Art Notes

DEFINITIONS OF ART

There are as many definitions of Art as there are reactions of individuals to it. In the common mind it is something vague and pleasurable associated with the theatre, cinema, music, dancing, painting, and sculpture. It is connected with ‘beauty,’ which again is a word whose meaning is considered too obvious to be explained or thought about. There is a conception of beauty which identifies it with goodness. This is reflected in the ordinary usage of the words ‘beautiful’ and ‘ugly’ with reference to actions of individuals. A beautiful action is a moral action, or a good action according to the point of view from which you look at it. An action cannot strictly be termed beautiful unless one admits the wide scope of the word. Beauty lies, according to Fichte, "not in anything external but in the presence of a beautiful soul in the artist." Hegel maintains that truth and beauty are one and the same thing: the beautiful is the manifestation of the Idea or God. Schopenhauer recognizes various planes from which different degrees of beauty can be objectivized, thus bringing in the factor of the understanding and wisdom of the artist, corresponding to the stage of his evolution. It is not merely laborious practice or years of strain that make the artist; it is the factor of his mind and soul, the elevation that he can attain to, that makes the creative genius. But most definitions of Art have, in common, the idea that it is that which makes beauty manifest, and beauty is that which pleases.

Is there not some absolute standard by which works of art might be judged? Is there not some criterion by which any work of art could be recognized? This is most important if Art is to do the great work that is expected of it,–if people are to come into contact with art that really makes them grow, instead of letting them stagnate and forget life in momentary pleasure. Art cannot and should not be an escape from life, but must intensify and enrich life, and whatever be the theme or the technique or the particular medium in which it may have been executed, Art must be synonymous with Life. Hence in a sense there cannot be good and bad art. There can be only art or no-art.

ARTISTS AND PROPHETS

Tolstoi has defined religions as the exponents of the highest comprehension of life accessible to the best and foremost men of a given society. Not taking into account the common conception of religion held by most people, and assuming that religion is the spiritual essence of the flower of humanity who appear on the face of the earth from time to time, one cannot escape the conclusion that religions, though taking a common source in the beautiful and wise men, go their divergent ways, becoming more and more unrecognizable from the pure conceptions of the Founders. They become hardened and crystallized with set forms of worship and innumerable subtle ways of satisfying the pettinesses and selfishness of men, and lose their living power of inspiration. Religions are made by Supermen but are unmade in course of time by men. Man has the genius of adapting everything unconsciously to his own needs, after his own pattern. Religion is beautiful; it is a glowing spirit lighting up vistas of knowledge for one who has attained a sufficient height of understanding to perceive them. But can it ever be the same to a narrow, limited individual? Will he not crib and confine the soaring idealism of a Buddha or a Christ? No two men can have the same religion though they may profess it. The religion of a man is his own creation and will be an image of his own being. It is this essence, the perfume of all that is beautiful and harmonious in a person which, if given expression outwardly in form, line and colour and movement, becomes Art: Art which has the power to strike a chord in all who behold, and lift them to the height of understanding and harmony which is happiness.

Hence, for the true artist, the moment in which he gives outward expression to the inward surge of his soul’s music–that is the supreme moment in which he becomes in a measure a flower of humanity. A truly great artist who creates inevitably and whose daily life is inspired by the sense of the beautiful, is truly a religionist and a devotee in the highest sense of the word.

What then can be the difference between Art and Religion? Both are abstract terms and are synonymous with Divinity. Religion is the attempt of the Wise Ones to share their vision and understanding with others ranging within smaller limits. Art is similarly an attempt to impart to others the harmony and beauty of life which the artist has touched. Vision is understanding,–understanding of the beauty and harmony of all life.

THE NEW TEACHING IN ART

There has come recently into vogue in America a method of teaching art to children, already practised in Europe for many years, which is worth serious consideration by schools all over the world. This method believes in making the child think and develop along its own lines instead of putting ideas into his head and supplying him with a technique from the outside. There is no place for copying in such a method. Ordinarily, the child is given a subject by the teacher and asked to copy it. This certainly gives a certain amount of practice to the child’s hands and fingers but his mind does not function, and ultimately, while his fingers and eyes can work well, his mental and imaginative faculties become somewhat atrophied.

The new art teacher starts with the mind and gives the child a brush and colours and lets him do anything he likes with it. The child normally chooses a subject appropriate to its mental inclinations and tries to execute his work along his own method. The teacher helps the child only to start a train of thought which will supply him with subjects, and indirectly make him think of details about the subject chosen. The teacher never corrects the work of the child or the method of treatment, but maintains that whatever the child does is right.

If the purpose of education is to create favourable surroundings for the growth of the young mind, if there should be as little of meddlesomeness on the part of the teacher as possible, which alone will make for freedom for the natural development of the child’s inherent faculties, this method strikes one as fulfilling the essential characteristics of sound education in the field of art.