What the .Public Wants Sir William Llewellyn, the President of
the Royal Academy, speaking at the Academy banquet, committed himself to a doctrine which it might be very dangerous for Selection. Committees to apply. He said that no great exhibition such as the Royal Academy could cater alone for connoisseurs, but must provide also for people of unsophisticated taste who visit the galleries to find enjoy- ment and the satisfying of their own tastes. The moment critics or selectors begin to judge works of art by any standards less exacting than the best they are on the road to disaster. To study what is assumed to be the public taste rather than the best taste would be a disservice to the public and unfair to the artists. We do not suggest for a moment that this is what the Selection Committee does, but it would be a pity if the public should be led to imagine that in visiting the Royal Academy they may be in danger of confirming themselves in their own errors.
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