In the search for finer relations there must be every opportunity for
choice; the better the choice, the finer the art. The square and circle
allow choice only as to interior divisions, but the rectangle is capable
of infinite variation in its boundary lines.
The scientific mind has sought, by analysis of many masterpieces, to
discover a set of perfect proportions, and to reduce them to mathematical
form, for example, 3:5, or 4:7. The secret of spacing in Greek art has
been looked for in the “golden mean”, viz: height is to length as length
is to the sum of height and length. Doubtless such formulae were useful
for ordinary work, but the finest things were certainly the product of
feeling and trained judgment, not of mathematics. Art resists everything
that interferes with free choice and personal decision; art knows no
limits.
Poverty of ideas is no characteristic of the artist; his mind is ever
striving to express itself in new ways.
The personal choice of proportions, tones and colors stamps the work with
individuality. A master in art is always intensely individual, and what he
does is an expression of his own peculiar choices.
The beauty of proportion in your rectangle is measured by your feeling for
fine relations, not by any formula what ever. No work has art‐value unless
it reflects the personality of its author, What everybody can do easily,
or by rule, cannot be art.
The study of Variation tends to lead the mind away from the conventional
and humdrum, toward original and individual expression. Variation has no
place in academic courses of art teaching, but in composition it is a most
important element.
The masters of music have shown that infinite possibilities of
variation—the same theme appearing again and again with new beauty,
different quality and complex accompaniment. Even so can lines, masses and
colors be wrought into musical harmonies and endlessly varied. The
Japanese color print exemplifies this, each copy of the same subject being
varied in shade or hue or disposition of masses to suit the restless
inventive energy of its author. In old Italian textiles the same pattern
appears repeatedly, but varied in size, proportion, dark‐and‐light and
color. In times when art is decadent, the designers and painters lack
inventive power and merely imitate nature or the creations of others. Then
comes Realism, conventionality, and the death of art.
Some experience in choice of proportions and the cutting of rectangular
spaces may be gained from the following
[No. 29. Examples of Rectangular Design.]