represents some simple scene in nature4 ,i will go further and say that some of the pictures of 8still life0#h by the ,frenchman1 ,antoine ,vollon1 or our own ,american artist1 ,emil ,carlsen1 exhibit more beauty1 yes1 and even more imagination than many ambitious figure subjects4 ,why is this8 ,how can a picture of a pumpkin and vegetables by ,vollon1 or one of ,carlsen's subjects1 such as a creamy porcelain vase1 and a lemon1 and one or two other delicately colored objects on a white tablecloth1 show more beauty and imagination than1 for instance1 an imposing picture like ,leutze's ,washington ,crossing the ,delaware8 ,the answer is that ,vollon and ,carlsen exhibit more feeling for beauty and more imagination in matters that especially belong to painting1 while ,leutze went outside of painting4 ,let me explain myself4 ,leutze saw beauty in the heroism of ,washington and his soldiers1 fighting against tremendous odds for a great cause in the terrible cold of winter4 ,his imagination was kindled by the importance of the cause and the devotion of those who fought for it4 ,it was the facts1 as they appealed to his mind1 and the ideas that his mind formed about them which he tried to represent4 ,but the special field for the artist1 as ,i have already said1 is not covered by his mind but by his eyes4 ,it is with what he can see that he should be first and chiefly concerned--the beauty of the visible world4 ,and his imagination as an artist is chiefly shown in the capacity that his mind has for discovering unexpected beauties and rendering them4 ,thus to ourselves1 and even to some artists1 a pumpkin may seem but a bright orange mass1 with a rough or shiny rind as the case may be2 an attractive spot of color and shape1 a thing to be admired for a moment and then forgotten4 ,another artist1 on the contrary1 sees a great deal more in it4 ,he sees subtle differences of color1 according to the way the light falls on it1 various delicate differences in the roughness or smoothness of the rind2 curiously beautiful accidents of color1 as it reflects the colors of other objects near it2 mysteries of shadow1 some deep and strong1 others so faint that an ordinary eye might not detect them4 ,these and other qualities1 that his sensitive eyes perceive1 create impressions in his brain that fill his imagination with a sense of beauty somewhat as music does4 ,he cannot tell you why he enjoys it so much1 or explain in words the effect it has on his imagination4 ,the whole impression is a vision of his imagination1 excited by the sense of sight1 and this vision he sets to work to interpret on his canvas1 in order that it may be communicated to our eyesight1 and1 in turn1 excite our imagination4 ,we receive from form and color feelings of pleasure that we cannot describe in words but which are not less real on that account4 ,it is an abstract enjoyment1 free from any distinct connection with words or facts4 ,on the other hand1 in ,washington ,crossing the ,delaware it is the record of facts1 presented in the picture1 that chiefly interests us4 ,neither the forms nor the arrangement of color have in themselves any separate abstract quality of beauty4 ,so1 it is not upon the beauty of the things seen by the eyes1 but upon the interest of things understood by the mind that ,leutze depended4 ,he really neglected his own proper field of painting1 for that of the writer or orator4 ,therefore1 he put himself at a disadvantage2 for ,i think you will admit1 that a good speaker or writer could describe the incident in a much more thrilling way than the picture does4 ,but we have strayed somewhat from our point4 ,we were speaking of idealistic pictures1 and noted that they are so called because the artist instead of representing nature as it is1 corrects it and improves upon it in order to bring it up to what he considers an 8ideal0 standard of perfection4 ,i mentioned that these pictures and the motive which prompts them are also called 8,academic40 ,the reason is that the school in ,paris which teaches these principles of painting is maintained by the ,academy of the ,fine ,arts2 and its example has been followed by many other ,european ,academies of painting4 ,so1 when we speak of a picture being ,academic in character1 we mean that its motive and manner of painting follow the rules laid down by the schools4 ,to repeat a word we have frequently used before1 they are based on the ,academic ,formula4 ,previously it was the ,classic formula of which we spoke4 ,this1 you remember was the rule or plan for building up a formal composition1 sometimes strengthened by the introduction of classic architecture and often representing some scene or story of classic legend4 ,and it is upon this classic formula that the ,academic practice is largely based4 ,so when a modern artist paints a picture after the fashion of ,raphael's ,jurisprudence1 we can speak of its manner and motive as being ,academic1 ,classic1 or ,idealistic4 ,sometimes1 in fact1 the meaning of these words is practically the same1 but not always4 ,for at times an ,academic painter will choose an everyday subject of ordinary life1 yet his picture will not be naturalistic4 ,there are two ways in which he may miss the truth of nature4 ,either he will try to improve upon the actual facts1 or he will leave out the light and atmosphere in which the objects appear in nature4 ,we may find examples of both these contradictions of the natural truth in ,leutze's picture4 ,he was trained in the ,academy of ,dsseldorf1 a city on the ,rhine2 at a time when that school had abandoned ,classical subjects for incidents from history1 or scenes from ,german legends1 or what it called genre-pictures of peasant life4 ,but these last were not genre in the sense that the old ,dutch pictures were4 ,for the latter reproduced the actual habits and life of the times1 whereas the ,dsseldorf artists presented fancy pictures in which the peasants were grouped1 as if they were taking part in some scene in an opera or other theatrical performance4 ,this artificial treatment appears in ,washington ,crossing the ,delaware4 ,it is supposed to represent a historical incident4 ,do you think it has the value of history2 that the incident really happened as it is here depicted8 ,the artist1 of course1 was not present2 he was compelled to shape the facts of the incident according to what he had read about them1 or1 as ,i rather suspect1 according to what his fancy had pictured them4 ,history tells us that the crossing began early in the evening of ,december #be1 #aggf1 and lasted until four a4m4 the following morning4 ,does this picture represent the dimness of a winter twilight1 much less the gloom of night8 ,i might ask the further question1 is any kind of natural light suggested in this picture8 ,i feel confident the answer is 8no40 ,leutze probably had no thought of representing this aspect of the truth2 the ,dsseldorf ,school paid no attention to the real appearances of light2 or to the effect that light would have upon the appearance of the figures4 ,their outlines are sharply defined2 every figure is rendered with about equal distinctness2 no effort has been made to represent them in relation to one another1 with varying degrees of clearness and obscurity4 ,a similar artificiality appears in the representation of the ice4 ,it is true the lights and shadows and gleam of the surfaces of real ice have been studied2 so that the painting conveys the idea of ice2 but this is a very different thing from the painted blocks representing the effects of real ice1 as seen in real light4 ,so we find that ,leutze1 though wishing to give us a vivid representation of the incident1 has neglected a number of important facts relating to the hour of the occurrence and to the conditions of atmosphere and light1 as they must have affected the appearance of the scene4 ,he was simply not interested in these matters4 ,then1 what of the point on which he evidently relied--the grouping of the figures in the foreground8 ,it is a ticklish job to pull a boat through a mass of floating ice-cakes4 ,illustration3 ,washington ,crossing the ,delaware4 ,emanuel ,leutze4 7,property of the ,metropolitan ,museum of ,art47 ,do you think that ,washington and the flag-bearer would have increased the difficulty and peril by standing up8 ,don't you know that to stand up in a boat even on smooth water is a foolhardy thing to do8 ,it is a frequent cause of accident and loss of life in pleasure parties4 ,on an occasion so serious as this would the leader have been guilty of such folly8 ,certainly not4 ,washington and every man1 not actually engaged in navigating the boat1 would have been sitting low down1 so as to help preserve the balance and offer as little resistance as possible to the wind4 ,here1 then1 is another indifference to facts in this so-called historic picture4 ,but ,leutze did not care about facts4 ,his motive was to bring out the heroic character of the events4 ,so he made ,washington strike a heroic attitude4 ,it is the way in which a popular actor takes the center of the stage and strikes an attitude and waits for the applause4 ,leutze wanted a central figure around which to build up his composition and1 in order to support the central figure1 reared another behind it holding aloft the flag4 ,thus he wins applause1 at once1 for the star actor and the patriotic sentiment of the scene4 ,in fact his composition is similar in intention and arrangement to the grouping of figures on the stage of a popular theater4 ,it is theatrical4 ,i do not say dramatic1 but theatrical1 between which two ideas there is this distinction4 ,when we speak of a scene being dramatic we mean that the action of the plot has been vividly expressed by means that create an illusion of truth--that the characters behave as they might be expected to do in real life under the circumstances4 ,by theatrical1 on the other hand1 we imply that the behaviour of the actors1 instead of 8holding the mirror up to nature10 is regulated so as to produce an artificial effectiveness4 ,such a scene we call theatrical1 or stagey4 ,and the same words1 in my opinion1 can be applied to this picture4 ,for ,leutze failed to realise1 not only that truth may be stronger than fiction1 but also that it may be more impressive than artificial effectiveness4 ,the true word spoken in simple earnestness1 the true act done simply1 often move men's imagination1 where loud rhetoric and ostentatious conduct leave it cold4 ,so1 too1 in a picture1 a deeper sentiment may be aroused by simple truth of representation1 than by a display of mock heroics4 ,in this picture1 you will observe1 we have been discussing the ,academic point of view applied to the representation of an incident that really happened4 ,the painter undertook a real subject1 but has not rendered it as it would have really appeared to us1 had we been there to see the event4 ,this is a charge that can be brought against many so-called historical pictures1 and against those smaller ones1 the genre pictures1 which are supposed to represent incidents of actual everyday life4 ,when painted in the ,academic manner they are not true to life1 but artificially concocted4 ,on the other hand1 as ,i have said1 many ,academic pictures1 choosing classical or idealistic subjects1 make no pretence of representing life4 ,they try to improve on life by making their forms more beautiful than they actually are in nature2 and build up compositions which must not be compared with the way in which people group themselves in real life4 ,in such pictures we do not look for natural beauty but for that of the artist's own invention4 ,so1 to bring the subject to a finish1 we must bear in mind that there are two distinct ways of painting a picture4 ,if the artist has tried to represent nature1 we must learn to compare it with nature2 if on the contrary1 he has tried to paint a subject of 8ideal perfection10 we must not find fault with its unnaturalness4 ,we may prefer the one or the other kind2 but should not let our preference interfere with our judgment of the different merits of each4 ,until we recognise the 8,great ,divide0 between the ,academic and the ,naturalistic points of view1 we shall not get very far in our appreciation of pictures4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,color ,it was mentioned in the previous chapter that artists may be divided into two classes3 those who are particularly interested in the shape or form of what they see1 and those who see the world as an arrangement of 8colored masses40 ,it is the latter way of seeing things that we are now going to consider4 ,we know that everything visible to the eye has color4 ,when we think of a garden lawn1 an impression of green comes into our mind4 ,green1 an artist would say1 is the local color of the lawn--the general hue which distinguishes it from the paths and flower beds4 ,there may be dandelions spotted about the grass2 indeed it is a lucky lawn that is not overrun with them2 yet1 notwithstanding the yellow patches1 the local color of the lawn is green4 ,and this is true1 although here and there the grass may appear yellow in the warm sunshine1 or1 where the shadows of the trees lie1 may have a bluish tinge2 or again1 in the distance may appear to be almost gray4 ,you see then1 that when we begin to talk about color1 we do not think only of the general hue or local color1 but also of the changes which take place in its appearance1 according as it is subject to light and shadow or is seen near or further off4 ,now let us take another case4 ,a woman1 we will suppose1 has a quantity of white cotton material which she proposes to dye blue4 ,she buys some indigo1 and puts it in a tub of water4 ,into this dye-bath she plunges the cotton1 and then hangs it on a line to dry4 ,when she has taken it down and ironed it1 it presents a uniform hue of blue1 its local color4 ,but what happens when she has made it up into a dress8 ,the local color remains the same2 but the appearance is no longer of a uniform hue4 ,in some parts the blue is paler or whiter than the local color1 in other parts darker2 for now the material is not spread out smoothly1 the light no longer falls upon every part of it in the same way4 ,the skirt1 for example1 hangs in folds2 and the full light strikes directly only on the raised edges of the pleats4 ,into the hollow of the fold less light penetrates1 and at different angles4 ,just what do we mean by angle of light8 ,we must remember that the rays of light coming from the sun1 radiate or travel outward in straight lines1 as the spokes of a wheel radiate from the hub2 except that the spokes of light are not confined to a flat circle1 but radiate in all directions from every part of the sun's orb4 ,but to return to the wheel4 ,let us suppose that it is a buggy's wheel1 and that the buggy is jacked up1 so that we can turn the wheel easily4 ,we will do so until one of the spokes is pointing straight down to the ground1 and1 to make sure that it is exactly vertical1 we will suspend in front of it a string with a weight attached to its lower end4 ,if the spoke follows exactly the direction of this plumb line1 then we know that it is pointing down directly to the surface of the ground4 ,we know1 in fact1 that the direction of the spoke is at right angles to the surface of the ground2 or1 which amounts to the same thing1 we may say that the surface of the ground is at right angles to the direction of the spoke4 ,but what about the direction of the other spokes of the wheel8 ,with them the plumb line will not help us4 ,we must get a straight stick1 say the handle of the stable broom4 ,if we hold this along the direction of either of the spokes1 nearest to the center one1 we shall find that when the handle touches the ground1 it will be at a point further off from the hub1 and not at a right angle to the ground but at an acute angle4 ,if we try the same experiment with the next spoke1 we may need a longer stick1 for the point where it reaches the ground will be still further from the hub1 and the angle of direction will be still more acute4 ,if we follow on to the next spoke1 we shall probably find that its direction1 when extended1 does not reach the ground4 ,it points above it4 ,perhaps it hits the barn wall2 and then again comes the question3 does it hit the wall at a right angle or at an acute angle8 ,the answer to this1 if you think a moment1 will depend upon the position1 not only of the spoke1 but also of the wall4 ,for example1 the spoke may point directly at the wall1 so that when you stand at the corner of the barn and run your eye along the wall1 the spoke will make a right angle with the wall's vertical direction4 ,but the wall has another direction--a horizontal one2 and this may slope away from the direction of the spoke1 so that if you stand in front of the wall1 your stick makes with it an acute angle4 ,evidently under some circumstances a single direction may make with the surface of the wall both an acute and a right angle4 ,by this time our experiment1 which started out so simply1 has become perhaps a little puzzling to follow4 ,but ,i don't mind if it has2 for ,i wish you to realise that1 although this matter of direction and angles is simple in principle1 it works out in a very complicated way4 ,the more we realise this1 the more we shall realise the wonderful effects of light upon color4 ,as a beginning1 let us imagine that the hub of the wheel is a center of heat1 white-hot1 and that the spokes are rays of light1 not stationary like the woodwork but travelling outward at great speed4 ,the shaft of light that runs straight down and strikes the ground at right angles to the surface1 would make the spot where it touches very bright4 ,the second shaft1 however as it reaches the ground further off from the hub will illumine the spot with less light4 ,moreover1 since it hits an acute angle and is travelling fast1 some of it will glance off the spot4 ,it will be reflected from the surface back and forth1 somewhat as a ball is tossed backwards and forwards from the hands of a group of children4 ,this fact of reflection and the fact that the so-called angle of reflection is the same as the angle of incidence1 or1 in other words1 the angle at which the light falls upon the object1 explains a familiar sight4 ,have you never seen1 late in the afternoon1 when the sun is above the horizon1 a blaze upon a hill side1 so bright that your first thought is it must be a house on fire8 ,you saw it suddenly2 and1 if you walk a few steps to the right or left1 it as suddenly disappears2 to reappear1 however1 when you resume your former position4 ,by this time you know it is not a fire1 but the reflection of the sun from some window or tin roof4 ,the light1 striking down upon it1 glances off1 and1 as you happen to be in the line of its angle of reflection1 strikes you full in the eyes4 ,but move your position1 so as to get out of the 8line of fire10 and the reflected ray passes you by without attracting your notice4 ,here is another example of reflected light1 which you yourself can control4 ,do you remember the fairy ,tinker ,bell1 in 8,peter ,pan02 how she appeared as a patch of light1 dancing over the walls8 ,very likely when you returned from the theater you made her appear on the walls of your home4 ,as you sat at the breakfast table you picked up a tumbler of water1 or a bright bladed knife1 and moved it about until it caught the light and tossed it across the room on to the wall1 where you could make the fairy hover by gently shaking the glass or knife4 ,on the other hand by changing the position of the glass or knife you could cause her to disappear2 to reappear if you wished it1 on another part of the wall4 ,now after considering the difference between direct and reflected light1 let us go back to the blue dress4 ,we were saying1 you will remember1 that the skirt no longer presented an appearance of uniform hue4 ,for the local color of the material had become affected by the way in which the light reached the folds4 ,on the raised edges the blue appears almost white2 in the bottom of the hollows1 where no light penetrates1 it appears to be almost black4 ,meanwhile on the sloping edges of the folds there are varying degrees of lighter or darker blue1 according as the material approaches nearer to the light1 or recedes further from it4 ,in other words1 the light strikes the surfaces of the dress at different angles2 there are varieties of reflections1 and some parts of the skirt are almost entirely removed from the action of the light4 ,but all this time we have been speaking of light1 and yet the subject of this chapter is color4 ,well1 the reason is1 that color is light and light is color4 ,if we were shut up in a cellar from which all light was excluded1 we should see no color4 ,our eyes would experience no sensations of sight whatever1 and1 if we were left there a long time1 our eyes1 not being used1 would probably lose their sense of sight4 ,but1 if after we had been in a cellar a little while surrounded by 8thick darkness0 as the old ,english expression is--meaning a darkness so opaque that the eye cannot penetrate it--the window shutter should be opened a trifle1 then immediately our eyes would experience a sensation of color4 ,the shaft of light1 cutting across the darkness1 would look white2 but1 if it hit upon a shelf of apples1 our eye would receive a sensation of green or red or yellow4 ,if light is color1 why should it seem white in one case and some other hue in another8 ,it is because in the whiteness of light are contained all the colors of which we are conscious4 ,very likely you know the experiment by which the truth of this is shown4 ,supposing you are still in the cellar and place in the pathway of the shaft of light a prism--that is to say1 a bar of glass not round or square1 but triangular--what will happen8 ,the glass being transparent1 the light will pass through it4 ,but not in a straight line2 for1 as it hits one of the sloping surfaces of the prism1 it will be bent out of its course2 and then1 as it reaches the opposite sloping side1 it will again be bent into another direction4 ,so the light in its passage through the prism will have been twice bent out of its original direction2 and1 when it emerges1 it will be no longer a single shaft of white light1 but will appear as a broad band of many colored lights2 red1 orange1 yellow1 green1 blue1 violet4 ,we may call this succession1 a scale of color lights4 ,they correspond in hue and order to the bands or scale of colored lights in the rainbow1 for the latter is the result of an act of nature1 which on a very large scale is like our experiment with the prism4 ,only nature's prism is formed by a bar of rain on which strikes a shaft of light through a slit in the thick upper clouds4 ,with this scale of colored lights scientists have made delicate experiments4 ,they have analysed the colors more exactly2 discovering1 that is to say1 the distinct degrees of color1 for instance1 between the red and the orange1 as the one passes into the other2 and again between the orange and the yellow1 the yellow and the green1 and so on4 ,then1 after discovering the succession of monochromatic tints1 as they call them1 by optical instruments1 they have tested the power of the human eye to discriminate1 or detect the difference between these various tints4 ,notwithstanding that the difference between the latter is so slight1 they have found that the eye is sensitive to something like two million monochromatic tints4 ,i mention it not to trouble you with figures but to stir your imagination2 for such a fact should fill us with admiration not only of the marvellous qualities of light but also of the marvellous capacity of the human eye4 ,it helps us to begin to realise the miracle of light and the immense field of study that lies open to the artist who is a colorist1 to whom1 that is to say1 it is the color of the visible world that most appeals4 ,light1 then1 contains within itself all colors4 ,when light falls upon an object1 for example1 a leaf1 the latter absorbs some of the colors of the light and throws off others4 ,the part thrown off in the case of the leaf is what we call its color3 green1 or it may be greenish yellow1 or a bluish green1 or in autumn1 crimson4 ,every substance has this power of absorbing some of the light and of throwing off the rest2 and it is the different chemical properties of different substances that decide which of the colors of light they will absorb and which they will throw off2 or1 as we say1 causes them to be a certain color4 ,we have spoken of the human eye being sensitive to an immense variety of colors4 ,let us consider the meaning of sensitive4 ,in the first place1 the eye receives an impression that causes it to telegraph to the brain a record of the hue2 but it means more1 for the word sensitive implies a capacity to feel4 ,in some way or other the brain receives an impression of feeling4 ,just how it does1 ,i understand1 is not known2 but scientists tell us that these impressions of sight1 while they are not quite similar to the feelings aroused by sound1 have something in common4 ,just as some sounds give pleasure while others are disturbing1 so with colors--we receive from them sensations of pain or pleasure4 ,according to the degree of our sensitiveness to sound or color our feelings are aroused4 ,it may be only slightly1 or it may be more intensely4 ,it is pleasant1 for example1 to hear the sound of the robin's note1 and1 as we peep out of our bedroom window to look at him1 we may catch sight of the yellow or red notes of color that the tulips are beginning to make against the dark earth4 ,they too will give us pleasure4 ,and in both cases our pleasure may go no further than just a little enjoyment of their note of color or sound4 ,or1 on the other hand1 they may stir our imagination4 ,we recognise their notes as the first signs of spring4 ,nature in her mysterious way has whispered alike to the robin and the tulip that the rigor of winter is over2 that spring is come with its birth of new life1 bringing beauty and happiness in its train4 ,and in ourselves1 as we recognise the notes of spring1 life leaps up with a new sense of the beauty and happiness of living4 ,those notes1 in fact1 which began by giving only simple pleasure to our ear1 have stirred ideas in our minds2 they have become associated in our imagination with a fuller and higher sense of life4 ,on the other hand1 some notes of sound distress us4 ,the unexpected discharge of a gun may strike us unpleasantly2 the roar of the wind and the rain against the window fill us with melancholy2 the cry of a creature in pain1 even before we know whence the cry comes or the reason of it1 may cut us like a knife4 ,i mean1 that sounds1 quite apart from any definite thoughts that we associate with them1 may hurt us4 ,so may colors4 ,i might illustrate this by saying that sometimes when we enter a room the color of the carpet1 perhaps green with red roses as big as cabbages1 and the color of the furniture1 which may be of gold upholstered in blue1 seem to start up and hit us a bang in the eye4 ,but perhaps you like smart colors1 so ,i will offer another example4 ,shakespeare said-- ,she never told her love1 ,but let concealment1 like a worm i' the bud1 ,feed on her damask cheek4 ,she pined in thought1 ,and with a green and yellow melancholy1 ,she sat1 like patience on a monument1 ,smiling at grief4 ,shakespeare's opportunity of seeing pictures had been very limited4 ,in fact1 ,i am sure that he was not thinking of pictures when he described melancholy as 8green and yellow40 ,either he had an instinctive dislike of this combination that probably he could not have explained2 simply he felt it to be disagreeable2 or he may have associated it in his imagination with something he had observed4 ,perhaps for instance1 since he speaks in the next line of a 8monument10 he may have been thinking of the green and yellow stains on old tombstones1 so that 8green and yellow0 suggested to him the very opposite of 8damask cheek0 with its rosiness of healthy life2 in fact the signs of wasting and decay4 ,anyhow1 to ,shakespeare's imagination these colors represented something disagreeable4 ,that is the point4 ,colors1 like sounds1 may excite feelings of distress or pleasure4 ,and1 if single notes may give pleasure1 how much more a number of them4 ,it is when a number of them are combined into a composition that a harmony is produced4 ,the musician creates a harmony of sound1 the painter a harmony of color4 ,the secret of a harmony is the relation that the separate notes of sound or color in it bear to one another4 ,if ,i try to explain this1 it is not because ,i wish to tell you how to make a color harmony1 but because ,i hope the explanation may help you to enjoy it4 ,perhaps we may get an idea of what relation means if we think of a football team4 ,it consists of a number of individuals with separate duties4 ,some play forward1 others half-back1 quarter-back1 and so on4 ,when each member not only does his own work as well as possible but plays well into the hands of the other members1 we speak of the excellence of the team work4 ,and in nine cases out of ten it is not brilliant individual play1 but fine all-round team-work that wins the game4 ,the different members are so well related to one another1 that the whole team works harmoniously4 ,it is similar in a harmony of colors4 ,for perhaps you see that what ,i wish you to understand is not that a few bright colors make a harmony1 but that it is the result of a combination4 ,there must be team-work among the colors4 ,they count as individual spots of color1 but still more in relation to all the other colors4 ,there may be one or more crack players--,i mean predominant#i notes of color1--but they will have colleagues or assistants--colors of the same hue but differing in degree--which will repeat or echo their effect1 with variations all over the canvas4 ,these subordinate colors and the crack ones will play in and out1 backing one another up1 and1 as it were1 passing the ball backward and forward into one another's hands2 acting in such exact relation to one another1 that their efforts result in a perfect harmony of effect4 ,but so far we have been thinking only of one team1 working out its scheme of attack and defense in practice play4 ,there is a more complicated play1 namely1 when the team is pitted against a rival team4 ,so in color4 ,an artist will introduce rivalry1 or competition into his color scheme2 namely1 two crack notes of color that1 seen by themselves1 would produce a disagreeable sensation4 ,why does he do so8 ,because he knows the value of contrast and discord2 just as you know it is more fun to watch a game of football between two well-matched rival teams than the merely practice play of one of them4 ,for now the artist is pitting one set of colors against another set2 the crack players on both sides and their backers-up--the colors of different but closely related hue2 and the game between them is fast and furious--an interplay of likes and unlikes1 of repetitions and of contrasts4 ,the excitement of the game results from the even balance of the two rival sets of colors1 swaying backward and forward over the gridiron--,i mean the canvas--massing here and there1 then scattering in a burst of animation--the two teams so evenly matched that their rivalry only makes the give and take of the game more brilliantly harmonious4 ,such1 in a way1 is the harmony of color1 as it appears in the pictures of a true colorist4 ,it has a focal point of intensity where the effect is massed1 but all about it1 scattered over the canvas1 is the interplay of related similarities and contrasts1 all of which combine into a harmonious whole4 ,it may help you1 as it has helped me1 to understand the combination of these numberless repetitions and contrasts of color1 if ,i tell you of an experience of sound that ,i remember4 ,i was one of a party walking in the ,swiss mountains1 and at a turn in the path we came upon a man1 sitting with a gun across his knees4 ,for a small amount this mountaineer was prepared to let off his gun4 ,we paid1 he fired4 ,there was a sharp report--a focal point of sound--then a neighboring mountain side sent back an echo1 which was caught by another that sent it back1 whence again it was re-echoed from another mountain peak1 and so on1 back and forth1 until in a moment or two1 the whole mountain world resounded with a wondrous roar4 ,from a single note of sound1 which made a very slight impression had grown a multiplication of slightly differing sounds4 ,for the first echo was slightly different to the original note1 and then again the echo of this echo differed slightly1 so too the echo that came next and the one that followed that1 and so on through a scale of slightly varying tones1 that finally merged into one huge swell of throbbing sound1 as of some mighty organ music--a harmony of tumult4 ,it was a wonderful sensation1 and has helped me to realise the wonder of color harmony4 ,for an artist generally founds his color scheme upon one or two notes of color1 and then by representing the echoes of these colors1 as they are reflected at different angles from the various planes of surface1 gradually elaborates or works out a maze of related colors that merge into a harmony4 ,on the other hand it is not only by painting the interplay of reflections that an artist produces a harmony of color4 ,there is a less complicated way1 represented in ,japanese prints and paintings1 and in the work done by some of our artists who have adopted their method4 ,in this case the color is flat2 the objects1 that is to say1 are not modeled by lights and darks4 ,the form1 instead of being actually represented is only suggested4 ,consequently there are no reflections and the colors are laid on flatly and smoothly4 ,but they are most carefully related to one another2 both in quantity and tint4 ,the artist1 for example1 may use only rose and lavender and black4 ,but his sense of color is first shown in his choice of the particular tints of rose and lavender and black1 and then secondly1 in his distribution of these on the white paper4 ,perhaps he determines to make the black his crack player4 ,but he wishes to produce a balance of harmony of all his colors1 so he carefully considers how large a space the chief spot of black shall occupy1 and then what quantity of the remaining spaces shall be occupied by the rose and lavender and the white paper4 ,having thus worked out the ground plan of the scheme1 he may elaborate it by repeating some of the black in other parts of the picture1 and by introducing echoes of the rose and lavender in the large spot of black4 ,the echoes1 in this case1 you observe1 are not reflections1 they are simply repetitions in smaller quantities of the colors of the main spots4 ,his composition1 in fact1 is a pattern of main spots1 and their echoes2 the whole presenting a unity and harmony because the colors are in exact relation4 ,and when this has been done either in a simple harmony or a more elaborate one1 with the true feeling of a colorist1 no alteration can be made in any part of the picture without producing a discord1 destroying1 that is to say1 the exquisite balance of the whole4 ,i mean1 that if1 for instance1 you were to cut off a part of the picture in order to make it fill a frame1 you would destroy the harmony of the whole4 ,for now the relation of the colors will have been disturbed4 ,there is no longer the same balance in the quantity of each1 nor do they occupy the same related position in the composition4 ,in a word1 as we said above1 the secret of color harmony is the relation of the separate colors to one another and the whole4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,color 7,continued7--,,values--,,subtlety ,so far in our talk on color we have laid stress on three points3 first1 that color is light2 secondly1 that color is affected by light2 thirdly1 that the painter who is a colorist arranges color in relation to other colors1 so as to produce a harmony4 ,the reason was1 that ,i wished you not to think of color as paint4 ,paints1 or as artists call them1 pigments1 are only the materials that man has invented to imitate the real thing4 ,the real thing is nature's color4 ,pigments we will speak of later4 ,from early ages man has been attracted by nature's colors and has tried to imitate them in order to brighten up his own person and his surroundings4 ,he began by smearing his own body with some form of dye or pigment1 either to make himself more attractive or to strike terror into his enemies4 ,as he became more civilised and learned to weave wool and cotton and flax1 he dyed his blankets and clothing1 and added gay borders and patterns to the local color4 ,growing more skilful in the fashioning of clay pots1 and bows and arrows1 and other articles of war and domestic use1 he decorated them with colored designs4 ,little by little he learned how to imitate the beauty of nature's coloring4 ,but1 at first1 it seems to have been the brightness of color that attracted him2 just as to-day1 a great many children and1 for that matter1 grown-ups as well1 prefer gay colors4 ,manufacturers and merchants know this4 ,accordingly1 to suit the taste of a great many customers who still have the primitive child-man's love of gay-colored things1 they fill the markets with gaudy-colored carpets and wall-papers1 and gaudily upholstered furniture1 gaudy curtains1 cushions and so forth4 ,and people buy them1 so that thousands of households are furnished in a way that to any one who loves nature's coloring1 seems horrible4 ,yes1 this is a strong word4 ,but if you will believe me1 not too strong to express the feelings of distress that such parlors excite in people whose taste is more civilised4 ,they are as much distressed1 as if the parlor were filled with roosters1 parrots and monkeys1 all crowing1 and screeching and chattering together in a horrible discord of sound4 ,perhaps you do not like my hinting that people who prefer these noisy colors are not yet fully civilised4 ,you have been taught that we are living in a very civilised age1 with all sorts of modern improvements that the people of the past never thought of1 much less enjoyed4 ,this of course is perfectly true4 ,science and mechanical inventions have made living easier2 travel is cheaper1 education has advanced1 books are within the reach of everybody and1 best of all1 we have more pity for the poor1 and the sick and the afflicted1 and try to make their lot less terrible4 ,yes1 and in thousands of other ways we are more civilised4 ,yet1 even so1 we may be far from enjoying all the opportunities of civilisation that this wonderful age offers4 ,how many girls and boys1 ,i wonder1 who have enjoyed the benefits of a good education1 when they reach the age in which they can choose for themselves what they will read1 select the best books8 ,i mean by the best books1 those that in history1 poetry1 biography1 travel1 science1 and fiction1 really give us the best kind of knowledge of men and life4 ,are there not thousands of readers who are satisfied to read nothing else but the latest novel1 no matter how trashy it may be8 ,thousands1 indeed1 who are not bettering their minds and lives1 as really civilised people should try to do2 but allowing the garden of their hearts and souls to become laid waste and barren1 just as your flower garden would soon be1 if you turned loose in it the poultry and the pigs4 ,the truth with such readers is1 that1 though they enjoy the blessings of civilisation1 they have missed one of civilisation's finest products4 ,they have not good taste1 their taste is bad4 ,and bad taste is like a poison4 ,if it is allowed to remain in the system it will in time affect the whole body4 ,none of us can make a habit of reading trash without sooner or later becoming trashy and cheap and commonplace in our thoughts1 conversation1 choice of friends and conduct4 ,however1 as you are reading this book1 ,i hope it is a sign that you do not care for trashy reading4 ,so let us get back to the subject of taste in matters of color4 ,if one looks back over the past1 there is no doubt that as people became more civilised1 one of the ways in which they showed improvement was in color taste4 ,they gradually ceased to be attracted only by the brightness of color2 they began to find beauty in the relation of one color to another2 to try to produce a harmony of colors4 ,i wonder whether1 as you have been reading1 it has occurred to you to think3 ,why does the author object to bright colors8 ,he says we learn to love color by studying nature's coloring4 ,are there not bright colors in nature8 ,is it wrong to like them8 ,certainly not2 nor do ,i object to bright colors4 ,i am often delighted with them4 ,but1 in the first place1 bright colors do not look the same in nature as they do in a parlor4 ,secondly1 art1 as we have said before1 is different to nature4 ,the artist does not imitate everything he sees in nature1 but from it selects this and that to make his work of art4 ,nothing in our garden makes a brighter spot than the giant poppy4 ,its wide and flaring crimson cup1 stained with the purple of its stamens1 burns like a flame4 ,i love the brave show poppies make1 ranged at intervals along the borders or massed in a clump with a setting of greenery around them4 ,for1 to prevent their brilliance overpowering the garden1 they need plenty of space and abundance of contrasting colors4 ,i cannot imagine anything more noisy and gaudy than a little yard entirely filled with them4 ,the reason they need space is that they may be surrounded with plenty of atmosphere4 ,it is this which makes so great a difference between effects of color out of doors and indoors4 ,out of doors the atmosphere acts like a veil1 softening the sharpness of colors and forms and helping to draw them together into a unity of effect4 ,it is indeed1 more like a succession of veils1 for between us and nearby objects is a certain amount of atmosphere2 while objects further off1 and still further off1 and further off still1 are separated from us by continually increasing quantities of atmosphere4 ,and these planes of atmosphere1 as we called them in ,chapter ,,iv1 act like veils of gauze through which everything is seen4 ,as ,i have said1 they help to subdue the colors and draw them into relation with one another1 and so suggest an effect of harmony4 ,in a room1 however1 especially a small one1 we cannot get far enough away from objects to permit much atmosphere to come in between4 ,there is not so much distance to lend enchantment to the view4 ,consequently1 though we may enjoy the beauty of a few of those poppies in a bowl on our table1 we should find a carpet or curtains or sofa of the same color much too gaudy and overpowering4 ,the effect would be much as if1 while the piano was being played1 someone should blow loudly on a tin horn4 ,the noise would disturb the harmony of the music2 we should shut our ears or turn the tin horn disturber out of the room4 ,so when we enter a gaudily furnished room1 we should like to shut our eyes to the discord of color1 and1 if we had our way1 would banish the disturbing objects to the junk-shop4 ,but now for the second reason why some of nature's colors1 beautiful in themselves1 may be less so when introduced into a room or picture4 ,for the furnishing of a room1 like the composing of a picture1 should1 as far as possible1 be a work of art1 and the artist1 as you recollect1 does not imitate nature4 ,he selects from nature4 ,out of her unlimited storehouse of form and color he chooses for his purpose some few effects at a time and combines them in his work of art2 guided in his choice and arrangement by the principles of beauty he has discovered in nature1 particularly by the principle of harmony4 ,and in this respect he has an advantage over nature4 ,for the light and atmosphere cannot choose the colors and objects which they help to harmonise4 ,even after they have done their best1 there may be so many of those poppies that1 while their colors are subdued and brought into some relation with the other colors1 the relationship is still too distant--the difference between the two colors too wide--to produce a perfect harmony4 ,but the artist1 since he can pick and choose what he will put into his picture1 is able to avoid this difficulty2 just as a young couple when they start housekeeping can generally avoid having things that will disturb the harmonious arrangement of their parlor4 ,i say 8generally10 for sometimes1 notwithstanding their own taste1 they receive from some kind but tasteless friend1 the present of a piece of furniture that plays the tin-horn to all their ideas of harmony4 ,this is a hard case4 ,they do not wish to offend ,mrs4 ,so-and-so or ,aunt ,jane1 and yet they do not like having to live with something offensive to their own feelings6 ,we have said so much about the artist working for a harmony of colors1 that ,i ought to warn you that you will not see color harmonies in all pictures4 ,for a great many painters are not colorists4 ,bouguereau1 for example1 was interested chiefly in form4 ,if he represented a young girl1 drawing water from a well1 he painted her flesh pink2 her dress1 perhaps1 blue2 the stone-work of the wall1 gray2 the wood work of the bucket1 brown2 and1 if there was a bush in the picture1 of course1 painted it green4 ,his only purpose in choosing this color or that color was to represent the general appearances of the figure and other objects4 ,he only saw color1 never felt it4 ,he never even saw it1 as it really is2 or he would hardly have painted all his girls and women the same kind of pinky or creamy china-color4 ,in fact1 color to him was quite unimportant4 ,if he could draw the girl beautifully he was satisfied4 ,so it is beautiful form we must look for in his pictures2 the color does not count4 ,then there is another kind of painter2 ,vibert1 for example1 whose pictures were popular in this country4 ,he liked to paint a cardinal in a scarlet cassock1 either in or out of doors4 ,the scarlet makes a big bright spot in the pictures4 ,vibert was evidently fond of color2 but in a very crude or unrefined sort of way4 ,he had the primitive man's or child's fondness for gay or brilliant hues2 and since there are many people with the same child-like instinct1 he sold his pictures easily4 ,he too1 for the most part only saw color4 ,or1 if he felt it at all1 only in the very simple way of liking one color better than another4 ,color never stirred in him deep feelings4 ,he never felt it as a musician feels sound4 ,he never wove the related colors into a harmony4 ,he was a gay painter1 but not a colorist4 ,i wonder whether you are beginning to understand the difference8 ,what ,i have said may help to point the way to an understanding1 but no amount of reading can make you feel the beauty of color1 or enter into the feelings of an artist who is a colorist2 and enjoy his work4 ,this you can only do for yourself by using your own eyes4 ,nor do ,i mean by this that you should now and then look at a picture1 or once in a while open your eyes to the beauty of nature4 ,what ,i suggest is that you should get into the habit of keeping your eyes open to the beauty of the world4 ,if you do1 you will have your reward4 ,and the more you watch out for beauty1 and so train your feeling and taste1 the more you will discover beauty in unexpected directions4 ,especially you will find that some of the most beautiful color harmonies are made up of colors1 that a little while ago you would not have felt to be beautiful4 ,it is not difficult1 for example1 to enjoy the beauty of nature's coloring when the sun is shining brightly4 ,but1 because it is so easy1 some painters who are colorists will not care to represent it in their pictures4 ,they will wait for what they call a gray day--when the sun is hidden behind clouds of mist4 ,or1 like ,corot1 they will prefer the early morning or late evening1 when the sky is very pale1 and the colors of nature are very subdued4 ,or1 like ,whistler1 who painted ,the ,white ,girl1 a girl in white1 standing on a white rug in front of a white wall1 they will choose some subject in which the difference between the colors is very slight4 ,in a word they are looking1 not for splendid but for subtle harmonies4 ,those grand ,venetian colorists of the ,sixteenth ,century1 ,titian1 ,tintoretto1 and ,paul ,veronese1 and the great ,flemish colorist of the ,seventeenth ,century1 ,peter ,paul ,rubens1 for the most part gloried in harmonies of splendour1 ,velasquez1 however1 ,rubens's contemporary1 whose life was spent in the service of ,philip ,,iv of ,spain1 proved himself to be one of the world's greatest colorists by the soberness and subtlety of his harmonies4 ,a large part of his work consisted in painting the portraits of the ,king1 the ,royal ,family1 and the chief ,state officers4 ,the taste of the ,court was opposed to bright colored costumes2 indeed the prevailing colors were black and gray1 with occasional touches of relief1 such as blue or pale rose4 ,yet out of these few colors he made wonderful harmonies4 ,to his sensitive eye a black cloak was not a mass of thick darkness4 ,as the light shone upon the various surfaces at different angles1 he discovered all sorts of nuances1 as the ,french say1 or ,illustration3 ,prince ,balthazar ,carlos4 ,velasquez4 shades and degrees of lighter and darker black1 in fact1 a scale of tints out of which he composed a harmony4 ,it was the same way with the grays and drabs4 ,we often call these neutral colors1 by which we mean that there is no particular color in them4 ,but ,velasquez did not look at grays and drabs in this way4 ,having to paint them he searched them for possibilities of beauty1 and found them in the nuances1 occasioned by the action of light4 ,and out of the scale of these nuances he composed harmonies4 ,to these nuances artists have given a name--values4 ,we know the ordinary use of the word4 ,it represents the relation of something to a certain fixed standard4 ,thus1 we take a dollar as a standard2 and say the value of this knife is fifty cents1 or of that two dollars4 ,these knives differ in value2 or1 on the other hand1 we may have two or more knives that correspond in value4 ,or1 again1 if some of you are arranging a picnic as a ,dutch treat1 one of the party may undertake to bring ten cents' worth of eggs1 another ten cents' worth of crackers1 and so on4 ,though every one of twenty boys and girls brings something different1 the value of each contribution is the same4 ,now applying this to colors1 you may see that the point to which ,i am leading you is this4 ,just as the knife varies in value from other knives1 so may one tint of black vary from another tint of black2 one tint of red from another tint of red2 one tint of yellow from another tint of yellow4 ,equally1 since a certain quantity of crackers may have the same value as a certain quantity of cheese1 so may a certain tint of red have the same value as a certain tint of yellow4 ,but what is the standard by which one kind of color can be compared with another8 ,the standard of value adopted by a painter1 is light4 ,the value of any color depends upon the amount of light reflected from it4 ,thus1 if you look at a man dressed in black1 you will notice that the black upon the shoulder1 or the chest1 or whatever part receives the greatest quantity of light1 will seem less black than those parts which receive less light4 ,and it may be only in the hollows or shaded parts that the black looks really black4 ,well1 each one of these separate degrees of black represents to the painter a separate value of black4 ,perhaps you will say--,why this is only a repetition of what was said about the painting of reflections of light and the shadows on the blue skirt6 ,you are right4 ,then--why1 you ask1 this new term--values8 ,well1 it was when the modern man discovered that the painting of these reflections and shadows could be made a means of producing harmonies of color2 that1 indeed1 harmonies could be produced out of the reflections alone1 that they invented this new name4 ,they had discovered a new principle of harmony1 depending upon the varieties of light on color1 and they gave to these varieties the new name of values4 ,not that the principle was really a new one4 ,it was an old one discovered by ,velasquez and at the same time by the ,dutch--,vermeer among them4#aj ,but about #ahfj some modern artists from studying the works of these men made a new discovery of the principle4 ,before discussing the importance of the rediscovery1 let us turn back to the other use of that word values4 ,if you remember1 the word is used not only of the differences in degree in tint of some one color2 for example1 the different values of black1 of green1 of red and so on1 but it is also used as a standard to compare a color of one hue with a color of another hue4 ,let me remind you of that ,dutch treat picnic to which everybody brought a contribution of equal value4 ,i need not tell you that the ten cents' worth of soda crackers will make a bigger parcel than the ten cents' worth of cheese1 while ten cents' worth of----'s 8fine chocolate0 would make a very small parcel indeed4 ,now1 colors differ in the same way4 ,all colors throw off a certain quantity of light1 but the amount varies4 ,you remember1 we said that the cause of color was the fact1 that light which is made up of all colors penetrates every object in nature2 that each object absorbs a certain quantity of the color and throws off the remainder4 ,and that this remainder is what appears to our eyes as the color of the object4 ,but while we think of this remainder as color1 do not let us forget that it is light4 ,and1 recollecting that color is light1 we can understand that one color has more or less light in it than another4 ,i wish to make sure that you do understand this1 so let us try to illustrate it4 ,we are in the habit of estimating things by percentage4 ,suppose then that we think of the light of the sun as representing one hundred points4 ,scientists have discovered that objects which we call yellow absorb only some twenty of these points2 that1 in fact1 the quantity of light thrown off by what we call yellow1 or in other words its value1 is some eighty per cent4 ,what we call red1 however1 represents some sixty per cent4 of light2 green1 about forty per cent4 ,now supposing an artist wishes to combine these colors in a ,dutch picnic2 if he wishes1 that is to say1 to combine these colors1 so that they will contribute equally to the whole composition of color4 ,he will use a great deal less yellow than red1 and less of either of these colors than green4 ,the packet of green1 like the crackers2 will be bigger than the cheese1 or red2 the yellow1 or chocolate1 smallest of all4 ,let us imagine a picture that will illustrate this4 ,but before we do so ,i must remind you that what we are talking about is color harmonies1 and particularly those harmonies of color in which the modern artist delights4 ,he learned them1 as ,i have said1 from ,velasquez1 who was debarred from using brilliant colors1 he learned them also from the old pictures of the ,dutchmen1 like ,vermeer2 lastly he learned them from studying the pictures and prints of the ,japanese4 ,the effect of all these examples was to make him prefer subtlety to splendour4 ,i have already explained the meaning of subtlety and subtle4 ,both are derived from a ,latin word which means 8finely woven0--fine spun threads of silk or linen1 woven closely together into a strong but very delicate and thin fabric4 ,so when we speak of a subtle distinction we have in mind a distinction that is very slight2 as between two tints of yellow4 ,to many eyes they will seem the same2 whereas an eye more subtly sensitive to degrees of color can distinguish the difference4 ,we may say of such an eye1 that it has a very delicate sense of sight1 or subtlety of vision4 ,subtlety implies delicacy2 and when we speak of the subtlety of an artist's color harmonies--how subtle they are--we have in mind a delicate1 exquisite1 refined use of color4 ,he has not used many colors2 nor obtained his effects by force of strong contrasts4 ,on the contrary1 it is by subtle relation of a few colors1 by the subtle differences in their values that a harmony1 distinguished by its exquisite delicacy1 is produced4 ,our own ,american artist1 the late ,james ,mc,neill ,whistler1 was one of the first of the modern artists to paint this sort of harmony4 ,he painted four pictures of a girl in a white dress1 which he afterwards entitled 8,symphonies in ,white10 numbering them one1 two1 three1 and four1 just as a musician's works are distinguished by a number4 ,for ,whistler felt that there is some similarity between the harmonies of color and those of sound notes1 and tried in his pictures to produce subtle effects as musicians do4 ,in one of this series he represents the girl in a white dress1 standing on a white rug1 before a white wall4 ,the only variation from the white is afforded by her dark hair and the flesh coloring of her face and hands4 ,these are what we may call 8accents0--notes of color that stand out with prominence and decision4 ,the rest is a symphony in white4 ,he might have made his problem easier by throwing a strong light upon the figure from one side4 ,this would have made some parts of the dress shine out with the brightness of very high lights1 and would have caused the figure to cast a shadow on the wall4 ,this would have produced a harmony of contrasts2 a bold contrast of color values1 easier to paint4 ,but ,whistler was intent on something very subtle--a harmony of similarities4 ,so he placed the figure in a dull light1 that was evenly distributed over the rug1 the figure1 and the wall1 with the result that the distinctions between the color values were very slight1 very subtle4 ,this means that it was difficult to make the different masses of white distinct from one another4 ,the artist1 you see1 had to make it appear that the girl's white figure was nearer to us than the white wall2 to make us feel that1 while the wall is flat1 the figure has roundness and bulk2 and that1 while the wall is an upright surface1 the rug represents a horizontal one4 ,yes it was indeed a very difficult problem1 because the only possible way of solving it was to render the very slight differences in the quantity of light1 reflected from each and every part of the white surfaces1 according to the angle at which the light reached any part1 and the distance each part was from the eye of the artist4 ,and no doubt the keen mind of ,whistler was interested in the subtlety of the problem4 ,but this was not all4 ,his feeling as an artist was equally subtle4 ,it delighted in the subtleties of color values4 ,however1 he also enjoyed effects of brighter color4 ,i have asked you to imagine this picture of ,whistler's because it illustrates the first meaning of 8values0--namely the different quantities of light that may be contained in one and the same color4 ,i wish to illustrate now the other meaning of 8values0--which has to do with the quantity of light contained in one color as compared with that in another color2 for example1 with the percentage of light contained in red as compared with that contained in blue1 or green1 or white1 or any other color4 ,for this purpose ,i have chosen the second in ,whistler's series of symphonies in white3 ,the ,little ,white ,girl4 ,you can look at the reproduction and see for yourself that part of the color scheme1 or color harmony1 certainly the most important part1 consists of the figure of the girl in white4 ,you will notice how it illustrates what we have been saying about the other white girl4 ,it is evenly lighted1 there are no contrasts of extreme light and dark2 the dress is a woven tissue of subtly different values of white4 ,but in this case ,whistler has treated the white dress as the theme or chief motive1 as a musician would say1 and has woven around it a composition of variations4 ,it is the variations that ,i wish you now particularly to notice4 ,they may be put under two heads4 ,first1 the reflection of the girl's head in the mirror2 second1 the various spots of color that surround her4 ,suppose we begin with the latter4 ,on the mantel-shelf1 close to the flesh-color of the girl's hand and the white of her sleeve is a ,japanese jar1 decorated in white and blue1 and beside it a ,japanese box covered with that smooth shiny surface called lacquer1 and of a scarlet color1 like a geranium4 ,down below appear the sprays of camelias with dark green glossy leaves and white and rosy blossoms4 ,the fan repeats these colors1 but with a difference4 ,there is red in it1 but of a different value to the red of the box and flowers2 blue1 but of another value than that on the vase2 green1 which differs in value from the leaves4 ,secondly1 in the mirror is a repetition of the girl's head and of certain colors in the room4 ,but the reflected head1 as you can see in the reproduction1 is in a lower key than the real one4 ,the colors are lower in value2 there is not so much light in them2 for the mirror has absorbed some of it4 ,you may test a mirror's appetite for light by holding your handkerchief close to it4 ,you will see that the white of the reflection is much greyer than the handkerchief1 or according to the quality of the glass1 it may seem slightly blue4 ,at any rate its value will be lower than that of the handkerchief2 just as in this picture1 the reflected colors of the ,illustration3 ,the ,little ,white ,girl4 ,j4 ,m4 ,whistler4 flesh and hair are lower in value than the actual head4 ,now1 looking at the picture1 we note that the figure occupies about one half of the composition4 ,it illustrates1 as did ,the ,sower1 the use of a main diagonal line1 though the feeling suggested by it is different4 ,in ,the ,sower1 you will remember1 the diagonal helped to give vigor and alertness to the figure2 while here1 on the contrary1 its suggestion is one of very gracious quiet4 ,for the slope of this diagonal is not so steep as in the other picture2 nor do the directions of the arms and head present such abrupt contrasts4 ,the left arm it is true1 is nearly at right angles--itself a strong contrast2 but it is so quietly laid along the mantel-shelf1 which supports its weight1 that there is no suggestion of effort4 ,meanwhile1 the other arm1 hanging so easily1 is almost parallel to the main diagonal4 ,the line also of the neck gently carries on the lines of the shoulders1 and1 as the head is slightly tilted back1 its downward pressure is supported by the shoulder that rests on the shelf4 ,the whole suggestion of the figure1 in fact1 is one of rest4 ,there is no conscious bodily effort to interfere with the reverie in which the girl's mind is wrapt4 ,she may be buried in her thoughts or she may be absorbed in the beauty of the box and vase1 at which she seems to be looking4 8,seems10 ,i say1 for it is difficult to be sure that she is conscious of them4 ,her gaze seems fixed to a far vision1 as if she had begun by looking at these objects1 and then1 as her thoughts passed beyond them1 had let the gaze of her eyes follow4 ,she seems buried in some girlish reverie1 wrapt 8in maiden meditation1 fancy free40 ,to me it is a very lovely figure not because of the features of the face--opinions may differ about the face being beautiful in the ordinary sense of having beautiful features4 ,its beauty to me lies in its expression2 in its expression of some lovely mood of a girl's spirit4 ,and ,i find the figure beautiful1 because all through it is the movement of the same expression4 ,this must have been in ,whistler's mind when he painted her4 ,but he was conscious1 perhaps1 of another side of her nature2 that she had moods of brightness as well4 ,at any rate he chose to contrast with the pensive calm of the girl herself the bright animated spots of color that surround her4 ,these spots of color1 if you examine the picture carefully1 really play the part of the shadows in the chiaroscuro of old pictures4 ,chiaroscuro1 you remember1 is the pattern of light and dark4 ,here the red box and the blue of the vase and the green and rose1 of the camelias1 yes1 and even the face in the mirror1 the marble shelf and fireplace--all represent the dark spots4 ,but not dark in the old way of being shadows4 ,they are dark as compared with the white of the dress1 because their colors reflect less light than the white2 their values are lower4 ,thus they serve the purposes of a dark contrast and yet they themselves are very light4 ,this1 in a nutshell1 is what the new study of values1 that was learnt from ,velasquez and from ,vermeer1 and the other ,dutchmen1 really means4 ,it has enabled the artist to be even more true to life in the representation of objects1 and at the same time to make his color-harmonies purer1 clearer and more transparent2 in one word1 luminous2 permeated1 that is to say1 with a suggestion of light1 that in nature permeates the atmosphere and brings all objects into an appearance of harmonious unity4 ,how this particular picture is helped by a contrast1 not of the old fashioned dark and light1 as in the ,descent from the ,cross but of values of color1 you can see for yourself1 even from the reproduction4 ,still more would you realize it could you see the freshness and purity and gladsomeness of the original4 ,contrasts are needful in the composition of a work of art--they are one of the sources of its beauty4 ,but imagine if you can1 having shadows and darkness brought into contrast with this white robed figure6 ,how they would contradict the expression of its exquisite purity and loveliness6 ,as it is1 the contrast of lower values does not in the least jar upon the expression2 on the contrary1 it gives it a greater meaning1 since it suggests the atmosphere of happiness and brightness that has helped to color the beauty of the girl's spirit4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,color 7,continued7--,,texture1 ,,atmosphere1 ,,tone ,in our previous talk about color we have laid great stress on the relation of one color to another4 ,we have not thought of red1 for example1 as beautiful by itself1 but as one of a family of colors1 whose beauty consists in their relation to one another4 ,and this related beauty we have spoken of as color harmony4 8,behold how good and joyful a thing it is1 brethren1 to dwell together in unity40 ,so said the ,psalmist1 and his words might be applied to the unity of colors4 ,he did not mean that everybody shall be of a like mind2 there will always be differences of character among relations and the best of friends2 but they will agree to differ2 and their very differences make their unity or harmony the more real and good4 ,such is the harmony among colors2 a union of differences or contrasts1 as well as of similarities2 of variety of values of color related into a harmonious unity4 ,on the other hand1 though the beauty of colors is chiefly to be found in their relations to one another1 there are separate possibilities of beauty to each color4 ,and if each displays its own share of these the general beauty of the harmony will be increased4 ,some of the possibilities are texture1 quality1 and tone4 ,texture first4 ,it is derived from the ,latin word1 textum1--something woven4 ,texture1 in its original meaning1 represents what has been produced by weaving4 ,a lady1 when she is shopping1 presses the linen or silk1 or cotton goods between her fingers in order to judge of their texture2 whether it is closely or loosely woven1 whether it is hard or smooth to the touch4 ,secondly1 the word is used of a thing made by any other means than weaving4 ,we speak1 for example1 of the texture of paper2 and judge of its texture by the feel of it4 ,thirdly1 it has come to be used of any material1 whether made by man or nature4 ,thus we say that oak has a very close texture2 glass is of firm but brittle texture2 butter is greasy in texture1 and so on4 ,finally1 the word is used in a very general way to describe the character of any substance1 especially the kind of surface that it has4 ,so we say of the flesh of a healthy baby1 that its texture is firm and silky2 and we speak of the glossy texture of a polished table2 the downy texture of a young chicken's breast1 or the velvety texture of a peach4 ,in one word1 texture is the quality of a thing that we discover by touching it4 ,texture appeals to our sense of touch4 ,it excites in us a variety of feelings1 pleasant or unpleasant4 ,i need not tell you how disagreeable the texture of sharp rocks may be to your bare feet1 when you are bathing2 what a relief it is to them to feel the texture of sand4 ,some of you1 ,i am sure1 are conscious of the pleasure you derive from handling things4 ,you have discovered for yourselves what a lot of feeling you have in the tips of your fingers4 ,you would enjoy handling the red box in ,whistler's picture3 and your touch would be very careful and delicate4 ,not alone because the box is valuable1 but because it is only with a delicate touch that you can appreciate the exquisite smoothness of the lacquer4 ,the latter is a varnish composed of the gum of a certain tree4 ,the ,japanese workman lays it over the box very thinly1 and1 when it is thoroughly dried1 rubs the surface until it is perfectly smooth4 ,then he applies another coating of lacquer and again rubs1 continuing the process several times1 until at last1 the surface shows not a single flaw or inequality1 and is smooth and silky beyond the description of any words4 ,it is only by the look of it1 and still more1 by the feel of it1 that you can appreciate the exquisite finish of the surface2 and your delight in it is mingled with almost a reverence for the patience and love of the craftsman1 who could work so long and so faithfully to make this little work of art perfect in its beauty and beautiful in its perfection4 ,compared with this lacquer box1 the texture of an ordinary polished table or piano seems coarse and commonplace4 ,i might go on to speak of the different kinds of sensation that you would enjoy if you touched the waxy petals of the camelia4 ,but it is not necessary4 ,for if you have a joy in the sense of touch ,i need not try to tell you about it4 ,i will only ask you to wait a few minutes1 until we see how the enjoyment derived from texture enters into the appreciation of a picture4 ,meanwhile1 if any of you have not as yet been conscious of getting this sort of pleasure through your fingers1 let me say that this does not prove that you have no feeling for textures4 ,i think that you have had it unconsciously2 for ,i suspect that the pleasure that you take in flowers is not only because of their shape and color4 ,as you have examined the beauty of roses1 the texture of their petals has not escaped you4 ,in one case1 how silky2 in another1 how softly crumpled2 in another1 how delicately waxen6 ,you may never have put these ideas into words1 or even been conscious of them2 but do you not see1 now ,i mention these textures1 that they have had a good deal to do with your pleasure in the roses8 ,it may be1 after all1 the difference in the texture that makes you prefer one rose to another4 ,however1 whether this be so or not1 the fact remains that a great number of people derive pleasure from the textures of objects4 ,so let us now see how the artist1 who1 as ,i have said before1 has instincts and feelings like our own1 takes advantage of this feeling for texture to add to the beauty of his picture4 ,we shall often see a picture in which the textures are not represented4 ,even modern pictures sometimes fail in this respect2 and it is a very common fault with early ,american pictures1 painted by artists who had not the advantage of training that the modern student enjoys4 ,i will quote the case of ,john ,singleton ,copley1 a very famous painter of the ,colonial ,period1 who lived in ,boston and made portraits of the well-to-do men and women of the time1 just preceding the ,revolution4 ,before the latter broke out1 he went to ,england1 where he spent the rest of his life and was highly thought of4 ,his portraits are handsome as pictures for they represent men and women1 mostly of elegant manners in handsome clothes4 ,they also give the impression of being good likenesses4 ,yet his pictures lack animation4 ,the figures and the costumes are stiff and hard4 ,this is partly due to there being no suggestion of atmosphere surrounding them4 ,the picture is not filled with air and light1 as we found ,vermeer's was4 ,but there is another reason4 ,copley was unskilful in the presentation of textures4 ,the flesh and hair1 the materials of the costumes1 the furniture and ornaments1 present no differences of texture4 ,all seem to have a uniformly hard surface1 as if they were made of wood or tin4 ,the result is that the whole picture seems hard and stiff--lacking in animation4 ,if you ask me why this lack of animation is caused by the artist's neglect of textures1 ,i think the answer is that ,copley has not given to everything in his picture its own separate1 particular character4 ,for when you come to think of it1--and the dictionary meaning of the word textures1 bears me out--the character of everything depends so much upon its texture2 whether it is hard or soft1 smooth or rough1 glossy or dull1 and so on4 ,now1 if there were a number of girls and boys in the room1 all sitting round with the same dull expression on their faces1 we should say that the whole group lacked animation4 ,what makes a party animated and lively1 is the fact that it is composed of a number of persons1 each having a separate character to which he or she gives free play4 ,the more easily and naturally each exhibits his or her character1 the more animated and lively will be the fun of the party4 ,now1 do you not see how this applies to a picture8 ,the artist invites a number of different textures to his party or composition4 ,surely the party will be lacking in animation if he does not bring out the special character of each4 ,the lady's face and hands will not contribute their full share to the animation of the whole composition1 unless the character of their texture is expressed4 ,it will not be enough to represent only the coloring of the flesh1 for its beauty depends also upon its firmness and softness4 ,her satin dress will lose half its charm1 if we are only made to see its shine and gloss4 ,we know satin to be also soft and thin1 ready to arrange itself in all sorts of delicate folds4 ,this is a chief charm in the character of satin2 and if this particular satin does not exhibit these qualities of texture1 the dress will not do its proper share in helping the animation of the figure4 ,well6 if you agree with me about the satin dress1 ,i think that you will see that the same thing holds good of the table on which her arm is resting1 and the glass vase with carnations in it that stands near her hand4 ,do you not think that the character of the hand will be better expressed1 if the separate characters also of the polished wood1 the hard shiny cut glass1 and the soft velvety flowers are playing their part8 ,they may not be so important as the woman and her dress1 but in a composition as in a party1 everybody must do their share1 if the affair is to be a complete success4 ,the first great masters in the rendering of textures were the old ,flemish artists of the ,fifteenth ,century--the brothers ,hubert and ,jan van ,eyck1 for example1 and ,hans ,memling4 ,their country1--what we now call ,belgium--had long been famous for its textiles4 ,silks1 linens1 cloths and velvets--its gold and silver and other metal work1 its manufacture and decorating of glass4 ,the ,flemish were a nation of craftsmen1 skilled in the production of the most beautiful articles of domestic use and church worship4 ,and this love for objects of beautiful workmanship was shared by her painters4 ,they represented them in their pictures4 ,they painted not only the character of the men and women of the time1 but the character of the life in which they lived1 and did this by surrounding them with the furniture and objects that gave distinction to their lives4 ,so the very rug on the floor1 the glass in the windows1 the mirror on the wall in its highly wrought frame1 as well as the clothes worn by these quiet1 serious men and women1 have a choiceness of feeling4 ,the room is not simply furnished1 much less is it cluttered up with all kinds of tasteless ,department ,store 8objets d'art40 ,every thing in it has its own distinction of beauty1 suggesting the taste and refinement of its owners1 and so by its own character contributing to our appreciation of the character of the men and women in the picture4 ,another great master of texture was the ,german artist of the ,sixteenth ,century1 ,hans ,holbein the younger4 ,he too loved things of delicate and exquisite craftsmanship and often made designs of such things for the workmen of his native city1 ,augsburg4 ,so he was fond of introducing such articles into his pictures4 ,it was a joy to him to paint them1 each one with its own individual character of texture4 ,still1 notwithstanding his love of them1 he only puts them into his pictures when their character will help the character of his main subject4 ,so1 when he paints the portrait of a rich merchant of taste1 like ,georg ,gyze in his office1 he surrounds him with many objects related to his work--inkpot1 seal1 scissors1 ledger1 and can for holding string1 letters1 and a scale for weighing money4 ,there is a profusion of beautifully fashioned objects1 but they all by their separate characters help us to understand more fully the character of the merchant himself4 ,on the other hand1 since characterization was ,holbein's main purpose1 he treats the portrait of the great scholar ,erasmus1 differently4 ,here he introduces only a small writing desk1 a sheet of paper on it1 and a pen in the scholar's hand4 ,these remind us that ,erasmus was a writer2 while the handsome rings on his fingers and a piece of finely woven material on the wall1 tell us of another side of his character--that beside his love of learning1 he had a taste for the beautiful things of life4 ,looking back then over what we have been saying1 we find that when the artist suggests to us the different kinds of sensation we may receive from touching things1 he greatly increases the expressiveness of his pictures4 ,by rendering or representing the textures1 as well as the form and color of objects1 he accomplishes at least four results4 ,firstly1 he makes the objects more life-like2 we feel as if we might really handle them and receive the sensation that such objects1 if they were real1 would give us4 ,secondly1 he gives us a more keen enjoyment of their beauty2 consciously or unconsciously we receive a sensation of the pleasure of handling them4 ,thirdly1 the increased life-likeness and beauty increases the general animation of the whole picture4 ,fourthly1 this rendering of the separate character of each object contributes to our understanding and appreciation of the character of the whole subject4 ,to sum up1 the rendering of textures suggests reality1 beauty1 animation1 and character4 99 99 99 99 99 ,atmosphere we have already alluded to in previous chapters4 ,we saw how ,vermeer filled the scene of his picture with lighted air2 and1 in discussing color1 we talked of it first as light1 and then went on to study how the light which is in the air affects the light which is reflected from all objects that are visible4 ,we found that colors differ from one another in the quantity of light they contain3 in what artists call their values2 the value of red1 for example1 being different from the value of blue or green4 ,also we found that each single color may have variations of value1 according to the quantity and direction of the light which falls upon it4 ,all this1 you may say1 has more to do with light than atmosphere4 ,but the two are really united4 ,what we call atmosphere1 as you know1 is the volume of gases which surrounds the earth4 ,the particles from these gases are lit up by the light4 ,we cannot see the particles1 only the reflections of light thrown off by them4 ,but though we cannot see the particles themselves1 they can interfere with our seeing of other things4 ,it is the layers or veils of atmosphere that lie between us and a distant hill1 that prevent our seeing the bright green grass on the latter and the dark green fir trees4 ,seen through the atmosphere1 the colors of the hill appear subdued1 the very form and bulk of the ground flattened and1 perhaps1 indistinct4 ,this effect of atmosphere is one of the things that we are now going to discuss4 ,the other is that atmosphere penetrates everywhere4 ,suppose we begin with the second point4 ,the atmosphere is in one respect like water2 it is a fluid4 ,it flows in and out and around about and fills the whole space that is not occupied by some other body4 ,but have you thought what this means to an artist8 ,or at least to some artists2 for we said that ,copley's pictures contained little or no suggestion of atmosphere4 ,and the same may be said of a great many pictures by modern artists4 ,they represent the form and color of things1 but do not suggest that they are surrounded1 or1 as is often said1 enveloped in atmosphere4 ,why is this8 ,well6 in the first place1 as you remember1 there are many artists who do not profess to represent nature4 ,when they use nature as a model1 it is for the purpose only of getting the forms of nature1 and these they improve upon1 as they will tell you1 so as to make the forms in their picture 8ideally perfect40 ,these 8,academic0 or 8classic0 painters#aa as ,i have already said1 think of art as separate from nature4 ,on the other hand1 even among those who think of art as a means of interpreting nature1 there are many artists who never put atmosphere into their pictures4 ,or1 if they do1 it is not nature's atmosphere4 ,then what sort of atmosphere is it8 ,i call it a studio atmosphere1 because it is manufactured in the studio4 ,the artist1 feeling the need of softening the hard outlines of his figures and of subduing any harshness of color1 spreads over the picture thin layers of transparent1 slightly colored varnish4 ,through these glazes1 as they are called1 the forms and colors are seen1 somewhat as if you were looking at them through a piece of colored glass1 and the effect is to merge or bathe them in a glow of atmosphere4 ,this was a usual practice with the great colorists of the ,italian ,renaissance4 ,correggio's pictures1 for example1 are prized for their golden glow4 ,it is one of the reasons of their beauty4 ,but then1 his idea was not to interpret nature4 ,his subjects were drawn from the ,bible1 or the ,christian religion1 or ,greek ,mythology1 and he treated them as his imagination suggested4 ,he saw them through the glow of his own imagination1 and surrounded them with a glow that seems to place them far away from actual things in a beautiful world of their own4 ,similarly1 modern colorists1 when they create pictures out of their own imagination1 will suffuse them with an artificial atmosphere that helps to express the spirit of the scene4 ,in fact1 these atmospheric effects1 produced by glazing1 are beautiful and proper in their place4 ,but their place is not in pictures that profess to be studies of nature4 ,in these it is as wrong to suggest an unnatural atmosphere1 as it is to leave out all suggestion of atmosphere whatsoever1 which is1 perhaps1 the more usual fault4 ,since the true rendering of atmosphere is a part of the true representation of light and color1 you will not be surprised to learn that it appeared in the pictures of ,velasquez and of the ,dutchmen of the ,seventeenth ,century4 ,we have already spoken of it in the case of ,vermeer4 ,it was from these artists that modern colorists1 beginning about #ahfj1 have learned to study the effects of atmosphere and light4 ,they have carried the study even further than the older men4 ,indeed1 the rendering of light and atmosphere has been the most distinct triumph of modern painting4 ,there are two reasons for this4 ,one is1 that with the advance of scientific studies and mechanical inventions1 people have become more than ever interested in the every day facts of life2 and the writers1 painters1 and sculptors1 following with the stream1 have studied more and more how to represent life and its surroundings1 not as we may dream they should be1 but as they are known to our actual experience4 ,they have become ardent 8realists0 or 8naturalists40 8,realists10 because they are occupied with what we are in the habit of calling the realities of life4#ab 8,naturalists10 because they love nature and try to represent her actual appearances1 as they are enveloped in and affected by light and atmosphere4 ,the second cause of the modern advance in rendering these qualities is again due to scientific discoveries4 ,scientific men have made a close study of light and color and the painters have profited by the results4 ,painting1 in a measure1 has joined hands with science4 ,however1 now that we have seen why some artists do not put atmosphere into their pictures1 and ,illustration3 ,the ,mystic ,marriage of ,st4 ,catharine4 ,correggio4 that among those who do some manufacture an atmosphere of their own1 while others try to render nature's atmosphere1 let us study for ourselves the effect of atmosphere in nature4 ,it will help us1 if ,i begin by telling what we expect to find4 ,first then1 that the outlines of objects are softened2 secondly1 that the bulk of things seems flattened2 and thirdly1 that as objects recede or stand further off from our eyes1 their forms becomes more and more indistinct and their colors change4 ,as to the first4 ,suppose you are standing on a street or country road1 and a wagon passes you4 ,while it is close in front of you1 the body of the wagon and the wheels and the man driving1 all are clearly outlined2 you can distinguish distinctly the parts of the wagon and the character of the man's figure1 whether it is fat or thin1 strong or weak-looking1 and so on4 ,but1 as the wagon passes along the road1 its appearance changes4 ,at first1 it is the smaller details that disappear2 they have become merged in the general mass2 then the outlines of this mass grow less and less distinct2 you could not be sure now1 unless you had seen the wagon close1 exactly what its build is2 nor does one part seem nearer to you than another1 its bulk has become flattened1 and gradually the whole affair looks to be only a patch of color against the color of the road4 ,do you remember1 it was as patches we saw the cows which we met early in our talk8 ,the reason then given for their appearance was that our eyes were not strong enough to distinguish their details at such a distance4 ,and this reason also holds good in the case of the wagon4 ,but it is not only the distance that reduces our power of seeing1 but also the layers1 or veils of atmosphere that hang between us and the object4 ,we are sure of this on a foggy day1 when the mist lies low over the country or city1 and trees and tall buildings loom up like blurs1 and everything beyond the distance of a few hundred paces is blotted from sight4 ,but the fog or mist is only the atmosphere more moist than usual and with its moisture condensed by cooling4 ,when you breathe on a mirror1 the damp of your breath is condensed by the coolness of the glass4 ,a film of mist forms over the mirror4 ,of an evening you may see the mist lying over the river or meadows2 for the sun is gone down and the earth and air are cooling4 ,but the upper air cools more quickly than the lower part1 since the latter is still warmed by the heat stored in the earth4 ,so1 as the cooler air from above drops down1 it acts like a mirror to the breath of the earth or the air that lies close over it2 and this air is condensed into mist4 ,all through the night both air and earth are cooling1 but the earth more slowly1 so that there is still a meeting of cooler and warmer air and consequent condensations1 and the mist is hovering over the meadows when the next morning's sun rises4 ,as the sun mounts up1 it begins to spread its warmth and the upper air is the first to feel it4 ,growing warm1 it rises1 drawing up after it the cooler air below4 ,and as the cooler air is sucked up1 the warmer air closes in behind it2 until1 as this circulation of cool and warm continues1 the warmth at last reaches down to the mists above the earth4 ,and then commences that beautiful sight that you may see on some summer mornings4 ,the mists1 that a while ago lay like a blanket over the sleeping earth1 begin to stir1 as if they themselves were awakening from sleep4 ,they tremble a little1 then slowly stretch themselves1 and begin to rise to meet the warmth of day4 ,and as they rise1 little wisps of mist become detached from the main body and float up and disappear1 until gradually the whole rising mass is rent asunder by the currents of warm air into shreds and wreaths1 which curl and float and soar and at last lose themselves in the warmth that now wraps the earth4 ,later in the day1 if the weather is very hot the air1 close above the ground1 becomes so heated that it rises very quickly1 and we see a shimmer of light upon its shifting patches4 ,i mention this1 because ,i wish you to think of atmosphere1 not only as veils of gauze hung between us and objects we are looking at1 but also as a moving1 palpitating1 vibrating fluid4 ,we will talk a little more about this presently4 ,meanwhile1 let us note some of the effects of atmosphere upon form and color4 ,we have mentioned that it softens the outlines of objects4 ,this is only another way of saying that the objects appear less distinct2 that even a chimney1 though it cuts against the sky in strong contrast1 has not really hard sharp outlines4 ,at first sight you will think1 perhaps1 that it has2 just as the cornices of the roofs may seem to you to have hard lines1 and the windows and doorways to be sharply outlined4 ,but they do not appear so to an artist's eye1 and will not to yours in time1 if you are observant4 ,suppose an artist with pen and ink should draw one of these houses1 using a straight edge to make the outline hard and sharp4 ,this is how an architect draws the design of a house1 because his object is to make an exact drawing for the builder to work by4 ,but1 if you have seen one of these architectural drawings1 you will recognise1 ,i think1 that it does not look natural2 that somehow or other it is too precise and tight and hard to suggest the appearance of an actual house4 ,if this were his object1 the architect himself would draw the house differently4 ,he would make what is called a free-hand drawing4 ,he would no longer represent the edges of cornices and chimneys and so on1 with continuous lines2 he would 8break them up02 lifting his pen for a moment and leaving a tiny space of white before he continues the line2 making the line thicker or thinner as he went along1 and occasionally pressing on his pen to produce a dot4 ,in these ways he will break up all the edges and outlines that they may not be too hard1 but may have the less distinct appearance that the lines of the actual house present to his eye4 ,for the same reason when he draws any bits of carving1 such as the capitals of the columns of the front door1 he will not represent every detail exactly1 as if he were making a working drawing for the carver4 ,he will leave out some and break up others1 so that1 although he plainly indicates the style and character of the ornament1 it will not seem hard and sharp1 but softened1 and a trifle indistinct1 as the capital appears to his eye4 ,he will1 in fact1 make allowances for the softening effects of atmosphere4 ,up to this point we have imagined the penmanship to be concerned only with the lines4 ,now let us see how a great pen-artist1 like ,joseph ,pennell1 or ,edwin ,a4 ,abbey1 would carry his drawing further4 ,he would see the house1 not as a skeleton of lines1 but as a mass1 part of which is silhouetted against the sky1 while the rest is seen in relation to the other buildings or objects that stand near it4 ,each according to his own individual technique1 that is to say1 his own particular way of using the pen1 will make his building a mass distinct from the masses of the other buildings1 of the ground1 and of the sky4 ,and on the masses of buildings he will make the windows appear as they do in the actual building--namely1 as patches1 darker in color than the walls4 ,all this he will do1 because to his eye the different objects1 under the influence of the atmosphere1 appear as masses of various colors in relation to one another4 ,more than this1 when you have grown to appreciate fully the work of ,pennell and ,abbey1 you will find that1 though it is done in black and white1 it seems to suggest color4 ,elsewhere ,i have spoken of the fact that many artists1 especially modern ones1 see nature as an arrangement of colored spaces or masses in relation to one another4 ,this implies that they are very little conscious of the edges or outlines of the masses4 ,if they think of them at all1 it is to try and prevent your noticing them in their pictures4 ,they paint1 for example1 the head1 and shoulders1 and cheek of a man1 a bust portrait--with a dark background4 ,if you examine the picture closely1 you will not find a sharp line1 separating the head from the background4 ,in fact the color of the hair and cheek seems to extend a little way into the dark of the background4 ,the artist has dragged his brush round the head1 so that it is impossible to say just where the background begins4 ,the reason for this you understand1 as soon as you step back and look at the picture from a short distance off4 ,the head appears very solid2 we can believe there is really a hard skull beneath the full flesh of the cheeks and the tight skin of the forehead4 ,yet the head does not seem to be stuck against the background1 like a postage stamp on an envelope4 ,indeed1 if the picture is well painted1 the dark part is not really a background4 ,that is to say1 it is not merely something behind the head2 it seems to have depth and to go back1 but it also comes forward and surrounds the head4 ,the latter does not stick out of the picture1 it keeps its place back within the frame1 enveloped in atmosphere that1 though it is very dark1 is penetrable4 ,you feel1 that is to say1 that your hand could be pushed through it without coming up against some wall1 as it were1 that would stop it4 ,now ,i particularly wished you to notice that the head suggested to us that hardness of the skull and the varying firmness and tightness of the flesh4 ,for it proves that the softening of the outline will not interfere with the feeling of hardness and strength1 or firmness in the mass4 ,the effect1 indeed1 is to increase it1 since out attention is concentrated on the head and not distracted to the outline4 ,on the other hand1 do not suppose that the softening of outlines is always intended to increase the suggestion of solidity4 ,it may be part of an entirely opposite intention2 namely1 to lose sight of the idea of solidity of mass4 ,for example1 the ,french landscape artist1 ,corot1 often represented the masses of the trees as soft1 dark blurs against the soft light of the sky4 ,for he loved especially the early dawn and late evening1 when the light is very faint and in the hush the trees loom up like quiet spirits4 ,he wished you to feel their presence1 but not to be conscious of their solidity and bulk4 ,he1 you see1 used the softened outline for a different purpose2 which shows that in art1 as in other matters1 a single principle may be applied variously in different cases4 ,these tree-presences of ,corot are painted very flatly4 ,the roundness of their bulk disappears into a flat mass4 ,it was one of the ways in which he avoided the suggestion of solidity4 ,but here again comes in the fact that a principle may have other applications2 for flatness does not necessarily make the object appear unsubstantial4 ,a house does not look so1 yet its front may be flat4 ,and ,corot1 as other artists1 and as you may1 if you use your eyes1 had discovered that in the open air all objects appear flatter than they do indoors4 ,the reason is that in the case of a room lighted by windows1 the light is always stronger near the windows than it is in parts of the room further removed4 ,the light is unequally distributed1 so that there are more shadows to throw up the bulk of objects4 ,but out of doors the light is more diffused2 more equally distributed4 ,moreover1 we view things from a greater distance1 so that more atmosphere intervenes4 ,the effect of both these facts is to make the masses of objects seem flatter4 ,the lawn from a little distance may look very smooth2 but1 when you walk over it1 you find the grass needs to be cut and the bumps to be rolled before you can play croquet4 ,that maple1 too1 is a sturdy1 solid fellow1 but as you see its mass of pale green against the darker mass of hemlock1 both seem flatter than they do when you are climbing among their branches4 ,in speaking of the softening of outline and flattening of bulk due to atmosphere we have frequently alluded to the effect of distance on the appearance of objects4 ,the further off the latter are1 the more atmosphere will intervene1 the less distinct will they appear4 ,in the case of distant hills1 the ups and downs of the ground1 the bulk of the trees1 even the stability and massiveness of 8the everlasting hills10 may be softened and flattened into what seems to be only a faint mass of color4 ,perhaps we have walked over these hills and know them to be carpeted with grass2 the greens also of the maples1 oaks1 cypress1 each with its separate hue1 attracted our attention4 ,but to-day1 from a distance1 all these greens are lost in a vaporous hue of blue4 ,it is this effect of atmosphere on color that we will now talk about4 ,it is easy to notice in the case of the hills because of the great quantity of atmosphere that intervenes between us and them4 ,but1 if there were a row of maples extending from the hills to us1 so placed that we could look along their entire length1 we should find the appearance of their color gradually changing1 as they recede from our eyes4 ,in a word1 to the sensitive eye of the artist the colors of even nearby objects are affected by atmosphere4 ,now1 those hills appear to be blue2 another day1 they will incline more to grey2 yet another day to violet or purple1 or pinkish4 ,in winter time1 around ,new ,york1 they would very likely take on a dry1 whitish color4 ,in fact1 the color will vary according to the condition of the atmosphere and the quality of the light2 depending upon how moist or dry1 how warm or chill1 the atmosphere may be1 and whether the light is yellow or golden1 grey or white1 full or feeble1 and so on4 ,it is these constant variations of lighted atmosphere that give continually fresh interest to the beauty of nature4 ,nature never wearies us by being always the same4 ,it is like a human face1 whose expression is continually changing4 ,sometimes we see a beautiful human face1 with almost perfect features4 ,but behind that beautiful mask may be a very dull1 uninteresting mind4 ,if so1 the expression of the face will be passive1 the opposite1 that is to say1 to active4 ,it will not leap from grave to gay2 kindle1 sparkle1 grow tender1 or angry and joyful by turns4 ,it will be--8faultily faultless1 icily regular1 splendidly null0--no expression4 ,and we may even tire of its beauty2 while a face1 less perfect in features1 may win us more and more and hold our interest by the charm of its continually varying expression4 ,the more we think of it1 the more do we realise that beauty depends upon expression4 ,it is the same with nature as with the human face4 ,its beauty is affected by expression and this is produced by the varieties in the lighted atmosphere4 ,a moment's thought will satisfy you of this4 ,nature's features vary with the seasons1 but change little from day to day4 ,every morning1 during the summer vacation1 the same objects greet your eye1 but how differently you feel towards them1 according to what we call the weather1 which after all is the condition of the atmosphere4 ,one day the familiar features of the landscape will take on an expression of gladness1 some other day of dullness2 and the more we study the features1 the more variable will their expression appear from hour to hour1 day to day1 and season to season4 ,i spoke just now of the movement of the atmosphere4 ,it is a fluid1 that one day may be as still as a forest pool1 another day may be stirred like the ,illustration3 ,light and ,shade4 ,george ,inness4 ocean4 ,we cannot see its particles1 but we do see the light reflected from them2 and1 ,i suppose1 it is the differences in the appearances of the lighted reflections that make us conscious of the stillness or movement of the atmosphere on days when there is no wind4 ,we need not be very sensitive to nature to notice these differences of the atmosphere at different seasons of the year2 how1 on certain winter days1 the air seems absolutely motionless2 while on other days it seems alert and sprightly2 how in early spring it seems astir with gentle life1 while in summer or autumn it may be alive with animation or heavy with drowsy languor4 ,the motionless air of winter has been rendered with marvellous truth by ,john ,h4 ,twachtman2 the stir of spring by ,dwight ,w4 ,tryon2 the active air of summer by ,childe ,hassam1 and its languorous drowsiness by ,george ,inness4 ,all these are ,american artists1 whom ,i mention only as examples4 ,for much of the beauty of modern art1 both ,american and foreign1 is due to the sensitive rendering of the variations in the atmosphere4 ,for1 the best artists now-a-days are not satisfied to paint the features of nature only2 they aim to depict the varying expressions on her face4 ,and the chief cause1 as ,i have said1 of these variations is the constant change in the conditions of the lighted atmosphere4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,color 7,continued7--,,tone ,we shall frequently hear the words tone1 tonal1 tonality1 applied to pictures4 ,people say1 for example1 this picture is rich in tone2 that has fine tonal qualities2 another has a delicate tonality4 ,it is rather difficult to explain what these words mean1 for they do not seem to be used in the same way by everybody4 ,however1 let us try4 ,it is clearly a word derived from music1 where its meaning is more definite4 ,we speak of a piano's tone1 by which we mean that1 though it sounds the same notes as another piano1 the quality of the sounds differs4 ,we shall be using the word quality often in the present chapter1 so let us be sure we understand its meaning4 ,it is from the ,latin word qualis1 which means of what kind4 ,of what kind is this piece of dress goods2 what is its quality1 compared with another piece1 at first sight similar8 ,is it all wool1 for example1 while the other is cotton mixture8 ,is it softer1 while the other is harder and drier8 ,will the one stand washing1 while the other will shrink8 ,similarly1 when the same note is struck on two pianos the tone of one may be rich1 mellow1 resonant1 while that of the other is thin1 raw1 and metallic4 ,why is the tone superior8 ,you know1 ,i suppose1 that when a piano string is struck it vibrates4 ,that is to say1 it ceases to be a straight line1 and becomes agitated into a series of waves4 ,in order to increase the volume of the sound a thin layer of wood1 called the sound board1 is placed beneath the strings4 ,as the string vibrates1 this board vibrates in sympathy1 and so the volume of sound is increased and enriched4 ,now the least thing may disturb the perfection of this sympathetic vibration4 ,accordingly1 the superiority of the one piano is due to the fact that all its parts are of finer make and material1 and are more perfectly adjusted to one another4 ,they are in so perfect a relation1 that there is no jar in any part1 and thus the body of the instrument is a united whole4 ,the tone of the piano1 then1 is due to the perfect relation existing between the parts of the piano4 ,applying this idea to a picture3 it would seem that tone is the result of all the colors being so perfectly related to one another1 that the vibration or rhythm of the whole color-harmony is increased4 ,now this is certainly1 in a general way1 the meaning of the word tone4 ,so1 although the word itself is new to you1 the idea contained in it is not4 ,we have talked a good deal about color-relations1 rhythm1 and harmony4 ,you remember our talk on ,vermeer's picture4 ,well1 his is a tonal picture1 because of the perfect relation of all the colors to one another4 ,it is beautiful in tone2 its tonality is exquisite4 ,and do you remember one particular feature of its exquisiteness8 ,i pointed out to you that it is full of lighted atmosphere1 and that the atmosphere seems to vibrate2 that its rhythm passes through and through the picture1 uniting all the masses of color into a harmonious whole4 ,we noted the difference between this kind of rhythm and that in ,raphael's ,jurisprudence1 where the rhythm is the result of line4 ,you could not describe that picture as tonal2 for in it color plays a very unimportant part4 ,raphael was busied with the relations1 not of color1 but of line4 ,i have reminded you of the rhythm of atmosphere in ,vermeer's picture1 because some people describe tone1 as the result of fusing all the forms and colors into a whole by enveloping them in atmosphere4 ,but ,i think1 if you have followed our talks carefully1 you will see that this use of the word tone is pretty much the same as the one we have arrived at4 ,for you cannot see the effects of atmosphere except in relation to the coloring of nature4 ,and ,i like our explanation better than this one1 because it is broader1 and therefore includes more4 ,it includes1 for example1 all ,japanese prints4 ,many of them exhibit no suggestion of atmosphere2 yet they are always tonal in the sense that their colors are in perfect relation4 ,now1 let me tell you of another definition of tone1 which again is included in our own4 ,some people will tell you that a picture is tonal1 because there is some one prevailing hue of color in it4 ,by 8prevailing0 we mean that some one color plays the most important part4 ,in ,vermeer's picture1 you may remember1 it was blue4 ,the girl's skirt made a strong spot of blue4 ,we are aware of other colors in the picture1 but they play subsidiary parts4 ,what we are most conscious of is a sense of blue throughout the picture--a prevailing tone of blue4 ,so in ,whistler's ,white ,girl--,symphony in ,white1 ,number ,one1 there is a prevailing tone of white4 ,but this is only another way of saying that in each picture the colors are in a perfect relation to one another4 ,whether there are more or fewer colors1 and whether we receive an impression of many colors or one in particular1 does not really affect the question4 ,when all is said and done1 tone is the result of color relations1 so arranged that they produce a rhythmic harmony4 99 99 99 99 99 ,an artist1 when he paints a tonal picture1 has in mind the relative dark and light of colors1 and their relative coolness and warmth4 ,let me explain4 ,first the relative coolness or warmth of colors4 ,the artist regards blue as the coolest hue4 ,as a matter of fact violet reflects even less light than blue2 still1 for his practical purposes1 an artist says that the cool hue is blue1 and he associates with it violet and green4 ,on the other hand1 yellow1 he treats as warm1 and associates with it red and orange4 ,and1 if you consider for a moment1 the distinction of warm and cool hues1 which is practised by artists and founded on the nature of light1 appeals to our own experience4 ,you will have no hesitation in feeling that a bunch of violets1 surrounded by green leaves1 gives you a feeling of coolness1 as compared with another bunch composed of red and yellow poppies4 ,accordingly1 if an artist has made up his mind that his tonal harmony shall be a cool one1 he either composes it entirely of cool hues1 or sees to it that some one or all of them shall 8prevail40 ,the warmer hues may be introduced for the sake of contrast1 but very sparingly4 ,and1 of course1 he will reverse his use of the hues1 if he wishes the tone to be a warm one4 ,this you could have guessed for yourselves2 but ,i point it out because most people1 ,i believe1 prefer a warm picture4 ,if it represents the sun setting in a mass of crimson over which the sky is orange1 passing to yellow2 and the effect of this warm light is shown on the surrounding trees and meadow1 so that everything seems to be kindled into a dreamy warmth1 we easily find the picture very beautiful4 ,it is so attractive in its richness and mellow warmth1 that the quiet coolness of that picture opposite may seem tame by comparison1 and we pass it by4 ,on the other hand1 if1 recognising the difference of the intention1 we study the latter picture carefully1 we may very likely come to admire it even more than the warmer one1 by reason of the very quietness of its appeal1 or because of the purity and freshness of feeling that probably pervade it4 ,and now for the artist's other habit of considering the relative lightness and darkness of hues4 ,it comes into play1 whether his tonal arrangement be a cool one or a warm one4 ,for by this means he introduces contrasts of color2 and as we have pointed out1 it is by contrasts as well as by similarities1 that a harmony is produced4 ,there are two ways of considering the difference between light and dark4 ,one is to treat it as an arrangement of chiaroscuro1 the other as an arrangement of values4 ,this is a distinction that ,i have already explained2 but ,i will refresh your memory of it1 in its special application to tone4 ,chiaroscuro1 as you remember1 means light and dark4 ,so it could be used of the light and dark of values2 but1 as a matter of fact1 it is applied to the distribution of light and shadows1 adopted by the artists of older times1 and still used by many modern ones4 ,in applying it1 they represented the light1 as coming from one direction1 usually from behind their backs2 and as striking the objects and figures in the picture at an angle1 either on the right side or on the left4 ,they also took care that the light should be concentrated or particularly bright at one spot4 ,on the contrary1 the artist who considers the light and dark of values1 sees the light in the scene he is painting1 and observes that it pervades all parts of it4 ,but1 to return to the chiaroscuro2 its effect is to produce strong contrasts of light and shade3 high lights1 nearly white in the parts most exposed to the light1 and shadows almost black1 in the parts most removed4 ,to offset these strong contrasts the artist uses strong hues4 ,the pure colors of red1 yellow1 green1 blue1 may be used in large masses4 ,the result is a tonal harmony of great richness1 striking magnificence1 or surprising impressiveness4 ,of the last kind is ,rubens' ,descent from the ,cross4 ,if you study a photograph of it1 you will see that the light does come from within the scene4 ,it flows from the ,saviour's body2 and the light1 as it spreads1 illumines certain parts of the surrounding figures1 especially the heads and hands2 just the parts in fact1 in which there is most expression of feeling4 ,the sacred ,body has the pallor of death1 it is almost white1 while black prevails elsewhere throughout the picture1 the only other colors being the flesh tints of the faces and hands1 and some dull green and red4 ,it is an admirable example of the strong contrast of black and white1 and1 let me add1 of the amazing effect that such contrast has on the imagination4 ,for it is a picture that arouses one's emotions of awe and pity and reverence to an extraordinary degree2 and the more you study it1 the more you will realise that the source of its appeal is the chiaroscuro4 ,the latter1 though the light is within the scene1 is purely arbitrary4 ,rubens1 that is to say1 did not try to imitate the effects of real light and darkness2 he chose to be the arbiter or judge of how he would distribute them4 ,and in the arrangement he had three purposes4 ,first1 he wished to secure the modeling of the figures2 note the muscular force he has given to some of the men2 the pathetic droop of the ,virgin's figure2 and the pitiable limpness of the ,saviour's form4 ,secondly1 he was able to make this composition of contrasts one of most impressive grandeur4 ,thirdly1 as ,i have already hinted in speaking of the figures of the ,saviour and the ,virgin1 he could by means of this superb invention of light and darkness1 fill us with profound emotion4 ,so much for the older method of considering the relations between light and dark4 ,the modern one1 depending on the light and dark of values1 derived from the example of ,velasquez and of ,vermeer and other ,dutchmen of the ,seventeenth ,century1 ,i have recently explained in connection with ,whistler's ,white ,girl1 ,symphony in ,white ,number ,two4 ,so ,i will only remind you that in this picture there is practically no contrast of shadow4 ,the whole scene is bathed in a uniform light4 ,but the contrast of dark is obtained by putting in certain objects1 the red box1 the blue vase1 and so on1 the values of which are lower than that of the white dress4 ,the artist has thought of darkness1 not as the result of shadow1 but of certain colors being darker in themselves1 because they reflect less light than others4 ,if this is not quite clear to you1 perhaps it will be1 if you refer to the chapter in which this picture is discussed4 ,on the other hand1 the modern artist1 even if he works by values rather than by chiaroscuro1 must often wish to paint a scene that does involve shadows4 ,we know that the scene may be filled with light and yet there will be certain places where the light is intercepted1 so that shadows are formed4 ,our lawn in summer is aglow with warm light1 but every tree and bush casts its shadow4 ,or the same spot in winter is covered with snow and the air is bright with cool light2 yet here and there a trunk of a tree spreads a thin layer of shadow4 ,but the difference is in the way the modern artist regards shadow4 ,he has studied nature for the purpose of representing the actual effects of nature2 and1 in so doing1 has discovered that the secret of all effects is due to the action of light4 ,so he has learned to look at everything1 shadows included1 in its relation to light4 ,a shadow to him1 then1 is not something different from light2 it is a lessening of the light4 ,some of the light has been intercepted by the foliage of the tree1 so that less light reaches the ground4 ,it may be that very little light filters through the leaves4 ,but1 whether more or little1 the spot from which the light has been intercepted1 still contains some light4 ,even what we usually call the shadows have light in them4 ,so1 while chiaroscuro is a contrast of light and dark1 the contrast of values may better be described as one of light and less light4 ,observe how this works4 ,since the modern artist sees light in shadows1 he also sees color in them4 ,and their color varies according to the quality of the light and according to the local color of the spot affected4 ,the local color of your lawn is green2 therefore1 even under the trees1 where little light reaches the grass1 the latter will still contain a greenish hue1 though the value of it will be much lower than that of the sunlit lawn4 ,on the other hand1 the hue of the shadow will also be affected by the quality of the light1 differing according as the light is dull or brilliant1 and as it inclines to white or yellow4 ,this is too intricate a subject to attempt to discuss here1 but ,i mention it in order that1 if you are wide awake and interested1 you may amuse yourself by studying these effects in your walks abroad4 ,a simple way of starting the subject is to study the hue of the shadow cast by your hand on a sheet of white paper4 ,i am working by the light of a ,welsbach burner1 and the shadow of my hand is a pale reddish purple4 ,the other day1 on a bright ,february morning1 ,i laid my hand on a piece of white paper and the shadow was bluish4 ,in each case1 owing to the amount of light reflected from the white paper1 the shadow was very transparent1 and beautiful in its delicacy and softness4 ,well1 this little example illustrates what artists have discovered about shadows lying on snow4 ,they are very transparent1 very delicate1 and tend toward a hue of blue or plum color1 according to the quantity of light4 ,now to sum up our remarks on tone4 ,when we speak of a picture having tonal qualities1 we mean that the artist has so combined the related darks and lights and the related coolness and warmth of his colors that he has produced a harmony1 threaded through and through with a suggestion of rhythm or vibration4 ,and the vibration will be most felt1 when the suggestion of atmosphere pervades the picture4 ,in the case of the ,descent from the ,cross we have already hinted at the power of tone to arouse emotion4 ,i may add that tone always makes a strong appeal to feeling--to abstract feeling4 ,the tonal harmony of an opal1 whose pinks and greens are suffused with creamy atmosphere1 arouses in us delight1 quite apart from any suggestion to our mind4 ,the delight is one of pure feeling4 ,can you not see that1 if an artist uses the tonal harmony of the opal as a color scheme for a picture1 the harmony would still delight us in an abstract way8 ,it would be interwoven now with the subject of his picture1 and we need not try1 nor do we wish to separate them4 ,but the sentiment of the figure or the scene will be all the more tender and lovely for the harmony with which it is suffused4 ,i have in mind1 for example1 the pictures by the ,american artist1 ,thomas ,w4 ,dewing4 ,they show you one or two women standing or sitting1 apparently lost in reverie1 while placed beside them may be a table and a vase and on the wall a mirror4 ,if you ask me what the picture is about1 ,i will say3 ,nothing4 ,there is no subject to them in the sense that you can describe3 who the girl is1 why she is there1 and what she is doing4 ,so1 instead of talking to you about the figures1 ,i should try to draw your attention to the subtlety and beauty of the tonal harmony4 ,i should recommend you to look at it with a mind as free from outside thoughts1 as when you were looking at the opal4 ,then by degrees1 perhaps1 as the beauty of the tone winds itself about your imagination1 you will begin to find some sentiment of beauty suggested by the girl herself4 ,what ,i wish you to understand is that an artist1 who has the gift of composing tonal harmonies1 employs them to express the abstract feelings or emotions that he has regarding his subject4 ,a celebrated example is ,whistler's ,portrait of the ,artist's ,mother1 that now hangs in the ,luxembourg ,gallery1 in ,paris4 ,i expect you have seen photographs of it and remember that it represents an oldish lady1 in a white lace cap and black gown1 with her hands folded over a handkerchief on her lap4 ,we see her figure seated in profile1 in front of a grey wall4 ,on it are two little black-framed pictures1 and on one side hangs a dark green curtain4 ,when it was first exhibited the artist called it 8,an ,arrangement in ,black and ,grey40 ,it may be that he did not wish to drag his ,mother into publicity or make a parade of his feelings as a son4 ,but there was another reason1 a much greater one4 ,the abstract feelings that he had for his ,mother--the love1 reverence1 and appreciation of her dignity and tenderness--took color in his artist's mind in an arrangement of black and grey4 ,what a poet might have put into the rhythm and harmony of his verse1 ,whistler has expressed through the rhythm of a tonal harmony of color4 ,another artist who was not a tonalist1 might have contrived to put into the face and hands and into the lines of the figure as much dignity and gracious tenderness4 ,but his picture would not move us so deeply as this one4 ,for ,whistler--how shall ,i describe it8--has woven the dignity and tenderness into every part of the canvas4 ,the mother sits alone with her own thoughts1 but all about her is the music of color1 choiring the love and reverence of her son4 ,no wonder the picture takes its hold upon us2 until we see in it not a mother1 but the type of what the conception of ,mother means to us4 ,its tonal harmony is one that is distinguished by sobriety and reticence4 ,it consists of quiet and sober colors2 it does not talk to our hearts in brilliant glowing words4 ,it moves us rather by its silence and reserve1 its reticence4 ,i mention this because1 at first1 perhaps1 you will be more attracted by brilliant and glowing harmonies2 and they are beautiful too4 ,they may fill us1 as those of ,rubens do1 with triumphant joy2 or plunge us into poignant emotion as do ,rousseau's sunsets4 ,but1 just as our capacity of feeling knows no limits1 so there is no limit to the variety of the tonal harmonies that may stir it4 ,and we shall grow to find some of the most exalting and beautiful sensations in those harmonies that are very quiet1 subtle1 and that speak to our imagination in a 8still small voice40 ,as a farewell illustration1 to sum up the meaning of the quality and expression of tone1 let me return to sound tones4 ,have you ever thought of quality and expression in the case of your own voice8 ,i do not mean the singing voice4 ,many of us do not possess this kind of voice2 but we all have a speaking and reading voice4 ,what are the quality and expression of yours8 ,i am thinking now of the way you use it2 of the quality and expression of the sounds you utter4 ,when you speak2 do you drawl 8through your nose0 or chatter very quickly8 ,are the sounds shrill or harsh or monotonous8 ,perhaps you have never stopped to consider4 ,it is astonishing how few people do4 ,most people think of their voice only as a contrivance for uttering words3 they turn it on and off like a faucet and let the words run4 ,how frequently one sees a pretty girl or woman1 tastefully dressed and of charming manners1 who is altogether pleasing as long as she keeps her mouth shut4 ,but the moment she opens it1 half her charm vanishes4 ,there is no tone in her voice2 no varieties of light and shade in the pitch of the sounds1 no varieties of quietness or warmth in her speech2 no rhythm of effect4 ,even if it is not harsh1 it is disagreeably monotonous4 ,or somebody else reads a passage from ,shakespeare1 say ,the ,balcony ,scene in 8,romeo and ,juliet40 ,he is not as bad a reader as he might be2 for example1 he does not stumble over the words or jump over the punctuation4 ,in fact1 he reads intelligently1 with considerable attention to the meaning of the speeches4 ,and yet1 after all1 he reads very badly1 for his voice fails entirely to bring out the music of the verse4 ,the scene is one of the loveliest ever written1 and it was written to be spoken aloud1 so that the loveliness of the thought might be conveyed in sounds of corresponding loveliness4 ,but of this our reader seems ignorant4 ,he does not appear to know that ,shakespeare intended every vowel sound to be uttered in such a way as to bring out the particular quality of its beauty2 and arranged the sequence of the sounds1 so that one should flow into another in an exquisite rhythm of rising and falling melody4 ,this reader 8murders0 the beauty of the scene1 because there is no quality in the tone of his voice and no tonal expression4 ,do you understand what ,i mean8 ,if you have not thought of this before1 ,i hope you will give it some attention in future4 ,for it is in the power of everyone of us to improve the quality and expression of our voices4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,brush-,,work ,,and ,,drawing ,now that we have come to an end of our talk upon color1 ,i must say a little about brushwork4 ,i hope to show you that a good painter may use his brush in such a way that there is quality and expression in the actual strokes4 ,i say a good 8painter10 because ,i am thinking of that distinction ,i pointed out to you1 between artists who are really painters or colorists1 and those who are1 more strictly speaking1 draughtsmen4 ,the latter1 you will remember1 pay particular attention to the lines of their figures1 and then in spreading the paint1 are careful that it shall not interfere with the outlines4 ,on the other hand1 the man who is1 strictly speaking1 a painter1 sees his figures as colored masses4 ,i tried to show you that each method is right from its separate point of view4 ,but at the time we talked about this1 we had not studied the meaning of quality and expression4 ,so ,i put off telling you about the possibilities of quality and expression in line4 ,we will talk about it now1 and then return to the brushwork4 ,remember1 what we are to think of now is a drawing of a figure or object1 represented simply in outline1 with no added strokes to suggest light and shade4 ,it may have been done with a pencil or brush1 or in one of many other ways2 but it is only outline4 ,now many people think the only purpose of the outline is to enclose the figure1 so that we may see what the figure is4 ,they may think the figure is beautiful1 because it represents something of which they are fond2 the plump body of a baby1 for instance4 ,but suppose the figure represents an old worn-out beggar1 with long scraggy arms and bare1 misshapen feet4 ,would they see any beauty in it8 ,i expect not4 ,yet1 although there may be no beauty in the figure1 there may be a great deal in the lines which enclose it4 ,if so1 the beauty of line1 of which we are now talking1 must be an abstract beauty2 due to something in the line itself1 independently of the figure with which it is associated4 ,suppose you draw a line on a piece of paper4 ,what is the result8 ,the line has taken a certain direction1 and it is of a certain kind4 ,it is thick or thin1 or it begins thin1 grows thicker and then diminishes in width1 or vice versa4 ,it may be faint or distinct2 firm or wavering1 and so on4 ,which ever kind it is it will be so1 either because you wished it to be of that kind1 or because you couldn't make it otherwise4 ,in either case1 it is you that have made the line what it is4 ,if you have enough skill1 you can make the line exactly what you wish4 ,again1 the direction of the line is the result of a movement of your hand and arm4 ,very likely you moved uncertainly3 you were not even sure in what direction it was moving4 ,but1 if you were a skilful and practised draughtsman1 don't you suppose you could so regulate the movement of your hand and arm1 that the line would take the exact direction you desired8 ,yes1 you would have as much control over the direction and character of the line1 as a musician has over the keys of a piano1 over which his hands move in various directions1 sounding the various notes4 ,but is the skill in doing this all that makes a good musician8 ,you know that he must also play1 as we say1 with feeling4 ,this means1 first1 that he must be able to feel the beauty of the music2 secondly1 that he knows how to move his arms and touch the notes so as to draw forth from them just the quality of sound that the feeling demands1 and to make the whole body of sounds render an expression of the feeling4 ,now1 just as the feeling passes from the brain of the musician into the tips of his fingers1 so it does with an artist4 ,you will see him1 as he tries to tell you about the beauty of something1 circling his hand in the air1 meanwhile curving his fingers and thumb1 as if he were trying to grasp the beauty4 ,it is an instinctive movement1 due to his habit of expressing his conception with his hand4 ,a sculptor will do much the same thing1 only he is more apt to close his fingers and express his meaning with his thumb--the part of his hand that he uses most in modeling4 ,one of the most beautiful examples of feeling in the hand is illustrated in the modeling of a vase4 ,the potter stands before a 8wheel10 or table1 the top of which revolves4 ,there is a spike in it that holds in place the lump of clay4 ,but while we watch1 it has ceased to be a lump4 ,it has grown up under the potter's hands and is a hollow vessel1 every moment changing its shape slightly1 as with his fingers or the palm of his hand he brings it nearer and nearer to the design that is in his brain4 ,he stops for a moment1 and we think that he has finished4 ,but1 no1 he is only criticising it4 ,it is not yet quite as he feels it should be2 and again the wheel revolves and the hand1--oh6 so tenderly--coaxes the clay to receive exactly the line of beauty that he feels4 ,and from the potter we may gain another insight into the beauty of an artist's line4 ,i said that the clay grew up into the required form4 ,and certainly if you have seen the operation1 you will say that growth is just the word4 ,now in the line of all beautiful drawings there is the feeling of growth4 ,not in a metaphorical way1 but most literally1 the line grows under the artist's hand1 impelled by the feeling in him that he is trying to express4 ,let me tell you a little experience of my own4 ,though ,i am not an artist1 ,i have often made drawings4 ,one day ,i was enlarging a piece of ornament1 in which there were scrolls of acanthus leaves2 big cabbagy sort of leaves1 with a curving spine and crinkly edges4 ,the chief point was to get fine winding lines into the curves4 ,for a long time ,i imitated the copy as well as ,i could1 when suddenly ,i seemed to feel within me just how the curve should go4 ,it was not a matter of seeing the copy1 but of feeling the actual growth in my brain4 ,and lo6 a miracle1 for one moment my hand was able to do what my brain prompted4 ,that leaf actually grew under my hand4 ,i could feel it growing4 ,and of course that was the best bit of the whole drawing4 ,the rest was mechanical2 this bit really lived4 ,well1 in my case that was a miracle and has never been repeated4 ,but in that moment ,i learned two things--firstly1 what must be the joy of an artist in the act of creation2 and1 secondly1 that an artist's line may be a living growth2 and1 in the case of really fine draughtsmen1 always is4 ,since then ,i have watched the growth of trees and plants1 and discovered1 as you may for yourself1 the separate beauty and character that belong to the lines of growth of each separate plant and tree4 ,and1 when you have done so1 you will come back to the study of line in drawing1 convinced that the beauty of line consists in its expression of life and character4 ,not only the life and character of the object represented1 but the life and character of feeling in the artist4 ,now perhaps you will realise how a drawing1 though it represents only an ugly old beggar man1 may be beautiful4 ,life1 in all its forms is wonderful1 even if sometimes horrible4 ,and the expression of it by a thing so slight as a line is beautiful1 because we need not trouble about the object represented1 but be satisfied to enjoy only the life and character that the line expresses4 ,it will also help you to understand and appreciate the abstract quality of line1 if you study ,japanese drawings and prints4 ,for their way of representing figures and objects is not the same as ours1 nor do we always know what the subject of the picture is about4 ,therefore we are better able to enjoy the line in an abstract way1 apart from all consideration of the things that are represented4 99 99 99 99 99 ,after this little talk on line1 we may now pass to brushwork4 ,it is no longer the thin edge that we are to keep in mind1 but the mass1 great or small1 as the case may be2 the mass of a gown1 for example1 or the mass of one of its folds4 ,i need not tell you that an artist's hands may be alive with feeling when he holds a brush1 just as when he has a pencil in them4 ,in fact1 what we have said about feeling and expression in line may be applied to brushwork4 ,in the case of a man who is not merely a filler in of spaces with paint1 but is by instinct a painter1 the brushwork grows into life beneath his hand4 ,sometimes he lays aside his brush and takes a palette-knife1 with which to spread the paint on the surface or to scrape the part already painted4 ,sometimes he uses no tool at all1 but kneads the paint with his thumb4 ,whether he employs these or other methods1 is a matter of comparative unimportance4 ,the main thing for us to realise is that1 whatever means he employs1 it is because he is giving expression to some feeling in his mind4 ,there is a passage of feeling from his mind through his arm to his hand1 and thence to the canvas4 ,the swifter the passage is1 the more vitality1 as a rule1 will there be in the brushwork4 ,the reason is1 that in such a case the artist is sure of himself4 ,the feeling in his mind is so clearly comprehended2 he so thoroughly feels what he wishes to express1 and is so sure of the way to render it1 that there is no hesitation or sign of fumbling in the result4 ,it has grown freely and naturally and the result gives us that keen and direct pleasure that we derive from what is brimful of life4 ,you know how stimulating it is to listen to a speaker1 whose words flow from his thoughts without any humming and hawing2 and whose words naturally and exactly express the thought4 ,in such a man's talk there is a living growth of thought4 ,as you proceed in your study of painting you will learn to feel in brushwork either the presence or absence of such living growth4 ,you will find sometimes1 however1 that the brushwork1 which at first seems very much alive1 is not really a living growth4 ,it is more like the clever tricks that you perform with your bodies in a gymnasium4 ,it is merely an exhibition of vigor4 ,i may liken this to the oratory of another sort of speaker1 who has a great gift of the gab but very few ideas4 ,he pours out of his mouth a stream of vigorous1 showy1 fine-sounding words2 and fascinates you for a few minutes with the 8exuberance of his verbosity40 ,but presently1 when you come to think it over1 you discover how pretentious and slip-shod the whole speech was4 ,he was exhorting to patriotism2 but1 where ,lincoln would have left us with a few choice thoughts1 so perfectly expressed that they will remain for ever in the memory1 this man has only bedecked his generalities with a confusion of words4 ,his speech is not golden1 but cheap tinsel4 ,well6 you will find that there are painters also1 so much in love with the exuberance of their own cleverness1 that they are satisfied to do nothing but make a gymnastic display of it4 ,you will find too1 that there are others1 to whom the mere manual dexterity is so objectionable1 that they deliberately try to make you lose sight of any brushwork in their pictures4 ,whistler was one of these4 ,he used to say that a picture is finished1 when the artist has completely disguised the means by which it has been produced4 ,he wished the expression of his feeling to reach our imagination immediately and fully1 without any other consideration blocking the way or interfering with our appreciation4 ,his method of painting was deliberate2 a little added to-day1 something more another day2 the whole process extending1 frequently1 over several years4 ,for the feeling which he wished to express was a very subtle one1 so the living growth of it1 as of many things in nature1 was slow4 ,on the other hand1 most of the great painters seem to have been swift workers2 or at any rate their final result gives one the impression of having been executed in the vigor and glow of a swiftly working mind4 ,the best way to learn to appreciate brushwork is to stand close to a picture1 and observe the various kinds of strokes and dabs and streaks4 ,they seem to have no meaning4 ,but step back4 ,then all or most of the separate brush marks will have disappeared4 ,they are merged into one another and their meaning becomes clear4 ,then1 after having thoroughly studied the effect which the artist has produced1 you may again step close up to the canvas and examine the means by which he has attained it4 ,if it is a landscape you are studying1 you will find1 possibly1 that the sky1 which from a distance seems to be grey1 is really composed of streaks of blue and pink and grey4 ,it is1 in the first place1 by these streaks of the brush1 and1 secondly1 by the infusion of several colors1 that the artist has succeeded in making his sky have the appearance of atmosphere1 extending far and far back4 ,then1 if you examine the trees1 you may possibly find the strokes short and stubby1 so as to bring out the character of the foliage2 while1 what from a distance gave the impression of being simply green1 is also found on closer inspection to contain many spots of other colors4 ,it is in this way that the action of light upon the foliage has been suggested2 so that the trees from a distance do not seem hard and heavy but penetrated with light and atmosphere4 ,in this way1 stepping nearer to and further from the picture1 and continually asking yourself3 ,what is the impression that the artist wished to convey and why has he done so and so8 you will soon find that you are getting an insight into the quality and expression of brushwork4 ,now one word more4 ,a little while ago ,i alluded to 8finish40 ,what is 8finish08 ,most people think it means that every part of a picture should be brought up to a uniform degree of polish and precision4 ,it should be sleek and shiny1 like our shoes1 when the man has finished shining them4 ,certainly you will see many pictures that seem to justify this explanation4 ,but as a rule they will not be examples of good painting4 ,you remember our talk on texture4 ,well1 only some textures are sleek and shiny and polished4 ,so1 if this whole picture is of that character1 some of the textures must have suffered4 ,then again1 life is not uniform1 it does not show itself in all people and things in the same way4 ,therefore it is very likely that the uniform polish and precision of this picture has interfered with its expression of life4 ,the whole thing is mechanical rather than vital4 ,no1 you must be prepared to find in well painted pictures1 all sorts of conditions of not seeming to be finished2 all kinds of different styles1 coarse1 refined1 bold1 dashing1 reticent1 and tender1 brilliant1 and modest2 almost as many different styles and conditions as there are painters4 ,for a painter's use of the brush is an expression of his own individuality and life1 as well as of the life and character of the subjects he represents4 ,i have already told you ,whistler's definition of 8finished40 ,it is perhaps too much a product of his own personality to be of general service4 ,one more applicable to all kinds of painters and pictures is the following4 ,an artist has finished his picture1 when he has succeeded in making it express the feeling that inspired it4 ,this will include ,whistler's definition1 and also the practice of a ,titian1 a ,rubens1 or a ,velasquez1 whose brush strokes are visible to this day1 as witnesses of the living growth of their conceptions4 ,further it will include many pictures that to your eyes seem unfinished4 ,they look like sketches1 and1 therefore1 you think1 cannot be considered as a finished picture4 ,but go slowly with a thought of that sort4 ,as you advance in appreciation you will find that many a drawing of a few lines only1 and many a little picture1 composed of a few touches of color1 have in them more of the living growth of feeling1 more of the charm of abstract beauty than thousands of so-called finished pictures1 in which the original feeling1 if there were any1 has been submerged in an ocean of trivialities4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,subject1 ,,motive1 ,,and ,,point ,,of ,,view ,at the beginning of our talks1 you may remember1 ,i told you ,i should not have much to say about the subjects of pictures4 ,for ,i wished at the start to make you realise1 that what a picture is about is of much less importance than the way in which the subject is treated4 ,a fine subject may be treated in such a way as to make a very bad picture1 while a good picture may be composed of a subject in which one is not particularly interested4 ,in fact1 ,i wished to help you to look at a picture first and foremost as a work of art2 a thing beautiful in itself because of its composition of form and color2 beautiful in an abstract way1 that is to say1 apart from the ideas suggested by the subject4 ,my aim has been to try to teach you to admire a picture in an abstract way1 as you admire a ,japanese or ,chinese vase1 simply and solely for its beauty of form and color4 ,this is not the usual way4 ,most people begin by taking interest in the subject of a picture1 and very many never get any further in their appreciation4 ,on the other hand ,i felt that1 if ,i could once get you interested in the abstract qualities of a picture1 you would be started right1 and that your interest in the subject would be sure to follow after4 ,so our talk about subject has been put off until now4 ,pictures are sometimes sorted into groups according to their subject4 ,there are religious pictures2 pictures of myths and legends or imaginary subjects2 portraits2 landscapes2 historical pictures1 like ,washington crossing the ,delaware2 genre pictures or scenes of every day life2 still-life subjects1 representing flowers and fruits1 dead birds1 beasts and fishes1 and objects of man's handiwork2 decorative subjects and mural paintings4 ,but this grouping does not settle the matter1 since each of these subjects can be treated in more than one way4 ,how it is treated depends upon the motive and point of view of the artist4 ,so1 the simplest way to grasp this matter of subject is first of all to find out what is meant by an artist's motive and point of view4 ,as usual1 let us start with dictionary meanings of these words and then see their application to what we are discussing4 ,motive1 then1 is that which causes a thing to move1 which impels it4 ,what is the motive power of that train8 ,is the power that moves it steam or electricity8 ,what is the motive of any particular artist1 the force which impels him to adopt a certain method or to work in a certain direction8 ,point of view on the other hand1 is the point at which a person stands to view something4 ,you may watch a procession in the street from the point of view of a window4 ,but the word is more often used1 not of where your body stands1 but of where your mind stands4 ,according to our birth and bringing up2 that is to say1 as the result of what we inherit from our forebears1 and have acquired by education and experience1 we each have our own point of view4 ,for example1 you will not hesitate to say that your point of view is ,american4 ,you read about the ,panama canal4 ,you are not only interested1 but proud1 because ,americans are digging it4 ,if the ,french1 who began it1 were carrying on the work1 your interest in it would be less and your pride nil4 ,when you travel abroad1 at any rate for the first time1 you will not be able to help making critical comparisons between the way they do things in ,europe and at home4 ,you will be apt to see everything from the point of view of an ,american4 ,your point of view is the result of your being what you are4 ,and it is the same with an artist4 ,being what he is1 and what he cannot help being1 he has his own particular personal point of view4 ,being what he is1 he also has his own individual motive4 ,through the union of motive and point of view1 he sees things in his own way and in his own way is impelled to represent them4 ,since each artist is a person different to all other persons1 the varieties of motive and point of view are infinite4 ,there is no end to the variety2 and1 as you grow older1 and continue your study of pictures1 you will find more and more interest in looking into and discovering just what is the particular motive and point of view of each artist4 ,for he cannot help betraying them in his pictures1 any more than you can help betraying yours1 if1 being a partisan of ,yale1 you are watching a football game between ,yale and ,harvard4 ,just as your behavior will betray your feelings1 so is a picture the expression of an artist's personal likes and dislikes4 ,in studying pictures1 therefore1 you are also studying the personality of the men who painted them4 ,i wish you to feel that this sort of study has no limits4 ,its interest will last you1 as long as you live4 ,at the same time my aim is to help you to enter upon the study4 ,and at the start everything should be made as simple as possible4 ,so1 although motives and points of view are infinite in variety1 let us see if we cannot find some simple clue to the study of them4 ,i think it may be found in dividing all artists into two big groups4 ,on the one side1 those who are inclined to represent the world as they see it to be2 on the other side1 those who represent things according to their own ideas4 ,it is the great division between the naturalistic or realistic and the idealistic motive and point of view4 ,some artists are naturalists1 or realists2 others are idealists2 a great many are a mingling of the two4 ,this broad general distinction must be thoroughly understood4 ,for you can see that it would be impossible to enter into the merits of an idealistic picture1 if you insist on approaching the study of it from the naturalistic point of view4 ,and vice versa4 ,the only way to appreciate a picture is to approach it from the point of view of the man who painted it4 ,we must try to enter into his mind and find out his motive and see the subject as he saw it4 ,when we have done so1 we may not like his picture4 ,that is another matter4 ,perhaps his motive and point of view1 when we have discovered them1 do not please us4 ,our own are so different1 that he and we cannot really agree4 ,or possibly1 while we agree with his motive and point of view1 we do not feel that he has expressed them well4 ,in either case1 his picture is not for us4 ,at least1 not to-day2 for1 as we grow older1 we shall find that our own motive and point of view are apt to change4 ,we have studied more1 and know more1 and may find that pictures1 we once did not care for1 we now admire2 and1 on the other hand1 that the pictures we once liked have ceased to please us4 ,now for a talk about the difference between naturalistic or realistic and idealistic4 ,when the art of painting began to revive in ,italy at the end of the ,thirteenth ,century1 the first aim of the artists was to make their pictures more really resemble life and nature4 ,i have already told you of ,giotto1 who gave roundness and natural gestures to his figures1 made the objects look more real1 and suggested the depth and distance of their surroundings4 ,next of ,masaccio1 who gave his figures still more resemblance to life1 and filled in their surroundings with a suggestion of atmosphere4 ,then ,i told you of ,mantegna1 who from the study of the remains of classic sculpture gave further naturalness of life and vigor to his figures2 until1 by degrees1 from the observation of nature and the study of the classic sculpture1 artists reached proficiency in the natural rendering of the figure4 ,so far as form was concerned1 their figures were absolutely natural4 ,but1 as yet1 the naturalistic motive and point of view had not included the seeing and rendering of nature's light4 ,that was to come later4 ,on the other hand1 the study of classic sculpture1 while helping the progress toward naturalism1 had started some artists in the direction of a new motive and point of view4 ,for now the appreciation of the antique sculpture became increased and supplemented by the study of scholars1 who were translating and explaining the newly discovered writings of the ,greeks and ,romans4 ,plato was the special favorite1 and the ,italians of the end of the ,fifteenth ,century learned from him the motive of idealism and the idealistic point of view4 ,they learned from his writings to think not only of things1 but of ideas4 ,even to consider ideas of more importance than things2 especially the idea of beauty4 ,you will remember that in speaking of ,raphael's ,allegory of ,jurisprudence1 we said that ,jurisprudence represented an abstract idea3 the conception of what justice is in itself and of the qualities of ,prudence1 ,firmness1 and ,temperance that it involves1 apart from the machinery for making and administering the law4 ,men make laws1 and some are good and some are bad4 ,even the good ones are not always perfectly administered4 ,to-day1 in ,america1 our conception or idea of law is higher than our methods of putting it in practice4 ,everywhere1 always1 men's ideals are higher than their conduct4 ,ideals1 then1 which are the motives1 resulting from ideas1 represent the highest effort of man after what is best and most beautiful4 ,most beautiful because it is best and best because it is most beautiful4 ,such was part of what artists learned from ,plato4 ,do you see how they applied it to their art8 ,to ,leonardo da ,vinci1 one of the first ,italian artists to become influenced by the classic spirit1 the teaching appealed in some such way as the following3 ,the idea of ,beauty is separate from the things or objects in which it is manifested2 just as we may have an idea of smell apart from any particular flower2 or of love1 apart from the object of our love4 ,the highest ideal for an artist is to express in his pictures something of this abstract idea of beauty1 to give to his figures beauty and grandeur of form and noble heads2 to put them in positions of grace and dignity4 ,he will not paint human nature as he sees it to be1 with all its imperfections1 but will people his pictures with a race of men and women and children of ideal beauty4 ,this was the motive that inspired those noble ,italian pictures of the ,sixteenth ,century4 ,it was from the high standpoint of abstract beauty that the artists looked at their subject4 ,their point of view was idealistic4 ,but this was not the only thing that made their pictures noble4 ,the artists were inspired also by a great demand on the part of the people of their day4 ,religion held a strong place in the hearts of the people4 ,they called for pictures to beautify the churches and1 at the same time1 to teach those that could not read the beauties of religion4 ,to-day people have learned to read1 and books to a large extent serve the purpose that pictures used to do4 ,but in those days the people needed pictures2 and it was this strong need1 acting like rich soil to the beautiful plant of idealism1 that helped to produce these wonderful pictures4 ,they are the most wonderful that the modern world has ever seen1 just because of this union of two most strong motives--the religious need of the people and the exalted love of beauty of the artists4 ,but note the character of these pictures4 ,sometimes1 for example1 the ,virgin is seated on a throne1 surrounded by angels and apostles1 saints and bishops2 or at other times1 ,christ and his apostles are represented in some scene from the ,new ,testament story4 ,the first presents an entirely imaginary arrangement of the figures2 the second makes no pretence to representing the scene as it may have actually occurred4 ,the apostles1 many of whom were fishermen1 have heads as noble as philosophers2 robes arranged in beautiful folds of drapery1 and conduct themselves with the grace and dignity of some fine classic statue4 ,every line1 every arrangement of form and space1 is designed to assist in building up a composition of ideal beauty4 ,or with the same motive the artist would treat some subject of ,greek mythology1 such as the story of ,psyche4 ,this again was a response to a strong need of the public4 ,not so wide a one as the religious need1 but still a strong one1 for among the cultivated classes there was an intense interest in the old classic myths4 ,or from the same idealistic point of view the artist would decorate the walls of a ,city ,hall4 ,to this also he was impelled by a strong public need3 the desire of the citizens to express their pride in themselves and their city by means of beauty4 ,for by this time the ,italians had learned to express all their highest ideals in forms of ideal beauty4 ,but a change came4 ,the ,italians1 long a prey to foreign enemies and quarrelling among themselves1 at length lost their liberty and their pride in themselves4 ,other nations surpassed them in learning and culture2 and even ,religion lost its intense hold on the public mind4 ,with the loss of high ideals the glory of idealistic painting in ,italy waned and disappeared4 ,but artists of other lands continued to regard the idealistic painting of the ,italians as a model of what came to be called 8the ,grand ,style40 ,during the ,seventeenth ,century ,spanish artists imitated it in their religious pictures4 ,but elsewhere it was used chiefly for great works of decoration2 as by ,rubens in ,flanders 7,belgium7 and ,le ,brun in ,france4 ,the former1 for example1 built up a series of magnificent compositions in honor of ,marie de ,mdicis1 the wife of ,henry ,,iv of ,france4 ,they are now in the ,louvre in ,paris4 ,le ,brun's vast paintings and tapestries1 that decorate the palace of ,versailles1 were designed to extol the glory in war and peace of ,louis ,,xiv1 who at the end of his long reign left his country poor and his subjects miserable4 ,in fact1 idealistic painting that had once been great1 because nourished by an intense religious motive or by the motive of civic pride1 had sunk to being a means of flattering the vanity of monarchs or pandering to the luxury of the idle rich4 ,so during the ,eighteenth ,century it continued to languish4 ,the form alone remained1 growing less and less beautiful2 the old spirit of it was dead4 ,a new one1 however1 arose and had a brief spell of life1 for it was based on the awakened desire of the ,french people for liberty4 ,in the years before the ,revolution ,david painted idealistic pictures4 ,he chose his subjects from the history of the ,roman ,republic1 in order that by the example of its patriotism he might stir his own countrymen to action4 ,the models for his figures he took from old ,roman sculpture4 ,his pictures fitted the temper of the time and helped the cause of liberty2 but when ,napoleon made himself ,emperor ,david passed into his service1 and the high motive for his idealistic pictures ceased4 ,later painters have turned again to ,italy1 and by building up imposing arrangements of figures have tried to make the spirit of ,italian idealism live again4 ,they have not succeeded4 ,perhaps for two reasons4 ,first1 that the old ,italian compositions are mostly of an allegorical character1 and allegory does not interest the modern mind4 ,we are interested in realities4 ,second1 that those compositions were based on the beauty of form of the human figure2 the artists made their forms as perfect as possible and placed them in an artificial arrangement that would produce a pattern or composition of beauty and dignity4 ,but modern art is more concerned with rendering the natural appearances of the world2 and1 if it idealises them1 does so1 as we shall presently see1 by means of light and atmosphere4 99 99 99 99 99 ,meanwhile1 that ,seventeenth ,century1 in which ,italian idealistic painting dwindled1 saw a new outburst of the naturalistic or realistic motive in two parts of the world2 simultaneously1 in ,spain and ,holland4 ,i have already told you how ,velasquez in ,spain and the ,dutch artists devoted themselves to the study of the persons and things actually present to their eyes4 ,they were realists or naturalists4 ,holland had cut herself off from ,flanders and the splendid vice-regal ,court of ,brussels1 and her own noblemen were busy fighting for their country's freedom4 ,so there was no demand for her artists to paint handsome decorations4 ,she had also cut herself off from the ,roman ,catholic religion2 and in the churches of the ,reformed ,faith there was no demand for great religious pictures4 ,these two motives were lacking2 but she had another one--a very strong one--the love of country and the pride of the people in themselves4 ,it was strong enough to produce a great school of painters of little pictures1 distinguished for their great truth to nature4 ,among these ,dutch artists1 however1 was at least one who was not only a realist but an idealist4 ,this was ,rembrandt4 ,it is of his idealism that ,i will speak here2 and1 to illustrate it1 will tell you of a small religious picture in the ,louvre3 ,the ,visit to ,emmaus4 ,you remember that ,christ in the evening of the day of his ,resurrection came upon two of his disciples and joined them in their walk to the village of ,emmaus4 ,not recognising him1 they talked of what had happened4 ,it was not until the little party had reached the inn1 and the ,saviour raised his hands in blessing the food1 that their eyes were opened and they knew him4 ,it is this moment that ,rembrandt represented4 ,when you see this picture you will find no grandeur in it such as the ,italian pictures have4 ,the figures are those of poor ordinary men4 ,rembrandt1 being also a realist1 drew them from the real types of poor ,jews in the ,ghetto1 or ,jew-quarter of ,amsterdam4 ,there is nothing of imposing dignity even in the ,saviour's form and face4 ,whatever may be the idealism in the picture1 it does not depend on form4 ,its motive is different from that of the ,italians4 ,its motive is light4 ,from ,christ's figure spreads a light4 ,is not one of his titles--,the ,light of the ,world8 ,and the light1 flowing from this humble figure1 illumines the faces of his humble companions and1 passing up to the vaulted ceiling1 sheds through the gloom a mystery of tremulous glow4 ,the picture like the subject it celebrates1 is a miracle--a miracle of light4 ,do you see how this was an expression of idealism8 ,rembrandt in studying the world around him had discovered1 like other artists of his time1 the beauty of light4 ,light by degrees represented to him the highest element of beauty in the visible world4 ,while the great ,italians had found the ideal or highest conception of abstract beauty in form1 ,rembrandt found it in light4 ,therefore1 when he painted this picture and wished to show that these figures1 though humble looking1 were not ordinary men1 and that the event was no ordinary meeting at a village inn1 he proceeded to idealise the scene according to his own conception of ideal beauty4 ,he introduced into it the beauty and mystery of light4 ,please note that word mystery4 ,a mystery is what passes beyond our knowledge and understanding1 something that cannot be grasped by our mind and intelligence4 ,thus we speak of the mystery of life3 scientists have discovered how the various forms of life have been developed on the earth1 but the origin of life is still a mystery to them4 ,even when they have traced life back to the smallest conceivable beginning1 they are as far off from knowing what started that smallest beginning into life4 ,but because they do not know1 do they say 8,oh1 what we do not know is not worth the knowing08 ,no indeed6 they realise1 that hidden in the mystery is a truth1 even more wonderful than what they know4 ,or again1 some beautiful summer night by the sea-shore you are looking out over the water4 ,the moon is low and her rays make a pathway of light4 ,you gaze along it and at first the waves are clearly visible1 heaving in the light2 further off1 the movement of the waves disappears2 only a luminous glow remains1 growing fainter and fainter1 till far away it melts into that thin line where sky and water meet--the horizon4 ,do you know that horizon really means boundary1 the limit of our sight1 the point beyond which our eye has no power to see8 ,but is there nothing beyond8 ,if we took ship and sailed beyond that pathway of light1 should we ever reach the horizon8 ,we should only sail on to find the horizon continually beyond our reach4 ,or we turn our gaze from the water to the sky4 ,above us1 further than eye can travel1 it extends4 ,it is studded with innumerable stars4 ,we may know the names of some of them1 and have learned about their movements and their distance from the earth2 but what do we know1 what does any one1 even the wisest and most learned1 know of them1 compared with our ignorance of them8 ,it will be well for us1 as we gaze into the mystery of the heavens1 to be thinking less of the little knowledge that we have than of the miracle1 the wonder1 of what transcends man's understanding2 of the vast1 impenetrable mystery that surrounds our lives4 ,to do so will fill us with1 what we call1 a spiritual joy2 a joy1 that is to say1 which goes beyond knowledge1 and affects that higher capacity of feeling that1 not knowing what it is1 we call spirit4 ,this highest feeling1 that we call spiritual1 has always in it some element of mystery4 ,the truth of this was curiously expressed by a little girl of my acquaintance1 who was very fond of having her mother read poetry to her4 ,i asked her if she understood a certain poem4 8,of course not10 was her quick reply1 8what fun would there be in poetry if you could understand it80 ,well1 ,i have spoken at length of ,rembrandt1 because his way of idealising a scene through the beauty and mystery of light1 has become the way of modern artists4 ,but it was not until nearly two hundred years after his death that the world came round to this way4 ,in the mean time ,rembrandt and the other ,dutch painters of his ,century1 like ,velasquez1 had been forgotten4 ,the painters were busy trying to keep alive the other notion of idealism1 the ,italian one1 based on form4 ,indeed1 it was not until naturalism again became popular1 that idealism by means of light was renewed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have already told you of the revival of naturalism at the beginning of the ,nineteenth ,century2 how the ,english landscape painter1 ,constable1 was followed by the ,french landscapists of the ,barbizon-,fontainebleau group4 ,you remember that their point of view was nature as it is visible to the eye1 but their motive was also to express the feelings of love with which it inspired themselves4 ,then1 about the middle of the ,century appeared ,gustave ,courbet who loudly proclaimed himself a realist4 ,he meant by this that he was not moved by sentiment1 as the ,barbizon naturalists were2 that he believed that the only thing which concerned a painter was to paint what he could see1 as it appeared to his eye alone4 ,he wished to limit his art to what is visible to sight4 ,so he thought it was foolish for an artist to attempt to represent a scene from the ,bible or any historical subject or subject invented by the imagination4 ,as the artist had never seen these things1 he had no business1 as a painter1 to try and represent them4 ,he was going outside his own art and meddling with some one else's3 the art of the writer or actor1 for example4 ,courbet's point of view of realism and his motive1 to paint only what he could see1 were carried further by another ,frenchman1 douard ,manet4 ,he had become a student of the works of ,velasquez1 from whom he had learnt3 firstly1 a new way of viewing his subject2 secondly a new way of rendering what he saw4 ,this new way of viewing the subject is what is now called 8impressionism40 ,i am sorry to have to trouble you with a new word2 but ,i think you are prepared for it1 since impressionism professes to be only a more natural and real way of seeing things4 ,of seeing things1 that is the point4 ,it does not take account of what things are1 but of the impression they produce upon our mind1 when they appear before our eyes4 ,you are at work in school1 and a stranger enters the class room4 ,he converses for a few minutes with the teacher and then goes out4 ,what sort of man was he8 ,if there are twenty children in the class1 and each1 on arriving home1 relates the circumstance of the visit1 there will probably be twenty different impressions of the visitor's appearance4 ,they will agree in some points and differ in others2 yet each one of the impressions may be a true one--as far as it goes4 ,how far it goes will depend on the quickness and thoroughness of your observation4 ,but anyhow1 it will not include a great number of details2 it will rather be a general impression4 ,if you look out of window into a street1 you may see a number of figures on the sidewalks4 ,you receive a general impression of figures1 moving or standing still2 some men1 some women1 representing various spots of one color4 ,now a realistic painter might say1 8,each one of those figures represents a real person2 ,i will paint him as he really is2 and1 to do so1 will ask him to stand still long enough for me to study him exactly in all his visible details40 8,and if you do10 retorts the impressionist painter1 8you will paint something so real1 that it will be too real4 ,for you never could see these people in ,illustration3 ,evening4 ,anton ,mauve4 this way1 if you look at them on the street4 ,the greater part of the details would be lost in the general impression40 ,well6 the more you think of it1 the more right you see the impressionist is--from his point of view4 ,he says1 if you are going to be natural1 be really natural2 if you want to make your pictures look real1 make them real in a natural way4 ,if the only thing in art is to be as like nature as possible1 and to represent things only as they would appear1 if you suddenly looked at them1 the impressionist is right4 ,and what makes this way of looking at things particularly interesting is the fact1 that it is so often the momentary effect in nature that is most beautiful3 the effect that lasts but a moment1 that is fugitive or fleeting1 caught in an instant1 before it changes to something else4 ,you know what ,i mean from your own experience4 ,a certain expression passes over your friend's face4 8,oh6 if ,i could only photograph her now10 you exclaim2 but by the time you have arranged your camera1 it is gone1 and cannot be brought back to order4 ,well1 it is just that fugitive1 fleeting expression of a subject that the realist1 who is an impressionist1 tries to represent in his pictures4 ,so far ,i have tried to explain the impressionist's point of view4 ,now let us consider his way of rendering what he sees4 ,the whole secret of it is the part which light plays in the appearance of things4 ,manet and the other impressionists1 among whom ,claude ,monet and ,whistler are the most important1 see every thing1 as ,vermeer did1 enveloped in light4 ,but they have gone further than he4 ,they have studied much more closely the ever varying qualities of light1 as it differs according to place and season and even time of day4 ,monet has painted a series of pictures the subject of every one of which is the same haystack4 ,at least that is how some people might describe them4 ,but1 if they enter into ,monet's point of view1 they would say that the real subject is not the haystack but the effect of light upon its surface1 and1 as the effect of light is different in every case1 none of the pictures are similar to one another4 ,each represents a separate fugitive expression of light4 ,monet1 in them and other pictures1 has recorded with extraordinary subtlety the impression presented to his eye4 ,for ,monet's impressionism was also naturalistic4 ,whistler1 on the other hand1 with no less subtlety1 rendered also the impression that the things seen had made on his imagination4 ,he was an idealistic impressionist4 ,he painted1 for example1 a number of night-scenes1 or 8nocturnes10 as he called them4 ,the actual objects in them are of less importance than ,monet's haystack1 because in the dim light of twilight or night they are only faintly visible4 ,whistler did not wish us to be aware of the form of the bridge1 or the boat1 the sea and shore1 or whatever the objects may be4 ,he wished us to be conscious of them only as ,presences looming up like spirit-forms in the mystery of the uncertain light4 ,such nocturnes as ,battersea ,bridge and the sea-shore picture1 ,bognor-,nocturne1 appeal to us like ,rembrandt's ,visit to ,emmaus4 ,just as the latter's forms were humble1 so the bridge itself is an ordinary sort of structure1 and the sea-shore and the boats are without any unusual distinction4 ,yet in each case the scene has been idealised through the mystery of light1 and appeals to our spiritual imagination4 ,after two hundred years ,rembrandt's new principle of idealisation1 founded upon the abstract beauty of light instead of on the abstract perfection of form1 has been accepted by modern artists4 ,to a greater or less degree all artists1 whether naturalists or idealists1 who are painting in the modern spirit have been influenced by ,monet and ,whistler4 ,the example of these two has spread far and wide the study and rendering of light4 ,but1 while their followers agree in this motive1 they are independent in their points of view4 ,there are some whose point of view1 like ,monet's1 is objective4 ,they are content to render the impression made upon their eyes4 ,but1 as their eyes see differently from ,monet's1 their pictures are different from his4 ,each is the record of a separate personality4 ,equally1 while others1 like ,whistler are subjective1 recording the impression produced upon their minds1 their pictures vary according to the character and quality of their separate minds4 ,in fact1 in later times1 a notable feature of painting is its diversity of motives and points of view4 ,let me try to explain this4 ,ever since the ,american and ,french ,revolutions1 there has been a gradually increasing interest in what we call individuality4 ,the main object of these revolutions was to establish the right of each and every individual to life1 liberty1 and the pursuit of happiness1 and the idea of government now is to give every individual the chance of making the most of his or her possibilities4 ,your teachers1 for example1 are not running their classes as machines2 they are trying to make a personal study1 so far as possible1 of each one of you1 in order to help you to develop your particular individuality4 ,for a long time this has been the principle of education and government4 ,the result is that there has been a universal increase in individuality1 since numbers of people who had some special possibility have had a chance to develope it4 ,to-day1 in fact1 there is probably nothing that counts more than individuality4 ,this being so it is natural that we should look for it in art4 ,and1 if we do1 we shall find it4 ,in former times there were 8schools of art40 ,in ,italian art1 we speak1 for example1 of the ,florentine ,school1 the ,venetian ,school1 the ,roman ,school2 or we speak of the ,flemish ,school1 and ,dutch ,schools and so on4 ,in each case the artists1 living in a certain city or country1 had sufficient resemblance among themselves in their motives and methods of painting to produce a certain separate style4 ,so1 to-day1 if an expert sees an old picture1 he is able to say at once and1 more often than not correctly1 that it belongs to such and such a school4 ,but an expert of a hundred years hence1 when he sees our modern pictures1 will not speak of ,schools4 ,he may see at once that the picture is by an ,american1 a ,german1 or a ,french artist1 for difference of race and habit of life and thought do still stamp in a general way the pictures of each separate country4 ,but even within the limits of any one country there are as many varieties of motive and point of view as there are individuals4 ,so in modern times1 more than ever before1 there is an individual1 personal note in pictures1 just as there is in books4 ,the artist makes the picture an expression of his own personal feelings4 ,this is one reason why modern pictures are inferior to the old ones in grandeur and dignity4 ,the older ones were not only larger in size1 as a rule1 but they were impersonal1 like a fine building is4 ,the architects who designed the ,capitol at ,washington put their own personal expression into it4 ,but we do not feel it1 as we look at their work4 ,on the contrary1 it is the impersonal1 monumental dignity of the work that impresses us4 ,but in most modern pictures1 instead of what is impersonal1 we receive a distinct impression of intimacy1 of sharing the artist's feeling4 ,and it is the expression of this that we not only look for but enjoy discovering4 ,we often speak of it as the sentiment of the picture4 ,this sentiment may be of all sorts and shades of feeling1 8from grave to gay1 from lively to severe40 ,it may be romantic in spirit1 appealing to us through the suggestion of what is weird and surprising2 it may be full of the tenderness or of the trumpet call of poetry2 it may invite us to gentle reverie1 or stir in us a profound and poignant emotion4 ,but ,i have said enough to point your way4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in conclusion let me sum up the contents of this long chapter4 ,we have seen that there are two main streams of motive and point of view2 the idealistic and the naturalistic4 ,the former flows from the artist's desire to represent his conception of ideal beauty1 the latter from his love of nature4 ,we have seen that they have alternately reached their highest flood1 because the conditions of the times supplied a great public need to which each in turn responded4 ,lastly1 we have seen that gradually both tendencies have undergone a change4 ,whereas originally both the naturalistic and the idealistic motive were concerned with form1 they came to be concerned particularly with light4 ,therefore1 when you look at a picture1 ask yourself3 ,has the artist simply tried to render the visible appearance1 or has he also tried to make the subject interpret some feeling of his own8 ,if he is simply rendering the visible appearance3 ,has he been conscious only of form1 or has he viewed the form in its envelope of lighted atmosphere8 ,further1 has he tried to represent the visible appearance1 as we should find it to be1 if we studied each and every part of it separately2 or he has tried to give the impression of the entire scene1 as it really reached his eyes8 ,if he is interpreting through the subject his own feeling3 ,what is the quality of the feeling8 ,does the picture simply express the artist's consciousness of the grandeur or the loveliness of nature1 or does it also interpret his feeling for the mystery of things not seen8 ,here are a few hints for you in setting out to explore the vast country of motive and point of view4 ,,the ,,end ,,footnotes3 #a ,pronounced dees-poo-th1 with the accent on the last syllable4 ,see page #ac4 #b ,the body between the neck and the commencement of the legs4 #c ,mural--7,latin murus1 a wall71 having to do with a wall2 in this case a decoration on a wall4 #d ,in #agei a ,m4 de ,silhouette was minister of finance1 and he was so economical that the ,french used his name as a nickname for cheap things1 among others for the profile portraits cut out of black paper1 which were then popular4 ,in time1 the word came to be used for any dark mass seen against a light one4 #e ,pronounced ,yo-hann-es ,fair-mair4 #f ,we shall find it was discovered also by the ,spanish artist1 ,velasquez1 in the same century4 #g ,pronounced pa-ee-sahje an-teem4 #h ,still life1 or as the ,french call it 8dead nature0 includes1 firstly1 picked flowers1 fruit and vegetables1 and dead animals1 and secondly1 vases1 pots1 and other objects of man's handicraft4 #i ,showing a mastery over others4 #aj ,turn back to his picture and see how all this that we are now discussing is there illustrated4 #aa ,see page #hh4 #ab ,later on ,i shall have something to say about these so called realists4 ,i shall say to them1 as ,hamlet said to ,horatio1 8,there are more things in ,heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy40