We have now completed our review of the forms of primitive art and we
shall try to sum up the results of our inquiry.
We have seen that art arises from two sources, from technical pursuits
and from the expression of emotions and thought, as soon as these take
fixed forms. The more energetic the control of form over uncoordinated
movement, the more esthetic the result. Artistic enjoyment is,
therefore, based essentially upon the reaction of our minds to form.
The same kind of enjoyment may be released by impressions received from
forms that are not the handiwork of man, but they may not be considered
as art, although the esthetic reaction is not different from the one we
receive from the contemplation or the hearing of a work of art. When
speaking of artistic production they must be excluded. When considering
only esthetic reactions they must be included.
The esthetic effect of artistic work developing from the control of
technique alone is based on the joy engendered by the mastery of
technique and also by the pleasure produced by the perfection of form.
The enjoyment of form may have an elevating effect upon the mind, but
this is not its primary effect. Its source is in part the pleasure
of the virtuoso who overcomes technical difficulties that baffle his
cleverness. As long as no deeper meaning is felt in the significance of
form, its effect is for most individuals, pleasurable, not elevating.
We have seen that in the various arts definite formal principles
manifest themselves, the origin of which we did not try to explain,
but which we accepted as present in the art of man the world over,
and which for this reason we considered as the most ancient, the most
fundamental characteristics of all art. In the graphic and plastic
arts these elements are symmetry, rhythm and emphasis of form. We
found symmetry to be very generally right and left and suggested that
this may be due to the symmetry of manual movements as well as to the
observation of right and left symmetry in animals and in man. We also
observed that rhythmic repetition runs ordinarily in horizontal bands
and pointed out the general experience that natural objects of the
same or similar kind are arranged in horizontal strata, such as woods,
mountains, and clouds; legs, body and limbs. Rhythmic form seems to
be closely related to technical processes, although other causes of
rhythmic repetition are revealed in poetry. The simplest technical
processes produce a simple repetition of the same motives, while with
increasing virtuosity more complex orders become the rule. The more
virtuosity is developed, the more complex are the rhythms that are
liable to make their appearance. The ability of primitive artists to
appreciate rhythm seems to be much greater than our own.
The desire to emphasize form made itself felt in the application of
lines to the rim. We also observed the tendency of the rim designs to
become exuberant and to encroach upon the decorative field. No less
important is the tendency to attach ornament to prominent places of the
decorated object and to divide the decorative field according to fixed
principles.
While the features so far considered are common characteristics of
art the world over, they do not explain the style of separate areas.
We considered this problem in some detail in the field of decorative
art. Here our attention was first arrested by the fact that purely
formal art, or perhaps better, art that is apparently purely formal,
is given a meaning endowing it with an emotional value that does not
belong to the beauty of form alone. It is an expressionistic element
that is common to many forms of primitive art. It is effective because
in the mind of the tribes certain forms are symbols of a limited range
of ideas. The firmer the association between a form and a definite
idea, the more clearly stands out the expressionistic character of the
art. This is true in the graphic and plastic arts as well as in music.
In the former a geometrical form, in the latter a sound cluster, a
particular type of musical phrasing, if associated with a definite
meaning, evokes definite emotions or even concepts. A study of these
conditions shows also that a uniform reaction to form is indispensable
for the effectiveness of an expressionistic art, a condition which is
not fulfilled in our own modern society, so that an expressionistic art
can appeal only to a circle of adepts who follow the lines of thought
and feeling developed by a master. Symbolic art can still be applied
successfully in the case of a few symbols that have fixed associations
which are valid for all of us.
The wide distribution of symbolic forms and the remoteness of their
resemblance to the objects they symbolize led us to a consideration
of the question of their history. We examined particularly the theory
that all artistic reproduction is by origin naturalistic and that
geometrization grows up only when the artist tries to introduce
ideas that are not inherent in the object itself. We saw that this
theory cannot be maintained, because realistic representation and
geometrization spring from distinctive sources. In plastic art the
contrast between the two tendencies does not appear as clearly as
in graphic art. In the former it is found more in surface treatment
than in general outline. In graphic art the matter is complicated
by the difficulties involved in representing a three-dimensional
object on a two-dimensional surface, a problem which the artist has
to solve. This may be done in one of two ways. Either a perspective
representation of the object as it appears at a given moment may be
attempted, or the artist may decide that the essential point is to show
all its characteristic parts, no matter whether they are visible in a
single view or not. The former method lays stress upon the accidental
features, it is impressionistic; the latter stresses those elements
that are felt to constitute the fundamental qualities of the object, it
is expressionistic. The two methods which we called the symbolic and
the perspective are absolutely distinct and the one cannot be developed
from the other. We have also seen that the consistent application of
the perspective method is reached only when we introduce also the
principle of indistinctness of those points that are removed from the
center of the field of vision and that of dependence of color upon
environment. Both of these have been tried in our day, without having
found general acceptance. The symbolic method is always more or less
wavering in the application of its principle. Sometimes perspective
correctness of outline is attempted with a considerable degree of
freedom in regard to the detailed treatment of those symbols that are
considered important. Of this character are the Egyptian paintings with
their vacillation between front and side views. In other cases the
realism of outline is entirely sacrificed and the form may be reduced
to a mere assembly of symbols.
The theory has been advanced that geometric ornament developed through
the degeneration of perspective designs; in part perhaps also through
that of symbolic designs. It is assumed that the symbol, or the object
represented was misunderstood and that in course of time through
a process of slurring, by careless and inaccurate representation
the forms became fragmentary and finally lost all semblance to the
original. It is not possible to accept this theory, because the
conditions under which the supposed slurring occurs are seldom
realized. Slovenly work does not occur in an untouched primitive
culture. Misunderstandings may happen in cases of borrowing of designs
or in that of a gradual transformation of those concepts that find
expression in decorative art. Actual slurring is found in factory
production. By an examination of a few cases of this kind we were able
to show that it does not lead to geometrization, but to the growth of
an individualism akin to that of our handwriting. It cannot be denied
that in such cases occasion for re-interpretation with consequent
changes of form occur, but these are not frequent. On the other hand we
were able to show that reading in of realistic meanings into geometric
forms is quite common. We proved this by means of a detailed comparison
of the style of painting and embroidery of the North American Plains
Indians which we found to be practically identical everywhere, while
the interpretations varied from tribe to tribe. This phenomenon
agrees with the general tendency to keep intact the form, but to
endow it with new meaning according to the chief cultural interests
of the people. We pointed out the prevalence of the same tendency in
folk-tales and ritual. As a general explanation the geometrization of
realistic patterns is, therefore, unacceptable. In the majority of
cases it seems to be rather due to the inclination of man to give a
meaning to geometric form, as we enjoy reading meanings into the forms
of clouds and mountains. We were also able to describe a few cases in
which the process of reading in has actually been observed.
Another fact prevents us from considering geometrization as a general
historical process. It is very seldom only that the steps are found so
distributed that they can be proved to follow one another in time. Much
oftener all are found at the same time among the same people.
Considering all these points we reached the conclusion that the
stylistic form which contains to a greater or lesser extent constant
geometrical elements, is decisive in determining the manner in which
representations are rendered. We were thus led to the attempt to find
the principles underlying art styles.
We approached this subject by the study of a few art forms. We compared
a number of art styles that make use of the spiral and found in each
characteristic traits, as well regarding the form of the spiral as in
the handling of the decorative field. In the same way we observed that
in the art of the North American Indians the same kind of triangles and
rectangles are used by all the tribes, but that there exist typical
differences in the treatment of the decorative field. The problem was
carried through in some detail by means of a study of the decorative
art of the North Pacific coast which is highly symbolic in character.
This example taught us an additional point, namely that in symbolic
art the selection of symbols is of decisive importance in defining the
style and that the arrangement of the symbols is subject to the same
formal treatment of the decorative field which control the arrangement
of geometrical motives.
On the basis of this study we conclude that the particular types of
geometrical motives that enter into the representative form, as well
as the treatment of the decorative field determine the character of
the design and that the degree of realism depends upon the relative
importance of the geometric and representative elements. When the
purely decorative tendency prevails we have essentially geometrical,
highly conventionalized forms, when the idea of representation
prevails, we have, on the contrary, more realistic forms. In every
case, however, the formal element that characterizes the style, is
older than the particular type of representation. This does not signify
that early representations do not occur, it means that the method of
representation was always controlled by formal elements of distinctive
origin.
The pattern of artistic expression that emerges from a long, cumulative
process determined by a multiplicity of causes fashions the form of
the art work. We recognize the permanence of pattern in those cases
in which a useful form that has lost its function persists as a
decorative element; in the imitation in new materials of natural forms
used at one time as utensils, and in the transfer of forms from one
technique to another. The fixity of the pattern does not permit the
artist to apply natural forms unmodified to decorative purposes. His
imagination is limited by the pattern. In cases of greater freedom the
representative value may not be seriously encroached upon. Such is the
case for instance, with the oriental palmetto and the ear ornaments
of the Marquesas Islands, on which in olden times two deities were
represented, back to back, while nowadays two girls in a swing are
carved, in exactly the same spacial arrangement. When the pattern
is highly formal and not adapted to representation, an apparent
geometrization may be the result. The distinction between these two
aspects appears clearly in those cases in which pictography and
symbolic geometric art appear side by side.
The art of the North Pacific coast proved also that we must not assume
that the style of a tribe must always be uniform, but that it is
quite possible that in different industries, particularly when carried
along by different parts of the population, quite distinctive styles
may prevail. The excellence and consistency of a style as well as the
multiplicity of forms depend upon the perfection of technique. We
found, therefore, that in those cases in which technical work is done
by the men alone, they are the creative artists, that when the women
do a great deal of technical work they are no less productive, and
that when the two sexes carry on different industries they may develop
distinctive styles. It is, however, more frequent that the style of a
dominant industry may be imposed upon work made by other processes.
Weaving in coarse material seemed to be a most fertile source of
patterns that are imitated in paintings, carvings, and pottery.
A comparison of the fundamental elements that are found in the graphic
and plastic arts,—in the arts of space,—as contrasted with those
of poetry, music, and dance,—the arts of time,—brings out certain
differences and similarities. Common to both are rhythm, and it seems
likely that the rhythm of technique is merely a spacial expression
of the rhythm of time, in so far as the rhythmic movements result in
rhythmic forms when applied to technical pursuits. We may perhaps also
speak in both types of art of attempts to emphasize closed forms,
for often we find musical phrases, and single ideas in poetry closed
by what might be called a decorative end, consisting of burdens or
of codas. Similar elements may also appear as introductions in the
beginning. Completely lacking in the pure arts of time is symmetry,
because an inverted time order does not convey the impression of
symmetry, as is the case in the arts of space. It occurs only in a
symmetrical arrangement of phrases. Dance contains elements of both
the spacial and time arts. Therefore, the principles of the former may
be clearly observed in dance forms. Rhythmic movements and rhythmic
spacial order, symmetry of position and of movement, and emphasis and
balance of form are essential in esthetic dance forms.
The graphic and plastic arts owe much of their emotional value to
the representative and symbolic values of form. This is no less true
in literature, music and dance. Narrative and poetry so far as they
contain intelligible words, always have a meaning which may have a deep
significance because they touch upon those aspects of life that stir
the emotions. Frequently there is an added meaning, when the words
have a symbolic, ulterior significance related to religious beliefs or
philosophical ideas. In music and dance also symbolic significance is
often attached to form.
* * * * *
We are at the end of our considerations, but one question remains to
be answered. We have seen that the desire for artistic expression is
universal. We may even say that the mass of the population in primitive
society feels the need of beautifying their lives more keenly than
civilized man, at least more than those whose lives are spent under
the urgent necessity of acquiring the meagre means of sustenance. But
among others also the desire for comfort has often superseded the
desire for beauty. Among primitive people the καλὸν κἀγαθόν coincide.
Goodness and beauty are the same. Do they then possess the same
keenness of esthetic appreciation that is found at least in part of
our population? I believe we may safely say that in the narrow field
of art that is characteristic of each people the enjoyment of beauty
is quite the same as among ourselves: intense among a few, slight
among the mass. The readiness to abandon one’s self to the exaltation
induced by art, is probably greater, because the conventional restraint
of our times does not exist in the same forms in their lives. What
distinguishes modern esthetic feeling from that of primitive people
is the manifold character of its manifestations. We are not so much
bound by a fixed style. The complexity of our social structure and our
more varied interests allow us to see beauties that are closed to the
senses of people living in a narrower culture. It is the quality of
their experience, not a difference in mental make-up that determines
the difference between modern and primitive art production and art
appreciation.