23 NOVEMBER 1929, Page 60

- The Artist in a Better World T O predict the

future of any art is a hazardous adventure, but- so far as painting, is concerned it seems_ tolerably safe to say that the day :Of he large easel-picture- is over.' Nobody wants " outsil " can. vases nowadays, and the few that appear in the RoYal Academy and elsewhere rarely find a permanent honk except in a provincial art gallery. Under present conditions there are two demands for pictures to which the artist should pay attention. The first is for small pictures of moderate dimensions suitable for the rooms of a small house or flat. The second is for decorative painting on a larger scale, and this, whether fora'PriiateOr public building, means an artist or group of artists .being commissioned • to fill definit-i-,spaces Specified _Piermiises. - Dining recent years people who hav-e large:;vv,all spaces to fill have wisely Shown a preference for erPi4oying an artist to a scheme of decoration, rather than Mike randOnipnichaeO-Ofilletures froin various sources to hang 'On-the walls. The result is"_thitIliefe has been ti;iiinitrkableievivak of Milial;paintingi:-r Chu -dispOsitiOn.: to cornpi4OftO. „Whenever possible hai inade, - itself particularly, manifest in the decbration of :public buildings. 'Where :there- are eight ipacei be -filled, authorities_usuallY.-laek -th:e courage to trust one artist with the painting.' of eight panels. BUtit is impossible that the best result should be obtained -153i•-eifiliking:bight differ-eat artists' eieli to: paint a panel. Even when a superintending-`ditiOT, is aPPinted to co=ordinate the work the-eight in the case of the panels in St. Stelihen'iltall;:W..41rninster+ the best we :can expect is a .partial.:SuCeeg:7":Either the total result is Mediocre, or, if -the'seVeral- artists are moor of genuine talent-, then the. .very individna*, which is characteristic ,of all, iciOd- paintinginnikisTkinevitable that the :miserable_ shOuld hae rather a ,iiatchwork appearance. All history_ _and experience aLto proVe that the most memorable and successful sequences of decorative- Paintings have invariably' been:41k work of -one' ditist.—Even in the -Sistine-Chapel the paintings of' Botticelli and other masters are second517 to those of Michelangelo, and most visitors will agree that we could enjoy these others better could we see them in a separate apartment. If there is any future for abstract painting, this also would appear to lie in the sphere of decorative painting rather than in the easel-picture. Individual taste plays so large---a,part in shiPing the direction this last, that it would-be futile to attempt td predict whit will be the prevailing .hype of the -future: various kinds -seems for the moment to-have'dispkeed romanticism, the choice of ConteinpOraik7961rectiird seems to lie principallY betWeen work` of an intirnate, impressionist Character, and more simplified Paintinda7;,hich accentuate three-dimensional design__ " AtmoOphere,"a quality much sought after in-thelate-nineteerifVentury, is to-day `alnhOst as unfashiariable as ientinnelit,lind'apart from that passion for ""VOltimes-"—,--which is the' legacy of are qualities_ MOSt appreciated to:daY;'perhapS, aweare clarity and definition.. In nothing more than: modern,Pilintiiii,:-, however, is one man's meat anoilier's-_pOisein; and .tliarns' a public for paintings loyal to the traditions Of:the-pail, just as there, is a: public eager _to „apppoVe the _ most daring innovations _created_ by_ inventors of new styles. Still, there.areltwo '-e-sentials in the -work of all schools ; the one is sincerity, the Other The former is _a gift of the gods, whiCh an artist either- possesses or not ; the second eat— be—tsiccitiii41,--iiiiCilie painter teio indolent _to .acquire fine' eraft;nlianshiP" has no lengthy future for his work Oren if he'hai Inthe imme- difiteliagtilieii has been SO 'Ina& eXpeiimeiit in variods directions; :lilt Were- hat been It'tendenek to semi) 'criftsinaiiship: By thii 'tide the laboratory work of the present generation has been pretty well conclude* and in the next decade or two we may,,reasonably expeet and hope that the painters whO hive found themselves will proceed to perfect their craftsmanship for the great& beauty and permanence of their productions. ',I - - FRANK- -RUTTER;