not merely topography that he up set, and the mountains one.' But generally it does seem most probable 1"It was that the artist feels what he must paint, what he must leave out, and the manner in which he must paint, without any distinct consciousness that he is changing what he sees, or giving other than the truthful impression of the scene about, but before him. that he marshalled he outdid Joshua in he took with moon." charm cay of Art." When W. J. Still man. "To-day," writes Amiel in his "Journal," the liberties we have been talking realism in painting the sun and of that poetical and artistic illusion which and the does not aim at being confounded with reality "The Deitself. The object of true art is only to the imagination, not to deceive the eye. we see a good portrait we say, 'It is alive!' In other words, our imagination lends it life. We see what is given us, and we give on our side. A work of art ought to set the poetical faculty in us to work to complete our perceptions of a thing. Sympathy is a first condition of criticism."2 Thus there are two ways of painting a scape, and there are two points of view 2 "Painting land- does not from deal in the purely visi ble. It deals The also in the which the painting may be studied. artist, in the first place, may give us merely suggestive and the an exact likeness of the external view, well allusive, thoughts therefore in and carefully painted as to technique; or, beyond the secondly, if endowed with the capacity to do visible proof So, the same view, but after passing through and being influenced by his own personality, of the can vas. Still the medium is a visible the accuracy of detail and the carefulness of one and is the drawing subordinated to matters of more at the mercy importance. The observer, similarly, may of the spec tator's amount of stand aloof and criticize the painting's merits comprehen- or faults from the technical or realistic standsion." point, finding out the difficulties that have "Imagina tion and Fancy." Leigh Hunt. been overcome, and generally looking as it were from the outside. Or he may endeavour to enter into the spirit of the artist, and try to feel the way in which he was affected by the scene and the message he sought to give on his canvas, looking from the inside, and in sympathetic union with the artist. These are the two points of view, the objective and the subjective. It is the subjective that is of vital importance, and that has the lasting and impressive effect. We can all see the correctness of details and the technical skill of the worker for ourselves. We want great artists to show us deeper and more hidden truths. "Nature is apparent on the surface of things. To find the man requires deeper sight," as H. R. Poore,* A. N. A., a very interesting writer on art, well puts it. "The landscape painter becomes an interpreter of moods, his own as well as nature's, and in his selection of these he reveals himself. What he takes from nature he puts back out of himself. Does he make you listen with him to the soft, low music when nature is kindly and tender and lovable, or is his stuff of that robust fibre which makes her companionable to him in her ruggedness and strength? "Back of the canvas that throbs the painter is hinted and hidden, Into the statue that breathes the soul of the sculptor is bidden."" We therefore must come to the conclusion that when an artist is able to make us feel the * "Pictorial Composition and the Critical Judgment of Pictures." Henry R. Poore, A. N. A. New York: The Baker & Taylor Company. In this book Mr. Poore draws special attention to the great importance of composition in pictures. “Without good composition there can be no great picture." After giving the different forms of composition which have gradually, and probably unconsciously, been evolved by the masters of painting, Mr. Poore continues with chapters on different subjects of great interest to "students and lovers of art," for whom the book is written. Anony mous. Quoted in "Pictorial Composi- |
