one.1 But generally it does seem most probable 1"It was that the artist feels what he must paint, what not merely topography that he up set, and the he must leave out, and the manner in which he must paint, without any distinct consciousness mountains that he is changing what he sees, or giving other than the truthful impression of the scene before him. that he about, but marshalled he outdid Joshua in the liberties he took with the sun moon." charm cay of Art." W. J. Still When man. "To-day," writes Amiel in his "Journal," "we have been talking realism in painting 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 deal in the from 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, beyond the therefore in and carefully painted as to technique; or, thoughts secondly, if endowed with the capacity to do visible proof so, the same view, but after passing through of the can- and being influenced by his own personality, vas. Still the medium the accuracy of detail and the carefulness of is a visible one and is the drawing subordinated to matters of more The observer, similarly, may stand aloof and criticize the painting's merits at the mercy importance. of the spec tator's amount of comprehen- or faults from the technical or realistic stand sion." point, finding out the difficulties that have 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." Anony mous. Quoted in "Pictorial 999 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. Composi- R. Poore, |