ABSTRACT ART SIR,—An answer to your art critic in full
would exceed the limit of space allotted to letters, so I will only state: Mr. Middleton is convinced, and would have his readers take as settled, the following stark points : 1. There was a 'revolution.' . . .
2. . . . but it is now over.
3. Every art form is valid and can de- velop. . . .
4. . . . except abstract art.
5. That the understanding of a serious work can be effected without knowledge of the intellectual context. ('Art without intellectual context is vanity,' wrote Eliot. What of criticism?) Obviously an art critic thriving on the status quo would he sadly disillusioned if it dawned on him that 90 per cent. of present- day art is invalid.
As for the drawing lesson, perhaps Mr. Middleton would as lightly confess its flip- pancy as he did his art history.
Brevity may be the soul of wit, and one of the possible lines for a columnist with not too much space, but it shows that a contro- versial subject is for Mr. Middleton only as clear as his view of it dictates.—Yours faith- fully,
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