PRINCIPLES OF ART!
IF the object of a book on a given subject be to stimulate thought on that subject, and make conceptions clearer which have been vaguely formed or but half-expressed, then to artiste and to all lovers of Art, the Principles of Art, by John C. Van Dyke, will prove a work of considerable value. The book is divided into- two parts,—"Art in History," and "Art in Theory." It is in the latter part that, to our mind, the chief interest of the book lies. The first part is preparatory, not without merit, as it .gives in clear but concise form a historical sketch of events and civilisation as they have affected Art. Though the sketch is cursory, it is arranged in a systematic way which would serve as a framework, so to speak, on which the student could build up more elaborate and detailed knowledge. It has been Mr. Van Dyke's object to show that Art reflects the civilisation in. which it is produced ; that an artist lives in hie own time, and seldom ahead of or behind it ; that the greatest artists were those who were in harmony with their contemporaries, and who ,possessed in the highest degree the same faculties, sentiments, and passions ; that -whatever a nation has rendered, striven after, or accomplished, will find its expression and its history in the epochs of its art. He warns us, however, against accepting too literally the statement that Art is a reflection of the- civilisation producing it, as it reflects rather the spirit and nature of the civilisation than its extent. Culture like that of the Eng- land of to-day produces no corresponding art, because England's spirit is not in full sympathy with it, as was the case with- Greece, or, in a lesser degree, as is the case with contemporary France, where even the common ouvrier of Paris is appreciative,. and has his views and opinions on the subject,—views and opinions which are in calibre 'far above the views and opinions- of those who are much superior to him in education in England. To arrive at a clear judgment, the nature of the civilisation must be taken into consideration, also the characteristics of the people producing it. ""In England, Art has never been a teacher, a religion, or a vital essential of the people ; the early ages cared little for it, nor have the later times given it anything like a popular or race support, because never dependent on it either for education or expression." Mr. Van Dyke considers that the literary bias in the English overpowers the artistic, that in consequence many English artiste are incapable of looking at subjects pictorially, and in their pictures try to usurp the place of the poet or novelist ; for if we wish to see what appeals to the whole people of England, we must note the long line of their poets, and see how poetry has flourished, because felt and? appreciated by the whole race.
The historical chapters on Greek and Egyptian art are clear,. concise, and interesting. We do not know whether the author,. who is an American, has been in Europe, though from internal evidence we should rather say that he has not ; but Greek sculpture is as familiar to the Americans, through casts, photo- graphs, and reproductions of all sorts, as to a student in the Louvre or British Museum ; indeed, the art which is the noblest known to the world, is the common possession of all. Here the author shows that he is quite master of his subject. He is less fortunate when he deals with medimval art and that of the Renaissance, this being the only portion of the work which savours of book-making. We feel that he lacks personal acquaint.. ance with it, that his knowledge is second-hand, and that he is picking his way through these chapters with the help of Taine, Ruskin, Lubke, and others, making as few errors of judgment and comparison as a man of vigorous mind and sound dis- crimination might under the circumstances. With reeentPrench • Principle, of Art. Hy John 0. Van Dyke. Librarian of the Sage Library, New Brolorwi, N.J. Bee York FoN, Howard, and Halbert. London Trubner and Co.
art he is familiar, if not from French experiences, yet from the best art of its kind having found its way across the Atlantic.
Part II. will be found to be a powerful essay on " Realism " in modern art. We are not aware in England how French influence is moulding the young American painters of to-day; and with its strongest phase, realism, the author occupies him- self. We in England, where Rossetti, Barite Jones, and Watts occupy the place they do, have nothing to fear from its influence, but may only hope for good from it. It is different in America. From all parts of the United States and Canada, Art students find their way to Paris, to be cast in the same mould ; there is nothing to distinguish the American artist of to-day from his French confrere. To those students who have been through the grind of a " Beaux Arts " training, or that of certain Paris studios, and have learnt there to regard individuality as a waywardness of thought to be suppressed, this book will come as an awakening. The author has faith in realism in so far as it helps to make painting a more perfect, more truthful means of expression; his indignation is eloquent where it is made the end, not the means,—where it reduces itself to the slavish imitation of facts, to the suppression of the artist's individuality, and consequently of the expression of his thoughts about those facts. It is not a new cry, "Paint Nature as it is ;" there have been realists from the earliest days, probably before it was preached by Aristotle. A better formula would be, " Paint Nature as you Bee it," with the reservation, " Do not paint it at all unless you see in it some- thing that nine hundred and ninety-nine of your companions do not see." Mr. Van Dyke is, further, very earnest in im- pressing on the reader the falseness of a comparatively modern idea,—viz., that the exhibition of technical skill is the end and not the means of Art. He fully allows the necessity of possess- ing the skill, for it must not be overlooked that a grand idea is a lost idea if not well expressed, " and the number of poets and painters born by nature, yet lacking the accomplishment of expres- sion, would fill an army ;" but what he especially deprecates is the notion that the one thing to be admired is the technical skill displayed in drawing, massing, colouring, and general brushwork, and that the idea is a secondary consideration. This he considers as much a falsehood of the nineteenth century as the fallacy, "It makes no difference what you say, if you but say it well." He contrasts Millet with his followers in the hundreds of young students, his imitators, who are now painting the blue-frocked and wooden-shoed peasantry of France. " Originality is ever admirable, as imitation is contemptible; and why, if not because the man, the individual, is absent?" Taking Art in its broadest sense, he shows us how by its means Phidias, Dante, Michael Angelo, and Shakespeare gave to us what their conceptions of the world were. "To know their work is to see the world as they saw it." For modern examples in landscape, he cites Turner and Corot, and shows us that it is not in the faithful reproduction of facts by these great artists that their genius showed itself, but in their expression of their ideas about these facts :— " Poetry is not a dictionary of facts, nor painting a physiological, geological, or botanical encyclopedia. The wood in the forest and the marble in the quarry are facts ; bat something more than these is required to make the cathedral and the palace. The genius of man must enter and remain in the work. The obliteration of human thought and feeling leaves but mechanical exactness, and this is what the believers in objective treatment admire and seek after. They are more familiarly known under the name of realists, and a general definition of them would be, those who believe in the total absence of the author and painter except as a person who pats the facts of Nature together as he finds them, and presents them to the public, in that shape Art is a matter of ideas, and those who possess them cannot escape the bias of their own minds, and must express them. So soon as they are set forth, more or less of the artist's individuality is displayed, and forms part of the work. It cannot be left out of consideration ; and to separate the poet from the poem, and the painter from the painting, is an impossibility, unless the man converts himself into a lens, and becomes a photographer of the good, bad, and indifferent alike."
It would give bat an incomplete idea of this book if we did not notice Mr. Van Dyke's profound belief in the upward progress of Art and civilisation, and his conviction that from the tendency and movement of the day we are on the eve of another Art Renaissance, better, nobler, higher than any that has gone before. He shows that this nineteenth century movement is not confined to political life and events alone, but that it embraces and has changed the whole current of action and thought, has spread to every department of human knowledge, has raised new sciences, brought about revolutions in social and intellectual life, and has stamped itself upon every branch of the fins arts. He compares the advance of civilisation to that of waves upon the seashore; like them, governed by action and reaction. After the long, dreary, barren period following the de- cline of the " Renaissance," he holds that a mighty wave is once more forming on which we of to-day are being borne along. An idea of its future greatness may be gathered from its magnitude, its constituent elements, and its tendency. It would lead us too far to give more than a passing commendation of Mr. Van Dyke's treatment of the sublime in Art, and we can only notice the impartiality with which he discusses the vexed question whether Art should reflect existing facts and times, or not. Enough has been given to show the ideas that pervade the work. Though the book in some parts is a little spun out and confused, it is, on the whole, admirable. Much has been written on Art, but the subject has been treated by few with equal freshness and originality, or in a manner better calculated to interest those who care to think about such matters, whether the writer's ideas find general acceptance or not Mr. Van Dyke has added one more to the list of good books that have come to us from across the Atlantic.
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