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diff --git a/old/64936-0.txt b/old/64936-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5a25587..0000000 --- a/old/64936-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11381 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Cubists and Post-impressionism, by Arthur -Jerome Eddy - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Cubists and Post-impressionism - -Author: Arthur Jerome Eddy - -Release Date: March 27, 2021 [eBook #64936] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Turgut Dincer, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CUBISTS AND POST-IMPRESSIONISM *** - - - - - CUBISTS AND POST-IMPRESSIONISM - - [Illustration: GLEIZES - - Man on Balcony] - - - - - Cubists and - Post-Impressionism - - BY - - ARTHUR JEROME EDDY - - Author of “Delight, the Soul of Art,” “Recollections and Impressions - of James A. McNeill Whistler,” etc. - - With Twenty-three Reproductions in Color of - Cubist and Post-Impressionist Paintings, - and Forty-six Half-Tone - Illustrations - - [Illustration] - - CHICAGO - - A. C. McCLURG & CO. - - 1914 - - - - - Copyright - - A. C. McClurg & Co. - - 1914 - - Published March, 1914 - - - W. F. HAL. PRINTING COMPANY, CHICAGO - - - - _TO THAT SPIRIT_ - _the beating of whose restless wings is heard in every land_ - - - - -CONTENTS - - -Chapter Page - - I. A Sensation 1 - - II. Post-Impressionism 11 - - III. Les Fauves 33 - - IV. A Futile Protest 50 - - V. What is Cubism? 60 - - VI. The Theory of Cubism 90 - - VII. The New Art in Munich 110 - -VIII. Color Music 140 - - IX. Esoragoto 147 - - X. Ugliness 154 - - XI. Futurism 164 - - XII. Virile-Impressionism 191 - -XIII. Sculpture 202 - - XIV. In Conclusion 207 - -Appendix I. Exhibitions at 291 Fifth Avenue 211 - -Appendix II. Two Comments 214 - -Bibliography 223 - -Index 239 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - -BALLA, _Dog and person in movement_ 164 - -BECHTEJEFF, _Fight of the Amazons_ 53 - -BLOCH, _Summer night_ 92 - - _The duel_ 93 - -BOCCIONI, _Head, houses, light_ 184 - - _Spiral expansion of muscles in action_ 204 - -BRANCUSI, _M’lle Poganey_ 202 - -CARDOZA, SOUSA, _Marine_ 4 - - _Leap of the rabbit_ 84 - - _Stronghold_ 148 - -CÉZANNE, _Portrait of self_ 26 - - _Village street_ 27 - - _Still life_ 36 - -CHABAUD, _The laborer_ 16 - - _Cemetery gates_ 108 - -CHARMY, _Landscape_ 200 - -DERAIN, _Forest at Martigues_ 154 - -DOVE, _Based on leaf forms and spaces_ 48 - -DUCHAMP, _Chess players_ 64 - - _King and queen_ 72 - -ERBSLOH, _Young woman_ 207 - -GAUGUIN, _Portrait of self_ 128 - - _Farmyard_ 129 - - _Scene in Tahiti_ 132 - -GIRIEUD, _Woman seated_ 141 - -GLEIZES, _Man on balcony_ _Frontispiece_ - - _Original drawing for man on balcony_ 70 - -GRIS, _Still life_ 133 - -HERBIN, _Landscape_ 96 - - _Still life_ 186 - -JAWLENSKY, _Head of a girl_ 158 - -KANDINSKY, _Village street_ 20 - - _Landscape with two poplars_ 105 - - _Improvisation No. 29_ 116 - - _Improvisation No. 30_ 124 - -KLEE, _House by the brook_ 88 - -KROLL, _Brooklyn Bridge_ 198 - - _Still life_ 210 - -LEGER, _The chimneys_ 61 - -LEHMBRUCK, _Kneeling woman_ 203 - -MARC, _The steer_ 104 - -MATISSE, _The dance_ 44 - - _Woman in red madras_ 112 - - _Portrait heads_ 205 - - _Back of woman_ 206 - -METZINGER, _The taster_ 60 - -MÜNTER, _The boat ride_ 172 - - _The white wall_ 173 - -PICABIA, _Dance at the spring_ 68 - -PICASSO, _Woman with mandolin_ 74 - - _The poet_ 75 - - _Drawing_ 100 - - _Old woman_ 140 - -ROUSSEAU, _Portrait of self_ 12 - - _Landscape_ 13 - -RUSSOLO, _Rebellion_ 178 - -SEGONZAC, _Pasturage_ 182 - - _Forest_ 192 - -SEVERINI, _The milliner_ 80 - -VAN GOGH, _Portrait of self_ 40 - - _Cafe_ 56 - - _Woman with frying pan_ 120 - - _Chair with pipe_ 121 - -VAN REES, _Still life_ 89 - - _Maternity_ 168 - -VILLON, _Young girl_ 32 - -VLAMINCK, _Village_ 136 - -WEREFKIN, _The country road_ 52 - -ZAK, _The shepherd_ 8 - - - - -CUBISTS AND POST-IMPRESSIONISM - - - - -ALAS! ALAS!! - - -“It is unlikely that any painters will ever again have to face the -hostility which was manifested against the Impressionists. The -repetition of such a phenomenon would be impossible. The case of the -Impressionists, in which withering scorn yielded place to admiration, -has put criticism on its guard. It will surely stand as a warning, and -ought to prevent the recurrence of a similar outburst of indignation -against the innovators and independents whom time may yet bring forth.” - - --“Manet and the French Impressionists,” - by Theodore Duret, pp. 180, 181. - - - - -Cubists and Post-Impressionism - - - - -I - -A SENSATION - - -Since the exhibit at the Columbian Exposition (1893) nothing has -happened in the world of American art so stimulating as the recent -INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF MODERN ART. New York and Chicago, spring of -1913.[1] - -“Stimulating” is the word, for while the recent exhibition may have -lacked some of the good, solidly painted pictures found in the earlier, -it contained so much that was fresh, new, original--eccentric, if you -prefer--that it gave our art-world food for thought--and heated -controversy. - - * * * * * - -Art thrives on controversy--like every human endeavor. The fiercer the -controversy the _surer_, the _sounder_, the _saner_ the outcome. - - * * * * * - -Perfection is unattainable. As man in his loftiest flight stretches -forth his hand to seize a star he drops back to earth. The finer, the -purer the development of any art the more certain the reaction, the -return to elemental conditions--to begin over again. - - * * * * * - -The young sculptor looks at the chaste perfection of Greek sculpture and -says, “What is the use? I will do something different.” The young -painter looks at the great painters of yesterday and exclaims, “What is -the use? I cannot excel them in their way; I must do something in my own -way.” It is the same in business; the young merchant studies the methods -of the successful men in his line and says, “It is idle for me to copy -their methods. I will do something different, something in my own way,” -and he displays his goods differently, advertises differently, conducts -his business differently, and _if successful_ is hailed as a genius, if -a failure he is regarded as a visionary or an eccentric--the result -making all the difference in the world in the verdict of the public. - - Painting today is a terrible problem to an absolutely sincere, - honest, and yet ambitious mind. - - Fired to set forth something of his very own, to avoid plagiarism - and give the world something it has never yet received, the artist, - in whatever direction he advances, finds the horizon bounded by a - great master whom he cannot hope to surpass. Well, indeed, may he - ask what is the use of trying to do what Van Eyck, Botticelli, - Vermeer, Rembrandt, Veronese, Michael Angelo, Velasquez--nay, even - what Constable, Corot, Claude Monet, and Signac have done to - perfection? - - In despair at surpassing the limits set by the great masters of - progress he harks back, as the pre-Raphaelites did, to the painters - before Raphael. Alas, Fra Lippi and Taddeo Gaddi are soon found to - be too sophisticated. He goes back farther, to Giotto, to Orcagna, - even to the Egyptians, and with the same result. At last he takes - his courage in his hands and, throwing overboard the whole cargo of - art history, ancient and modern, he seeks to forget that picture - was ever painted, and with eyes freed from traditional vision he - seeks to recreate the barbaric art of infancy. - - Call this man an extremist if you like, but do not lightly dub him - insincere and charlatan. He is the counterpart in art of the - extremist in politics, the man who has no patience with palliative - measures, who demands the whole loaf and nothing but the loaf, who - kicks savagely away the fragments of bread tendered him by the - moderate and respectable. A dangerous man he may be, but he is no - trifler; and, if he succeeds in his purpose, as extremists - sometimes do, the whipped world at his feet hails him as reformer - and benefactor of humanity.[2] - - * * * * * - -The Columbian Exposition gave American art a tremendous impetus forward, -but of late it has been getting a little smug; the International -Exhibition came and gave our complacency a severe jolt. - -The net result is that American art has received another impulse -forward; it will do bigger and finer and saner things. It will not copy -the eccentricities, the exaggerations, the morbid enthusiasms of the -recent exhibition, because America as yet is not given to eccentricities -and morbidness--though it may be to a youthful habit of exaggeration. -America is essentially sane and healthful--say quite practical--in its -outlook, hence it will absorb all that is good in the extreme modern -movement and reject what is bad. - -Neither our students nor our painters will be carried off their feet but -they will be helped onward. They will be helped in their technic, and -they will see things from new angles, they will be more independent, in -short they will be better and bigger painters. - -They will not be Cubists, Orphists, or Futurists, but they will absorb -all there is of good in Cubism, Orphism, Futurism--and other “isms;” and -bear in mind it is the _ist_ who is always blazing a trail somewhere; he -may lose himself in the dense undergrowth of his theories but he at -least marks a path others have not trodden. - -The recent exhibition was not an isolated movement. There are no -_isolated_ movements in life. The International Exhibition was just as -inevitable as the Progressive political convention of 1912 in Chicago. - -The world is filled with ferment--ferment of new ideas, ferment of -originality and individuality, of assertion of independence. This is -true in religion, science, politics as well as in art. It is true in -business. _New thought_ is everywhere. The most radical suggestions are -debated at the dinner table. In politics what would have been considered -socialistic twenty years ago is accepted today as reasonable. To the -conservative masses these new departures may seem like a wild -overturning of all that is sacred, but there is no need for fear; all -that _is really sound_ will gain in the end. - - * * * * * - -Neither Cubism, Futurism nor any other “ism” troubles the really great -painter; it is the little fellow who fumes and swears. - -The poise of the great man is not at all disturbed by the eccentric and -the bizarre; on the contrary he looks with a curious eye to see if -something of value may not be found. - -Whistler would not have painted Cubist pictures, but having known the -man I can say that nothing there may be of good in Cubism would have -gotten by the penetrating vision of that great painter. - -It is characteristic of the little man to ridicule or resent everything -he does not understand; it is characteristic of the great man to be -silent in the presence of what he does not understand. - - * * * * * - -Just now the older men are violently opposed to the newer; there is no -attempt at understanding and there is abundant ridicule instead of -sympathy. - -[Illustration: SOUSA CARDOZA - -Marine] - -This is inevitable and quite in accord with human nature, but it is a -pity. The old and the new are not rivals; the new is simply a departure -from the old, simply an attempt to do something different with line and -color. The older men should watch the younger with keenest interest; -they may feel sure the new is foredoomed to failure, but that is no -cause for rejoicing; on the contrary the older man should always be -sorry to see the soaring flights of youth come to grief. - - * * * * * - -Because a man buys a few Cubist pictures it must not be assumed he is a -believer in Cubism. - -Because a man has a few books on socialism or anarchism in his library -we do not assume he is a socialist, or an anarchist; on the contrary it -is commonly assumed he is simply broadly and sanely interested in social -and political theories. The radical may not convince me he is right, but -he may show me I am wrong. - -The man who flies into a passion at pictures because they are not like -the pictures he owns is on a par with the man who flies into a passion -at books because they are not like the books he owns--the world is -filled with such men, unreceptive, unresponsive; many intelligent in -their narrow way, but bigoted. - -To most men a new idea is a greater shock than a cold plunge in winter. - -Personally I have no more interest in Cubism than in any other “ism,” -but failure to react to new impressions is a sure sign of age. I would -hate to be so old that a new picture or a new idea would frighten me. - -I would like to own Raphaels and Titians and Rembrandts and Velasquezes, -but I can’t afford it. I say I would like to _own_ them; no, I would -not, for I have the conviction that no man has _the right_ to -appropriate to himself the work of the great masters. Their paintings -belong to the world and should be in public places for the enjoyment and -instruction of _all_. - -It is the high privilege of the private buyer to buy the works of _new -men_, and by encouraging them disclose a Rembrandt, a Hals, a Millet, a -Corot, a Manet, but when the public begins to want the pictures the -private buyer, instead of bidding against the public, should step one -side; his task is done, his opportunity has passed. - - * * * * * - -Most men buy pictures not because they want them, but because some one -else wants them. - -The man who gives half a million for a Rembrandt does so not because he -knows or cares anything about the picture, but solely because he is made -to believe some one else wants it $450,000 worth. - -Read this: - - The crowning event of the day was the sale of Rembrandt’s - “Bathsheba.” The bidding started at 150,000 francs and within a - couple of minutes a perfect whirlwind of bids had carried the price - to 500,000 francs offered by a dealer, Mr. Trotti. - - Already the smaller fry among the bidders had been eliminated and - the contest was circumscribed to a small group, Messrs. Duveen, - Wildenstein, Tedesco, Muller and Trotti being the most ardent in - the battle. - - “Six hundred thousand!” cried Mr. Duveen. - - “Six hundred and fifty thousand,” said Mr. Wildenstein. - - Mr. Duveen replied with a nod which meant the addition of another - 50,000. Then with bids of 10,000 and 25,000 the price mounted, the - struggle developing into a duel between Mr. Wildenstein and Mr. - Duveen. Eight hundred thousand francs was reached and left behind; - 900,000 francs in turn was passed. - - “Nine hundred and fifty thousand,” rapped out Mr. Duveen. - - “Nine hundred and sixty thousand,” responded Mr. Wildenstein. - - Then came “nine hundred and seventy thousand” and “nine hundred - and eighty thousand.” By this time the entire gathering was - spellbound by the spectacle of the gladiatorial contest for the - picture. - - “Nine hundred and ninety thousand,” said Mr. Wildenstein. - - There was an instant of silence. - - “A million!” - - Every eye turned from the speaker, Mr. Duveen, to gaze on Mr. - Wildenstein expectantly. Then there was silence, signifying his - withdrawal from the fight. - - A mighty hubbub arose. The Rembrandt had been knocked down to Mr. - Duveen for a million francs, or, with the commission, 1,100,000 - francs. Never has such a price been given for a Rembrandt. - -This is not dealing in art, it is art on the horse-block. - -Here is the record of that one painting: - - 1734--Sold at Antwerp for $ 109 - - 1791--Sold at Paris for 240 - - 1814--Sold at London for 525 - - 1830--Sold at London for 790 - - 1831--Sold at London for 792 - - 1832--Sold at London for 1,260 - - 1841--Sold at Paris for 1,576 - - 1913--Sold at Paris for 220,000 - - * * * * * - -During the exhibition in New York and Chicago the pictures were the one -topic of conversation; for the time being it was worth while to dine -out; society became almost animated. - -I recall one delightful and irascible old gentleman, critic and painter, -who had not had a fresh appreciation for twenty-five years. For him art -ended with the Barbizon school. Whistler, Monet, Degas had no sure -places. - - * * * * * - -We all have the courage of _others_’ convictions. - -The new, however good, is always queer; the old, however bad, is never -strange. - -Most people laugh at new pictures because they are afraid if they don’t -laugh at the pictures, other people will laugh at _them_. - -Now and then a man laughs at a queer picture because he can’t help it, -_he_ is a _joy_. - -Laughter is the honest emotion of the child, on the grown-up it is often -a mark of ignorance. - -It is so easy to ridicule what one does not understand and _dares_ not -like. - -Laughter never stops to think--if it did there would be less laughter. - -If you _feel_ like laughing at a picture, laugh by all means, it will do -you good, but be sure you _really feel_ like laughing, and to make sure -ask yourself this question, “If that picture were the only one in the -room and I were alone with it would it strike me as laughable?” - - * * * * * - -It always takes just about so many years. What happened with the -Barbizon School happened with Impressionism; what happened with -Impressionism, will happen with Post-Impressionism; what will happen -with Post-Impressionism will surely happen with post-post-Impressionism, -and so on. One movement follows another, as season follows season. Life -is rhythm. - -Each generation thinks itself unique in its experiences. - -We go to an exhibition of cubist pictures and we think nothing like that -ever happened before, hence we feel safe in denouncing them. - -We admit England was wrong when it ridiculed Turner, that France was -wrong when it ridiculed Corot, that Paris was wrong when it derided -Millet, Manet, Monet, Degas, and a host of other great men, but _we_ are -_not_ wrong when _we_ deride the new men. Why? Because we think they are -newer and stranger than the men named. - -[Illustration: ZAK - -The Shepherd] - -We accept Wagner as a genius, but Strauss--oh, no, he is _too_ strange, -but there are stranger composers than Strauss already at work and we -must travel fast to keep up with the procession.[3] - -Be very sure the Cubists, the Futurists, and all the other queer “ists” -would not make the impression they are making if there were not a good -reason for it, if the times were not ripe for a change. - - * * * * * - -Broadly speaking we are changing from the _perfections_ of Impressionism -to the _imperfections_ of Post-Impressionism; from the _achievements_ of -a school, a movement, that has done the best it could, to the -_attempts_, the _experiments_, the _gropings_, of new men along new -lines. - -It is the purpose of this book to describe some of the changes that are -taking place and _try_ to explain them in plain, every-day terms. - -The curse of art literature and professional art criticism is -_art-jargon_. - -Every department of human activity from sport to science, baseball to -philosophy, speedily develops its own jargon and the tendency is for the -jargon to become denser and denser and so more and more obscure its -subject, until some man with horse-sense--like Huxley in science and -William James in philosophy--restores the use of every-day English. - -Some jargon like that of the baseball reporter is intensely vivid and -amusing, it is language in the making, but the jargon of the art critic -is deadly, it is neither vivid nor interesting--it is simply hypnotic. -It is only when the critic gets so angry he forgets his jargon that he -becomes intelligible--and betrays himself. - -The reputation of many a preacher, many an orator, depends wholly upon -his command of jargon, his ability to utter endless phrases which are -either stock ideas, old as the hills, or which _sound_ as if they meant -something but on analysis prove quite barren. - - - - -II - -POST-IMPRESSIONISM - - -Post-Impressionism means exactly what the prefix means--the -art-development _following_ Impressionism. It does not mean a further, -or a higher, or a more subtle form of Impressionism, but it means -something radically different, it means a _reaction_ from Impressionism. - - * * * * * - -The evolution of the new movement has been logical and inevitable. - -After the Barbizon school with its romantic representation of nature, -there came inevitably the realistic painters, headed by Courbet, later -by Manet--men who painted things not romantically but realistically, -pitilessly, brutally. There was the same rage against these men as -against the Cubists today. Both Whistler and Manet were in the Salon des -Refuses of 1864. - -Along with the men who painted _things_ as they saw them, came naturally -men like Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Seurat, Signac, who tried endless -experiments in the effort to paint _light_ as they saw it. - -So that the final twenty-five years of the last century were given up in -France to attempts to paint _things_ and _light_ as they really are. - -After the painting of _things_ and _light_ one would say the art of -painting had touched its limits, that there was nothing more to do. But, -no, there is the painting of _neither_ things nor light--the painting of -_emotions_--the painting of pure line and color compositions for the -sake of the pleasure such harmonies afford--_the expression of one’s -inner self_. - -It was while Manet was painting _things_ as they are, and Monet was -painting _light_ as it is, that Whistler was painting both things and -light but with an entirely different object in view, namely, the -production of _color harmonies_ superior to either thing-effects or -light-effects. - -To the following résumé it is obvious another paragraph must be added to -bring the record down to date. - - * * * * * - - Painting in France in the nineteenth century followed a course - parallel with that of the intellectual life of the country, it - adapted itself to the various changes in modes of thought, it took - upon itself a succession of forms corresponding to those which were - evolved in literature. - - At the beginning of the century, under the Empire, painting was - classical. It was primarily engaged in rendering scenes borrowed - from the antique world of Greece and Rome, subjects derived from - fable and mythology. Historical painting formed the essence of high - art. It was based upon the nude, treated according to the classical - model. Two masters--David and Ingress--were its loftiest - expression. After them classical art was continued in an enfeebled - condition by painters of only secondary importance. - - The new spirit of romanticism, however, which had arisen in - literature, also made its appearance in painting. Delacroix was the - master in whom it found its most complete expression. The tones of - classical art, sober, restrained, and often cold, gave place in his - work to warm and brilliant coloration. For the nicely balanced - scenes of classical antiquity, he substituted compositions - tumultuous with movement. Romanticism developed freedom of action - and expressiveness of pose to their utmost limits. - - Painting was then conquered by realism, which had also invaded - literature. Courbet was its great initiator. He painted the life he - saw around him in a direct, robust manner. He also painted - landscape with a truthfulness that was informed by a powerful - emotion. At the same time, Rousseau and Corot had also brought - landscape painting into close touch with nature. They had - rediscovered its soul and its charm. Finally, crowning, as it were, - the work of their predecessors, came Manet and the - Impressionists.[4] - -[Illustration: ROUSSEAU - -Portrait of Self] - -[Illustration: ROUSSEAU - -Landscape] - -Turner was the forerunner of Impressionism, the father of attempts to -paint brilliant _light_ effects, Whistler was the forerunner of -Post-Impressionism, the father of attempts to paint _line and color_ -compositions. - -Turner did not carry his theories to the scientific extremes of the -Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists; Whistler did not carry his -attempts to the abstract extremes of the Compositionalists and the -Cubists; but in their work are found the seeds of all there is in -Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. - - * * * * * - -“Do you say that this is a correct representation of Battersea Bridge?” - -“I did not intend it to be a ‘correct’ portrait of the bridge. It is -only a moonlight scene, and the pier in the center of the bridge may or -may not be like the piers at Battersea Bridge as you know them in broad -daylight. As to what the picture represents, that depends upon who looks -at it. To some persons it may represent all that is intended; to others -it may represent nothing.” - -“The prevailing color is blue?” - -“Perhaps.” - -“Are those figures on the top of the bridge intended for people?” - -“They are just what you like.” - -“Is that a barge beneath?” - -“Yes. I am very much encouraged at your perceiving that. My whole scheme -was only to bring about a certain harmony of color.”[5] - - * * * * * - -Most painters are so intent upon the _subjects_ of their work they give -little thought to color harmonies. Whistler was the one great modern -exception; his first thought was to produce _beautiful effects_ in line -and color, hence his titles, “Nocturnes,” “Symphonies,” “Arrangements,” -and so on. He did not like to give his portraits the names of his -sitters. Where other painters emphasize the “subjects” and the “stories” -of their pictures he tried to suppress both and direct the attention of -the beholder to the painting. He was the forerunner of recent attempts -to do with line and color what the musician does with sound. He was the -leader of the revolt against the “story-telling” picture. - - * * * * * - -Millet is a good illustration of the painter to whom “subject” was -everything, and technic of quite secondary importance. I think it is -generally conceded that as a painter, a master of technic, he did not -rank very high, but he had a faculty for painting subjects, scenes from -life, that grip. As a painter Whistler was incomparably superior to -Millet, but just because he was a great master of technic and quite -indifferent to the story-telling side of his pictures he did not become -so popular.[6] - - * * * * * - -There are many actions and reactions in art, many evolutions and -involutions, but the great rhythmical sweep of the pendulum is from, let -us say, _studio_-art to _nature_-art, and back from _nature_-art to -_studio_-art. - -From works of _observation_ to works of _imagination_, and back from the -use of the _imagination_ to the use of _observation_. - -For a time men work feverishly in the seclusion of their closets -painting, writing, modelling, composing beautiful things, pure products -of their imaginations, then comes the reaction and they feel the need of -renewing their vigor by touching heel to earth. They draw aside their -curtains, throw open their doors and go out into the sunlight to breathe -the fresh air and gain new inspirations from contact with nature. - -That is what happens in art once in so often. - -The Barbizon school was a studio school. It walked the streets and the -fields; it looked at men and women at work and at play, but when it came -to paint it did not paint outdoors with object and easel in close -contact; it retired within its doors and transformed life and nature as -great romantic story-tellers translate their impressions into -fairy-tales and romances. - - * * * * * - -It seems a far cry from Millet to Chabaud but in some aspects of their -attitude toward art they are nearly akin. Between the two there -intervened Impressionism, that is all. Millet painted _labor_. And what -is the painting by Chabaud, “The Laborer,” but a more elemental Millet? -It lacks the romantic, the poetic qualities of Millet’s “Labor,” for -instance, or his “Sower”--paintings famous in prints and reproductions, -but it is none the less a vivid representation of labor. - -To the admirers of Millet it may seem sacrilegious to even mention -Chabaud in comparison, but, confining our attention to the one painting -reproduced herein, there is no question that in its elemental strength, -its simplicity, it possesses a quality, a certain bald dramatic quality -that Millet lacks, though Millet’s “Sower” may possess qualities you -like more. - -However it is with no intention to make a comparison between two men so -very different, that I mention them, but rather for the purpose of -pointing out that the attitude of both to their art is fundamentally the -same--they use art to _express themselves_ and not to imitate what they -see. - -This is the way Millet worked. “He himself went about Barbizon like a -peasant. And he might have been seen wandering over the woods and fields -with an old, red cloak, wooden shoes, and a weather-beaten straw hat. He -rose at sunrise, and wandered about the country as his parents had done. -He guarded no flocks, drove no cows, and no yokes of oxen or horses; he -carried neither mattock nor spade but rested on his stick; he was -equipped with only the _faculty_ of _observation_ and _poetic intention_ -... he leant on the garden wall with his arms crossed on his breast, and -looked into the setting sun as it threw a rosy veil over field and -forest. He heard the chime of vesper bells, watched the people pray and -then return home. And he returned also, and read the Bible by lamplight, -while his wife sewed and the children slept. When all was quiet he -closed the book and began _to dream_.... _On the morrow he painted._”[7] - -This is the method of all the very great art the world has ever -known--first _to see_; and then _to dream_ and then _on the morrow to -paint_. - -Impressionism cut out the _dreams_--it painted what it _saw_. - -There were never in the world peasants such as Millet painted, or woods -such as Daubigny painted. People thought there were until the -Impressionists came and turned on the light. - -Corot’s silvery glades have a closer relationship to nature. He felt the -reaction that was in the air. He was almost an - -[Illustration: - - CHABAUD - - The Laborer -] - -Impressionist but not quite. One feels the _poetic_, the -_imaginative_--that is, the _studio_ quality in his work. He sought -nature but not in the spirit displayed by the Impressionists. - - * * * * * - -The reaction began with Courbet and was given a powerful impetus by -Manet who painted things not as he _imagined_ them but as he _saw_ them, -and he did not try to see interesting people and things, he did not look -for the _picturesque_ but he painted anything he happened to see upon -the theory that the value of a work of art depends not upon its subject -but upon its technic; that the worth of a painting is to be found in the -painting and not in the object that happens to be painted. - - * * * * * - -Manet painted very few pictures outdoors. In the literal sense he did -not belong to the _plein air_ school. Almost all his work was done -indoors. But it was in no sense studio-art as we have used the term. He -painted in his studio as directly as Monet painted outdoors. He painted -a sitter with the same realism that Monet painted a haystack; and if he -painted a bull fight from memory or from a sketch, he did it with the -_intention_ to reproduce the scene literally. - -Whistler had his literal moods, so to speak; his moments when with clear -eye and vision unaffected by any conscious play of the imagination he -would make marvellously faithful transcripts from life and nature, -transcripts so faithful that Monet’s at their best pale in comparison. I -recall three exquisite marines which were painted in a boat, the -canvases propped against a seat. - -But for the most part he painted indoors and with the one end in -view--the composition of line and color harmonies more beautiful than -anything found in nature, just as the musician seeks to compose -harmonies more beautiful than any sounds found in nature. - -In the clearness of his vision and the faithfulness with which he -painted the things and people with which he came in contact Whistler was -an Impressionist--an Impressionist long before Monet, but in his search -after color and line music, in his attempts to do things beyond and -above nature, he was a _Post_-Impressionist. - - * * * * * - -From a psychological point of view it is not difficult to see how these -movements come about. - -Given exhibitions year after year filled with paintings of the -imagination, with idealized peasants such as Millet’s, and idealized -landscapes such as Rousseau’s, it is morally certain the younger -painters will feel a restless longing to return to the realities of -life, just as the reading or theater going public after being fed too -long on fairy-tales and romances demand more realistic representations -of life. - -Every man who reads much has his fairy-tale period and his romantic -period followed by a strong taste for realism, which in turn is followed -by a new and finer appreciation of purely imaginative literature. - -In his beliefs the normal man passes through a similar series of -reactions from the acceptance of the marvellous in his childhood and -youth to the sceptical rejection of the miraculous and the acceptance of -only the literal and material in his buoyant manhood, thence to the -profounder philosophy and mystical speculations of riper age. - -The old, old conflict between _materialism_ and _idealism_, between -_seeing-knowing_ and _thinking-feeling_, between the cruder actualities -of the senses and the finer actualities of the imagination! - -It is not that all men at a given time are idealists and at another -realists, any more than all painters in one decade are Impressionists, -in another Post-Impressionists. Life does not move that way. - - * * * * * - -Between 1874 and 1900 Impressionism forged to the front and monopolized -the attention of the art world, yet during that period there were -painted more pictures of the Pre-Impressionist schools than ever before. -The Impressionists made all the noise, the Pre-Impressionists did most -of the work. - -The net result was a large amount of absorption by the older schools of -the good things in Impressionism, and a noticeable improvement in -painting generally. - -Just now the Post-Impressionists occupy the center of the stage and are -making themselves so conspicuous the public is almost led to believe -that both Impressionists and Pre-Impressionists no longer exist, that -everything once considered good in art is being relegated to the -storehouse. - -Again, as a matter of fact, with all the noise made by the -Post-Impressionists, it is beyond question true that never before were -so many Impressionist and Pre-Impressionist pictures painted as now. - -The stream of Pre-Impressionist and Impressionist pictures goes right on -and in time history will repeat itself, the good in Post-Impressionism -will be absorbed and the main current that supplies the great public -with art will be _Pre_-impressionist + _Impressionist_ + -_Post_-impressionist, with as many more prefixes as the ingenuity of the -artist can devise to describe his vagaries. - - * * * * * - -Painters are a good deal like inventors, each of whom thinks his -invention sure to revolutionize the world, to find in the end that his -supposed invention is either not new or if new not valuable. - -Now and then a painter like an inventor does do something that is -revolutionary, but these geniuses are not common, and with even them -critical research invariably finds they have simply built upon the -labors of others. An Edison, a Bell, a Marconi appears only when -electrical science has reached a stage where the inventions rather than -the men are inevitable. All this is statistically demonstrated in the -records of patent offices. - - * * * * * - -We talk of this and that “period” in the work of a painter, a poet, a -sculptor. Often the changes in mood and technic are marked and the -transitions sharply defined. For the most part they are the turning from -the imagination to observation and _vice versa_. - -The brain is not unlike a factory; when filled to overflowing with raw -material it must close its doors and work up its stock; when it has -exhausted its store of impressions it must open its five senses to -receive new. - - * * * * * - - According to Hegel, the great German philosopher, there are three - movements of the historical pendulum; for example, we have an age - of materialism followed by an age whose sole interest is in - psychical phenomena; this followed by an age which extracts the - truth from both of these opposite hypotheses, the golden mean. - Thus, in art, we have the classical spirit for the thesis, the - modern art movement, its antithesis, and we may confidently expect - and hope for an age which shall select the bold, fresh spirit of - the modern movement and infuse it into the proportion of classical - art, which shall be the great synthesis of the artistic future. - Thus the extravagant and apparently insane movement of the Futurist - and Cubist will be of the greatest value in reviving art, putting - red blood into art again.[8] - -[Illustration: - - KANDINSKY - - Village Street -] - -A man can understand what is going on about him only by a knowledge of -what has happened in the past--the wider his knowledge of past events, -the clearer his understanding of present. - -Space does not permit the printing in detail the ridicule that greeted -Turner, Millet, Corot, Courbet, but it is important to open the eyes of -the reader to the _fact_ that men whose pictures are considered -masterpieces today, and command fabulous sums, were met with the _same_ -scorn and derision that the new men of today meet. - -History repeats itself--we accept as fine what our fathers laughed at; -our sons will accept as fine what we laugh at, and so on to the end of -time. - -You readers and especially you museums, who are paying tens of thousands -for pictures by Manet, Monet, Renoir and a host of other innovators, -take to heart what follows. - - * * * * * - -In 1874 the Impressionists held their first exhibition in a room rented -from a photographer, 35 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris. They called -themselves, _Société anonyme, des Artistes, Peintres, Sculpteurs et -Graveurs_. - -There were about thirty exhibitors in all; among them, Pissarro, Monet, -Sisley, Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Cézanne, Guillaumin, who might be called -the extremists; Degas, Bracquemond de Nittis, Brandon, Boudin, Cals, -Gustave Collin, Labouche, Lépine, Rouart, and others were invited to -take the edge off the novelties of the first named.[9] - -Monet exhibited a picture named “_Impression; soleil levant_.” In -derision Louis Leroy called an article on the exhibition in -“Charivari”[10] “_Exposition des Impressionists_,” and in spite of the -protests of the painters themselves the name stuck--just as the name -_Cubists_, derisively applied by Matisse, has stuck. - - * * * * * - -This exhibition, which marked an epoch in French art, was a failure so -far as immediate results went. The ridicule was such that the better -known artists, ashamed of being caught in the company of the new men, -“took good care not to run the risk a second time.” - -The pictures were subjected to all sorts of petty insults, “such as the -placing of small coins upon the frames in derision, and jokes and -jibes.” - - * * * * * - -The next year the Impressionists held no exhibition, but under dire need -had a sale at the Hotel Drouot. - - Claude Monet, Sisley, Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Cals, Cézanne, Degas, - Guillaumin, de Nittis, and Pissarro were represented. There were - some seventy pictures. The pictures were disliked and for some - unknown reason the artists were considered as hardened members of - the community. They only received laughable prices. Even the - attempt to carry out the auction-room trick of having friends bid - up the prices was not carried out successfully and many of the - pictures were bid in by the penniless friends in this way, and - withdrawn. Including these mistakes and the real sales they - realized not much more than $2,000. In this sale of 1875, Renoir’s - “Avant le bain” brought $28; “La Source,” $22 (afterwards sold for - $14,000); “Une vue du Pont neuf” brought all of $60; Claude Monet’s - twenty pictures averaged from $40 to $60 each. - -The writer was offered “Avant le bain” in 1894 for $1,200; it has since -sold for $25,000. In a recent letter from M. George Durand-Ruel he says: - - All the fine works of the Masters of the Modern French School have - advanced very much in value. The “Portrait of the Charpentier - Family,” which is now in the Metropolitan Museum, was ordered from - Renoir for three hundred francs; “La Source,” also by Renoir, was - sold in a sale in 1878 for 110 francs. It has been since bought by - the Prince de Wagram for 75,000 francs, and would be worth today - double the amount. The “Port de Boulogne,” by Manet, was bought - from Manet by my father for 800 francs and sold to Faure, who later - on sold it to Comte de Camondo for 70,000 francs. It would be worth - today about 250,000 francs. “Le Déjeuner dans l’Atelier,” which my - father bought from Manet and which we had on exhibition at 389 - Fifth Avenue in 1895, asking price at that time $7,000, was sold - afterwards to M. Pellerin and bought two years ago for the Munich - Museum for $60,000. - -Daubigny was one of the few men who appreciated Monet; he bought his -pictures and urged others to buy. - -When he died in 1878 a sale of his effects was held. Duret says: - - I knew the “Canal à Saardam,” which seemed to me one of the most - beautiful things Monet had painted; I made up my mind to go to the - auction and try to buy it. The sale took place but the picture was - not put up. I supposed that the heirs had decided to keep it as a - work they understood and appreciated. One Sunday, fifteen days - later, happening by chance in L’Hôtel Drouot I went into a room - filled with unfinished works, old and grimy canvases, and a mass of - stuff--in a word, all the worthless debris of a studio--and there - at one side the “Canal à Saardam” of Claude Monet.... I inquired - and learned that the room contained the scourings of Daubigny’s - studio, sent in for sale anonymously. It was there the heirs had - sent the picture of Monet, excluding it from the regular sale - because they thought it would bring discredit. It was knocked down - to me at the auction for $16. In 1894, when my collection was sold, - the picture was bought by M. Durand-Ruel for $1,100. In 1901 it was - withdrawn from a sale at the price of $6,000. - - * * * * * - -The second exhibition was held in 1876 in the galleries of Durand-Ruel. -In passing, tribute should be paid to this great dealer and remarkable -man who backed his belief in the new men with all he possessed, to the -jeopardizing of his business, and who, happily, still lives to enjoy the -confirmation of his judgment. - -Of this exhibition Albert Wolff, in “Figaro,” said: - - The Rue Peletier is unfortunate. Following upon the burning of the - Opera House, a new disaster has fallen upon the quarter. There has - just been opened at Durand-Ruel’s an exhibition of what is said to - be painting. The innocent passerby enters, and a cruel spectacle - meets his terrified gaze. Here five or six lunatics, of whom one is - a woman (Berthe Morisot) have chosen to exhibit their works. There - are people who burst out into laughter in front of these objects. - Personally I am saddened by them. These so-called artists style - themselves Intransigeants, Impressionists. They take paint, brushes - and canvases; they throw a few colors on to the canvas at random, - and then they sign the lot. In the same way the inmates of a - madhouse pick up the stones on the road and believe they have found - diamonds. - -All of which recalls what Ruskin said of Whistler, and the following -choice bits about Turner. - -They (referring to two of his famous pictures) “mean nothing. They are -produced as if by throwing handfuls of white and blue and red at the -canvas, letting what chanced to stick, stick, and then shadowing in some -forms to make the appearance of a picture.” - -Another picture “only excites ridicule.” “No. 353 caps all for -absurdity, without even any of the redeeming qualities of the rest.” ... -“the whole thing is truly ludicrous.”[11] - -Again of Turner, - - “This gentleman has on former occasions chosen to paint with cream, - or chocolate, yolk of egg, or currant jelly--there he uses his - whole array of kitchen-stuff.... We cannot fancy the state of eye - which will permit anyone cognizant of art to treat these rhapsodies - as Lord Byron treated “Christabel;” neither can we believe in any - future revolution which shall bring the world round to the opinion - of the worshipper, if worshippers such frenzies still possess.”[12] - -In 1877 the Impressionists held their third exhibition, again in -Durand-Ruel’s galleries. This proved more audacious than the first. - -“It gave rise to an extraordinary outburst of laughter, contempt, -indignation, and disgust. It became a notable event in Parisian life. It -was talked about in the cafés of the boulevards, in clubs, and in -drawing rooms, as some remarkable phenomenon. Numbers of people went to -see it. They were not attracted by any sort of artistic interest; they -simply went in order to give themselves that unpleasant thrill which is -produced by the sight of anything eccentric and extravagant. Hence there -was much laughter and gesticulation on the part of the visitors. They -went in a mood of hilarity; they began to laugh while still in the -street; they laughed as they were going up the stairs; they were -convulsed with laughter the first moment they cast their eyes upon the -pictures.” - -A critic in “La Chronique” said: - - They provoke laughter, and yet they are lamentable. They display - the profoundest ignorance of drawing, of composition, and of color. - When children amuse themselves with a box of colors and a piece of - paper they do better. - -Cézanne was the one among them who both now and for a long time -afterwards excited the most detestation. It is not too much to say that -he was regarded almost as something monstrous and inhuman. - -After the close of the exhibition a sale was had at the Hotel Drouot. - - “Forty-five canvases of Caillebotte, Pissarro, Sisley, and Renoir - realized only $1,522--an average of less than $34 each. The sale - took place in the presence of an amused and contemptuous public, - who received the pictures, as they were put up at auction, with - groans. They amused themselves with passing several of them round - from hand to hand, turned upside down.” - -Sixteen Renoirs brought $400. The next year “le Pont de Chateau” sold -for $8, “Jeune fille dans un Jardin” for $6, and “La Femme au Chat” for -$16. - -Sisley sold eleven for 1,387 francs, or $25 each. These prices meant -disaster and the painter was in great distress. In 1878 he wrote -Theodore Duret a pathetic letter asking if Duret could not find some -friend who would have enough confidence in his, Sisley’s, future to pay -$100 per month for six months and receive in return thirty pictures. - - “At the expiration of six months, if he is not disposed to keep the - thirty pictures, he can take the chances on a sale of twenty, get - back the money he paid me, and have ten pictures left for nothing.” - - * * * * * - -During the New York Exhibition the Metropolitan Museum bought a Cézanne -for something like $8,000. The price of a more important was $46,000. In -the seventies in Paris there was a dealer in artists’ materials called -Père Tanguy who had a little shop in rue de Navarin. In 1879 when -Cézanne left Paris for the country he left his pictures for Père Tanguy -to sell. Duret went there to buy some. He found them stacked against the -wall, piled according to their dimensions, the small ones $8 each, the -large ones $20. - - * * * * * - -This is an old, old story--the story of nearly every great artist of -whom we have any knowledge. - -The world seems to need perspective to appreciate a great man. - - * * * * * - -We are prone to think the great men have just passed away; we do not -realize that men just as great in one way or another are being born -every day. - -The great man usually differs from the ordinary man only in his _one_ -greatness. On many sides he may be a very commonplace man, a petty man, -but on his great side he is so far - -[Illustration: CEZANNE - -Portrait of Self] - -[Illustration: CÉZANNE - -Village Street] - -out of the ordinary that it is almost impossible to understand him close -to. The fact that he is doing things in an _extra_-ordinary way causes -us instinctively to distrust and condemn him. - - * * * * * - -One of the early buyers of Impressionist pictures was a distinguished -Chicago woman, and her collection today contains some of the finest -Monets, Renoirs, and Degases in existence. When her friends heard she -had bought some forty or fifty Monets they shook their heads in dismay -at such folly. This was not many years ago, less than thirty, and now -the pictures are in demand the world over and worth ten, fifteen, twenty -times what they cost. - -The same ladies and gentlemen who shook their heads at the Monets in -1890 shook their heads at the Cubists in 1913. If they live another -quarter of a century they will once more shake their heads at the new -art of that day--for such is life. - - * * * * * - -Neo-Impressionism was the logical outcome of Impressionism. It was -simply the attempt to paint light in still more scientific fashion, by -the use of the primary colors laid on in fine points in such a manner -that at the proper distance the points fuse and produce the tone -desired. - -The use of small dabs or points of color instead of brush strokes gained -for the movement the name “_Pointillism_.” - -Neo-Impressionism was not a reaction from Impressionism but an attempt -to advance still further the painting of light effects. - -Seurat and Signac simply attempted to out-Monet Monet. -They were the last word in Impressionism. After them the -reaction--_Post-Impressionism_, something fundamentally different from -and opposed to the very theory of Impressionism. - - It is, perhaps, a national characteristic of the French to be - intense on all they undertake, and if there is one quality common - to the generation of painters who followed the earlier - impressionists it is intensity. This earnest passionateness has - produced developments in two main directions, towards more intense - luminosity and towards more intense simplification. The first is - exemplified in the work of _the Pointillists_, who carried it to - its logical conclusion, the division of tones, and built up their - pictures with points or square touches of pure colour. Paul Signac, - for example, is dazzling in his scientific presentment of the power - of light. It is difficult to believe that luminosity can be carried - further than in his radiant canvases whose force makes the most - brilliant Turner appear pale and weak in comparison. Signac’s - method, it may be noted in passing, is a square touch of pure - colour as opposed to the circular spots of Seurat, the inventor of - Pointillism, Theo van Rysselberg, and the late Henri-Esmond Cross. - - If Signac has reached the limit in intense luminosity, Henri - Matisse, Otho Friesz, and André Derain, among others, stand for - intense simplification. But it is still a little too early to deal - with their astonishing works, and any one sincerely desirous of - comprehending the aims of these revolutionary painters may be - recommended to commence his course of initiation by a serious study - of the works of Cézanne and Gauguin. These two deceased painters - are to their younger comrades what Marx and Kropotkin are to the - young social reformers of today.[13] - -We are constantly led astray by words--at best they are imperfect -instruments of thought. - -As has been often noted in the literature of painting, all art is -_impressionistic_ in the broad and fine sense of the term. Hence to -divide painters into Impressionists and Non-Impressionists involves a -contradiction. - -In painting his _purely imaginative_ creations of light effects Turner -was as much of an Impressionist as Monet in painting his _closely -observed_ light effects. - -In painting his _ideal_ peasants Millet yielded as freely to his -impressions as did Manet in painting his bull-fighters. - -From one point of view the difference is one of degree rather than of -kind, namely, the degree to which the painter lets his impressions _sink -in_ and become a part of him. - -Monet attempted to paint light _exactly as he saw it_, reducing the -personal equation--that is, himself--to the lowest possible -significance. Turner painted light as he saw _and imagined_ it; he -allowed his impressions to sink in, to become a part of him, then he -_created_ a picture. And his pictures vary greatly in the proportion of -observation to imagination; in some he painted almost as direct and as -coldly from nature as Monet, in others he barely used his observations -as groundwork upon which to let his imagination run riot. - -It is not strange that so erratic, so eccentric a genius bewildered the -public and the critics of his day, for in the painting of light he was a -generation ahead of his time, and in the attempt to paint pure color -harmonies he was two generations ahead. - - * * * * * - -Take, for instance, his “Sunrise, with a Sea Monster,” and “Sunrise, -with Boat between Headlands,” in the Tate Gallery. If these pictures had -been hung anonymously in the International Exhibition in New York they -would have excited more laughter than any of the Cubists. They are -simply color schemes compared with which an “Improvisation” by Kandinsky -is a legible message. - -A Turner in the National or Tate Gallery is accepted as a masterpiece; -the same picture hung anonymously with a lot of extreme -Post-Impressionists in the Grafton Gallery would be the occasion of much -hilarity. - - * * * * * - -While all painting is more or less impressionistic, in the art -literature of the day the term “Impressionists” is appropriated to the -school of men who paint in the open direct from nature, and who attempt -to record faithfully, many almost mechanically, their visual -impressions of objects and light-effects. - -Hence the term _Post_-Impressionism means not an accentuation or a -further development of Impressionism such as _Neo_-Impressionism or -“pointillism,” but a _reaction_. - -When Impressionism has had its day and done its best, then something -different must come, and logically that something different is a return -to the art that is the antithesis of Impressionism--the art of the -_imagination_--a _creative_ art.[14] - - * * * * * - -For a generation the poetic, the imaginative work of the Barbizon -School--to use this one school as typical of the painting of practically -the entire western world in the sixties and seventies--held sway. - -Then came the return to nature, the Impressionists, and for a generation -they held sway. - -Now, apparently, we are at the beginning of a new movement, a return to -imaginative art, and the evidences of this return are seen not only in -painting but in decoration, in sculpture, in music, in drama, in -literature, in fiction, in philosophy, in medicine, in business, in -politics. - -_There is a demand_ for _ideals_ as distinguished from _results_. - - * * * * * - - We have learned that the proper end of poetry is the expression of - emotion, to which all reasoning and statement of fact should be - subsidiary; but we have not learned that painting should have the - same end, using representation only as a means to that end, and - representing only those facts of reality which have emotional - associations for the painter. In primitive pictures, it is true, we - look for the expression of emotion rather than for illusion, and - that is the reason why so many people get a real pleasure from - primitive art. They judge it by the right standard, and ask of it - what it offers to them. But from modern pictures they demand - illusion--that is to say, the kind of representation they are used - to; and when they do not get it they accuse the artist of - incompetence.[15] - - * * * * * - -In painting this reaction, this tendency--call it what you please--has -taken many forms, one of which is _Cubism_. - -While this book devotes much space to Cubism, it is solely because in -its extreme development it is, from a coldly critical point of view, the -_most abstract_ word yet uttered in painting, it is the farthest removed -from impressionism, and therefore serves admirably to illustrate a -discussion of the philosophy of _Post-Impressionism_. - -In a book like this, written as an off-hand comment upon what is now -going on in the world of art--in the world generally, for that -matter--it would be quite impracticable to follow the development of -even the principal lines of human activity;[16] hence the works and -theories of the Cubists have been chosen as typical of radical and -revolutionary ideas and the attempt is made to find wherein these works -and ideas are not so radical and extravagant as they seem, but are, in -fact, only an illustration of what is going on in the minds of men -generally. - -If the painter who laughs at a Cubist painting and denounces it will -only stop to think he will find one of two things true, he himself is -either advancing in his art or he is not. If he is not, there is nothing -further to be said, his attitude toward the Cubist painting is quite -consistent; but if he is advancing, if his style, his technic, his point -of view are changing, _however slightly_, from year to year, then he -should be exceedingly cautious how he ridicules or condemns, for without -knowing it he may be traveling the highroad, one of the interesting -byways of which is Cubism. - -Most painters of sixty who are now Impressionists and who ridicule -Cubists, if cross-questioned would be obliged to confess that -thirty-four years ago they ridiculed the men in whose footsteps they -have since followed and whom they now recognize as masters. - - * * * * * - -In the course of our discussion we shall have occasion to speak of the -Futurists and other extremists, for they all are part of the one big -reaction, they are all _Post-Impressionists_, and all have something to -say worth hearing, but the Cubists serve our purpose best because their -pictures, from an argumentative point of view, are more tangible, and -their theories have been worked out in print in plain terms. - -[Illustration: VILLON - -Young Girl] - - - - -III - -LES FAUVES - - -Every development bears within the seeds of its dissolution and the -germs of its succession. - -The seeds of the dissolution and the germs of the succession of -Impressionism were _Les Fauves_--the Savages, the Wild Ones, as you -please. - -The philosophical student of the history of art has no trouble in -tracing at any time the following currents: - -_A._ The main stream which includes _all_ art developments from the -profoundest and most permanent to the most fleeting and superficial, -from the soberest to the most extravagant. - -_B. B._ +. Within the main current lesser currents of such magnitude -that they frequently seem to dominate--and often do obscure the -direction of--the main current; as, for instance, Impressionism -dominated the art of France and influenced the art of the entire western -world in the final years of the last century. These lesser currents have -their effect on the main current, though their ultimate effect is never -so revolutionary as their enthusiasts believe; the good in them is -absorbed, the meretricious rejected. - -_C. C. C._ +. Surface manifestations of all kinds, often so violent they -disguise not only the main current, but the important subsidiary -currents, and lead men to believe for the moment that art is reversing -itself, that all that has been done is being undone, that chaos is -taking the place of order. These subsidiary movements are with us -always, evident in every exhibition; they are the experiments, the -extravagances of each generation, of each decade, of each year. Some of -them contain so much of truth they develop into _B._--larger -currents--“movements;” others are of such ephemeral importance they -cause their sensations of the hour and pass away, leaving behind scarce -distinguishable traces. - -It is these last movements which, because they are new and strange, so -impress critics and public that observation loses its sense of -proportion; the force of the main current (_A._) is lost sight of, and -the strength of subsidiary currents (_B. B._ +) is overlooked. - -The newest movements (_C. C. C._ +) are usually either too bitterly -denounced or too widely praised, their true relationship is not -perceived; all sense of perspective is lost in the immediate presence of -the startling. - -There are no hard and fast lines dividing any of these currents and -movements. When and where they begin no one can say; when and where they -end no one can tell. - - * * * * * - -Impressionism is identified with Monet more than any other painter, -because all his life long he has been the steadfast and consistent -exponent of extreme theories regarding the painting of light effects. - -But Impressionism, even the painting of light effects, had its beginning -long before Monet; with the beginning of painting itself, the germs were -there. - -Likewise the germs of every other movement, however extravagant and -superficial, could probably be found in the work of some man or men in -another age and country. - -What happens is that a combination of favoring conditions at a given -time concentrates human efforts and human attention upon a particular -mode, technic, or theory and brings it to the fore. - -The names of Turner, Manet, Whistler, have been cited as illustrations -of geniuses so comprehensive they link several movements, several -decades, together. - -To these should be added the name of Degas in painting and that of Rodin -in sculpture. - -These men have done things far ahead of their own times, they have done -things their own times not only did not understand, but ridiculed and -decried. It was only a few years ago that Paris--yes, _Paris_--rejected -Rodin’s Balzac, by many considered the greatest of his works. - -These men illustrate what we mean when we say that every period in art -contains within itself the seeds of its dissolution and the germs of its -succession. A movement may seem so dominating, so strong, so true, that -people exclaim, “It is the final word, it will last forever,” but at the -very moment somewhere, in obscurity, there will be men doing things that -are diametrically opposed to the prevailing current, things that are -destined to be the masterpieces of a new development. - - * * * * * - -Cézanne exhibited with the Impressionists in 1874 and was counted -one of them; yet in a profound sense he was the first of the -Post-Impressionists. - -While he was classed with the Impressionists he had little in common -with them, practically nothing in common with Monet. - -All his life Monet has been busy with the _surface_ of things; all his -life Cézanne was busy with the _substance_ of things. - -When Monet paints a landscape he paints the grass and the flowers and -the trees one sees bathed in sunlight; when Cézanne painted a landscape -it was an elemental presentment of nature herself. - -Cézanne was born in Aix in 1839 and died in the same place in 1905. - -Having inherited just sufficient to live very modestly, he devoted his -entire life to trying to fathom the secrets of nature and paint her -innermost truths. - -The fact that his pictures did not sell, that even his friends did not -understand him, did not swerve him a hair’s breadth from the path he had -chosen--to paint, to _learn how_ to paint, _simpler_ and _truer_ -interpretations. - -He lived so isolated from his neighbors that a visitor to Aix in 1904 -had great difficulty in finding his residence; was obliged, in fact, to -resort to the list of voters at the town hall. In the eccentricities of -his daily life he was not unlike Turner, but in his art he indulged no -such brilliant fancies. - -He was a _consistent_ painter. He never permitted his imagination to run -away with him; he constantly checked his work by the closest and most -penetrating observation of nature. - -His manner of work is described by a devoted follower:[17] - - He was working on a canvas showing three decapitated heads on an - Oriental carpet. He had worked a month every morning from six - o’clock until half past ten. His daily routine was, rise very - early, paint in his studio from six to ten-thirty, breakfast, and - go out immediately into the surrounding country to study nature - until five. On his return he had supper and went at once to bed. I - have seen him so exhausted by his day’s work that he could neither - talk nor listen. - - “What is lacking,” he said to me while contemplating the three - heads, “is the _realisation_. Perhaps I shall get it, but I am old - and it may be that I shall die without having reached the highest - point: To realise! like the Venetians.” - -Not unlike the lament of Hokusai at seventy over his imperfections as a -draftsman. - -[Illustration: CÉZANNE - -Still Life] - -One’s first impression from even half-tone reproductions of his -paintings is a feeling of _construction_. I have before me a -still-life--the fruit, the bowl, the piece of stuff are not simply -painted but _built up_ as firmly and scientifically as a builder builds -a house--the materiality as well as the beauty is there. - -It is just the same with his portraits, his figure pieces and his -landscapes; one cannot escape the _sense of the substance_, the -fundamental reality. - -And to attain it all he used the simplest and most direct technic, not a -brush-stroke, not a line, not a spot of color wasted. - -It was these characteristics which made him a profound Impressionist, in -the wider significance of the term, but also the first of the _Fauves_, -the father of the revolt from Impressionism in its more superficial -significance. - - * * * * * - -With the name of Cézanne are associated the names of two men whose work -shows his influence, VanGogh and Gauguin, and one whose work is wholly -different, Henri Rousseau, the custom house employee who painted without -instruction; later, but also conspicuously, Henri Matisse. - -These are the leaders of Fauvism. - - * * * * * - -At the exhibition in New York one had the unusual opportunity of seeing -in close contact many works of all four. It would be difficult to -imagine paintings more different in inspiration and technic. They had -but one thing in common--a pronounced reaction from, not to say revolt -against, Impressionism, evidenced particularly in the use of color -_constructively_ and _decoratively_ rather than imitatively. - - Color force is a feature of the new inspiration. - - The painters of today have discovered anew the world’s coloring. We - now recognize everywhere the power and vivaciousness, the - thousandfold freshness, and the infinite changefulness of color. To - us colors now talk directly; they are not drowned by covering - tints, not hide-bound by a preconceived harmony. An instrument has - thus been given, wherein innumerable melodies still slumber. - - Color is a means of representation not only of what is colored, but - also of the thick and the thin; of the solid and the liquid; of the - light and of the heavy; of the hard and of the soft; of the - corporeal and of the spacious. Cézanne models with color; with - tinted color surfaces he builds a landscape. The proper couching of - colored planes can force upon us the impression of depth; colored - transitions call forth the impression of ascent and of motion; - spots scattered here and there give the impression of sprightly - vivaciousness. - - Color is a means of expression talking directly to the soul. Deep - mourning and soft glowing, warmth of heart and cold clarity, - confused dumbness, flames of passion, sweet devotion--all - conditions and all outbursts of the soul--what can communicate them - to us more forcefully and more directly than a few colors with - their effect exerted through the eye? As tones draw us with them - without our will and without meeting resistance, so does color - subjugate us: now it fills us with deepest sorrow, then again we - are all glowing under its influence. - - Color is a means of composition. The force of sensuous designation, - the expressive power of the soul, both must combine and make for an - always new, always original, and always unique harmony. The law of - color beauty has not as yet been fathomed by the intellect. It is - being created by feeling and by subconscious experience.[18] - - * * * * * - -“Cézanne, Gauguin, and VanGogh were men of very different minds; but -they were alike in this, that they all attempted to subordinate -representation to expression, and were all determined to express only -their own emotional experience. Cézanne could not content himself with -impressionist triumphs of representation. Above all, he revolted from -the Impressionist insistence on the momentary aspect of reality. He was, -so to speak, a kind of Plato among the artists of his time, believing -that in reality there is a permanent order, a design which reveals -itself to the eye and mind of the artist, and which it is his business -to expose in his work. But this design he was determined to discover in -reality itself, not in the works of other artists. His task was -enormously difficult because he would take nothing whatever at second -hand. Nature must tell him all her own secrets; and he would not listen -even to her when she told him commonplaces. He was not interested, so to -speak, in her caprices, in her chance effects of beauty that anyone can -see. He painted landscape as Titian or Rembrandt painted portraits; -searching always for the permanent character of the place, for that -which, independent of weather or time, distinguished it from other -places. This permanent element he found in structure and mass, but, like -Titian and Rembrandt, he would not abstract these from color. For him, -as for these masters, structure and mass revealed themselves in color, -and all these must be verified by incessant observation.... For him a -hill is not a screen for the play of light; it is built up of earth and -rock. Nor is a tree a mere rippling surface, but a living thing with the -structure of its growth. Everywhere he looks for character; yet he -subordinates the character of details to the character of the whole. And -the character of the whole means for him its permanent character, which -he expresses in a design not imposed upon it but discovered in it, as -Michael Angelo discovered the statue in the block of marble. - -“If Cézanne, Gauguin, and VanGogh were charlatans, they were like no -other charlatans that ever lived. If their aim was notoriety, it is -strange that they should have spent solitary lives of penury and toil. -If they were incompetents, they were curiously intent upon the most -difficult problems of their art. The kind of simplification which they -attempted is not easy, nor, if accomplished, does it make a picture -look better than it is. The better their pictures are, the more they -look as if any one could have painted them; in fact, they look just as -easy as the lyrical poems of Wordsworth or Blake.”[19] - -For a glimpse of VanGogh’s life and aspirations, see his letters -published in English under the title, “Letters of a Post-Impressionist,” -written mostly to his brother--simple, pathetic documents, showing the -eager, earnest striving of a man who finally went insane and shot -himself. Critics and opponents of his work have seized upon his madness -as proof of lack of sanity in what he painted--perhaps, but then is -dullness the only proof positive of sanity? - - * * * * * - -Gauguin, half Breton, half Peruvian Creole, was a restless spirit. - -“More than once he circumnavigated the globe, and all his life he was at -recurring intervals a victim to wander-thirst. In early manhood he -returned to Paris and made an heroic attempt to settle down. He entered -a bank, and got on there very well. - -“One day he saw in a dealer’s shop some paintings which brought back -memories of the light and color he had seen in the tropics. He sought -out the painters Pissarro and Guillaumin, and began painting at the age -of thirty. Two years later, in 1880, he exhibited two landscapes in the -manner of Pissarro. - -“Degas made the decisive impression on him, by his systematic division -of large planes of color, and above all, by his strong drawing.”[20] - -[Illustration: VAN GOGH - -Portrait of Self] - -“Gauguin was as singular in his way as VanGogh in his. He did not “go -mad,” but he withdrew from civilized society, buried himself in Tahiti -and painted the natives, firmly convinced that only amidst primitive -conditions could be found the inspiration of pure art. - -“His combative disposition impelled him to fight against painters, -critics, dealers, buyers, and against established institutions and -conventions. One would say fate pursued him. In 1894 at Concarneau in a -quarrel with some boatmen who had insulted him, his ankle was broken by -a sabot kick, leaving a painful injury from which he suffered until his -death (in 1903).”[21] - -Of his aims he said in a letter to a friend: - - Physics, chemistry, and, above all, the study of nature, have - produced an epoch of confusion in art, and it may be truly said - that artists, robbed of all their savagery, have wandered into all - kinds of paths in search of the productive element which they no - longer possess. They now act only in disorderly groups, and are - terrified as if lost when they find themselves alone. Solitude is - not to be recommended to any one, for a man must have strength to - bear it alone. All I have learnt from others has been an impediment - to me. It is true that I know little, but what I do know is my own. - - Every human work is a revelation of the individual. Hence, there - are two kinds of beauty; one comes from instinct, the other from - labor. The union of the two--with the modification resulting - therefrom--produces great and very complicated richness.... - Raphael’s great science does not for a moment prevent me from - discovering the instinct of the beautiful in him as the essential - quality. - - * * * * * - -In 1895 there was a sale of Gauguin’s works at the Hotel Drouot. -Strindberg was asked to write a preface to the catalogue. In declining, -he admitted his own “immense yearning to become a savage and create a -new world,” but said of Gauguin’s world, “it is too sunny for me, the -lover of chiaroscuro. And in your Eden dwells an Eve, who is not my -ideal--for indeed, I too, have a feminine ideal, or two.” - -Gauguin answered, - - Your civilization is your disease, my barbarism is my restoration - to health. The Eve of your civilized conception makes us nearly all - misogynists. The old Eve, who shocked you in my studio, will - perhaps seem less odious to you some day. I have perhaps been - unable to do more than suggest my world, which seems unreal to you. - It is a far cry from the sketch to the realisation of the dream. - But even the suggestion of the happiness is like a foretaste of - Nirvana--only the Eve I have painted can stand naked before us. - Yours would always be shameless in the natural state, and, if - beautiful, the source of pain and evil.[22] - -He had a profound admiration for Cézanne, and was often charged with -imitating him, and in some of his pictures there is a certain -resemblance in construction, but two painters could scarce be less alike -in the handling of color. Gauguin handled color for the pure joy of -it.[23] Cézanne used color as a mason uses bricks. - -Gauguin’s admiration for Cézanne was not reciprocated. - -“Gauguin likes your work immensely, and imitates you,” a friend once -said to Cézanne. - -“Eh! he does not understand me,” was the angry response. “I never have -and never will accept a lack of modelling or graduation; that is -nonsense. Gauguin is not a painter; he produces simply Chinese figures.” - - * * * * * - -Gauguin was a dreamer; Cézanne, in his way, was quite an exact thinker, -for instance, he explained his ideas of form and color as follows: - - Everything in nature is modelled on the lines of the _sphere_, the - _cone_, and the _cylinder_, and one must understand how to paint - these simple figures, one can then paint anything. Design and color - are not distinct; to precisely the extent that one paints, one - draws; the more the color harmonizes, the clearer and purer the - design. When the color is at its finest, the form also attains its - perfection. Contrasts and harmonies of tones--that is the secret of - drawing and modelling.[24] - -In the suggestion of the lines of the _sphere_, the _cone_, and the -_cylinder_, as the _elements_ of all art, one recognizes the _alphabet -of cubism_. But in reducing drawing to these elements Cézanne, without -knowing it, simply repeated what Albert Durer printed in book form -nearly four hundred years ago, and what the Chinese and Japanese had -discovered centuries earlier.[25] - -The fact that the work of four men so different, Cézanne, Henri -Rousseau, VanGogh, Gauguin, began to be appreciated about the same time, -shows how ripe the Paris art world was for the reaction from -Impressionism--for a great movement in _creative_ and _decorative_ art. - - * * * * * - -Matisse taught drawing and for a time--from 1895 to 1899--painted along -conventional lines. Influenced by Cézanne he then broke with the -academic and sought new light effects, effects quite different from -those of the Impressionists. - -He sought to break with all ancient laws, and his use of color became -and still is largely his own.[26] - -While his coloring is always interesting and his drawing facile, there -is at times something about his work that is not satisfying, an -atmosphere of superficiality. He is described, however, by those who -know him as a painter of almost bourgeois earnestness and sincerity, -taking himself and his work most seriously. - -At the same time many of his canvasses give the impression of having -been executed in a spirit of sheer audacity. - - * * * * * - -To be sure, there is a rhythm and swing to some of his moving figures -that is delightful, delightful in the elemental simplicity of the -drawing and the seemingly--but only seemingly--naive coloring. - -Yet even with these canvases there is often the feeling, “With so much -skill, why did he not do better?”--a feeling of disappointment, of -dissatisfaction. - -One is disposed to agree with the opinion that Matisse’s “true gifts are -those of address, of _souplesse_, of quick assimilation, of limited but -easily acquired knowledge--essentially feminine gifts.”[A] - - _“On a beaucoup vanté le goût d’Henri Matisse. Il n’est pas niable, - mais d’une qualité secondaire. C’est le goût d’une modiste; son - amour de la conleur vaut un amour du chiffon.”_ - -He lives in a simple country house in a suburb out of Paris. His studio -is painted white, within and without, with immense windows.[27] - - I found not a long-haired, slovenly-dressed, eccentric man, as I - had imagined, but a fresh, healthy, robust, blonde gentleman, who - looked even more German than French, and whose simple and - unaffected cordiality put me directly at my ease. - - Concerning his early experiences, Matisse said: “I began at the - Ecole des Beaux Arts. When I opened my studio, years after, for - some time I painted just like any one else. But things didn’t go at - all, and I was very unhappy. Then, little by little, I began to - paint as I felt. One cannot do successful work which has much - feeling unless one sees the subject very simply, and one must do - this in order to express one’s self as clearly as possible. - -[Illustration: MATISSE - -The Dance] - - “I studied in the schools mornings, and I copied at the Louvre in - the afternoons for ten years. I made copies for the Government, but - when I introduced some of my own emotional impressions, or personal - translations of the pictures, the Government did not care to buy; - it only wanted a photographic copy.” - - Of his present methods he said: “I certainly do think of harmony - and color, and of composition, too. Drawing is for me the art of - being able to express myself with line. When an artist or student - draws a nude figure with painstaking care, the result is drawing, - and not emotion. A true artist cannot see color which is not - harmonious. Otherwise it is a _moyen_, or recipe. An artist should - express his feeling with the harmony or idea of color which he - possesses naturally. He should not copy the walls, or objects on a - table, but he should, above all, express a vision of color, the - harmony of which corresponds to his feeling. And, above all, one - must be honest with one’s self. - - “If one _feels no emotion_, one should not paint. When I came in - here to work this morning I had no emotion, so I took a horseback - ride. When I returned I felt like painting, and had all the emotion - I wanted. - - “I never use pastels or water colors, and I only make studies from - models, not to use in a picture--_mais pour me nourrir_--to - strengthen my knowledge; and I never work from a previous sketch or - study, but from memory. I now draw with feeling, and not - anatomically. I know how to draw correctly, having studied form so - long. - - “I always use a preliminary canvas the same size for a sketch as - for a finished picture, and I always begin with color. With large - canvases this is more fatiguing, but more logical. I may have the - same sentiment I obtained in the first, but this lacks solidity, - and a decorative sense. I never retouch a sketch; I take a new - canvas the same size, as I may change the composition somewhat. But - I always strive to give the same _feeling_, while carrying it on - further. A picture should, for me, always be decorative. While - working _I never try to think, only to feel_. - - “I have a class of sixty pupils and make them draw accurately, as a - student always should do at the beginning. I do not encourage them - to work as I do now.” - - When asked about a clay model of a nude woman with abnormal legs, - he picked up a small Javanese statue with a head all out of - proportion to the body and asked: - - “Is not that beautiful?” - - His interviewer answered, “I see no beauty where there is lack of - proportion. To my mind no sculpture has ever equaled that of the - Greeks, unless it be Michael Angelo’s.” - - He replied: “But there you are, back to the classic, the formal. We - of today are trying to express ourselves _today_--_now_--the - _twentieth century_--and not to copy what the Greeks saw and felt - in art over two thousand years ago. The Greek sculptors always - followed a set, fixed form, and never showed any sentiment. The - very early Greeks and the Primitives only worked from the basis of - emotion, but this grew cold, and disappeared in the following - centuries. It makes no difference what are the proportions, _if - there is feeling_. And if the sculptor who modeled this makes me - think only of a dwarf, then he has failed to express the beauty - which should overpower all lack of proportion, and this is only - done through or by means of his emotions. - - “My favorite masters are Goya, Durer, Rembrandt, Corot, and Manet. - I often go to the Louvre, and there I study Chardin’s work more - than any other; I go there to study his technic.” - - His palette was a large one, and so chaotic and disorderly were the - vivid colors on it that a close resemblance could be traced to some - of his pictures. - - “I never mix much; I use small brushes and never more than twelve - colors. I use black to cool the blue. - - “I seldom paint portraits; and, if I do, only in a decorative - manner. I can see them in no other way.” - - One’s ideas of the man and of his work are entirely opposed to each - other: The latter abnormal to the last degree, and the man an - ordinary, healthy individual, such as one meets by the dozen every - day. On this point Matisse showed some emotion. - - “Oh, do tell the American people that I am a normal man; that I am - a devoted husband and father; that I have three fine children; that - I go to the theater, ride horseback, have a comfortable home, a - fine garden that I love, flowers, etc., just like any man.” - - As if to bear out this description of himself, he took me to the - salon in his perfectly normal house, to see a normal copy which he - had made at the Louvre, and he bade me good-by and invited me to - call again like a perfectly normal gentleman.[28] - -Matisse differs from Cézanne, VanGogh, Gauguin, in the accentuation of -_feeling_ as distinguished from observation. While the three last named -sought fresh inspiration from close and ever closer contact with -nature, he seeks his inspiration in his own emotions. - -It is this trait that makes him one of the leaders of -Post-Impressionism, as well as a Fauve. - - * * * * * - -From the foregoing it is clear that _Fauvism_ does not mean a particular -mode or technic, like Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, -etc., etc. It means a _mood_ rather than a _mode_. Every painter in -revolt against prevailing taste and standards was and is a _Fauve_. - -Not all Post-Impressionists are Fauves, but many are so called, for -instance, the following:[29] - -Odilon Redon, Othon Friez, Picasso (the founder of Cubism), Van Dongen, -André Derain, Vlaminck, Marquet, George Braque, Raoul Dufy, Robert -Delauney, M’lle Laurencin, Jean Metzinger, Pierre Girieud, Verhoeven. - -Of the above four are well known Cubists; Redon is a poetic personality -quite apart; while the others exhibit marked individualities in their -work. - -Les Fauves in Germany are “Die Wilden,” embracing the “Brücke” of -Dresden, the “Neue Sezession” of Berlin, the “Neue Vereinigung” of -Munich.[30] - -Those of Russia are Larionoff, P. Kuznezoff, Sarjan, Denissow, Kantsch, -Schalowsky, Maschkoff, Frau Gontscharof, von Wisen, W. and D. Burljuk, -Kanabe, Jakulof; and others who live in foreign countries, such as -Schereczowa, Paris; Kandinsky Werefkina, Jawlensky, Bechteyeff, Genin in -Munich.[31] - -Among the best known English artists who might fairly be classed as -“Fauves” are Ferguson, Peploe, Lewis, Wyndhover Lewis, Duncan Grant, -Mrs. Bell, Frederic Etchells, Miss Etchells, Eric Gill, Spencer F. Gore, -and a man who has done heroic service for the new movement, Roger Fry. - -There are, however, comparatively speaking, so few “Fauves” in England -that the guns of the critics rust on the racks; while in America they -are so scattered they have as yet attracted no attention by concerted -action. - -Almost the only man in this country who has persistently painted in -Cubist fashion for any length of time is Arthur Dove, one of whose -pictures is reproduced. - -When asked how he came to paint as he does Dove said: - - After having come to the conclusion that there were a few - principles existent in all good art from the earliest examples we - have, through the Masters to the present, I set about it to analyze - these principles as they are found in works of art and in nature. - - One of these principles which seemed most evident was the choice of - the simple motif. This same law held in nature, a few forms and a - few colors sufficed for the creation of an object. - - Consequently I gave up my more disorderly methods (impressionism); - in other words, I gave up trying to express an idea by stating - innumerable little facts, the statement of facts having no more to - do with the art of painting than statistics with literature. - -He then refers to “that perfect sense of order which exists in the early -Chinese painting,” and goes on: - - The first step was to choose from nature a motif in color, and with - that motif to paint from nature, the form still being objective. - - The second step was to apply this same principle to form, the - actual dependence upon the object (literal to representation) - disappearing, and the means of expression becoming purely - subjective. - - After working for sometime in this way, I no longer observed in the - old way, and not only began to think _subjectively_, but also to - remember certain sensations _purely through their form and color_, - that is by certain shapes, planes, light, or character lines - determined by the meeting of such planes. - - With the introduction of the line motif the expression grew more - plastic, and the struggle with the means became less evident. - -[Illustration: DOVE - -Based on Leaf Forms and Spaces] - -Referring to the painting reproduced he said: - - It is a choice of three colors, red, yellow, and green, and three - forms selected from trees and the spaces between them that to me - were expressive of the movement of the thing which I felt. - - As to going further and explaining what I felt, that would be quite - as stupid as to play on an instrument before deaf persons. The deaf - person is simply not sensitive to sound and cannot appreciate; and - a person who is not sensitive to form and color as such would be - quite as helpless. - - The majority of people seem to be in the position of deaf persons. - They see others listening intently, and apparently enjoying - something, and because they fail to hear, they at once draw the - false conclusion that the trouble is with the instrument or the - performers. - -In November last a group of young Americans held an exhibition of very -modern work in The MacDowell Club in New York. The exhibitors were -Oliver Chaffee, Konrad Cramer, Andrew Dasburg, Grace Johnson, Arthur -Lee, Henry L. McFee, Paul Rohland, William Zorach. - - - - -IV - -A FUTILE PROTEST - - -The Cubist pictures in the Salon d’Automne, 1912, was the occasion of -the following letter from M. Lempué, painter and doyen du Conseil -municipal de la Ville de Paris, addressed M. Bérard, Sous-Secrétaire -d’Etat des Beaux-Arts.[32] - - If the voice of a municipal counsellor could reach you, I would beg - you, would pray you to go and take a turn around the Autumn Salon. - - Go there, sir, and although you are a minister, I trust that you - will come away as much disgusted as are many people whom I know, - and I hope, also, that you will say to yourself in an undertone: - “Have I indeed the right to loan a public building to a lot of - malefactors who conduct themselves in the world of art as do the - _apaches_ in ordinary life?” - - You will ask yourself, Mr. Minister, in leaving the place, if - nature and the human form have ever before suffered such outrages; - you will admit with regret that in this Salon the most trivial - uglinesses and vulgarities that can be imagined are there displayed - and accumulated; and you will again ask yourself, Mr. Minister, if - the dignity of the Government of which you form part is not - injured, inasmuch as it appears to take under its protection such a - scandal by sheltering horrors like these in a national building. - - The Government of the Republic, as it seems to me, ought to be more - careful and more respectful of the artistic dignity of France. - - A year ago, and for another reason, I wrote to your predecessor, - who, by the way, took no notice of my letter; but what is - astonishing--does he not let everybody think that he is a - meridional, whereas he was born nowhere else than at Montmartre? - - A friend whispers to me that you are from Orthez; we are, - therefore, fellow-townsmen, for that is almost as if you came from - Montrejeau; so then, “Dious bibant!” (Dieu vivant!) it will not be - long before you will make known to the Belgian, Frantz Jourdain, - who has very modestly set for himself the mission of reforming - French art, and who, in order to thoroughly demonstrate his ability - to do so, has deposited--I will not say offal--but the store of - “La Samaritaine” almost opposite the Louvre, which fact is a sure - proof of the superiority of his monstrosity of a structure over the - beautiful architecture of the Renaissance. Please, therefore, make - known to this architect that in the future he may locate his - reforms and his reformers where he pleases, but not again in a - public building, and for so doing, all those who have taste and - love for beautiful things will applaud you. - - Please accept, Mr. Minister, the assurance of my highest regards. - - Lempué. - - - * * * * * - -The Committee of the Autumn Salon, in reply, made the following -statement: - - The committee of the Autumn Salon considers that the only reply - which it can make to the especially severe attacks that have been - made on it this year is to make announcement of the principle that - directs it: - - “To admit all efforts of conscientious art, whatever they may be, - however personal, and however strange they may seem to the ancient - formulae.” - - The Autumn Salon is not and does not wish to be the conservator of - a school with a fixed formula; it wishes, rather, to remain the - ground of generous combat and of the emulation necessary in a - country like ours, in order to bring out and fructify both artists - and works of art. - - The Government, whose rôle is not to direct, but to encourage the - artistic effort of the nation, can consider only in the most kindly - way a Salon which has been the first to give reception to many - artists now celebrated, which has given a place hitherto unknown to - decorative art, and which, before all other expositions, has placed - music and literature on a par with painting and sculpture. - - * * * * * - -Then the newspapers published the following item of news: - - M. J. L. Breton, deputy from Cherbourg, proposes to put to the - Assistant-Secretary of State for the Beaux Arts, in the course of - the next discussion of his budget, a question regarding the - “scandal” of the Autumn Salon, and to ask him not to allow the use - of the Grand Palais for such manifestations, which discredit - French art in our national palaces. - - This is the question which was put to the consulting commission - charged with giving its advice regarding the multiple concessions - for the Grand Palais in 1913. - - M. Pascal, of the Institute, who presented the question, concluded - unfavorably. After a long and lively discussion, the commission - ranged itself by a large majority on the side of the proponent. - - Let us recall the protests that have been addressed to the Autumn - Salon. They were the subject, a few weeks ago, of a letter from Mr. - Lampué, dean of the municipal council, who protested against the - invasion of _cubism_ into the galleries of the palace of - expositions. - - It is now up to M. Léon Bérard, Assistant-Secretary of State for - the Beaux Arts, to take final action. - - * * * * * - -On varnishing day, Mr. Gabriel Mourey wrote in the Journal: - - “What a pity it is that there is no law permitting the taking of - legal action against painters who cultivate hatred of beauty in the - public mind. These painters are the advance-guard artists and the - Cubists.” M. Mourey neglected to tell us if the legal action which - he proposes to us would be civil or penal. In our opinion, it would - be necessary to make a distinction: The rich painters might be - condemned to pay a penalty, and, so that the Government might not - be liable to lose its rights where there is nothing, the poor - painters might be hung up high and short. - - Oh, tolerance! oh, progress! oh, the twentieth century! - -In connection with the controversy “L’Art Décoratif” quoted the -following letter from Boucher to his pupil Fragonard: “My dear -Fragonard: You are going to see in Italy the works of Raphael, Michael -Angelo, and their imitators; I say to you in confidence and as a friend, -_if you take these people seriously you are lost_.” - - * * * * * - -Not the least interesting and amusing feature of the lively article from -which the above extracts are taken is its own denunciation of the -cubists _en bloc_. - -[Illustration: WEREFKIN - -The Country Road] - -[Illustration: BECHTEJEFF - -Fight of the Amazons] - -It resolutely assails the more orthodox critics for what they say about -all the moderns _it likes_ and then it echoes their language in its own -condemnation of a body of men who are striving earnestly in their way to -do things. - - * * * * * - - _“Oh! tolerance, oh! progress!_ - _Oh! twentieth century!”_ - - * * * * * - -One has only to group the conflicting opinions of great painters and -critics to see how much depends upon the point of view and the personal -equation. - -To say certain pictures are worthless is a matter of individual taste -and judgment; they may be worthless to me and not to you, just as -clothes one man likes another would refuse to wear. - -But to say a school or a movement, irrespective of particular works, is -a worthless movement involves not one’s taste but one’s philosophy of -life; it involves the proposition that a movement in art that challenges -the attention of the art-world _is so devoid of force of any kind_ that -it is unworthy attention--an obvious contradiction. - -Cubism has produced a lot of inane, uninteresting, and ugly pictures, -pictures hopelessly bad in both line and color, but it has also produced -pictures that are fine in line and color; but whether a particular -picture is good or bad is of no importance whatsoever in comparison with -the larger and more vital question: - -_What is the relation of Cubism to the art of today and tomorrow?_ - - * * * * * - -When the _Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts_ was founded in 1890 in a -spirit of revolt against the old Salon _Société des Artistes -Français_--which dates its expositions from 1673--the schism was -complete and the movement was denounced as revolutionary. The art world -was divided into two bitterly hostile camps. The two Salons seemed -absolutely irreconcilable. - -Now they exhibit side by side in practically the same building. The -visitor can stand in the main gallery of the one and gaze into the -galleries of the other. The only distinctions are separate catalogues -and an extra charge of a franc or two if you wish to pass from the one -to the other. - - * * * * * - -Passing from the old Salon to the newer, one still has--to a slight -degree--the feeling of passing from older and more conservative pictures -to a newer, lighter, and somewhat more modern collection. And there is a -difference but it is so slight that casual visitors do not notice it. In -fact nine out of ten who visit the two Salons would think they were in -but one exhibition, selected and arranged by the same committee, were it -not for the additional fee and the two catalogues. - -There is no reason today why the two Salons should not coalesce and make -one exhibition. - -In less than twenty-five years the older has absorbed much of what was -good in the revolutionary force of the younger, and so much of the -revolutionary enthusiasm of the younger has subsided that the members of -the new _Société_ fight side by side with the members of the old -_against the two more radical exhibitions_, the _Salon d’Automne_, -organized in 1903, and the _Société des Artistes Independents_, -organized in 1884. - - * * * * * - -In time the Salon d’Automne will become quite as conservative as the two -older Salons and there will be no reason why it should not exhibit and -coalesce with the older. - -What is happening in Paris has happened in Munich. The Munich -Secessionists, once denounced as aesthetic anarchists, have so far -subsided that they exhibit with the academic painters, retaining a faint -show of identity by having the word “Secessionist” over the doors of the -few rooms they fill. - -The old Secession having subsided, the “Neue Sezession” has been -organized by “Die Wilden” of Munich and that is now rampant; in ten or -twenty years _it_ will be absorbed in the main stream and a still -_newer_ secession challenge attention--and so on to the end of progress, -for progress depends upon new and newer and ever newer departures. -Already there is a division in the New Secession; the “Blue Riders” have -withdrawn. - - * * * * * - -Months after the above was written the London correspondent of the -“Chicago Tribune”--Nov. 2, 1913--wrote as follows about the -post-impressionist exhibition in the Grafton Galleries: - - Many of the pictures which would have provoked happy laughter three - years ago now look quite ordinary. The public is inured to them as - much as it is inured to Whistler or Degas, and in a little time - some of them will be dealers’ pictures, just like the works of the - Barbizon school. - - There is, for instance, nothing extraordinary about the “Interior - of a Café,” by VanGogh, except its quiet excellence. It is all seen - as justly and yea as newly as a character in one of Tolstoi’s - novels. One feels that any one could have painted it who had had - the luck to see it so. - - The “Boats at Anchor,” also by VanGogh, is merely a sound but not - very interesting impressionist picture, and his flower piece is - even academic in a delightful way. Cézanne’s “Boys Bathing” is one - of those works on which the art of modern painters like M. Friesz - is based. - - It looks like a representation of something seen instantaneously, - and yet at the same time it is all designed like a work of Nicholas - Poussin’s. - - M. Matisse’s “Joaquina” is timidly skied, but it is not in the - least infuriating, like his famous gentleman in pajamas. Indeed, - his method here justifies itself at first sight, for by no other - means, one feels, could he have expressed the vitality of his - sitter so simply and intensely. - - M. Friesz’s “Garden at Coimbra” is one of the pictures that would - have astonished us all three or four years ago, but which now looks - only pleasant and simple. So are the works of M. Marquet and M. - Doucet, and even M. Herbin no longer seems a bad joker. The “Polka” - and “Waltz” of Mr. Severini, the futurist, are quite agreeable to - the eye, if it refuses to allow itself to be puzzled by the mind; - but, if futurist paintings can be academic, they are a little - academic, or at least systematic. One feels that any one could be - taught to do them pretty well in a studio. - - Among the water colors there are some pleasant works by M. Doucet - and some remarkable experiments by M. Pechstein. The color prints - of M. Manzana are more Chinese than Japanese in spirit, especially - the print of horses; and the lithographs of M. Matisse may help - some earnest beginners to see some merit in his painting. At any - rate, any one who looks at them must see that he can draw. - - The exhibition contains a good deal of rubbish, but far less than - most exhibitions of what is considered orthodox art. - - * * * * * - -The Salon d’Independants tends to remain radical notwithstanding it was -founded so long ago as 1884 because it has but one article in its creed, -“_the suppression of juries of admission and permission to artists to -exhibit freely their works to the judgment of the public_.” - -By paying five dollars any artist--real or supposed--is entitled to so -much space and can fill that space with such pictures as he pleases, -irrespective of their merit. - -As a result, each exhibition contains original, revolutionary and -radical work mixed with an immense amount of painting and sculpture that -is hopelessly bad and some positively objectionable. - -The continued vitality of the Independent Salon is due to the fact it -has no officials or committees to control its exhibitions and check the -appearance of radical work. - -[Illustration: VAN GOGH - -Café] - -The three other Salons grow conservative in the natural ageing of their -management; they start with all the enthusiasm of youth but as both -members and officers get older they tend to monopolize much of the -available space for themselves and, naturally, they admit only those -newcomers whose work does not detract or distract from their own. That -is the history of the Royal Academy in London, of the National Academy -in New York, and of every organization _the management of which has the -right to hang their own and reject the works of others_. - - * * * * * - -In the development of art _all_ these exhibitions have their values. -They are not unlike an army in a campaign, with its scouts, its -skirmishers, its advance guard, and its more slowly moving main body--in -the end it is the main body that does the most work. - -The _value_ of every _new_ movement lies in the possibility of its -ultimately _contributing_ something to the mass, _not_ in the -possibility of its _destroying_ what has been done. - - * * * * * - -One has but to recall that both Whistler and Manet--to mention no -others--were obliged to exhibit in the Salon des Refuses of their day to -realize that an _independent_ salon has its place in the art world quite -as important as an official; in fact, wherever there is an _official_ -exhibition there should be an _un_-official, or independent, as a -natural complement, otherwise the opportunity of the public to see _for -itself_ is limited by official discretion. - - * * * * * - -For instance, it is the rule of the National Academy in New York that -every member and associate has _the right_ to hang a picture -irrespective of its merits. As the space is limited the chance for new -men is small indeed. - -Furthermore it is the older men who pass upon the works of the newer and -naturally they feel an instinctive aversion to paintings that clash with -or distract attention from their own, hence the more radical, the more -novel, the more interesting the picture the less chance it has of being -accepted. This is both a fault and a virtue in the Academy--the fault -and the virtue of extreme conservatism. - -To correct the fault other exhibitions, held under freer conditions, are -absolutely necessary not only to the progress of artists, young and old, -but to stimulate interest in the public, to make the public feel that -_it_ is something more than a passive spectator with nothing to say, but -on the contrary _its sympathetic cooperation_ and _final verdict_ of -approval are desired. - - * * * * * - -Nothing is more deadly to the art of a country than a single annual -official exhibition such, for instance, as that of the Royal Academy in -London, or the old Salon as it was thirty years ago in Paris. - -The interest of the public is not aroused. The official selection is -accepted as a matter of course. What is in the exhibitions is supposed -to be good, what is not accepted is supposed to be bad. - -As a result, the really good pictures in such exhibitions are not -appreciated at their true value, while the poor are bought simply -because they are there. - -The truth is it requires the new salons, the independent exhibitions to -give vitality to the old, to teach the public to appreciate the good in -the old. - -Good art, like everything else good, springs from controversy, _from the -assertion of the individual_, from the mighty struggle of every sincere -and enthusiastic man to convince the world that _he_ is right and that -_his_ works and ways are better than those of all other men. - - * * * * * - -That is just what the new men are striving to do now--each is trying to -convince the world _he_ is right, that _his_ methods, _his_ departures, -_his_ theories are true. - -The Cubist does not admit much of value in the Futurist, while the -latter see nothing at all in Cubism. In short the “isms” are more at war -among themselves than with the older schools. - -Out of the seething conflict of forces good is sure to come; the amount -of good depending directly upon the sharpness of the conflict. - - - - -V - -WHAT IS CUBISM? - - -What is “Cubism?” - -One more name added to the long roll of “movements” in art. Within the -memory of living men we have had “Classicists,” “Romanticists,” -“Idealists,” “Naturalists,” “Realists,” “Pre-Raphaelites,” and many -more. - -Today we have the “Neo-Impressionists,” the “Pointilists,” the -“Luminists,” the “Futurists,” the “Orphists,” the “Sensationalists,” the -“Compositionalists,” the “Synchronists,” the “Cubists”--tomorrow? - -New and ever new departures, experiments, achievements. - -All of which goes to prove that art is living, for the sign of life is -flux. - - * * * * * - -The other day I saw three well-known American painters standing before a -cubist picture laughing; _painters of forty years ago_ would have -laughed quite as heartily _at the works of each of the three_. - -The innovation of today is the conventional of tomorrow. - -Because the names of Rembrandt and Hals are now household words in art -we are quick to assume their pictures were always considered great. Not -so. - -Just now it is a fad of millionaires to own Rembrandts; consequently he -is over-appreciated and ridiculously overpriced. - - * * * * * - -The bare thought of the scorn that greeted Wagner’s operas, the poems of -Browning, and Whitman, sends a cold - -[Illustration: METZINGER - -The Taster] - -[Illustration: LEGER - -The Chimneys] - -chill down our backs, makes us pause in our headlong criticism lest we, -too, pillory ourselves. - -Violent judgments are good fun, but they often come back to plague us. -Of Wagner’s “Meistersinger” Ruskin said: - - Of all the bête, clumsy, blundering, boggling, baboon-headed stuff - I ever saw on a human stage that thing last night--as far as the - story and acting went--and of all the affected, sapless, soul-less, - beginningless, endless, topless, bottomless, topsiturviest, - tuneless, scrannelpipiest, tongs and boniest doggerel of sounds I - ever endured the deadliness of, that eternity of nothing was the - deadliest as far as its sound went. I never was so relieved, so far - as I can remember, in my life by the stopping of any sound, not - excepting railroad whistles, as I was by the cessation of the - cobbler’s bellowing; even the serenader’s caricatured twangle was a - rest after. As for the great “Lied,” I never made out where it - began or where it ended except by the fellow’s coming off the horse - block. - -From which the inference is not unwarranted that Wagner did not please -Ruskin! - - * * * * * - -Opposed to all movements in art and life is the _academic_ mind, fed on -learning, steeped in tradition, hence conservative. - -The term is not here used in a reproachful sense; on the contrary, the -philosopher lays stress upon the value of the academic in progress; it -is the element that preserves; it is the mass upon which humanity rests; -it is the old and stable; it is the past upon which the future is built; -it is the essential groundwork of new thought and new effort. - - * * * * * - -The life of the individual passes from the enthusiasms, the radicalisms -of youth to the serene and self-satisfied outlook of old age which -instinctively opposes novelty and change--the academic attitude. - -Youth makes friends with every chance acquaintance, age shuns the -strange. - -We are all Impressionists and Futurists at some times in our lives, but -we tend to petrify. Sclerosis of the _arteries_ is bad, but nothing -compared with sclerosis of the _emotions_. We not only tend to become -petrified as we grow older, but even in our youth we have our petrified -sides, our hard spots. - -However progressive we may be in certain directions we are sure to be -stubbornly conservative in others. - -The man who laughs at a cubist picture may be a cubist--that is, an -innovator--in his profession or business. - -The man who is a conservative in religion may be a radical in politics, -and _vice versa_. As a matter of fact most of the followers of Lloyd -George in England are the greatest sticklers for the inerrancy and the -literal interpretation of the Scriptures, while most of the hide-bound -conservatives are exceedingly tolerant toward “modernism” and “higher -criticism” in the church. - -So it goes. The merchant or manufacturer, the doctor or lawyer who is up -to date in business or profession, who is keenly receptive toward the -latest and most revolutionary methods, inventions, discoveries, may -be--usually is--a hopeless reactionary toward other lines of human -endeavor, a hopeless conservative when it comes, for instance, to -looking at pictures. - - * * * * * - -Now and then one meets a man so sympathetically observant and receptive -that, like a good rubber ball, he is resilient at all points of contact. -But for the most part we are like defective balls, resilient only in -spots, and, like rubber, we become less and less resilient with age. - - * * * * * - -Happy the man or woman who retains until late in life the power to react -to new impressions and to experience new emotions. - -The trouble with most of us is that even when we do react to new -impressions and experience new emotions we are afraid to admit it. If -any one of us, while alone in a museum, happened to run across a strange -painting or a strange piece of sculpture--say a Javanese or a cubist -production--we would not burst out laughing any more than we would laugh -at some of the archaic sculptures and primitive works that are found in -every great collection. On the contrary, we would probably study it with -good healthy curiosity. But when the crowd is about we are afraid to -express our curiosity, we are afraid to be honestly and genuinely -interested, so we take refuge in laughter, it is so much easier to mask -our ignorance with ridicule than confess it by frankly asking for -information. - -The man who does not understand a play or a book always condemns it. - - * * * * * - -It would not be difficult to pick out among one’s business acquaintances -those who are conservative, that is, academic, and those who are -inventive, speculative, venturesome, and so on to the “wild -enthusiasts,” “crazy fellows,” who are always doing the unexpected; -failing often but sometimes succeeding so brilliantly the world follows -in their footsteps. - - * * * * * - -There is nothing strange about the Cubists--except their pictures. Their -pictures strike us as strange because we do not understand them, but if -they were simply trying to do what thousands of inventors are trying to -do the world over, namely, devise something new to meet the needs of -mankind we would laugh at them no more than--and just as much as--the -world laughed at the Wright brothers when they were working on the -flying machine. - -There are romanticists, realists, impressionists, futurists, cubists, in -the theater. - -The romantic play is an old, but still delightful story. We have had -realism on the stage so long it has become almost academic. Just now -there is coming from the Scandinavian countries and from Germany and -Russia a form of dramatic representation that is essentially Cubist, -Futurist, and Orphist in its expression.[33] - -This ferment of new ideas is very disturbing to men who are afraid of -change, who favor things as they are, who like to go to bed at the same -hour and get up at the same hour, to do today what they did yesterday. -But the new ideas will not down; they are constantly breaking out in -unexpected places and while they may seem to be different ideas when -expressed in music, painting, sculpture, poetry, architecture, from -those expressed in science, religion, politics, social reform, and -business generally, they are not; they are all fundamentally the same, -namely, they are the ideas of a progress so rapid and radical it may be -revolutionary and in a measure destructive. - - * * * * * - -In the very nature of things it is not given to many men to be receptive -to new ideas in many lines, for that implies thinking for themselves in -many lines. The more intense and advanced a man is in one line of -thought, the more apt he is to accept ready made the ideas of others in -other subjects. It is a saving of time for the radical scientist to -accept his politics and religion ready made from those who devote their -time to those matters--the scientist does not always do so, but often -when he thinks he is asserting his independence by rejecting current -beliefs he is doing so without any real ideas and convictions of his -own. - -[Illustration: DUCHAMP - -Chess Players] - -What has been said so far has been a plea for tolerance, for a sober -suppression of hasty judgment in the presence of the strange. - -Few men seem able to control their resentments and risibilities in the -presence of paintings that seem to contradict all the teachings and -traditions of art; but because they do _seem_ to stand in opposition to -all we have been taught to believe, they are all the more worthy our -most serious consideration. It is the man who challenges and denies who -stirs other men to think _for themselves_. That is the chief value of -the cubist paintings--they compel us to _think for ourselves_, to take a -careful inventory of our stock of stereotyped notions; with the result -that while we may not accept the theories of the Cubists, we cannot fail -to readjust our own notions on a broader basis. - - * * * * * - -I would be very sorry if any reader should take up this volume under the -impression it is a plea for Cubism or any other “ism” in either art or -life. If it is a plea for anything, it is for _tolerance and intelligent -receptivity_, for an attitude of sympathetic appreciation toward -_everything that is new and strange and revolutionary in life_. Not that -we will necessarily end by accepting the new and the strange and the -revolutionary, but we cannot get the good there may be in them unless -our attitude is one of sympathetic as well as critical receptivity. - - * * * * * - -It is something more than a mere coincidence that the upheaval in the -art world has paralleled the upheaval in the political world. The -exhibitions of extreme modern pictures were first held in England just -when extreme radical theories were gaining the ascendency. The -International Exhibition in America followed hot in the footsteps of -the split in the Republican party and the triumph of the Democratic -along lines so progressive as to seem almost socialistic. - -The artists who organized the exhibition did not realize it, but they -were animated by precisely the same motive that animated the organizers -of the Progressive party--an irresistible desire for a change. - - * * * * * - -Youth gazes curiously at the experiment--painting, poem, play--from -which age turns in anger. - -Cubist paintings interest the young; they irritate the old. - -Nothing keeps a man young so effectually as a vivid and sympathetic -interest in _every_ new and seemingly revolutionary movement. - - * * * * * - -People who looked at the cubist paintings and laughed did so through -ignorance; the sad part was that many frankly said they did not care to -understand; not a few insisted the paintings were quite without meaning, -utterly devoid of sense. - -In other words, the public, day after day and week after week, struggled -and paid to see works that were _meaningless_! - -Painters, sculptors, critics, argued and fought over canvases _devoid of -significance_! A paradox! For if _devoid of significance_, why should -the world of artists, critics, writers, argue, swear, and fight over -them? - -The question answers itself; the trouble is the works _do_ possess a -significance, a significance far beyond the merits of any particular -one, far beyond the merits of cubism itself; they are significant of the -spirit of change that is within and about us, the spirit of unrest, of -the striving, of the searching for greater and more beautiful things. - -Cubism will pass away, but the spirit of change will not pass away. One -enthusiasm will follow another enthusiasm so long as men possess -ambition. - -Already there are signs that Cubism is passing. Some of the men are -calling themselves Neo-Cubists and Post-Cubists, and they are painting -in very different manner. - -One has but to look at a series of Picasso’s work to see how often and -radically he has changed his style in these ten years from drawing and -painting with great facility and success in Impressionistic and -Neo-Impressionistic manner to the most abstract Cubism; what he will be -doing two years hence, no one can predict, save that, judging by the -past, he will not be painting Cubist pictures. - - * * * * * - -The name “Cubism” was given to the new school “in derision, in the -autumn of 1908, by Henri Matisse, who happened to see a picture of -buildings the cubical representation of which struck him forcibly.”[34] - -That year Georges Braque exhibited a Cubist picture in the Salon des -Independents. - -In 1910, Jean Metzinger exhibited a Cubist portrait in the Salle -d’Automne, and a number of pictures were hung in the Salon des -Independents. - -The first collection was gathered together in room 41 at the Salon des -Independents in 1911. The same year the first exhibition outside of -Paris was held in Brussels, and there the names “Cubism” and “Cubistes” -were adopted. - -In 1911 the exposition of the Cubists in the Salle d’Automne caused -considerable sensation. Gleizes, Metzinger, Leger, and, for the first -time, Marcel Duchamp and his brother, the sculptor-architect, -Duchamp-Villon, exhibited. - -Other expositions were held in November, 1911, at the gallery d’Art -Contemporaine rue Tronchet; in 1912, at the Salon des Independents, -where Juan Gris first exhibited; in May of the same year, in Barcelona; -in June, at Rouen, where Picabia joined the new school. - -The different tendencies of the movement are described as follows:[35] - -1. _Cubism scientifique_ is the tendency toward pure cubism; it is the -painting with elements borrowed not from the realities of vision, but -the realities of knowledge. The geometrical lines, which so impressed -all who first saw their scientific works, resulted from the attempt to -paint the essential--rather than the visual--realities of things which -were rendered on canvas with an abstract purity, and in which objective -realities and story-telling qualities were eliminated. - -Most of Picasso’s geometrical representations and Duchamp’s “King and -Queen” are good illustrations of _scientific_ or _pure_ Cubism. - -2. _Cubism physique_ is painting compositions the elements of which are -borrowed for the most part from realities of vision. Inasmuch as -objective realities are more or less in evidence in these works, they -are not pure Cubism. - -Picasso’s “Woman and the Pot of Mustard” is a very striking--and -indifferent--example of _Cubism physique_, which simply means cubist -paintings in which figures and objects are more or less apparent to the -casual observer. In Marcel Duchamp’s “Chess Players” the figures are -quite plain; in Picabia’s “Dance at the Spring” one figure is -distinguishable at first glance, the second is not so easily discerned, -while the spring is more obscure, though plain enough after a little -study. - -It is under this head that some of the most interesting - -[Illustration: PICABIA - -Dance at the Spring] - -and also some of the most exasperating cubist pictures will be found. To -the extent that figures and objects are blocked in in planes and masses -in a big, elemental way, the result may be both impressive and -beautiful--Derain’s “Forest at Martigues” is an example in point; but in -so far as the picture is a _puzzle_, clear only in part, the result is -exasperating; the observer, however sympathetic his attitude, is -diverted from enjoying the _art_ of the painter to the attempt to -discover the hidden objects. - -To the foregoing two divisions are added two more, which are, in -reality, but subdivisions or refinements of _Cubism Scientifique_. - -There are really but the two extremes--those who represent objects more -or less cubically, i.e., in planes and masses of line and color; and -those who compose harmonies of line and color that have no relation to -figures or objects. - -In the paintings of the one, objects are more or less apparent; in those -of the other no object is discernible, because none is represented or -suggested. - -3. _Cubism Orphique_ is created entirely by the artist; it takes nothing -from visual, objective realities, but is derived wholly from the -painter’s imagination; it is pure art. - -4. _Cubism instinctive_ is described as the painting of compositions of -color, not based upon objective realities, but suggested by the instinct -and intentions of the artist. The artist who follows his instinct, his -fancy of the moment, though he may paint beautiful compositions, lacks -the clear comprehension of him who paints according to some well thought -out, artistic creed. - - * * * * * - -It is quite obvious that subdivisions three and four are based upon -temperamental rather than logical or scientific distinctions. - -To refer to some of the pictures reproduced: - -There is no mystery about the “Man on the Balcony.” He is quite in -evidence; the background is a little puzzling, yet fairly obvious. The -attention of the casual observer is not diverted from the mode and -manner of painting--from the Cubism of the picture, so to speak. - -It is not a question of “Now I see it, now I don’t see it.” It is -obviously the figure of a man leaning on something, apparently a -railing, with a confused background. But so far as uncertainty regarding -the background and accessories is concerned, that troubles no one, for -uncertainty in detail is! characteristic of the backgrounds of many fine -and famous portraits. - -The point is that the “Man on the Balcony” belongs to that class of -Cubist pictures wherein the object is almost as well defined as in -pictures with which the public is more familiar; whereas the “King and -Queen” belongs to the extreme class wherein the objects have been -reduced to symbols or abstractions. - -The one is the painting of objects in Cubist fashion; the other is the -painting of ideas in Cubist fashion. - - * * * * * - -Of all the Cubist pictures exhibited, most people liked “The Man on the -Balcony” best. Why? - -Because it looked like a good painting of a man in armour. - -“I like the ‘Man in Armour,’” was an expression frequently heard. - -All of which goes to show that appreciation is largely a matter of -association rather than of knowledge and taste. - -Tell the people it is not a man in armour, and immediately they ask, in -a tone of disgust, “Then what is he?” and the picture they liked a -moment before becomes ridiculous in their eyes. - -[Illustration: GLEIZES - -Original drawing for “Man on Balcony”] - -The original design is an almost academic freehand drawing of a -man--artist or workman--leaning against the railing of a balcony, with -roofs of the city at his back. Barring the square treatment of hand and -foot, there is little to suggest Cubism. - -The drawing is uninteresting, the painting is uninteresting. By blocking -out details, emphasizing planes, and laying stress on masses, the artist -made his painting incomparably more dignified and stronger than his -design. - -If he had painted an academic picture, following the lines of his -original sketch, the painting probably would have been quite -commonplace. - - * * * * * - -The “Chess Players” gives one a singular impression of human absorption -in a game; it is elemental and impersonal. Behind the two players are -onlookers, equally intent. One player is resting his chin upon his hand, -the other holds a piece apparently making a move. The artist has -arbitrarily placed the men and board close to the eye of the player -making the move. - -While most people might prefer lifelike portraits of two men playing -chess, is it not true that this curious reduction of the players to -elemental planes and masses gives a very vivid impression of intense -absorption, and also a strange feeling of the elemental? A sculptor -admired this picture greatly. - - * * * * * - -Two figures were the basis of the “King and the Queen,” the king at the -right, and the queen at the left; but in the finished picture these two -figures were reduced to planes, and appear as the two upright conical or -cubical masses that are so evident, and a philosophical significance was -attributed to the scheme, namely, a representation of the static and -dynamic forms of life; the static being represented in the upright -masses, the king and queen--dynastic, permanent--while the dynamic -forces are represented in the stream of cubical forms that flow in -different directions about the two more permanent masses. - -On its technical side, Cubism is simply a systematic use of planes. - - * * * * * - - The power of lines is a manifestation of the new mode of - representation. - - It is not a semblance of things, but a world of objects that the - picture forces us to take in with a glance. The objects may not get - lost. The outline is the demarcation and designation of the - objects. By its outer essence their inner nature is expressed. The - nature of objects is not fixed by a correct drawing, but by a - forceful and emotional, intensive and pervasive outline. Not in - their restfulness and with their details do the objects serve the - picture, but by their relations to each other, which relations - combined lead up to the climax. - - The long lines form the structure of the picture. They decide how - the picture is to be constructed from its parts, and how the parts - are to be interlocked in order to become a whole. The long lines - define the measure and rhythm of the work. Lines are the vibrations - of the soul; lines are reflections of the will, the rigidity of - that which endures. Like currents of forces they flow against each - other and unite into one. The smaller ones accompany them with - playful gambols, like a multiple echo, the sounds of which melt - away in the distance. - - The picture is not a nicely divided plane. It is like a world - arising from chaos. Its essence is the law of order working itself - out. The picture is an agglomeration of agitated members, an - agglomeration of planes pulsating with blood, enlivened by breath. - - The planes may be stratified, parallel and similar to each other; - they may rear and pile themselves against each other, or they may - interlock like cogs. They may liquefy and melt away, or they may - double up and form themselves into balls. They may, more quietly, - rest within themselves, becoming effective through the contrast of - their essence and yet maintaining themselves. Out of them - originates the picture’s spaciousness, out of them the living force - of the picture. - - The dynamics of the planes is a manifestation of the new style.[36] - -[Illustration: - - DUCHAMP - - King and Queen -] - -Passing one morning among a number of first year students drawing from -casts in the Chicago Art Institute, I was struck by the large number who -were making what would pass for Cubist sketches; yet not one of these -young students had seen a Cubist picture. All were simply following the -regular course of instruction and drawing _in planes_. - -I remember one drawing of a statue by Michael Angelo. There was not a -straight line in the statue; there was not a curved line in the drawing; -the drawing was blocked out far more solidly and geometrically than, for -instance, either the original design for “The Man on the Balcony” or the -finished painting. - -In another room I ran across a teacher who was indicating by a few -geometrical lines drawn from points the essential features of a statue -the pupil was about to begin blocking in. The lines looked exactly like -the geometrical lines in a drawing by Picasso. - -There is, therefore, nothing fundamentally new or strange in the technic -of the Cubists; it is simply a return to the use of the elemental in -drawing, of the very A, B, C of design. The new and the strange lie in -the fact that the Cubists _stop_ with planes and lines; they do not -attempt to model the surfaces of the things they paint. - - * * * * * - -Not that the use of planes is all there is to the theory of Cubism, for -the theory extends far beyond the painting of surfaces; it embraces the -presentation of the very _substance_ and nature of persons and objects -by means of a _technic_ in which planes are the vital feature. - - * * * * * - -Albert Dürer wrote a book on the proportions of the human figure; it was -published in 1528, and translated into many languages. - -He reduced the human figure to certain elemental lines.[37] - -[Illustration] - -Applying these principles to the hand, he gets this result: - -[Illustration] - -It is interesting to compare this sectional diagram of the hand with the -hand of “The Man on the Balcony.” - -Furthermore, one has but to consider the elemental lines at the top of -the page with the words of Cézanne, quoted on page 43, and with the -fundamental propositions of Chinese and Japanese art, to realize that in -the last analysis the - -[Illustration: PICASSO - -Woman with Mandolin] - -[Illustration: PICASSO - -The Poet] - -minds of men in all ages and all countries follow very closely the same -channels. - -There are but _two_ lines, _curved_ and _straight_, and with these two -lines all outward semblances of things are constructed. So far as the -unaided eye is concerned, every curved line may be entirely composed of -small straight lines, the curved effect being due to a series of minute -angles. - -The following are Durer’s diagrams showing how to obtain sections and -modifications: - -[Illustration] - -He applies these sections to the human figure as follows: - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - -So far as the use of planes and angles is concerned, these diagrams by -Durer should serve to disarm criticism. That the human figure can be -decomposed into straight lines and angles will be a revelation to most -of those who laughed at the Cubist paintings, and only the authority of -a great name would convince that any good could result from such an -analysis. - -Suppose any one of the Durer diagrams had been framed and hung in the -Cubist section; would it not have been treated with ridicule? - -The men who arranged the exhibition could have played with critics and -artists--the men who claim to know--by including many things of -recognized position in academic art and teachings, which would have -seemed as absurd as the newest of the new pictures. - - * * * * * - -The very high aesthetic value of drawing and painting in planes, and -with small regard to the so-called laws of perspective, is illustrated -in the rare beauty of Chinese and Japanese paintings. From the point of -view of their greatest painters, we carry perspective and imitation to -extremes that destroy art. - -One value of the Cubist movement lies in arousing a sense of the -strength possessed by the simple and elemental. - -In oriental art, in archaic art, in primitive Italian art, in not a -little modern decorative work, we have long recognized the beauty of -drawing in planes and of the use of color arbitrarily. The Cubists are -showing us--perhaps too violently and imperfectly--that it is possible -to paint pictures and portraits in planes and masses without imitation. -That it is possible we know, for the orientals have done it for two -thousand years; nevertheless, we stubbornly resist the attempt in -western art. - -We acknowledge the singular beauty of the Italian primitives, yet we -demand that portraits and paintings of today shall be carefully -modelled in the vain effort to accurately and mechanically copy nature. - - * * * * * - -In some of Sargent’s best portraits not only the lights and shadows but -character and personality are indicated by brush-strokes as arbitrary in -line and color as those of a Cubist--strokes that follow neither the -lines nor the colors of the original, but which convey with tremendous -power the _character_. - -Again, we all know how insipid are most of the portraits that are -faithfully rounded and modelled to reproduce every curve of the sitters’ -features. - -The truth is there is more of Cubism in great painting than we dream, -and the extravagances of the Cubists may serve to open our eyes to -beauties we have always felt without quite understanding. - -Take, for instance, the strongest things by Winslow Homer; the strength -lies in the big, elemental manner in which the artist rendered his -impressions in lines and masses which departed widely from photographic -reproductions of scenes and people. - -Rodin’s bronzes exhibit these same elemental qualities, qualities which -are pushed to violent extremes in Cubist sculpture. But may it not be -profoundly true that these very extremes, these very extravagances, by -causing us to blink and rub our eyes, end in a finer understanding and -appreciation of such work as Rodin’s? - -His Balzac is, in a profound sense, his most colossal work, and at the -same time his most elemental. In its simplicity, in its use of planes -and masses, it is--one might say, solely for purposes of -illustration--Cubist, with none of the extravagances of Cubism. It is -_purely_ Post-Impressionistic. - -Twenty or twenty-five years ago painters who used a broad technic, and -especially those who used the palette knife to lay the pigment in flat -sweeps, were looked upon as charlatans and sensationalists. Today their -pictures are accepted in the most conservative exhibitions and the -public passes with scarcely a comment. - -This broad technic is simply painting in planes--in a sense, simply -modified Cubism. - -To illustrate: - -The surface of an orange may be so carefully painted or modelled in clay -that the effect is a perfect sphere with no straight lines; or it may be -painted or modelled in minute planes and no curved lines; or the use of -planes may be carried so far the orange is represented by angles so -sharp the shape is almost cubical--it is all a question of the _extent_ -to which the artist carries the use of _plane surfaces_. The _fewer_ the -planes used and the _larger_ their size, the nearer the _substance_ and -more obvious the representation of _mass_. - -The _smaller_ the planes and the _larger_ their number, the nearer the -_surface_--the more superficial the representation. - - * * * * * - -The division of planes can be carried--geometrically--to such an extent -that the unaided eye can no longer distinguish the minute flat surfaces, -and the effect is a perfect sphere. - -What is true concerning the painting or modelling of an orange is true -of the painting or modelling of all objects. - - * * * * * - -“It has been charged that the new men are too much given to the -geometrical. But geometrical figures are the essential elements of -drawing. Geometry, the science which deals with extension, its measure -and its relations, has ever been the basis of painting. - -[Illustration: SEVERINI - -The Milliner] - -“Up to the present time the three dimensions of Euclid have sufficed to -express the problems that infinity gives rise to in the souls of great -artists. - -“Geometry is to the plastic arts what grammar is to the art of the -writer. - -“Today philosophers do not confine their speculations to the three -dimensions of Euclid. Painters, by intention, so to speak, have cause -naturally to preoccupy themselves with these new lines of extension -which, in the language of modern studios, are classed under the term, -_fourth_ dimension.”[38] - - * * * * * - -Speaking of Cézanne, it is said: - - To him a sphere was not always round, a cube always square, or an - ellipse always elliptical. Thus the traditional oval of the - conventional face disappeared in his portraits, the generally - accepted round surfaces of a vase or bowl was represented as flat - and dented in spots and the horizontal stability of the horizon was - rendered elliptical whenever it so appeared to him. - - The general truthfulness of his observations may readily be tested - by any one of normal vision who will carefully observe the actual - appearance of the surfaces of a round sugar bowl, for example, when - placed in the light of a window. It will be found that certain - planes are as flat as the table, that others present the appearance - of dents and hollows, and the more clearly this is perceived the - more grotesque will the object appear as compared with the - preconceived image of it established in our minds by the - unconscious interaction of the sense of touch and sight. - - We know that, scientifically regarded, there is no such thing as a - round surface, that what appears to be such is simply the closely - adjusted juxtaposition of infinitesimal planes that are each - perfectly flat. And the very fact that painters refer to the - surface of a figure as _planes_ is indicative of a partial - recognition of this basic characteristic of structure. - Nevertheless, both artists and laymen persist in speaking of the - roundness of a torso, for example, when in reality, if we could - disassociate the _sense_ of roundness from the _appearance_ of - roundness as did Cézanne, we would find large surfaces of spheroids - quite flat. Therein lies the real secret of the art of Cézanne who - is the first of realists. - -In a sense, “Cubism” is a misleading term, for, in the first place, -“Cubist” pictures are not painted in cubes, but in all sorts of angles -and curves; in the second place, the theory does not call for angles. - -The theory being the expression of emotion in line and color, there is -no conceivable reason why cubes and angles should be used to the -exclusion of curves, swirls, sweeps, dashes. On the contrary, of all -forms, cubes and angles would seem to be the most inappropriate for -emotional expression, since they are peculiarly suggestive of the -geometrical and the matter-of-fact. - -“Curvism” or “Swirlism” would describe the movement just as well, save -that for the time being angles are very much in evidence. - -Picabia says that “Cubism” is a misnomer for the movement. He says: - - After impressionism, neo-impressionism, then cubism, which sought a - geometric third dimension in painting, the expression of things - seen in geometrical figures. But a purely subjective art cannot, of - course, be bound by any form of expression the moment that - expression becomes a convention, an established body of laws with - accepted values. Therefore, he has cut loose from cubism, and is - what, again for handy classification--an evil habit from which we - cannot emancipate ourselves--may perhaps best be called - “post-cubist,” with entirely unfettered, spontaneous, ever-varying - means of expression in form and color waves, according to the - commands, the needs, the inspiration of the impression, the mood - received. Objective expression is strictly barred. He even ignores - form as far as possible, seeking “color harmonies.” Harmony and - equilibrium are his device. - - * * * * * - -But the Cubists are rapidly getting away from the cubes and angles. It -is quite possible that a year or two hence we shall see no more _purely_ -Cubist pictures. - -That does not mean the movement will come to an end--not at all. The -movement toward abstract painting, toward the use of line and paint on -canvas for mere pleasure of using them, and without copying objects in -either life or nature, is in its infancy. - - * * * * * - -“But I don’t understand them!” - -Is it necessary to your enjoyment that you should? - -Do you understand what Caruso is singing? - -Do you understand that French song reproduced by the phonograph? - -Do you understand what the orchestra is playing? - -Do you understand the pattern in that Persian rug? - -How many people who rave over Japanese art have the remotest idea what -this or that precious print or painting represents? - -Does an intricate design on a bit of Oriental pottery please you? And is -your enjoyment lessened one whit by the fact it is all a mystery to you? - -Why will you accept as beautiful and buy at a high price a painting you -do not understand because it is by a Chinese artist, and reject as ugly -the painting by a French artist simply because you cannot see “what he -is driving at”? - - * * * * * - -Suppose a Cubist picture is a beautiful scheme of color; is it less -beautiful _in color_ because you do not understand the painter’s theory? -His painting may be fine, his theory absurd. - -Would your enjoyment of Caruso be increased if he sang in English the -ridiculous stuff he sings in Italian? - -Fortunate it is for most grand opera that we _do not understand_--we are -not diverted from the music by the nonsense of the libretto. - -The enjoyment of music is a curious thing. - -First of all, there are all kinds of music, from rag-time to Beethoven, -and each kind has its following. - -Then the following of each kind breaks up into its rag-time and -Beethoven divisions. - -That is to say, in an audience listening to rag-time there are always a -few who enjoy the music in a Beethoven way--for what there is of real -value in it. - -While in an audience listening to a Beethoven symphony there are always -a goodly number, often a big majority, who enjoy it in a rag-time -way--just the emotional reaction, without knowing a thing about the -music. - -There are two entirely distinct enjoyments of the same composition--the -purely intellectual and the purely emotional. There may be a mingling of -the two, but as a rule what one gains the other loses. - -The man who follows the score, is familiar with the different -interpretations of this and that leader, whose ear catches every failure -by any part of the orchestra to respond, and so on, and so on--that man -is constantly holding his emotional response subject to his intellectual -appreciation. What is a fine performance to most of the audience may be -a very indifferent performance to him. - -True, when the performance is so fine it carries him off his feet, then -he gets an enjoyment--intellectual and emotional--far finer than the -enjoyment experienced by others. In a sense, he is the one man worth -playing for. - -But while it is a fine thing to both understand and enjoy, understanding -is not essential to enjoyment in the purely emotional sense--to the -enjoyment most people feel when listening to music. - -The voice of a street singer borne in upon the night air, even the sound -of a hurdy-gurdy, pleases, though we do not - -[Illustration: - - SOUSA CARDOZA - - Leap of the Rabbit -] - -know the song or the air. There is a species of pleasure in not knowing -that is dissipated when we recall or are told. - -Many of our enjoyments are more than half dreamy. Is it not true that -the dreamy element is essential to purely emotional enjoyment? - -I confess to a very ignorant enjoyment of music. If I am at a concert I -do not like to be told what it is all about. I enjoy good music without -knowing or caring why, and I like to hear it without being seated where -I am more than half-hypnotized by the rhythmical movements of the -orchestra, especially the fascinating bowing of the violins. - - * * * * * - -What is true of the enjoyment of music should be true of the enjoyment -of painting. But with painting, most people insist upon understanding. -They will listen to Patti without knowing her language, but they will -not look at a painting unless they know the painter’s language. - - * * * * * - -Why not accept at their face value all pictures that are beautiful in -line and color, without bothering about their meaning? Perhaps they have -no meaning beyond the vagrant fancy of the artist. - -Take the three pictures by Sousa Cardoza. Suppose they have no more -significance than so many illustrations to a fairy tale; they are -interesting in line and fascinating in color. If the “Stronghold” had -been on a Delft platter, or the “Leap of the Rabbit” on a piece of -Persian pottery, everyone would have lauded their beauty, and collectors -would give ten or twenty times the modest prices of the canvases. - -When put to people in that matter-of-fact way the response is almost -always favorable to the pictures. - -In an interesting monograph entitled “Is It Art?”[39] the writer says: - - It will be seen, therefore, that the efforts of these men to give a - subjective rendering of actuality results in nothing better than a - poorly realized form of objectivity which is as much the creation - of the spectator as of the artist, inasmuch as the vaguely - adumbrated forms in the picture simply serve as a hint to that - reality of which it is a wilfully distorted symbol, and the - discovery of the “mustard pot” would scarcely have been possible - without the happy cooperation of the title with the spectator’s - previous knowledge of the actual appearance of a mustard pot. - - Without the intervention of the title and the association of ideas - called forth thereby through the memory of past experiences with - actuality, these pictures would be totally meaningless even to the - most recondite. They would inevitably be reduced to a personal - system of shorthand, an individual code, as it were, comprehensible - only to the originator. - - Regarded from that viewpoint, these enigmatic paintings and - drawings may very possibly be altogether successful. At all events - it is only fair to assume that these works express to the - originator what he intended them to express. But it is quite - obvious that they express something quite different to the - spectator who has not been initiated into the meaning of this - personal form of shorthand, and the appending of an objective title - to what is intended as a subjective impression of the actual world - hardly help him over the difficulty. On the contrary it takes him - just that far away from the impression the artist desires to - produce, plunging him deeper into that world of reality out of - which he was to be extricated by this new art, and there is no - doubt that in the minds of even the most intelligent spectator it - only serves to reenforce his conception of reality upon which he is - forced to fall back by the objective titles as well as the concrete - representations of what is supposed to be a subjective mood. - - I think it may safely be said that in no case does this mood - manifest itself to the persons to whom it is addressed, although by - a process of auto-hypnotism, a certain few no doubt succeed in - making themselves believe that they penetrate the real inwardness - of these arbitrarily individual mental processes. Granted that - these very discerning ones do respond to the real intention of - these abstractions it cannot be denied that this work is the most - circumscribed in its appeal of anything so far produced in the - name of art and, until its working premise is made clearer, its - influence must be correspondingly limited. At present it appears to - me to be a too purely personal equation to be intelligible to - others than the artist himself and therefore, generally speaking, - it can not be regarded as art, whatever else it may be. For that - that communicates nothing expresses nothing and as the office of - art is first and last expression this new form is as yet outside of - the domain of art. - -But that makes the attitude of the _observer_ the test whether a given -product is or is not art, while the true test is the attitude of the -_producer_. - -Whether a given work is or is not art is _determined_ and _forever -fixed_ at the time of its production. If art to him who creates it, it -is art to all humanity for all time; neither a man’s neighbors nor -future generations can deprive it of its character. - - * * * * * - -Quite a good many years ago I made the attempt, in lecture and book -form, to define art.[40] - - What is Art? The question is as old as man himself, for we have no - records of men without some manifestation of the art impulse.... - - Man is the _combination_ of _thought_ and _symbol_; thought - striving to express itself, and symbol, the means whereby it - achieves that end. The symbol may be sound, word, or song; or it - may be line, form, or structure; it matters not. A cry is the - language of the child; speech is the every-day utterance of the - man; the heart of the singer bursts forth in song; the musician - speaks in harmonies, the painter in line and color, the sculptor in - form, the architect in structure, the poet in rhyme and rhythm--and - each is silent save in his own way.... - - Now what is the distinction between _thought_ expression which _is - art_ and _thought_ expression which is _not art_? - - In its broadest significance, and in its very essence, _art is - delight in thought and symbol_. - - Mark the union--art is delight in _both_ the thought _and_ the - symbol. Without the double delight--the combination of these two - quite distinct delights, there can be no art. - - To the writer of prose there may come a beautiful fancy; he - delights in it and hastens to record his thought. He may write the - most flowing, the most perfect prose, but as he writes he is still - occupied with his thought; his sole object is to find words which - will but express it. The same fancy comes to the poet; he, too, - delights in it, and seeks to record it; but when the poet touches - pen to paper he is seized with a new and an entirely distinct - delight, a delight _in his method of expressing_ his thought; he - may even permit his delight in his symbol, the flow, rhythm and - ring of rhyme, to sweep him onward in forgetfulness of his first - fancy--literature is filled with such examples. - - Now and then a writer of prose expresses himself so finely, writes - so well, that we feel instinctively and immediately not only the - delight in the thought, but also a certain amount of delight in the - manner of expressing the thought, in the style, ... and to the - extent of the _double_ delight such prose is art, for art, as we - shall see, is by no means confined to the five so-called fine arts. - - No hard and fast line can be drawn between that which is art and - that which is not art, the one fades imperceptibly into the other. - -And farther on in the same little volume:[41] - - The current notions of art are such and the current notions of - labor are such that it may seem to most of you as though any - attempt to discuss the two together could result only in a waste of - words; yet time was when art and labor were so intimately united in - the great domain of human effort that the one almost invariably - implied more or less of the other; and the time will yet be when - there will be no labor without at least some art, even as there is - now and ever has been no art without at least some labor. - - Art lies not in the employment, but in the _manner_ of the - employment of the powers of nature for an end; not in the task, but - in the _attitude_ of the worker towards his task. - - * * * * * - -Whether a Cubist painting is or is not art does not depend upon the -opinion of either critic or multitude; if it did it would be art to one -man and not to another, art to one generation and not to another--an -illogical conclusion. - -[Illustration: KLEE - -House by the Brook] - -[Illustration: VAN REES - -Still Life] - -Most Cubist pictures are plainly the work of men who are profoundly -moved by an idea and who are striving to express that idea in a highly -original manner. It may be the manner they have chosen is so abstract, -so scientifically theoretical, that it will in the end--if pursued--kill -the imagination, stifle all delight, and so result in failure as _art -expression_; but so long as the men take sincere delight in both what -they are trying to say and their manner of utterance, it is impossible -to deny the character of art to their works. - -In proportion to their originality and daring, there may be more of -living and vital art in what they are doing than in the art of the -academic painter who follows in the footsteps of others without any -particular effort. - -In other words, it is quite conceivable there may be more of vital and -living art in a movement doomed to failure than in a movement that has -achieved success and become stagnant. - -_The vitality lies in the element of earnest striving rather than in the -direction the striving takes._ - - - - -VI - -THE THEORY OF CUBISM - - -The art that is at hand is a highly _subjective_ art as distinguished -from the highly _objective_ art of the Impressionist and Realist, but no -man can say just what forms this new art will assume. - -Cubism is one attempt, Futurism is another, Compositional painting is -another; there will be many more attempts before freedom of expression -is attained. - -Cubism is interesting because it accentuates the value of planes and -shows what can be done with elemental propositions in drawing. But the -student or painter who turns to Cubism because he thinks it is to become -a fad and will pay, runs the risk of making a great mistake; he would -better stick to older methods. - - * * * * * - -The Orphists have been mentioned; there were no Orphist pictures in the -International Exhibition. The movement is based on the purely practical -proposition that color in itself, and color alone without drawing, may -be beautiful. So they just place lines and masses of color on a canvas -and frame the canvas. - -It sounds absurd, yet the theory is the very foundation of wall -decoration, of interior furnishing, of dressmaking--the mere -juxtaposition of masses of color, with or without pattern. - -The Orphist “picture” may not be much of a picture in the accepted sense -of the term, but it may afford pleasure as a color combination and may -be of very real value to the decorator, the furnisher, the dressmaker, -the scene-painter, the costumer. - -The theory is not new. So long as man has loved color he has used it -irrespective of pattern. - -One part of the theory of the Cubists is as old as that of the Orphists. -It is simply that the painter can do with line and color what the -composer does with sound. In other words they demand the same freedom in -the use of line and color that every great composer has in the use of -sound. - -If, for instance, a great musician composes a pastoral symphony does he -imitate the mooing of cows, the bleating of lambs, the rippling of -brooks? Such attempts would be recognized as cheap in the extreme. - -“Very well,” the Cubist says, “if I paint a pastoral symphony why should -I so much as suggest cows, sheep, landscape, brook? Why should people -insist upon _seeing_ in my painting what they cannot _hear_ in Mozart’s -or Beethoven’s music?” - - * * * * * - -The comparison which Picabia is fondest of making is that with absolute -music. The rules of musical composition, he points out, are sufficiently -hampering in themselves to the composer’s mood, or call it inspiration. -Words, as of songs, still further confine his vision of melody, even -though they give in the beginning the impression that evokes the mood. -Songs without words, the expression of the impression made on him by a -great poem without the necessity of following in musical form the -literary form of the poet, leave him far freer, give his subjectivity -far wider scope. Modern composers have rebelled against the old fetters; -modern painters have begun to feel the same need of a freer, an absolute -method of expression. Hence, “post-impressionism,” which refuses -altogether to be bound by objectivity, by literal reproduction of the -object seen, in connection with the mood, the after-impression, received -and fixed on the canvas. A composer may be inspired by a walk in the -country, says M. Picabia, and produce a production of the landscape -scene, of its details of form and color? No; he expresses it in sound -waves, he translates it into an expression of the impression, the mood. -And as there are absolute sound waves, so there are absolute waves of -color and form. Modern music has won its way; this modern painting, too, -will find appreciation and understanding in the days to come. - - * * * * * - -The Cubists have set themselves a hard task. It is a good deal easier to -_sing_ an _emotion_ than _paint_ one. It is a good deal easier to -_paint_ an _object_ than _sing_ one--therein lies the trouble. - -Yet in the beginning both music and painting were imitative. Music -imitated natural sounds; drawing and painting imitated natural objects. - -But soon men began to sing for the pleasure of singing and play on -instruments for the pleasure of playing, and the imitation of natural -sounds was left far behind as primitive and elemental, and music tended -to become more and more expressive of emotions, elemental emotions at -first, finer and purer emotions later, until in the western world -abstract purity was reached in Beethoven. - -Since Beethoven there has been a reaction to more imitative music, as in -the operas of Wagner. - -While music departed farther and farther from imitation of natural -sounds, drawing and painting progressed toward the more perfect -representation of natural objects. - -Or rather painting developed along two distinct lines--one the more -perfect representation of objects _for the sake of the representation_; -the other compositions of line and color--not - -[Illustration: BLOCH - -Summer Night] - -[Illustration: BLOCH - -The Duel] - -imitative--for the sake of the pleasure afforded _by the pattern and the -color scheme_. - -This second development parallels that of music--compositions of line -and color, like compositions of sound for the pleasure they give, and -not for the associations they arouse. - -Strange as it may sound, it is nevertheless true, that four-fifths of -the pleasure we get in our daily lives out of line and color is not from -the _imitative_ development, the _picture_ side, but from the -_non-imitative_, the _abstract_ side. - -Our clothes, our homes, our public buildings, our cities, our landscapes -are made beautiful by the use of line and color in patterns and -masses--in harmonious composition. It is only here and there that we -come in contact with either line or color used imitatively. - -We all know how distressingly tiresome a wall-paper becomes if it is -made up of imitative scenes--that is, a series of pictures, and the -better the pictures the sooner we tire of the paper. - -While a paper that contains no imitative spots, or in which the -imitative features are so subdued and conventionalized we _feel_ them -rather than _see_ them, may be restful and pleasing; and a wall that is -a monotone if bordered by wainscoting and frieze in monotones, may wear -the best of all. - - * * * * * - -But while the great, the practical use of line and color followed -parallel lines with sound and got farther and farther away from -imitative features, _the art_ of painting, as it is commonly called, -developed in just the opposite direction, it became more and more -imitative, until of late years it would seem that the last word has been -said in the reproduction of natural objects and natural light and color -effects. - -Of course the _last_ word has not been said, and never will be said so -long as _individuals_ are born, but _so much_ has been said that it is -not surprising there is a reaction, nor is it surprising that one phase -of this reaction should be an attempt to use line and color as the -decorator and the dressmaker and a thousand others use them, to express -and kindle pleasurable emotions. - -In short it is not surprising that the painter of pictures should awaken -to the realization of the fact that others use and have used, from the -beginning, line and color to make delightful compositions that have no -relation to natural objects, as the musician uses sound to make -delightful compositions that have no relation to natural noises. - - * * * * * - -As a rule women have a finer instinct for the use and arrangement of -color than painters. Few wives of painters would trust their husbands to -decorate their dinner tables. - -Look at the gruesome and ugly “still lifes” done by painters of renown. -I saw one the other day of some fish on a platter by an American painter -famous for such things. If his wife had found that platter of dead and -clammy fish in her drawing room she would have exclaimed, “For goodness -sake, how did that get in here? Take it back to the kitchen.” - - * * * * * - -Look at the naive and absurd compositions of flowers and fruit that -painters put together to paint; no woman of taste would permit them on -her tea table. - -I know a charming woman whose dinner tables are a dream of beauty, -veritable compositions in which flowers and fruits and lights and every -detail are far more thoughtfully considered than are the details in most -pictures. In short, without knowing it she creates a work of art each -time she entertains. Imagine what her table would be if left to an -artist or a committee of artists--or her husband! - -Most painters’ studios are either devoid of all color arrangement or -positively ugly. - -So far as _color_ goes many a portrait owes its success more to the -_modiste_ than the artist. - - * * * * * - -From the painting of color harmonies and line harmonies it is but a step -to insist that line and color composition may be used like sound -compositions to express one’s moods and emotions. - -That is what these modern men are trying to do. - -You may not think it is possible for them to succeed but why should you -ridicule the attempt? - -The attempt is an ambitious one, it is an attempt to extend the sphere -of painting, and it may lead to new and beautiful things. Should we not -watch it with interest and sympathy even if you think it foredoomed to -failure? - - * * * * * - - Watch a painter preparing to paint a picture of still life. He - takes a vase of flowers and places it on a table; beside it he - poses, perhaps a brass bowl and some other objects, having regard - throughout for light and, above all, for proportion and color. That - is when he is _really painting_ his picture, when he is really - _composing_, receiving his impression, creating his subjective - mood. The objective part of his work is done; all that remains now - is to give expression to that impression, that mood. Instead of - thus allowing his inspiration to gain its full value and - significance, he sits down and reproduces it with a varying degree - of literalness. He becomes nothing more or less than a copyist, a - photographer of his own work. He kills within himself its - subjective values, or, at best, seeks to give them expression - filtered by objectivity. Or, again, consider the case of the - portrait painter. He studies sitters from every point of view, - gathering impressions. Then he begins to experiment with poses, - draperies, light effects, seeking to heighten the impression - already received from the sitter himself. At last he is content - with pose, draperies, background, lights--his picture is there. But - why, then, go to the trouble of painting it, of copying it? If the - work he has done, finished in all its details, is to benefit him, - he must proceed from it and beyond it. His real work then is to - communicate to others the mood awakened in him.[42] - - * * * * * - -In another interview Picabia said: - - You of New York should be quick to understand me and my fellow - painters. Your New York is the cubist, the futurist city. It - expresses in its architecture, its life, its spirit, the modern - thought. You have passed through all the old schools, and are - futurists in word and deed and thought. You have been affected by - all these schools just as we have been affected by our older - schools. - - Because of your extreme modernity therefore, you should quickly - understand the studies which I have made since my arrival in New - York. They express the spirit of New York as I feel it, and the - crowded streets of your city as I feel them, their surging, their - unrest, their commercialism, and their atmospheric charm. - - You see no form? No substance? Is it that I go out into your city - and see nothing? I see much, much more, perhaps, than you who are - used to it see. I see your stupendous skyscrapers, your mammoth - buildings and marvellous subways, a thousand evidences of your - great wealth on all sides. The tens of thousands of workers and - toilers, your alert and shrewd-looking shop girls, all hurrying - somewhere. I see your theater crowds at night gleaming, fluttering, - smilingly happy, smartly gowned. There you have the spirit of - modernity again. - - But I do not paint these things which my eye sees. I paint that - which my brain, my soul, sees. I walk from the Battery to Central - Park. I mingle with your workers, and your Fifth Avenue mondaines. - My brain gets the impression of each movement; there is the driving - hurry of the former, their breathless haste to reach the place of - their work in the morning and their equal haste to reach their - homes at night. There is the languid grace of the latter, emanating - a subtle perfume, a more subtle sensuousness. - - I hear every language in the world spoken, the staccato of the New - Yorker, the soft cadences of the Latin people, the heavy rumble of - the Teuton, and the ensemble remains in my soul as the ensemble of - some great opera. - - At night from your harbor I look at your mammoth buildings. I see - your city as a city of aerial lights and shadows; the streets are - your shadows. Your harbor in the daylight shows the shipping - -[Illustration: HERBIN - -Landscape] - - of a world, the flags of all countries add their color to that - given by your sky, your waters, and your painted craft of every - size. - - I absorb these impressions. I am in no hurry to put them on canvas. - I let them remain in my brain, and then when the spirit of creation - is at flood-tide, I improvise my pictures as a musician improvises - music. The harmonies of my studies grow and take form under my - brush, as the musician’s harmonies grow under his fingers. His - music is from his brain and his soul just as my studies are from my - brain and soul. Is this not clear to you? - - * * * * * - -You say all this cannot be done. - -That is precisely the question, and one thing certain, it cannot and -will not be done, unless some one _tries_ to do it. - -It is just as legitimate to attempt to express one’s emotions by the use -of line and color as by the use of sound as in music, or by the use of -motion as in pantomime. - -One man says, “I will paint the portrait of a beautiful woman.” - -A second says, “I will not paint her portrait, but I will put on canvas -a composition of colors so joyous it will express my admiration for -her.” - -A third says, “I will compose a sonata or a symphony or a ‘song without -words’ to express my love for her.” - -The public accepts without question the work of the first and third--the -portrait painter and the musician--but rejects the work of the -second--the painter of harmonies. Why? Because he does not copy the -features and the dress of the woman. - -Picabia again says: - - Art, art, what is art? Is it copying faithfully a person’s face? A - landscape? No, that is machinery. Painting Nature as she is, is not - art, it is mechanical genius. The old masters turned out by hand - the most perfect models, the most faithful copies of what they saw. - That all their paintings are not alike is due to the fact that no - two men see the same things the same way. Those old masters were, - and their modern followers are, faithful depicters of the actual, - but I do not call that art today, because we have outgrown it. It - is old, and only the new should live. Creating a picture without - models is art. - - They were successful, those old masters; they filled a place in our - life that cannot be filled otherwise, but we have outgrown them. It - is a most excellent thing to keep their paintings in the art - museums as curiosities for us and for those who will come after us. - Their paintings are to us what the alphabet is to the child. - - We moderns, if so you think of us, express the spirit of the modern - time, the twentieth century. And we express it on canvas the way - the great composers express it in their music. - -There is plenty of clear expression and fine enthusiasm in those three -paragraphs. - - * * * * * - -There is, however, another side to Cubism and one not so easy to -understand. - -Painting color harmonies for the sake of their emotional effect is easy -of comprehension. But when the Cubist sets out to convey the impression, -not of the surfaces, but of the very substance of things, he is -attempting something very different from what has heretofore been -considered within the sphere of painting. Possibly he is attempting -something painting cannot do. - -The theory is so abstract and so scientific it comes near paralyzing the -art. It is _too coldly logical_ and unemotional to produce great art, -for great art is and must be fundamentally _emotional_. - -Of Picasso, the founder and leading exponent of Cubism, a sympathetic -writer says: - - His whole tendency is a negation of the main tenets of the gospel - of Cézanne whose conception of form he rejects, together with - Monet’s conception of light and color. To him both are - non-existent. Instead he endeavors “to produce with his work an - impression, not with the subject, but the manner in which he - expresses it,” to quote his confrère, Marius De Zayas, who studied - the raison d’être of this work, together with Picasso. Describing - his process of aesthetic deduction further, M. De Zayas tells us - that “he (Picasso) receives a direct impression from external - nature; he analyzes, develops, and translates it, and afterwards - executes it in his own particular style, with the intention that - the picture should be the pictorial equivalent of the emotion - produced by nature. In presenting his work he wants the spectator - to look for the emotion or idea generated from the spectacle and - not the spectacle itself. - - “From this to the psychology of form there is but one step, and the - artist has given it resolutely and deliberately. Instead of the - physical manifestation he seeks in form the psychic one, and on - account of his peculiar temperament, his psychical manifestation - inspires him with geometrical sensations. When he paints he does - not limit himself to taking from an object only those planes which - the eye perceives, but deals with all those which, according to - him, constitute the individuality of form; and with his peculiar - fantasy he develops and transforms them. - - “And this suggests to him new impressions, which he manifests with - new forms, because from the idea of the representation of a being, - a new being is born, perhaps different from the first one, and this - becomes the represented being. Each one of his paintings is the - coefficient of the impressions that form has performed in his - spirit, and in these paintings the public must see the realization - of an artistic ideal, and must judge them by the abstract sensation - they produce, without trying to look for the factors that entered - into the composition of the final result. - - “As it is not his purpose to perpetuate on canvas an aspect of the - external world, by which to produce an artistic impression, but to - represent with the brush the impression he has directly received - from nature, synthesized by his fantasy, he does not put on the - canvas the remembrance of a past sensation, but describes a present - sensation.... In his paintings perspective does not exist; in them - there are nothing but harmonies suggested by form, and registers - which succeed themselves, to compose a general harmony which fills - the rectangle that constitutes the picture. - - “Following the same philosophical system in dealing with light, as - the one he follows in regard to form, to him color does not exist, - but only the effects of light. This produces in matter certain - vibrations, which produce in the individual certain impressions. - From this it results that Picasso’s paintings present to us the - evolution by which light and form have operated in developing - themselves in his brain to produce the idea, and his composition is - nothing but the synthetic expression of his emotion.” - - Thus it will be seen that he tries to represent in essence what - seems to exist only in substance. And, inasmuch as his psychical - impressions inspire in him geometrical sensations, certain of these - exhibits are in the nature of geometrical abstractions that have - little or nothing in common with anything hitherto produced in art. - Its whole tendency would appear to be away from art into the realm - of metaphysics. - - Here is a design, a pattern of triangles, ellipses and semi-circles - that at first glance appears to be little more than the incoherent - passage of a compass across the paper in the hands of some - absent-minded engineer. After a little attentive study, however, - these enigmatic lines resolve themselves into the semblance of a - human figure and one begins to discover a clearly defined intention - behind this apparent chaos of ideated sensations. There is evident - a method in his madness which, after all, may only be truth turned - inside out. And this is what should make one pause and investigate - the matter further. - - The fact that one may get nothing out of it as yet in the way of - tangible or even vaguely experienced emotions is beside the point. - The interest in this whole matter rests on the fact that here is - revealed a new form of aesthetic expression as yet only tentative - and groping perhaps, but reaching out in new directions. And it - must not be forgotten that the pioneer is usually misunderstood; he - is so far in advance of current ideas as to be out of touch with - his fellow men who might appropriately be called follow-men, they - lag so far behind the progress of new ideas. Cézanne and - Picasso--they mark the parting of the ways: a fulfilment and a - promise. Quo Vadis?[43] - -Not many years ago Picasso was painting under the influence of the -pointillists. Almost every year he changed his style, until he developed -the pure, the geometrical Cubism of the drawing shown herein. He had a -period of painting very uninteresting blue portraits, one of which was -shown at the exhibition. - -His “Woman with the Mustard Pot” belongs with his sculpture, which is -interesting but, to most people, ugly. - -He has such phenomenal powers of absorption and his technical facility -is such that he does anything he pleases - -[Illustration: PICASSO - -Drawing] - -with ease, and what he does today is no sure indication of what he will -attempt tomorrow. - -For the moment he seems absorbed in the _music of planes_, so to speak. -Take, for instance, a still life wherein there seem to be a pipe, a -wall, a musical instrument, a glass, something like a stairway, street -signs, etc. These may or may not have been the objects the painter had -before him, but whether they are or not it is quite clear that he was -not content with dealing with superficial planes, that is, with the -visible lines and surfaces of the objects, but he _lets the planes -project and intersect_ very much as if the objects were -semi-transparent. - -To state the matter in other words--by using only the essential lines of -an object and treating the object as otherwise more or less transparent, -one readily understands why the essential lines of all objects in _the -rear show through_, and the result is a confused mass of planes with -here and there more conspicuous surface indications such as the pipe, -the signs, the glass, etc. - -In much of Picasso’s later work he suppresses all such surface -indications, until only a few absolutely elemental lines remain. - -The result is a picture so scientific, so abstract, it appeals to but -few and excites no emotion in anyone because it was not the result of -emotion in the artist. - -In short, Picasso and a few followers have reached a degree of -abstraction in the suppression of the real and the particular that their -pictures represent about the same degree of emotion as the demonstration -of a difficult geometrical proposition. - -Beyond the few lines they use there is the bare canvas; they have -reached the limit and they must turn in their tracks. The reaction is -bound to come, and come quickly. - -Meanwhile the Cubists, who have been painting along emotional, as -distinguished from the coldly scientific lines, are still turning out -pictures that possess a charm in line and color irrespective of their -theoretical significance and much may still be done in this direction. - - * * * * * - -The Cubists are fond of quoting the following from Plato: - - Socrates: What I am saying is not, indeed, directly obvious. I must - therefore try to make it clear. For I will endeavor to speak of the - beauty of figures, not as the majority of persons understand them - such as those of animals, and some paintings to the life; but as - reason says, I allude to something straight and round, and the - figures formed from them by the turner’s lathe, both superficial - and solid and those by the plumb-line and the angle-rule, if you - understand me. For these, I say, are not beautiful for a particular - purpose, as other things are; but are by nature ever beautiful by - themselves, and possess certain peculiar pleasures, not at all - similar to those from scratching; and colors possessing this - character are beautiful and have similar pleasures.--From - “Philebus.” - - * * * * * - -Every really great painter must have moments when, as he thinks of the -days and years spent painting _things_--just things for people to look -at and see--he asks himself, “Is it worth while to spend all one’s life -painting things one _sees_? Is it not possible to paint the things one -_feels_?” - - * * * * * - -Sargent is tired of portrait painting--why? Because he longs to do -something else. But what he is doing is simply another form of portrait -painting--and not so big. He has simply turned from men and women to -chairs and tables--so to speak; that is, from portraits of people to -pictures of things--all the same art. So far as any one knows he has not -tried to make compositions of line and color that would be beautiful in -themselves. In short, great painter as he is, he seems to lack the -ambition or the inspiration to try to do what Whistler for more than -forty years was trying to do--lift painting from the rut of reality to a -plane more nearly on a level with that occupied by the greatest masters -of China and Japan. - - * * * * * - -The following paragraphs from a little book on Cubism by two well known -Cubist painters throw some light on the subject: - - We should be the first to blame those who, to hide their - incapacity, should attempt to fabricate puzzles. Systematic - obscurity betrays itself by its persistence. Instead of a veil - which the mind gradually draws aside as it adventures toward - progressive wealth, it is merely a curtain hiding a void. - - It is not surprising that people ignorant of painting should not - spontaneously share our assurance; but nothing is more absurd than - that they should be irritated thereby. Must the painter, to please - them, turn back in his work, restore things to the commonplace - appearance from which it is his mission to deliver them? - - From the fact that the object is truly transubstantiated, so that - the most accustomed eye has some difficulty in discovering it, a - great charm results. The picture which only surrenders itself - slowly seems always to wait until we interrogate it, as though it - reserved an infinity of replies to an infinity of questions.[44] - -By way of comment on this paragraph: - -Why should we deny to painting one of the greatest charms of -poetry--_elusiveness_? - -Great poetry is _rarely_ superficially plain to the casual reader. - -Great music is _never_ superficially plain to the casual hearer. - -But the attitude of the public is that great painting shall always be -superficially plain to the casual observer. - -A painter may paint things every one understands at a glance, but is it -not his _right_, if he wishes, to paint things no one understands but -himself? - -In other words, what right have _we_ to say to the poet, “If you don’t -write things we understand you are no poet,” or to the painter, “If you -don’t paint things we understand you are no painter?” - -The only difference between poet and painter is that one uses a _pen_, -the other a _brush_ to express _himself_. - - * * * * * - - Without employing any allegorical or symbolical literary artifice, - merely by inflections of lines and colors, a painter can show, _in - the same picture_, a Chinese city, a French town, together with - mountains, oceans, fauna, and flora, and nations with their - histories and their desires--all that separates them in external - reality. Distance or time, concrete fact, or pure conception, - nothing refuses to be uttered in the language of the painter, as in - that of the poet, the musician, or the scientist. - -Here is a most significant statement of a _truth_ and an assertion of -_freedom_. - -We all know how the poet in a dozen lines may give us glimpses of the -universe; he may leap from flower to star, from city to city, nation to -nation, age to age; nothing confines him, he knows no restraint. - -In one short poem he may give us glimpses of the four quarters of the -globe--of Athens, London, Chicago, Pekin. His imagination knows no -bounds, his art is unlimited. - -For the first time in the history of painting painters are -systematically claiming the same independence, the same right to -_express themselves freely_ in each canvas, to paint in the one picture -_if they see fit_ glimpses of different countries, cities, scenes, -different times as well as places; to use them and suggest them as -freely as the poet does to _express a mood_--and why not? - -But the painter must be sure of his mood, and be doubly sure that what -he is trying to say _requires_ a wealth of illustration, otherwise his -painting will be but a fantastic jumble, - -[Illustration: MARC - -The Steer] - -[Illustration: KANDINSKY - -Landscape With Two Poplars] - -just as many poems lose themselves in not a _wealth_ but a _confused -mass_ of irrelevant illustrations. - - * * * * * - -The _assertion_ of freedom is one thing, the _exercise_ of it is quite -another. - -The point is that, fundamentally, there is no reason why a painter -should not show in one canvas things and events unrelated in either -space or time, leaving the observer to work out the more or less hidden -meaning of it all. - -There is no reason why he should be tied down to the realistic painting -of an apple or an apple tree if he prefers to paint some flight of the -imagination into which apple and apple tree enter together with strange -glimpses of temples and pyramids, playing children and armed battalions, -weeping women and fighting men. - -Read the foregoing lines once more. Eight objects are mentioned--apple, -apple tree, temples, pyramids, children, battalions, weeping women, -fighting men--by no possibility could these strangely diverse objects be -found grouped together in actual life, yet it is safe to say that _as -you read them_ no feeling of utter incongruity was experienced. On the -contrary your imagination unconsciously created a picture, vague and -indistinct because fleeting, which combined them all, possibly a -strange, poetic scene with orchards and playing children, temples and -pyramids in the distance, with armed battalions, weeping women and -fighting men passing by in clouds or fanciful shapes. - -Thousands of such pictures are painted every year and they are mostly -rather poor works of the imagination. - -There is, however, no reason why the same freedom, the same arbitrary -indifference to actualities, should not be exercised in the painting of -good pictures. - -No reason why, for instance, painters should not _experiment freely -with all the so-called laws of art_, and that is what the Cubists and -others of the moderns are doing. - - * * * * * - - That the ultimate aim of painting is to touch the crowd we have - admitted; but painting must not address the crowd in the language - of the crowd; it must employ its own language, in order to move, - dominate, and direct the crowd, not in order to be understood. It - is so with religions and philosophies. The artist who concedes - nothing, who does not explain himself and relates nothing, - accumulates an internal strength whose radiance shines on every - hand. - - It is in consummating ourselves within ourselves that we shall - purify humanity; it is by increasing our own riches that we shall - enrich others; it is by kindling the heart of the star for our own - pleasure that we shall exalt the universe. - - * * * * * - -To explain Cubism, or any attempt in art to suppress the objective, one -must fall back on music. - -Grieg calls a certain composition “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” -Not for a moment did he attempt realistically to suggest a hall, a -mountain, a king or any object; to have done so would have been folly. -And if that particular composition were played for the first time before -a body of keen musicians, no title mentioned, and not a word said about -its being a part of the Peer Gynt suite, no two would agree as to what -the composer had in mind, though many might have very interesting -impressions regarding the _mood of the composer in writing it_. - -But once understand it is part of the Peer Gynt suite and once told it -is “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” the weird and fascinating music -explains itself, it is recognized as a wonderfully successful attempt to -realize an impressive scene by a combination of sounds. - - * * * * * - -The veriest tyro in music feels the cheapness of imitative music, the -imitation of the nightingale, the ripple of notes to imitate a rippling -brook, the beating of a drum to imitate thunder, the tremolo of violins -to represent fright, etc., etc. - -From such bald attempts at realism to the abstract beauty of a symphony -by Beethoven is a vast interval. - -The severely logical composer will not name his symphony for fear of -suggesting ideas that will interfere with the pure enjoyment of his -abstract conception. There have been painters--like Whistler--who -preferred to call their works “Harmonies” or “Arrangements” or “Studies” -rather than subject their canvases to a clamoring horde of suggestions -by choosing names that must inevitably divert the observer. - -However at times a name helps, it at least puts us on the right track, -it enables us to measure the piece of music or the picture by the -artist’s intention. If it is utterly impossible for the best and most -sympathetic minds after long study to find any suggestion of the title -in the work, it means either the artist has been unsuccessful in -conveying his idea in sound or in line and color, or--what often -happens--he has carelessly and arbitrarily chosen a title after his work -was finished, a title that imperfectly fits his original impulse. - - * * * * * - -It is most disappointing to hear a man go into raptures over what he -cannot explain. - -The greatest enemies of the moderns are their friends. But there have -been published a number of books in German and French that are well -worth reading if approached with an open mind. - -If read with preconceived notions and prejudices the result will be very -irritating. Several artists, notably Kandinsky, have taken the utmost -pains to explain in print what they believe and what they are trying to -do. - -But it is often quite as difficult to understand some of the things the -painters write about their work as it is to understand their pictures; -but this is because some of the new men carry their theories so far it -is hard for the layman to follow, however earnest and sympathetic his -efforts. - -But because we do not understand what a man says is no good reason for -calling him an ignoramus. - -The trouble _may_ be with him, it is _probably_ with us. At all events -each re-reading, like each re-scrutiny of the pictures, yields clearer -results. - -To a man _really and profoundly interested_ in art nothing has occurred -in many a generation so full of significance, so worthy one’s earnest -attention, as the present new movements--all the more interesting -because changing so rapidly and because some of them are certain to be -so fleeting. - -The art institute which does not secure and preserve some examples -illustrative of the extraordinary upheaval in the art world is -derelict--as derelict as a natural history museum would be if it passed -over indifferently the evidence of some mysterious upheaval in nature. - - * * * * * - -When a man stands before a cubist painting or an improvisation by -Kandinsky and says he sees all sorts of things in it, do not take him -too seriously; he is like members of those extraordinary Browning Clubs -who destroy our enjoyment of the poetry by reading into each line things -the poet never dreamed. - - * * * * * - -The Cubists and most of the moderns are very young men, what they -_think_ is of far less interest than what they _do_. - -What a young man does is often of vital importance, what he thinks may -be of no importance at all--save to himself. - -Moved by the most naive theories and enthusiasms youth - -[Illustration: CHABAUD - -Cemetery Gates] - -will do wonderful things, things the sober reflection of age would fear -to do. - -One of the charms of the Cubists is their child-like faith in the -absolute supremacy of their art; this faith is interesting in them -because it leads them to produce works that cause us to stop and look -and think, but when their followers indulge the same blind faith in -print their utterances are mostly incoherent and boresome. - - * * * * * - -The violent partisan who sees all sorts of things in the modern painting -is at one extreme, the violent opponent who sees nothing at all is at -the other--let them fight it out. - -The truth lies midway, that there is _something_ worth finding in even -the most extravagant attempts of the new movement no thoughtful man will -deny. The very fact the paintings attract such crowds and excite so much -controversy proves there is _something_ for serious investigation; the -something may not turn out to be of overwhelming importance, but it will -have its influence upon the future of art. - -No one for a moment doubts that the exhibitions held in New York, -Chicago, and Boston are destined to have a very great effect upon -American art, especially upon the art of the men most bitterly opposed -to Cubism, and everything akin to Cubism. The academic has received a -severe but healthful jolt. - -Whatever affects us has, at least, the merit of _affecting_ us, and -whatever moves us to do better work, whether in an old way or a new way, -has the merit of _affecting us for good_. - - - - -VII - -THE NEW ART IN MUNICH - - -“WE cling more closely to the old masters; what we are doing is simply -the natural development of their principles and their methods,” said a -well-known painter of Munich while speaking of the Cubists and other -moderns of Paris, and the words had direct reference to the head of a -woman, by Jawlenski, reproduced herein in color. - -It would be difficult to convince the casual observer that this head has -any relationship to portraits by Titian, _and yet_-- - - * * * * * - -The Cubists are also equally quick to demonstrate the logical connection -between their works and those of the old masters, tracing the connection -through Courbet, El Greco, and so on. - -The truth, of course, is that _everything_ modern is a development of -_something_ ancient, that _nothing_ exists _unrelated_. - -Art is as _continuous_ as everything else in life and nature. - -One thing flows inevitably out of another. - - * * * * * - -Sorolla and Zoloaga are the children of Velasquez. Puvis de Chavannes -may seem nearer Raphael and the Italian Primitives than Degas and Manet, -but he is simply the fruition of one collateral line, while Degas is the -fruition of another, and Manet of another--_they are all painters_, and -the art of painting admits endless variations in theory and technic. - - * * * * * - -It is, therefore, true that every modern experiment, however strange, -may trace its genealogy to the Old Masters and through them to the -Primitives, and through them to the Cave Painters. - -So that when a Munich artist argues that the strange heads of Jawlensky -and the still stranger compositions of Kandinsky are based upon the best -there is in Italian art, the proposition in its broad significance may -be conceded and plenty of room be still left for startling differences -between the art of Venice in the sixteenth century and that of Munich in -the twentieth. - - * * * * * - -There is, however, some slight but tangible foundation for the assertion -that the work of the extreme men of Munich is closer to that of the Old -Masters than the work of the extreme men of Paris, in that most of the -former paint more _solidly_ and _substantially_, while most of the -latter paint more _lightly_ and _superficially_--just about the -difference that exists between the two cities, the two environments. The -worker in Munich cannot help being influenced by the _German_ -atmosphere, the worker in Paris cannot help being influenced by the -_French_--in fact each is where he is because he finds the particular -atmosphere congenial. - - * * * * * - -“The New Artists’ Federation,” in Munich, was founded in January, 1909, -by Adolf Erbslöh, Alexej von Jawlensky, Wassily Kandinsky, Alexander -Kanoldt, Alfred Kubin, Gabriele Münter, Marianna von Werefkin, Heinrich -Schnabel, and Oskar Wittenstein. During the first year Paul Baum, -Wladimir von Bechtejeff, Erma Bossi, Karl Hofer, Moissey Koga, and -Albert Sacharoff joined. Paul Baum and Karl Hofer soon resigned their -membership. In 1910 the Frenchmen, Pierre Girieud and Le Fauconnier, -became members, and in 1911 Franz Marc and Otto Fischer, followed in -1912 by Alexander Mogilewsky. - - The first exhibition was held in the winter of 1909 in the Modern - Gallery, Munich. Indignation and derisive laughter, and insults - from the press were the outward result. Still the seed scattered - was not lost. Similar exhibitions were held in many cities of - Germany and Switzerland. Everywhere they met with opposition, but - also made some friends at each place. - - The second exhibition, held in the fall of the following year, - brought the members into contact with a large number of outside - artists, some of whom have become of great importance in the new - art, and most of whom were, up to that time, unknown in Germany. - These were the Germans, Hermann Haller, Bernhard Hoetger, Eugen - Kahler, Adolf Nieder; the Frenchmen, Georges Bracque, André Derain, - Kees Van Dongen, Francisco Durio, Pablo Picasso, Georges Rouault, - and Maurice de Vlaminck; finally, the Russians, Mogilewsky, David - and Wladimir Burljuk, and Seraphim Sudbinin. This was the first - exhibition at which it was possible to rightly estimate the - development and the international character of the new movement. - - The preparations for the exhibition in the year 1911 led to a - split. Some of the members insisted that, as regarded their works, - the custom of a jury should be dispensed with, while others were in - favor of having the entries rigidly judged in order to insure - proper selection. Kandinsky, Kubin, Marc, and Gabriele Münter in - consequence announced their withdrawal from the federation. Thus a - difference of opinion and convictions was openly vented that had - existed in secret for quite a time. The members named, under the - name of “Redaktion des Blauen Reiters,” opened a separate - exhibition and have since continued to work under this banner. - - The New Artists’ Federation, since its third exhibition in 1912, - has held a series of exhibits of the works of individual artists in - its rooms at Munich, and its members are represented at nearly all - important exhibitions in Germany and Switzerland.[45] - - * * * * * - -The key-note of the modern movement in art is _expression of self_; that -is, the expression of one’s _inner self_ as distinguished from the -representation of the outer world. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: MATISSE - -Woman in Red Madras] - -I have before me six of Jawlensky’s heads, painted a year or so apart. -They range from almost conventional portrait studies in strong -impressionistic manner to heads very like Matisse’s “Madras Rouge,” -thence to the head reproduced, which was the last painted. - -The series shows an interesting development of the painter’s -_convictions_, his technic remains essentially the same, facile and -competent, only the latest picture places a much greater stress upon his -resources. - -It was apparent from things in his studio, canvases ten or twelve years -old, that he could have made a commercial success as a painter of -portraits. - - * * * * * - -To say that Jawlensky’s latest heads with their strange, expressive, -exaggerated eyes are not wholly new one has only to turn to any work on -Greek painting wherein are reproduced some of the encaustic and tempera -portraits found in the Fayum some twenty-odd years ago. - - * * * * * - -When asked why he preferred his latest work to the earlier, Jawlensky -said: - -“I have put more of myself into them; they are more expressive of what I -feel.” - -And he went on to say the development seemed to him natural and logical. -He could not understand why the heads should strike others as queer or -laughable since they were the products of absolute sincerity. - -Of his work a friendly critic says: - - Jawlensky, formerly an officer in the Russian army, resigned a - captain’s commission and turned to painting. Today he looks back - into an artistic past rich in changes and just as rich in successes - achieved. Gauguin, VanGogh and Cézanne have given much to him; more - recently, oriental and primitive art, Byzantine pictures and - antique German woodcarvings have not been without influence on - him. His color is peculiarly his own, with its limpidity, its - bloom, and bold modulations, the spontaneous, expressive force of - which have a most refreshing effect. In its soft and surprising - beauty one may perhaps discover a distinctly Russian quality. It is - almost an injustice toward this artist’s pictures to reproduce them - colorless. His still-life pictures excel in composition and charm - by their color effects. In his landscapes a peculiar mood finds - expression, always striking, always original, and often with great - simplicity and beauty. His heads and half figures might be termed - snapshots of the soul: a pose, a motion, a glance of the eye, - retained by the briefest and most effective means. Here, too, a - conscious simplifying and exaggeration becomes more and more - evident. For this artist, art itself has the grace of a gesture; - the soul part immediately becomes expression, and thus is shown - everywhere the creative quality of an impulsive nature that owes - its best to the inspiration of the moment, and from it proceeds to - work with a most happy facility.[46] - - * * * * * - -Marianna von Werefkin, a Russian, uses water color, gouache, and prefers -the mystery of the night to daylight. Her pictures are interesting human -documents. She does not seek startling or novel pictured effects. - - * * * * * - -There is another and almost unknown artist, P. Klee, who is very highly -esteemed by the most advanced men. There is certainly an exquisite -refinement to his line; it is so alive it scintillates. - -Gabriele Münter has a vision of things quite her own, a sense of humor -and of life that penetrates beneath the surface, and that manifests -itself in a technic that is, one might say, almost nonchalant. - -A. Bloch is a young American, living in Munich, who has allied himself -with the Blue Knights and made an impression by his very personal -expressions. He was given a one-man exhibition in Berlin in December -last, and his pictures were highly praised in a well-written article in -the Berlin _Borsen-Courier_. Absolute and unswerving fidelity to one’s -ideals is the only sure road to success, and this sort of sincerity is -manifest in the work of Bloch. - -Franz Marc is in a class by himself. He is the animal painter of the -Blue Knights, and his pictures have a fairly steady sale notwithstanding -they are extreme in conception and execution. Animal forms and their -phases of composition seem to appeal to him, but he often uses the forms -as arbitrarily as Matisse uses his nudes to secure an effect of life or -grace. His color is always delightful, and there is a flow, a rhythm to -his pictures that is fascinating. - -In an article in “Der Blaue Reiter” he says: - - It is remarkable how _spiritual_ acquisitions are valued so - differently by men as compared with _material_. If someone conquers - a new colony for his country everybody applauds; if, however, - someone has the _inspiration_ to give to mankind a new and purely - spiritual value, it is rejected with scorn and indignation, the - gift is suspected, and the people try to suppress and crush it. Is - not this a frightful condition? - -And speaking of the new movement in art, which he considers a -_spiritual_ offering to the public, he says: - - The public is against us, with scorn and abuse it refuses our - pictures; but we may be right. They may not want our gifts, but - perhaps they cannot help accepting them. We have the consciousness - that our world of ideas is no card house with which we play, but it - contains the vital elements of a _movement_ the vibrations of which - are felt today _the world_ over. - -In the orthodox sense these men may or may not be religious--I do not -know--but one thing is certain, there is an immense amount of religious -power in their propaganda. - - * * * * * - -The most extreme man not only of Munich but of the entire modern art -movement is Wassily Kandinsky, also a Russian. - -There was one of his Improvisations in the International Exhibition.[47] - -It did not hang with the Cubists, not even in the large room with -Matisse and other radical men. Evidently those in charge of the hanging -did not know what to make of it or what to do with it, so they -side-tracked it on a wall that was partly in shadow. Visitors who paused -to look at it dismissed it as meaningless splotches of paint, and passed -on. - -There is this to be said for the public, that with no word of -explanation one of Kandinsky’s Improvisations does seem--_at first -glance_--the last word in extravagance; on fourth or fifth glance it -appears to have a charm of color that is fascinating; on _study_ it -begins to _sound_ like color music. - - * * * * * - -There were three of his canvases in the London Exhibition in Albert Hall -in July, 1913, “Landscape with Two Poplars,” “Improvisation No. 29,” and -“Improvisation No. 30,” the last reproduced herein in color. - -Of these three paintings a critic said:[48] - - By far the best pictures there seemed to me to be the three works - by Kandinsky. They are of peculiar interest, because one is a - landscape in which the disposition of the forms is clearly prompted - by a thing seen, while the other two are improvisations. In these - the forms and colors have no possible justification, except the - rightness of their relations. This, of course, is really true of - all art, but where representation of natural form comes in, the - senses are apt to be tricked into acquiescence by the intelligence. - In these improvisations, therefore, the form has to stand the test - without any adventitious aids. It seemed to me that they did this, - and established their right to be what they were. In fact, these - seemed to me the most complete pictures in the exhibition, to be - those which had the most definite and coherent expressive power. - Undoubtedly representation, besides the evocative power which it - has through association of ideas, - -[Illustration: KANDINSKY - -Improvisation No. 29] - - has also a value in assisting us to coordinate forms, and, until - Picasso and Kandinsky tried to do without it, this function at - least was always regarded as a necessity. That is why of the three - pictures by Kandinsky, the landscape strikes one most at first. - Even if one does not recognize it as a landscape, it is easier to - find one’s way about in it, because the forms have the same sort of - relations as the forms of nature, whereas in the two others there - is no reminiscence of the general structure of the visible world. - The landscape is easier, but that is all. As one contemplates the - three, one finds that after a time the improvisations become more - definite, more logical and more closely knit in structure, more - surprisingly beautiful in their color oppositions, more exact in - their equilibrium. _They are pure visual music._ - -People who do not find a _picture_ turn away disappointed and irritated, -but many turn back to look again, attracted by the strength and charm of -the compositions, and in the end not a few reluctantly concede, “Yes, -they have fine color, but--” and then follows the old demand for some -familiar object as anchorage. - - * * * * * - -Of Kandinsky’s qualifications from the academic point of view let it be -said he is a superb draftsman, though he no longer attaches any -importance to drawing _per se_; and he is a master of color -combinations. - -One would say that the two, mastery of drawing and mastery of color, -would make a great painter, and so they _did_ and _do_. - -I have at hand some of his earlier work along conventional lines, and I -have seen tempera drawings of Moroccan scenes that would delight a -Whistler, they are so delicate and so filled with subtle charm. Then I -have a series of sketches, extending over a number of years, which show -the development of his later works. - - * * * * * - -He has explained his theories at length in his book, “Ueber das -Geistege in der Kunst,”[49] and in numerous articles, notably in “Der -Blaue Reiter.” - -The keynote of the entire modern movement is found in the first sentence -of his book, - -“_Every work of art is the child of its own times._” - -A man may so steep himself in history and tradition that all he does is -reminiscent of the past, but such work marks no progress and such men -are negligible factors in the advancement of mankind. - -It is the man who yields himself to _his times_, who absorbs all there -is of good in the _life about him_, who sees everything, feels -everything, who mingles with his respect for the achievements of the -past a mighty admiration for the triumphs of the present--such a man is -a leader among his fellows; brilliant thinker, daring adventurer, he -blazes the way for the timid to follow. - -If we were Greeks of the fifth century we would carve the marbles they -did. If we were Romans under the Caesars we would build the buildings -they built. If we were Christians of the middle ages we would rear -cathedrals. If we were English, French, German, Chinese, or Japanese, we -would do the things they do, like the things they like. But we are none -of these peoples; we are Americans living in an age of steam and -electricity, of automobiles and aeroplanes, in an age of kaleidoscopic -changes, of marvelous and startling developments. - -What _must_ happen in painting, music, sculpture? - -Exactly what has happened in architecture. - -Painting, music, sculpture that will go with our mighty steel buildings, -with our factories and railroads. - -Painting, music, sculpture varied in form, as old and as new as the -brain of man can conceive, but always and essentially _our own_. That -is the secret, it must be characteristic of our age--_our own_. - - * * * * * - -This is not a placid age. - -It is an age of feverish activities, brilliant imaginings, profound -emotions. - -Hence our art will not be placid, but will be an art of the imagination -and the emotions. - -Venturesome souls will not be content to paint things, or even people, -but they will paint _themselves_, not their _outer_ selves, but their -_inner_; they will put on canvas what they _feel_. That is as near the -final word in art as man can utter--to _paint_ instead of _speak_ his -most subtle emotions. - - * * * * * - -In a recent article[50] Kandinsky summarises part of his theory as -follows: - -A work of art consists of two elements, the _inner_ and the _outer_. - -The inner is the emotion in the soul of the artist. This emotion has the -power to arouse a similar feeling in the soul of the observer. - -The soul being connected with the body it is affected through the medium -of the senses--feelings; emotions are stirred and aroused by sensations. -Hence our sensations are the bridge, the physical connection between the -_immaterial_, the emotion in the soul of the artist, to the _material_, -resulting in the production of the work of art. - -And again the sensations are the bridge from the _material_, the artist, -and his work, to the _immaterial_, emotion in the soul of the observer. - -The sequence is, _emotion_ (in -artist)--sensations--_work_--sensations--_emotion_ (in observer). - -The two emotions will be like and equal to the extent the _work_ is -successful. In this respect a painting is no different from a song, each -is a message; the successful singer succeeds in arousing in his hearers -the emotions he feels; the successful painter should do no less. - -The inner element, emotion, must exist, else the work will be a sham. -The inner element determines the _character_ of the work. - -In order that the inner element which at first exists only as an -emotion, may develop into work, the _second_ element--the _outer_ is -used as the embodiment. Therefore emotion is always seeking means of -expression, seeking a material form, a form that can stir the -senses.[51] - -The _vital_, the _determining_ element is the _inner_, that controls the -outer form, even as the idea in the mind determines the words we use, -and not the words the idea. - -Therefore the selection of the _form_ of a work of art is determined by -the _inner_ irresistible force--this is the only unchangeable _law_ of -art. - -A _beautiful_ work is the product of the harmonious cooperation of the -two elements, the inner and outer. A painting, for instance, is an -intellectual organism which, like every material organism, consists of -many parts. - -These single parts, if isolated, are as lifeless as a finger severed -from the hand. - -The single parts live only through the whole. - -The endless number of single parts in a painting is divided into two -groups: - -1. The _designed_ form. - -2. The _picturesque_ form. - - * * * * * - -An examination of a work of art, especially a painting, - -[Illustration: VAN GOGH - -Woman with Frying Pan] - -[Illustration: VAN GOGH - -Chair with Pipe] - -usually discovers the presence of parts and forms drawn from _nature_, -from _objects_. - -As the _imitation_ of natural forms forms no part of the definition of -pure art how is it these objective representations creep in? - -The origin of painting was the same as that of the other arts, and of -every human action. It was _purely practical_. - -If a native hunter chases game for days, he is induced to do so by -_hunger_. - -If today a princely hunter chases game, he is induced to do so by the -desire for _enjoyment_. Just as hunger is of _bodily_ value, here the -enjoyment is of _aesthetic_ value. - -If a savage requires artificial sounds for his dance, he is induced -thereto by sexual impulse. The artificial sounds, from which through -centuries the music of today developed, moved savages to an expression -of passion in the form of dancing. - -If the man of today attends a concert he is not seeking the music for -_practical_ results, but _pleasure_. - -Also here the original _practical_ motive changed to the _aesthetic_. -That means that also here the practical want of the body changed to that -of the _soul_. - -During this progress toward refinement (or spirituality) of the most -simple practical (or bodily) wants, two consequences are to be noticed -throughout: The _separation_ of the spiritual _from_ the bodily element -and its further _independent development_ through the different arts. - -Here the above mentioned laws (of the inner element and the form) -gradually apply with ever increasing force, until finally out of each -art comes a _pure_ art. - -This is a steady, logical, natural growth, like the growth of a tree. - -The process is to be noticed in painting. - -First period, _Origin_: _Practical_ desire to make use of _physical_. - -Second Period, _Development_: The gradual separation of this _practical_ -purpose, and the gradual ascendancy of the _spiritual_ element. - -Third Period, _Aim_: The attainment of a higher stage in _pure art_; in -this the remains of the practical desire are _totally separated_ -(abstracted). Pure art speaks from soul to soul, it is not dependent -upon the use of objective and imitative forms. - -We can distinguish all of these three stages in various combinations in -paintings of today. - -First Period: _Realistic Painting_. The realism here is understood to be -such as developed traditionally into the nineteenth century--the -_practical_ desire to exhibit objective realities--portraits, -landscapes, historical paintings, etc., in the direct sense. - -Second Period: _Naturalistic Paintings_ in the form of Impressionism, of -the New Impressionism and Expressionism--to which partly Cubism and -Futurism belongs: The separation of the _practical_ aim and the _general -preponderance_ of the _spiritual element_; from Impressionism through -Neo-Impressionism to Expressionism always increasing separation and -always increasing preponderance of the spiritual. - -Apparently in this finer development _nature_ as such is no more taken -into consideration; but this is only “apparently” so, for as a matter of -fact nature is used as a motive, a background, a basis for the pictures, -and if the attempt is made to separate the natural or _objective_ part -of the picture from the purely artistic, the result is the picture falls -for lack of support. - - * * * * * - -In other words, in most of even the very abstract paintings, such as -even Picasso’s, there is a foundation, a background of objects without -which the pictures would not exist. - -Picasso may refine a “Woman with a Mandolin,” to a dozen intersecting -lines that disclose neither woman nor mandolin, but _both_ were present -in his mind’s eye when he created his work, and without them the work -has no reason for existing. - -It is here that one begins to understand Kandinsky’s attitude, and how -diametrically he diverges from Picasso. The two have nothing in common -save the desire to produce more abstract art, but Picasso abstractions -are based on the _outer_ world, while Kandinsky’s are based on the -_inner_. - -When Picasso has refined nature, that is, things _outside_ him, to the -_last degree_, to the simplest mode of expression in line and mass, he -has reached an _impasse_, further progress is impossible, further -scientific subdivision in unattainable, his art in _that direction_ is -finished. - -But Kandinsky has before him an unlimited view. With him the elimination -of nature, of all things _physical_ from his compositions, simply gives -him greater freedom in the painting of compositions representing -things--moods--_spiritual_. - - * * * * * - -To go on with his own explanation, not in his exact words, but in -substance: - -It is thus seen that in both the first and second signs in the -development of art, the objective foundation or background is not of -simply secondary importance, but of _first_; it is essential because -without it the work would not exist. - -To create _pure art_ it is necessary to eliminate this background of the -physical, and substitute for it _pure artistic form_, which alone can -give the picture independent life. - -This step we find in the _dawning third period_ of -painting--_Compositional painting_. - -According to the scheme of the three periods, we have arrived at the -third one--which was designated as the _Aim_. - -In the _compositional painting_ which is developing today we see the -signs of the attainment of the higher step of _pure art_, in which the -remains of the _practical_ desire (all evidences of objectivity) can be -perfectly separated, which can speak from soul to soul in purely -artistic language. - -The conscious and oftentimes also still unconscious striving, which -strongly (and ever stronger) shows itself today, to replace the -objective (subject paintings) by pure construction (pure composition) is -the first sign of the dawning of that _pure art_ to which the past art -periods inevitably led. - - I have been trying to briefly deal with the entire development and - more especially the situation today in broad schematic outlines; - therefore there are many deficiencies (gaps) which necessarily - remain uncovered, and there are passed over many interesting lesser - developments, which are inevitable in progress, like smaller - branches on the tree, which extend outward notwithstanding the - tree’s growth upward. - - The further development, which is pending in painting, will still - have to suffer many seeming contradictions and diversions, as was - the case with music, which today we know already as pure art. - - The past teaches us that the development of humanity consists in - the increasing _spirituality_ of various factors. Among these - factors art takes the first place. - - Among the arts painting is following the road that leads it from - the _practical_-efficiency to the _intellectual_-efficiency. From - the _subject-picture_ to the _pure composition_. - -To better understand the foregoing take the “Improvisation No. 30.”[52] - -It is a very pure example of _compositional_ painting, but it - -[Illustration: KANDINSKY - -Improvisation No. 30] - -is not _absolutely pure_, in that it contains many more or less obvious -suggestions of familiar forms and objects. - -Some workmen who happened to be handling the painting, referred to it as -the “War Picture,” and many casual observers insist it is an impression -of war or of a battle field. - -This is because two cannon are quite plain in the lower right-hand -corner, and the two oblong blue masses projecting from the cannons’ -mouths would seem to be the smoke of the discharges. - -Then, too, the seeming cataclysmic effect, the suggestion of a helmet, a -tottering tower, banners, aerial flashes or fireworks, all accentuate -the impression of conflict and explosions. - -If one looks long enough in this mood it is not difficult to read into -the canvas all sorts of interpretations of a warlike character. - -Yet the painting was “improvised”--_composed_ with no _direct_ intention -of suggesting war. - -In his own personal note book wherein he keeps a record of all his work, -Kandinsky identifies the picture by a hasty pencil sketch and the words, -“Blue Splashes,” or “Masses,” and “Cannons.” - -Of the painting he says in a letter: - - The designation “Cannons,” selected by me _for my own use_, is not - to be conceived as indicating the “contents” of the picture. - - These contents are indeed what the spectator _lives_, or _feels_ - while under the effect of the _form and color combinations_ of the - picture. This picture is nearly in the shape of a cross. The - centre--somewhat below the middle--is formed by a large, irregular - blue plane. (The blue color in itself counteracts the impression - caused by the cannons!) Below this centre there is a muddy-gray, - ragged second centre almost equal in importance to the first one. - The four corners extending the oblique cross into the corners of - the picture are heavier than the two centres, especially heavier - than the first, and they vary from each other in characteristics, - in lines, contours, and colors. - - Thus the picture becomes lighter, or looser in the centre, and - heavier, or tighter towards the corners. - - The scheme of the construction is thus toned down, even made - invisible for many, by the looseness of the forms. Larger or - smaller remains of _objectivity_ (the cannons, for instance) - produce in the spectator that secondary tone which objects call - forth in all who feel. - - The presence of the cannons in the picture could probably be - explained by the constant war talk that had been going on - throughout the year. But I did not intend to give a representation - of war; to do so would have required different pictorial means; - besides, such tasks do not interest me--at least not just now. - - This entire description is chiefly an analysis of the picture which - I have painted rather subconsciously in a state of strong inner - tension. So intensively did I feel the necessity of some of the - forms, that I remember having given loud voiced directions to - myself, as for instance: “But the corners must be heavy!” In such - cases it is of importance exactly to discern all things, the - weight, for instance, by the feeling. Generally speaking, I might - almost declare that where the feeling that lies in the soul, in the - eye, and in the hand is strong enough to faultlessly determine the - finest measurements and weights, “schematism” and the much-dreaded - “consciosity” will not become dangerous. On the contrary, in this - case, the said elements will even prove immeasurably beneficial. - - I would that all my pictures might be judged exclusively from this - point of view, and that the non-essentials might completely - disappear from the judgment. - - * * * * * - -In subsequent letters he said: - - Whatever I might say about myself or my pictures can touch the - _pure artistic meaning_ only _superficially_. The observer must - learn to look at the picture as a graphic representation of a - _mood_ and not as a representation of _objects_. - - * * * * * - - All that anyone can say about pictures, and what I might say - myself, can touch the contents, the _pure artistic meaning_, of a - picture _only superficially_. Each spectator for himself must learn - to view the picture _solely_ as a graphic representation of a mood, - passing over as unimportant such details as representations or - suggestions of natural objects. This the spectator can do after a - time, and where one can do it, many can. - -Given a work of art, painting, sculpture, music--anything--its -appreciation and understanding depend upon the _attitude_ of the -audience. - -A work of art may be, and ultimately must be viewed from two very -different points of view--the point of view of the _artist_, and the -point of view of the _observer_. - -The great majority of people view a painting only from the latter point -of view, only in the light of _their preconceived_ notions and -prejudices--hence the ridicule of the strange and the protest against -the new. - -A very, very small minority--a minority so small it numbers scarce one -in ten thousand--view a new work searchingly and at the same time -sympathetically _from the artist’s point of view_, seeking diligently to -find out what he is trying to do, and not permitting a single prejudice -or preconceived notion of their own to bias their judgment. - -_After_ this class of observers have ascertained what the artist -intended, _then_, and not until then, do they turn and view the work -from their own point of view--that is, in the light of their own likes -and dislikes. - -Their final appreciation may be that _granting the theories of the -artist_ the picture is a fine one, but they do not agree with the -artist’s theories, hence the picture from their point of view is a -failure as a work of art. - -To rightly view a work of art is an _act of creation_; the true observer -is a painter; the true reader is a poet. - - * * * * * - -It is not at all strange that the great majority referred to should -resent Kandinsky’s improvisations, for they are not easy to understand, -though most of them are undeniably fascinating in color. - -It is not even strange that a large percentage of the intelligent and -sympathetic minority should finally reach the - - conclusion that the theories of the artist are not sound, and - therefore all his work based on his extreme theories fails as art - work, but the attitude of this fraction of the minority is an - attitude of intelligent and conscientious conviction, reached after - long and impartial investigation, while the attitude of the great - majority is that of impulsive ignorance and irritation, reached on - first impression and without the slightest attempt at - understanding. - - * * * * * - -To illustrate: The great majority of people on first hearing Chinese -music exclaim, “What a horrid din!” and turn away. - -A very, very small minority, about one man in a million, say, “True, it -sounds to us like a din, but to a people of extraordinary civilization -it is music; the matter is worth investigating,” and on investigation it -would be found that Chinese music from time immemorial has been under -state supervision.[53] - -The very ancient scale was pentatonic--five tones. It was in the seventh -century, B.C., that the Asiatic flute was introduced into Greece and the -Greek Doric scale transformed into one of five tones.[54] - - Among the more cultivated nations, the Chinese, and Celts of - Scotland and Ireland still retain the scale of five notes without - semitones, although both have become acquainted with the complete - scale of seven tones. - - The division of the octave into twelve semitones, and the - transposition of scales have also been discovered by this - intelligent and skilful nation. - - But, generally speaking, both the Gaels and the Chinese, - notwithstanding their acquaintance with the modern tonal system, - hold fast by the old. And it cannot be denied that by avoiding the - semitones - -[Illustration: GAUGUIN - -Portrait of Self] - -[Illustration: GAUGUIN - -Farmyard] - - of the diatonic scale, Scotch airs receive a peculiarly bright and - mobile character, although we cannot say as much for the - Chinese.[55] - -While we are content with a scale divided into semitones, the more -delicate oriental ear requires _quarter_ tones. The Arab octave is -divided into _twenty-four_ intervals. A distinguished musician on a -visit to Cairo wrote Helmholtz as follows: “This evening I have listened -attentively to the song on the minarets, to try to appreciate the -_quarter-tones_ which I had not supposed to exist, as I had thought the -Arabs sang _out of tune_. But today as I was with the dervishes I became -certain that such quarter-tones existed.[56] - -In discussing the development of our modern, _equal_ temperament -(adopted commercially in England for pianos not until 1846), Helmholtz -says, “Amiot reports equal temperament from China long previously even -to Pythagoras.”[57] - - The Chinese are the only people who, thousands of years ago, - possessed a system of octaves, a circle of fifths, and a normal - tone. With this knowledge, however, their eighty-four scales, _each - of which has a special philosophical signification_, appear all the - more incomprehensible to us.[58] - -“The Chinese believe their music to be the first in the world. _European -music_ they consider to be _barbaric_ and _horrible_.”[59] - - * * * * * - -All this goes to show how hazardous it is to jump to the conclusion that -what we don’t understand has no meaning. - -To one ignorant of Chinese or Japanese or Hebrew handwriting it seems -just as absurd and meaningless as a drawing by Picasso or a painting by -Kandinsky, but to the earnest - - and indefatigable searcher after hidden meanings the strange - handwriting and the strange pictures both deliver up a message. - - * * * * * - -Of such paintings as Kandinsky’s improvisations it is often flippantly -said, “They paint that way because they can’t draw.” - -As a matter of fact most of the extreme moderns such as Picasso, -Matisse, Kandinsky, are past-masters of the art of drawing. - -But they do not now attach the importance to drawing, merely for the -sake of drawing, they once did. - -Kandinsky’s own attitude is expressed in the following extract from a -letter: - - As regards other artists, I am very tolerant, but at the same time - most severe; my opinion of artists is influenced but little by - considerations of the element of form, pure and simple; I expect of - the artist to bear within at least the “sacred spark” (if not - “flame”). There really is nothing easier than to master the form of - something or someone. Boecklin is quoted as having said that even a - poodle-dog might learn how to draw, and in this he was correct. At - the schools I attended I had more than a hundred colleagues who had - learned something, many had in good time managed to draw quite well - and anatomically correct--_still_, they were not artists, not a - pfennig’s worth. In short, I value _only_ those artists who really - are artists; that is, who consciously or unconsciously, in an - _entirely original form_, or in a style bearing their _personal - imprint_, embody the expression of their _inner self_; who, - consciously or unconsciously, work _only_ for _this end_ and cannot - work _otherwise_. The number of such artists is very few. If I were - a collector I would buy the works of such even if there were - weaknesses in what they did; _such_ weaknesses grow less in time - and finally disappear entirely, and though they may be apparent in - the earlier works of the artist still they do not deprive even - these earlier and less perfect works of value. But the _other_ - weakness, that of _lack of soul_, never decreases with time, but is - sure to grow worse and become more and more apparent, and so render - absolutely valueless works that _technically_ may be very correct. - The entire history of art is proof of this. The _union_ of _both_ - kinds of strength--that of intellect or spirituality with that of - form, or technical perfection--is most rare, as is also - demonstrated by the history of art. - - * * * * * - -From his exceedingly abstruse article “On the Question of Form” in “Der -Blaue Reiter,” I take and paraphrase the following: - -At certain times our inner forces--impulses--mature and the result is a -longing to create something, and we try to find a material -form--manifestation--for the _new value_ that exists in us in spiritual -or intellectual form. - -This is the seeking of the _spiritual_ for material expression. Matter -is but the store house out of which the spirit selects the necessary -elements to secure the objective result. - -Thus the _creative spirit_ is hidden in the matter, behind the material -manifestation through which it must make itself known. But often the -material envelope is so dense that only a few people can discern the -spiritual idea within and behind it; some people never penetrate behind -the matter at all, and therefore, never comprehend the spiritual -message. - -While many comprehend the _spiritual_ content behind the _outward_ forms -of religion, they do not realize that there is, or should be, a -_spiritual_ content behind the _outward_ forms of art. - -There are whole epochs when men seem blind to the spiritual truths that -are behind material manifestations; generally speaking, the nineteenth -century was a century of _materialism_. - -It is as if a _black hand_ were placed over the eyes of men so they -should not see the spiritual forces behind the material, and the -production of new spiritual values is fought by mockery and calumny. The -man who produces the new value is held up to ridicule and called a -charlatan. - -The _joy of living_ is the _perpetual victory_ of the new, the -_spiritual value_. But even as men learn to appreciate the new of -yesterday and today they establish it as a barrier against the new of -tomorrow. Spiritual development and evolution are a constant throwing -down of these bars that are as constantly re-erected by the materialism -and blindness of mankind. - -Therefore the important thing is not only the impulse to create new -spiritual values, but _liberty_ to do so. - -The spiritual is the _absolute_, the outward form is _relative_, it is -born of the place and the hour. Therefore one should not fall into the -worship of a particular form, but should use whatever form best serves -to express the spiritual content. - -And, naturally, each artist must use _his own form_ to express his own -ideas, and _form_ should have the stamp of _personality_. - -Each nation, each epoch will develop its own forms, or peculiarities of -forms, and it is the reflection of the nation, the epoch, the individual -in the particular form that is known as, or makes the _style_. - -When a group of artists is animated by the same spirit the forms they -use will be so alike the result will be a “movement” or “school” in art; -but a “school” should not be permitted to dominate the freedom of -others. Every individual must be at liberty to choose the form that best -expresses the spiritual message he wishes to utter. - -The form--picture--may be agreeable or disagreeable, beautiful or ugly, -harmonious or disharmonious, but it must not be judged on its outward -appearance; it must be judged by the _idea_, the _spiritual value_ -behind it. We must look _through_ the form to the spiritual, as we would -look through the deformed body of the cripple to the soul of the man. - -In practical life we never meet a man who, if he wishes - -[Illustration: GAUGUIN - -Scene in Tahiti] - -[Illustration: GRIS - -Still Life] - -to go to Berlin, gets off the train at Regensberg. But in spiritual life -it is a common thing to find people who step out at Regensberg. -Sometimes the engine driver refuses to go on and all the travelers have -to leave the train at Regensberg. How many who are _looking for God_ -stop before a _carved image_! How many who are looking for art are -caught by some form that has been used by some great artist to express -_his_ ideas! - -And in conclusion he asserts, it is not of vital importance whether the -_form_ is personal, national, according to prevailing mode, or whether -it is related to “schools,” “movements,” etc., etc., or is isolated. -“_The important question is whether the form has grown out of the inner, -spiritual necessity._” - - * * * * * - -In art, especially in painting, we have today striking richness of form -which shows the immense striving that is going on. - -To adhere stubbornly to one form is to travel a lane that has no outlet. - -Many call the present state of painting “anarchy,” and so they say of -music, but this appearance of anarchy, of lawlessness, is due to the -workings of spiritual forces that cannot be expressed in old forms, but -demand new manifestations. - -It is one thing to reproduce on canvas an accurate representation of an -object, but such a representation is no more than the outer shell; to -find out whether the picture has any real, any spiritual value one must -get rid of this outer shell. Step by step the “objective,” the -photographic elements are eliminated until in the end there may be no -trace of any object, and with this elimination the spiritual content -becomes plainer and plainer. The steps are: - -Realism--abstraction-- - -Abstraction--_reality_. - - * * * * * - -Objects need not necessarily be eliminated from a picture, but they -should be used _not_ for the sake of forcing their photographic -likenesses upon the observer, but solely to more perfectly express the -inner, the spiritual significance of the work. - -If a painter introduces a suggestion of a landscape or a bit of still -life it should be for the purpose of making _his_ meaning, _his_ inner -feeling plainer to the beholder, and not for the purpose of making a -colored photograph of a field or flowers. - -Therefore it does not matter whether _actual_ or _abstract_ forms are -used by the artist, so long as both are used to express _spiritual -values_. The sole question regarding form the artist should put to -himself is, “Which form, or combination of forms, shall I use in this -case to express most fully and plainly my spiritual mood?” - - * * * * * - -The _ideal art critic_ is not the critic who tries to discover mistakes, -ignorance, imitations in the form, but he who tries to _feel_ and -_understand_ how the form _expresses_ the _inner feeling_ of the artist -and who tries to make the public understand. - -A painter may use new and strange forms for the sake of the forms, just -for the sake of painting new and strange pictures, but the result will -be lifeless. - -It is only when new and strange forms are used _because_ they are -necessary to express a spiritual content that the result is a _living_ -work of art. - -“_The world reverberates; it is a cosmos of spiritually working human -beings. Thus matter is living spirit._” - - * * * * * - -Rather a fine philosophy, is it not? - -One cannot but feel that out of such thoughts good works must come. - - * * * * * - -To quote once more from a personal letter: - -“I have now been exhibiting for almost fifteen years, and for the same -fifteen years I have been hearing (although more rarely of late) that I -have gone too far on my way; that in time my exaggerations will most -surely decrease, and that I would yet paint in an ‘entirely different -manner'; that I would ‘return to nature.’ I had to hear this for the -first time when I exhibited my studies painted on the naturalist basis -with the horn (spatula). - -“The truth of the matter is that every really gifted artist, that is, an -artist working under an impulse _from within_, must go in a way that in -some mystical manner has been laid out for him from the very start. His -life is nothing but the fulfillment of a task set for him (_for him, not -by himself_). Meeting with enmity from the start, he feels only vaguely -and indistinctly that he carries a message for the expression of which -he must find a _certain_ manner. This is the period of ‘storm and -stress,’ then follow desperate _searching_, pain, great pain--until -_finally_ his eyes open and he says to himself, ‘There is my way.’ The -rest of his life lies along this path. And one must follow it to the -very last hour _whether one wants to do so, or not_. And no one must -imagine that this is a Sunday afternoon’s walk, for which one selects -the route at will. Neither is there any Sunday about it; it is a working -day, in the strongest sense possible. And the greater the artist, the -more one-sided is he in _his_ work; true, he retains the ability to do -‘nice’ work of other kind (by reason of his ‘talent'), but _innerly_ -weighty, infinitely deep, and immeasurable serious things he can achieve -_only_ in his _one-sided_ art. Talent is not an electric pocket lantern, -the rays of which one may at will direct now hither and then thither; -it is a star for which the path is being prescribed by the dear Lord. - -“As far as I am concerned personally, I was as if thunderstruck, when -for the first time and in only a general manner I began to see my way. I -was awed. I deemed this inspiration to be a delusion, a ‘temptation.’ - -“You will easily understand what doubts I had to overcome, until I -became convinced that I had to follow this way. Of course, I clearly -understood what it means ‘to drop the objective.’ With what doubts I was -troubled regarding my own powers! For I knew at once _what_ powers were -_absolutely_ required for this task. How this inner development -proceeded, how _everything_ pushed me on to this way and how the -exterior development slowly but logically (step by step) followed suit, -you will see from my book that is to appear shortly (in English). All -that I still see _ahead_ of me, all these tasks, the ever-increasing -wealth of possibilities, the ever-growing depth of painting I cannot -describe. And one must and _may_ not describe such things: they must -mature _innerly_ in secret confinement and may not be expressed -otherwise than by the painter’s art. - -“If in time you acquire the ability to more exactly _live_ my pictures, -you will have to admit that the element of ‘chance’ is very rarely met -with in these pictures, and that it is more than amply covered by the -large positive sides--so amply, indeed, that it is not worth while to -mention those weak spots. - -“My constructive forms, although outwardly appearing indistinct, are in -fact rigidly fixed as if they were cut in stone. - -“These explanations lead us too far; they could help only if illustrated -by examples. Also, this letter is already much longer than it ought to -be. I trust that I have expressed myself clearly! These things are so -infinitely complicated, - -[Illustration: - - VLAMINCK - - Village -] - -and how often do I deviate from my theme and thus (instead of producing -‘clarity') cause confusion to become worse confounded!” - - * * * * * - -The result are paintings such as the four reproduced in color and -half-tone. - -The brilliant color combinations and harmonies of the originals are -inadequately disclosed in the reproductions, the scale is too reduced. -But the forms are well indicated, strange, curious forms, meaningless on -first impression but _insistent_. - -Most people are repelled at once by the landscapes because they seem so -badly drawn a child could do better; but even as landscapes, as -impressions of nature--or rather of _something in nature_--the pictures -will not be denied. - -If they were intended to be accurate representations of natural scenes, -mountains, fields, trees, houses, they would be ridiculous indeed, but -they are not so intended, therefore they should not be so judged. - -In looking at these pictures--compositions, rather, it is but fair to -look at them from the point of view of the painter, try to _read_ them -as he _wrote_ them. - - * * * * * - -“_Compositional_” painting is no radical departure, no new discovery. - -The instinct of the child is to “compose,” to create. It is only after -much chiding and correction that the child draws literally--copies what -it _sees_. - - * * * * * - -It takes a big and strong man to pass through schools and academies and -come out unscathed. The art school is a godsend to talent and -mediocrity; it is a menace to genius. - -Most paintings are “compositional” to _some_ extent. But from the -literalness of Monet’s hay stacks to the abstract qualities of -Kandinsky’s improvisations the interval is great. - -There is, too, a difference in kind, as well as degree, between the -compositions of the painter who simply re-arranges nature, persons, or -objects to secure a pleasing or effective result, and the painter who -uses nature, life, or objects as so many signs or notes to express his -inner feelings; the former paints to _impress_ others, the latter paints -to _express himself_ to others. The one is thinking all the time of his -picture, the other is thinking all the time of his message. - -All great painters have combined the two attitudes, they have _expressed -themselves_ in pictures that not only convey the message but _as -pictures_ impress others--that is characteristic of the world’s great -art. - -At the moment the pendulum is swinging toward the extreme where -everything is subordinated to the expression of the artist’s _self_, and -the indications are that some subtle and wonderful things will be -painted before the pendulum swings back. - - * * * * * - -To what extent the public generally will accept pure compositional -painting it is impossible to say; but the number of those who enjoy it -will steadily increase until there will be many lovers of art who will -collect only the most abstract works. - - * * * * * - -A Russian painter of great strength but entirely different inspiration -and technic was asked, “Do you like Kandinsky’s Improvisations?” - -“Very much.” - -“Do you understand them?” - -“No.” - -“Then why do you like them?” - -“Because they give me pleasure and I am sure that as I look at them -they excite in me the same pleasure they excited in him when he painted -them; he has succeeded in conveying to me his own emotions and that is -the most any artist can hope to do.” - -Which brings us back to the proposition laid down in an earlier chapter: -the emotional reaction to music and painting may be and usually is quite -independent of the intellectual, and while it may be either increased or -diminished in _volume_ by _understanding_, it is necessarily _changed_ -in character. - - * * * * * - -Another artist, an Austrian, was asked: - -“How do you like Kandinsky’s Improvisations?” - -After a moment’s hesitation he replied slowly: “They interest me -immensely, and I admire the man’s courage to express himself in his own -way regardless whether people understand him or not, but he goes so far -that it is almost impossible for even his friends and sympathizers to -understand his pictures. He goes so far he is quite alone, no one can -follow, and therein I think perhaps he makes a mistake, for after all -pictures should be so painted that those who earnestly try can -understand them.” - -But that is just the question that every great artist is obliged to put -to himself, “Shall I write or paint so that others will understand, or -shall I express myself in my own way even though no one but myself -comprehends and even I fail at times?” - -It is just as bad to paint with the sole purpose of being -understood--_commercialism_--as it is to paint with the sole purpose of -being misunderstood--_charlatanism_. - - - - -VIII - -COLOR MUSIC - - -Color music is no new idea, but of late it is finding new expression. - -While painters are beginning to paint color harmonies that are -independent of the representations of natural objects, others are -seeking the same emotional effects with colored lights. - -A “color organ” has been invented[60] which deals with color for its own -sake as music does with sound, thereby opening up a new world of beauty -and interest as yet to a great extent unexplored. - - When you enter Mr. Rimington’s English studio you see at one end of - it a curious instrument with a keyboard and stops, while at the - other end is a white screen, hung in folds to give greater depth - and life to the colors playing upon it. What happens when the - instrument is played is thus described by Mr. Rimington: - - “Imagine a darkened concert room. At one end there is a large - screen of white drapery in folds, surrounded with black and framed - by two bands of pure white light. Upon this we will suppose, as an - example of a simple color composition, that there appears the - faintest possible flush of rose color, which very gradually fades - away while we are enjoying its purity and subtlety of tint, and we - return to darkness. Then, with an interval, it is repeated in three - successive phases, the last of which is stronger and more - prolonged. - - “While it is still lingering upon the screen, a rapid series of - touches of pale lavender notes of color begin to flit across it, - gradually strengthening into deep violet. This again becomes shot - with amethyst, and afterward changing gradually into a broken tint - of ruby, gives a return to the warmer tones of the opening passage. - - “A delicate primrose now appears, and with little runs and flushes - of pulsation leads through several passages of indescribable - cinnamon - -[Illustration: PICASSO - -Old Woman] - -[Illustration: GIRIEUD - -Woman Seated] - - color to deep topaz. Then suddenly interweavings of strange green - and peacock blue, with now and then a touch of pure white, make us - seem to feel the tremulousness of the Mediterranean on a breezy - day, and as the color deepens there are harmonies of violet and - blue green which recall its waves under a Tramontana sky. More and - more powerful they grow, and the eye revels in the depth and - magnificence of the color as the executant strikes chord after - chord among the bass notes of the instrument. - - “Then suddenly the screen is again dark and there is only a - rhythmic and echoing beat of the dying color upon it. At last this - disappears also, and there is another silent pause, then one - hesitating tint of faded rose as at the opening of the composition. - - “Upon this follows a stronger return of the color, and as the - screen once more begins to glow with note after note of red and - scarlet, we are prepared for the rapid crescendo which finally - leads up to a series of staccato and forte chords of pure crimson - which almost startle us with the force of their color before they - die away into blackness! - - “This,” says Mr. Rimington, “is an extremely simple example, but it - may suffice to show the kind of effect produced by an unadorned - form of mobile color not accompanied by music. In some cases a - musical accompaniment was found to add greatly to the interest of a - color composition. The nearest approach to color music in nature is - to be found in certain sunsets.” Of the emotional and aesthetic - effect of color music on various beholders we read: - - The amount of pleasure and interest derived from color compositions - varies immensely with individuals. An interesting instance of this - was the case of a well-known London doctor, who told the author, - after first seeing a recital of color-music, that he was absolutely - unappreciative of any form of “sound music;” that it was, in fact, - a pain to him, and that he had always detested it. “But,” he said, - “from the moment that I first saw a display of mobile color, I - realized what I had missed all my life through my inability to - appreciate music. It opened up a new world of sensations to me and - gave me the greatest mental pleasure I have ever experienced.” This - clearly shows that to some persons mobile color would, or does, - fill the place which music can not occupy in their lives. - - On the other hand, there can be little doubt that to some, though - they would hardly own it, color of any kind is more or less - unpleasant, and they would prefer to live in a monotonic world. One - must therefore be prepared for a great variety of opinions with - regard to any such art as that of mobile color. The majority of - people will probably derive a moderate but increasing pleasure from - it. - - There are many to whom it at once provides a surpassingly - interesting source of enjoyment and education, and some to whom, - like my medical friend, it will open up an entirely new world of - sensations; and there are others, again, to whom it will be - supremely distasteful. It is well to recognize this to avoid - disappointment, and be prepared for very divergent expressions of - opinion about it. - - Speaking broadly, it appeals most to those who have had an artistic - training into which color has entered, and it is less attractive to - those whose interests center in music. This is not what the author - personally expected. He imagined that the connection with music - being so close on some points, those who would take the greatest - interest in mobile color would be musicians; but, with some - striking exceptions among distinguished musicians, the musical - world, as far as it has yet come into contact with color-music, has - been at first inclined to see points of divergence rather than - those of analogy and to look upon the art as a possible rival. A - similar attitude is often adopted toward any new departure in - science or art, and there is no reason for resenting it; it merely - makes the cooperation of those among musicians who are able to take - a sympathetic view and welcome the endeavor to open up new fields - of investigation all the more valuable. - - * * * * * - -From time immemorial child and man have taken the keenest delight in -fireworks and colored lights which are after all a species of light -music. - -Since the adoption of electricity for lighting it is comparatively easy -to produce the most wonderful effects both indoors and out. - -As yet little thought has been given to producing harmonious light -effects on streets--save in advertising signs. For the most part the -lighting is garish in the extreme, often positively painful to the eyes, -but in time this will be corrected. Public authorities cooperating with -private owners will work out schemes for lighting streets and shops that -will yield charming effects. - - * * * * * - -Already much has been done in the theater, especially in Russia and -Germany. The value of light effects is being recognized. Soft music is -often played to enhance the effect of a tender or pathetic scene, and it -is quite common for the lights to change in harmony. - -By the use of light alone as an accompaniment to a love scene the same -effect on the audience can be secured as by the use of soft music. - -So far all this has been done crudely and for the most part -unscientifically. Producer and electrician have worked together in a -haphazard way, often with great success, sometimes with most -disagreeable results. - -The very term “stage lighting” is not inspiring, but the art of light -music will be developed and be taught in theory and practice. Masters of -the art will come and men will realize that it is just as great an art -to satisfy the eye with light melodies as it is to please the ear with -sound melodies. - -There yet may be entertainments where only light music is played as -there are concerts where only sound music is played. - -And why not? Just ask yourself the question--Why not? - -Of all the organs of sense the eye is the most delicate and the most -wonderful. The ear responds to _air_ waves that travel at the rate of -1,100 _feet_ per second and vary in frequency from 16 to 32,000 per -second. The musical notes vary from 32 to 5,000 beats per second. - -The eye responds to _ether_ waves that travel at the rate of 182,000 -_miles_ per second and vary in frequency from 400 millions millions--the -lowest red of the spectrum--to 750 millions millions (red -400,000,000,000,000; violet 750,000,000,000,000) the highest violet. - - * * * * * - -Man has devoted ages to developing harmonies in the combination of air -waves, and he has reduced sound music to a science. - -He has devoted _all_ the ages of his being to the use of color in one -way and another to please his eye, but only of late has he made any -attempt to understand the _science_ of light and color music. - - * * * * * - -The _material_ civilization we _have_ attained in comparison with the -_spiritual_ civilization we _should_ attain is fairly well indicated by -the vast difference between the crude and natural art of _sound_ effects -which is, so far, man’s most abstract achievement in art, and the -incomparably finer and more ethereal art of light and color effects -which will be one of the crowning achievements of man’s nobler future. - - * * * * * - -The painter of _easel_ pictures arrogates to himself the name artist and -to his work the phrase _fine art_. He looks down upon the house painter, -the dressmaker, and the interior decorator. - -Yet as compared with those who clothe our bodies and decorate our homes -in harmonies of line and color the painter of easel pictures cuts very -little figure in life; he plays his part but much of his inspiration is -drawn from the work of the other two. - -It should never be forgotten that in all the great portraits of the -world the clothes and the interiors that furnish the beautiful color -schemes _preceded_ the pictures often by generations. - -The costumer and the decorator work year in and year out, from -generation to generation, throughout the centuries, with not so much as -a thought of the painter in the corner with his little canvas, -faithfully copying. - -Now and then a great painter, a great sculptor, takes off his coat, -turns workman for the moment and makes sculptures for buildings, paints -pictures on walls, devises costumes, and contributes to making our -environment more beautiful. - -But not infrequently the sculptor and the painter upset the equilibrium -of the work of others by doing things which are out of key or out of -proportion. The “fine artist” _may_ bring the work of decorating to a -standstill by painting spotty _easel_ pictures on walls that should be -treated in harmony with the entire building and with its uses. - - * * * * * - -The time will come when art schools will teach pure color composition as -well as drawing and the painting of pictures. - -Why should not prizes be offered for color harmonies? - -As it is now pupils are taught everything _except_ the use of color _for -the sake of color_. - - * * * * * - -What is a “still life”? Simply a painting of a number of objects -selected and arranged primarily for their color notes. Why not paint the -notes without the fruit and dishes? - -So far as the color harmony is concerned the _figure_ of an orange, an -apple, a banana is not essential; in reality the photographic -realization distracts. But the public is not accustomed to _pure_ color -music, it is not accustomed to seeing canvases that contain only color -harmonies with no suggestion of object or form, it demands that the note -of yellow shall be a lemon or a banana, that the note of purple shall -assume the shape of a plum and so on, and so on; yet all the time the -enjoyment derived from a fine “still life” is from the harmony that -results from the combination of colors, and in no sense from the objects -arbitrarily and artificially grouped together. - - * * * * * - -The use of line and color _imitatively_ to depict objects is one thing. - -The use of line and color _freely_ to produce pure line harmonies and -pure color harmonies, with no reference to objects is quite another, and -in a sense, a far higher art--a more abstract art. - -It is toward the development of this more abstract art that the modern -experiments are tending. The net result in the long run will be the -education of a considerable fraction of the public to the appreciation -of pure line and color music and a consequent demand for paintings that -are simply pure line and color compositions. - -With this development of a taste for a very abstract art all the arts -and crafts are certain to be beneficially affected. - -The study of line for the sake of line, and of color for the sake of -color if systematically pursued will make all draftsmen greater masters -of line, and all painters--to the humblest house painter--greater -masters of color. - - - - -IX - -ESORAGOTO - - -Neither the Cubists nor Kandinsky troubled a very distinguished Japanese -expert who spent many days at the exhibition. - -“The principles of all this are old, very old, in Japan.” - -He was far more interested in the extreme drawings and paintings than in -the more academic. Pointing to a drawing that seemed scarce more than a -few careless strokes, he said, “That is quite in the spirit of the best -Japanese art.” - -Of the “King and Queen” he said, “I like that very much,” and so on, -passing from one Cubist picture to another, commenting upon each -seriously and intelligently. - - * * * * * - -To either copy or be in the slightest degree hampered by nature is a -mark of inferiority in Chinese and Japanese art. - -The very abstract art of the Orient has its elaborate conventions, but -those conventions are all in the direction of _pure_ art, whereas the -conventions of our art (music always excepted) are all in the direction -of imitation. - - It was a theory of the great Chinese teacher, Chinanpin, and - particularly enforced by him, that trees, plants, and grasses take - the form of a circle, called in art _Rin kan_; or a semi-circle, - _Han kan_; or an aggregation of half circles, called fish-scales, - _Gyo sin_; or a modification of these latter, called moving - fish-scales, _Go sin Katsu_.[61] - - * * * * * - - In regard to painting moving waters, whether deep or shallow, in - rivers or brooks, bays or oceans, Chinanpin declared it was - impossible for the eye to seize their exact forms because they are - ever changing and have no fixed, definite shape; therefore, they - cannot be sketched satisfactorily; yet, as moving water must be - represented in painting, it should be long and minutely - contemplated by the artist and its general character--whether - leaping in the brook, flowing in the river, roaring in the - cataract, surging in the ocean or lapping the shore--observed and - reflected upon, and after the eye and the memory are both - sufficiently trained and _the very soul of the artist is - saturated_, as it were, with this one subject, and he feels his - whole being calm and composed, he should retire to the privacy of - his studio and with the early morning sun to gladden his spirit - there attempt to reproduce the movement of the flow; _not by - copying what he has seen_, for the effect would be stiff and - wooden, but by symbolizing according to certain laws _what he feels - and remembers_. - - * * * * * - -It begins to be plain why the Japanese expert was profoundly interested -in the modern pictures and drawings. - - * * * * * - - One of the most important principles in the art of Japanese - painting--indeed a fundamental and entirely distinctive - characteristic--is that called living movement, _sei do_, or - _Kokoro machi_, it being, so to say, the transfusion into the work - of _the felt nature_ of the thing to be painted by the artist. - Whatever the subject to be translated--whether river or tree, rock - or mountain, bird or flower, fish or animal--the artist at the - _moment of painting it must feel its very nature_, which, by the - magic of his art, he transfers into his work to remain forever, - affecting all who see it with the same sensations he experienced - when executing it. - - This is not an imaginary principle, but a strictly enforced law of - Japanese painting. The student is insistently admonished to observe - it. Should his subject be a tree he is urged when painting it to - _feel_ the _strength_ which shoots through the branches and - sustains the limbs; or if a flower to try to _feel_ the grace with - which it expands or bows its blossoms. Indeed, nothing is more - constantly urged upon his attention than this great _underlying - principle_ that it is _impossible to express in art what one does - not first feel_. - - * * * * * - - “Waga kokoro waga te woyaku - Waga te waga kokoro ni ozuru.” - Our spirit must make our hand its servitor; - Our hand must respond to each behest of our spirit. - -[Illustration: SOUSA CARDOZA - -Stronghold] - - The Japanese artist is taught that even to the placing of a dot in - the eyeball of a tiger, he must _first feel_ the savage, cruel, - feline character of the beast, and only under such influence should - he apply the brush. If he paint a storm he must at the moment - _realize_ passing over him the very tornado which tears up trees - from their roots and houses from their foundations. Should he - depict the seacoast with its cliffs and moving waters, at the - moment of putting the wave-bound rocks into the picture he must - _feel_ that they are being placed there to resist the fiercest - movement of the ocean, while to the waves in turn he must give an - irresistible power to carry all before them. Thus, by this - sentiment called living movement (_sei do_), _reality_ is imparted - to the inanimate object. This is one of the marvelous secrets of - Japanese painting handed down from the great Chinese painters and - based on psychological principles--_matter responsive to mind_.[62] - - * * * * * - -In the light of the foregoing, one begins to understand why Winslow -Homer painted such wonderful realizations of the sea and rocky -coasts--he _lived_ removed from men, his most intimate friends the rocks -and waves. - -One also begins to understand how painters who show great strength and -promise in their earlier works, based upon surroundings they know, lose -both strength and promise when, flushed by prosperity or attracted by -tinsel and glitter, they establish their studios in cities and still try -to paint the sea or the country. - - * * * * * - - Japanese artists are not bound down to the literal presentation of - things seen. They have a canon, called _esoragoto_, which literally - means an invented picture, or a picture into which certain fictions - are painted. - - Every painting to be effective must be _esoragoto_; that is there - must enter therein certain artistic liberties. It should aim not so - much to reproduce the exact thing as its sentiment, called _kokoro - mochi_, which is the moving spirit of the scene; it must not be a - facsimile. - - * * * * * - - It is related that Okubo Shibutsu, famous for painting bamboo, was - requested to execute a kakemono representing a bamboo forest. - Consenting, he painted with all his well-known skill a picture in - which the entire bamboo grove was in red. The patron upon its - receipt marveled at the extraordinary skill with which the painting - had been executed, and, repairing to the artist’s residence, he - said: - - “Master, I have come to thank you for the picture; but, excuse me, - you have painted the bamboo red.” - - “Well,” cried the master, “in what color would you desire it?” - - “In black, of course,” replied the patron. - - “And who,” answered the artist, “ever saw a black-leaved bamboo?” - - This story well illustrates _esoragoto_. The Japanese are so - accustomed to associate true color with what the _sumi_ [the black - so commonly used in Japan] stands for, that not only is fiction in - this respect permissible but actually missed when not employed. - - * * * * * - -_Esoragoto_ is a very good word for the Post-Impressionists to -appropriate. We have no word in English and I know of none in French -that is anywhere near its equivalent. - -Impressionism is painting with a minimum of _esoragoto_; -Post-Impressionism is painting with a maximum of _esoragoto_. - -The pendulum in art and literature swings from less _esoragoto_ to -more--from realistic transcription with a minimum of self, to idealistic -compositions with a _maximum_ of self. - - * * * * * - -All the great art of the world is _esoragoto_. - -The greatest paintings in the world are indoor not outdoor -paintings--_in-self_ not _out-self_. - -All the great Italian paintings and frescoes are creations of the -imagination. The portraits of Velasquez, Rembrandt, Hals are -_esoragoto_. They are the sitters idealized by the genius of the -artists. They are far removed from photographic realism. - -Why are the portraits of the same man or woman painted by different -artists so unlike? Because each is more or less _esoragoto_--more or -less the reflection of the painter rather than the sitter. - - * * * * * - -For a long time we have been so influenced by the theories of the -Impressionists, the realists, the _plein-air_ school, that we resent it -when an artist says, “I will paint something more beautiful than nature; -I will paint nature herself more beautiful than she is. I will paint the -spirit of nature. I will paint trees that do not look like trees, but -will give you the feeling, the dignity, the power of trees. I will paint -the earth, not as it looks, but in a way that will give you an -impression of its fertility and fecundity. I will paint you flowers, not -by faithfully copying them as they are in the field, but as they bloom -and blossom in your memory. I will paint you men and women, not as you -see them on the street and in the drawing room--superficial -resemblances--but as they really are to you and to me, human beings the -true significance of which is not expressed in the drooping of a -moustache, the lifting of an eyebrow. I will paint them in black or -brown or red or blue, or in gold or bronze, as does the sculptor; I will -paint them in a way so strange you have never seen the like before, but -I will make you _feel_ their _humanity_.” - - * * * * * - -To illustrate the arbitrary manner which the great oriental artists use -colors to produce harmonious results irrespective of nature, I once used -a number of old Chinese paintings borrowed from a famous collection--in -each of which the hair of the figures was painted _blue_. - -And why not? Black, brown, or flaxen would not have given the effect the -painter desired, any more than C, D, or E would take the place of F in a -chord. - -The Oriental needs a note of blue and so paints the hair blue. And when -one comes to think of it, next to some marvelous shades of red, blue -hair is far more positive and picturesque than gray, or yellow, or any -black but a glossy raven. - -We never think of resenting a terra cotta horse in a print by Hokusai; -it does not disturb us because we instinctively recognize the fact that -a strong note of terra cotta is needed precisely where it is used--a -terra cotta horse, or rock, or man, it matters not. - - * * * * * - -Human faces of gold, silver, bronze, even marble--that ugliest of all -stones, in its natural state--do not worry us. - -In fact when we look at marble sculpture we are in the attitude of the -man who ordered the painting of the bamboo forest. We are so accustomed -to seeing ghostly white marble busts and statues we actually resent it -if the sculptor _stains_ or _colors_ the marble not to make it more -realistic, but to make it _more beautiful_. - -Yet all Greek sculpture was painted or treated with wax in such a manner -the harshness of the stone was modified. The sensitive vision of the -Greeks could not tolerate the cold, hard whiteness. - -Much of our enjoyment of ancient sculpture is due to its discoloration, -to what time and the elements have done to its surfaces. - - * * * * * - -Our appreciation of art will never be true until we can gaze with -unprejudiced eye upon any combination of lines and colors the artist -chooses to use. - -So long as we demand that he shall use only those combinations we are -accustomed to, just so long do _we_ by _our_ attitude check his -development. - -The average man is bewildered by the new and the strange; he is -bewildered by new cities, new countries, new peoples, new pictures, new -sculpture, new architecture, new music, new books, new ideas--because he -is not used to them and does not understand them; he does not know -whether to like them or not so he condemns them in order to make a -pretense of knowing. - - * * * * * - -The rare man is not bewildered by the new and the strange at home or -abroad, in art or life. He is interested and at once sets about learning -and comprehending. He _loves_ the new and the strange _instinctively_ -because they excite his curiosity and pique his intelligence. He loves -to meet the new and the strange as an archeologist loves to find an -inscription in an unknown tongue--for the hidden significance. - - * * * * * - -This chapter may be concluded appropriately by four warnings which -Chinese wisdom pours into the ears of art students. Many of the modern -painters should ponder these precepts. - -“Ja, Kan, Zoku, Rai.” - -“_Ja_ refers to attempted originality in a painting without the ability -to give it character, departing from all law to produce something not -reducible to any law or principle. - -“_Kan_ is producing only superficial pleasing effect without any _power_ -in the brush stroke--a characterless painting, to charm only the -ignorant. - -“_Zoku_ refers to the fault of painting from a mercenary motive -only--thinking of money instead of art. - -“_Rai_ is the base imitation of or copying or cribbing from others.” - - - - -X - -UGLINESS - - -The modern movement is in the direction of greater freedom, freedom to -produce beautiful things in one’s own way. - -_Unhappily many of the things produced are not beautiful now_--not -nearly so dignified and beautiful as thousands upon thousands of old -pictures. - -One’s _first_ impression on entering an exhibition of extreme modern -works is not an impression of beauty but of _ugliness_. - -There is no denying that, and it takes even the most impartial and -sympathetic observer a long time to pick out the things which are fine -in color and line and to readjust his notions of beauty. - -Many of the pictures are brutal and most of them are crude, but while -the first impression may be one of ugliness it is more, it is one of -_exceeding vitality_. - -There is nothing musty about the moderns, their canvases are so alive -_they scream_. - -As compared with the subdued tones of an academic exhibition a modern -seems like a babel of discordant sounds, but the confusion is more -apparent than real. By going day after day one gets accustomed to the -newness, the freshness, the strangeness of it all and begins to -understand and appreciate the one big, dominant note--_vitality_. - - * * * * * - -Then, too, when we say the _first_--and last for most people--impression -is one of ugliness, we must not forget - -[Illustration: - - DERAIN - - Forest at Martigues -] - -that our appreciations are primarily the result of environment and -habit, and only secondarily, and with comparatively few, the result of -intelligent discipline. - -We like what we are accustomed to and dislike what we are not accustomed -to. Few take the pains to discipline their likes and dislikes. - - * * * * * - -Seventy years ago public and critics thought Turner ugly in the extreme. - -Sixty years ago public and critics thought Millet ugly in the extreme. - -Fifty years ago public and critics thought Manet ugly in the extreme. - -Forty years ago public and critics thought Monet ugly in the extreme. - -Thirty years ago public and critics thought Cézanne ugly in the extreme. - -Twenty years ago public and critics thought Gauguin ugly in the extreme. - -Ten years ago public and critics thought VanGogh ugly in the extreme. - -Today public and critics think the Cubists and nearly all the new men -ugly in the extreme. - -Each decade has its men in art, music, science, literature whose works -at first seem ugly, only to win out in the long run. - -Hence the danger in pronouncing this or that painting ugly; it may seem -grotesque and hideous today; thirty years hence it may command thousands -from men and museums eager to possess it. That has been the history of -many great paintings. - - * * * * * - -Still we do have our notions regarding the ugly and the beautiful, and -while our notions change and develop year by year they naturally control -at each given moment; that is, we cannot say we _think_ a picture or a -piece of music is beautiful today because the chances are we will think -it beautiful a dozen years hence, any more than we can say we like -olives on first tasting them, simply because most people come to like -them after a time. - -To the London public in 1840 the pictures of Turner were absurd. - -To the Paris public in 1874 the pictures of the Impressionists were -ridiculous. - -To the New York public in 1913 the pictures of the Cubists were -grotesque. - -These several publics were not to blame; they could not help their -impressions. They had been brought up on very different picture-food and -did not like the taste of the new. - -The attitude of the public was normal, logical, and sane. If the people -had received the new men with wild acclamations of joy and called them -great on first sight it would have meant such instability of opinion and -character as to render the homage absolutely worthless. - -In a sense, tenacity of opinion on the part of the public is the -salvation of art as well as of morals; it is essential to substantial -progress. - -Therefore the everlasting conflict between the old and the new is a -normal conflict; the clash between the public and new art, new music, -new thought is a healthful clash, because the fiercer the conflict the -more certain that what survives will be worth having. - - * * * * * - -The only excuse for an ugly picture is superb technic--and even then the -excuse is not a very good one for the same technic should paint a -beautiful thing. - -There were plenty of ugly pictures in the exhibition; some were -interesting on account of their technic, others were without any excuse -at all--_just ugly_. - -A great painter may paint things, a great writer may write things which -no amount of good painting and no amount of good writing can -excuse--there are plenty of such paintings and books in the world. - -But because there were a number of ugly--ugly to the extent of being -objectionable--pictures in the exhibition, that should not and does not -detract from the merits of men who did not paint them. - -An ugly work is a comment upon him who produces it and upon those who -accept it. It is a golden opportunity, a touchstone to those who reject -it. - - * * * * * - -There is a great deal of the ugly in the work of Matisse, mixed with a -great deal of extraordinary technic. He is a good man to study, but a -bad man to imitate--for that matter, the same, in a profounder sense, -may be said of every man of ability. - -Then, too, it should never be forgotten that _refinement_ is an -essential element in all _great_ art. - - * * * * * - -The supreme justification of the new art is that its works shall tend -toward the beautiful. If they make for ugliness their existence is -without rhyme or reason. Many of the new men seem to forget this. - -However, even the ugly, the grotesque, the hideous has its use. Any art -may become so smug, so complacent, so conceited that it requires the -shock of the ugly to stir it to new life. - -After Bouguereau, Matisse was inevitable. - -However, a very little of the ugly goes a long ways, a very little of -Matisse at his worst is all that is needed as an antidote to Bouguereau. - -Zola-like fidelity in depicting the ugly in life has its uses--and -abuses. - - * * * * * - -It is easy enough to paint a conglomeration of angles and cubes, but it -will be as hollow and meaningless as the pattern of an oilcloth unless -it has sincerity behind it. - -No doubt many of the new men lack sincerity. Doubtless not a few are -inspired with simply the desire to create a sensation, but these men -soon betray themselves. - -The artist may not succeed in making _his_ meaning clear, but the -public--yes, even the much despised public--will instinctively _feel_ -whether there is _some_ meaning, _some_ intention worth finding out. - -That was the secret of the success of the Cubist pictures. They -attracted throngs because they were strange, but the throngs would never -have gazed as they did unless behind the outward strangeness there had -not been an inward seriousness of purpose. - -“Those fellows are trying to do something,” was an expression often -heard. - - * * * * * - -The papers would say, “They are simply making fun of the public,” but -the public, generally speaking, did not feel that way. - -A goodly section of the public made fun of the pictures, but very few -people honestly felt the pictures made fun of the public--if anything -they were rather too serious. - - * * * * * - -To return to the proposition that a Cubist picture--being so largely -_esoragoto_--must be well painted. - -[Illustration: JAWLENSKY - -Head of a Girl] - -The painter of scenes and things is helped out by his subject. - -The portrait of a beautiful woman may be very badly painted, but if it -conveys the impression of a beautiful woman it is accepted. - -The Cubist who tries to paint _his_ impression of a beautiful woman has -no likeness to help him out; he must make his painting so beautiful in -itself that those who see it will, without knowing why, get some of the -enjoyment from the mere composition of line and color that the artist -received from knowing the woman who inspired the picture. - -To do this a man must be a greater master of line and color, a greater -technician, than the average portrait painter. - - * * * * * - -Ask the average portrait painter to paint a composition of line and -color, beautiful in itself without reference to any object, and not one -in a hundred can do it. - -The average portrait painter finds his compositions of line and color -ready-made; he takes them as they come to him. He has little practice in -_composing_ for himself. - - * * * * * - -However disconcerting the exhibition was to most painters it should have -been stimulating to decorators and interior furnishers. - -The older pictures are of little help to the decorator. On the contrary -he rather dreads their presence on his walls. A room may be quite upset -by a strong picture. To make the Leyland dining room harmonize with the -“Princess from the Land of Porcelain” Whistler painted practically every -inch of walls and ceilings, completely covering costly woodwork and old -Spanish leather. - -To rightly hold a Rembrandt a room must be subdued and rich in tone, -otherwise the picture is a dead weight. The greater the picture, the -more completely the surroundings must either rise to it or be completely -subordinated to it. - -It is not so with the more abstract Cubist pictures; they do not thrust -a great landscape or a powerful personality into the room; they are not -intended to thrust any object upon the attention of the visitor. -Intended to express simply the mood or emotion of the painter, they are -unobtrusive, as unobtrusive as a pattern of the wall covering, a rug, or -a tapestry; in effect they are not unlike a tapestry, save they are -essentially modern in feeling, and therefore fit into our modern rooms -as tapestries--and often rugs--do not. - - * * * * * - -Imagine the editorial room of a live, up-to-date newspaper--say a -typical yellow journal--hung with Titians and Rembrandts! The paper -would be paralyzed, the editorial staff would be depressed by the -dignity and the sobriety, by the old-world flavor. - -Whereas a lot of Cubist, Futurist, Orphist pictures would be quite in -keeping with modern journalistic methods, and stimulating in the -extreme. In the picturesque language of current journalism, they would -be “live stuff.” - - * * * * * - -It is worth noting in passing that the time is probably coming when -about as many pictures will be bought for offices as for homes, and -fewer and fewer will be bought for those graveyards of art--private -galleries. - -Why should men buy pictures and hang them where they are seldom seen, -often in places where the light is so bad they cannot be seen? - -Where do most men spend most of their time? In their places of business. -Then why not make their places of business attractive and livable? - -Every man knows how relaxing and delightful it would be if in the midst -of a busy afternoon he could drop business for a moment and read an -interesting book or listen to some good music. Well, we can’t do that; -it takes too long to get into a book, and music is not at hand. - -But we can turn from our desks and in a second lose ourselves in the -contemplation of a beautiful picture. - - * * * * * - -The physician covers the walls of his office with prints of such -pictures as Rembrandt’s “Lesson in Anatomy.” Ugh! - -The lawyer covers the walls of his office with dusty lawbooks. Whew! - -The manufacturer covers the walls of his office with prints of -factories, machinery, goods, etc., etc. Shop! Shop! Shop! - -No relief anywhere for man, patient, client, or customer. - -Tired eyes that seek rest in change are met with the same old -story--reflections of the daily grind. - -Speaking from experience, I can say that next to getting out of an -office for a brief respite, the contemplation of pictures yields the -greatest rest, actually enabling one to do more work per day with less -fatigue. - -It is so refreshing to get up from one’s desk for only a few moments and -be instantly transported far away on the wings of the imagination of a -painter. - -It is a rest, a complete rest, for the tired brain-cells, to lift one’s -eyes from one’s work and gaze at a picture--the effect is like unto that -of distant music wafted through the open window. - -Of all men in the world, the busy American is most in need of pictures -on the walls of his office--not one or two, but many. The busier he is, -the more he needs; his walls should be a blaze of color. - - * * * * * - -Most of our bankers and corporation magnates spend large sums in “solid -mahogany fittings.” Their offices resemble old-fashioned Pullman -sleepers. Cost is the one impressive feature. Woodwork, furniture, rugs, -everything to the inkstand are massive and--oppressive. Everything is -admirably calculated to make work more burdensome; commercial and -financial life more sombre. - -Why not the reverse of all this? Why fit up an office so that it is -about as inviting as a tomb? - -Why not make it so attractive that a man will look forward each morning -to entering it? Why not so inviting that friends and strangers will be -glad to visit it? - -Why should an office be a place where no one goes except for business? -Why should not men say to one another, “Come in a minute; I have a new -picture I want to show you”? - - * * * * * - -One has simply to enter the offices and school-rooms of any art -institute to realize the hollowness of the pretense of love for the -beautiful. Infinite pains are taken to arrange the pictures and -sculpture in the galleries; once out of the galleries, and all feeling -of art disappears; the offices and school-rooms are more sordid, barren, -and uninviting than most shops and factories. - -In other words, the very men who are supposed to be devoting their lives -to the service of art, to making the world more beautiful, who promote -exhibitions and urge people to buy pictures, are content to pass all -their working lives amidst surroundings unrelieved by a single picture, -unadorned by a single fresco. - -There is a great opportunity for missionary work in this direction. Why -should not the many organizations such as “Friends of American Art,” -etc., whose disinterested purpose is to advance art, organize a movement -the object of which will be to place, by loaning if necessary, pictures -and small sculpture in the offices and business haunts of the busy -American man, and so create a new demand for beautiful things? - -Once fill a man’s office with pictures, he will be reluctant to let them -go. - - - - -XI - -FUTURISM - - -There were no Futurist pictures in the exhibition, but there were -several more or less influenced by Futurism, notably the “Nude -Descending the Stairs,” by Duchamp. - -In many respects this was the least satisfactory of his pictures, -because it is neither good Cubism nor good Futurism. - -It is easy to distinguish a figure drawn in more or less Cubist fashion, -at the right--the spectator’s right--of the confused mass of lines; it -is quite easy, if the balance of the picture be covered. - -The confused mass is just so many overlapping figures coming down the -stairs. As a child exclaimed one day, “Why, I see them; there’s one on -every step.” The Cubist drawing did not bother the child. - - * * * * * - -A sympathetic writer says of the picture: - - M. Duchamp says in effect something like this: “If you paint a girl - coming downstairs, on any one step you will not show her moving. If - you paint a girl on every step, like Burne-Jones with the ‘Golden - Stair’ you have a crowd and still no movement. But if you get the - forms down to simplest and most essential, just swaying shoulders - and hip and knee, bent head and springy sole--and then show them on - every step and between all the steps, passing and always passing - one into the next, you give the sense of movement, as with a run of - arpeggios on the harp or a cadenza on the violin. You and your - friends don’t feel the movement--too bad, my friends and I do.” And - pure movement is what, after all, here was sought. - - Pure movement, it will hardly be questioned, these men can give. - -[Illustration: BALLA - -Dog and Person in Movement] - - Picabia makes the lines in his “Dance at the Spring” leap and swing - and flicker like a fiddler’s bow. If he and others want, when they - choose, to abandon the last pretense of representation and convey - directly to you the way they feel mass and motion, as music conveys - inner experience always, who is to stop them? - - * * * * * - -Futurism had its beginning in Italy a few years ago. The first -exhibition in Paris was held in February, 1912. One of its fundamental -notions in painting is a certain theory regarding the painting of -motion. It is that in order rightly, scientifically, to indicate motion -on a canvas it is not sufficient to paint the figure of a man in an -attitude of walking, but a series of more or less clearly outlined -figures must be shown overlapping, a sort of cinematograph effect; very -much as every painter shows a blur of spokes to indicate a wheel -turning, if an individual is in motion there must be a blur of many -overlapping individuals. (See the half-tone of the girl with the dog.) - -The theory is interesting, it is based on recognized optical conditions, -and no doubt the experiments will have their value. Some very -interesting results have been obtained in photography already. - - * * * * * - -The program of the Futurists is, however, far more ambitious than the -mere painting of motion effects. They have issued the following formal -“Manifestoes”: - -1. “Manifesto of Futurism,” February, 1909; written by F. T. -Marinetti.[63] - -2. “Manifesto of Futurist Painters,” April, 1910. - -3. “Manifesto of Futurist Musicians,” May, 1911. - -4. “Manifesto of the Futurist Woman,” March, 1912. - -5. “Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture,” April, 1912. - -6. “Manifesto of the Technic of Futurist Literature,” May, 1912. -Supplement to same, August, 1912. - -And every few months new declarations of faith are issued in Milan, -each, if possible, more violent and extravagant than its forerunner. - -If the public looked upon the Cubist pictures as “crazy,” what would it -think of these manifestoes if printed in English and scattered -broadcast? - -The work of madmen! - -So many madmen and visionaries have influenced the world by their -utterances that we must not turn a deaf ear. - - * * * * * - -The Futurists are the anarchists of the art and literary world. - -The Cubists, Orphists, and other extreme moderns all _reason from_ the -past; the Futurists would _break with_ the past entirely--as if it were -possible! - -All who do not agree with them are _Pass-ists_, and every form of art -and literature up to Futurism belongs to _Pass-ism_, and is therefore -condemned. - - * * * * * - -There is much in Futurism that is repellant, just as there is much in -Anarchism that is repellant. - -When men push their opposition to established order to extremes, their -hatred of the traditional and conventional is such they indulge in wild -and foolish excesses; they even defy law and order and decency, and -require curbing. - - * * * * * - -The unprejudiced reader will find a great deal that is suggestive in -some of these Futurist declarations mixed with much that is -philosophically and ethically unsound. - -Take, for instance, some of the propositions regarding the technic of -the literature of the future: - -1. Use only the _infinite form_ of the verb, because only the infinite -mood gives the sense of the _continuity of life_. - -2. Abolish the use of the _adjective_ so that the noun _standing alone_ -may speak for itself with all its force. The adjective implies -modification, an arrest of judgment, meditation, and is, therefore, -opposed to the _human vision dynamic_, to the _force_ and _energetic -flow_ of human thought. - -3. Abolish the _adverb_, which is a _superfluous refinement_, a -fastidious hampering of human expression. - -4. New _punctuation_: Adjectives and adverbs and conjunctive phrases -being suppressed, punctuation goes with them naturally, in the varied -continuity of a living style which creates itself without the use of -absurd commas and periods. To accentuate certain movements and indicate -their directions, certain mathematical and unusual signs will be used. - -5. Abolish the “I” from literature, that is to say, _psychology_; -replace the “I,” the ego, by the _matter_, the essence of which must be -appreciated by intuitions. Heretofore the matter, the real substance of -a book or a poem, has been obscured by the intervention of the ego of -the writer, by the persistent “I” of the author, who is too much -pre-occupied with himself and filled with prejudices and conceits in his -own supreme wisdom. In short, writers use the subjects of the works as -vehicles to exploit themselves. - -(Here the Futurists certainly put their finger on one of the weak spots -in literature.) - -6. Revolution in _typographical_ appearance: Suppress the ornaments, -fancy initials, &c., &c., of the presented printed page, which impede -rather than assist the natural flow of expression. “We will employ on -the same page three or four inks of different colors, and twenty -different characters, if necessary: for example, italics to express -rapid sensations; capitals for violent; &c., &c. New conception of the -_graphic_ printed page.” - - * * * * * - -All of which sounds wildly extravagant, but in sum and substance it -simply means the death of the, let us say, Henry James style and the -apotheosis of the front page of the modern sensational journal. - -And is it not true that the painfully involved and boresome style of -Henry James--the adjectival and adverbial style, the style of endless -qualifications, the assertion and amplification of the “ego” style--is -rapidly becoming obsolete in fiction as it has long been obsolete in -American journalism? - -And is it not true that the _terse_, the _substantive_, the -_journalistic_ style, together with the printed page in many colors and -many types, is gaining vogue? - -In even the matter of punctuation the painstaking use of the comma and -the semicolon has yielded to the free use of the dash. Only a short time -ago there appeared a lamentation by a well-known writer over the use of -the dash in dialogue. He counted an unbelievable number on one page of a -popular magazine, each of which, he thought, should have been replaced -by one of the more orthodox signs. - -But the orthodox signs are _too slow_. Modern conversation does not move -in studied phrases and rounded periods; its sign is the _dash_, because -the dash either breaks the thought abruptly or carries it over into the -words of the next speaker. - - * * * * * - -Furthermore, before leaving the subject, it should be - -[Illustration: VAN REES - -Maternity] - -noted that there is coming over our literature a profound, a radical -change, _a change in the direction of terser, more forcible expression_; -a change in the _direction of the elimination of superfluous words_, of -_condensation_, to the end that the imagination and intelligence of the -_reader_ will be called more and more into play. - -It is conceivable that the reading public may become so _intelligent_ -and so keenly _sensitive_ that _one word_ will suffice to convey a -wealth of information or suggestion where _a page_ is now necessary. - -Certain it is, if mankind is progressing at all, it is progressing in -_that direction_. - - * * * * * - -The _rise_ of the _printed_ drama means the _fall_ of the _descriptive_ -novel. - -A few years ago no American publisher would risk the printing of a play; -now every play of any merit and many of no merit are issued in book -form. - -The novelist devotes two-thirds of his book to descriptions of persons -and places, and most of the remaining third to banal psychological -analysis and comment. He leaves little to the imagination of the reader, -who is told the color of the heroine’s eyes and hair, the number of her -dimples, the length of her smile, the shape of her teeth, her make of -face powder, together with endless references to her hats, gowns, shoes, -parasols, etc., etc. - -Usually the novelist has some young woman acquaintance in mind, and he -_literally forces_ the woman he likes upon the reader, who may be in -love with an entirely different type, and who, if left to himself, would -find the girl he likes in the pages of the story. - -The dramatist does nothing of the kind. “Mary Smith, age about twenty,” -suffices for him. Shakespeare gives no more than the name. - -As for description of places, “a room,” or “an office,” “a wood,” “a -garden,” answers every purpose. - -Managers and players have no trouble in building up both scenes and -characters; the less “directions,” the more room for individual -initiative. - -Nor is the reader of a play troubled by entire absence of description -and “directions.” His imagination supplements the dramatist’s, and he -creates heroes and heroines to please himself. - -That psychological _analysis_ is not only not essential to the -psychological novel, but positively detrimental, is demonstrated by the -entire absence of such analysis in so profound a psychological study as -Hamlet. Paul Bourget is as obsolete as Henry James. - - * * * * * - -Bernard Shaw is the one conspicuous reactionary. He still exploits the -ego, and writes as if his readers were fools--perhaps they are. - - * * * * * - -The popularity of the cinematograph lies not in the cheapness of the -entertainment, nor in its _novelty_, which wore off long ago, but in the -fact that it is _without words_ and each onlooker enjoys his own -interpretation; from child to old man, every one in the audience is _his -own playwright_, supplying his own dialogue as the scenes flicker on the -curtain. - -The best of modern plays leave much to the imagination of the audience. -Words and bits of business absolutely necessary thirty years ago are -considered childishly obvious nowadays, as is amply demonstrated in -revivals of old plays. - -Apparently the development is toward more action and less dialogue--more -cinematograph, fewer words. - -Scenery will become less and less obvious--save, of course, where it is -intended to be of first importance. In the theater of the future there -will be less and less on the stage to interfere with the _play--of the -spectator’s_ imagination. - - * * * * * - -There is a precisely parallel tendency in print--more action, fewer -words; more suggestion, less description. - -The future novel will leave more and more to be supplied by the reader. -Paragraphs, pages, whole chapters now deemed essential, will be omitted. - -In books such as histories, philosophical works, scientific treatises, -&c., &c., the skill and art of the printer will be exhausted to make the -page not only attractive but expressive--_readable at a glance_, instead -of, as now, to make the volumes as forbidding as possible. - -The much-despised “yellow journal” of America has taught a valuable -lesson in the _art of emphasis_, and its effect is seen not only in the -make-up of newspapers but of periodicals, and will be felt in the -make-up of books.[64] - - * * * * * - -In America the art of advertising has far outstripped the art of -literature. The advertising pages of our periodicals are often more -interesting and _always_ more _alive_ than the literary. - -A magazine devotes pages to an article or a story every line of which -betrays the writer’s evident desire to write as _many words_ as -possible. In the advertising pages, to every square inch, the minds not -of one but of three or four experts have been concentrated upon the -attempt to express an idea in as _few words_ as possible and in such a -manner it will stand out and be read with a minimum of trouble. - -Why should not stories be told that way? Why should not all literature -be written and printed that way? - -The proposition may seem a startling one, but the _tendency is_ that -way. - -We find fault with our plays, our poetry, our fiction, our serious -literature; we complain people prefer the _flashy_ periodical; well the -word _flashy_ is doubly descriptive--it is commonly used to describe the -_quality_ but it also measures _time_. - - * * * * * - -Meanwhile most of us underrate the intelligence of our readers and use -more words than are necessary to carry our meanings. - -The Futurists themselves use an abundance of words in advocating their -cause, though their examples of Futurist literature contain many lines -and pages that are written in strict accordance with their theories. - -Marinette says in so many words, “Philosophy, science, politics, -journalism, must still make use of the conventional syntax and -punctuation; I am myself obliged to use them to explain my ideas.” - - * * * * * - -March 8, 1910, in the Theatre Chiarella, at Turin, before an audience of -three thousand, the Futurist painters launched their first declaration -of faith, “which contained,” to follow their own words, “all our -profound disgusts and hatreds, our revolts against vulgarity, against -academic and pedantic mediocrity, against the fanatic cult of what is -antique.” - -[Illustration: MUNTER - -The Boat Ride] - -[Illustration: MUNTER - -The White Wall] - - 1. Our desire for the truth no longer contents itself with form and - color as heretofore understood. - - 2. What we wish to reproduce on the canvas is not an instant or a - moment of immobility of the universal force that surrounds us, but - _the sensation of that force itself_. - - 3. As a matter of fact everything moves, everything runs, - everything transforms rapidly. A profile is never immobile before - us, but it appears and disappears without ceasing. - - Given the fact of the momentary persistence of the image on the - retina, objects in movement multiply, change form and follow like - vibrations in space. A running horse has not four legs, but twenty, - and their movements are triangular. - - 4. Nothing is absolute in painting. That which was a truth for the - painters of yesterday, is a lie for those of today. We declare, for - example, that a portrait should not resemble its sitter, and that - the painter carries in his own imagination the landscape he wishes - to place upon the canvas. - -[On this point the Futurists and Cubists agree.] - - 5. To paint the human figure it is not necessary to paint the - _figure_ but simply to give its _envelopment_. Space does not - exist. Millions of miles separate us from the sun, yet that is no - reason why the house before us should not be encased in the solar - disk. In our work we can secure effects similar to those of the - X-ray. Opacity does not exist. - - They paint all sides of an object as if they saw through it. They - will paint a platter on a table and the part of the table covered - by the platter; they will paint the entire collar about the neck so - that it is visible through the neck. They ignore not only the - ordinary conceptions of space, but time does not exist for them. - Where in ordinary painting the box of bonbons that is passed at a - baptism may be painted closed on a table, the Futurist shows what - is inside the box, also the people assembled to whom the bonbons - are given, and the infant to be baptized, and perhaps the marriage - of the father and mother, the carriages outside the church, etc., - etc.[65] - -They illustrate further, - - The sixteen persons about us in a moving omnibus are _in turn_ and - _at the same time_, one, ten, four, three; they are immobile and - yet move; they go, come, bounding along the street, suddenly lost - in the sun, then return seated before you, like _so many symbols - persistent of universal vibration_. - - How often it happens that upon the cheek of the person with whom we - are talking we see the horse that passes far away at the end of the - street. Our bodies become parts of the seat upon which we rest and - the seat becomes part of us. The omnibus merges in the houses that - it passes, and the houses mix with the bus and become part of it. - - 6. The construction of pictures up to this time has been stupidly - traditional. - - Painters have always shown things and persons _before_ us. We place - the spectator _in the midst_ of the picture. - - Heretofore we have looked at pictures; it is the idea of the - Futurist that we should look _through_ them, that the pictures - should give us _new visions_ of life and things, new sensations, - new emotions. - - We declare: - - That one should hate every form of imitation and glorify every form - of originality. - - That it is necessary to revolt against the tyranny of the words - “harmony” and “good taste,” expressions too elastic and with which - one might easily condemn the works of Rembrandt, Goya, and Rodin. - - That art critics are useless and detrimental. - - That it is necessary to brush aside all the subjects already used, - in order to adequately express our turbulent life of steel, of - pride, of feverish rapidity. - - That the name madmen applied to all innovators shall be considered - a title of honor. - - That the universal force must be shown in painting as a _sensation - dynamic_. - - Above all, sincerity and purity are required in the portrayal of - nature. - - That movement and light destroy the materiality of objects. - - We are opposed to the use of those bituminous colors by which it is - attempted to secure the effect of time on modern pictures. - - We are opposed to the superficial and elementary archaism based on - the flat tints and linear manner of the Egyptians, which makes - painting puerile and grotesque. - - We are opposed to the false modernism of the Secessionists and - Independents who have built up new “schools” as pontifical as the - old. - - The nude in painting is as nauseous as adultery in literature. - - To explain this last article: There is nothing immoral in our eyes, - it is the monotony of nudity that we fight against. Painters - possessed of the desire to display on canvas the bodies of the - women with whom they are in love have transformed picture - exhibitions into galleries of portraits of disreputables. We - demand for the next ten years the absolute suppression of the nude - in painting. - - * * * * * - -The first exhibition of Futurist paintings in London was at the -Sackville Gallery in March, 1912. - -The painters printed by way of preface to the little catalogue a -statement of their beliefs and aims. From this statement the following -paragraphs are taken: - -“We are young and our art is violently revolutionary.” - -Speaking of the Cubists and Post-Impressionists generally: - -“While we admire the heroism of these painters of great worth, who have -displayed a laudable contempt for artistic commercialism and a powerful -hatred of academism, we feel ourselves and we declare ourselves to be -absolutely opposed to their art. - -“They obstinately continue to paint objects motionless, frozen, and all -the static aspects of nature; they worship the traditionalism of -Poussin, of Ingres, of Corot, ageing and petrifying their art with an -obstinate attachment to the past, which to our eyes remains totally -incomprehensible. - -“We, on the contrary, with points of view pertaining essentially to the -future, seek for a style of motion, a thing which has never been -attempted before us. - -“All the truths learnt in the schools or in the studios are abolished -for us. Our hands are free enough and pure enough to start everything -afresh. - -“It is indisputable that several of the aesthetic declarations of our -French comrades display a sort of masked academism. - -“Is it not, indeed, a return to the Academy to declare that the subject, -in painting, is of perfectly insignificant value? - -“We declare, on the contrary, that there can be no modern painting -without the starting point of an absolutely modern sensation, and none -can contradict us when we state that _painting_ and _sensation_ are two -inseparable words. - -“If our pictures are futurist, it is because they are the result of -absolutely futurist conceptions, ethical, aesthetic, political, and -social. - -“To paint from the posing model is an absurdity, and an act of mental -cowardice, even if the model be translated upon the picture in linear, -spherical, or cubic forms. - -“To lend an allegorical significance to an ordinary nude figure, -deriving the meaning of the picture from the objects held by the model -or from those which are arranged about him, is to our mind the evidence -of a traditional and academic mentality. - -“While we repudiate impressionism, we emphatically condemn the present -reaction which, in order to kill impressionism, brings back painting to -old academic forms. - -“It is only possible to react against impressionism by surpassing it. - -“Nothing is more absurd than to fight it by adopting the pictural laws -which preceded it. - -“The points of contact which the quest of style may have with the -so-called _classic art_ do not concern us. - -“Others will seek, and will, no doubt, discover, these analogies which -in any case cannot be looked upon as a return to methods, conceptions, -and values transmitted by classical painting. - -“A few examples will illustrate our theory. - -“We see no difference between one of those nude figures commonly called -_artistic_ and an anatomical plate. There is, on the other hand, an -enormous difference between one of these nude figures and our futurist -conception of the human body. - -“Perspective, such as it is understood by the majority of painters, has -for us the very same value which it lends to an engineer’s design. - -“The simultaneousness of states of mind in the work of art: that is the -intoxicating aim of our art. - -“Let us explain again by examples. In painting a person on a balcony, -seen from inside the room, we do not limit the scene to what the square -frame of the window renders visible; but we try to render the sum total -of visual sensations which the person on the balcony has experienced; -the sun-bathed throng in the street, the double row of houses which -stretch to right and left, the beflowered balconies, etc. This implies -the simultaneousness of the ambient, and, therefore, the dislocation and -dismemberment of objects, the scattering and fusion of details, freed -from accepted logic, and independent from one another. - -“In order to make the spectator live in the center of the picture, as we -express it in our manifesto, the picture must be the synthesis of _what -one remembers_ and of _what one sees_. - -“You must render the invisible which stirs and lives beyond intervening -obstacles, what we have on the right, on the left, and behind us, and -not merely the small square of life artificially compressed, as it were, -by the wings of a stage.” - -[This feeling of transparency is fundamental to the theory.] - -“We have declared in our manifesto that what must be rendered is the -_dynamic sensation_, that is to say, the particular rhythm of each -object, its inclination, its movement, or, to put it more exactly, its -interior force. - -“It is usual to consider the human being in its different aspects of -motion or stillness, of joyous excitement or grave melancholy. - -“What is overlooked is that all inanimate objects display, by their -lines, calmness or frenzy, sadness or gaiety. These various tendencies -lend to the lines of which they are formed a sense and character of -weighty stability or of aerial lightness. - -“Every object reveals by its lines how it would resolve itself were it -to follow the tendencies of its forces. - -“This decomposition is not governed by fixed laws but it varies -according to the characteristic personality of the object and the -emotions of the onlooker. - -“Furthermore, every object influences its neighbour, not by reflections -of light (the foundation of _impressionistic primitivism_), but by a -real competition of lines and by real conflicts of planes, following the -emotional law which governs the picture (the foundation of _futurist -primitivism_). - -“With the desire to intensify the aesthetic emotions by blending, so to -speak, the painted canvas with the soul of the spectator, we have -declared that the latter ‘_must_ in future be placed in the center of -the picture.’ - -“We may further explain our idea by a comparison drawn from the -evolution of music. - -“Not only have we radically abandoned the motive fully developed -according to its determined and, therefore, artificial equilibrium, but -we suddenly and purposely intersect each motive with one or more other -motives of which we never give the full development but merely the -initial, central, or final notes. - -“As you see, there is with us not merely variety, but chaos and clashing -of rhythms, totally opposed to one another, which we nevertheless -assemble into a new harmony. - -“We thus arrive at what we call the _painting of states of mind_. - -“One may remark, also, in our pictures spots, lines, zones of colour -which do not correspond to any reality, but which, in accordance with a -law of our interior mathematics, musically prepare and enhance the -emotion of the spectator. - -“We thus create a sort of emotive ambience, seeking by intuition the -sympathies and the links which exist between - -[Illustration: RUSSOLO Rebellion] - -the exterior (concrete) scene and the interior (abstract) emotion. Those -lines, those spots, those zones of colour, apparently illogical and -meaningless, are the mysterious keys to our pictures. - -“Conclusion: Our futurist painting embodies three new conceptions of -painting: - -“1. That which solves the question of volumes in a picture, as opposed -to the liquefaction of objects favoured by the vision of the -impressionists. - -“2. That which leads us to translate objects according to the _force -lines_ which distinguish them, and by which is obtained an absolutely -new power of objective poetry. - -“3. That (the natural consequence of the other two) which would give the -emotional ambience of a picture, the synthesis of the various abstract -rhythms of every object, from which there springs a fount of pictural -lyricism hitherto unknown.” - - * * * * * - -The explanations of two pictures are as follows: - -“Leave-taking,” by Boccioni: “In the midst of the confusion of -departure, the mingled concrete and abstract sensations are translated -into force lines and rhythms in quasi-musical harmony: mark the -undulating lines and the chords made up of the combinations of figures -and objects. The prominent elements, such as the number of the engine, -its profile shown in the upper part of the picture, its wind-cutting -forepart in the center, symbolical of parting, indicate the features of -the scene that remain indelibly impressed upon the mind.” - -“Rebellion,” by Russolo: “The collision of two forces, that of the -revolutionary element made up of enthusiasm and red lyricism against the -force of inertia and reactionary resistance of tradition. The angles are -the vibratory waves of the former force in motion. The perspective of -the houses is destroyed just as a boxer is bent double by receiving a -blow in the wind.” - - * * * * * - -The theory of the Futurists is vividly illustrated in the following note -to a picture called “The Street Enters the House.” “The dominating -sensation is that which one would experience on opening a window: all -life, the noises of the street rush in at the same time as the movement -and reality of the objects outside. The painter does not limit himself -to what he sees in the square frame of the window as would a simple -photographer, but he also reproduces what he would see by looking out on -every side from the balcony.” - -To the layman this attitude is almost incomprehensible. For instance, -the Cubist, Pierre Dumont, says of his picture, “The Cathedral at -Rouen”: - - One must not expect to find in this picture an exact representation - of the cathedral at Rouen, but rather my idea, my personal - perception, of this cathedral as I see it. - - In painting my picture I did not paint from a fixed point and - always from the same point, but I studied the cathedral and - surroundings from all points of view and obtained a personal - conception of it, which I reproduced on my canvas. - - I only included the details which struck me most forcibly, and - thought it necessary to break up the monotony of the roofs in the - first plan by one of the most beautiful details of the cathedral--a - statue of a saint, who is certainly not in his right place as far - as the eye is concerned, but does really occupy the place which he - occupies in my conception of what was before me. - - * * * * * - -That a painter should deliberately attempt to show on one canvas -features of all sides of a building, strikes the layman--and many -artists--as a “crazy” attempt to achieve the impossible; but it is _not -impossible_, as a moment’s reflection shows. - -It is, of course, easy to show all sides and all details of a building, -interior and exterior, on one sheet or canvas, by drawing or painting, -one after another, in panorama effect--that is done in every architect’s -drawing-room. - -It is also equally possible to _superimpose_ these detached drawings one -over the other and _see_ or _feel_ the outlines _through_. That is, the -drawing or photograph of the exterior of a cathedral may be so made as -to show in outline or shadowy substance the altar within. - -Illustrations along these lines are common in fiction--ghostly, shadowy, -mystical effects, effects secured only by treating stones and walls and -human beings as _semi-transparent_. - -In this way every feature of a cathedral that strikes the artist, -whether on the outside or inside, whether a feature so permanent as a -statue or so fleeting as a wedding ceremony, may be indicated in his -picture. By suppressing every detail save the most striking, what -purports to be the picture of a cathedral may appear to be fragments of -spires, bronze doors, statues, altars, lights, processions, the -brilliant color of a priest’s robe, the white note of a bridal veil. - -Another man painting his impressions of the same subject might catch -glimpses of entirely different features. - -If we can _in our mind’s eye_ see what is behind an object; if, for -instance, we can picture to ourselves clearly the children playing in -the yard back of a house, why may not the painter, if he chooses, -suggest to us in his picture of the house the vital feature of the -children in the rear? - -The feat is a seemingly impossible one. Perhaps neither the Cubists nor -the Futurists have accomplished it successfully; but because it is -difficult is no reason why the attempt should not be made. - -_Theoretically_ there is nothing to be said against pictures which show -what both the _eye_ and the _mind’s eye_ of the artist see. - - The works of the ultra-modern men can be understood only by the aid - of the imagination, by the aid of the _mind’s eye_ to see - _through_, and _about_ and _into_ things, to see the _inner_ - conditions, happenings, and significance of things. - - Stated in other terms, the extreme modern is no longer content to - paint what is before his eyes at a given moment and from a given - point of view; he is no longer content to act the part of a camera, - making reproductions of what is in front of it. He demands the - freedom to walk around his subject, fly over it, enter it, find out - all about it, and then record on canvas the sum and substance of - his observations _and_ reflections. The result may not look like a - cathedral, but if done by a genius it may give a fine impression of - certain salient features of the building, inside and out, and also - a vivid impression of some of its great ceremonies. Why not try to - paint the _power_ as well as the proportions? - - * * * * * - -If the American public found the work of Lehmbruck and Brancusi queer, -what would it think of the Futurist sculpture? - -The two female figures exhibited by Lehmbruck were simply decorative -elongations of natural forms. In technic they were quite conventional. -Their modelling was along purely classical lines, far more severely -classical than much of the realistic work of Rodin. - -The heads by Brancusi were idealistic in the extreme; the sculptor -carried his theories of mass and form so far he deliberately lost all -resemblance to actuality. He uses his subjects as motives rather than -models. In this respect he is not unlike--though more extreme than--the -great Japanese and Chinese artists, who use life and nature arbitrarily -to secure the results they desire. - -I have a golden bronze head--a “Sleeping Muse,” by - -[Illustration: SEGONZAC Pasturage] - -Brancusi--so simple, so severe in its beauty, it might have come from -the Orient. - - * * * * * - -Of this head and two other pieces of sculpture exhibited by Brancusi in -July, 1913, at the Allied Artists’ Exhibition in London, Roger Fry said -in “The Nation,” August 2: - - Constantin Brancusi’s sculptures have not, I think, been seen - before in England. His three heads are the most remarkable works of - sculpture at the Albert Hall. Two are in brass and one in stone. - They show a technical skill which is almost disquieting, a skill - which might lead him, in default of any overpowering imaginative - purpose, to become a brilliant _pasticheur_. But it seemed to me - there was evidence of passionate conviction; that the - simplification of forms was no mere exercise in plastic design, but - a real interpretation of the rhythm of life. These abstract vivid - forms into which he compresses his heads give a vivid presentment - of character; they are not empty abstractions, but filled with a - content which has been clearly, and passionately apprehended. - - * * * * * - -Futurist sculpture, like Futurist painting, starts with a fundamental -departure. - -All sculpture, classic as well as Impressionistic and -Post-Impressionistic, deals with an object or a group of objects. It -models and reproduces them _detached_ from their environment. - -Futurist sculpture seeks to reproduce a figure or an object _attached_ -to and a _part of_ its fleeting and flowing surroundings, its -atmosphere, its _medium_. - -It goes further; it seeks to convey not only the impression of the truth -that a figure is a part of its environment, but that its atmosphere and -environment _flows through_ the figure and the figure _through_ the -environment, that _nothing is segregated_ but everything _fusing_. - -The philosophical thought is old, as old as the earliest Greek -philosophy, but the attempt to express the thought in stone, wood, -bronze, is new. - - We may feel sure the attempt is futile, that it cannot succeed, but - our scepticism is no reason why a sculptor in his enthusiasm should - not make the attempt. - - * * * * * - -In June and July last a Futurist sculptor, Boccioni, exhibited some of -his work in Paris. - -One example, “Head--Houses--Light,” was literally a conglomerate of a -human bust of heroic size, with hands crossed in front, and the -following accessories: - -On the top of the head the fronts of several small houses, with doors, -windows, and all details just as the sculptor saw the houses _many -blocks back_ of his model. The casual observer would be completely -mystified on seeing several house fronts start out of the head of a -bust; but when one understands that it is a fundamental belief of the -Futurists that _all that is within the vision, actual or imagined, of -painter or sculptor is a part of the picture or bust_, the reason why of -the houses is plain. - -From one shoulder of the figure starts about eighteen inches of a wooden -railing and iron grill work, part of a balcony, just as the sculptor -glimpsed it a block or so down the street. - -A little to the back of the shoulder is a slightly inclined level -surface about a foot square; on this surface is the toy figure, an inch -high, of a woman in street costume. The figure was probably bought at a -toy store, just as the wooden railing and iron grill work might have -been picked up at any second-hand shop. The little figure of the woman -and the level surface represent some open square that--judging from the -diminutive size of the figure--must have been a long distance away, far -enough away for a human being to appear no taller than an inch. - -The entire bust was crudely colored, and one side of the - -[Illustration: BOCCIONI Head--Houses--Light] - -face was modelled in downward flowing lines and painted yellow to -represent rays of strong sunlight. - -The figure was ugly in the extreme; the lines were ugly, the coloring -ugly, the technic clumsy; but _as an illustration of a theory_ the work -was both curious and interesting. - - * * * * * - -In the creed of the Futurist are found the following: - -1. Sculpture must give life to objects by making sensible _their -extension in space_, for no one today can deny that an object continues -to where another object begins, and that all things that are about -us--automobile, house, tree, street, etc., etc.--traverse our bodies, -dividing us into planes and sections, forming an arabesque of curved and -straight lines. - -This traversing of each object by the planes occupied by all other -objects is called in the transcendental terminology of Futurism, -“_Compenetration of planes_.” (Here Futurist and Cubist again meet.) - -2. A Futurist sculptural _composition_ will contain in itself the -marvellous mathematical and geometrical elements of modern objects. -These objects will not be placed close to the statue, like so many -_detached_ explanatory attributes or decorative elements, but according -to the laws of the new conception of harmony they will be _embodied_ in -the muscular lines of the body. For example, we may see the wheel of an -automobile starting out of the body of a chauffeur, the line of a table -traversing the head of a man who is reading, and the pages of his book -may project through his chest. - -3. The abolition complete of the _line finished_ and the _statue -isolated_! Throw open the figure like a window and make part of it the -surroundings in which it exists. The sidewalk may extend to your table; -your head may traverse and include the street, and at the same moment -your lamp may unite house to house by its searching rays. - -The entire world precipitates itself upon us, amalgamates with us, -creating a harmony that will not be controlled except by creative -intuition. - -4. Do not be afraid to go outside one art and receive assistance from -others. There is no such thing as painting _alone_, sculpture _alone_, -music _alone_, poetry _alone_; there is simply _creation_. - -Hence if a particular sculptural composition needs some special movement -to augment or contrast the rhythm of the ensemble, there is no reason -why one should not make use of a small motor to secure the effect. - -5. It is necessary to get rid of the idea, purely literary and -traditional, that marble and bronze are the materials that must be used -in great sculpture. The sculptor may use twenty materials in one work if -required to express his idea. He may use glass, wood, cement, cardboard, -leather, cloth, mirrors, electric lights, etc. - -6. It is only by choosing subjects absolutely modern that one can -discover new motives and ideas. - -7. It is necessary to abandon the nude and the traditional conception of -the statue and the monument. - -8. What the Futurist sculpture creates is, in a way, the _ideal bridge_ -that unites the infinite plastic _exterior_ with the infinite plastic -_interior_. That is why the objects _never finish_, but they _intersect_ -with endless combinations both sympathetic and averse. The feeling of -the spectator is at the _center_ of the work, not aloof and outside, as -with traditional sculpture. - - * * * * * - -All this sounds wildly extravagant, but not absolutely incoherent. - - * * * * * - -The obvious objection to the attempt of the Futurist sculptor to include -in his _composition_ an object _and_ its environment - -[Illustration: HERBIN Still Life] - -is found in his own proposition--_which is philosophically valid_--that -_the universe_ is the atmosphere, the environment of every object from a -grain of sand to a planet. - -Hence the Futurist figure that shows a few houses, a bit of a railing, a -glimpse of a distant square, is more comprehensive than the conventional -bust to only an infinitesimal degree; only _almost infinitesimal -fractions_ of the _enveloping_ universe are shown. - -The effect is fragmentary and confusing. - -Other sculptors, conspicuously Rodin in some of his work, get the effect -of atmosphere and environment by detaching the figure or composition -_only partially_ from the block of marble or mass of bronze, leaving to -the _imagination of the observer_ the finishing of the work, the -supplying of both environment and atmosphere. - -That would seem to be the finer, the purer, the more abstract way. - - * * * * * - -In fact, there is an obvious contradiction between the creed of the -Futurist sculptor and the Futurist writer. - -The former feels impelled to show environment by encumbering his figure -with an overwhelming mass of details, houses, railings, sidewalks, petty -figures, etc., etc.--all the _qualifying_ objects that happen within his -vision, leaving nothing to the imagination of his observer; while the -Futurist writer would eliminate from literature all adjectival and -adverbial words and phrases, leaving the nouns (the simple figures of -sculpture) to stand alone. - - * * * * * - -Many things can be done in painting that cannot be done in sculpture. A -figure may be painted against a background of an entire city, or against -the heavens; or it may be painted in the midst of a battle, or a train -wreck; the flight of years can be indicated, centuries may be swept into -one canvas. - -In sculpture this cannot be done save, in a measure, in such crude -mixtures of sculpture, relief, and painted scenes as those large -circular panoramas so popular twenty years ago, where the spectator -stood _in the center_--where the theory of the Futurist requires him to -be--and gazed from life-size figures and objects at his feet across -smaller and smaller, until reality imperceptibly joined the painted -canvas, which gave a sense of great distance--entire battle-fields. - -The Futurist sculptor cannot give this sense of environment and -atmosphere by attaching diminutive houses and bits of balconies to the -bust of a man. - - * * * * * - -In reading their extravagant declarations and denunciations of the past -it must be remembered that extremes beget extremes, that enthusiasts -habitually indulge in extravagant arguments and theories for the purpose -of attracting attention and stimulating discussion. - -In an address recently delivered in London, the leader of Futurism -warned his hearers not to accept too literally the startling -extravagances of some of the Futurist manifestoes and literature. He -stated frankly that many of the most violent propositions were uttered -for the purpose of arousing public attention to what they considered -very real evils in our modern life. For instance, when the Futurists -cry, “Down with all museums,” “Destroy all remains of antiquity,” they -do not mean that if they were given the power they would do these -things, but what they desire is to arouse Italy and the ancient world to -the fact that Italy has a position as a _modern_ nation. The Futurists -resent the attitude of the world toward Rome and Athens; they resent the -attitude of travelers who visit those two places solely to look at the -remains of the _ancient world_; they believe that Italy is just as much -a _modern nation_ as is America, and that Rome is just as much alive as -is New York, and they would have people come to Italy, not to see ruins, -but to see her factories and industries and places of business. When one -rightly considers the matter this is a very rational and patriotic -attitude, and it is the only attitude that is wholly consistent with the -development and progress of a nation as a _vital force_ in the world of -_today_. - -Viewed in the light of the intense patriotism which is behind some of -these wildly extravagant denunciations of the past, they do not seem so -devoid of reason. - -We in America have no past to oppress us; therefore it is difficult for -us to realize the feeling of a modern nation, or a modern city, which -the civilized world will not accept as modern, but insists upon viewing -as a museum of antiquities. - - * * * * * - -The address referred to also said: - - “Futurism was first put forward by me for the purpose of renovating - and reawakening the Italian race to a true appreciation of the true - art in literature as well as in painting and sculpture. Precisely - because it has a splendid past, Italy is today in some sort - disinherited. The cult of the past is upheld among them by a whole - world of interested people, and the Futurist movement in its - creative effort is hampered not only by such economic hindrances - but by the mental cowardice of people. - - “In art you must continually advance; those who stop are already - dead, or candidates for death. The Romanticism of artists like - Baudelaire and Wagner and Flaubert was inspired by two or three - principles which are worn out today. ‘Salambo’ was the type romance - of that old sensibility. In a certain sense such Romanticism is the - identification of the - -idea of beauty with the idea of woman. We are at the end of that period. - -“Woman as the center, the obsession has already gone out of poetry. As a -leit-motif she has no longer the same force; other problems have taken -her place. According to our view, poetry is nothing but a more intense, -a more exalted, life--and that is why we combat the constant intrusion -into it of the ‘domestic triangle’ in various forms, and which has been -its ruin. - -“Now, Futurists are found everywhere. In England you have H. G. Wells. -We all realize the need to be more rapid, more intense, more essential, -and though our method of expression has been stigmatized as ‘telegraphic -lyricism’ I take no exception to that so long as it makes people talk -and brings them to examine our underlying rules of action. - -“Art, either plastic or active, is not a religion. It is the best part -of our strength, of our physiological being. It is, in consequence, -absurd to consider it as a system, as something to worship with joined -hands; it should express all the intensity of life--its beauty, -greatness, its fire, its brutality, its sordidness. - -“Futurism in poetry represents a realism profound, rapid, intense--the -very complex of our life of today.” - - - - -XII - -VIRILE-IMPRESSIONISM - - -What is happening in America? Exactly what might be expected in a -_young_, _vigorous_, and _virile_ country. - -America has been keenly susceptible to art influences from every -section. Her students are everywhere, her exhibitions are gathered from -the four quarters of the globe. She is very much alive to what Europe is -doing, she has long been interested in what China and Japan have done. - -While her art is in the main conservative, it is not the conservatism of -stubbornness or stolidity, it is rather the conservatism of isolation; -but her isolation is a thing of the past. Communication is so frequent, -travel so easy, transportation so cheap, that both art and artists flow -hither and thither almost unrestricted. - -In spite of this freedom of inter-communication, the development of -American art has been along independent lines--at least along _one_ -independent line, a line so individual in its characteristics it -deserves the name _American_-Impressionism, or, more generically, -Virile-Impressionism. - -By Virile-Impressionism is meant a manner of viewing nature and a mode -of painting quite different from the more superficial refinements of -Impressionism on the one hand and the extraordinary developments of -Post-Impressionism on the other. - -Let us try to make this clear. - - * * * * * - -As already noted, Impressionism attained a logical end in the painting -of brilliant light effects, especially in the works of the -Neo-Impressionists, the pointillists. - -In short, the drift of Impressionism in France was toward more and more -brilliant reflections of the _surfaces_ of things. - -This extreme _attentuation_ was quite foreign to the spirit of America, -which is more _material_ and _practical_. - - * * * * * - -It may be our fault, it is certainly our virtue, that we are material -and practical in our outlook. In a big, sane sense we are _dreamers_. -Only dreamers could carry the Panama Canal to completion, and, to -mention lesser works, only dreamers could build such terminals as the -Pennsylvania and New York Central in New York, and such buildings as the -Woolworth and the Manhattan. But our dreams always take practical shape. -We are a nation of inventors _because_ we are a nation of dreamers. - -Hence, while our artists were quick to respond to all that is good and -strong in Impressionism, they found little satisfaction in the -ultra-refinements of Neo-Impressionism. - -The result was that when France pressed Impressionism to its extreme, a -normal and healthy reaction took place in American art. - -Many of the strong painters of America began doing things of their own. -They still adhered closely to nature. They remained Impressionists -in the older significance of the term, but they painted not the -_surfaces_ of things but the _substance_--in short, they were -_Cézanne_-Impressionists as distinguished from _Monet_-Impressionists. - -For instance, Winslow Homer was a great and true Impressionist, but he -had nothing in common with the Neo-Impressionists, and little in common -with Monet. He had, however, a great deal in common with Cézanne. His -pictures give one an impression of _nature herself_, of the power of the -sea, the adamant of the rocks, the significance of life, yet each one is -an accurate transcript of what he saw. He did - -[Illustration: - - SEGONZAC - - Forest -] - -not go into his studio and _create_ pictures out of his imagination; he -let his imagination play upon nature, but nature controlled all he did. - -He was, in a sense, the greatest of _American_-Impressionists--he was a -Virile-Impressionist. - -There are many Virile-Impressionists in Europe, but they are so many -individuals; here Virile-Impressionism is the result of racial, -national, geographical conditions. - -It was inevitable that Impressionism in America should follow along -virile and substantial lines rather than along nervous and superficial; -it is the way the country is built. - - * * * * * - -Sargent is a Virile-Impressionist. He paints striking _likenesses_, but -he also paints marvellous _characterizations_; that is, he gets beneath -the skin of his sitters and paints them as they _are_, not as they seem. -His sense of color is very deficient; many of his portraits from a -decorative point of view are almost the reverse of pleasing; he had not -the faintest appreciation of the subtle refinements of the things -Whistler strove so long and earnestly to achieve; in his best things he -is strong and direct to the point of brutality--all of which is -characteristic of Virile-Impressionism, and exactly what one would -expect from a vigorous, muscular, frank American. Though Sargent spends -most of his time on the other side, he is no more English than French; -his pictures fit into an American exhibition far more comfortably than -into the Royal Academy or the old Salon. - -Robert Henri is another strong Virile-Impressionist. - - * * * * * - -The attitude of American painters toward the extreme modern developments -is both curious and interesting. - -On the opening of the International Exhibition there was an outburst of -violent indignation from the older men, ordinary speech failed to -express their feelings, and they rushed into print with language as -violent as the press would accept. All that made lively reading and lent -zest to current literature. - -Six months later this feeling of angry opposition largely subsided. As -an illustration, one of the bitterest of the Academicians accepted as a -“good idea” the organization of an _independent_ exhibition, open to -artists _without the intervention of a jury_, under the auspices of the -National Academy, as soon as a building could be provided that would -adequately house all exhibitions. - -Again, the very conservative authorities of a large art institute -listened receptively to the suggestion that every art museum owed the -public two things in the way of exhibitions: - -_First_, exhibitions selected by juries which would give the public the -benefit of the best expert judgment available. - -_Second_, exhibitions wherein painters and sculptors barred by the -juries would have opportunities to present their works _to the judgment -of the public_. - -In short, suggestions that would not have been listened to before the -International are now discussed as quite within the range of -possibilities. - -There is no danger of these things coming to pass in the _immediate_ -future; there is still too much latent opposition, but the virulent has -measurably subsided. - -So much for the _older_ men. - - * * * * * - -The younger were naturally much more tolerant. They were more--they were -both _curious_ and _receptive_. Many of them searched with eager eye for -valuable hints, for ways and means to perfect their own art. - -It was a great pleasure to watch and talk with these young men, the -_rising_ generation. - -Many of them, to their own surprise, found they had been working along -modern lines without fully realizing it. - -They had not cut loose from Impressionism, but they were doing things -_constructively_ rather than _superficially_; they were painting like -Cézanne rather than Monet. - - * * * * * - -If the attempt were made to name these younger men, the result would be -injustice to many whose works are unknown to the writer, and the -argument would be confused. - -To speak, therefore, of one of the paintings reproduced, take the “Still -Life,” by Kroll. In the decorative arrangement of the draperies and in -the manner in which the fruit and stone jug are painted, the feeling is -quite _Post_-Impressionistic; while the glimpse of the street out the -window is purely _Impressionistic_. - -That is to say, all within the window is painted solidly and -constructively, quite under the influence of Cézanne; all that is -without is painted fleetingly and superficially, more under the -influence of Monet. It was done intentionally, to secure a certain -effect of contrast; but the result is neither _French_-Impressionism nor -_Post_-Impressionism, but _American_-Impressionism--a certain -_eclecticism_. - -The glimpse of the street is delightful, but the arbitrarily arranged -interior is more than delightful; it possesses strength of line, fine -color, and solid masses, _done constructively_. - -Still, one has only to compare this picture with the “Still Life,” by -Herbin, and the “Forest at Martigues,” by Derain, to see how close to -nature it is, how _Impressionistic_ it is as distinguished from the -_Post_-Impressionistic, or creative, spirit. - -Kroll painted what he felt, _controlled_ by what he saw. Derain painted -what he felt, _influenced only slightly_ by what he had seen. - - * * * * * - -The foregoing illustrates the position of the more vigorous of the -younger American painters; they are so strong, so virile, so -muscular--let us say--that instinctively they lean toward the painting -of things in a big, broad _constructive_ manner; the refinements of -_superficial_ impressionism do not interest them. - -At the same time they have not reached the point where they are willing -to let go of nature entirely and do purely _creative_ things. - -Perhaps this is just as well. - -America--like every new country--is so essentially practical, practical -in even its most imaginative flights, that it is difficult for its -painters to retire within themselves and do things that have only an -esoteric or metaphysical relation to actualities; that sort of thing in -both art and literature is much easier on the continent than in either -England or America; it is especially easy in the highly charged and -hyper-artificial atmosphere of Paris. - - * * * * * - -Purely _creative_ work is done in a masterly manner--in his best -things--by Arthur Davies. It is attempted and quite successfully by -Kenneth Miller, to mention only two of many. - -To the casual observer Davies may seem to lose himself at times in his -theories, to press his dreams and speculations beyond the confines of -his art, but on this point the opinion of the “casual observer” is of -little value, for Davies’s pictures cannot be casually observed; they -challenge the attention of the most serious and repay study. I make no -pretense to having fathomed their mystery, to understanding their inner -significance, but enjoy and have always enjoyed the marvellously fine -way in which they are done, and their rare decorative quality. - -Here is a man doing _creative_ work, work in which he plays with and -uses nature to attain ends far above and far removed from nature. He is -in no sense a Virile-Impressionist, no one would think of classing him -as an Impressionist at all. Yet he is not a Post-Impressionist as the -term has been defined in this book. - -He belongs rather to the class of inspired or _poetic_ painters, a few -of whom are with us always, men who neither found nor belong to a -“school,” but who express on canvas or in stone their fancies in a way -that reminds one of fairy-tales. - -Davies may admire much of the work of some of the ultra -Post-Impressionists; he likes, for instance, much of Matisse’s work; he -may even fancy he has something in common with these men, but he has -not. He was painting his pictures long before theirs were very much -known, and he would have painted his if theirs had never been produced -at all. - -Matisse is moved by a _spirit fundamentally different_ from that which -animates Davies. - - * * * * * - -“The Bridge,” by Kroll, is another striking example of -American-Impressionistic art. It is one of a series of pictures of lower -New York, each painted “on the spot,” some from roofs and high places -difficult of access and dangerous. - -It is comparatively easy to go out and make a few sketches of portions -of a city like New York and then retire to the studio and paint faint -and superficial reproductions, such inadequate reproductions as appear -on the walls of any metropolitan exhibition; it is quite another thing -to plant one’s easel on slippery rocky heights and day after day, in -the cold, paint from nature as directly as Monet ever painted and in a -much more virile way. - -It takes imagination and enthusiasm and the superb confidence of youth -to attempt such colossal things, and it takes an unusual technical -facility to “get away” with the attempt. - - * * * * * - -Winslow Homer’s name has been mentioned and mentioned with the respect -due one of the greatest painters this country has produced, but the -besetting weakness of picture buyers is undue reverence for the man who -has “arrived,” above all for the master who is dead. - -_Better pictures are being painted in America today than Homer painted_, -and he would be the first to say so if living. - -Since he painted his best pictures the art of painting has advanced, -painters have improved their technic and broadened their outlook. - -There are pictures being painted today by young Americans that will be -worth far more than Homer’s, and that is said with the full realization -that no lover of what is big and strong in art could ask for more virile -impressions of nature than those of Homer at his best. - - * * * * * - -When the Morgan pictures were hanging in the Metropolitan Museum, -acclaimed in parrot phrases by critics and visited by multitudes, it was -a delight, a veritable refreshing of the soul, to get away from the -smell of the dead into the living atmosphere of the Hearn collection and -see pictures that _belong to us_, to our own times, that are flesh of -our flesh, bone of our bone. - -Every picture in the Morgan collection had its vital relation - -[Illustration: - - KROLL - - Brooklyn Bridge -] - -to life _once_--_when_ it was painted and _where_ it was painted. - -Not one has even a remote relation to the life of America. - -They are valuable, very valuable, in the sense that old tapestries, old -armor, old brocades, old pottery, etc., etc., are valuable--valuable as -illustrating the history and development of painting, and beautiful as -many old things are beautiful--but _not half so beautiful as the living -and breathing things of today_. - - * * * * * - -But how can we appreciate the beauty of the things our painters and -sculptors are doing when we are blind to the superb, the magnificent -beauty of what our engineer-builders are doing--our _steel_ -“_sky-scrapers_”--America’s greatest achievement and unique contribution -to the arts--an _absolutely new architecture_? - - * * * * * - -Though the artist may be quick to disavow all such intention, it is -obvious that there is much Post-Impressionism in John W. Alexander’s -work. - -In both his technic and his inspiration he is very Post-Impressionistic. - -In the delightful sweep of his line, and the purely decorative use of -color, he departs far from nature. - -The attitude of Sargent toward a model or sitter and that of Alexander -are diametrically opposed, the one seeks to paint a vigorous -_characterization_ of the person before him, the other seeks to _create -a picture_, and to do so by a technic so different from that commonly -used it still occasions much of the wonderment it excited years ago. - -Some of the portraits by Alexander are conspicuous on the walls of an -exhibition for very much the same reasons such a picture as Van Rees’s -“Maternity” would be conspicuous. - -The landscape and cattle piece by Segonzac are both examples of -Virile-Impressionism. But Segonzac has painted many other pictures that -are Post-Impressionistic--arbitrary in design and execution, and still -others that are both Virile-Impressionistic and Post-Impressionistic, -such as his large canvas, “A Pastoral,” shown at the International, -wherein the cattle are Virile-Impressionistic creations while the nude -figures and the entire scheme are purely Post-Impressionistic. - - * * * * * - -The two landscapes by Vlaminck and Charmy are good examples of the -transition state from Virile-Impressionism to Post-Impressionism. - -They are sufficiently close to nature to be Impressionistic in the large -sense of the term; at the same time they are so arbitrary and decorative -in technic as to be quite Post-Impressionistic. They are about as far -removed from the average exhibition of Impressionistic pictures as they -are from the creative and abstract art of the Cubists, yet they will -hang with either without unduly shocking the spectator’s sense of the -fitness of things. - - * * * * * - -The three Cardoza’s are purely Post-Impressionistic; they are charming -examples of what might be called _romantic_ Post-Impressionism as -distinguished from the more _abstract_ conceptions of the Cubists; they -have no more relation to life than a fairy tale, rather less if -anything, for they are primarily decorative rather than significant. - - * * * * * - -Zak’s “Shepherd” is also Post-Impressionistic, romantic in feeling like -Cardoza’s, but of deeper human significance. The utter loneliness of the -shepherd’s life, the monotony of its outlook, the note of resignation, -are all as subtly indicated - -[Illustration: - - CHARMY - - Landscape -] - -as are any of the human qualities in Millet’s pictures of peasant life; -yet in technic and composition the picture is essentially -Post-Impressionistic, a decorative and musical work of the _creative_ -imagination. One would not be far astray in classing it with the poetic -work of Arthur Davies. - - - - -XIII - -SCULPTURE - - -Developments in sculpture do not always parallel those in painting. - -In comparison painting is so facile that it lends itself easily to -experiments, responds quickly to moods and fancies. In short, painting -is more susceptible--more volatile. - -Not that the painter and the sculptor are different human beings, but -the mediums whereby they express themselves are so different, and the -demands for their work are so unequal, that sculpture usually lags -behind in new ventures. The sculptor, however great his desire, cannot -afford to make the experiments the painter makes, or at the best he can -only embody his new ideas and aspirations in uninviting plaster casts. - -He is bound by some of the conditions that hamper the architect, one of -which is difficulty in finding a patron who will take the risk and pay -the expense of innovations. - - * * * * * - -The reaction in sculpture has been from the _classic_ along two opposed -lines: - -A. Back to nature. - -B. Purely creative. - - * * * * * - -The movement back to nature, to a closer observation of life, even to -the rendering of the human figure with brutal frankness, is exemplified -in the work of Matisse, work so _ugly_--to most people--it seems a -grotesque caricature of - -[Illustration: BRANCUSI - -M’lle Poganey] - -[Illustration: LEHMBRUCK - -Kneeling Woman] - -the human form, but the human form today is never so symmetrical, so -perfect as in classic sculpture, and one suspects the Greeks themselves -idealized their young men and maidens. - -Long before Matisse, Rodin started the “return to nature.” His “Age of -Bronze,” 1877, was so literal a transcript it was denounced as a cast -from life; sculptors and critics refused to believe human fingers could -model so perfect an impression. His “Saint John,” “Eve,” “Bourgeois of -Calais,” “Le Penseur,” “La Belle Heaulmière,” to mention only a few, -were all created in a spirit diametrically opposed to the classic--yet -Rodin is a most intelligent lover of the classic. - -_Per contra_, most of Rodin’s marbles are a fine mixture of the classic -and purely modern--of the _classic_ and the _romantic_. - -The point here is that in some of his bronzes he exhibits as clear and -merciless an observation of nature as Matisse or any other modern. It -may be said once for all that in the number and _variety_ of things he -does, in the manner in which he links past and present, Rodin stands -quite alone among sculptors. If he has little sympathy with the extreme -sculpture of the hour it is because life is short and in his life time -he has covered so vast a territory, responded to so many impulses, -ancient and modern, he is not unnaturally reluctant to embark upon new -experiments or interest himself vitally in what others are doing. - - * * * * * - -The best American sculpture, even more than American painting, is -solidly virile-impressionistic, notably the work of such men as Barnard -and Borghlum. Davidson has one foot firmly planted within the confines -of Post-Impressionism, but he has by no means cut loose from the past. -His “Decorative Panel” in the Exhibition was purely -post-impressionistic, a work of the imagination, while his figures were -virile-impressionistic. - - * * * * * - -It is only by comparing the work of these new men with that of St. -Gaudens, French, MacMonies--to mention no others--that one begins to -rightly understand what is meant by the “_reaction to nature_.” - -There is plenty of pure _observation_ and plenty of fine _imagination_ -in the work of those three men, but there is also much of the purely -classical, and not one of them showed or shows any desire to break with -tradition, while the very essence of the modern movement is a disregard, -conscious or unconscious, for tradition; in many of the new men there is -a violent revolt against the domination of the past. - - * * * * * - -It is when we come to the work of Brancusi and Archipanko that we find -the most startling examples of the reaction along purely creative lines. - -Nature is purposely left far behind, as far behind as in Cubist -pictures, and for very much the same reasons. - -Of Brancusi something has been said already. - -Of all the sculpture in the International Exhibition the two pieces that -excited the most ridicule were Brancusi’s egg-shaped portrait of Mlle. -Pogany and “Family Life” by Archipanko. - -Both are _creative_ works, products of the imagination, but in their -inspiration they are fundamentally different. - - * * * * * - -In his symmetrical oval head with the spiral masses where the neck would -be, it is apparent the sculptor’s interest is in the play of line and -relation of masses, no profound human problem troubled him. That there -is a relation between the strange shape of the head and his theories of -life and art no - -[Illustration: BOCCIONI - -Spiral Expansion of Muscles in Action] - -[Illustration: MATISSE - -Portrait Heads] - -serious observer of his other work could doubt, but his unusual technic -over-shadows other interest. - - * * * * * - -In his “Family Life,” the group of man, woman, child, Archipanko -deliberately subordinated all thought of beauty of form to an attempt to -realize in stone the relation in life that is at the very basis of human -and social existence. - - Spiritual, emotional, and mathematical intellectuality, too, is - behind the family group of Archipanko. This group, in plaster, - might have been made of dough. It represents a featureless, large, - strong male--one gets the impression of strength from humps and - lumps--an impression of a female, less vivid, and the vague - knowledge that a child is mixed up in the general embrace. The - faces are rather blocky, the whole group with arms - intertwined--arms that end suddenly, no hands, might be the sketch - of a sculpture to be. But when one gets an insight it is intensely - more interesting. It is, eventually, clear that in portraying his - idea of family love the sculptor has built his figures with - pyramidal strength; they are grafted together with love and - geometric design, their limbs are bracings, ties of strength, they - represent, not individuals, but the structure itself of family - life. Not family life as one sees it, but the unseen, the deep - emotional unseen, and in making his group when the sculptor found - himself verging upon the seen--that is, when he no longer felt the - unseen--he stopped. Therefore the hands were not essential. And - this expression is made in the simplest way. Some will hoot at it, - but others will feel the respect that is due one who simplifies and - expresses the deep things of life. You may say that such is - literature in marble--well, it is the modernest sculpture.[66] - - * * * * * - -The group is so angular, so _Cubist_, so ugly according to accepted -notions, that few look long enough to see what the sculptor means; yet -strange as the group was it undeniably gave a powerful impression of the -binding, the _blending_ character of the family tie, a much more -powerful impression than groups in conventional academic pose could -give. - -In considering the extreme modern movement in sculpture it must not be -forgotten that groups and figures just as strange have been done in the -past--that even queerer and more grotesque things have been used to -adorn churches and altars. - -True, those sculptures and carvings are _naive_ and _primitive_, but may -not the naive and primitive be closer to life and to life’s great truths -than the sophisticated and classical? - -That is the question. - -The answer of the moderns is that the swing of the pendulum in art is -from the naive and primitive through the more and more conventional to -the fixed and lifeless mold of the classic and academic, then back again -to the naive, traversing the romantic, in its course, both ways. - -[Illustration: MATISSE - -Back of Woman] - -[Illustration: ERBSLOH - -Young Woman] - - - - -XIV - -IN CONCLUSION - - -To gather the loose ends of the argument in one skein. - - * * * * * - -Impressionism was the natural, the inevitable reaction from the romantic -and story-telling art of the forties, fifties, and sixties--a return to -_nature_ from the _studio_, to works of the _observation_ from works of -the _imagination_. - -Impressionism developed along three diverging lines: - -A. _Superficial_ Impressionism--Monet. - -B. _Realistic_ Impressionism--Manet. - -C. _Substantial_ Impressionism--Cézanne. - - * * * * * - -A. _Superficial_--the painting of light effects, the impressionism of -Monet, culminated in the extreme refinements of the pointillists, the -Neo-Impressionists, Seurat and Signac. - -In superficial Impressionism the last word seems to have been said for -the time being. Any number of delightful pictures--light effects--are -being painted, and will continue to be painted, but the early enthusiasm -has largely subsided. - -Superficial Impressionism leads naturally to the painting of pure color -effects--_color music_, _orphism_, _compositional_ painting. After the -last word in the _observation_ of light effects _Post_-Impressionistic -attempts to _create_ pure color effects, irrespective of natural--that -is a logical reaction. - -B. _Realistic_ Impressionism penetrates a little deeper. While Monet and -his followers, Signac and Seurat, dealt more and more with the play of -light on the _surface_ of things, Manet and his followers painted closer -to the _heart_ of things. - -While Monet was content to paint a hay stack twenty times in as many -different lights, Manet preferred a touch of _life_ and _character_ in -his pictures. While he was first and last a painter, he was not so -absorbed in securing purely technical effects as to be wholly blind to -the _human_ element, hence his wonderful portraits, his bullfights, his -glimpses of city life--pictures _big_ in more senses than one. - -Still he and his followers were primarily interested in the _aspect_ of -things, the _characteristics_ as distinguished from the fundamental -_character_ of things. He penetrated far deeper than Monet, so much -deeper the two had little in common, but he did not get so close to the -heart that he forgot the skin; he was always a painter of _appearances_, -but in a _big_ as distinguished from a _superficial_ way. - -The realistic Impressionism of Manet has by no means run its course. -Some of the finest painting in the world has been done and is being done -along this line. It is the line of Franz Hals and Velasquez; it is the -line of men so different as Whistler and Sargent in their best -portraits. - -The natural reaction from perfection in this line is higher accentuation -of characteristics--in the extreme _caricature_. - -That is, given the last word in the painting of character by great men -in a _solid_ way, the logical attempts of new men or lesser men will be -the indication of character in a lighter and more superficial way. The -penetrating _observation_ of the older men gives way to the keen and -playful _fancies_ of the younger. The same sitter yields with the former -a powerful portrait, with the latter a fascinating picture which may be -quite as _revealing_ both as a likeness and as a characterization. - -C. _Substantial_ Impressionism is not so easy to define and -differentiate. It is far from _superficial_ but has much in common with -_realistic_. - -It is easiest to simply say it is the Impressionism of Cézanne and -those who have read what has already been said about Cézanne will -understand. - -Cézanne was not content to paint either the _surface_ or the -_characteristics_ of things or people; he sought to go _deeper_, to get -at the very _substance_ and to place on canvas their elemental -qualities. - -As a natural result the longer he painted the _less_ interesting his -pictures became _superficially_, but the _greater_ their interest -_fundamentally_. - -While Monet became more and more a _popular_ painter, a painter for the -dealer and the buyer, Cézanne became more and more a _painter’s -painter_, doing things that only the technically skilled could rightly -appreciate. - -Interested solely in the profoundest problems of his art and painting -only for those who had a very great knowledge of art, he attracted -comparatively few followers; the path he followed promised little in the -way of immediate fame and rewards. - -Still during his last years he had his ardent admirers and after his -death his simple, strong _constructive_, _elemental_ pictures began to -be widely appreciated. - -They make no pretense to the superficial charm of color or composition -that attracts the average observer, but they _fascinate_ every man who -studies things long enough to even partially understand what the artist -was so earnestly trying to do. - -_Substantial_ or Cézanne Impressionism led naturally to the -Virile-Impressionism of today, a way of seeing and painting things that -is a compound of the Impressionism of Manet with that of Cézanne. - -There is a great and glorious future for Virile-Impressionism. Some of -the greatest portraits and pictures in the world will be painted with -the penetrating vision of a Cézanne, modified by the clear, cool -observation of a Manet. - -The logical reaction from carrying observation of nature to the extent -Cézanne carried it is painting of the substance of things _creatively_, -_theoretically_, as in _Cubism_. - -Cézanne carried the use of planes _imitatively_ so far that it was but a -step to their use _arbitrarily and scientifically_. - -_Substantial_ Impressionism leads naturally to substantial -Post-Impressionism; or in other words, the _substance_ of things -painted impressionistically (more or less imitatively) leads -logically to the painting of the _substance_ of things _creatively_ = -_Post_-Impressionistically. - -[Illustration: - - KROLL - - Still Life -] - - - - -APPENDIX I - -EXHIBITIONS AT 291 FIFTH AVENUE - - -During a number of years prior to 1913 Mr. Alfred Stieglitz gave -exhibitions of extreme modern work in his Small Photo-Secession Gallery, -291 Fifth Avenue, New York, and the International was the outcome, the -logical culmination of these earlier efforts. - -Mr. Stieglitz prepared the following chronological narrative: - -In the end of November, 1906, “291” (“Photo-Secession Gallery,” “Little -Gallery,” etc., etc.) was opened with an exhibition of pictorial -photography. The exhibition represented the best work of Steichen, Frank -Eugene, Kasebier, Clarence White, Stieglitz, Coburn, Brigman, Herbert G. -French, and about thirty others, all Americans. - -This exhibition was followed up by a series of exhibitions--usually -one-man--of the picked work which had been done in pictorial photography -the world over. - -In 1907 the first exhibition not devoted to photography was that of Miss -Pamela Coleman Smith. This exhibition created a sensation. At the time -it aroused the ire of most of the New York critics. - -Following this there were shown Willie Geiger’s (Munich) best etchings -and Ex Libris. This was the first show of his in America. - -But the real beginning, I suppose, of the so-called _Modern_ work shown -at “291” was the exhibition of about sixty of Rodin’s choicest drawings. -These were selected by Rodin and Steichen for the special exhibition. -The exhibition aroused intense indignation in New York amongst the -critics and amongst most painters (men like Chase, Alexander, and -others of this type feeling that such things were not meant for the -public). - -April, 1908, Matisse was introduced to the American public for the first -time. This exhibition of Matisse’s represented the complete evolution of -Matisse from his academic period up to date. It included etchings, -drawings, water colors, lithographs, and oil paintings. - -January, 1909, the work of Marius De Zayas was introduced for the first -time. - -March, 1909, John Marin and Alfred Maurer (the “new” Maurer) were -introduced. The work of these Americans seemed to upset the equilibrium -of the academicians even more than the “jokes” of Rodin and Matisse. - -May, 1909, Marsden Hartley was introduced to the public for the first -time. - -December, 1909, Toulouse Lautrec Exhibition. A very choice collection of -his lithographs. First Lautrec Exhibition in America. - -February, 1910, second Marin Exhibition. - -March, 1910, exhibition of the work of “Younger American Painters”: -Arthur G. Dove, Arthur B. Carles, L. Fellows, Marsden Hartley, Putnam -Brindley, John Marin, Alfred Maurer, Steichen, Max Weber. This was the -first collective exhibition of Modern work by Americans. - -April, 1910, second Rodin Exhibition. The very latest drawings of Rodin -were shown, together with eleven of his earliest ones. At the same time -the best small bronze of the “Penseur” (loaned by Mrs. John W. Simpson) -was exhibited. - -November, 1910, Exhibition of lithographs by Cézanne, Renoir, Manet, and -Toulouse Lautrec. Together with these, drawings and paintings by Henri -Rousseau, just deceased. This exhibition introduced Rousseau for the -first time to America, as well as it introduced Cézanne. - -January, 1911, Exhibition by Max Weber, American. - -February, 1911, Marin Exhibition (third). - -March, 1911, a series of Cézanne water colors. The first one-man show of -Cézanne’s in America. These water colors were most carefully selected -and really represent a side of Cézanne which is underestimated by all -those, even Cézanne lovers, who do not fully understand Cézanne’s -importance. - -April, 1911, Picasso. Drawings, lithographs, water colors, etc. A series -of eighty showing the complete evolution of Picasso. The first -introduction of Picasso to America and the first exhibition anywhere of -Picasso held in this sense. - -February, 1912, second Hartley exhibition. - -February, 1912, first Arthur G. Dove exhibition. - -March, 1912, sculptures and latest drawings by Matisse. First -introduction to America of Matisse, the sculptor. - -April, 1912, Exhibition of Children’s Work, showing relationship of that -to much of the spirit of so-called “Modern” work, first exhibition of -its kind held in America. - -December, 1912, drawings and paintings by A. Walkowitz. - -January, 1913, fourth Marin Exhibition--the now famous New York -skyscraper series were shown. - -March, 1913, Picabia’s New York work. The first one-man show of Picabia -held in America. - -April, 1913, Exhibition of De Zaya’s abstract caricature. Possibly the -most _modern_ expression of the human portrait. - -Incidentally, without having had official shows, the work of Eli -Nadelmann (Paris) and Manolo, was introduced to America by examples of -their work being shown. - -Outside of all these exhibitions, of course, must be added the -exhibition of color-photography, first in America, in 1907, and numerous -other exhibitions, of important photographic work. - - - - -APPENDIX II - -TWO COMMENTS - - -It is only fair to the press to say that here and there, in most -unexpected places, not only articles but editorials appeared admonishing -the public to be cautious about condemning the new art too impulsively. - -We have chosen two such expressions from places so different, as London, -and Reno, Nevada. - -Apropos the Russian Ballet and its extraordinary music, the London -“Times,” in a leading editorial, July 13, 1913, said: - -“We have entered into one of those periods of artistic revolution in -which the public, audience, or spectators become partisans and express -their opinions as if they were at a political meeting. The Russian -Ballet, for instance, produced a conflict of opinion last Friday, which -recalls the conflicts provoked by the plays of Victor Hugo in the -thirties. Post-Impressionism now is what the Romantic movement was then. -To one party it means the end of all beauty; to the other a new birth of -it. People no longer clap or hiss because they think a particular -performance is well or ill done. Even in England, where the arts are not -commonly taken very seriously, they are beginning to clap or hiss on -principle, and to feel that they are making history when they do so. -Partisans on both sides are probably not very clear in their minds why -they like Post-Impressionism or dislike it; but the word, vague and -clumsy as it is, does imply to them a set of tendencies by which all the -arts may be ruined or regenerated. It is not merely a fashion in -painting, but, like Romanticism, a movement of the mind which is trying -to express itself through all means of artistic expression. - -“Of this the new turn taken by the Russian Ballet is a striking proof; -for no one can suppose that the artists concerned in that enterprise are -haters of beauty because of their own incompetence to achieve it. They -have every material inducement to continue delighting the world with -Ballets like Carnival or Scheherazade; and, if they attempt a new kind -of art, it must be because they are driven to it by some force in -themselves too powerful to be withstood. Masters like M. Nijinsky do not -try dangerous experiments on the public for the mere pleasure of trying -them; and it is a little presumptuous to assume that they are suddenly -afflicted by sheer perversity of taste. It is more probable that they -are possessed by that ardour of discovery which is common both to great -artists and to great men of science, indeed to all men whose interest in -life is stronger than their desire for their own comfort. - -“Most people make the mistake of thinking that the development of an art -consists altogether of what is called invention and not of discovery; -and for that reason they often resent innovations as mere perversities. -If a thing has been well done already they cannot see why it should not -continue to be done. But the artist knows that he cannot invent again -what has been once invented. He knows, too, that these seeming -inventions are also discoveries of the possibilities of his art; and -that when discovery has been carried very far in one direction it cannot -be carried any further. The history of all arts proves this. After -Michel Angelo no one could invent anything fresh in his manner, because -he had discovered all that could be discovered about his method of art. -Renaissance architecture prevailed in Europe because no new discoveries -were possible in Gothic. - -“The Romantic movement changed English poetry when there was nothing -more to be said in the manner of Pope. You may prefer the old art to the -new, but even if you are right in preferring it, you are not therefore -right in condemning those who practice the new art. For they have no -alternative. Either they must be mere imitators of the great men of the -past or they must make a new start; and the true artist can no more -content himself with imitation than the true philosopher can content -himself with repeating what other philosophers have said. - -“Behind all representation in the arts there is the impulse of -expression; and that will make its discoveries wherever there is most to -be discovered, turning naturally to those elements of the art which have -lately been neglected. If we understand this we shall see that a new -artistic movement, such as Post-Impressionism, is not to be judged -merely by a few pictures or to be condemned because those pictures seem -to us very unlike reality. Whatever may come of it, it is something that -is happening in all the arts, because discovery is turning in a new -direction. All the successes of the past are obstacles to new success of -the same kind, and discovery naturally takes a line of least resistance -away from them. For a long time, in every art, artists have been raising -expectations which they found it difficult, if not impossible, to -satisfy. In painting, with its effort at complete illusion, they have -provoked comparisons with Velasquez. In music, with its elaborate forms, -they must do as well as Beethoven if they are to succeed. The dance, as -we are used to it, demands an easy grace in every movement, which M. -Nijinsky himself cannot combine with novelties of expression. He has -found that, if he is to be a discoverer in his art, he must teach his -public not to expect this easy grace, this formal and accustomed beauty, -from the start. And that is the purpose of Post-Impressionism in all -the arts. It is determined not to arouse expectations which it cannot -satisfy. - -“The public may begin by thinking it all crude and ugly and childish; -and it will be the more delighted by any beauties which it discovers -afterwards. Hitherto the arts have promised more than they could -possibly perform. Now they shall promise nothing, and so perform at -least more than they promise. It is natural, perhaps, that the public -should resent this as a kind of discourtesy. The artist who makes no -professions seems to them lacking in respect, and they are inclined to -hoot him as an impudent charlatan. But there are very few artists who -wish to be hooted, and the real charlatan usually flatters his public. -Whatever may be said against Post-Impressionists in all the arts, they -are not flatterers.” - - * * * * * - -It is a far cry from London to Reno, and the differences between the two -places are not measured by the miles between them. - -Leading editorial from the “Journal,” Reno, July 11, 1913: - - -SIMPLE SOLOMON - -“When Solomon staked his reputation for wisdom as well as originality on -the assertion that there is nothing new under the sun, he did not think -some day the Cubist painter, the Futurist artist, and the color musician -would rise in the twentieth century and make him ridiculous. There is -something new under the sun even in these departures, and like -everything original since the first sin, the innovations are now roundly -condemned. - -“It is the fashion now to condemn the Cubist and the Futurist in art, -even as not long ago it was the fashion to condemn the realist, the -impressionist and the Post-Impressionist; but it is a peculiar tribute -to the authority of an innovation that it requires such a general attack -of condemnation. A trivial thing requires mere neglect; a war of -condemnation implies some strong and virile thing to be subdued. - -“These new things have a substantial basis for existence; else they -would not exist. Their novelty has caused some extravagant adherents to -carry them to unreasonable excess. They have abused the discoveries, not -used them. They will pass away but the new principles will survive. - -“The cubist takes his cue from the idea of perspective itself--carried -to excess. No one can imagine anything but straight lines as the basis -for ‘vanishing points.’ Curved lines, while apparent and obvious, are -not the scientific representations of actualities. The things we see -strike the eye on the basis of flat images and our imagination brings -out shape and significance. It is but a simple reversal to present flat -art and give the imagination equal play in reconstructing real images in -the eye. - -“If we take a half-tone engraving and examine it with a magnifying glass -we find it is a series of holes of uniform size but more or less dense -on the surface according to the requirements of light, shade and line. -Magnify a half-tone 100 times and we have a large grating of black and -white circles or squares. That is cubist art. It requires a slight shift -in the point of view, a little development and stimulation of the -imagination--nothing more. - -“When Gulliver visited the Brobdingnagians and viewed the complexions of -their women at close range, it almost made him sick--yet they were noted -beauties. He looked too close. When they looked at him they observed no -complexion--they looked too far. Yet each had a concrete complexion and -the only trouble was the point of view and the shock of comparison. - -“The futurists have a very novel and, at this time, an outlandish art. -One of them has a full page picture used as an advertisement of the -peculiar sound of a horn. It is a picture of a sound that saws its way -through other sounds. There is a straight, fan-like picture for a -constant, augmenting note, rising in scale. It is gray. There is a black -ellipse for a loud varying noise of fairly regular variation of note, -and so on. The foreign noise of the horn is shown as utterly unlike in -form, intensity, regularity or harmony, any other sound. - -“If one has a diagram one can understand the futurist art and, when one -understands, he approves. The new arts are simply aids to comparison, -discrimination and inspiration. They have all the delights of -wine-tasting or salad-judging--and some salads are vile. - -“The color musician has developed only another exercise in -discrimination. If we were to make mathematics of music we would find -that there is an exact relation between the number of vibrations of -notes an octave apart; a constant relation between the vibrations in the -natural and the sharp; a direct ratio between the vibrations of the -notes in a chord; a formula for harmony and another for discord. It is -an interesting mathematical study, a science as well as an art, and it -proves that our appreciation through the senses is based on natural -mathematical sequences and on well understood ratios, seasoned for -variety’s sake by divergences from type. - -“Now the color musician has taken the spectrum and made notes out of it -like the notes on the gamut. He has a color-scale and can do as much on -it for the delight of the eye as a musician can with the musical scale -for the ear. He merely brings out an extra way of enjoying distinctions -and of enjoying that most restful of enjoyable things--conventionality. -The certainty and the satisfaction of the conventional is about the most -assuring thing in all experience. There is no more steadying feeling in -all the world than to know that two and two make four, and that c-a-t -spells cat. The more ways by which we can be assured of the belief we -hold by faith, that there is an uniform, unchanging, all-pervading rule -in the world, arguing an individual, mastering central consciousness and -direction, the happier we are. - -“The cubists and the futurists and the color musicians may be faddists, -but they help to drive out old Solomon’s pessimism. They help us to -understand by purely human experience how it is that there may be some -things which even humans cannot understand--but which are.” - - - - -BIBLIOGRAPHY - - - - -ENGLISH - - In attempting this bibliography of the modern movement in art, the - search in periodical literature in England, France, and Germany has - been carried back no farther than 1908. - - IS ART A FAILURE? by Robert Fowler. Nineteenth Century, July, 1912. - - ART, A NEW VENTURE IN. _Exhibition at the Omega Workshops._ Times, - July 9, 1913. - - BAKST, LEON. _Art Exhibitions. A Great Designer._ Times, June 17, - 1912. Morning Post, June 18, 1912. - - BAKST, LEON. _Exhibition._ Athenaeum, July 6, 1912. - - BERLIN SECESSION. For short notices on see “Studio”: LI, p. 241; - LI, p. 328; LII, p. 68; LII, p. 153; LII, p. 240; LIII, p. 324; - LIV, p. 84; LV, p. 59; LV, p. 249; LVI, p. 241. - - CÉZANNE. _Article by Maurice Denis._ Burlington Magazine, XVI Part - I, p. 207; Part II, p. 275. - - _Cézanne_. _Manet and the French Impressionists. Pissaro--Claude - Monet--Sisley--Rénoir--Berthe Morisot--Cézanne--Guillaume._ - Translated by J. E. Crawford Flitch. Illustrated with 34 etchings, - 4 wood engravings, and 32 reproductions in half-tone No. 9 by - Theodore Duret. J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, 1910. - - CÉZANNE. _Cézanne and Gauguin._ Athenaeum, Dec. 2, 1911. - - CÉZANNE. _Cézanne and Gauguin._ London Times, Nov. 28, 1911. - - COURBET. _Exhibition._ Times, March 8, 1911. - - CUBISTS. _Cubism._ Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger. Translated - from the French, with illustrations. T. Fisher Unwin, 1912. - - DRAMA AND ART, THE NEW SPIRIT IN. Huntley Carter. London, Frank - Palmer, 1912. - - FUTURISTS. Athenaeum, March 9, 1912. - - FUTURISTS. Spectator, March 16, 1912. - - FUTURISTS. _The Initial Manifesto of Futurism._ F. T. Marinetti. - Printed in the Catalogue of Exhibition in the Sackville Gallery, - London, of works by the Italian Futurist painters, March, 1912. - - FUTURISTS. _Severini (Gino)._ Introduction to catalogue of his - pictures on view at the Marlborough Galleries, Duke street, London, - 1913. - - GAUGUIN. _Cézanne and Gauguin._ London Times, Nov. 28, 1911. - - HARRISON, FREDERIC. _Aischro Latreia--The Cult of the Foul._ - Nineteenth Century, February, 1912. - - HIND, C. LEWIS. _The Consolations of a Critic._ London, A. and C. - Black, 1911. - - HOURTICG, LOUIS. _Art in France._ London, Heinemann, 1911. - - HUNEKER, JAMES. _Promenades of an Impressionist._ - - IMPRESSIONISTS. _The Post Impressionists._ Article by Clutton-Brock - (A), Burlington Magazine, XVIII, p. 216. - - INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY. _Exhibitions._ Times, April 8, 1911; - Spectator, April 15, 1911. - - LONDON SALON. See Times July 8, 1911; July 30, 1912, _Effects of - Artistic Freedom_; July 7, 1913. - - MACCOLL, D. S. _Ugliness, Beauty and Mr. Frederic Harrison._ - Nineteenth Century, March, 1912. - - MAILLOL. _The Sculpture of Maillol._ Roger Fry. Burlington - Magazine, XVII, p. 26. - - MEIER-GRAEFE, ALFRED JULIUS. _Modern Art, Being a Contribution to a - New System of Aesthetics._ Translated from the German by Florence - Simmons and George W. Chrystal. 2 vols. London, 1908. - - MUNICH NEUE VEREINIGUNG. Studio, LIII, p. 320. - - NEW ENGLISH ART CLUB EXHIBITION. Spectator, Nov. 30, 1912. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. _The Post Impressionists._ C. Lewis Hind. - London, Methuen & Co., 1911. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. _Review of Mr. Hind’s Book._ Athenaeum, July - 8, 1911. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. _Notes on the Post Impressionist Painters at - the Grafton Galleries._ C. J. Holmes. 1910-1911. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. _On Post Impressionism._ Sir William Richmond. - Times, Jan. 10, 1911. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. _Pages on Art._ Charles Ricketts. Containing - article on _Post-Impressionism at the Grafton Gallery_. London, - Constable & Co., 1913. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. _French Artists of Today._ London, Heinemann, - 1912. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. _From Impressionism to the Spectral Palette._ - H. P. H. Friswell. Saturday Review, Feb. 23, 1901. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. Foreword to catalogue of exhibition by Frank - Rutter. Doré Galleries, London. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. Letter on _The Post Impressionists at the - Grafton Gallery_. A. Warren Dow. Spectator, Oct. 12, 1912. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. Athenaeum, Jan. 7, 1911; December, 1911. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. _A Year of Post-Impressionism._ D. S. MacColl. - Nineteenth Century, February, 1912; “The Spectral Palette,” - Saturday Review, Feb. 9, 1901. - - POST IMPRESSIONISTS. _The Post Impressionist and Others._ Yoshio - Markino. Nineteenth Century, February, 1913. - - REVOLUTION IN ART. Athenaeum, Feb. 4, 1911. - - RODIN, AUGUSTE. _Art._ From the French of Paul Gsell. London, - Hodder & Stoughton. - - SCULPTURE. _Gills, Eric._ Times, Jan. 27, 1911. - - SCULPTURE. _Post Impressionist Sculptures._ Athenaeum, Jan. 28, - 1911. - - SCULPTURE. _The Sculpture of Maillol._ Roger Fry. Burlington - Magazine, XVII, p. 26. - - VAN GOGH. _The Letters of a Post Impressionist, Being the Familiar - Correspondence of Vincent Van Gogh._ Translated from the German by - Anthony M. Ludovici. London, Constable & Co., 1912. - - VAN GOGH. _Review of V. Van Gogh’s Letters._ Athenaeum, Dec. 21, - 1912. - - VAN GOGH. _Riefstahl_, R. Meyer. Part I, _Vincent Van Gogh_, - Burlington Magazine, XVIII, p. 91; Part II, _Van Gogh’s Style in - Relation to Nature_, Burlington Magazine, XVIII, p. 155. - - VAN GOGH. _The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh._ F. Melian Stawell - (review) Burlington Magazine, XVIX, p. 152. - - - - -FRENCH - - APOLLINAIRE, GUILLAUME. _Meditations esthétiques. Les peintres - cubistes._ 1ère série: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Jean - Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Juan Gris, Mlle. Marie Laurencin, - Fernand Léger, Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, Duchamp Villon. - Paris, Eug. Figuière, 1913. In-40, 84 p. et 46 planches, - reproductions. - - BERNARD, EMILE. _Souvenirs sur P. Cézanne._ Paris, office central - de librairie, 5 rue Palatine, 1908. In-12. - - BUZZI, PAOLO. _Aeroplani._ Canti alati di Paolo Buzzi. Col. IIe - Proclama futurista di F. T. Marinetti. Milano, edizione di - _Poesia_, 1909. In-16, 282 p. - - DENIS, MAURICE. _Théories 1890-1910._ _Du symbolisme et de Gauguin - vers un nouvel ordre classique._ Paris, Bibliothèque de l’occident, - 17 rue Eble, 1912. In-80, 272 p. - - DUHEM, HENRI. _Impressions d’art contemporain._ Paris, Eug. - Figuière, 1913. In-120, 382 p. - - GLEIZES, ALBERT ET METZINGER, JEAN. _Du cubisme._ Paris, Eug. - Figuière, 1912. In-40, 80, 44 p., et 30 pl., reproductions. - - GUY, MICHEL. _Le dernier état de la peinture._ Paris, Union - française d’édition, Le Feu, 1911. In-16, plaquette. - - LETALLE, ABEL. _Idées et figurations d’art._ Paris, E. Sansot, - 1911. In-160. - - MARINETTI, F. T. _Le futurisme._ Paris, E. Sansot, 1911. In-12, 240 - p. La Iere édition italienne est de. - - MARINETTI, F. T. _Coupées électriques._ Drama en trois actes avec - une préface sur le futurisme. Paris, E. Sansot, 1909. In-12, 194 p. - - MARINETTI, F. T. _Le monoplan du pape, roman politique en vers - libres._ Paris, E. Sansot, 1913. In-16, 349 p. - - _Les peintres futuristes italiens._ Exposition du Lundi 5, au Mardi - 24 Février 1912. Paris, Bernheim, Jeune, 1912. Oct. In-16, 32 p., 8 - fig. ou reproductions. - - _Catalogues des peintres futuristes et sculpteurs_. Paris, - Bernheim-Jeune, 1912. In-16. Même opuscule que le précédent à peu - de chose près 3 éditions: en français, en anglais, en italien. - - MELLERIO, ANDRÉ. _Le mouvement idéaliste en peinture._ Paris, H. - Floury, 1896. In-80, 75 p. - - MELLERIO, ANDRÉ. _L’Exposition de 1900 et l’impressionnisme._ - Paris, H. Floury, 1900. In-80, 48 p. - - NOCQ, HENRY. _Tendances nouvelles. Enquête sur l’évolution des - industries d’art._ Paris, H. Floury, 1896. In-80, 204 p. - - SALMON, ANDRÉ. _La jeune peinture française._ Paris, Société des - Trente. Albert Messein, 1910. In-80, 124 p. - -Lors paraître prochainement du même auteur: - - SALMON, ANDRÉ. _La jeune sculpture française._ Paris, Société des - Trente. Albert Messein, 1912. In-80. - - SIGNAC, PAUL. _D’Eugène Delacroix au néo-impressionnisme._ Paris, - Floury, 1911. In-80, 120 p. (nouvelle édition) La Iere édition en - 1899. - - UHDE, J. B. _Henri Rousseau_, (dit Rousseau le Douanier) Paris, - Eug. Figuière, 1913. In-40, avec reproductions. - - -EN PRÉPARATION. - - MORISSE, CHARLES. _Gauguin._ In-80. Chez l’éditeur H. Floury, - Boulevard des Capucines, Paris. - -A noter pour paraître prochainement sous la direction de Guillaume -Apollinaire, à la librairie Eugène Figuière à Paris, 7 rue Corneille; -Une volume sur Cézanne, sur Seurat, sur Dégas, sur Rénois, par des -auteurs différents. Une volume également sur _Les peintres orphiques_ -par Guillaume Apollinaire lui-même. - -À noter aussi l’ouvrage suivant: - - RÉNOIR. _Album de quarante reproductions dont 4 fac-similés en - couleur et 36 phototypes._ Préface d’Octave Mirebeau. Texte des - plus notoires écrivains de tous les pays. Paris, chez - Bernheim-Jeune, 28 boulevard de la Madeleine, 1913. In folio. - - -ARTICLES. - - ALEXANDRE, ARSÈNE. _Maurice Denis._ Signé: Arsène Alexandre. In-40, - 6 pages, 5 reproductions. L’art et les artistes. Tome VIII, - Janvier, 1909. - - APOLLINAIRE, GUILLAUME. _Henri Matisse._ Signé: Guillaume - Apollinaire. In-80, 5 pages, et 3 reproductions. La Phalange. No. - du 15 Décembre, 1907. - - AUREL. _L’Ensiegnement d’Emile-Antoine Bourdelle._ Signé: Aurel. - In-80, 14 p. La Phalange. No. du 20 Mars, 1912. - - BERTAUX, EMILE. _Notes sur le Gréco._ I. _Les Portraits_. II. - _L’Italienne_. III. _Le Byzantisme_. 3 articles dans de _revue de - l’art ancien et moderne_, Années: 1911, Juin; 1912, Décembre et - 1913, Janvier. Nombreuses reproductions et planches hors texte. - - BESSON, GEORGES. _Le grand palais aux bestiaux._ Signé: Georges - Besson. In-80, 5 pages. La Phalange. No. du 20 Décembre, 1912. - - BRICAUT, JEAN. _Essai sur la couleur._ Signé: Jean Bricaut. In-80, - 5 pages. La Phalange. No. du 20 Avril, 1913. - - CORNU, PAUL. _Bernard Naudin, dessinateur et graveur._ Signé: Paul - Cornu. Les Cahiers du Centre. 40 Série, Mars, 1913. - -A noter dans cette même revue; La Phalange--Léon Werth puis Georges -Besson rédigent le mois du peintre donnet à propos des différentes -expositions à la galerie Bernheim-Jeune, à la Galerie Volard et autres, -des aperçus et des considerations souvent fort intéressants sur le -cubisme et le néo-impressionisme et sur de nombreux artistes tels que -Cézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Rénois, Cissaro, Seurat, etc. - -Dans de Mercure de France, Charles Morisse, puis Gustave Kahn, font le -même sous la rubrique _Art et art moderne_. - - COUSTURIER, LUCIE. _Georges Seurat._ (1889-1891.) Signé: Lucie - Cousturier. In-40, 16 pages, 15 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue - de l’art ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 174, 20 Juin, - 1912. - - COUSTURIER, LUCIE. _Pierre Bonnard._ Signé: Lucie Cousturier. - In-40, 16 pages, 16 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art - ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 186, 20 Décembre, 1912. - - COUSTURIER, LUCIE. _Henri-Edmond Cross._ Signé: Lucie Cousturier. - In-40, 16 pages, 15 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art - ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 189, Mars, 1913. - - COUSTURIER, LUCIE. _Maurice Denis._ Signé: Lucie Cousturier. In-40, - 16 pages, 16 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et - de la vie artistique moderne. No. 191, Mai, 1913. - - DENIS, MAURICE. _Maillol._ (Aristide.) Signé: Maurice Denis. In-40, - 6 p., 5 reproductions. L’art et les artistes. Tome VIII, Janvier, - 1909. - - DEVERIN, EDOUARD. _Paul-Emile Colin._ Signé: Edouard Deverin. - In-40, 8 pages, 7 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art - ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 190, Avril, 1913. - - FAURE, ELIE. _Paul Cézanne._ Signé: Elie Faure. In-40, 16 pages, 17 - reproductions dont 1 en couleur. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art - ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 157, Octobre, 1911. - - FAURE, ELIE. _Francisco Iturino._ Signé: Elie Faure. In-40, 4 p., 3 - reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et de la vie - artistique moderne. No. 178, 20 Août, 1912. - - GODET, PIERRE. _Vincent Van Gogh._ Signé: Pierre Godet. In-40, 16 - p., 14 reproductions dont une en couleur. Art décoratif. Revue de - l’art ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 156, Septembre, - 1911. - - GODET, PIERRE. _Puvis de Chavannes et la peinture d’aujourd’hui._ - Signé: Pierre Godet. In-40, 16 pages, 13 reproductions. Art - décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. - No. 164, Janvier, 1912. - - GODET, PIERRE. _Un peintre suisse._ Cuno Amiet. Signé: Pierre - Godet. In-40, 10 pages, 11 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de - l’art ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 171, 5 Mai, 1912. - - GUY, MICHEL. _Paul Gauguin._ Signé: Michel Guy. In-40, 16 pages, 13 - reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et de la vie - artistique moderne. No. 151, Avril, 1911. - - GUY, MICHEL. _Les Fauves._ Signé: Michel Guy. In-89, 9 pages. La - Phalange. No. du 15, Septembre, 1907. - - GUY, MICHEL, _van Gogh._ Signé: Michel Guy. In-80. La Phalange. No. - du 15, Février, 1908. - - HENRI, FRANTZ. _La Collection Henri Rouart._ Signé: Henri Frantz. - In-40, 31 pages et 32 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art - ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 185, 5 Décembre, 1912. - Contient de nombreux aperçus sur des œuvres des peintres - impressionistes tels que Cézanne, Rénoir, Monet, Degois, etc. - - LAENEN, JEAN. _Jacob Smits._ Signé: Jean Laenen. In-40, 9 pages, 8 - reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et de la vie - artistique moderne. No. 121, Octobre, 1908. - - MARVAL, JACQUELINE, _Les danseurs de Flandrin._ Signé: Jacqueline - Marval. In-40, 12 pages, 12 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de - l’art ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 190, Avril, 1913. - - MAUCLAIN, CAMILLE. _Gaston Crunier._ Signé: Camille Mauclain. - In-40, 12 pages, 14 reproductions et 1 planche en couleur hors - texte. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et de la vie artistique - moderne. No. 139, Avril, 1910. - - MEIER-GRAEFE, J. _Grêco peintre baroque._ Signé: J. Meier-Graefe. - Trav. de l’allemand par Pierre Godet. In-40, 36 pages, 35 - reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et de la vie - artistique moderne. No. 182, 20 Octobre, 1912. - - RITTER, WILLIAM. _Frank Brangwyn._ Signé: William Ritter. In-40, 14 - p., 14 reproductions. L’art décoratif, revue de l’art ancien et de - la vie artistique moderne. No. 144, Septembre, 1910. - - RIVIÈRE, JACQUES. _Coussin et la peinture contemporaine._ Signé: - Jacques Rivière. In-40, 16 pages, 14 reproductions. Art décoratif. - Revue de l’art ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 167, - Mars, 1912. - - SALMON, ANDRÉ. _Odilon Rédon._ Signé: André Salmon. In-40, 16 - pages, 16 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et de - la vie artistique moderne. No. 187, Janvier, 1913. - - SALMON, ANDRÉ. _Marie Laurencin._ Signé: André Salmon. In-40, 6 - pages, et 6 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et - de la vie artistique moderne. Nos. 194-198, Août-Septembre, 1913. - - _Tougendhold, Jacques._ _Borissoff Moussatoff._ Signé: Jacques - Tougendhold. In-40, 12 pages, 13 reproductions. Art décoratif. - Revue de l’art ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 188, - Février, 1913. - - _Vauxcelles, Louis._ _A propos des bois sculptes de Paul Gauguin._ - In-160, 2 pages, 3 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art - ancien et de la vie artistique moderne. No. 148, Janvier, 1911. - - _Werth, Léon._ _Aristide Maillol._ Signé: Léon Werth. In-40, 16 - pages, 16 reproductions. Art décoratif. Revue de l’art ancien et de - la vie artistique moderne. No. 188, Février, 1913. - - -GERMAN - - Acht Jahre Secession v. Ludwig Hevesi, Wien 1906. The - Post-Impressionist, by Lewis Hind, London (p. 412-417 Die - Nach-Impressionisten). - - Aus der Correspondenz, Kunst u. Künstler, II. p. 264, 417, 462, - 493. 1904. - - Aus der Correspondenz, Kunst u. Künstler, III, p. 39-40, 86, 120, - 169, 214-217, 261-262, 298-300, 347-348, 391-392, 436-438, 479-480 - u. 528. 1905. - - Ausstellung b. Cassirer von H. Rosenhagen, Kunst für Alle, XIX. p. - 401-403, 1913-14. - - Ausstellung der Kubisten in dem Moderne Kunstkring, zu Amsterdam, - p. 137-140, Kunstchr, XXIII. - - Ausstellung in Berlin, Kunstchr, 09. XX. p. 238. - - Ausstellung in Köln v. G. E. Lüthgen, Deutsche Kunst u. Dekoration, - XXXII. p. 179-182. - - Ausstellung in München, Kunst für Alle, XXVI. p. 21-22, 1910-11. - - Biermann, Georg, Bernhard Hoetger, ein deutscher Bildauer der - Gegenwart, München, H. Goltz, 1914. - - Briefe von E. Schur, Kunst für Alle, 08, XXIII. p. 562-670. - - Cato, Die Schweizer Abteilung der internationalen Kunstausstellung - München, München, 1913. - - Cézanne u. Hodler, Einführung in die Probleme der Malerei der - Gegenwart von Fritz Burger, 1913, Delphin Verlag, München, Text und - Tafelband. - - Coellen, Ludwig, Die neue Malerei: Der Impressionismus; Van Gogh - und Cézanne; Die Romantik der neuen Malerei; Gauguin und Matisse, - Picasso u. der Kubismus; Die Expressionisten, München, 1912; E. W. - Bonsels & Co., 2d edition. - - Cohen-Gotschalk Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, XIX. p. 225-235. - 1907-08. - - Das Erwachen des Geistes von Wilhelm Michel, Deutsche Kunst u. - Dekoration, XXXII. p. 9-11. - - Das Kolorit i. d. Zeitgenössischen deutschen Malerei. Ein Mahnwort - von A. Giesecke. p. 41-43, Kunstnachrichten, Beiblatt der - Kunstwelt. II. Jahrgang No. 6 März 1913. - - Der Blaue Reiter, herausgegeben von Kandinsky, München, 1912. - - Der Blaue Reiter von Hans Titeze, Kunst für Alle, XXVII. p. - 543-550. - - Der Kubismus i. d. französischen Kammer, Kunstchr, XXIV. p. 176. - - Der Moderne Impressionismus von Meier-Graefe. Die Kunst - Herausgegeben von Richard Muther, Verlag Julius Bard, Berlin. - - Der Sturm Veranstaltete bisher folgende Ausstellungen in Berlin W. - 9. Potsdamerstr. 134 a. - - 1. Der Blaue Reiter, Oskar, Kokoschka. - - 2. Die Futuristen: Boccioni, Carra, Russolo, Severini. - - 3. Französische Graphik, Pablo Picasso. - - 4. Deutsche Expressionisten: Campemdonk, Bloch, Jawlensky, - Kandinsky, Marc, Münter. - - 5. Französische Expressionisten: Braque, Derain, Othon, Friess, - Herbin Marie Laurencin, de Vlaminck. - - 6. Jungbelgische Künstler. - - 7. Kandinsky. - - 8. Die Pathetiker: Ludwig Meider, Jacob Steinhardt. - - 9. Egon Adler, Van Gauguin, Arthur Segal. - - 10. Die Neue Secession. - - 11. Gabriele Münter. - - 12. Robert Delaunay, Ardengo Soffici. - - 13. Alfred Reth. - - 14. Franz Marc. - - 15. Der Moderne Bund, Schweiz. - - 16. Gino Severini. - -Deri, Max, Die neue Malerei: Impressionismus, Pointillismus, Futuristen, -die grossen Uebergangsmeister, Kubisten, Expressionismus, Absolute -Malerei, München; Piper, 1913; with illustrations. - -Die Ausstellung von Werken Zurückgewiessener der Berliner Secession -1910, Neue Secession, p. 440-441, Kunstchr, XXI. - -Die Französischen Bilder der Sammlung Kohner von Hugo Haberfeld mit -Abbildung Gauguin, Cézanne, Gogh, etc., Der Cicerone, III. p. 579-589. -1911. - -Die Frühbilder, von H. Hildebrandt, p. 376-378, Kunst u. Künstler, XI. -1913. - -Die Futuristen in Rom, Kunstnachrichten, Beiblatt der Kunstwelt, II. p. -48, Jahrg. No. 6. März 1913. - -Die Grundlagen der jüngsten Kunstbewegung. Ein Vortrag von Emil Utitz, -Verlag v. Ferd. Enke, Stuttgart 1913. - -Die Hauptströmungen des XIX Jahrhunderts von Julius Leisching. - -Die Impressionisten von Heilbut, E., Berlin, Cassierer. - -Die Impressionistenausstellung der Secession von E. Heilbut, Kunst u. -Künstler, I. p. 169-207. - -Die Internationale Ausstellung des Sonderbundes v. A. Fortlage, Köln, -Der Cicerone, IV. p. 547-556. 1912 (mit abbildung van Gogh, Cézanne, -Gauguin, Picasso). - -Die Jungmodernen, Neue Secession, Brücke, p. 443-444, Kunstchr, XXIII. - -Die Jüngsten von Karl Scheffler, Kunst und Künstler, XI. S. 391-409. - -Die Neue Kunst in Wien Salon Miethke, Kunstchr, XXIV. p. 286-287. - -Die neue Malerei von L. Coellen. Der Impressionismus von Gogh u. -Cézanne, Gauguin u. Mattise, Picasso u. d. Kubismus. Verlag E. W. Bonsch -& Co., München. - -Die Persönlichen Erinnerungen N. B. Mendes da Costa’s an seinen -Lateinschüler--mitgeteilt v. Max Eisler, Kunst u. Künstler, X. p. -98-104. - -Die Secession von R. Klein, Moderne Zeitfragen, Nr. 9 Herausgegeben von -Dr. Hans Landsberg, Pan-Verlag. - -Die XXVI Ausstellung der Berliner Secession, Deutsche Kunst u. -Dekoration, XXXII, p. 239-245, Darmstadt. - -Die Zurückgewiessen auf der Berliner Secession, Kunstchr, XXIV. p. -480-482. - -Du Quesne, Persönliche Erinnerungen an Vincent Van Gogh, München, 1913; -R. Piper & Co., 3d ed.; 24 plates. - -Entwickelung des Impressionismus in Malerei u. Plastik v. Meier-Graefe, -Secession Wien. - -Entwickelungsgeschichte der Modernen Kunst von J. Meier-Graefe I.-III. -(III. Band Abbildungen), Verlag Jul Hoffmann, Stuttgart. - -Erinnerungen an--von Emile Bernard, Kunst u. Künstler, VI, p. 421-429, -p. 475-480, p. 521-527. 1908. - -Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon Berlin 1913, Der Sturm, Berlin W. 9, -Potsdamerstrasse 134a, mit einer Vorrede von Herwarth Walden. - -Fischer, Otto, Das neue Bild, published by the New München Artists’ -League; München, 1912; Delphin Verlag; 4°, with 36 art plates. - -Französisch Importen von Felix Lorenz, Die Kunstwelt, III. p. 700-701. -1912. - -Friedrich, Hans, Hodler, die Schweiz und Deutschland, München; James -Verlag, 1913. - -Futuristen und Genossen bei der Arbeit, Die Kunstwelt, II. 3. p. -189-191, 1912. - -Futuristen v. Rud. Klein, Berlin, Deutsche Kunst u. Dekoration, XXX. p. -274-277, 1912, Darmstadt. - -Gauguin, Paul, Noa-Noa, Berlin, Cassirer, 1911, 2d ed. - -Gogh, V. Von, Briefe deutsche Ausgabe besorgt von M. 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Piper & Co., 1913; 8^o. - -Kunst und Künstler, V. p. 339-359, 1907. - -Kunst und Künstler, VI. p. 355-376, 1908. - -Kunstchr., Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, XIV. p. 420. 1902-03. - -Le Fauconnier, Die Auffassung unserer Zeit und das Gemälde, translated -by Gertrude Osthaus in connection with the exposition at the Folkwang -museum in Hagen, Westphalia, München, 1913; 8^o. - -Malerische Impressions und Koloristische Rythmus, Beobachtungen über -Malerei der Gegenwart von Wilh. Neimeyer. Sonderbund Ausstellung 1910, -Düsseldorf, mit Abbildungen unter anderen von A. v. Jawlensky, Henri -Matisse, W. Kandinsky. - -Marinetti, F. P., Le Futurisme, Tours, 1911; E. Arrauset Cie. - -Meier-Graefe, Paul Cézanne, München, 1910, R. Piper & Co.; 4th-6th ed., -1913. - -Neue Kunst, Katalog der II. Gesamtausstellung August-September, 1913. -Hans Goltz, München, Odeonsplatz 1 (mit Abbildungen von Picasso, -Matisse, Kandinsky, Jawlensky). - -Noa-Noa-Tagebuch, p. 78-81, p. 125-127, Kunst u. Künstler, VI. p. -160-164, 1908. - -Noa-Noa von P. Fechter-Aufenthalt in Tahiti, Kunst für Alle, 08. XXIII. -S. 250-255. - -Notiz über Kandinsky, p. 434. Kunst für Alle XXVII. - -Notizen eines Malers, Kunst u. Künstler, VII. p. 335-347, 1909. - -Paris auf der Juryfreien Kunstchau in Berlin v. J. v. Bülow, Kunstchr., -XXIV. p. 249-254. - -Paul Cézanne v. Julius Meier-Graefe München, 1910, Verlag R. Piper & Co. - -Paul Gauguin, Gallerie Miethke, Katalog mit Biogr. von Rudolf Adalbert -Meyer, März-April 1907. - -Paul Gauguin, 1847-1903, par Jean de Rotonchamp, Paris chez. Ed. Druet. - -Paul Gauguin, v. Dr. Meyer Riefstal, Paris, p. 109-116. Deutsche Kunst -u. Dekoration XXVII, Darmstadt. - -Persönliche Erinnerungen an V. van Gogh, E. H. du Quesne, München Piper -1911. - -Pratella, Franc, Balita, Musica Futurista per Ontesta, Bologna, F. -Bongiovanni, 1913. - -Raphael, Max, Von Monet zu Picasso; Grundzüge einer Aesthetik und -Entwickelung der modernen Malerei, München, Delphin Verlag, 1913; 8^o. - -Reiter, Der blaue, Ein Dokument des Expressionismus. Herausgeber: -Kandinsky und Franz Marc, München, R. Piper & Co., 1912; with 34 plates. - -Soffici, Ardenzo, Cubismo e oltre, Florence, Libreria della Voce, 1913. - -Sydow, Eckart v., Cuno Amiet. Eine Einführung in ein nationales Werk. In -“Kunstgeschichte des Auslandes,” issue 106, Strassburg, 1913; with 11 -plates; 4^o. - -Ueber Impressionismus von J. Meier-Graefe, p. 145-162, Kunst für Alle, -XXV. 1909 u. 10. - -Utitz, Die Grundlagen der jüngsten Kunstbewegung. Ein Vortrag, -Stuttgart, Enke, 1913; 8^o. - -v. Meyer Riefstahl, Burlington Magazine, XVIII. p. 91-99. 155-162. - -Van Gogh, Vinc., Briefe. Deutsch von N. Mauthner, Berlin, P. Cassirer, -1911; 4th ed.; with 15 drawings; 8^o. - -Vincent Van Gogh, München, 1910, R. Piper & Co.; 4th-6th ed., 1912. - -Vincent Van Gogh u. Gauguin zum Klassizismus, Kunst u. Künstler, 09, -VIII. p. 86-101. - -Vincent Van Gogh von Julius Meier-Graefe, München 1910. - -Vom Wert des Neo-Impressionismus von A. L. Plehn, Kunst für Alle, XIX. -p. 514-522. - -Von Eugen Delacroix zum Neo-Impressionismus. Einzige deutsche -autorisierte Uebersetzung, Krefeld, 1903, Rheinischer Verlag G. A. Hohns -Söhne. - -Von Impressionismus zum Neo-Impressionismus. Autoris. Uebersetzung, -Berlin, Verlag. K. Schnabel. - -Von P. Gauguin, Kunst u. Künstler, VIII. p. 579-586. - -Von Paul Gauguin, Kunst u. Künstler, VIII. p. 579-586. 1910. - -Was ist uns impressionistische Malerei von A. Gold, Deutschland, III. p. -328-342. - -Weese, Arth., Ferdinand Hodler, Berlin, 1910; Francke. - -Worringer, Wilh., Abstraction und Einfühlung. Ein Beitrag zur -Stilpsychologie, München, Piper, 1911; 3d ed.; 8^o. - -Zum Klassizismus von Maurice Denis, Kunst u. Künstler, VIII. p. 86-101, -1910. - - -ARTICLES. - - Alt, Theod., Hodler und seine Zeitgenossen, Der Thürmer, XV, - 1912-13, p. 626-37. - - Apollinaire, Guill., Réalité, peinture pure, Der Sturm, 1902, No. - 138-39. - - Apollinaire, Guill., Die moderne Malerei. Uebersetzt von Jean - Jacques, Der Sturm, 1903, No. 148-49. - - Avenarius, Von Van Gogh, Kunstwart, XXIV, 1910, I, p. 56-59. - - Avenarius, Ferd., Futuristen, Kunstwart, XXV, 1912, III, p. 278-81. - - Beckmann, Frz., Gedanken über zeitgemässe und unzeitgemässe Kunst. - A reply to Die neue Malerei, by Frz. Marc., Pan, II, 1, p. 499-502. - - Bahne, Adolf, Der Maler Franz Marc, Pan, III, 1913, p. 616-18. - - Bender, Ewald, Deutsche Kunst um 1913, Zeitschrift für bildende - Kunst, new series 24, 1912-13, p. 287,302, with 1 illustration. - - Bender, Ewald, F. A. Weinzheimer, Zeitschrift f. bildende Kunst, - new series XXIV, 1912-13, p. 305-8, with illustrations. - - Benkard, Ernst A., Ferdinand Hodler, Zur Hodlerausstellung im - Frankfurter Kunstverein, Zeitschrift f. bildende Kunst, new series - XXIII, 1911-12, p. 7-12, with illustrations. - - Beringer, Jos. Aug., Deutsche Kunstnöte, Süddeutsche Monatshefte, - XI, 1913-14, p. 198-208. - - Bernard, Emile, Erinnerungen an Paul Cézanne, Kunst und Künstler, - vol. VI, 1908, p. 421, 475, 521, with illustration. - - Biermann, Hans Georg, Bernhard Hoetger, Kunst f. Alle, XXVIII, - 1912-13, p. 385-96, with illustrations. - - Breuer, Robert, Max Pechstein, Deutsche Kunst u. Dekoration, XXIX, - 1911-12, p. 423-36, with illustrations. - - Corinth, Lovis, Die neueste Malerei, Pan, II, 1910-11, p. 432-7. - - Denis, Maurice, Von Gauguin und Van Gogh zum Klassizismus, Kunst u. - Künstler, Berlin, VIII, 1910, p. 86-101, with illustrations. - - Denis, Maurice, Edmund Cross, Kunst u. Künstler, Berlin, IX, - 1910-11, p. 294-6. - - Dennert, Die Kunst der Urmenschen und der Allermodernsten, Der - Türmer, XVI, 1913, p. 296-301. - - Dreyfus, Alb., Paul Cézanne, Zeitschrift f. bildende Kunst, new - series XXIV, 1912-13; p. 197-206, with illustr. - - Eisler, Max, Die persönlichen Erinnerungen N. B. Mendes da Costa’s - an seinen Lateinschüler Vincent Van Gogh, Kunst und Künstler, X, - 1911-12, p. 98-104, with illustrations. - - Fechter, Paul, Die Fortbildungen des Impressionismus, Deutsche - Kunst u. Dekoration, XXIX, 1911-12; p. 299-304. - - Fortlage, Arnold, Die internationale Ausstellung des Sonderbundes, - Cicerone IV, 1912, p. 547-56, with illustrations; Kunst f. Alle, - XXVIII, 1912-13, p. 84-93, with illustrations. - - Fortlage, Arnold, Georg Minne, Kunst f. Alle, XXVIII, 1912-13; p. - 347-53, with illustrations. - - Friedeberger, Hans, Zeichnungen von Max Pechstein, with - illustrations, Cicerone, V, 1913, p. 289-91. - - Friedrich, Hans, Eine Analyse des Futurismus, Janus (München), II, - 1, 1912-13, p. 173-7. Die Hinrichtung Paul Cézanne’s durch Max - Beckmann, Janus, II, 1, 1912-13; p. 362-4. - - Futuristen und Genossen bei der Arbeit, Kunstwelt, II, 1912-13; - vol. 1, p. 189-91. - - Gauguin, Paul, Vincent Van Gogh, Kunst u. Künstler, Berlin, VIII, - 1910; p. 579-86, with 6 illustrations. - - Hausenstein, Wilh., Vom Kubismus, Der Sturm, IV, 1913; p. 170-71. - Albert Weisgerber, Zeit im Bilde, XI, 1913; p. 2641-7; with - illustrations. Von der neuen Kunst Zum Sommerschau von 1913 im - Kunstsalon Goltz in München, Zeit im Bild, XI, 1913; p. 2185-92; - with illustrations. - - Holl, J. C., Après l’impressionnisme, Physionomie de l’art actuel, - La leçon de l’impressionnisme, XX Siècle, Paris. - - Michel, Wilh., Das Weltanschauliche der neuen Malerei, Deutsche - Kunst u. Dekoration, XVII, 1913-14; p. 33-39. - - Kandinsky, Ueber Kunstverstehen, Der Sturm, 1912, No. 129; - illustrated. - - Kandinsky, Für., Protest, Der Sturm, 1913, Nos. 150-5. - - Kandinsky, Malerei als reine Kunst, Der Sturm, 1913; Nos. 178-9. - - Klein, Rud., Futuristen, Deutsche Kunst u. Dekoration, XXX, 1912; - p. 274-77. - - Kuhn, Alfr., Eduard Mundt, Zeit im Bild, XI, 1903; p. 2999-3003; - illustrated. - - Léger, Fern., Les origines de la peinture contemporaine et sa - valeur représentative, Der Sturm, IV, 1913; Nos. 172-73. - - Märten, Lu., Vincent Van Gogh, Die Grenzboten, 72, 1913, I, p. - 237-43. - - Manifest der Futuristen, Der Sturm, 1912, No. 103. - - Marc, Franz, Die neue Malerei, Pan II, 1, 1911-12; p. 468-71. - - Die konstruktiven Ideen der neuen Malerei, Pan, p. 527-31. - - Anti-Beckmann, Pan, p. 555-6. - - Markus, S., Die Kunst der Zukunft, Kunst für Alle, XXVIII, 1912-13, - p. 541-8; illustrated. - - Meyer-Riefstahl, Rud., Paul Gauguin, Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, - XXVII, 1910-11; p. 109-16; illustrated. - - Michel, Wilh., Albert Weisgerber, Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, - XXIX, 1911-12; p. 295-96; illustrated. - - Osborn, Max, Bernhard Hoetger, V. Collective Exhibition of Modern - Art by Hans Goltz, Munich, 1913; with many illustrations. - - Pechstein, Max, Was ist mit dem Picasso?, Pan, II, i, 1912; p. - 665-9. - - Rivière, Jacques, Gauguin, translated from the French by Jean - Jacques, Der Sturm, 1912; Nos. 134-5. - - Rote, M. K., Pablo Picasso, Kunst für Aile, XXVIII, 1912-13; p. - 377-83; illustrated. - - Bernhard Hoetger, Der Cicerone, V. 1913; p. 197-203; illustrated. - - Bewegungen in der neuen Kunst und ihre Aussichten, Kunst für Alle, - XXVIII, 1912-13; p. 292-305; illustrated. - - Rovere, Jean, Paul Cézanne; Erinnerungen, Kunst und Künstler, X, - 1911-12; p. 477-86; illustrated. - - Salmon, André, La jeune peinture française, Paris, 1912. - - Sch., K. E., Kubisten und Nazarener, Kunstchronik, new series, - XXIV, 1912-13; p. 113-4. - - Schaefer, W., Bernhard Hoetger, Die Rheinlande, XVII, 1909; p. - 13-14; illustrated. - - Die junge und die jüngste Malerei. (Glossen zur - Sonderbund-Ausstellung in Köln.) Vincent Van Gogh; Cézanne; Der - blaue Reiter, Deutsche Monatshefte, Düsseldorf, XII, 1912; p. - 284-317-355. - - Schmidt, Max, Finke, Igc., Weiss, Konr., Eine Ausstellung des - Sonderbundes (at Düsseldorf), Hochland, XIII, 1, 1910-11; p. 245 - and 516-17. - - Schmidt, Paul Ferd., Ueber die Expressionisten, Deutsche - Monatshefte, XI, 1911; p. 427-9. - - Die internationale Ausstellung des Sonderbundes in Köln 1912, - Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, new series XXIII, 1911-12; p. - 229-38; illustrated. - - Schoenlank, M. R., Brief an Pechstein, Pan, II, 2, 1912; p. 738-9. - - Schulze, Otto, Bildhauer Bernhard Hoetger, Deutsche Kunst und - Dekoration, XXVII, 1910-11; p. 116-23; illustrated. - - Storck, Willy F., Ausstellung des deutschen Künstlerbundes in - Mannheim 1913, Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, XXVII, 1913-14; p. - 9-27; illustrated. - - St. K., Die Zukünftler, Der Türmer, XIV, 1912, II; p. 422-4. - - Terentius, Gott schütz’ die Kunst, Ein Faschingskapitel, Die - Kunstwelt, I, 1912; p. 353-60; illustrated. - - Warstat, W., Die Futuristen, Die Grenzboten, 71, 1912, III; p. - 210-18. - - Walser, Rob., Zu der Arleserin von Van Gogh, Kunst und Künstler, X, - 1911-12; p. 442-5. - - Werth, Léon, Aristide Maissol, Kunst für Alle, XXVI, 1910-11; p. - 276-82; illustrated. - - Zukunft, Die, der deutschen Kunst. Eine Umfrage, Die Kunstwelt, - vol. 3 (1913), first issue; p. 19-33. Contains the answers given by - German artists and other well known personages to the following - questions put to them by the editor of the Kunstwelt: - - 1. How are you impressed by the creations of the latest schools of - art--the primitivists, the cubists, the futurists, the - expressionists? - - 2. Do you believe that in these directions or in one of them the - future of German art must be looked for? - - -REPRODUCTIONS OF FUTURIST AND CUBIST PAINTERS--PORTFOLIOS: - - Cézanne Mappe; München; R. Piper & Co., 1912; 15 reprod. - - Ehrenstein, A., Tubutsch. 12 drawings by O. Kokoschka. Wien; Jokoda - & Siegel, 1911. - - Engert, Seven Drawings; H. P. S. Bachmann, 1913; 8°. - - Gauguin Mappe, München; Piper, 1913. 15 reproductions. - - Genin, Robert, Figürliche Kompositionen; 20 original drawings on - stone. München, Delphin Verlag, 1912. - - Hodlermappe, München; Piper, 1913. - - Kandinsky Album, 1901-1913; 80 full page reproductions of paintings - by Kandinsky with text written by himself. Berlin, Verlag der - Sturm, 1914. - - Kokoschka, Oskar, Dramen und Bilder. Leipzig, Kurt Wolff, 1913. - - Kokoschka, Oskar, 20 drawings. Berlin, Verlag der Sturm, 1913. - - Reinhardt, Sig., Simson; 43 pen and ink sketches. München, 1913. - - Schwalbach, Karl, 10 original lithographic drawings. München, - Delphin Verlag, 1913. - - Senna, 15 original lithographic drawings by the artists’ - association Senna. München, Delphin Verlag, 1912. - - Van Gogh Mappe, München; Piper, 1912. - - - - -INDEX - - -Academic attitude, 61 - -Advertising, art of, 171-172 - -Age and new experiments, 66 - -Alexander and Sargent, 199; - Van Rees, 199; - post-Impressionistic, 199 - -America and virile Impressionism, 191; - new movement in 48; - what is happening in, 191 - -Americans, as dreamers, 192 - -Anderson, 1 - -Apollinaire, 67, 81 - -Arrangements, 14 - -Arteries, sclerosis of, 62 - -Archipanko, 204; - his Family Life, 205 - -Architecture, sky-scrapers, 199 - -Art, archaic and primitive, 78; - attitude of observer and producer, 87; - attitude of observer, 127; - conflict between old and new, 156; - continuous, 110; - creative, 30; - creative work by certain Americans, 196-197; - criticism, professional, 9-10; - currents in, 33; - decorative, correspondence regarding cubist pictures, 50-52; - definition of, 87-88; - expression of inner self, 112; - extravagances in, 34; - evolution of new movement, 11; - gains from controversy, 58, 59; - in offices, 161; - is cubism art? 86-87; - its relation to life, 198-199; - jargon, 9-10; laws of, 106; - modern expression of inner self, 11; - modern pictures in newspaper office, 160; - movement from studio to nature and back again, 14, 15; - movements from perfections to imperfections, 9; - movements of recent years, 60; - movements in, 8; - new movement a spiritual offering, 115; - new movements in relation to origin of art, 111; - new movements profoundly interesting, 108; - objective, 90; - on the horse-block, 7; - part played by subject, -159; - philosophy of movements in, 20; - private galleries graveyards of, 160; - revolution in, 3; - ridicule of great men by their own generations, 8; - sign of life is flux, 60; - subjective, 90; - thrives on controversy, 1; - ugliness in new pictures, 154; - works of observation and works of imagination, 14-15 - - -Barbizon school and later developments, 11-12; - imaginative, 30; - its method, 15 - -Barnard, 203 - -“Bathsheba,” record of sales, 6, 7 - -Baum, 111 - -Beautiful, our notions of the, 155-156 - (see also Ugliness) - -Bechtejeff, 47, 111 - -Bell, Mrs., 48 - -Bellows, 1 - -Berlin, new movement in, 47 - -Bernard, 36, 43 - -Blaue Reiters, organization of, 112 - -Blue Riders, 55 - -Boccioni, 179; - exhibition in Paris, 184-185 - -Borghlum, 203 - -Borgmeyer, 21 - -Bossi, 111 - -Bourget, Paul, style obsolete, 170 - -Bracque, 47, 112 - -Brancusi, 182, 204; - article on his sculpture, 183; - “Sleeping Muse,” 182-183 - -Bloch, 115 - -Books in French and German, 107 - -Breton, protest against Cubist pictures, 51 - -Brinley, 1 - -Browning clubs, 108 - -Browning, ridicule of, 60 - -Burljuk, 47, 112 - - -Cardoza, 200 - -Carter, 64 - -Cézanne and Cubism, 43, 81; - and Gauguin, 42; - leaders of Post-Impressionism, 28; - a painter’s painter, 209; - and substance of things, 35; - a substantial Impressionist, 208-210; - and the Impressionists, 35; - career of, 36; - compared with Monet, 195; - method of work, 36-37; - scientific theories, 43 - -Chabaud and Millet, 15 - -Charmy, 200 - -_Chicago Tribune_, article on London Exhibition, 55 - -Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 9 - -Chilton-Brock, 30, 31, 40 - -Chinanpin, 147-149 - -Chinese art, blue hair, 151; - esoragoto, 147 - -Chinese painting, 30; - four warnings, 153; - perspective in, 78; - principles of, 147-149 - -Cinematograph, secret of popularity, 170-171 - -Civilization, material and spiritual, 144 - -Clarke, 1 - -Color, compositions of, 91; - effects in theater, 142-143; - harmonies, 12, 95, 146; - in offices, 162; - music, 140-146 (see Music); - notes of in still lifes, 145 - -Colors used arbitrarily, 151-152; - used constructively, 37-38, 42; - used decoratively, 93, 144-5; - used imitatively, 93, 146 - -Color waves, 143 - -Columbian Exposition, 1, 3 - -Compenetration of planes in Futurism, 185-186 - -Compositionalists, 13 - -Compositional painting, 124-128; - no radical departure, 137 - -Conservative and radical tendencies in exhibitions, 57, 58 - -Convictions, the courage of, 7-8 - -Corot, ridiculed in France, 8 - -Courbet and followers, 11-12, 17 - -Cramer, 49 - -Creative art, 30 - -Critic, the ideal art critic, 134 - -Criticism of great masters, 155-156; - rage against great painters, 11, 12; - two comments, 214-220; - violent, 61 - -Cubism, and broad technic, 80; - and Futurism, 173-174; - and geometrical figures, 80-81; - a misleading term, 82; - and sincerity, 158; - and the substance of things, 98; - attitude of observer, 32; - derivation of name, 67; - development and exhibitions of, 67-68; - drawings by first year art students, 73; - effect on American art, 109; - explanation of by Picabia, 95-98; - explained by music, 106; - Gleizes and Metzinger’s book, 103; - is it art? 86-87; - its technical side, 72; - largely esoragoto, 158; - no object to help out picture, 159; - not a plea for, 65; - “Nude Descending the Stairs,” 164; - one form of prevailing reaction, 31; - significance of new movement, 66; - the different tendencies described, 68-70; - the elemental in, 78; - the theory of, 90; - transparency of objects, 180-182; - two extremes, 69; - what is it? 60; - when a puzzle, 69; - will pass away,67 - -Cubists, American, 48; - and El Greco, 110; - and certain American painters, 60; - child-like faith of, 109; - esoragoto, 147; - free to express themselves in their own way, 103-107; - getting away from cubes and angles, 82-83; - impression of New York, 96-97; - in business or profession, 62; - more favorably considered, 55, 56; - mostly young men, 108-109; - named by Matisse, 22; - nothing strange in their theories, 63; - protest against pictures, 50; - quotation from Plato, 102; - see nothing in Futurism, 59; - too serious, 158; - understanding them, 83-85 - - -Dabo, 1 - -Dasburg, 49 - -Davidson, 1, 203 - -Davies, 1, 201; - a creative painter, 196 - -Decoration and pictures, 159; - of offices, 162-163 - -Delauney, 47 - -Denissow, 47 - -Derain, 28, 47, 112; - “Forest at Martigues,” 69 - -DeZayas, 98 - -Dove, 48 - -Drawing, modern men are masters of, 130 - -Dresden, new movement in, 47 - -DuBois, 1 - -Duchamp, “Chess Players,” 68, 71; - “King and Queen,” 70, 71; - “Nude Descending the Stairs,” 164 - -Dufy, 47 - -Durand-Ruel, 22, 23, 24 - -Durer, elemental lines in human figure, 73-77 - -Duret, 12, 21 - - -Emotions, painting of, 11, 92, 102; - sclerosis of, 62 - -England, new movement in, 47-48 - -Erbsloh, 111 - -Esoragoto, 147-153; - all great paintings are, 150 - -Etchells, 48 - -Exhibitions at 291 Fifth Ave., 211-213; - by Impressionists, 21-26; - independent, 194; - Morgan, pictures in Metropolitan Museum, 198-199 - -Extremists in art, 2-3 - - -Fauvism, what it means, 47 - -Ferguson, 47 - -Ferment of new ideas, 4 - -Fiction, future development of, 171 - -Fischer, 38, 72, 112 - -Freedom to express one’s self, 103-107 - -French, 204 - -Friesz, 28, 47 - -Fry, Roger, 48, 116; - article on Brancusi, 183 - -Fry, S. E., 1 - -Futurism, 164-189; - development of, 165; - exhibition of sculpture, 184-185; - first exhibition in London, 175; - manifestoes of, 165-180; - manifestoes not to be accepted too literally, 188-189; - pictures and theories extreme, 166; - sculpture, 182-186; - theory of, 165; - theory of literature, 167-172; - theory of sculpture, 185-186; - transparency of objects, 176-179, 180-182 - -Futurists, and reaction, 32; - patriotism of, 189-196; - see nothing in Cubism, 59 - - -Gauguin, 37; - a dreamer, 42; - and Strindberg, 41-42; - career, 40-42 - -Genin, 47 - -Gill, 48 - -Girieud, 47, 111 - -Glackens, 1 - -Gleizes and Metzinger’s book, 103 - -Gleizes, “Man on the Balcony,” 70 - -Gore, 48 - -Grant, 48 - -Graveyards of art, private galleries as, 160 - -Great artist, quality of, 26, 27 - -Greek painting, portraits, 113 - -Greek sculpture, painted, 152 - -Grieg, 106-107 - - -Haller, 112 - -Hearn collection in Metropolitan Museum, 198-199 - -Hegel, philosophy of art, 20 - -Henri, 1; - a virile Impressionist, 193 - -Hoetger, 112 - -Hofer, 111 - -Hokusai, terra cotta horse, 152 - -Homer, a virile Impressionist, 192; - absorbed his subjects, 149; - his technic, 79; - work compared with recent pictures, 198 - - -Ideals, demand for, 31 - -Ideas, accepting ready made, 64 - -Imagination and observation in art, 14-15 - -Impressionism (see Virile Impressionism); - American, 193; - and Monet, 34; - definition of term, 28; - different forms of, 195-196; - growth of, 19; - of Les Fauves, 33; - method of, 16; - realistic, and the great portrait painters, 208; - realistic leads to, 207-208; - substantial leads to, 208-210; - substantial, leads to Post-Impressionism, 210; - summing up of, 207; - superficial leads to, 207 - -Impressions, reaction to, 62-63 - -Impressionists, 11; - and Futurists, we all are at times, 62; - derivation of name, 21; - early exhibitions of, 21-26 - -Impressionist pictures bought by Chicago woman, 27 - -International Exhibition, 1, 3, 4, 26; - coincided with other upheavals in life, 65; - effect of on society, 7; - indignation of older men, 194; - no Futurist pictures, 164; - plenty of ugly pictures in, 157; - younger men curious, 194-195 - - -Jakulof, 47 - -James, Henry, style obsolete, 168 - -Japanese art esoragoto, 147; - painting bamboo forest, 150; - sumi, 150; - perspective in, 78; - principles of, 147-149 - -Jargon in art and other departments of thought, 10 - -Jawlensky, 47, 110, 111, 113 - -Johnson, 49 - -_Journal_, Reno, Nevada, editorial from, 217 - - -Kahler, 112 - -Kanabe, 47 - -Kandinsky, 111, 112; - and Turner, 29; - article in “Der Blaue Reiter,” 131-135; - estimate by other artists, 138, 139; - extreme in theories and work, 115; - his improvisations, 116; - his pictures in London exhibition, 116; - his writings, 107; - Improvisations, 124-128; - letters from, 124-128; - personal letter regarding his development, 135-137; - praised by a critic, 116-117; - spiritual values and necessities, 133-135; - qualifications and theories, 117-128 - -Kanoldt, 111 - -Kantsch, 47 - -Koga, 111, 114 - -Kramer, 1 - -Kroll, a virile Impressionist, 195, 196 - -Kuhn, 1 - -Kuznezoff, 47 - - -Lempué, letter from, 50 - -Larionoff, 47 - -Laurencin, 47 - -Laughing at what is strange, 63 - -Laughter at the pictures, 7-8 - -Laurvik, 86 - -Lawson, 1 - -Lee, 49 - -Le Fauconnier, 111 - -LeFitz Simons, 20 - -Lehmbruck, 182 - -Les Fauves, 33, 37 - -Lewis, 47, 48 - -Lewis, 48 - -Lie, 1 - -Life and rhythm, 8 - -Life, romantic and realistic periods of, 18-19 - -Light, painting of, 11 - -Light, waves, 143 - -Literature, objectionable books, 157 - -Lloyd, George, 62 - -London, Allied Artists’ Exhibition, 183; - first exhibition of Futurism, 175 - -Luks, 1 - - -MacMonies, 204 - -Manet, a realistic Impressionist, 207-210; - and followers, 11-12; - studio painter, 17 - -Marc, 112, 115 - -Marinetti, 165 - -Marquet, 47 - -Maschkoff, 47 - -Materialism and idealism, 18-19 - -Matisse, 28, 37; - career of, 43-47; - element of ugliness in, 157; - inevitable after Bouguereau, 157; - “Madras Rouge,” 113; - sculpture, 202; - theories of, 44-47 - -McFee, 49 - -McRae, 1 - -Metropolitan Museum, 26 - -Metzinger, 47 - -Millet, a subject painter, 14; - and Chabaud, 15; - and others ridiculed by Paris, 8; - manner of working, 16 - -Miller, Kenneth, a creative painter, 196 - -Mogilewsky, 112 - -Monet, a superficial Impressionist, 207-210; - and painting of light, 29; - and surface of things, 35 - -Morgan Exhibition in Metropolitan Museum, 198-199 - -Mourey, protest against Cubist pictures, 52 - -Movements in art, 8, 19; - never devoid of force, 53; - new in music, drama, etc., 30-31 - -Munich, atmosphere of compared with that of Paris, 111; - new movement in, 47; - Secessionists, 55; - the new art in, 110 - -Münter, 111, 112, 114 - -Müther, 16 - -Music and painting, development of, 92-94 - -Music, changes of appreciations in, 9; - Chinese, 128-129; - color organ, 140-146; - Greek, 128-129; - imitative, 106-107; - in color, 140-146; - of Schoenberg, 9; - Oriental, 128-129; - Russian Ballet, 9; - sound waves, 143; - understood in different ways by different hearers, 84-85; - used to explain, 106-107 - -Myers, 1 - - -Nankivell, 1 - -National Academy in New York conservative, 57 - -Nature is living spirit, 134 - -Neo-Cubists, 67 - -Neo-Impressionists, 13; - logical outcome of Impressionism, 27 - -New and strange, average man bewildered by, 153 - -New ideas and work, 5 - -Newspaper, pictures in editorial room of, 160 - -New York, impressions by a Cubist, 96-97 - -Nieder, 112 - -Nocturnes, 14 - - -Objects flow through one another (see chapter on Cubism) - -Objective art, 90 - -Observation and imagination in art, 14-15 - -Offices, decoration of, 162; - pictures in, 161 - -Official exhibitions and independent, value of, 57 - -Old and new men, 4, 5 - -Old masters and the new art, 110 - -Old masters, works belong to public, 6 - -Opera not understood, 83-84 - -Orphists, 60; - theory of, 90-91 - -Organ, for color music, 140-146 - - -Pach, 1 - -Painters like inventors, 19-20 - -Painting, a terrible problem, 2; - and music, development of, 92-94; - and sculpture compared, 187-188; - in France, 19th century, 12 - -Paris compared with Munich, 111 - -Peploe, 47 - -Perfections of Impressionism to imperfections of Post-Impressionism, 9 - -Perfection unattainable, 1 - -Periods in work of artist, 20 - -Photo-Secession Gallery, 1 - -Picabia, calls Cubism a misnomer, 82; - comparison made by, 91-92; - “Dance at the Spring,” 68; - explanation of abstract painting, 95-97; - impressions of New York, 96-97 - -Picasso, 47, 112; - changes in style, 67; - his development, 100-101; - his theory, 98-100; - “Woman and the Pot of Mustard,” 68; - “Woman with a Mandolin,” 123 - -Pictures, easel, 144 - -Planes, as used by Picasso, 101; - drawing in, 73-78; - illustrated in modelling an orange, 80 - -Plato, quotation from, 102 - -Pointillists, 28 - -Porter, 1 - -Portrait painting and cubism, 159; - and the modistes, 95; - the average, 159 - -Post-Cubists, 67 - -Post-Impressionism, 11; - aim of, 30; - and reaction, 30; - fundamentally different from Impressionism, 27, 28; - what it means, 11; - Exhibition in London, 55 - -Prendergast, 1 - -Prices, absurd for old masters, 6-7; - of famous Impressionist pictures, 22-26 - -Private buyer, his opportunity, 6 - -Progressive Political Convention, 4 - -Progressive Political Party, 66 - -Protest, a futile, 50 - -Public instinctively feels, 158 - -Public, normal attitude toward new pictures, 156 - -Reaction in art, 2 - -Realism and Courbet, 12 - -Redon, 47 - -Rembrandt, sale of “Bathsheba,” 6-7; - overpriced, 60 - -Resilient, men who are, 62 - -Revolutionary movements, interest in, 66 - -Ridicule, of famous Impressionists, 22-26; - of the strange, 65; - which greeted great masters, 21 - -Rimington, 140-146 - -Rodin, 35, 182; - attitude towards sculpture, 203; - his Balzac purely Post-Impressionistic, 79; - his technic, 79 - -Rohland, 49 - -Romanticism, 12 - -Royal Academy in London conservative, 57 - -Rousseau, 37 - -Rouault, 112 - -Russia, new movement in, 47 - -Russian Ballet, 9 - -Ruskin, opinion of Wagner, 61 - -Russolo, 179 - -Rutter, 3, 28, 42 - - -Sacharoff, 111 - -Salmon, 43 - -Salon d’Automne, 54; - exhibition 1912, 50 - -Salon des Refuses, 11 - -Salon d’Independants, plan of, 56 - -Salons grow conservative, 57 - -Sargent, a virile Impressionist, 193; - and Alexander, 199; - and Whistler, 193; - his technic, 79; - tired of portrait painting, 102 - -Sarjan, 47 - -Schalowsky, 47 - -Schereczowa, 47 - -Schnabel, 111 - -Schools, effect of, 137, 138 - -Sculpture, 202-205; (see Futurism); - American, 203-204; - compared with painting, 187-188; - creative works, 204-205; - developments in, 202-203; - Futurist (see Futurism); - Greek, 203; - Matisse, 202; - observation and imagination in, 204; - painted, 152; - primitive element in, 206; - Rodin, 203; - spiritual element in, 205; - work of Brancusi and Archipanko, 204 - -Secessionists, Munich, 55 - -Segonzac, 200 - -Seguin, 42 - -Shaw, Bernard, a reactionary, 170 - -Sky-scrapers, 199 - -Sloan, 1 - -Société des Artistes Francais, 53-54 - -Société des Artistes Independents, 54 - -Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, 53-54 - -Sound waves, 143 - -Sousa Cardoza, 85 - -St. Gaudens, 204 - -Stieglitz, 1, 116; - his exhibitions, 211-213 - -Still lifes, 94, 145 - -Story-telling pictures, 14 - -Strauss and other composers, 9 - -Strindberg and Gauguin, 41-42 - -Striving as an element of vitality, 89 - -Studios, art and nature art, 14; - mostly ugly, 95 - -Subjective art, 90 - -Subjects in painting, 13-14 - -Substance of things difficult to paint, 98 - -Sudbinin, 112 - -Symphonies, 14 - -Synchronists, 60 - - -Taste, attitude of public normal, 156; - change in public taste, 55-56; - changes from decade to decade, 155-156 - -Taylor, 1 - -Theater, Cubists, Futurists, etc., in, 64; - color effects in, 142-143; - future development of play, 170-171 - -Things, painting of, 11 - -_Times_, London, editorial from, 214 - -Times ripe for a change in art, 9 - -Tolerance, a plea for, 65 - -_Tribune_, Chicago, article on London Exhibition, 55 - -Tucker, 1 - -Turner and light effects, 28; - forerunner of Impressionism, 13; - his strange pictures, 29; - ridiculed in England, 8 - - -Ugliness, 154-163; - a matter of taste, 154-156; - and superb technic, 156; - a realism, 158; - a touchstone for taste, 157; - great masters thought ugly, 155-156; - in sculpture, 205-206; - Matisse, 157 - - -Van Dongen, 47, 112 - -Van Gogh, 37; - letters of, 40 - -Verhoeven, 47 - -Virile Impressionism, 191-201; - glorious future for, 209-210; - material and practical, 192; - outcome of substantial Impressionism, 209-210 - -Visual music, 117 - -Vitality, a new art, 154 - -Vlaminck, 47, 112, 200 - - -Wagner and Ruskin, 61; - Ruskin’s ridicule, 60 - -Werefkin, 47, 111, 114 - -Whistler, 4, 11; - as a Post-Impressionist, 18; - as an Impressionist, 18; - and Sargent and realistic Impressionism, 208; - compared with Sargent, 193; - forerunner of Post-Impressionism, 13; - his literal moods, 17; - master of technic, 14; - on level with Chinese masters, 103; - suit against Ruskin, 13 - -Whitman, ridicule of, 60 - -Wittenstein, 111 - - -Young, 1 - -Youth, and new experiments, 66; - radicalisms of, 61 - - -Zak, 200 - -Zorach, 49 - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] The names of the men who, in a spirit of disinterested devotion -to art, organized this exhibition should not be forgotten. They were: -Arthur B. Davies, J. Mowbray Clarke, Elmer L. McRae, Walt Kuhn, Karl -Anderson, George Bellows, D. Putnam Brinley, Leon Dabo, Jo Davidson, -Guy Pene DuBois, Sherry E. Fry, William J. Glackens, Robert Henri, E. -A. Kramer, Ernest Lawson, Jonas Lie, George B. Luks, Jerome Myers, -Frank A. Nankivell, Bruce Porter, Walter Pach, Maurice Prendergast, -John Sloan, Henry Fitch Taylor, Allen Tucker, Mahonri Young. - -For detailed account of earlier exhibitions held by Mr. Alfred -Stieglitz--the real pioneer--in the Photo-Secession Gallery, 291 Fifth -Ave., New York, see Appendix.¹ - -[2] “Revolution in Art,” by Frank Rutter, pp. 14, 15. - -[3] Five short pieces of the music by Arnold Schoenberg were played for -the first time in Chicago, December 31, 1913, by the Chicago Symphony -Orchestra. - -“Had Mr. Richard Swiveller been present at the performance of the new -Stravinsky-Nijinsky ballet, ‘Le Sacre du Printemps,’ at Drury Lane -on Friday night he would certainly have pronounced it ‘a staggerer.’ -Both the music of M. Stravinsky and the choreography of M. Nijinsky -are more defiantly anarchical than anything we have ever had before, -and the purport of it all was a dark mystery, even though Mr. Edwin -Evans was deputed to throw light on it in a long explanatory prologue. -As every one knows by this time, M. Nijinsky is the apostle of a sort -of ‘post-impressionist’ or ‘Cubist’ revolution of the dance, in which -mere gracefulness is ruthlessly sacrificed to significance and force of -expression, and everything is stated in terms of symbolism, and in the -new ballet he seems to have carried his theories into the most extreme -practice.... M. Stravinsky seems as determined to make the hearer sit -up as his colleague. Save that he condescends to regular rhythms, his -music is the last word in emancipation from form and the cacophony of -it is at times distressing.”--(London Sunday Times, July 13, 1913, from -its article on the new Russian ballet, the sensation of the season.) - -[4] “Manet and the French Impressionists,” by Theodore Duret, -Introduction. - -[5] Testimony of Whistler in suit of “Whistler v. Ruskin.” - -[6] How little the world cared for Millet when he lived is a matter of -history. He painted his greatest pictures in a room without a fire, in -straw shoes, and with a horse blanket on his shoulders, and often he -and his wife went without food. “All his efforts to exhibit in Paris -were in vain. Even in 1859, ‘Death and the Woodcutter’ was rejected by -the Salon. The public laughed, being accustomed to peasants in comic -opera, and, at best, his pictures were honored by a caricature in a -humorous paper.” His pictures brought from fifty to sixty dollars. - -[7] “History of Modern Painting,” Richard Muther, Vol. II, pp. 487-8. - -[8] “The New Movement in Art from a Philosophical Standpoint,” by Theo. -LeFitz Simons. - -[9] See “Manet and the French Impressionists,” by Duret, p. 112 _et -seq._, and a readable article, “The Master Impressionists,” by C. L. -Borgmeyer, in “Fine Arts Journal” for March, 1913. - -[10] April 25, 1874. - -[11] “Library Gazette,” May 14, 1842, p. 331. - -[12] “Athenaeum,” May 14, 1842, p. 433. - -[13] “Revolution in Art,” by Frank Rutter, p. 17, 18. - -[14] The interest expressed in much impressionist painting is only an -interest of curiosity. The painter represents facts that he has only -just noticed. He is like a clever journalist who makes an article -out of his first observations of a new country. But the aim of the -Post-Impressionist is to substitute the deeper and more lasting -emotional interest for the interest of curiosity. - -Like the great Chinese artists, they have tried to know thoroughly -what they paint before they begin to paint it, and out of the fulness -of their knowledge to choose only what has an emotional interest for -them. Their representations have the brevity and concentrated force of -the poet’s descriptions. He does not go out into the country with a -note-book and then versify all that he has observed. His descriptions -are often empty of fact, just because he only tells us what is of -emotional interest to himself and relevant to the subject of his poem; -and they are justified, not by the information they convey, but by -the emotion they communicate through the rhythm of sound and words. -The Post-Impressionists try to represent as the poet describes. They -try to give every picture an emotional subject-matter and to make all -representation relevant to it. - -“The Post-Impressionists,” by A. Chilton-Brock, “Burlington Magazine,” -January, 1911. - -[15] “The Post-Impressionists,” by A. Chilton-Brock, “Burlington -Magazine,” January, 1911. - -[16] In another book, “The New Competition,” the writer has attempted -this in relation to business and economics. - -[17] “Souvenirs Sur Paul Cézanne,” by Emile Bernard, 1912. - -[18] “Das Neue Bild,” Otto Fischer, 11-12. Several of the half-tone -reproductions which we use are from this work on Munich art. - -[19] “The Post-Impressionists,” by A. Chilton-Brock, “Burlington -Magazine,” January, 1911. - -[20] “Revolution in Art,” by Frank Rutter, p. 27. - -[21] “Paul Gauguin,” by Michael Puy, “L’Art Décoratif,” April, 1911. - -[22] “Revolution in Art,” by Frank Rutter, 32-33. Now that the -great Swedish dramatist, and pessimist, is becoming known to the -English-speaking world, these words of Gauguin’s are singularly -interesting--and just. - -[23] See “Paul Gauguin,” by Armand Seguin, “L’Occident,” March, April, -and May, 1903. - -[24] “Souvenirs of Paul Cézanne,” by Emile Bernard, p. 36. - -[25] See “Laws of Japanese Painting,” Henry P. Bowie, by long odds the -best book in English on the subject. - -[26] See “La Jeune Peinture Française,” pas. André Salmon, pp. 18, 19. - -[27] “La Jeune Peinture Française,” André Salmon, p. 19. - -[28] From an article and interview by C. T. MacChesney, printed in the -“New York Times,” March 9, 1913. - -[29] See “Le Jeune Peinture Française,” André Salmon, 1912. - -[30] “Der Blaue Reiter,” p. 5. - -[31] See “Der Blaue Reiter,” pp. 17, 18. - -[32] “L’Art Décoratif,” Nov. 1912. - -[33] See “The New Spirit in Drama and Art,” by Huntley Carter. - -[34] This and the following chronological information are from “Les -Peintres ‘Cubistes,’” by Guillaume Apollinare, 22 _et seq._ - -[35] “Les Peintres ‘Cubistes,’” pp. 24-26. - -[36] “Das Neue Bild,” Otto Fischer, pp. 12-13. - -[37] See “The Mask,” Vol. VI, pp. 64-75. - -[38] “Les Peintres ‘Cubistes,’” Guillaume Apollinare, p. 15. - -[39] “Is It Art? Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Futurism,” by J. N. -Laurvik. The sub-title is obviously confusing, since Post-Impressionism -includes all the developments following Impressionism. - -[40] “Delight; the Soul of Art,” p. 9 et seq. - -[41] “Delight; the Soul of Art,” lecture V, “Delight in Labor.” - -[42] From “An Interview with Francois Picabia,” in the “New York -Tribune.” - -[43] J. N. Laurvik, in “Boston Evening Transcript.” - -[44] “Cubism,” Gleizes and Metzinger (Eng. Edition). - -[45] “Das Neue Bild,” by Otto Fischer, pp. 22, 23. - -[46] “Das Neue Bild,” p. 34. - -[47] It was purchased by Mr. Alfred Stieglitz. - -[48] Roger Fry in “The Nation,” August 2, 1913. - -[49] Second edition, Munich, R. Piper & Co., 1912. - -[50] “Der Sturm,” Berlin. - -[51] See pages 87-88 for quotation from “Delight; the Soul of Art.” - -[52] It should be stated that the brilliant colors of the original are -very inadequately shown in the reproduction for the reason the painting -is so large it does not reproduce well so small. - -[53] “The History of Music,” Emil Nauman, Vol. 1, p. 7 _et seq._ - -[54] See “Sensations of Tone,” Helmholtz, Eng., Edit., p. 258. - -[55] Helmholtz, p. 258. - -[56] Ibid., p. 265. - -[57] For a scientific investigation of Siamese and Japanese scales, see -additions to English edition of Helmholtz, “Sensation of Tone,” p. 556. - -[58] “History of Music,” Nauman, Vol. I, p. 10. - -[59] Ibid., Vol. I, p. 12. - -[60] By Mr. A. W. Rimington, Professor of Fine Arts at Queen’s College, -London. See his book, “Color Music.” - -[61] “On the Laws of Japanese Painting,” by Bowie, p. 55. - -[62] “On the Basis of Japanese Painting,” Bowie, pp. 77-79. - -[63] Signor Marinetti is the founder of the school; he is not a -painter, but a writer, editor of “Poesia.” He is a young man and -is followed by a small band of young enthusiastic writers, poets, -musicians, painters, sculptors, whose innovations strike even the -cubists as wild extravagances. In fact, Futurism and Cubism have -very little in common except innovation; both are revolutionary but -otherwise diametrically opposed in many of their aims and theories. - -[64] Before seeing any of the Futurist literature and influenced only -by developments in the printing of newspapers and periodicals in -America, the writer caused a book on an economic subject to be printed -in such a manner that, so far as possible, each page displayed on -its face its contents. The attempt was made to so break up the pages -and so use italics and capitals that the task of the reader would -be lightened. The attempt attracted the very favorable attention of -reviewers, several remarking that “the arts of the advertiser had been -used to display the ideas”--and that was true. - -[65] From an article by Ray Nyst, a Belgian critic in “La Belgique -Artistique et Libraire.” - -[66] Writer in “The Times-Democrat,” New Orleans. - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CUBISTS AND POST-IMPRESSIONISM *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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