these, consciously or unconsciously, govern the masters of art in the
production of their works. These undefined laws have been recognized
from the earliest time, and the artist who is governed by them in the
selection of his subjects and controlled by them in the execution of
his work makes a universal appeal to which the aesthetic sense in man
responds. These laws are not of man’s creation. They belong to nature.
They exist in form and colour. They also exist in sound. Whether or not
the Greeks had reduced these laws to definite principles or rules, and
were governed by them in the construction of their temples and in the
creation of their masterly works in sculpture, is a doubtful question;
but certain it is that Hambidge has shown quite conclusively that
certain fundamental proportions existing in natural forms are repeated
in the Parthenon and in other great architectural structures belonging
to the Grecian period.
This does not mean that every great work of art must of necessity be
based upon clearly defined, rigid rules of proportion, on what is
called Dynamic Symmetry, but rather that works made to conform to these
rules do possess a degree of distinction and that the result is an
orderliness of arrangement or an agreeable disposition of spaces with
relation to each other which produces an aesthetic effect upon the
human mind.
Therefore, while truth is essential, it is conceded that symmetry must
be added to secure distinction. Commonplace expressions of nature,
while satisfying the ignorant, have never been accepted as art by
those who have given this subject serious thought.
The quality of design, of pattern, of appropriate and harmonious
arrangement, must be taken into account in any discussion touching
the philosophy of art. The universal appreciation and enjoyment of
design as revealed in rugs, in tapestries, and in a hundred other art
forms, may only be accounted for upon the theory of the existence of a
universal law of nature governing the judgment of man with reference to
these things.
This law is found in nature just as certainly as is found the law of
gravitation. The art of design when not literally transcribed from
the beautiful forms presented by nature herself is found to rest upon
some adaptation of this universal law of symmetry and harmony. With
symmetrical forms in nature we become familiar even in our childhood.
Take for instance the symmetrical forms of leaves. The grace and
symmetry of the leaf of the elm tree is well known, as is also the
character of the oak leaf and its almost invariable symmetrical form.
When a form that is not symmetrical appears, such, for instance,
as that of the leaf of the sassafras tree--one of the three leaf
forms borne by this tree being shaped like a mitten--we instantly
recognize this exception to the almost universal rule and reject it
as unsymmetrical and inharmonious. Illustrations of symmetry might
be multiplied, because they are found in flower and animal forms
everywhere. With harmony and colour we are made familiar by the passing
seasons. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter are successive expressions
of harmony.
How far this universal law of symmetry extends throughout nature and
what influence it has upon the human mind in its appreciation of the
beautiful in nature it would be difficult to estimate. It is sufficient
for our purpose to know that it is universal and far reaching in its
application and influence. [SN: _J. Henri Fabre_] It is interesting
in this connection to note that J. Henri Fabre, the eminent French
naturalist, makes reference to this law in describing the uniformity
with which certain bees act, their actions seeming to be governed by a
mysterious law. In his book on “Bramble Bees and Others” Fabre says:
“The first time that I prepared one of these horizontal tubes [for
bramble bees] open at both ends, I was greatly struck by what happened.
The series consisted of ten cocoons. It was divided into two equal
batches. The five on the left went out on the left, the five on the
right went out on the right, reversing, when necessary, their original
direction in the cell. It was very remarkable from the point of view
of symmetry; moreover, it was a very unlikely arrangement among the
total number of possible arrangements, as mathematics will show us.”
Fabre elucidates this fact by mathematical calculation proving that
there had been a spontaneous decision, one half in favor of the exit
on the left, one half in favor of that on the right, when the tube was
horizontal and gravity ceased to interfere.
This law of harmony has been recognized and to some extent defined by
early philosophers and writers as well as by those of recent date.
[SN: _Plato_]
It was recognized and referred to by Plato, who said that the world
offers the material in graceful and beautiful forms; or again that
there is no difficulty in seeing that grace or the absence of grace is
an effect of good or bad rhythm ... that beauty of style and harmony
and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity. He also refers to art
as representing proportion, harmony, or unity among the parts. His
thought is that there is an absolute principle of beauty which reveals
itself in natural objects. [SN: _Aristotle_] Aristotle expressed the
opinion that the essential qualities of beauty are order and symmetry.
[SN: _Knight_] Knight refers to the appreciation of symmetry and
proportion on the part of the Greek people and he concludes that the
knowledge of this same law of symmetry and its appreciation was
doubtless the basis of Greek art. [SN: _Kant_] Kant in his philosophy
refers to this same law of symmetry, grace, and beauty in nature. He
says: “The beautiful forms displayed in the organic world all plead
eloquently on the side of the realism of the aesthetic finality
of nature in support of the plausible assumption that beneath the
production of the beautiful there must lie a preconceived idea in the
producing cause--that is to say, an end acting in the interest of our
imagination. Flowers, blossoms, even the shapes of plants as a whole,
the elegance of animal formations of all kinds, unnecessary for the
discharge of any function on their part, but chosen as it were with an
eye to our taste; and, beyond all else, the variety and harmony in the
array of colours (in the pheasant, in crustacea, in insects, down even
to the meanest flowers) so pleasing and charming to the eye, but which,
inasmuch as they touch the bare surface and do not even here in any way
affect the structure of these creatures--a matter which might have a
necessary bearing on their internal ends--seem to be planned entirely
with a view to outward appearance: all these lend great weight to the
mode of explanation which assumes actual ends of nature in favor of
our aesthetic judgment.” [SN: _Blackie_] John Stuart Blackie refers
to qualities in nature which create spontaneously in the mind a degree
of pleasure because of their symmetry and beauty. He says: “There must
be, therefore, in nature and in the constitution of things certain
qualities which, being superinduced upon the useful, or mere fitness
to achieve a practical end, create in the mind the pleasant sensations
which arise spontaneously on the perception of a beautiful object.”
It would seem, therefore, that nature has furnished those forms and
colours which are symmetrical and harmonious, and that familiarity with
these has created in man, in varying degrees, a love for the beautiful
and an appreciation of the symmetrical and orderly. This law of
symmetry and proportion not only appeals to our own consciousness but
has become a part of our daily life.
It frequently happens that the repetition of beautiful forms results in
what comes to be recognized as a conventional or national expression of
art. This is especially true of Chinese and Japanese art. Conventional
forms adopted by one generation of Chinese or Japanese artists were
often handed down to succeeding generations of artists. Not only was
this true, but the repetition of these conventional forms, generation
after generation, resulted in the adoption of certain arbitrary
rules governing the composition and construction of their works of
art. [SN: _Sei-ichi Taki_] Sei-ichi Taki in his “Three Essays on
Oriental Painting” noted eighteen rules for the painting of “mountain
wrinkles.” Among these rules the following may be mentioned: “Wrinkled
like eddying water.” “Wrinkled like a horse’s tooth.” “Wrinkled like
bullock’s hair.” “Wrinkled like the veins of a lotus leaf.”
Notwithstanding these conventions, the fundamental or underlying
qualities in Chinese and Japanese art do not differ from those
characterizing works by artists of other nations. There was the same
reliance upon nature and insistence upon selection and the expression
of essential character. [SN: _Kuo Hsi_] For instance, Kuo Hsi, himself
a landscape painter, in his work on art criticism, “Noble Features
of the Forest and Stream,” wrote as follows: “Observe widely and
comprehensively.” And again: “Take in the essentials of a scene and
discard the trivialities.”
[SN: _Lafcadio Hearn_]
With Chinese and Japanese artists it was always a question of
discriminating selection. Lafcadio Hearn, a keen observer and a
charming writer upon Japanese life and art, referred with unusual
penetration to the importance of selection when he wrote: “The artist
looked for dominant laws of contrast and colour, for the general
character of nature’s combinations, for the order of the beautiful. He
drew actualities but not repellent or meaningless actualities, proving
his rank even more by his refusal than by his choice of subjects.”
It will be seen from these expressions that Chinese and Japanese art
was in fact based upon an intimate and thorough knowledge of nature,
influenced by certain conventions which were clearly defined and
understood.
[SN: _La Farge_]
John La Farge, the American artist who was a profound student of
oriental art, suggests this undefined law of harmony in the universe
when he says: “I might acknowledge that I have far within me a belief
that art is the love of certain balanced proportions and relations
which the mind likes to discover and to bring out in what it deals
with, be it thought, or the action of man, or the influences of nature,
or the material things in which the necessity makes it to work. I
should then expand this idea until it stretched from the patterns of
earliest pottery to the harmony of the lines of Homer. Then I should
say that in our plastic arts the relations of lines and spaces are, in
my belief, the first and earliest desires. And again, I should have to
say that, in my unexpressed faith, these needs are as needs of the soul
and echoes of the laws of the universe, seen and unseen, reflections
of the universal mathematics, cadences of the ancient music of the
spheres.”
“For I am forced to believe that there are laws for our eyes as well as
for our ears, and that when, if ever, these shall have been deciphered,
as has been the good fortune with music, then shall we find that all
best artists have carefully preserved their instinctive obedience to
these, and have all cared together for this before all.”
“For the arrangements of line and balances of spaces which meet these
underlying needs are indeed the points through which we recognize the
answer to our natural love and sensitiveness for order, and through
this answer, we feel, clearly or obscurely, the difference between what
we call great men and what we call the average, whatever the personal
charm may be.”
_Conclusion_
It may seem ruthless to destroy the old conception which attributed to
the works of the painter and sculptor a place superior to or above the
works of men in the field of science or in other spheres of activity,
but this, I think, is rapidly being done. The idea that man is capable
of adding anything to or improving upon the supreme qualities of beauty
as these exist in nature is disappearing. The spirit of a scientific
age is dispelling the old conception of art. Men now realize in art as
in science that the quality of truth is the sole object to be sought.
[SN: _Lord James Bryce_]
Lord James Bryce, the eminent English statesman and author, recently
called attention to the dominating influence of the scientific spirit
as felt in the various activities of our time. He referred to the
effect which the enormous increase in knowledge in the scientific world
has had upon our intellectual life and upon the ideas, the habits and
ways of thought of mankind. He said that the scientific investigations
during the past century and a half have occupied a larger proportion
of the energetic intellects of the world than ever before. The
results of these investigations have been more read than they ever
were before, and by a widening circle. They have more affected men’s
minds and become part of our thinking--part of the mental furniture
of educated men and women. Lord Bryce pointed out that through the
everlasting searching after truth and the facts of nature “the methods
and the spirit of science have undoubtedly affected such subjects as
metaphysical and ethical philosophy, as economic science and history,
as political theory, as oratory, as philology, as literature.” And he
added that for some reason (he would not call it inscrutable, because
he said that everything is more or less discoverable by sufficient
study and attention--everything in the human sphere at least) he
believed that there did, in the Eighteenth Century, begin to come over
the human mind a change, the results of which are seen in all these
fields. The novelty of this method, Lord Bryce said, “lies in the
scrupulous care which we bestow upon phenomena, in the determination to
examine the minutest details and to record exactly what we see, that
and nothing more.” Lord Bryce had also expressed the thought that
with all careful study we must strive to communicate an impression,
which is much more difficult than merely to state facts. For example,
he says, the historian’s general impression of a people is no less an
expression of truth and no less accurate than is the presentation of
many minor facts. Lord Bryce here states a profound truth, namely, that
the impression of the whole is of greater importance than the literal
representation of detail. This truth applies to art. The elimination of
trifling details but emphasizes the power and beauty of the whole.
I think it is this scientific spirit which has influenced modern art
and which is very clearly exemplified in the history of the School of
Impressionists. This school has exerted a powerful influence upon the
art of painting of the present day. I know that the general opinion has
been that the so-called Impressionist painters have departed from the
representation of the truths of nature and that their paintings are not
faithful representations of nature; but I believe the very reverse of
this to be true. I think, in their search for the essential truth of
nature, or the essential fact, that they have, in their very intensity
of effort, departed from the representation of minute details and of
many forms, in order that they might the more fully and perfectly
represent the less obvious and more subtle truth.
Take, for instance, the purpose which actuated Monet, probably the
leader of this group of painters, in his effort to represent the very
truth of nature by a few masses of vibrating colour. For example,
his haycock series of pictures was but an effort to represent the
most essential qualities of the subjects which he had chosen for his
experiment. I recall very well the first painting by Monet which I had
the opportunity to see, some thirty years ago, and the impression I
received then remains fresh in my memory. It was not the pleasurable
or childish sensation created by recognizing the forms of familiar
objects, but rather the delight created by an impression of vibrating,
sunlit atmosphere. This effect was the result of scientific research.
Monet simply applied his power and his wealth of technical ability
to reproduce another kind of truth, the truth of nature as broadly
represented by beautiful colours in relation to each other. I mention
Monet in this connection because he seems to represent, in an important
sense, the influence of a scientific age upon the art of the painter.
This view of Claude Monet’s art and the art of the so-called
Impressionists is the very opposite of that entertained by many writers
who have attributed to these painters careless rather than scientific
methods.
If the principles laid down in this work are true, they become of vital
importance. We will not think less of art, but we will be inspired by
a new devotion to nature and the great laws which govern her. We will
seek more diligently after the subtle harmonies and beauties in nature,
those qualities which have been discovered by the great masters and
translated with measurable success. We will go to nature with more
intelligence and devotion, that we may there enjoy these things for
ourselves at the source of all beauty. The student may lay aside all
preconceived notions with reference to inspiration and creation, and
address himself to his task as would any other workman. The result
should be a more profound appreciation of all beauty and more joy in a
world too often made commonplace by man.
_References_
ARISTOTLE
p. 61 William Angus Knight, “Philosophy of the
Beautiful,” Part 1, p. 28.
BAUMGARTEN, ALEXANDER GOTTLIEB
p. 52 Enc. Brit. 9th Ed., Vol. 1, “Aesthetics.”
BLACKIE, JOHN STUART
p. 62-63 The Contemporary Review, Vol. 43, June, 1883,
pp. 821-822.
BRYCE, LORD JAMES
p. 67-69 Founder’s Day Book, Carnegie Institute, 1908,
pp. 12-16.
CONSTABLE, JOHN
p. 17-18 C. R. Leslie, R. A., “Memoirs of the Life of John
Constable, Esq., R. A.,” 1843, pp. 147-148.
p. 23-25 C. R. Leslie, R. A., “Memoirs of the Life of John
Constable, Esq., R. A.,” 1843, p. 66.
p. 34 C. J. Holmes, “Constable and His Influence on
Landscape Painting,” 1902, p. 131.
COROT, JEAN-BAPTISTE CAMILLE
p. 25 Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer, “Six Portraits,”
p. 160.
DÜRER, ALBRECHT
p. 20-21 Wm. Angus Knight, “Philosophy of the Beautiful,”
Part 1, p. 48, and Moriz Thausing, “Albert Dürer,
His Life and Works,” 1882, p. 319.
FABRE, JEAN HENRI
p. 60-61 J. Henri Fabre, “Bramble Bees and Others,” p. 42.
FROUDE, JAMES ANTHONY
p. 51-52 James Anthony Froude, “England’s Forgotten
Worthies,” pub. in “Short Studies on Great
Subjects,” Vol. 1, First Series, 1894, p. 360.
HAMBIDGE, JAY
p. 58 Jay Hambidge, “Dynamic Symmetry: The Greek Vase.”
HEARN, LAFCADIO
p. 64-65 Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 78, August, 1896, p. 224.
HEGEL, GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH
p. 13-15 “The German Classics of the Nineteenth and
Twentieth Centuries,” trans. by Kuno Francke
and Wm. G. Howard, Vol. 7, pp. 112-113.
p. 15 “Philosophy of Fine Art,” trans. by Bernard
Bosanquet, p. 105.
HOGARTH, WILLIAM
p. 22 William Hogarth, “Anecdotes of William Hogarth,”
1833, p. 47.
HOMER, WINSLOW
p. 37-39 Author’s Notebook.
KANT, IMMANUEL
p. 52-55 Immanuel Kant, “Critique of Aesthetic Judgment,”
trans. by James Creed Meredith, 1911, p. 181.
p. 62 Immanuel Kant, “Critique of Aesthetic Judgment,”
trans. by James Creed Meredith, 1911, pp. 216-217.
KNIGHT, WILLIAM ANGUS
p. 61-62 Wm. Angus Knight, “Philosophy of the
Beautiful,” Part 1, pp. 40-41 and page 19.
KUO HSI
p. 64 Sei-ichi Taki, “Three Essays on Oriental
Painting,” pp. 43-45, quoting from Kuo
Hsi, “Noble Features of the Forest and Stream.”
LA FARGE, JOHN
p. 42 John La Farge, “An Artist’s Letters
From Japan,” p. 141.
p. 65-66 John La Farge, “An Artist’s Letters
From Japan,” p. 145.
LAWRENCE, SIR THOMAS
p. 25 C. R. Leslie, R. A., “Memoirs of the Life
of John Constable, Esq., R. A.,” 1843, p. 148.
LEIBNITZ, BARON GOTTFRIED WILHELM VON
p. 52 Bernard Bosanquet, “A History of Aesthetics,”
1892, p. 185.
LEONARDO DA VINCI
p. 21 “Leonardo da Vinci’s Notebooks,” trans.
by Edward McCurdy, p. 156 and p. 160.
MAETERLINCK, MAURICE
p. 55-56 Maurice Maeterlinck, “The Life of the Bee,” p. 5.
MAUVE, ANTON
p. 44-46 Author’s Notebook.
MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI
p. 19-20 Francisco D’Ollanda, “Third Dialogue on Painting,”
pub. in “Michael Angelo Buonarotti,” by Charles
Holroyd, Appendix, p. 323.
MILLET, JEAN FRANÇOIS
p. 25-26 Romain Rolland, “Millet,” trans. by Clementina
Black, pp. 383-385, 162, and 180.
PLATO
p. 61 Plato’s Republic, pub. in “Dialogues of Plato,”
trans. by B. Jowett, Vol. 3, pp. 86-87, and Enc.
Brit. 9th Ed., Vol. 1, “Aesthetics.”
RANGER, HENRY WARD
p. 39-41 Author’s Notebook.
REYNOLDS, SIR JOSHUA
p. 22-23 Henry William Beechy, “The Literary Works of Sir
Joshua Reynolds,” Vol. 1, pp. 385 and 317, and
G. Clausen, “Royal Academy Lectures on Painting,”
p. 137.
RODIN, AUGUSTE
p. 46-47 Auguste Rodin, “Art,” trans. from the French of
Paul Gsell by Mrs. Romilly Fedden, pp. 30-33,
and Literary Digest, June 4, 1910, p. 1127.
SCHOPENHAUER, ARTHUR
p. 48-49 “The German Classics of the Nineteenth and
Twentieth Centuries,” trans. by Kuno Francke
and Wm. G. Howard, Vol. 15, p. 48.
SEGANTINI, GIOVANNI
p. 43-44 Author’s Notebook.
SOCRATES
p. 15-16 Enc. Brit. 9th Ed., Vol. 1, “Aesthetics.”
STUART, GILBERT
p. 25 George C. Mason, “The Life and Works of Gilbert
Stuart,” 1894, pp. 68-69.
TAINE, HIPPOLYTE ADOLPHE
p. 50-51 H. Taine, “Philosophy of Art,” trans. by Durand,
1865, pp. 41, 57, 73, and H. Taine, “Lectures on
Art,” Vol. 1, 1889, pp. 163, 197, and 353.
TAKI, SEI-ICHI
p. 64 Sei-ichi Taki, “Three Essays on Oriental
Painting,” p. 48.
THAYER, ABBOTT HANDERSON
p. 30-32 Carnegie Institute Catalogue, Abbott H.
Thayer Exhibition, 1919, p. 9.
TOLSTOI, L. N.
p. 39 L. N. Tolstoi, “What is Art,” p. 43.
WHISTLER, JAMES ABBOTT MCNEILL
p. 26-30 Author’s Notebook, and James McNeill Whistler,
“The Gentle Art of Making Enemies,” pp. 142-143,
and James McNeill Whistler, “Ten O’clock,”
pp. 13-14.
WORDSWORTH, WILLIAM
p. 34 Wm. Wordsworth, “Upon the Sight of a Beautiful
Picture,” lines 12-14.
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Transcriber’s Notes:
Punctuation has been made consistent.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have
been corrected.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Relation of Art to Nature, by John W. Beatty