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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


Ex  Libris 
C.  K.  OGDEN 


JEAN   DELVILLE    (PORTRAIT). 


Frontispiece. 


THE 

NEW    MISSION    OF    ART 

A  STUDY  OF  IDEALISM  IN  ART 


By  Jean  Delville 


"The  mission  of  Art  in  the  world  is  so  mighty 
that  it  should  be  cherished  with  care  and 
encouraged  to  the  utmost  ol  our  power, 
striving  with  all  our  being  to  keep  it  pure; 
it  would  be  a  deed  as  great  before  God  as 
useful  to  man  to  lead  Art  back  to  the  inex- 
haustible fount  from  which  it  ought  never  to 
have  wandered."  p.-f.g.  lacuria. 

"the  harmonies  of  existence." 


Translated  by 
FRANCIS   COLMER, 

with  Introductory  Notes  by 
Clifford    Bax    and   Edward   Schure. 


London  :    Francis   Griffiths 
34,     Maiden    Lane,    Strand 

1910 


N'/ 

5 


To 

The  Members  of  the 

"  ORPHEUS  "    ART-CIRCLE 

this  Translation  is 

dedicated 


The  Prayer  of  a  Magician 


O  God  of  Light  in  whom  all  worlds  are  one, 
An  atom  from  that  fierce  and  fiery  place 
Wherein  men  stray,  behold  before  Thy  Pace 

My  soul,  an  eagle  mounting  to  the  sun. 

The  blood-stained  idols  of  an  erring  race, 
The  clouds  of  evil  that  men's  hearts  have  done, 
Roll  on  beneath  me  to  that  hour  when  none 

That  brought  to  birth  no  beauty  shall  win  grace. 

O  God,  Who  gazing  on  the  perfect  whole 
Smiles  at  our  loveliness  of  form  or  soul 
As  gradually  the  prisorjed  self  escapes, 

Beyond  all  time,  division,  change,  or  death, 

Thou  art  the  immortal  essence  of  all  shapes 
And  earth  of  Thine  eternity— a  breath  ! 


JEAN  DELVILLE 
(Translated  by  CLIFFORD  BAX) 


Contents 


THE    PRAYER    OF   A   MAGICIAN 

JEAN    DELVILLE,    BY  CLIFFORD   BAX 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  ON  "THE  NEW 
MISSION  OF  ART,"  BY  EDOUARD 
SCHURE  .  .  .  .  . . 

PREFACE 

I  THE    OUTLOOK   OF   MODERN   ART 

II  THE      NATURE      OF     IDEALISM    I     THE 

THREEFOLD    HARMONY 

III  THE    PRINCIPLE   OF   BEAUTY 

IV  THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THEORY 

V  THE  MYSTERY  OF    FORM 

VI  THE   SPIRITUALISING  OF  ART 

VII  THE    ART    OF  THE   FUTURE     .  . 

VIII  THE     RELATIONS     OF     CHURCH      AND 

STATE   TO    ART 

APPENDIX  TO  C.  VIII — A  REVIVAL  OF 
SACRED  ART  :  THE  BEURON  SCHOOL 

IX  THE   SOCIAL  INFLUENCE    OF  ART 

X  THE   CREED   AND   THE  CRITICS 

XI  IDEALISM    IN    ART  '.     SOME    MISTAKEN 

NOTIONS 

INDEX  


PAGE 

vii 
xiii 


XIX 

xxxiii 
3 

ii 

27 

36 
48 
61 

74 
86 

104 
121 

145 

163 
183 


List  of  Illustrations 


(i)  Jean  Delville  (Portrait)  . .  Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

(2)  L'Ecole  de  Platon  (J.  Delville)  ..  I 

(3)  L'Ange  (Fernand  Khnopff)  . .  16 

(4)  L'Homme  Dieu  (J.  Delville)  ..  49 

(5)  Les  Soeurs  d'Illusion        . .  . .  64 

(6)  Promethee  (J.  Delville)    . .  •  •  97 

(7)  The    Virgin    of    S.    Maur     (Beuron 

School)  . .  . .  . .  112 

(8)  U Amour  des  Ames  (J.  Delville)     . .  145 


JEAN    DELVILLE 

THE  AUTHOR  of  the  following  treatise 
will  be  known  by  name  to  very  few 
of  his  English  readers,  yet  the  book 
reveals  a  personality  so  distinguished  that 
those  hitherto  unacquainted  with  M.  Delville's 
work  may  care  to  know  something  of  the 
writer.  The  few  to  whom  he  is  already  known 
will  be  found  among  those  who,  possessing  an 
interest  in  the  arts,  have  lived  a  considerable 
time  in  Brussels  or  in  Glasgow.  In  the  former, 
because  M.  Delville  is  an  artist  of  renown  in 
his  own  country  :  in  the  latter,  because  about 
eight  years  ago  he  was  appointed  to  the  chief- 
professorship  in  the  Glasgow  School  of  Art. 
He  worked  there  for  half-a-dozen  years  and 
with  such  personal  success  that  when  he  returned 
to  Brussels  and  instituted  the  "  Atelier  Delville" 
a  large  number  of  his  former  pupils  went  oversea 
to  follow  him. 

The  world  of  art  is  hardly  less  variously 
peopled  than  the  wider  world  of  politics  and 
affairs.  No  painter,  no  writer,  can  ever  please 
all  artists,  and  M.  Delville,  especially,  by  his 
unflinching  adherence  to  idealism,  has  encoun- 
tered for  many  years  much  ridicule  or  abuse 
from  the  supporters  of  other  schools.  It  is 
unfortunate  that  so  small  a  number  of  men 
is  capable  of  avoiding  an  extreme.  No  sooner 
is  a  certain  style  grown  over-ripe  than  the 
next   generation,    dismissing   the   entire   school 


xiv  Jean  Delville 

as  misguided,  errs  yet  more  markedly  in  the 
opposite  direction.  Here  in  England  at  the 
moment  we  read  articles  by  men  who  declare 
that  Burne-Jones  knew  nothing  of  his  art  or 
that  there  is  nothing  of  sublimity  in  the  work 
of  Tennyson.  In  place  of  those  formerly  accepted 
and  over-praised,  they  exalt  some  trifling  fellow 
who,  though  deficient  in  a  thousand  ways,  has 
yet  no  trace  of  the  particular  weakness  which 
overcame  the  giant  they  would  depose. 

For  reaction,  useful  as  a  corrective  influence, 
is  nearly  always  excessive,  and  its  devotees 
quite  readily  mistake  their  own  backwater  for 
the  full  main-stream  of  art.  Incapable  of 
improving  upon  the  achievements  of  a  bygone 
school,  they  choose  out  themes  and  methods 
which  were  most  likely  rejected  as  unworthy 
by  the  painters  they  despise.  The  excessive 
praise  of  Whistler  is  now  subsiding,  but  in  its 
place  has  arisen  the  cult  of  those  who  consider 
clear  colour  to  be  the  brand-mark  of  the 
commonplace,  fair  form  the  delight  of  an  inferior 
taste.  Nor  do  these  bubble-movements  lack 
believers  among  those  who  are  fearful  lest  they 
should  be  stigmatised  as  unprogressive,  for 
most  men — critics  or  craftsmen — are  carried 
along  by  the  taste  of  their  time,  and  few  are 
those  who,  standing  aside  from  the  immediate, 
work  on  in  the  great  traditions. 

Of  such  is  M.  Delville.  Faults  he  has,  but 
not  the  faults  of  our  time.  There  is  no  affectation 


Jean  Delville  xv 

in  his  work  :  no  superficial,  catchpenny  display 
of  skill.  With  him,  the  picture  has  again 
become  of  more  importance  than  the  painter. 
For  he  is  a  poet,  a  thinker,  a  man  who  cares 
greatly  for  the  welfare  of  the  world. 

The  eminent  French  poet  who  penned  the 
introductory  note  to  this  book  has  shown  how 
unavoidably  a  painter  communicates  his 
"  Weltanschauung "  to  his  work,  and  every 
phase  of  M.  Delville's  mind  is  thus  reflected. 
In  early  youth  he  was  a  materialist,  and  the 
dusty  paintings  of  that  period  which  hang 
from  the  walls  of  his  studio  would  merit  praise 
from  some  of  those  who  call  themselves, 
euphemistically,  "  rationalists."  Indeed,  if 
anyone  should  search  the  great  studio  he  might 
disinter  examples  of  many  contemporary 
methods.  For  even  in  the  earliest  of  his  student- 
days  M.  Delville  possessed  a  facility  so  astonish- 
ing that  before  he  had  been  working  at  the 
School  of  Art  in  Brussels  for  more  than  a  week, 
the  professor  set  up  his  canvas  as  an  object- 
lesson  to  the  assembled  students.  In  after- 
years  the  paintings  he  produced  readily  reflected 
the  rapid  changes  of  his  mind. 

For  he  did  not  rest  easy  in  materialism,  and, 
having  experimented  with  spiritism,  in  spite 
of  the  usual  chicanery  he  discovered  what  he 
considered  overwhelming  evidence  of  dis- 
incarnate  existence.  The  pictures  which 
accompany  this  phase  are  more  terrible  than 


xvi  Jean  Delville 

beautiful — vast,  lurid,  and  awful.  During 
a  few  years  he  followed  the  faint  stars  of 
spiritism  until  they  had  brought  him  to 
the  limitless  horizon  of  theosophy,  and  it 
is  to  the  inspiration  of  this  world-old  wisdom 
that  his  latter  and  important  work  is  due. 
His  adherence  to  that  scheme  of  thought  has 
cost  him  much,  for  in  Belgium  the  Ecclesiastical 
Party,  which  is  dominant,  regards  theosophy 
as  a  formidable  menace,  and  has  opposed  him 
repeatedly.  But  M.  Delville  was  born  a  fighter, 
and  never  flinches  in  his  loyalty  to  a  philosophy 
which  is  strangely  abused  and  misunderstood. 
A  keen  student  of  contemporary  science,  an 
eloquent  and  fiery  speaker,  one  who  writes 
prose  with  vigour  and  verse  with  a  rare  beauty, 
he  is  well  able  to  defend  his  convictions  with  a 
widely-cultured  mind  and  with  a  range  of  ability 
that  compels  respect. 

Unfortunately,  he  shares  with  Rossetti  a 
dislike  of  exhibiting  his  work,  but  the  annual 
exhibitions  at  Brussels  have  occasional  examples. 
A  stately  picture,  called  "  L'Ecole  de  Platon  ' 
was  exhibited  some  years  ago  at  Milan,  where 
it  won  the  Gold  Prize.  Most  of  M.  Delville's 
work  is  on  a  very  large  scale — indeed,  his 
preliminary  sketches  are  usually  the  size  of 
most  large  pictures.  A  vast  composition, 
which  is  named  "  L'Homme-Dieu,"  and  repre- 
sents a  multitude  of  men  and  women  surging 
up,  with  gestures  half  exultant,  half  despairing, 


Jean  Delville  xvii 

to  the  enaureoled  Christ,  occupies  an  entire 
wall  in  his  "  atelier."  Yet  he  has  said  that  he 
would  like  to  re-paint  it  as  large  again  if  he 
could  put  it  in  a  church. 

At  present  in  his  private  studio,  at  Forest, 
a  country  suburb  of  Brussels,  he  is  preparing 
a  series  of  frescoes  which  are  to  decorate  the 
walls  of  the  Palais  de  Justice.  Perhaps  the 
designs  for  this  national  work  are  the  most 
powerful  and  most  complete  examples  of 
idealistic  art  which  he  has  yet  achieved,  and 
it  is  safe  to  predict  that  the  Belgians  of  the 
future  will  not  regret  the  choice  of  the 
commissioners. 

M.  Delville  was  born  in  1867  ;  he  never 
studied  his  art  except  in  the  school  at  Brussels, 
although  when  his  student-days  were  over  he 
spent  some  two  years  in  Rome — a  city  which 
he  felt  to  be  strangely  familiar,  thus  offering  a 
theme  for  speculation  to  the  believer  in  palin- 
genesis. His  manner  of  life  is  simple,  as  befits 
a  mystic  ;  the  vegetarian  may  number  him 
in  the  list  of  the  enlightened  ;  and  his  pleasures 
are  those  of  the  intellect.  Often  might  a  friend, 
having  walked  through  the  little  garden,  come 
into  the  house  to  find  him  absorbed  in  a  brilliant 
rendering  of  some  Wagnerian  masterpiece,  or 
studying  with  the  firmest  concentration  some 
recent  work  on  evolution  or  biology.  In  these 
days,  when  life  is  losing  continually  more  and 
more   of  its  ancient   dignity,   when   occultism, 


AI 


xviii  Jean  Delville 

above  all  else,  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
commercial,  unreligious,  and  vulgar  persons, 
it  is  an  inspiration  to  receive  the  friendship  of 
a  man  like  M.  Delville,  whose  life  is  worthy  of 
his  great  religion,  who  retains  not  a  little  of 
the  grandeur  which  caused  the  occultists  of  old 
time  to  be  so  greatly  honoured,  who  realizes 
the  wonder  of  existence,  the  sublimity  of  the 
universe,  and  the  potential  godhead  of  man. 
Almost  alone  he  is  combatting,  year  after  year, 
the  inane  but  popular  painting  of  our  time, 
setting  forth  in  daily  life  and  in  some  of  the  best 
of  the  Belgian  reviews  that  conception  of  art 
which  he  formulates  in  the  present  work.  It 
is  with  deep  interest  that  we  who  are  his  allies 
will  watch  the  reception  given  to  it  in  England. 
It  is  a  book  which  proclaims,  not  a  new  and 
unrelated  art,  but  the  necessity  of  applying 
some  new  inspiration  to  the  incomparable 
traditions  of  the  past  :  a  book  which  opposes 
all  that  is  commonly  praised  in  the  art  of  our 
period  ;  a  book  which  we  who  are  with  him 
can  only  regard  as  the  work  of  a  great  man  who 
writes  in  a  trivial  and  materialistic  age. 

C.  B. 


Introductory  Note  to 
44  The  New  Mission  of  Art  " 

By  Edouard  Schure 

THIS  is  the  book  of  a  true  young  man  ; 
a  book  of  courage  and  nobility,  a  sign 
of  light  in  times  of  darkness.  The  work 
of  a  thinker,  artist,  and  one  inspired,  a  testimony 
to  his  knowledge,  enthusiasm,  and  faith,  it  is 
designed  to  be  a  work  of  initiation  and 
renovation. 

It  is  not  the  first  time  that  the  attempt 
has  been  made  nowadays  to  deduce  the  laws 
of  Beauty  from  esoteric  teaching,  that  is, 
from  the  eternal  philosophy  in  the  depths  of 
the  soul,  in  order  to  cast  the  horoscope  of  con- 
temporary art.  But  it  is  the  first  time  that  a 
painter  has  done  so,  one,  moreover,  unattached 
to  any  party,  church,  or  school,  with  the  delight- 
ful ingenuousness  of  a  pure  soul,  a  manly  spirit, 
and  an  upright  conscience. 

"  The  Mission  of  Art,"  by  Jean  Delville,  is 
an  exposition  of  perfect  Idealism  according  to 
universal  Theosophy.  This  requires  explanation. 

The  nineteenth  century  began  with  that 
great  awakening  in  literature  and  art  which  it 
has  been  agreed  to  term  Romanticism.  An 
instinctive  reaction  against  academic  conven- 
tions, it  was  at  once  a  return  to  nature,  and 
a  sincere  and  splendid  advance  towards  the 
heights  of  the  Ideal.  It  produced  works  of  genius, 


xx  Introductory 

but  it  was  not  given  to  it  to  influence  our  civili- 
sation by  a  work  of  fruitful  education  or  definite 
construction,  because  it  was  not  built  on  firm 
foundations.  Romanticism  was  Idealism  without 
Idea.  By  that  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the 
poets  and  creative  artists  of  the  first  half  of  the 
century,  among  whom  are  to  be  numbered 
Chateaubriand,  Lamartine,  Vigny,  Ingres, 
Delacroix,  and  Theodore  Rousseau,  were  not 
inspired  in  their  great  works  by  lofty  ideas. 
I  merely  affirm  that  they  were  not  governed 
and  guided,  in  their  general  conception  of  Art, 
by  a  clear  and  broad  synthesis.  Let  me  be 
understood.  Neither  the  poet  or  artist  ought 
to  be  professed  philosophers,  but  they  need,  in 
order  to  exercise  their  functions  to  their  fullest 
extent,  to  live  in  an  atmosphere  of  organic 
philosophy  and  a  living  religion — unless  they 
are  strong  enough  to  create  a  philosophy  and 
religion  for  themselves,  moulding  to  it  through 
strife  and  sorrow  the  children  of  their  thought 
—as  is  the  case  with  the  few  Titans,  Lucifers, 
and  Prometheuses  of  Art.  Romanticism  had 
neither  this  atmosphere  nor  these  giant  creators- 
Hence  its  uncertainty  and  weakness.  Without 
a  compass,  without  a  rallying  point,  it  was 
soon  disintegrated  and  driven  out  of  its  course. 
In  proportion  as  the  influence  of  the  Kantian 
and  Hegelian  philosophy,  by  which  indirectly 
it  was  governed,  began  to  wane,  in  proportion 
as  its  place  was  taken  by  the  Positivism  of 


Introductory  xxi 

Auguste  Comte  and  all  his  disciples,  so  Roman- 
ticism wavered  and  fell  back  in  confusion  before 
the  triumph  of  Naturalism  and  its  mongrel 
followers. 

Whether  the  artist  wish  it  or  no,  whether 
he  denies  it  or  not,  all  art,  whatever  it  may 
be,  corresponds  to  a  philosophy.  Instinctively 
or  consciously  his  method  is  governed  by  a 
certain  way  of  looking  at  nature  and  considering 
man.  Naturalism  is  the  assertion  of  appearances, 
the  faith  in  instinct,  in  the  fecundity  of  physical 
life  pure  and  simple,  as  Zola  declares  with 
such  honest  simplicity.  The  naturalism  in 
favour  at  present  exactly  reflects  the  material- 
istic teaching  of  philosophy.  Now,  not  only 
has  this  naturalism  deplorably  narrowed  the 
horizon  of  thought,  but,  as  Jean  Delville  justly 
observes,  "  it  atrophies  the  ideal  creative  powers 
in  the  artist's  soul  by  snapping  the  links  that 
bind  it  to  the  spiritual  world."—"  Nature," 
says  the  author  of  The  Mission  of  Art  again, 
"  is  a  mingling  of  enchantment  and  terror,  of 
ecstasy  and  awe.  The  monstrous  intermingles 
with  the  divine.  It  is  a  wonderful  chaos  of 
secret  splendours."  The  poet,  as  far  as  he  is 
at  all  worthy  of  the  name,  will  ever  return  to 
thought,  which  implies  choice,  to  sentiment, 
which  presupposes  a  minimum  of  moral  and 
spiritual  life.  But  what  will  the  artist,  sculptor, 
or  painter  do,  without  any  other  guide  than 
animal  instinct  or  love  of  appearances  ?     We 


xxii  Introductory 

have  seen  the  results ;  we  see  them  still. 
"  They  have  blown  up  Parnassus,"  says  the 
young  artist  initiate  who  has  written  this 
book,  "  and  from  the  fragments  of  the  sacred 
hill  they  have  begun  to  hew  unsightly  abor- 
tions/' 

If  naturalism  in  art  corresponds  to  material- 
istic pantheism  in  philosophy,  impressionism, 
its  bastard  offspring,  corresponds  to  absolute 
scepticism  and  tosses  between  extremes  like 
a  wreck  drifting  upon  the  sea.  Impressionism 
springs  from  a  dim  perception  of  the  insufficiency 
of  naturalism  as  a  source  of  inspiration.  It 
throws  itself  into  impression  to  escape  from 
the  tyranny  of  appearances.  But,  lacking 
intellectual  principles,  it  escapes  it  only  to  fall 
under  the  tyranny  of  sensation  and  extravagant 
fancy.  Sometimes  it  delights  in  a  brutal  realism 
turning  the  painter  into  a  photographer,  and 
causing  the  stage  to  become  nothing  more  than 
a  cinematograph  of  life.  Sometimes  it  gets 
lost  in  a  vague  mysticism  without  form  and 
without  idea.  Nay  more,  for  hungering  after 
originality,  wishing  to  shock  the  eye  and  twist 
the  nerves,  it  plunges  finally  into  a  perverse 
pursuit  of  the  Ugly. 

Shakespeare,  that  learned  occultist,  who 
understood  nature  and  the  human  soul  so  well, 
beside  whom  our  poor  psychologists  are  but 
ignorant  apprentices,  Shakespeare  gives  to  the 
diabolic  powers  that  hover  about  mankind  to 


Introductory  xxiii 

urge  it  on  to  evil  a  terrible  weapon.  That 
weapon  is  the  aesthetic  creed  of  the  Ugly. 

"  Fair  is  foul,  and  foul  is  fair, 

Hover  through  the  fog  and  filthy  air."  * 

So  sing  the  witches  in  Macbeth  dancing  upon 
the  heath,  where  soon  they  will  weave  round 
the  hero  a  dark  spell,  which  will  cause  the  red 
spectre  of  murder  to  rise  in  his  soul. 

"  Fair  is  Foul !  "  This  arcanum  of  witchcraft, 
which  is  the  black  magic  of  evil,  has  been  used 
as  a  proverb  by  the  whole  school  of  amorphism 
and  debased  and  decadent  sestheticism,  which 
makes  a  wrong  and  distorted  application  of  it 
without  understanding  its  baneful  effects. 
Naturalism,  realism,  impressionism — variations, 
shades,  perversions  of  the  same  evil — absence 
of  principles  and  ideal  in  the  artist.  By  expelling 
the  ideal  from  art,  the  pretended  naturalism 
has  misunderstood  and  profaned  nature. 
Because,  considered  on  its  magnificent  entirety, 
nature  is  an  evolution  towards  Beauty  as 
humanity  is  an  ascent  towards  the  Ideal. 
Only  one  ought  to  divine  the  inner  meaning  of 
nature  and  humanity,  and  not  servilely  copy 
their  appearance  and  deformity.  Yes,  Art 
imitates  Nature,  but  does  so  in  order  to  complete 
it.  And  that  is  how  it  happens  that  Nature, 
insulted  and  profaned  by  short-sighted  careless 
advocates  of  naturalism,  has  avenged  herself 
by  causing  them  to  mistake  Ugliness  for  Beauty. 

*  Macbeth  I.  i. 


xxiv  Introductory 

Thanks  to  this  confusion,  the  better  of  them 
have  become  dangerous  madmen,  and  the  others 
mischievous  fools.  And  as  a  result  contemporary 
art  has  lost  its  strength,  and  become  over- 
whelmed by  the  disorder  and  anarchy  which 
we  see. 

But  in  the  midst  of  this  witches'  Sabbath 
of  grotesque  and  droll  apparitions,  there  arose, 
some  twenty  years  ago,  an  idealist  reaction  of 
which  few  people,  even  to-day,  suspect  the 
influence  and  import.  For,  to  estimate  the  force 
of  this  undercurrent,  it  must  be  known  whence 
it  comes.  Jean  Delville  explains  it  very  rightly, 
and  there  is  not  the  least  exaggeration  in  the 
following  words  as  decided  as  they  are  carefully 
weighed :  "  The  idealist  truth  is  about  to 
conquer  the  modern  world  with  a  methodical 
positive  certainty,  which  nothing  can  resist, 
since  it  is  the  luminous  sign  of  the  true  evolution 
of  the  spirit,  the  mediating  power  which  must 
re-establish  the  equilibrium  between  the  past, 
present,  and  future." 

How  has  that  movement  been  carried  on  in 
the  domain  of  the  plastic  arts  ?  To  the  honour 
of  art  and  artists  it  must  be  said  that  it  was 
through  the  painters  that  this  glorious  upward 
tendency  was  first  set  on  foot,  and  that  simul- 
taneously in  England  and  France.  Everyone  is 
now  acquainted,  through  the  remarkable  book 
of  M.  Robert  de  la  Sizeranne,  with  the  renais- 
sance   of    Contemporary    English    Painting,    of 


Introductory  xxv 

which  the  chief  representatives  are  Rossetti, 
Watts,  Holman  Hunt,  Herkomer,  Millais,  and 
Burne-Jones.  At  the  same  time  two  French 
painters  of  genius  were  assembling  a  young 
and  fearless  group  around  the  banner  of  idealist 
art.  I  speak  of  Puvis  de  Chavannes  and  Gustave 
Moreau.  The  former  effected  it  by  his  broad 
simplicity,  persuasive  steadfastness,  and  winning 
gentleness ;  the  latter  with  more  pride  and 
peculiarity,  but  with  a  rare  concentration  and 
intensity,  appreciated  only  in  one  of  the  elect. 
In  spite  of  all  national  and  individual  differences, 
there  may  be  observed  among  all  these  French 
and  English  painters  a  common  effort.  A 
return  to  the  severity  of  line,  a  search  for 
distinctive  characteristics,  of  beauty  through 
harmonious  composition,  a  profound  aspira- 
tion towards  poetry,  and  a  worship  of  the  ideal. 

Criticism,  which  is  not  usually  the  halting 
follower  of  genius,  decided,  after  a  hesitation 
due  to  its  dignity,  to  tread  in  the  path  of  the 
artists.  Nevertheless  art  criticism,  and  I  speak 
of  the  better  kind,  has  brought  to  light  the 
failings  of  philosophers  and  thinkers  who  ought 
to  shed  light  on  the  idealist  renaissance,  and 
who  contribute  rather  to  obscure  it. 

We  will  take  only  two  aesthetic  writers,  two 
of  the  most  celebrated  and  most  talked  of  : 
Ruskin  and  Tolstoi.  In  spite  of  their  many 
numerous  merits,  neither  of  them  perceives  the 
essential. 


xxvi  Introductory 

With  his  refined  sense  of  art  and  its  educa- 
tional mission,  it  is  not  a  utilitarian  and  vacillat- 
ing eclectic  like  Ruskin  who  can  point  out  to 
us  the  future  path  of  art.  In  spite  of  his  religion 
of  beauty  he  cannot  do  it,  because  he  does  not 
comprehend  its  sublime  origin,  its  generation 
through  the  Ideal  and  the  Mother-Idea.  His 
torch  burns  neither  with  sufficient  clearness 
nor  at  a  proper  altitude. 

Nor,  indeed,  is  it  the  great  and  venerable 
recluse  of  Iasnaia  Poliana  who  can  guide  us 
in  this  direction.  Tolstoi,  in  fact,  admits  no 
other  principle  of  art  but  the  moral.  He  does 
not  understand  the  essential  value  of  Beauty, 
the  harmony  of  Idea  and  Form,  that  is  to  say, 
the  supreme  principle  of  Art  and  its  true  power 
of  expansion.  Was  it  in  truth  worth  the  trouble, 
after  writing  great  novels  and  powerful  works 
concerned  with  morality  to  stoop  to  deny 
Sophocles,  Beethoven,  and  Wagner,  and  to 
reduce  art  to  a  sermon  for  the  use  of  Russian 
peasants  ?  And  to  think  that  there  are  Western 
circles  where  these  Boeotian  fancies  are  received 
like  Holy  Scripture !  It  is  but  another  striking 
proof  of  our  intellectual  abasement,  of  the 
futility  of  our  art,  and  the  poverty  of  our 
criticism.  Inspiration  cannot  be  commanded, 
and  genius  is  the  most  beautiful  gift  of  God. 
It  comes  when  it  wills,  and  when  it  must.  But 
it  can  be  prevented  from  coming  by  destroying 
the   hearths   and   temples   of  humanity,   as   it 


Introductory  xxvii 

may  be  attracted  by  preparing  for  it  a  cradle 
and  a  refuge. 

How,  then,  is  the  right  way  to  be  discovered  ? 
Which  is  the  safe  path  ?  Where  lead  those 
fertile  uplands  whose  pinnacles  are  bathed  in 
dazzling  light  ?  Salvation  will  follow  from  two 
things — the  first  of  which  is  concerned  with 
individuals,  and  the  latter  with  our  institutions 
of  public  education — in  the  knowledge  of  how 
to  discipline  the  Soul  and  of  a  return  to  Prin- 
ciples. By  these  words  I  am  far  from  summing 
up  the  noble  exposition  of  Jean  Delville,  but 
I  shall  at  least  have  imprinted  a  motto  on  the 
banner  he  unfolds  and  indicated  the  goal  at 
which  he  aims. 

"  The  artist  needs,"  says  this  young  painter, 
convinced  of  the  power  of  the  Soul  and  the 
Idea,  "  more  learning  and  sensibility — he  must 
receive  initiation.  He  owes  this  to  himself 
in  order  to  develop  his  intellectual  and  spiritual 
being."  And  later  :  "  The  people  are  only 
truly  great  before  God  and  before  Art  by  reason 
of  the  spirituality  which  emanates  from  their 
works.  .  .  .  My  hope  is  to  see  the  point 
of  view  of  artists  raised,  and  of  seeing  them 
definitely  engaged  themselves  in  the  evolution 
of  the  human  ideal,  so  that  their  individual 
psychology,  becoming  more  luminous,  shall 
glow  more  brightly  in  their  works." 

So  much  for  discipline  ;  let  us  come  to 
principles.    I  said  above  that  Romanticism  had 


xxviii  Introductory 

been  Idealism  without  Idea,  that  is,  without 
eternal  and  universal  Principles.  The  new  Art 
will  be  Idealism  with  Idea.  That  is  to  say,  it 
will  proceed  from  the  perfect  science  which  is 
itself  derived  from  complete  knowledge  of 
Oneself,  in  a  word  from  that  Theosophy  which 
is  such  a  transcendent  Biology. 

In  opposition  to  the  conventional  and  fossil- 
ising eclecticism  of  academies,  to  an  animal- 
like naturalism,  to  an  ephemeral  impressionism, 
Jean  Delville  places  Idealist  Art  entire  and 
absolute,  which  conforms  to  the  two  great 
scientific  laws  of  selection  and  synthesis.  He 
condenses  it  into  three  principles  : — 

(i.)  Spiritual  Beauty  (La  Beaute  spirituelle) , 

which  requires  lofty  conception,  Idea  ; 

(ii.)  Plastic    Beauty    (La    Beaute   plastique), 

by  which  is  meant  the  perfection  of 

forms  with  a  character  at  once  typical 

and  individual ; 

(iii.)  Technical  Beauty  (La  Beaute  technique), 

which    is    the    realizing    of    the    two 

former  in  a  perceptible  form. 

It  is  not  enough  to  be  acquainted  with  each 

of  these  principles  in  its  extent  and  depth,  and 

wishing  to  apply  all  three  to  a  work  of  art.    Its 

hierarchy  and  genesis  must  likewise  be  known. 

It  must  be  grasped  that  the  first  among  them 

—spiritual    beauty— is    the    essential,    central, 

and  generating  principle  in  particular.      This 

it  is  that  engenders  the  second,  as  the  second 


Introductory  xxix 

engenders  the  third.  It  is  from  Idea,  by  way  of 
Sentiment  and  Sensation,  that  a  work  of  art 
arises  in  the  artist's  spirit.  On  the  receptive 
hearer,  the  intelligent  spectator,  the  contrary 
effect  is  produced.  He  will  rise  from  Sensation 
to  Sentiment,  and  from  that  to  the  Idea,  and 
he  will  only  attain  the  true  aesthetic  emotion 
at  their  final  point,  when  he  embraces  Sentiment 
and  Sensation  in  the  primordial  and  final  unity 
of  the  Idea.  So  that  it  is  ever  the  Idea  which 
remains  the  generating  point  of  Beauty.  It 
engenders  the  Form  which  moulds  Matter,  as 
the  Spirit  creates  the  Soul,  and  the  Soul  fashions 
the  Body.  It  is  because  Materialism  holds  a 
contrary  view  that  it  is  radically  false,  philoso- 
phically, artistically,  and  socially  unsound. 
What  makes  every  real  work  of  art  of  interest 
is  that  it  reproduces  the  mystery  of  Creation 
which  operates  in  the  Microcosm  as  in  the 
Macrocosm,  in  Man  as  in  the  Universe.  It  shows 
us  likewise  the  Involution  of  spirit  within  matter, 
and  the  Evolution  of  matter  in  the  direction 
of  spirit.  But  the  artist  has  no  need  of  these 
formulae.  It  is  enough  for  him  to  recognize 
by  intuition  and  experience  the  hierarchy  of 
the  generating  Principles  of  Beauty.  For  so 
the  great  ones  worked  and  ever  will  work. 

To  demonstrate  the  fecundity  of  these  vital 
principles  would  necessitate  a  long  development 
and  all  the  detail  of  technical  applications  to 
architecture    and    music,    those    symbolic    and 


xxx  Introductory 

generalizing  arts,  to  sculpture,  painting,  and 
poetry,  those  living  and  human  arts,  and  finally 
to  their  synthesis — the  drama.  In  fact  to  create 
a  transcendent  system  of  aesthetics  it  would  be 
necessary  to  return  again  to  Number,  at  once 
the  source  of  Form  and  Harmony. 

Jean  Delville  wished  only  to  give  in  this 
book  the  higher  principles  of  the  plastic  arts, 
those  which  the  painter  and  sculptor  need  to 
illuminate  their  consciousness  and  put  life 
into  their  work.  He  has  done  so  as  an  artist 
and  philosopher.  Some  idealists,  perhaps,  will 
not  hold  the  same  view  with  regard  to  certain 
special  points.  For  my  part,  while  sharing  his 
philosophy,  I  should  be  less  severe  than  he  on 
landscape-painting,  and  I  should  hesitate  to 
banish  from  art  national  colour,  while  wishing 
that  it  should  be  through  inspiration  as  universal 
as  possible.  But  all  without  exception  will 
admire  with  me  the  Mother-Ideas  which  flash 
with  such  brilliance  throughout  these  pages, 
and  the  mighty  regenerating  breath  that 
emanates  from  them.  There  is  one  admirable 
passage  upon  "  the  nude,  which  brings  us  face 
to  face  with  the  enigma  of  life,  which  incor- 
porates universal  ideas,  and  reveals  to  us  the 
meaning  of  nature."  Michael  Angelo,  Leonardo 
de  Vinci,  and  Raphael,  would  shake  him  by 
both  hands.  There  are  others  in  the  vein  of 
Juvenal  upon  "  the  adultery  of  art  with 
materialism,"  upon  "  aesthetes  without  aesthetics, 


Introductory  xxxi 

dandified  triflers,  wild  irresponsibles,  incom- 
petent impostors,  and  sneering  eclectics."  This 
book  seems  written  in  a  single  burst,  under  an 
impulse  so  prolonged  and  impervious  that  the 
author  never  even  thought  of  dividing  it  into 
chapters.*  I  do  not  know  what  is  most  striking 
in  this  work,  at  once  so  youthful  and  so  mature, 
so  nervous  and  so  powerful — whether  the  artist's 
soul,  so  enthralled  by  eternal  Beauty  which 
can  be  felt  palpitating  in  every  line,  or  the 
spirit  of  the  initiated  philosopher,  which  rises 
so  easily  and  naturally  towards  divine  principles, 
or  the  proud  courage  of  the  young  warrior  of 
the  ideal,  who  flings  himself  into  the  midst 
of  the  combat,  fearless  of  blows  and  wounds, 
with  the  flaming  sword  of  speech  and  the  shield 
of  faith.  If  we  were  timorous  enough  to  recom- 
mend prudence  to  him,  he  would  reply  proudly  : 
"  The  artist  who  is  not  conscious  of  a  divine 
power  making  his  human  power  fruitful  of 
Beauty,  and  who,  in  the  depths  of  his  being, 
does  not  feel  the  God  of  Love  and  Harmony 
vibrate  with  which  worlds  and  races  of  men 
vibrate,  the  same  is  unworthy  of  civilisation." 
Artists  and  poets,  youthful  believers  in  Life 
and  the  Ideal,  read  this  book.  You  will  discover 
therein  new  paths  leading  to  the  secret  places 
of  Beauty  and  torches  to  light  your  way.  It 
announces  the  dawn  of  an  era  "  when  Art  will 
be  consecrated  by  Metaphysics  and  Initiation." 

*  This  has  been  done  in  the  present  edition. 


xxxii  Introductory 

On  the  one  hand  this  breviary  of  Beauty 
is  a  plain  synthesis  of  the  whole  evolutionary 
process  in  aesthetics  during  the  nineteenth 
century.  It  represents  its  closing  period.  On 
the  other  it  brings  before  our  eyes  something 
that  seems  like  a  white  road,  between  a  colon- 
nade of  marble,  leading  from  a  huge  pylon  and 
flanked  by  propylaea  towards  the  Temple  of 
perfect  Art — which,  let  us  hope,  will  be  that 
of  the  twentieth  century. 

EDOUARD  SCHURE. 


Preface 

THIS  book  does  not  claim  to  be  a  literary 
essay  or  a  treatise  of  philosophical  analysis. 
It  does  not  aim,  as  so  many  others 
have  done,  at  giving  a  cut-and-dried  recipe  for 
a  masterpiece  by  means  of  the  theory  of 
uniformity,  but  it  desires  to  urge  the  unfettered 
personality  of  the  artist  towards  a  higher 
Comprehension  of  Art  and  a  purer  Conception 
of  Beauty. 

In  writing  it  I  believe  that  I  have  fulfilled 
my  plain  and  honest  duty  as  an  artist. 

I  think  that  in  an  age,  and  in  a  country, 
in  which  materialism  in  art  is  still  supreme  this 
book  comes  in  good  time,  and  will  awaken  the 
conscience  dulled  by  various  pursuits  to  the 
true  power  of  Art,  that  is  to  say,  its  mission  to 
humanity. 

Materialism  is  the  artist's  foe,  because  it 
wastes  or  destroys  in  him  the  ideal  and  creative 
powers  of  his  being.  The  genius  of  art  is  not 
to  be  reconciled  to  the  ignoble  attitude  of 
materialism. 

The  laws  of  life  are  not  merely  physical  laws  , 
they  do  not  dwell  in  the  instinct,  but  in  the  spirit, 
whence  they  cause  the  being  to  be  evolved. 

The  experimental  proofs  of  the  existence  and 
survival  of  the  soul  have  been  scientifically 
established. 

Modern  Esthetics  ought  not  to  neglect  the 
consequences  of  those  proofs.   It  is  indispensable 

A2 


xxxiv  Preface 

that  the  artist  should  know  that  ideas,  figures, 
sentiments,  emotions,  sensations,  are  by  no 
means  simple  movements  of  organic  matter 
or  mechanical  vibrations.  He  must  understand 
the  ideal  part  that  his  soul  and  his  spirit  play 
in  the  divine  mystery  of  Nature. 

There  has  been  much  philosophising  about 
art.  For  the  most  part,  superficial  writers  on 
aesthetics  have  only  dealt  vaguely  with  this 
profound  and  difficult  subject,  which  requires 
something  beyond  taste  and  learning — 
initiation  ! 

And  with  respect  to  this  I  wish  it  to  be 
observed  that  the  use  in  this  book  of  the  terms 
spirit,  soul,  idea,  instinct,  astral,  mental, 
spiritual,  divine,  etc.,  is  by  no  means  the 
result  of  an  artificial  or  chance  terminology. 
These  words  signify  conditions  and  faculties 
of  being,  of  perceptible  realities,  and  I  am 
well  acquainted  with  the  part  which  these 
unseen  powers  and  conditions  play  in  the 
mysterious  moulding  of  the  aesthetic  concept. 
For  more  than  ten  years  I  have  devoted  precious 
hours  to  the  illuminating  study  of  occult 
psychology,  not  merely  in  a  speculative,  but 
in  an  experimental,  direction.  I  am  conscious 
of  the  value  and  importance  of  these  words. 

This  book,  then,  is  not  the  result  of  fancy. 
It  is  dedicated  chiefly  to  the  artists  of  Belgium, 
above  all  to  those  who  are  young,  since  they 
are  nearer    the  future.      And  I  could  say  to 


Preface  xxxv 

them  that  if  there  is  more  art  in  Nature  than 
in  a  School,  there  is  also  more  art  in  the  Ideal 
than  in  Nature. 

The  soul  of  a  nation,  capable  at  times  of 
strength  and  grandeur,  is  nevertheless  slow 
in  following  the  great  evolutionary  tendencies 
of  the  human  spirit.  The  national  materialism 
still  weighs  too  heavily  upon  it.  But  a  people 
is  only  truly  great  before  God  and  before  Art 
in  consideration  of  the  spirituality  which  is 
exhibited  in  its  works. 

The  races  which  produce  great  artists  are  those 
where  not  only  physical  beauty  is  met  with, 
but  where  beauty  is  found  in  the  heart  and 
in  the  soul. 

Unless  I  am  much  deceived,  national  soul 
is,  I  believe,  superior  to  the  national  character 
(temperament).  At  bottom  of  every  race  there 
is  something  very  pure,  very  bright,  and  very 
strong.  But  it  still  slumbers,  as  thought 
stupefied  by  the  fog  of  materialism  which 
surrounds  it. 

The  age  possesses  good  painters,  good 
sculptors.    It  has  no  great  artists. 

Why? 

Because  its  artistic  powers,  that  is  to  say, 
its  vigorous  capacity  for  painting  and  sculpture, 
have  not  been  put  at  the  service  of  the  Ideal, 
Spirit,  and  Beauty. 

And,  in  saying  that,  observe  that  I  am  not 
attempting  to  extol  a  literary  or  philosophical 


xxxvi  Preface 

art,  which  would  be  foolish  and  wrong.  Long 
ago  artists  like  Chenavard  and  Wiertz  showed 
the  hollowness  of  their  extravagant  art,  as  well 
as  the  decayed  schools  in  which  Form  was  no 
longer  a  matter  of  importance. 

I  dream  of  seeing  the  standpoint  of  artists 
raised,  and  of  seeing  them  return  once  for  all  to 
the  evolution  of  the  human  ideal,  so  that  their 
individual  knowledge  of  the  soul,  becoming  more 
luminous,  may  glow  with  purer  lustre  in  their 
works.  Has  any  one  seriously  reflected  on  the 
fresh  and  luxuriant  blossoming  of  art,  which 
may  originate,  on  the  threshold  of  the  twentieth 
century,  from  the  idealist  mode  of  thought  ? 

That  is  the  aim  of  my  very  humble  effort :  to 
awaken  latent  faculties,  so  as  to  broaden,  by 
making  it  more  spiritual,  the  basis  of  artistic 
growth. 

Perhaps  it  is  well  that  this  ardent  desire  for 
regeneration  should  come  from  a  simple  artist. 

Perhaps,  too — and  it  is  my  own  opinion — 
it  would  have  been  more  effectual  if  another 
than  I — someone  of  more  authority — had 
endeavoured  to  initiate  this. 

I  have  waited  for  that  man.  He  has  not 
come.  I  have  endeavoured  humbly  to  be  that 
man,  since  no  one  would  raise  his  voice  in  the 
name  of  pure  Beauty. 

Who,  then,  will  venture  to  reproach  me  with 
having  been  impatient  in  my  desire  for  the  Ideal 
through  Nature,  and  Beauty  through  Light  ? 


Preface  xxxvii 

I  do  not  know  what  welcome  will  be  given 
to  this  book  that  pleads  for  Spirituality  by 
artists  or  the  general  public. 

But  I  venture  to  say,  without  pride  and 
conscious  of  my  inferiority,  that  neither  Ruskin, 
with  his  inconsistent  and  refined  eclecticism, 
nor  Tolstoi,  in  spite  of  his  good  intentions, 
rendered  futile  by  such  sad  lack  of  aesthetic 
culture,  and  not  even  Peladan,*  so  lucid  in 
his  metaphysics,  but  whose  idealism  is  too 
aristocratic,  or  occasionally  too  lenient  to 
antiquated  conventions,  have  presented  a  clear 
conception  of  Art  as  being  evolved  agreeably 
to  all  the  creative  energies,  both  psychic  and 
natural,  of  the  harmonies  of  existence. 

If  some  narrow-minded  critics,  governed  by 
paltry  prejudice,  should  declare  that  it  is  not 
well  for  the  artist  to  take  up  the  pen,  common 
sense  must  ask  them  who  then  has  the  right 
to  impose  limits  on  the  way  in  which  the 
faculties  should  be  manifested. 

If  others  likewise,  confining  their  interest 
to  some  particular  locality,  and  disliking  the 
universal  principle  of  Idealism,  protest,  in  the 
name  of  what  they  call  "  national  art,"  what 
does  it  matter  ! 

The  Future  will  reply  to  them. 

JEAN    DELVILLE. 


*  Josephin  Peladan,  a  novelist  and  writer  on  art.  He  is  an  idealist, 
but  broad-minded  in  his  views.  His  chief  works  are  :  "  I.e  Vice  Supreme  "  ; 
"  Comment  on  devient  Mage,"  "  Comment  on  devient  Artiste,"  and  the 
tragedies  "  Babylon,"  "  La  Prometheide,"  and  "  CEdipe  et  le  Sphinx." 


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The 
New  Mission  of  Art 


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TLhe  IFlew  /HMssion  of  Hrt 

i 

The  Outlook  of  Modern  Art 

Influence  of  Nature  Study  on  Art — Narrow  View  of  Realism  and  Impres- 
sionism— Lack  of  Conscious  Effort — Genius  is  not  "  Unconscious  " 
— False  notions  of  Art  have  obscured  its  Mission — Absence  of  Beauty 
in  Modern  Art. 

IN  no  age  of  humanity,  at  no  period  of  the 
history  of  Art,  have  the  works  of  Nature 
been  more  loved,  studied,  felt,  and 
better  appreciated,  seemingly,  by  our  poets, 
our  men  of  science,  and  our  artists.  Certainly 
they  have  exercised  over  modern  minds,  and 
over  the  sensitivity  of  human  beings,  on  the 
whole,  often  a  fruitful  influence,  from  certain 
points  of  view,  but  since  we  are  so  under  the 
spell  of  visible  things,  so  confined  in  our  percep- 
tions to  objects  near  at  hand,  we  are  forgetful 
of  their  concealed,  mysterious,  and  divine 
meaning. 

Accustomed  to  the  emotion  of  the  moment, 
which  in  this  world  seems  to  be  enough,  the 
modern  eye  can  no  longer  see  the  ideal  significa- 
tion of  natural  forms. 

For  the  painter — and  contemporary  criticism 
strongly  encourages  him  in  these  narrow  ideas 
— creation  is  nothing  more  than  a  superficial 
panorama  of  pleasurable  sights.  Impressionism, 
the  school  of  those  who  are  weak  and  guided 
by  instinct,   has  proved  that,   as  far  as  it  is 


4  The  Outlook 

concerned,  Realism  amounts  to  a  few  invariable 
simple  tricks  of  the  palette  and  that  the 
moments  of  eternity  which  it  pretends  to  know 
how  to  place  on  the  canvas  are  confined  to  an 
aimless  and  sorry  display  of  fireworks,  which 
have  only  resulted  in  the  negation  of  Form, 
on  which  all  images  of  Life  must  depend  ! 

The  eye  of  the  realist  painter  looks  out  upon 
Nature  to  receive  a  mechanical  impression,  like 
an  animal  :  he  looks  without  seeing  !  His  gaze 
wanders  over  objects  casually.  Wherever  there 
is  every  beauty  in  Nature,  he  only  sees  a 
pretext  for  optical  vibrations.  A  kind  of 
amorphous  pantheism,  steeping  his  intellectual 
powers  in  the  emotional  unconsciousness  of 
instinct  and  confusing  aesthetic  emotion  with 
that  of  the  animal,  has  made  the  artist  a 
haphazard  being  ;  that  is  to  say,  one  whose 
characteristics  as  an  individual  have  become 
that  of  a  whole  class.  His  vision  is  that  of  one 
who  looks  on  a  thing  for  the  first  time  ;  his 
feelings  are  of  the  same  kind  :  like  those  of  a 
dog  or  cat  !  But  the  peculiar  nature  of  the 
artist,  his  power  of  selection,  which  ought  to 
enable  him  to  see  and  feel  differently  to  the 
average  man,  are  warped  or  destroyed  by  the 
debasing  pantheism  of  his  intellectual  degrada- 
tion. 

To  the  realistic  school  Nature  has  ceased  to 
be  a  revelation.  Even  those  who,  in  the  name 
of  Isis,  frantically  wave  the  red  flag  of  Life  and 


of  Modern  Art  5 

Realism,  are,  without  suspecting  it,  profaning 
Nature,  ever  so  inscrutable  and  so  fertile  ! 

The  Naturalism  of  the  present  time,  so 
insulting  to  Nature,  has  broken  the  bonds  which 
unite  it  to  the  spiritual  world.  The  threefold 
love  of  Life,  the  Ideal,  and  God,  is  so  narrowed 
in  the  soul  of  the  modern  artist,  the  love  of 
Beauty  has  so  completely  escaped  his  under- 
standing, that  genius  scarcely  now  illuminates 
any  work. 

Criticism — whose  mission  would  be  so  noble  if 
it  were  capable  of  accomplishing  it — has  become 
the  apologist  for  the  lack  of  conscious  effort. 
"  Genius  is  unconscious,"  it  does  not  cease  to 
echo  in  the  willing  ears  of  mighty  public  opinion. 
Vinci,  that  mighty  mind,  Vinci,  the  most 
theoretical  of  artists,  and  the  most  artistic  of 
learned  men — unconscious  !  ^Eschylus,  the 
Titanic  conceiver  of  that  "  Prometheus  "  in  which 
he  formulates  the  most  conscious  of  symbols — 
unconscious  !  Newton,  discovering  the  laws 
of  astronomy— unconscious  !  The  ingenious 
and  bewildering  inventor  of  the  astrological 
clock  of  Strasburg  Cathedral — unconscious  ! 
Raphael,  the  graceful  and  sublime  composer  of 
"  The  School  of  Athens  " — unconscious  !  Bach, 
the  mathematician  of  harmony,  Wagner,  ex- 
pounding his  musical  theories — unconscious  !  * 


*  Wagner's  literary  works,  including  "  Oper  und  Drama,"  "  Ueber 
das  Dirigiren,"  "  Das  Judenthum  in  der  Musik,"  were  published  at  Leipzig 
in  1871  in  nine  thick  volumes. 


6  The  Outlook 

Are  all  these  sublime  spirits,  who  could  seize 
a  portion  of  the  Universal  Light,  whence 
streams  the  life  of  the  whole,  shedding  its 
radiance  on  the  multitudes  unable  to  perceive 
it,  unconscious  ?  * 

That  is  where  the  lack  of  idealism,  or  the 
lack  of  knowledge,  must  lead. 

Genius  in  art,  the  ideal  in  art,  not  being 
conceived  as  the  penetration  of  spirit  into  life, 
it  is  natural  and  inevitable  that  aethestic 
conception  and  execution  should  become 
corrupted. 

That  mighty  faculty,  which  allows  the 
philosopher  to  arrange  his  ideas,  and  the 
artist  to  use  precision  and  a  sense  of  form 
in  the  creation  of  his  images,  is  not,  think  our 
modern  chroniclers  and  lovers  of  cheap  art,  a 
necessity  to  the  craftsman. 

A  painter  has  but  to  open  his  eyes,  and  the 
miracle  of  a  work  of  art  will  be  evolved  uncon- 
sciously !  The  Will,  that  mighty  creative  force 
which  is  to  be  observed  in  all  men  of  genius, 
and  developed  in  them  more  than  in  most 
human  beings,  need  not  be  brought  into  play. 
Artists,  you  are  only  organisms  which  perform 
their  functions  !  You  must  be  satisfied  with  that 
since  the  petty  critics  declare  it. 

But  Vinci  has  said  :  "  Painting  is  the  greatest 
mental  labour,  since  necessity  compels  the  painter's 

*  "  All  fine  imaginative  work  is  self-conscious  and  deliberate  .  .  . 
and  self-consciousness  and  the  critical  spirit  are  one"  (Oscar  Wilde. 
"  Intentions;'  p.  100). 


of  Modern  Art  7 

spirit  to  fuse  itself  with  the  very  spirit  of  nature, 
and  become  the  interpreter  between  nature  and 
art,  studying  it  to  perceive  the  causes  which  make 
objects  visible  to  us  and  under  what  laws." 

Is  not  this  clear  and  admirable  exposition 
of  Vinci's  attitude  towards  art  a  theme  for 
ridicule  to  the  petty  critics,  who  at  the  present 
time  cumber  the  daily  papers  with  their  ill- 
digested  and  foolish  opinions  ? 

And  how  few  artists  will  not  shrug  their 
shoulders  when  they  read  this  definition  by 
the  author  of  "  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi  " 
and  the  subtle  "  Gioconda  "  ? 

Contemporary  ideas  of  art,  praised  by  dilet- 
tanti, and  put  into  practice  by  the  up-to-date 
date  student,  have  so  overwhelmed  the  soul  in 
its  chaos  and  so  stifled  the  consciousness,  that 
it  will  take  some  time  before  the  heart  is  again 
opened  to  the  stirring  emotions  of  pure  Beauty. 

Acting  in  opposition  to  the  fundamental 
forces  of  their  nature,  yielding  to  the  yoke 
imposed  by  the  false  ideas  of  the  day,  artists, 
for  the  most  part,  have  lost  their  native  qualities 
and  the  moral  strength  which  constitute  the 
essence  of  their  individuality.  They  will  fall 
very  short  of  their  true  destiny  as  artists, 
because  they  have  allowed  themselves  to  come 
under  the  spell  of  a  baneful  creed  of  art. 

Thrown  into  this  world  "  by  a  decree  of  the 
supreme  powers,"  as  Baudelaire  has  said, 
coming  in  order  to   create  with  their  work  a 


8  The  Outlook 

Sign — for  a  work  of  art  is  a  sign,  a  perishable 
sign  representing  an  imperishable  idea,  an 
immortal  sentiment — they  have  lost  sight  of 
the  real  reason  of  their  existence,  nay  more, 
their  mission  ! 

They  have  indeed  lost  sight  of  themselves. 
They  do  not  know  their  real  worth,  not  taking 
into  account  the  mystery  of  which  they  are  the 
living  incarnations  amid  society. 

They  have  ended  by  believing — it  has  been 
dinned  into  them  in  every  tongue  ! — that  the 
heart  which  beats  in  their  breast,  the  brain 
which  throbs  in  their  temples,  their  hands,  the 
precious  hands  that  create,  that  their  whole 
being,  in  fact,  are  bound  by  the  same  condition 
of  life  and  the  same  faculties  as  those  of  the 
chimney-sweep  or  shoemaker. 

The  artist  has  to  some  extent  become  a 
creature  of  society.  Sad  to  say,  he  is  no  longer 
an  individual  in  the  true  psychological  sense. 

True  individualism  will  be  eclectic.  To  place 
in  one's  library  the  "  Divina  Commedia  "  by 
the  side  of  "  L'Assommoir  "  *  is  to  offer  proof 
of  a  deplorable  weakness  of  character,  and  to 
admire  equally  the  vulgar  trash  of  an  Ensor  f 
and  the  graceful  forms  of  a  Burne-Jones  is  to 
compromise  the  lofty  sentiment  of  Beauty  and 
Art  by  a  criminal  lack  of  good  taste. 

*  Zola's  novel,  well  known  in  its  dramatised  version  as  "  Drink." 
f  J.  Ensor,  a  Belgian  painter,  exhibitor  at  the  "  Cercle  des  Vingt." 
He  is  an  eccentric  painter,  loving  strange  combinations  of  colour  and 
inconsequent  fancies.    He  is  represented  in  the  Brussels  Gallery  by  "  The 
Lampman." 


of  Modern  Art  9 

It  is  from  this  preoccupation  with  feeling 
or  perceiving  like  the  majority,  the  mob,  from 
that  eager  interest  in  the  general,  that  those 
execrable  paradoxes  have  emanated  which  have 
given  rise  to  the  phrase  "  The  Socialising  of  Art," 
"  The  Democratising  of  Art." 

Realism,  by  reason  of  its  low  affinities,  must 
accompany  this  degraded  view  of  art.  We  have 
reached  that  stage.  The  exhibitions,  open  to 
works  defying  every  possible  law,  are  with  us 
to  prove  that  art,  when  it  is  not  based  on  the 
immutable  principles  of  Beauty,  can  give  birth 
to  ugly  and  senseless  things,  and  bring  the  Art 
of  our  divine  Masters  very  low  indeed. 

The  true  ideal  view  of  art,  the  only  one 
which  Art  needs  to  live  for  and  evolve,  has  been 
deserted  to  the  advantage  of  the  most  foolish 
abominations  of  realism.  They  have  made 
caricatures  instead  of  delineating  character. 
Under  the  pretext  of  colour  and  lighting,  there 
has  arisen  Impressionism,  that  neurotic  malady 
affecting  hand  and  eye,  and  in  the  name  of 
originality  they  have  begun  to  paint  prison  cells 
in  order  to  mingle  what  is  horrible  with  what  is 
unusual. 

Our  exhibitions,  both  those  held  every  three 
years  and  others,  are  flagrant  examples  of  a 
shameful  degradation,  if  we  may  venture  to 
confess  what  is  evident.  There  is,  too,  the 
inevitable  result  which  must  strike  at  the  very 
roots  of  the  existence,   generally  speaking,   of 


io  The  Outlook 

modern  art.  The  absence  of  idealism  in  a  work 
is  a  blemish.  Where  there  is  no  idealism,  there 
is  only  something  imperfect  or  meaningless, 
and  that  is  why  pictures  of  interiors,  flowers, 
still-life,  or  landscape,  will  never  be  the  subjects 
of  true  art.* 


*  Brussels  is  the  real  centre  of  Art  in  Belgium.  Excellent  triennial 
exhibitions  are  held  at  Ghent,  and  other  towns,  as  Liege,  Tournay,  Namur, 
Mons,  and  Spa,  also  have  periodical  exhibitions.  The  realism  of  the  Belgian, 
Baron  Henri  Leys  (1815-1869),  and  that  of  the  Frenchman,  Courbet,  had 
a  strong  influence  on  modern  Belgian  art.  Under  that  influence  at  Brussels 
was  founded  the  "  Free  Society  of  Fine  Arts  "  and  the  "  Cercle  des  Vingt," 
which  introduced  into  its  exhibitions  works  by  the  greatest  foreign  artists, 
however  widely  differing  in  aim  and  method,  thus  inculcating  the  principle 
of  "  individuality  in  art." 


II 

The  Nature  of  Idealism  :  the 
Threefold  Harmony 

Idealism  Spiritualises  Art — Influence  on  Consciousness  of  Spiritual  Vibra- 
tions— Threefold  base  of  Idealism :  Beauty  of  Idea,  Form,  and 
Execution — Choice  of  Artist  not  restricted  by  Idealism — Close  study 
of  Nature  necessitated  by  it — Impressionism  the  Poetry  of  the 
Moment :  Its  Fallacy — He  who  has  an  Ideal  not  therefore  an 
Idealist — Principle  of  Selection  in  Nature — Pure  Beauty  only  found 
in  the  realm  of  the  Ideal — Materialism  of  Modern  Art — Limitations 
of  Landscape — Evolution  of  a  Work  of  Art — Sensation,  Emotion, 
Conception. 

IDEALISM  and  ART  are  the  same  thing. 
But  the  Ideal  has  been  separated  from 
Art,  nay,  it  has  been  expelled  from  it  ! 
As  idealism  in  philosophy  is  equilibrium  in 
ideas  or  the  constant  search  for  psychic  perfec- 
tion, so  idealism  in  art  is  its  sublimation,  the 
introduction  of  Spirituality  into  Art. 

The  Idea,  in  the  metaphysical  or  occult 
sense,  is  Force,  the  universal  and  divine  force 
which  moves  worlds,  and  its  movement  is  the 
supreme  rhythm  whence  springs  the  harmonious 
working  of  Life. 

Where  there  is  no  thought,  there  is  no  life, 
no  creation.  The  modern  western  world  has 
become  unconscious  of  this  tremendous  power 
of  the  Ideal,  and  Art  inevitably  has  thus 
become  degraded.  This  ignorance  of  the 
creative  forces  of  thought  has,  nevertheless, 
obscured  and  diverted  towards  materialism  all 
modern  judgment.  Materialism  does  not  know 
how  ideas  and  thoughts  vibrate,  and  how  these 


12  The  Nature  of  Idealism  : 

vibrations  impinge  on  the  consciousness  of  the 
individual. 

And  yet  these  vibrations,  though  invisible  to 
the  greater  part  of  mankind,  are  able  to  exercise 
an  astounding  influence  over  the  mentality  of 
human  beings,  and  thus  assist  in  their  evolution. 
Before  works  of  genius  the  human  consciousness 
receives  mental  and  spiritual  vibrations,  which 
are  generated  by  the  force  of  the  idea  reflected. 
The  more  elevated,  pure,  and  sublime  a  work 
is,  the  more  the  inner  being,  coming  into 
contact  with  the  ideal  vibration  emanated  from 
it,  will  be  raised,  purified,  and  made  sublime. 
The  artist  who  is  not  ideal,  that  is  to  say,  the 
artist  who  does  not  know  that  every  form  must 
be  the  result  of  an  idea,  and  that  every  idea 
must  have  its  form,  the  artist,  in  short,  who 
does  not  know  that  Beauty  is  the  luminous 
conception  of  equilibrium  in  forms,  will  never 
have  any  influence  over  the  soul,  because  his 
works  will  be  really  without  thought,  that  is, 
without  life. 

The  Idea  is  the  emotion  of  the  Spirit  as 
Emotion  is  the  reflex  of  the  Soul. 

But  the  emotions  should  be  brought  into 
harmony.  The  artist,  for  instance,  should  not 
feel  that  nervous,  physical,  instinctive,  vibration 
produced  by  the  lower  nature.  Those  emotions 
do  not  offer  sufficient  security  to  give  assurance 
of  the  emotional  and  impulsive  higher  part. 

I  have  seen  silly  people  moved  to  tears  before 


The  Threefold  Harmony  13 

the  most  trifling  things,  and  remain  stolid  before 
masterpieces  or  impressive  sights.  I  have  seen 
artists  fall  into  an  ecstasy  before  "  pierrettes  " 
by  Willette,*  or  a  pig  more  or  less  well  painted, 
and  jest  at  the  tremendous  conceptions  of  a 
Michael  Angelo  ! 

We  see  that  emotion,  in  order  to  be  real, 
must  come  from  above,  and  ought  always  to  be 
purely  ideal. 

It  will  not  be  a  coarse  and  unhealthy 
emotion,  like  that  displayed  by  the  realist, 
impressionist,  and  amorphous  schools,  which 
will  influence  the  artist  in  the  elaboration  of 
his  work.  It  is  against  those  very  schools,  which 
are  destroying  contemporary  art,  and  whose 
victims  are  numberless,  that  the  Idealist  view 
of  art  is  attempting  to  bring  about  a  reaction. 
It  is  against  this  unintellectual,  inharmonious, 
debased,  and  revolutionary  art,  in  which  the 
elements  of  materialism  are  supreme,  and  where 
the  essential  dignity  of  Art  is  roughly  thrust 
aside,  that  the  Idealist  is  taking  his  stand  and 
asserting  himself. 

In  opposition  to  this  art,  so  lacking  in  the 
ideal,  where  eclecticism  barely  conceals  its 
shameless  favouring  of  commonplace  tendencies, 
as  incongruous  as  they  are  fruitless,  where 
empty  fancy  alone  replaces  the  science  of  art, 
the  idealist  tendency  upholds  the  principles  of 

*  Willette  (b.  1857),  a  prominent  French  caricaturist  and  black  and 
white  artist.  An  ideal  delineator  of  the  "  risque  "  side  of  contemporary  life. 


14  The  Nature  of  Idealism  : 

selection   and   construction,    arranged   on   this 
basis  of  artistic  perfection  : — 

Beauty  of  Idea  (La  Beaute  spirituelle) . 

Beauty  of  Form  (La  Beaute  plastique). 

Beauty  of  Execution  (La  Beaute  technique). 
And  all  those  who  have  not  been  able  to  pene- 
trate the  mystery  of  art,  who  do  not  perceive 
its  divine  mission,  and  who  do  not  understand 
the  sublime  origin  of  Beauty,  will  argue  in  vain 
against  this  truth. 

We  defy  anyone  who  should  attempt  to  refute 
or  deny  the  value  of  the  three  terms  which 
constitute,  in  our  eyes,  the  comprehensive 
unity  of  a  work  of  art  to  demonstrate  a  theory 
of  art  as  overwhelming  and  as  thorough  in 
which,  as  in  ours,  all  theories  should  be  contained 
or  a  tendency  so  predominant  and  perfect  which 
should  summarise,  as  ours  does,  all  that  is  best 
in  all  others. 

We  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  anyone 
who  shall  understand  the  exact  import  of  our 
proposition  will  be  convinced  that  it  formulates 
what  is  the  very  essence  of  art,  and  that  there 
is  no  other  by  which  the  personality  of  the 
artist  can  be  evolved  in  a  clearer  way. 

By  Beauty  of  Idea  (Beaute  Spirituelle)  is  to 
be  understood  a  lofty  conception  of  the  subject, 
this  of  itself  being  a  means  of  artistic  idealism. 
Then  follows  the  conception  of  beautiful,  noble, 
and  great  things.  The  choice  of  a  high  theme, 
so  that  the  painter  should  not  be  over-careful 


The  Threefold  Harmony  15 

in  the  mere  tricks  of  his  brush,  which  should 
never  be  the  end,  but  the  means.  That  is  Idea 
in  a  work. 

By  Beauty  of  Form  (Beaute  plastique)  is 
meant  the  striving  after  perfection  of  Form  ! 
the  choice  of  the  most  beautiful,  the  purest, 
most  perfect,  and  most  expressive  forms.  To 
reject  as  far  as  possible  in  one's  work  all  that 
does  not  aid  in  the  harmony  of  line,  and  to 
accept  nothing  misshapen  or  ugly.  Ugliness  is 
only  permissible  in  art  under  synthetic  or 
symbolic  forms.  It  appears  as  an  accident  of 
nature,  which  can  only  be  transferred  into  a 
work  in  its  finest  aspects,  when  the  typical 
becomes-  merged  in  what  is  individual  !  * 

By  Beauty  of  Execution  (Beaute  technique) 
we  mean  the  refinement  of  one's  craft  to  such 
a  point  that  it  does  not  predominate  in  the 
work  to  the  harm  of  the  expression.  The 
painter  ought  to  make  his  brush  a  wonderful 
instrument,  in  order  to  understand  how  best 
to  realise  his  conception  ;  technical  skill,  being 
the  means,  ought  to  be  put  at  the  service  of 
the  two  preceding  terms  in  order  to  approach 
Perfection.  Every  piece  of  handicraft  that  does 
not  realise  any  ideal  is  an  inferior  work,  a  dead 
work.  The  process  matters  little  ;  only  the 
technical  and  personal  quality  of  its  application 
is  of  importance. 

*  Watts'  pictures  of  "  Mammon  "  and  "  The  Minotaur  "  are  examples 
of  symbolic  ugliness. 


16  The  Nature  of  Idealism  : 

Idealists  have  been  reproached  heedlessly 
enough  with  being  "  exclusive,"  and  with 
wishing  to  impose  certain  subjects  on  the  artist. 
And  we  have  protested  each  time  that  we 
conveniently  could,  declaring  that  selection  is 
legitimate,  and  conforms  to  the  mysterious  laws 
of  nature. 

The  idealist  theory  of  art  imposes  no  subject  ; 
it  leaves  to  the  artist  every  liberty  to  create, 
but  urges  him  to  work  by  a  system  to  a  loftier 
result. 

The  hierarchy  of  art  is  based  on  the  hierarchy 
of  being.  Every  true  evolution  is  a  victory  over 
temperament  and  instinct.  The  artist  who 
cannot  master  the  fatal  forces  of  his  lower  self, 
so  as  to  consciously  bend  them  to  his  service, 
will  never  know  the  genius  of  Perfection,  the 
very  soul  of  Art  ! 

The  difference  which  lies  between  the 
Idealist  tendency  and  the  ordinary  schools  is 
that  it  is  based  upon  a  truth  drawn  from  the 
splendid  JVfystery  of  Life,  and  the  well-head  of 
the  purest  masterpieces,  and  that  it  adapts  the 
glorious  examples  of  the  Past  to  the  evolu- 
tionary impulses  of  the  Future,  in  order  to 
maintain  Art  in  the  high  spheres  of  human 
idealism,  whence  it  cannot  descend  without 
falling  into  decay.  Idealism  should  represent 
beauty  in  science,  and  science  in  beauty. 

I  know  that  most  people  absurdly  think  that 
idealism  in  art  is  but  an  empty  puff  of  pale 


I  'ange  (fernand  khnopf.) 


u  e  pagt   r  . 


The  Threefold  Harmony  17 

smoke  veiling  the  artist's  sight,  and  causing 
him  to  see  Nature  through  the  mist  of  a  book- 
man's dreams  in  which  the  images  of  life  are 
fashioned,  and  that  the  idealist  artist  disdains 
to  go  to  eternal  prolific  Nature.  We  have  often 
said  how  false  this  supposition  is,  and  how, 
on  the  contrary,  idealism  demands  that  Nature 
should  be  doubly  studied,  seeking  to  penetrate, 
not  only  into  its  mere  objective  aspect,  but  also 
into  the  mystic  essence  of  its  synthetic  meaning. 
The  work  of  art  in  which  there  does  not 
vibrate  a  harmonious  combination  of  all  the 
elements  which  constitute  life  and  the  ideal 
will  only  be  an  elementary  work.  What  will 
always  cause  the  inferiority  of  landscape  is  that 
it  will  only  be  able  to  translate  impressions. 
Now  the  poetry  of  Nature  has  other  mysteries 
than  those  which  the  realist  landscape-painters 
invariably  show  us,  too  limited  as  they  are 
in  their  scenes  of  country  life,  reduced  to  the 
mere  problem  of  natural  light,  whence  has 
sprung  that  modern  puerile  impressionism  so 
justly  criticised  by  Chavannes  *  :  "  The  Impres- 
sionists are  the  poets  of  the  Moment  (Poetes  de 

*  Puvis  de  Chavannes  (1824-1898)  was  the  son  of  a  mining  engineer 
at  Lyons.  He  was  bred  to  his  father's  profession,  but  after  a  visit  to  Italy 
he  determined  to  devote  himself  to  art.  He  attached  himself  for  a  short 
time  to  Scheffcr,  Delacroix,  and  Couture,  but  he  was  of  the  opinion  that 
he  gained  little  from  any  of  them.  His  early  work  was  loudly  decried  by 
the  critics,  but  he  found  warm  defenders  in  Theophile  Gautier  and  Theodore 
de  Banville.  In  1861  he  produced  a  great  impression  with  "  Peace  "  and 
"  War,"  one  of  which  was  purchased  for  the  museum  at  Amiens.  These 
pictures  inaugurated  a  great  series  of  decorative  works  which  won  for  him 
a  unique  position  in  French  art.  Chief  among  them  were  two  emblematical 
paintings  at  Marseilles,  the  "  Ludus  Pro  Patria  "  at  Amiens,  "  The  Sacred 
Grove  "  and  "  The  Vision  of  the  Antique  "  at  Lyons,  the  series  of  "  The 


18  The  Nature  of  Idealism  : 

I'Ephemere).  Observe  that  their  ideal  rests  upon 
a  natural  contradiction,  and  can  never  be  absolutely 
realised  ;  they  pretend  to  fix  the  passing  moment, 
the  fleeting  aspect  of  things.  Now  things,  in  their 
superficial  aspect,  are  so  changing  that  before  an 
effect  has  time  to  take  place  it  has  already  ceased 
to  exist." 

Why  are  some  critics  heard  strangely 
reproaching  the  idealist  movement  with  a 
pretended  "  exclusiveness,"  which  protests  with 
good  reason  at  the  heart-breaking  increase  of 
landscapes  and  their  accessories  :  "  There  are 
as  many  ideals  as  there  are  artists,"  they  cry, 
with  a  logic  which  M.  Prudhomme  would 
assuredly  envy. 

Evidently  every  artist  has  his  ideal.  The 
ideal  of  one  will  lie  in  painting  a  pan  of  roast 
chestnuts,  another  in  conscientiously  painting 
a  litter  of  pigs,  while  another  will  elevate  his 
soul,  as  a  man  and  an  artist,  towards  an  ideal 
of  beauty.     Then  every  artist,  whether  he  is  a 

Life  of  St.  Genevieve  "  and  "  The  Old  Age  of  St.  Genevieve  "  in  the 
Pantheon  at  Paris,  and  the  great  hemicycle  at  the  Sorbonne  symbolical 
of  Science,  Art,  and  Letters.  In  some  respects  his  position  among  French 
painters  is  somewhat  analagous  to  that  of  the  Pre- Raphaelites  in  England, 
but  he  was  without  their  romantic  sentiment.  His  compositions  were 
profoundly  influenced  by  his  study  of  the  antique,  and  aimed  at  simplicity 
of  idea  and  dignity  of  design.  He  was  distinguished  especially  from  the 
classical  school  which  preceded  him  by  the  rich  landscape  setting  in  which 
his  figures  were  placed  and  his  decorative  treatment  of  natural  objects. 
The  realist  school  charged  him  with  ignoring  Nature  ;  he  contended  that 
it  was  from  Nature  that  he  drew  his  inspiration.  His  works  were  mostly 
intended  to  decorate  large  buildings,  and  were  conceived  on  a  vast  scale. 
They  are  often  spoken  of  as  frescoes  ;  but  Chavannes  did  not  attempt 
fresco-painting,  preferring  to  paint  with  oil  on  canvas  which  was  afterwards 
applied  to  the  wall,  his  scheme  of  colour  being  subdued  in  order  to  har- 
monize with  the  architectural  environment. 


The  Threefold  Harmony  19 

student  of  nature  or  realism,  is  an  idealist  too  ! 
On  this  assumption,  directly  a  painter  covers  a 
bit  of  canvas  with  some  tubes  of  paint,  or  a 
sculptor  moulds  a  lump  of  clay  with  his  fingers, 
they  are  justified  in  calling  themselves  idealists. 

That  is  an  argument  which  it  is  no  use 
attempting  to  controvert.  In  the  eyes  of  many 
good  people  there  is  no  question  that  Francois 
Coppee  is  as  much  of  a  poet  as  Baudelaire  ! 

But  few  people  suspect  that  nature  is  itself, 
in  principle,  and  in  fact,  very  exclusive.  In 
every  rank  of  life,  whether  vegetable,  animal, 
or  human,  there  is  to  be  found  a  selective 
hierarchy.  Observe,  for  instance,  how  exclusive 
the  bee  is  in  the  choice  of  the  flowers  from  which 
it  gets  its  spoil.  O  you  of  the  pantheistic- 
eclectic  school,  will  you  find  fault  with  it  for 
that  ?  No,  because  you  know  that  it  is  seeking 
a  rare  and  precious  substance  which  every 
flower  does  not  possess  in  the  same  degree. 
Well,  the  idealist  is  something  like  a  bee,  who, 
in  obedience  to  Nature's  laws,  chooses  this 
and  rejects  that. 

Puvis  de  Chavannes,  who  always  uses  the 
lofty  language  of  the  Great  Masters,  has  not 
said  in  vain  :  "  Nature  contains  everything,  but 
in  a  confused  way.  It  must  be  formed  of  all  that 
is  the  residt  of  chance  or  accident,  of  all  that  is 
for  the  moment  inexpressive ;  that  is  to  say, 
which  does  not  tend  to  alter  our  thoughts.  In 
a  word,   we  may  say  that  Art  completes  what 


20  The  Nature  of  Idealism  : 

Nature  roughly   outlines,   and  speaks  the  word 
which  the  vastness  of  Nature  is  stammering." 

Baudelaire  himself  perceived  this  with 
terrible  clearness,  when  he  said :  "Although 
the  universal  principle  be  one,  Nature  never 
completes  anything." 

That  fine  thought  is  a  truth.  It  passes 
judgment  on  the  impressionist  view  of  nature, 
and  supports  artistic  idealism. 

Pure  Beauty,  pure  Harmony,  only  dwell  in 
the  world  of  the  Ideal. 

A  truth  that  modern  critics,  and  even  the 
majority  of  artists,  fail  to  understand  is  that 
Art  is  the  incarnation  of  the  Idea,  of  the  Word, 
under  the  forms  of  Nature.  It  is  because  they 
do  not  understand  this  definition  that  most 
of  them  lose  their  way  in  the  barren  discussions 
of  the  schools,  and  that  artists — the  Belgians, 
above  all ! — wallow  in  their  artistic  materialism 
which  limits  life  to  the  objective  world.  If  Art, 
speaking  from  the  point  of  view  of  socie-1 
does  not  aim  at  spiritualising  the  grossness  of 
popular  ideas,  it  is  right  to  ask  what  is  its  real 
utility,  or  rather  the  reason  for  its  existence. 
What  intellectual  emotion  can  be  aroused  by 
a  pile  of  draperies,  or  a  still-life  subject, 
whether  they  are  "  flambes  "  or  not  ?  How  can 
the  mind  feel  elevated  before  fish  or  oysters, 
a  bulldog,  or  a  donkey's  head,  soiled  linen, 
the  patches  on  the  trousers  of  a  workman  or 
peasant,  and  what  thoughts  are  likely  to  arise 


The  Threefold  Harmony  21 

before  a  landscape  more  or  less  well  painted  ? 
A  landscape,  an  element  of  decoration,  may 
make  us  dream  for  the  moment,  and  dreaming 
is  ever  an  inferior  condition  of  the  soul ! 

We  have  always  been  amused  at  the  bourgeois 
who  surrounds  himself  with  landscapes  to 
view  the  country  at  his  ease  because  he  knows 
it.  They  are  the  favourite  ornaments  of  good 
dining-rooms.  From  the  sensational  point  of 
view  what  comprises  the  charm  of  landscape  in 
Nature  is  the  perpetual  and  elusive  movement 
of  light  over  objects. 

The  landscape,  especially  the  landscape  of  the 
realist  painter,  is  the  art  of  the  uncultured 
bourgeoisie. 

In  a  landscape  we  do  not  get  beyond  the 
fleeting  and  personal  side  of  impression*  Every 
admirer  of  painted  scenery  is  ever  a  possible 
bourgeois,  who  only  feels  the  wish  to  journey 
in  imagination  to  some  nook  of  nature.  I  speak, 
be  it  understood,  of  those  invariable  common- 
place daubs  of  paint  where  the  artist  has  merely 
busied    himself    in    imitating    the    particular 


*  Perhaps  Landscape  possesses  an  inner  mystic  significance  which  has 
not  yet  been  fully  comprehended.  The  Irish  poet,  A.E.,  himself  a  painter 
of  imaginative  landscape,  says  :  "  A  great  landscape  is  the  expression  of 
a  mood  of  the  human  mind  as  definitely  as  music  or  poetry  is.  The 
artist  is  communicating  his  own  emotions.  There  is  some  mystic  signifi- 
cance in  the  colour  he  employs  ;  and  then  the  doorways  are  opened,  and 
we  pass  from  sense  into  soul.  We  are  looking  into  the  soul  when  we  look 
at  a  Turner,  Corot,  or  a  Whistler.  ...  No  one  can  say  how  far, 
Turner,  in  his  search  after  light,  had  not  journeyed  into  the  lost  Eden, 
and  he  himself  may  have  been  there  most  surely  at  the  last  when  his 
pictures  had  become  a  blaze  of  incoherent  light."  ("  On  Art  and  Literature,' ' 
1907). 


22  The  Nature  of  Idealism  : 

imperfections  of  some  piece  of  scenery.  Strictly 
speaking,  I  am  in  favour  of  an  imaginative 
landscape,  when  it  presents  to  my  eyes  the 
enchantments  of  fairyland.  The  works  of  the 
Englishman,  Turner,  are,  in  this  connection, 
a  magnificent  revelation.  The  ineffaceable 
impression  of  his  fantastic  landscapes  still 
glows  in  my  soul,  but  what  a  pity  that  this 
visionary  had  to  confine  his  faculties  to  atmos- 
pheric glories  alone  !  I  can  picture  to  myself 
with  enthusiasm  what  a  wonderful  and  potent 
artist  he  would  have  been  had  he  known  how 
to  combine  his  visions  of  magical  landscapes 
with  the  power  of  figure  composition  ! 

I  have  said  already,  and  I  like  to  repeat 
it,  that  Landscape  is  only  possible  and  tolerable 
in  art  so  far  as  it  serves  as  background  to  some 
human  action.  The  scenic  illusions  of  the  stage 
are  a  proof  of  what  I  advance. 

Never  did  landscape  receive  a  higher  poetic 
significance  than  in  the  Elysian  Fields  in 
Gliick's  "  Orpheus,"  because  never  has  it  so 
artistically  fulfilled  its  part  as  a  background. 
In  that  case,  landscape  was  what  it  ought 
always  to  be — the  pictured  space  across  which 
the  human  form  moves.  A  great  lesson  in  art 
is  to  be  derived  from  this  sublime  scene.  Gliick 
shows  himself  there  to  be  not  only  a  great 
musician,  but  also  a  great  painter. 

Landscape  means  background.  The  painter 
who   paints    a   landscape   under   the   pretence 


The  Threefold  Harmony  23 

of  merely  practising  his  palette  or  by  way  of  a 
study  will  be  doing  right.  He  will  be  wrong  every 
time  he  exhibits  this  acrobatic  feat  of  his  brush. 

Landscape,  as  far  as  pictures  are  concerned, 
is  one  of  the  illegitimate  forms  of  Art.  And, 
further,  it  is  the  product  of  a  decadence.  In 
fact,  landscape  entered  the  province  of  art 
at  the  time  when  the  great  Italian  art  was 
falling  into  decay.  Gradually  those  less  skilled 
diminished  the  representation  of  the  human 
form  in  their  increasing  pictures  of  Nature, 
and  nowadays  the  incapable  have  allowed  it 
to  completely  disappear.  It  may  be  said  that 
a  work  of  art  strictly  begins  by  being  a  Sensation 
— a  physical,  inferior,  realist  state  ;  an  Emotion 
— a  middle  state  in  which  the  soul  is  moved, 
and  sentiment  awakened ;  a  Conception — a 
loftier,  ideal,  and  spiritual  state.  What  is 
sensation  then  ?  For  the  most  part  artists  and 
critics  do  not  know  what  it  is.  They  say  very 
evasively,  defining  it  in  general  terms,  that  it 
is  "  the  vibration  of  our  whole  being,"  without 
knowing  either  how  or  from  where  this  vibra- 
tion comes. 

From  a  physiological,  as  well  as  psychological, 
point  of  view,  sensation  is  that  sensitive  force 
of  which  the  nerve  cells  are  the  conducting 
threads.  It  is  by  Sensation  that  the  sense 
perceptions  of  the  body  are  communicated  to 
the  Consciousness.  But  by  what  are  Life  and 
Will  communicated  to  this  Consciousness  ? 


24  The  Nature  of  Idealism  : 

By  the  centre  of  emotion  in  a  being  :  the 
heart.  Through  the  heart  indeed  we  feel 
sensations  of  pleasure  or  grief,  because  pure 
sensation  is  here  still  belonging  to  the  state 
of  instinct,  a  pleasure  or  a  grief  being  uncon- 
scious of  or  outside  our  will.  In  the  emotional 
centre,  the  heart,  which  draws  its  fluctuations 
from  these  elements  of  life  which  are  ever 
shifting  and  allied  to  the  soul,  we  reach  the  state 
of  emotion.  By  means  of  it  are  manifested 
sentiment,  the  passions,  love,  hatred,  etc. 
Finally  we  reach  the  mental  and  spiritual  state  ; 
that  is,  the  region  of  inspiration.  Through  that 
are  gained  the  perceptions  of  truth  or  false- 
hood, beauty  and  ugliness,  etc.  A  materialist 
writer  on  art,  Gabriel  Seailles,  has  formulated 
a  great  artistic  truth  without  suspecting  the 
occult  reality  of  what  it  conveys  :  "  An  image 
is  the  sensation  spiritualised."  It  is  sensation, 
which,  penetrating  the  higher  kinds  of  vibra- 
tions, is  transformed  to  such  a  degree  that  it 
becomes  perception. 

It  is  then  that  there  is  accomplished  what 
is  termed,  with  regard  to  a  philosopher,  the 
association  of  ideas,  and  with  regard  to  an 
artist,  the  formation  of  images  ;  it  is  then  that 
Sensation  is  transformed  into  Emotion,  and 
becomes,  under  the  complicated  action  of  the 
spiritual  forces  set  in  motion,  thought  and  will. 
That  is  where  creation  begins,  and  the  point 
whence  the  work  takes  shape.   The  organ  which 


The  Threefold  Harmony  25 

serves  for  the  psychic  transmission  of  thought 
is  the  brain.  Needless  to  say,  these  forces 
perform  their  functions  with  the  organs  more 
quickly  than  one  can  write  about  them.  Without 
attempting  to  explain  here  how  the  vibrations 
of  thought  act  on  the  matter  of  the  brain,  it 
is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  idea  is  transmitted 
with  the  rapidity  of  lightning. 

According  to  the  hierarchy  of  creative 
vibrations,  the  work  is  evolved  in  the  true 
artist  by  Idea,  Image,  and  Form.  The  idea 
is  the  mental  connexion  ;  the  image  is  the 
astral  connexion  ;  the  form  is  the  physical 
connexion.  The  physical  corresponds  with 
sensation  ;  the  astral  corresponds  with  emotion  ; 
the  mental  corresponds  with  inspiration. 

The  man  who  is  an  artist  is  then  impelled, 
impassioned,  or  inspired  according  to  the  centre 
which  acts  on  his  consciousness  ;  that  is  to 
say,  he  is  at  different  times  under  the  low 
domination  of  instinct,  the  body  ;  under  the 
intermediate  influence  of  sentimental  emotion, 
passion,  the  soul ;  and  under  the  higher  inspira- 
tion of  spirit,  the  psychic  being,  the  life  of 
intellect  and  will.  The  work,  considered  for 
the  sake  of  analogy  as  a  kind  of  being,  will 
have,  as  man  has,  a  Body,  Soul,  and  Spirit.  It 
will  possess,  then,  three  harmonious  influences 
forming  its  vital  unity,  namely,  a  plastic  Form, 
a  pure  Emotion  or  lofty  Sentiment,  and  an 
Idea.     To  be  complete,  proportionately  to  its 


26  The  Nature  of  Idealism 

origin,  a  work  of  art  should  show  the  twofold 
action  of  involution  through  the  Idea  to  the 
Form,  and  evolution  of  the  Form  towards  the 
Idea. 


Ill 

The  Principle  of  Beauty 

To  attain  Perfection,  Art  must  express  Beauty — Artistic  Laws  do  not 
interfere  with  the  Artist's  Personality — The  Artist  dependent  on 
Beauty — Beauty  an  Absolute  Principle — Necessity  for  studying  the 
Laws  of  Cosmic  Ideas — The  Art  of  the  Future  an  Art  of  lofty  Emotion 
and  Reason — The  Law  of  Beauty  the  Law  of  Life — Life  is  Harmony, 
Harmony  is  Beauty — The  Harmony  of  Sound  and  of  Form — The 
Physical  and  Mental  phases  of  Nature — The  Mirror  of  the  Divine — 
Modern  Ugliness  :    Academic,  Realistic,  Amorphous. 

ON  no  pretext  can  it  be  denied  that  the 
essential  end  of  Art  is  Perfection,  which 
is  nothing  more  than  Beauty  expressed 
by  means  and  pure  conceptions  of  everything 
ugly.  This  does  not  mean  that  Perfection  will 
be  found  under  the  limitations  of  an  ideal 
based  upon  an  immutable  formula  and  process. 
The  first  condition  of  a  work  is  that  it  shall 
be  beautiful.  But  beautiful  how,  and  in  what 
way  ?  Beautiful  in  itself,  the  eclectic  school 
will  invariably  reply  ;  that  is,  all  those  who 
have  only  a  poor  comprehension  of  art,  and 
who  do  not  know  upon  what  mysterious  and 
sublime  foundations  the  whole  theory  of  art  is 
reared.  A  work  of  art,  to  deserve  that  rare 
term,  must  be  beautiful  in  a  threefold  way,  or 
it  will  not  be  so  at  all.  I  know  that  to  demand 
this  requires  an  equilibrium  and  a  harmony 
in  the  creative  powers  of  the  artist  very  rarely 
met  with  in  this  age,  taking  into  consideration 
the  material  tendency  of  modern  ways  of 
thought,  and  the  weakness  of  artists  in  striving 
towards  perfection.  One  often  hears  it  said 
by  superficial  people,   and  I   have  often  seen 


28  The  Principle 

it  written  too,  that  it  is  dangerous  for  the 
development  of  personality  to  lay  down 
principles  for  artistic  creation.  From  that, 
say  they,  spring  conventions  (poncifs)  and 
schools.  There  is  no  absolute  Ideal,  shouts 
one  side  ;  there  is  no  absolute  Beauty,  shouts 
another.  Now  the  disastrous  error  of  the 
conventional  schools  simply  rests  in  wishing 
that  principle  should  replace  the  artist's 
personality ,  which  must  inevitably  result  in 
an  absurd  generalisation  ;  that  is,  a  "  poncif." 
What  constitutes  the  absurdity  and  poverty 
of  true  conventional  art  is  the  principle  of 
uniformity  in  composition  and  execution.  But 
to  deny  the  laws  of  art  on  account  of  an  error, 
either  of  a  special  or  general  character,  formu- 
lated by  a  school  that  has  gone  astray  is  to 
fall  into  the  same  absurdity  !  There  exists 
a  Law  of  Art,  as  there  exists  a  Universal  Law, 
mother  of  all  other  laws.  To  deny  the  existence 
of  Laws  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  proving 
oneself  to  be  insane,  or  unconscious,  which 
comes  almost  to  the  same  thing.  Beauty  has 
its  absolute  ideal,  as  mathematics  has  its 
absolute  number.  Just  as  the  mighty  harmony 
of  the  physical  and  moral  world  indicates 
and  reveals  to  us  the  evidence  of  an  immutable 
wisdom,  of  principles  and  eternal  laws,  and 
of  an  infinitely  active  creative  intelligence 
forming  the  Absolute,  so  in  the  same  way 
Art  has  its  absolute  principle. 


of  Beauty  29 

Many  eminent  writers  and  philosophers,  who 
are  still  victims  to  the  great  illusion  of  our 
modern  materialistic  individualism,  believe  that 
beauty  depends  on  the  individual  artistic 
genius  alone.  To  them  beauty  exists  only  so 
far  as  personality  makes  it  manifest,  and 
outside  personality  beauty  has  no  existence. 
They  declare  consequently  that  there  is  no 
ideal  absolute  beauty  at  all.  According  to 
this  untoward  theory,  well  designed  to  develop 
the  vanity  of  art  and  destroy  the  love  of  the 
Beautiful,  it  is  not  the  artist  who  depends  on 
Beauty,  but  Beauty  which  depends  on  the 
artist  !  And  that  is  equivalent  to  saying  that 
man  does  not  depend  on  Life,  but  Life  depends 
on  man,  or  that  it  is  not  Law  that  causes 
phenomena,  but  that  phenomena  is  the  cause 
of  Law.  As  a  mistaken  idea  of  metaphysics, 
a  mistaken  idea  of  art  criticism,  we  must  deplore 
all  its  manifold  consequences. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  that  if 
there  exists  an  absolute  principle  of  universal 
equilibrium  by  which  the  probelm  of  contra- 
diction is  solved,  there  exists  also  an  absolute 
principle  of  Beauty,  which  is  beyond  all  imper- 
fections. Beauty  could  not  be  the  unconscious 
consequence  of  the  play  of  our  fancy,  whether 
that  of  genius  or  not.  The  creative  intelligence 
of  the  artist  is  not  set  in  motion  by  the  mere 
accident  of  the  action  of  the  brain,  outside  the 
ideal  world. 


30  The  Principle 

The  artist,  in  order  to  evolve,  will  have 
to  extend  the  study  of  nature  to  the  great  laws 
of  cosmic  Ideas.  That  knowledge  will  urge  him 
to  penetrate  the  mystery  and  hidden  meaning 
in  the  forms  of  the  visible  World. 

He  will  have  thereafter  a  clearer  conception 
of  Life.  In  accordance  with  Truth,  by  the 
light  of  esoteric  Science,  he  will  perceive  more 
clearly  the  splendours  of  the  Divine,  the 
splendours  of  the  Universe,  and  the  splendours 
of  Man  ;  that  is,  eternal  Harmony  and  Beauty. 
The  artist  in  his  art,  as  the  sage  in  his  science, 
must  be  in  agreement  with  the  harmony  of 
the  world. 

As  matter  is  a  unity,  so  Beauty  is  a  unity, 
though  manifested  by  a  different  kind  of  vibra- 
tion. It  is  the  duty  of  the  artist  to  seek  this 
Beauty  through  the  various  degrees  in  which 
its  appearance  undergoes  alteration. 

The  Art  of  the  Future  will  inevitably  be  an 
art  of  lofty  emotion  and  lofty  reason,  or  it  will 
be  nothing  at  all.  "  The  artist  of  the  future,'' 
says  Peladan,  "  will  be  he  who  shall  consciously 
have  established  an  agreement  between  his  psychic 
personality  and  universal  science,  in  just  harmony 
with  Life  and  the  Ideal." 

The  Law  of  the  Beautiful,  which  in  itself 
comprises  the  whole  evolution  of  art,  is  the 
same,  to  use  an  analogy,  as  that  which  governs 
Life.  Pure  Beauty  reflects  the  essence  of  the 
World.     To  anlayse  Beauty  ;    that  is,  to  seek 


of  Beauty  31 

for  its  principles,  is  to  endeavour  to  learn  the 
causes  and  laws  of  universal  mystery. 

Beauty  is  the  synonym  of  Truth. 

God,  or,  for  greater  clearness,  the  Universal 
sum  of  Essence,  the  eternal  principle  of  that 
which  has,  is,  and  will  be,  is  manifested  in  Art  by 
the  same  laws  as  those  by  which  He  exhibits  His 
external  aspect  in  Nature  or  the  physical  plane. 

The  idea  of  God  corresponds  to  the  idea  of 
supreme  Harmony,  which  agrees  with  the  idea 
of  Unity.  Life  is  neither  unconscious  in  its 
creation,  nor  spontaneous  in  its  evolution. 
Life  is  Harmony  ;    Harmony  is  Beauty  ! 

Concerning  vision  as  much  as  hearing, 
harmony  does  not  belong  exclusively  to  the 
domains  of  music  or  sound.  As  sounds  are 
produced  by  the  vibrations  of  the  air,  colours 
are  produced  by  the  vibrations  of  ether.  It 
is  impossible  to  put  harmony  and  rhythm  in  an 
exclusive  category.  Rhythm,  or  harmony, 
exists  as  much  in  the  world  of  forms  as  in  that 
of  sound.  In  music  we  hear  harmony  ;  in 
plastic  art  we  see  harmony. 

Universal  Harmony,  the  divine  law  of  Equili- 
brium, which  is  in  beings  and  things,  will  be 
perceived  in  different  but  analogical  methods 
of  idealism,  as  real,  alive,  and  perceptible, 
in  the  works  of  a  Pheidias  or  De  Vinci,  as  in 
those  of  a  Beethoven  or  a  Wagner. 

For  between  the  sound  and  form  there  is 
a  mystic  communion  that  the  study  of  magical 


32  The  Principle 

incantations  will  especially  enable  one  to 
perceive  and  understand. 

The  creative  power  of  the  World  is  expressed 
by  Form.  The  divine  mirage  of  created  life, 
it  reveals  to  our  spiritual  gaze  the  mystery 
of  art,  for  Nature  is  not  art,  but  art  is  concealed 
in  Nature  like  a  supernatural  treasure.  Genius 
lies  in  seeing  the  glitter  of  this  treasure  through 
the  physical  density  of  matter. 

The  realist  or  impressionist  artist  is  only 
in  touch  with  the  physical  plane  of  Nature, 
the  lower  objective  plane. 

The  idealist  artist,  generally  speaking,  and 
genius,  in  particular,  are  in  touch  with  the 
mental  plane,  the  superior  subjective  plane. 

That  is  why  artists  of  genius  are  seers,  that 
there  are  exceptions,  and  that  mere  craftsmen 
are  innumerable  ! 

The  ideal  is  in  us,  and  we  are  in  the  ideal. 

The  spirit  seeks  or  guesses  at  the  spirit  of 
Nature,  which  is  the  secret  beauty  of  things, 
the  essential  image  beneath  the  image  of  sub- 
stance, the  subjective  form  under  the  objective 
form,  the  unseen  in  the  seen. 

Human  thought,  reflecting  God  and  Nature, 
is  evolved  in  a  similar  way  to  this.  Natural 
selection,  which  affects  both  the  vegetable  and 
animal  planes,  is  concerned  likewise  with 
humanity  or  the  plane  of  the  ideal. 

Occult  cosmogony  teaches  that  the  physical 
universe    is    the    materialisation    of    the    fluid 


of  Beauty  33 

universe.  In  fact  all  forms  of  Nature  pre-exist 
in  a  fluid  state  before  existing  in  a  state  of 
objective  matter.  The  great  cosmic  problem, 
as  far  as  natural  phenomena  (phenomenisme 
natnrant)  is  concerned,  can  have  no  other 
explanation,  and  as  long  as  positive  science 
refuses  to  recognise  this  elementary  and  experi- 
mental truth,  it  will  not  unravel  the  secrets 
of  matter,  which,  with  such  childish  pride,  it 
thinks  that  it  has  defined  ! 

The  creative  powers  which  are  manifested 
in  Nature  are  not  limited  to  the  laws  of  physical 
activity  alone,  based  upon  the  illusory  relation 
of  our  five  organic  senses. 

But  we  may  henceforth  declare,  in  spite  of 
the  blind  protest  of  narrow  minds,  that  what 
we  call  Reality  is  no  more  Truth  than  it  is 
Beauty,  of  which  it  only  contains  the  mysterious 
and  divine  germs. 

The  origin  of  the  Beautiful  is  the  origin  of 
Creation,  and  the  origin  of  Creation  is  God  ! 
Beauty  is  the  daughter  of  the  Absolute.  It  is 
its  most  harmonious  plastic  emanation.  It 
is  the  soul  of  Form,  the  reflection  of  the  Essence 
in  the  Substance.  It  is  the  truth  of  Essence 
in  the  falsity  of  Matter,  since,  as  a  lucid  philoso- 
pher has  put  it,  external  forms  exist,  but  are 
not. 

He  who  through  the  real  forms  can  see  the 
combination  of  the  three  powers,  the  three 
states,   the   three  mysterious  equilibriums,   he 

D 


34  The  Principle 

alone  will  understand  life  and  the  secret  of  its 
aesthetic  growth,  he  alone  will  understand  the 
power  of  Art  ! 

Art,  like  Life,  has  its  origin  in  God.  Like 
science,  Art  reveals  God.  Beauty  is  the  Mirror 
of  God. 

Every  work  that  does  not  cause  God  to  be 
felt  is  an  abortion,  the  lees  of  all  that  is  imperfect, 
the  ashes  of  empty  technique,  a  labour  false 
and  useless.  Whether  it  be  expressed  through 
Evil  or  Good,  through  sin  or  prayer,  Beauty 
must  be  either  the  sullied  mirror  or  the  open 
stainless  sky,  o'er  which  is  wafted  the  terrible 
and  sublime  thrills  of  the  Divine. 

But  how  degrading  to  modern  art  is  the 
impertinence  of  inferior  artists  who  abuse  form 
in  every  possible  way  in  their  clumsy  abomina- 
tions, their  endeavours  to  be  archaic,  and  their 
feeble  imitations  of  early  times  when  art  could 
still  only  stammer  ! 

It  is  in  Ugliness,  which  is  stamped  on  all  the 
strange  grimaces  of  elementary  expression,  all 
dark  forms  of  animalism,  the  pitiable  imprint 
of  some  embryonic  mystery,  that  degenerate 
imaginations,  artists  who  have  gone  astray, 
and  degraded  minds,  take  refuge. 

For  the  conventional  ugliness  of  academies 
they  have  substituted  the  ugliness  of  realism 
and  finally  the  ugliness  of  amorphousness. 

A  barren  infatuation,  induced  by  the  bad 
taste,  or  the  errors  of  a  few  idle  aesthetics  or 


of  Beauty  35 

artists,  lacking  balance,  has  brought  about  a 
return  to  the  dark  days  of  art  by  degrading  the 
human  form,  and  thus  confusing  the  expression 
of  moral  beauty  with  its  most  pitiful  elements. 
This  grotesque  retrogressive  idealism,  which 
is  the  negation  of  art  and  its  evolutionary 
impulse,  results  in  corrupting  the  artist's 
personality  or  making  him  return  to  his  child- 
hood. 


IV 

The  Importance  of  Theory 

Harmony  of  the  Natural,  the  Human  and  the  Divine — Animal  Perception 
of  Colour — Colour  a  Medium  of  Expression,  not  an  End — Objections 
to  Idealist  Theory — Need  for  Theory  in  order  to  conceive  "  The 
Universal  " — Every  Genius  is  a  Theorist — What  is  the  Beautiful  ? — 
Shortcomings  of  Academic  and  Scientific  Methods — The  Poetry  of 
Things  and  the  Poetry  of  Ideas — The  Salvation  of  ./Esthetics— 
The  Artist  must  follow  the  Living  Tradition,  not  the  Dead. 

A  WORK  of  idealism,  then,  is  that  in  which 
the  three  great  Words  of  Life  are  brought 
into  harmony :  the  Natural,  the 
Human,  the  Divine.  To  reach  that  degree  of 
artistic  merit — which  is  not  attained  at  the  first 
attempt,  I  am  quite  convinced  ! — there  must 
be  found  in  the  work  the  purest  idea  within  the 
scope  of  the  mind,  the  most  beautiful  form  in 
the  whole  range  of  things  that  have  shape, 
and  the  most  perfect  technique  in  the  execution. 
Without  idea,  the  work  fails  in  its  intellectual 
mission  ;  without  form,  it  fails  in  its  mission 
towards  nature  ;  without  technique,  it  fails  to 
reach  perfection.  No  wise  critic,  no  thoughtful 
lover  of  art,  no  intelligent  artist,  will  gainsay 
with  any  show  of  reason  this  tendency  of  idealism, 
which  is  pre-eminent  over  every  other  formula 
of  the  schools,  because  it  is  that  of  Art  as  a 
whole,  of  almighty  Art ;  and  nothing  will 
prevail  against  it  either  now  or  at  any  future 
time.  The  true  character  of  a  work  of  idealism 
is  to  be  found  in  the  equilibrium  which  governs 
its  production  ;  that  is,  in  preventing  either  the 
idea,  form,  or  technique  from  predominating 
to  the  detriment  of  one  or  other  of  the  three 


The  Importance  of  Theory  37 

essential  terms  ;  but  that  they  should  always 
be  balanced  as  far  as  possible  agreeably  in 
proportion  to  their  respective  value.  I  think 
it  may  be  of  use  to  cite  examples  with  regard 
to  this.  Wiertz,*  a  man  of  impulsive  imagination 
(imaginatif — impulsif),  that  is,  almost  insane 
according  to  pathology,  has  confusedly  expressed 
his  often  commonplace  ideas  in  chaotic  forms, 
and  with  a  deplorable  technique.  With  Wiertz 
the  imagination  in  its  degree  of  instinct  held 
sway  to  the  point  of  vertigo,fand  for  form 
allowed  him  only  the  ugliness  of  his  fantastic 
and  extravagant  Homeric  battles. 

As  an  example  of    a  different  kind,   I  will 
mention    De    Braeckeleer,f    a    man    of    small 

*  Antoine  Wiertz  (1806-1865)  occupies  a  unique  place  in  the  history 
of  Belgian  art.  Owing  to  his  dislike  for  parting  with  his  paintings,  he  long 
remained  little  known  outside  his  own  country,  and,  though  possessed 
of  strong  individuality,  left  behind  him  no  followers.  He  early  came  under 
the  spell  of  Rubens,  and  the  great  aim  of  his  life  was  to  rival  the  works 
of  that  master.  His  genius  was  of  such  an  eccentric  nature  that  his  work 
was  curiously  uneven.  Always  fantastic  and  extravagant,  he  was  often 
dominated  by  a  great  and  noble  impulse,  as  in  his  huge  canvases,  "  The 
Greeks  and  Trojans  contending  for  the  body  of  Patroclus,"  "  The  Triumph 
of  Christ,"  "  The  Revolt  of  Hell,"  and  "  The  Last  Cannon,"  but  at  other 
times  he  descended  to  what  was  meretricious  and  sensational.  Some  of 
his  work,  as  "  Hunger,  Madness,  and  Crime,"  "  Buried  Alive,"  "  The 
Thoughts  of  aSevered  Head,"  are  the  productions  of  a  morbid  and  neurotic 
fancy.  Not  content  with  oil  as  a  medium  for  painting  large  canvases 
he  set  to  work  to  discover  a  medium  for  himself.  He  eventually  painted 
most  of  his  works  in  a  lustreless  medium,  which  he  termed  "  peinture 
mate,"  very  coarse  in  quality,  and  looking  at  a  distance  like  a  rude  tapestry. 
He  endured  considerable  poverty,  but,  with  the  exception  of  portraits, 
refused  to  paint  for  money.  "  Keep  your  gold,"  on  one  occasion  he  said, 
"  it  is  the  murderer  of  art."  His  works  are  all  gathered,  as  in  his  lifetime, 
under  one  roof  in  the  "  Musee  Wiertz  "  at  Brussels. 

t  H.  de  Braeckeleer,  a  Belgian  painter,  a  pupil  of  Leys,  the  leader  of 
the  Realist  School.  His  subjects  are  mostly  interiors  painted  in  warm 
golden  tones.  He  is  represented  in  the  Brussels  gallery  by  "A 
Geographer,"  "  The  Interior  of  a  Farm,"  and  "  A  Shop." 


38  The  Importance 

intellect  bordering  on  degeneracy,  who  only 
knew  how  to  look  at  things  with  the  eye  of  an 
animal  ;  that  is,  according  to  the  receptive 
power  of  the  optic  nerves  rendered  more  or 
less  active  by  the  work  of  digestion.  If  a  cow, 
in  its  ruminating  state,  could  paint,  it  would  be 
the  finest  of  colourists,  its  retina  then  possessing 
an  extraordinary  visual  sensibility.  This  peculi- 
arity explains  why  the  realist  painters  who 
excel  in  colour  are  generally  great  eaters  and 
drinkers  ;  and  of  limited  intelligence.  And 
with  respect  to  this  I  invite  my  brother  painters 
to  make  a  little  experiment,  which  will  not  fail 
to  edify  them  :  While  fasting,  or  nearly  so, 
paint  some  object,  solely  from  an  objective 
point  of  view,  and  then  repaint  the  same  object 
during  the  process  of  digestion,  after  a  heavy 
meal.  Compare  the  two  studies  with  regard 
to  their  colour,  and  tell  me  if  that  done  under 
the  influence  of  digestion  will  not  be  richer  and 
more  glowing  than  the  other  ! 

It  must  be  understood  that  what  results 
from  this  particular  condition  will  be  in  propor- 
tion to  the  optic  power  of  the  retina.  The 
painter  who  is  not  a  colourist  will  not  any  the 
more  possess  the  gift  of  colour,  but  his  eye, 
influenced  more  or  less  by  organic  action,  by 
that  portion  of  vital  force  which  circulates  in 
the  organ,  conveyed  by  the  blood  globules  and 
induced  by  the  process  of  digestion,  will  be 
better  enabled  to  seize  the  appearance  of  colour. 


of  Theory  39 

I  allow  myself  to  make  this  observation,  based 
upon  a  theory,  which,  although  of  a  physiolo- 
gical nature,  proves  clearly  that  colour — as  far 
at  least  as  it  is  understood  by  the  realists, 
spottists,  and  dottists — is  not  by  any  means 
a  faculty  depending  on  the  artist's  genius. 
This  disconcerting  theory  proves  likewise  that 
colour  must  never  be  the  painter's  end,  but  his 
means  of  expression,  and  it  is  this  that  Dela- 
croix,* a  great,  but  intellectual,  colourist,  has 
so  forcibly  demonstrated  in  his  works  and 
expatiated  upon  in  his  writings.  Ever  new 
theories,  those  will  thoughtlessly  cry  who  seem 
not  to  have  observed  that  man  cannot  open  his 
mouth  or  take  up  his  pen  without  theorising  ! 
In  science,  theory  is  often  derived  from 
natural  phenomena,  but  it  may  be  said  that 
in  art  phenomena  emanates  from  theory. 
The  unknown  sublime  creator  of  the  Venus  of 
Milo,  to  reach  that  degree  of  beauty,  had  to 
theorise  as  much,  I  presume,  as  the  ingenious 
mechanician  Edison  had  to  do  in  order  to 
produce  his  phonograph. 

Laws    and    principles    exist    everywhere    in 
Nature.    The  law  or  the  principle  is  not  by  any 

*  Eugene  Delacroix  (179S—  1863x;  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  French 
historical  and  romantic  school.  He  refused  on  principle  to  go  to  Italy 
lest  the  old  masters,  either  in  spirit  or  manner,  should  impair  his  originality 
and  self-dependence.  He  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  first  modern 
painters  to  concern  himself  scientifically  with  the  reactions  of  comple- 
mentary colours,  for  he  is  said  to  have  made  observations  on  them  as  early 
as  1825,  anticipating  the  complete  exposition  of  Chevreul.  He  had  quantities 
of  little  wafers  of  each  colour,  with  which  he  tried  colour  effects.  He  was 
thus  the  forerunner  of  "  pointillisme." 


4°  The  Importance 

means  synonymous  with  the  formula.  Life  is 
the  expression  of  law.  Without  law  there  is 
no  life.  The  genius  is  not  he  who  discovers 
the  formula  but  the  law.  Whilst  the  formula 
limits  and  narrows  the  field  of  artistic  creation, 
the  law  enlarges,  broadens,  throws  light  upon 
it.  The  formula  is  the  barrier  which  closes  ; 
the  law  is  the  infinite  which  opens.  And  the 
infinite  is  not  disorder  or  chaos,  but  the  geometry 
of  ideas  wherein  the  mental  compass  of  genius 
measures  the  relations  of  God  with  the  world. 
A  theory  is  good  or  bad  according  to  the 
source  whence  it  originates.  If,  for  example, 
it  emanates  from  antiquated  artists,  frozen 
beneath  the  icy  breath  of  an  academic  clique, 
then,  and  only  then,  it  is  dead  before  it  is  born. 
Thence  assuredly  nothing  ideal  or  living  can 
come  !  But  if  the  theory  is  formed  in  the  name 
of  an  evolutionary  intellectual  impulse,  in  the 
full  sunlight  of  a  clear  and  powerful  vision,  why 
be  suspicious  of  it  and  treat  it  with  contempt  ? 
The  stock  phrases  habitually  used  as  objections 
to  the  idealist  theory  in  particular  are  :  "  Does 
the  nightingale  theorise  ?"  "  Has  a  bird  a  theory 
with  regard  to  the  construction  of  its  nest?" 
"  Do  bees  theorise  ?  "  And  in  this  way  puerilities 
are  piled  up,  without  it  being  seen  that  to 
establish  a  comparison  between  the  mechanical 
function  of  the  animal  and  the  creative  faculty 
of  man  is  utter  folly.  What  should  we  say  of 
a  musician  who  warbled  for  ever  two  or  three 


of  Theory  41 

identical  notes,  although  it  were  under  the 
brightest  of  moons  in  springtime  ?  We  will  not 
press  it.  But  in  what  way  may  it  be  answered  ? 
Has  the  "  Treatise  on  Painting,"  by  De  Vinci, 
who  laid  down  theories  even  with  regard  to 
technical  rules,  prevented  the  works  of  that 
glorious  master  from  shedding  their  lustre 
through  the  ages  ?  Has  theory  aged  him  ? 
No.  It  makes  him  grow  ever  younger,  and 
future  generations  will  only  bow  lower  to 
him  ! 

A  fruitful  and  expansive  theory  does  not 
pretend  to  do  more  than  to  instil  into  art 
an  evolutionary  process,  and  to  offer  to  the 
artist's  comprehension  an  orientation  favourable 
to  the  development  of  his  latent  powers.  Theory 
which  pretended  to  give  talent  or  genius  to 
those  who  had  it  not  would  be  merely  foolish. 
Now,  idealism,  as  much  as  theory,  is  an  orienta- 
tion— an  ascending  orientation  ! 

Plato,  whom  many  read,  but  few  understand, 
has  said  clearly  that  the  duty  of  the  soul  is 
to  conceive  "  The  Universal."  Now,  to  conceive 
the  universal,  it  is  necessary  to  understand 
the  law,  the  principle.  But  the  simpleness  of 
common  philosophy,  and  the  lack  of  familiarity 
in  the  modern  mind  with  the  terminology  of 
metaphysics,  has  caused  many  critics  and  artists, 
confusing  the  law  with  the  formula  or  the 
principle  with  the  system,  to  fall  into  an 
absurd  passion  at  an  imaginary  obstacle. 


42  The  Importance 

The  mark  of  genius  is  the  knowledge  of  how 
to  find  laws  and  how  to  apply  them  to  its 
inspirations  and  whatever  it  produces. 
Pythagoras  must  seem  terribly  dull  to  those 
who  never  will  understand  his  theory  of 
Numbers,  a  theory  on  which  mathematics  and 
geometry  have  been  built.  Was  not  Wagner, 
that  tremendous  innovator,  a  passionate 
theorist  ?  And  so  were  Goethe  and  Baudelaire. 
Was  there  a  more  learned  theorist  than  Leonardo 
de  Vinci  ?  Does  not  the  anarchist,  so  particu- 
larly vehement  in  his  denial  of  everything, 
the  ardent  foe  of  every  principle,  of  every  law, 
enunciate  theories  in  order  to  compass  the  means 
of  destruction  ?  Whether  speaking  or  writing, 
affirmatively  or  negatively,  theories  must  still 
be  advanced ;  to  deny  eclecticism,  or  to  defend 
it,  is  to  continue  to  theorise. 

In  fact,  inferior  minds  are  ever  scared  by 
theory,  and  this  aversion  to  everything  theore- 
tical is  one  of  the  sad  symptoms  of  our  time. 
It  is  through  this  that  modern  times  have, 
unfortunately,  become  so  painfully  certain  that 
man  is  powerless  to  discover  the  Truth  or  the 
Absolute,  a  certainty  which  produces  that 
vague  intellectual  stupidity,  noticed  by 
Wronski,*  the  colossal  esoteric  mathematician, 
the  unrecognised  and  little  known  author  of 

*  Hoene  de  Wronski  in  1811  announced  a  general  method  of  solving 
all  equations,  giving  formulae  without  demonstration.  In  1817  the  Academy 
of  Sciences  of  Lisbon  offered  a  prize  for  the  demonstration  of  Wronski's 
formulas.    It  was  given  for  the  refutation  of  them. 


of  Theory  43 

"  The  Reformation  of  Human  Knowledge."  In 
the  province  of  contemporary  fine  art  for  the 
most  part  this  intellectual  stupidity  is  un- 
deniable. It  is  owing  to  it  that  they  have 
come  to  consider  as  superfluous  Style,  Propor- 
tion, Idea,  and  all  that  aids  in  the  search  of 
ideal  beauty.  When  we  think  of  the  Greek 
artists  passing  through  a  real  initiation,  before 
realising  works  of  such  imperishable  beauty, 
we  are  right  in  believing  that  theory  can  bring 
about  the  purification  of  aesthetics.  Compare 
the  artists  of  old  with  their  theories  with  those 
of  the  present  day  who  have  none  !  "  Admire 
the  beautiful  "  is  a  formula  of  eclecticism  which 
is  far  too  vague.  The  tradesman  will  fall  into 
an  ecstasy  before  the  most  ridiculous  productions 
under  the  pretence  that  he  admires  everything 
beautiful !  The  essential  thing  is  to  know  how 
to  discern  what  is  beautiful  from  what  is  not, 
in  Nature  as  in  the  Work.  These  are  the  very 
rudiments  of  aesthetics.  They  cannot  be  avoided, 
unless  one  would  remain  in  a  condition  of 
mediocrity  in  which  the  understanding  is 
warped. 

Between  the  retina  and  the  spirit  there  is 
the  same  difference  as  there  is  between  looking 
and  seeing.     Painters  like  Seurat  and  Signac,* 

*  Both  Seurat  (d.  1890)  and  Signac  are  prominent  Impressionists  and 
exponents  of  the  "  pointilliste  "  method.  The  former  is  said  to  have  been 
the  first  to  carry  into  practice  the  systematic  decomposition  of  colour  by 
this  method,  which  consists  in  the  intimate  juxtaposition  of  dots  of  colour. 
With  regard  to  their  theory  see  an  article  by  Signac,  "  D'Ettgdne  Delacroix 
au  Neo-Impressionisme."  (Revue  Blanche,  1898). 


44  The  Importance 

in  spite  of  their  analytical  qualities,  will  remain 
ineffective.  The  impressionist  creed  has  proved 
so  far  that  when  the  painter's  eye  is  disconnected 
from  his  soul,  his  spirit,  and  the  Ideal,  he  will 
only  be,  however  rational  his  process,  a  barren 
craftsman  and  not  an  artist.  The  scientific 
painters  have  forsaken  Beauty  as  much  as 
those  who  paint  academically.  Both  are  the 
slaves  of  method,  and  remain  without  inspira- 
tion, without  ideal. 

The  characteristic  of  modern  schools  which 
borrow  their  theories  from  pantheistic  material- 
ism, is  that  they  only  seek  the  poetry  of  Things, 
life  only  being  apparent  to  them  through  the 
senses  or  its  external  aspect,  whilst  idealism 
tends  to  perfection  by  the  search  and  assertion 
of  the  poetry  of  Ideas.  The  idealists  affirm 
the  power  of  Life,  but,  having  a  fuller  con- 
sciousness, they  have  a  deeper,  more  perfect, 
holier,  purer,  and  more  divine  conception  of 
Life. 

To  be  impatient  at  the  spiritualising  of  art 
is  to  be  wanting  in  clearness  of  thought.  For 
the  lover  of  art,  the  artist  and  the  philosopher, 
who  can  see  a  little  further  than  their  noses, 
the  elevation  of  the  Notion  can  rescue  Art 
from  the  degenerating  influence  of  materialism. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  initiate,  of  every  real 
lover  of  art,  of  every  undoubted  artist,  to  work 
for  the  Salvation  of  ^Esthetics.  "  As  a  first 
condition    of    this    Salvation,"    says    Peladan, 


of  Theory  45 

"  those  who  excel  in  technique  must  recognise 
the  rule  of  esthetics,  and  the  idealists  must  be 
infallible  in  technique ;  otherwise  they  will  not 
fulfil  their  great  mission  as  the  saviours  of  light." 

The  duty  of  present  artists  will  be  for  the  time 
not  to  give  themselves  up  to  false  traditions, 
nor  too  much  to  the  Realism  that  surrounds 
them,  in  order  that  they  may  reach  a  point  of 
equilibrium  with  regard  to  technique,  form, 
and  idea. 

If  masterpieces  seem  to  have  an  air  of  relation- 
ship about  them  it  is  because  the  masters  knew 
how  to  subordinate  their  Personality  to  the  unify- 
ing light  of  the  true  Tradition;  that  is,  the  whole 
of  the  great  laws  of  aesthetics.  The  artist  who 
is  at  the  same  time  possessed  of  high  sensibility 
and  high  discernment,  and  goes  to  Italy,  is 
better  enabled  to  understand  the  influence  of 
tradition,  which  keeps  the  artist's  conception 
in  the  higher  spheres  without  allowing  him  to 
descend  to  the  commonplace  or  to  individual 
mediocrity,  without  his  personality  suffering 
by  its  free  expansion.  There  is  a  dead  and  a 
living  tradition.  The  dead  is  that  which,  anni- 
hilating in  the  work  the  creative  personal  force, 
substitutes  for  it  the  uninspired  smooth  applica- 
tion of  school  formulae  ;  the  living  is  that  which 
is  in  eternal  accord  with  the  evolution  of  art 
in  general  and  with  the  evolution  of  personality 
in  particular,  ^schylus,  Sophocles,  Pheidias, 
Michael  Angelo,  Raphael,  De  Vinci,  in  the  same 


46  The  Importance 

way  as  Puvis  de  Chavannes,  Gustave  Moreau,* 
Burne-Jones,  Watts,  f  and  Wagner  are  of  the 
living  tradition  ;  while  Bandinelli,  Lebrun, 
Canova,  Chenavard,  Navez,  Bouguereau, 
Gallait,!  and  so  many  others,  are  of  the  dead. 
The  first  are  the  great  classics,  the  second  are 
governed  by  conventions.  The  great  classics 
are  those  who  are  greatly  inspired  ;  the  con- 
ventional are  those  whom  inspiration  has  for- 
saken.    Among  human  beings,  endowed  with 

*  Gustave  Moreau  (1826-1898)  (French),  endeavoured  in  every  way 
to  foster  Idealism  in  Art.  He  regarded  his  duties  as  a  professor  in  the 
"  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  "  as  a  real  apostleship.  He  endeavoured,  by 
assimilating  the  traditions  of  the  past,  to  create  for  himself  a  new  tongue 
in  which  to  give  utterance  to  the  deepest  emotions  of  the  soul.  He  revived 
old  myths  and  rejuvenated  old  symbols  to  represent  under  their  imagery 
the  moral  struggles  of  humanity.  He  bequeathed  his  house,  containing 
about  8,000  of  his  works,  to  the  State. 

t  "  He  believes  in  a  great  priesthood  of  arts If  anyone 

suggested  that  before  a  man  ventured  to  paint  pictures  or  to  daub  with 
plaster  he  should  be  initiated  with  some  awful  rites  in  some  vast 
and  crowded  national  temple,  should  swear  to  work  worthily  before  some 
tremendous  altar  or  over  some  symbolic  flame,  Millais  would  have  laughed 
heartily  at  the  idea,  and  Leighton  also.  But  it  would  not  seem  either 
absurd  or  unreasonable  to  Watts." — G.  K.  Chesterton  on  "  Watts." 

t  Bandinelli  (1487-1595),  Florentine  School;  historical  subjects- 
Charles  Le  Brun  (1619-1690),  French  School;  historical  ind  religious 
subjects.  Mme.  Lebrun  (1755-1842),  French  School ;  portraits,  landscape, 
and  history.  Anotonio  Canova  (1757-1882),  sculptor.  A.  W.  Bouguereau 
(b.  1825),  French  School ;  subjects  taken  from  the  antique  and  invested 
with  a  certain  modern  sentimentality.  Gallait  (1810-1887),  Belgian; 
mainly  historical  subjects  of  a  sentimental  character.  He  was  for  a  long 
time  the  leader  of  public  taste  in  Brussels.  Theophile  Gautier  wrote  of  him  : 
"  M.  Gallait  has  all  the  gifts  that  may  be  acquired  by  taste,  judgment,  and 
determination.  His  art  is  that  of  a  man  of  tact,  of  a  skilled  painter  happy 
in  his  dramatic  treatment,  but  superficial."  P.  J.  Chenavard,  French  School 
(b.  1808),  a  pupil  of  Ingres.  A  typical  painter  of  the  conventional  school  of 
the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  His  art  was  not  without  elevation 
of  thought,  but  very  weak  in  the  rendering  of  it.  He  had  ideas,  but  his 
method  of  expressing  them  was  frigid  and  uninspired.  F.  J.  Navez  (b.  1787), 
Belgian,  pupil  of  David,  and  painted  absurd  compositions  in  the  style  of 
his  master.  He  was,  however,  an  excellent  portrait  painter,  there  being  a 
strong  analogy  between  his  work  and  that  of  Raeburn. 


of  Theory  47 

intelligence  and  will  set  in  motion  by  their 
ideal  forces,  there  is  a  fatality  which  calculates, 
weighs,  and  measures  their  thoughts,  words, 
and  acts.  Genius  is  the  individuality  in  which 
are  most  perfectly  harmonised  the  Ego  and  the 
Universal,  personality,  and  tradition. 

The  creative  intelligence  of  the  artist  cannot 
be  separated  from  the  ideal  world. 


V 

The  Mystery  of  Form 

Art  Evolved  from  Line  the  Essence  of  Form — Form  the  Mystery  of  the 
Physical  World — Cult  of  Form  indicative  of  High  State  of  Civilisation 
— Aid  of  Music  in  Comprehension  of  Form — Intervention  of  the  Spirit 
necessary  for  the  Comprehension  of  Beauty — Style  should  be  neither 
Academic  nor  Anarchical,  but  in  Harmony  with  the  Artist's  Soul — 
"  The  Beautiful  is  the  Ugly  "  :  Misconception  with  regard  to  the 
Phrase — Greek  Ideals — Need  for  Initiation — Productions  of  Genius 
not  Spontaneous — Moral  Significance  of  Nudity — It  Reveals  the  true 
sense  of  Nature — Is  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  ^Esthetics — Art  can  be 
regenerated  by  a  study  of  the  Nude — It  evokes  Humanity  and  the 
whole  Beauty  of  Life. 

ART  began  with  Design,  with  Line,  and 
Line  is  the  very  essence  of  Form.  It 
is  important,  I  think,  often  to  remember 
this  at  a  time  like  ours  when  works  most  lacking 
in  form  pass  as  archetypes  of  schools  called 
"  Free."  j  The  decadence  of  Art  can  be  seen 
in  the  carelessness  or  incapability  of  artists 
ignorant  of  design,  and  if  nowadays  the  Ugly 
has  taken  the  place  of  the  Beautiful  in  the  arts, 
it  is,  we  may  be  certain,  because  the  abstract 
and  vital  sense  of  Form  has  been  lost.  Is  not 
Line  the  basis  of  all  Architecture,  of  all  Sculp- 
ture ?  In  the  works  of  Nature  Line  is  the 
signature  of  God.  Line,  let  us  never  forget,  is 
the  symbolical  expression  of  the  mysterious 
relations  which  exist  between  Spirit  and 
Matter.  Line  or  Form  is  the  mystery  of  the 
physical  world,  the  mystery  of  Art,  the  mystery 
of  Beauty.  It  is  only  when  civilisations  reach 
the  maturity  of  their  intellectual  power  that 

t  The  "  Societe  Libre  "  was  founded  in  1868,  the  "  Libre  Esthetique," 
a  continuation  of  the  Twenty  Club,  in  1894. 


l'homme  dieu  (j.  delville). 


[To  face  page  49. 


The  Mystery  of  Form  49 

the  cult  of  Form  is  developed  and  spread, 
because  the  comprehension  of  Form  always 
necessitates  in  a  people,  if  not  a  complete 
education,  a  high  state  of  mental  development. 
A  great  and  sublime  mystery  links  the  Idea 

with  the  Form. 

It  may  be  said  that  if  music,  considered  as 
social  magnetism,  helps  towards  solidarity  of 
life  in  rising  civilisations,  as  well  as  in  their 
intellectual  refinement,  it  is  still  nothing  more 
than  a  marvellous  means  of  preparing  the  race, 
the  people,  for  an  aesthetic  comprehension  of 
Form.  Music  is  the  method  of  expression  which 
best  corresponds  to  the  unconscious  sensibility 
of  the  crowd,  but  Form,  less  vague  and  further 
separated  from  the  inferior  condition  where  the 
impression  is  received  through  the  nerves,  will 
ever  remain  in  a  select  sphere  corresponding 
best  with  the  clear  perceptions  of  the  few.* 
The  great  Goethe  has  said  :  "  The  soul  conveys 
into  a  design  a  portion  of  its  essential  being,  and 
the  most  profound  secrets  of  creation  are  precisely 
those  which,  with  regard  to  its  basis,  rest  upon 
design  and  form."  And  has  not  Goethe  also 
said  that  design  is  "  the  most  moral  of  things 
requiring  skill?"  If  I  recall  the  fine  phrase 
of  that  sublime  spirit  it  is  in  order  that  the 
capital  importance  which  men  of  the  greatest 


*  With  regard  to  the  subject  of  Music,  see  Pater's  Essay  on  Giorgione 
written  on  the  text  that  "  all  art  constantly  aspires  to  the  condition  of 
music."  Design  may  be  compared  with  music  when  form  and  colour  are 
combined  in  arbitrary  decoration. 


50  The  Mystery 

genius  attach  to  the  plastic  arts  may  be  under- 
stood, and  it  proves  that  if  the  plastic  arts 
do  not  instantaneously  act  upon  the  crowd, 
it  is  because  the  crowd,  devoid  of  consciousness 
and  culture,  is  psychologically  incapable  of 
raising  itself  sufficiently  to  comprehend  what 
is  difficult.  It  is  obvious  that  Architecture, 
Sculpture,  and  Painting,  the  three  arts  which 
express  Form  in  its  different  aesthetic  aspects, 
and  from  which  emanate  such  a  wealth  of 
idealism  that  they  always  necessitate  the 
immediate  intervention  of  the  spirit  in  order 
to  be  understood,  ought  to  cause  the  soul  of 
the  artist  to  be  elated.  The  grandeur  of  their 
calling  ought  especially  also  to  make  them 
appreciate  how  necessary  it  is  that  they  should 
have  a  lofty  conception  of  their  mission,  what 
strength  they  should  put  into  their  studies, 
extending  them  even  to  Science  and  Philosophy, 
so  as  not  to  stoop  to  the  compromises  which 
mark  the  decadence  by  which  modern  art  is 
being  overwhelmed. 

The  great  error  of  the  academic  schools, 
whence  came  such  painters  as  Chenavard, 
David,*  and  Lebrun,  was  in  imposing  a  style 
which  was  invariable  and  fitted  to  every  condi- 
tion of  plastic  art  to  the  detriment  of  individual 

*  Jacques  Louis  David  (Freuch,  1748-1825)  was  the  leader  of  the 
French  Classical  School.  He  used  to  say  :  "  I  wish  that  my  works  may 
have  so  completely  an  antique  character  that  if  it  were  possible  for  an 
Athenian  to  return  to  life  they  might  appear  to  him  to  be  the  production 
of  a  Greek  painter."  It  has  been  said  of  his  works  that  they  are  "  coloured 
statuary." 


of  Form  51 

genius.  Certainly  a  work  without  style  is  yet 
a  work  on  the  border  of  realisation,  but  when 
it  is  in  a  certain  style  (stylee),  it  should  be  so 
in  accordance  with  the  personal  condition  of 
the  soul  and  spirit,  and  with  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  conception  itself.  Style  is 
then  elevated  to  something  that  idealises — 
the  most  difficult  mode  of  aesthetic  expression 
to  realise,  but  the  most  noble.  Many  dabblers 
in  Art  have  been  influenced  to  such  an  extent 
by  conventional  faulty  ideas,  and  have  become 
such  advocates  of  amorphism  and  lack  of 
form,  as  to  declare  style  a  thing  to  be  despised 
and  old-fashioned,  crying  in  every  tone  that  Art 
should  be  anarchical,  without  science,  principles, 
or  rules,  and  that,  after  all,  the  first  attempts 
that  were  made,  whether  in  painting  or  sculpture 
however  formless  or  ugly,  were  as  much  art 
as  La  Samothrace,*-  the  Ilissus,  or  the  Saint 
Anne !  Realism  and  impressionism  shouted 
victory,  because  the  leaders  of  these  baneful 
schools  threw  wide  the  doors  of  the  Sanctuary 
to  give  admittance  to  the  barbarians  of  the 
brush  and  chisel.  It  became  the  home  of  the 
incapable  and  inferior,  of  vagabonds  and 
mountebanks,  and  such  as,  profiting  by  the 
opportunity,  adapted  to  it  their  pushing  and 
avaricious  natures. 


•  The  well-known  Nike,  or  statue  of  Victory,  from  Samothrace  in  the 
Louvre.  A  wonderful  study  of  a  figure  in  rapid  motion    The  head  and  arms 
and  part  of  the  wings  are  now  wanting.       It  was  set  up  by  Demetrius 
Poliorketes,  b.c.  306. 


52  The  Mystery 

The  Beautiful  is  the  Ugly  !  This  foolishness 
has  triumphed  over  Art.  It  has  led  to  a  false 
view  of  aesthetics,  the  misdirection  of  talents, 
and  the  corruption  of  the  understanding.  Since 
it  has  come  into  fashion  we  have  seen  the 
modern  studios  producing  all  the  most  dis- 
heartening and  repulsive  work  that  the  errors 
of  a  decaying  art  give  birth  to.  The  artist,  in 
order  to  conform  to  the  instinct  of  his  age,  has 
had  to  seek  the  accidents  of  Nature,  in  order  to 
free  himself  from  "  old  formulae  '  and  seem 
original  in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude,  which  is 
as  foolish  as  it  is  full  of  admiration,  and  to 
this  moment  as  convinced  as  the  artist  that 
the  beautiful  is  the  ugly  !  Taine,  a  clear  and 
keen-sighted  critic,  has  cried  in  vain  :  "  True, 
the  ugly  is  beautiful,  but  the  beautiful  is  much 
more  beautiful  I "  He  was  too  clear  and  too 
simple.  One  of  the  ancients  could  not  have 
expressed  himself  better,  with  more  justice 
and  irony.  Parnassus  rather  has  been  blown 
up,  and  from  the  debris  of  the  sacred  mountain 
they  have  set  themselves  to  hew  grotesque 
abortions. 

O  Athens,  if  thou  couldst  see  in  what  depths 
the  artists  of  the  present  age  have  caused  the 
Sacred  Form  to  wallow,  of  which  thou  wert 
the  sublime  parent,  and  ye,  mountains  of 
marble,  who  wait  till  ye  are  quarried  to  serve 
some  time  or  other  as  materia),  for  works 
revolting   in    their   baseness   and   ugliness,    ye 


of  Form  53 

would  tremble  with  shame  and  anger  under 
the  Hellenic  glory  of  your  bright  azure  skies  ! 

O  Greece,  radiant  with  thine  ideals,  who 
couldst  combine  perfection  of  body  with  calm 
understanding,  render  divine  the  joyous  and 
harmonious  beauty  of  youth,  and  perceive 
through  the  splendour  of  form  the  mystery  of 
rhythm  and  abstruse  meaning  of  gesture, 
who  didst  know  how  to  regulate  Life  and  the 
Ideal,  weigh  Spirit  and  Matter,  make  repose 
god-like  and  movement  sublime,  who  couldst 
balance  in  such  proportions  all  parts  of  the 
human  form,  from  head  to  toe,  and  made  man 
"  strong  as  a  soldier  of  Pericles,  and  fair  as  a 
disciple  of  Plato  "  ;  thou,  O  Greece,  towards 
whom  genius  in  ecstacy  turns  its  gaze,  if  thou 
couldst  behold  the  terrible  phantasmagoria  of 
our  unbridled  exponents  of  art,  thou  wouldst 
believe  that  we  had  returned  to  a  state  of 
primitive  barbarism  and  consider  that  Art  in 
this  world  had  come  to  an  end  ! 

In  an  age  characterised  by  a  harmony 
between  the  occult  sciences  and  the  arts, 
ancient  Greece  formed  the  aesthetic  conception 
of  the  ideal  man.  A  divine  perfection  of  the 
human  form  was  attained.  That  genius  for 
beauty  was  the  result  of  the  teaching  revealed 
by  the  esoteric  doctrine  of  the  temples,  when 
the  Magi  initiated  artists  into  the  Mysteries. 
The  Magi  knew  that  the  influence  on  society 
of  Beauty,  which  is  a  real  element  of  happiness 


54  The  Mystery 

and  virtue,  consists  in  elevating  the  soul  of  the 
multitude  by  awaking  in  it  an  eternal  sense  of 
harmony.  The  happiest  peoples  have  the  most 
beautiful  art.  Goethe  was  right  to  say  of  the 
Greeks  that  they  had  made  of  life  a  most 
beautiful  dream.  It  was  through  their  power  of 
vision  that  the  veil  before  the  Unseen  fell  aside 
before  the  young  artists,  philosophers,  and 
poets.  And  then  they  could  see  in  the  fluid 
and  transparent  splendour  of  the  Universal 
Soul  the  archetypal  forms  of  the  pure  Idea 
evolving  and  the  living  perfect  images  of  the 
Spirit.  The  world  of  spirit  and  intelligence, 
where  the  beings  of  Love  and  Light  lead  an 
existence  truly  divine,  was  revealed  to  them. 

And  from  that  supreme  contemplation  of  the 
invisible  and  immortal  life  the  artist  seers 
returned  dazzled  and  illuminated  for  ever. 
In  their  serene  and  ineffaceable  ecstacy  they 
had  received  the  great  secret  of  Beauty. 

Pheidias  possessed  that  secret  ;  he,  too,  had 
seen  into  the  Light  of  Form,  that  pure  and 
subtle  element  of  the  essence  of  Life,  that 
inexhaustible  Well  of  ideas  and  forms.  And 
with  this  reflection  of  the  Divine  in  the  angelic 
intelligence  of  the  Eternal  Masculine  and  Eternal 
Feminine  he  infused  beauty  into  his  sublime 
marvels,  as  Pericles  by  its  means  shed  splendour 
on  the  State  and  Sophocles  on  the  Theatre. 

It  was  thus,  through  the  vision  of  the  initiate 
into  the  living  realms  of  Immortality,  the  bright 


of  Form  55 

regions  of  glorified  spirits  where  the  real  being 
becomes  apparent,  freed  from  the  many 
impurities  of  the  physical  body,  that  material 
image  of  moral  ugliness  and  psychic  imper- 
fection, thus,  I  say,  that  Plato  discovered  the 
wonderful  formula  of  the  aesthetic  creed  : 
"  Beauty  is  the  splendour  of  Truth." 

It  is  thus  that  everyone  who  has  been 
inspired,  every  genius,  and  all  those  who  have 
received  initiation,  have  proved  that  Nature 
is  not  truly  such  as  it  appears  at  the  first 
glance  ;  that  it  is  so  only  in  its  most  objective, 
most  imperfect,  aspect,  and  that  when  con- 
sidered from  a  material  point  of  view  it  is 
debased,  in  the  sense  that  it  is  the  negative 
pole  of  the  universal  Spirit.  For  physical 
Nature  is  the  most  obscure  term  of  the  involu- 
tion of  Spirit,  and  the  harmonies  of  matter, 
on  which  are  founded  the  physical  laws,  are 
only  confusing  illusions  compared  with  the 
more  perfect  harmonies  of  the  Spirit. 

We  must  not  look  upon  the  Venus  of  Milo 
as  a  spontaneous  creation,  the  result  of  fancy, 
any  more  than  the  lyre  of  Orpheus,  which  is 
the  musical  adaptation  of  the  sacred  Septenary 
taught  by  the  Egyptian  priests.  The  ages  of 
strength  and  beauty  are  at  the  same  time 
those  of  Intelligence  and  Wisdom. 

The  divine  perfection  of  Form  in  ancient 
Greece  ought  to  make  us  observe  more  clearly 
that  in  the  works  nowadays  which  are  based  on 


56  The  Mystery 

nature  all  that  is  of  importance  is  the  problem 
of  primordial  forms  and  the  divine  genesis  of 
infinite  perfection. 

They  knew,  those  old  sages,  that  Beauty  is 
eternal,  imperishable,  and  that  it  is  the  agency 
by  which  the  light  of  the  ideal  is  transmitted 
to  human  beings,  and  which,  by  the  ugliness 
of  vice  or  evil,  they  continually  obscure.  And 
that  is  why  they  suffered  the  sublime  reflection 
of  the  divine  principle  to  glow  through  the 
human  form.  Through  their  secret  learning 
they  knew  that  the  law  of  beauty  and  form 
is  the  soul  which,  by  a  rational  process,  and 
in  proportion  to  its  stage  of  evolution,  creates 
the  bodily  form  which  manifests  it. 

The  creative  forces  of  nature,  like  the  creative 
forces  of  the  spirit,  tend  directly  to  Beauty. 
The  imperfections  of  the  individual  alone 
contrive  continually  to  lead  astray  and  corrupt 
the  normal  evolution  of  these  creative  forces 
in  their  universal  striving  towards  Beauty. 

The  nude  alone  brings  us  face  to  face  with 
the  enigma  of  life.  Real  nudity  in  a  work 
of  art  inculcates  also  a  teaching  of  high  morality. 
What  does  it  matter  if,  as  its  adversaries 
prudishly  declare,  it  does  not  conform  to 
the  social  conventions  of  modern  daily  life  ! 
The  nude  will  not  the  less  remain  one  of  the 
purest  mediums  of  Beauty,  and  great  artists 
will  not  the  less  perceive  its  ideal  and  positive 
value. 


of  Form  57 

It  is  childish  to  think  that  trousers,  aprons, 
blouses,  shoes,  and  dresses  are  fit  subjects  for 
art  and  capable  of  elevating  the  soul.  Clothes 
generally,  and  modern  clothes  in  particular, 
merely  show  the  ceaseless  insane  caprices  of 
fashion,  changing  from  day  to  day,  incongruous, 
grotesque,  ridiculous,  since  clothes  have  become 
the  enemy  of  the  natural  shape  of  the  human 
body,  instead  of  being  a  covering  which  should 
preserve  its  harmony  and  rhythm. 

It  is  by  the  nude  alone  that  the  artist  can 
express  the  essential  character  of  life,  the 
impersonal  ideas,  universal  beliefs,  and  general 
sentiments  of  humanity.  The  nude,  I  must 
repeat,  reveals  the  true  sense  of  nature.  And 
nature  has  never  been  so  reverenced  and 
studied  as  in  the  art  of  Greece.  It  appears  there 
in  its  double  manifestation  of  the  real  and  ideal, 
in  the  reality  of  its  ideal  character.  In  it  we 
ever  observe  the  clearly  defined  tendency  of 
harmony,  style,  and  proportion  to  meet,  through 
the  constant  stud}/  and  aesthetic  observation 
of  nature,  in  an  ideal  type,  which  does  not 
mean  a  settled  type  (type  convenu),  as  is  too 
often  wrongly  supposed.  Artists  in  those  days 
studied  the  natural  and  spiritual  laws  of  Beauty 
as  now  we  study  the  laws  of  the  so-called  exact 
sciences. 

To  them  art  was  not  a  conventional  and 
systematic  rule,  but  the  reason  of  aesthetics 
consisted,   in   their  eyes,   in   the   positive   and 


58  The  Mystery 

abstract  study  of  Beauty,  that  force  at  once 
natural  and  ideal,  and  which,  whatever  sceptics 
think,  is  one  of  the  great  problems  of  spirit. 

The  human  body  is  the  noblest  ornament. 
The  nude  is  the  alpha  and  omega  of  aesthetics. 
All  the  science  possessed  by  the  artist  is 
summarized  in  it.  It  is  fitted  to  express  the  most 
subtle  and  most  profound  emotions  of  the  soul. 

It  is  furthermore  by  the  study  of  the  nude 
that  the  fine  arts  when  falling  into  decay 
are  regenerated.  The  great  revivals  of  art, 
in  fact,  are  due  to  the  study  of  the  nude.  Without 
the  least  wishing  to  depreciate  the  value  of  the 
Byzantine  and  Gothic  periods,  whose  symbols 
of  expression  were  based  upon  the  religious 
theme  of  good  and  evil,  and  whose  sombre 
splendour  was  well  calculated  to  arouse  emotion, 
it  may  be  said  that  they  had  lost  the  sense  of 
the  harmony  of  Beauty,  because  they  rejected 
the  nude.  Certainly  Cimabue,  Giotto,  Orcagna, 
and,  above  all,  the  gentle  visionary  Fra  Angelico, 
remain  great  in  their  Christian  mysticism,  but 
they  did  not  comprehend — they  could  not  do 
so,  dominated  as  they  were  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  time — that  bodily  beauty  is  not  incom- 
patible with  that  of  the  soul.  It  is  only  with 
Botticelli,  Leonardo  de  Vinci,  and  Michael 
Angelo,  that  is,  with  the  renewed  study  of  form, 
that  the  nude  reappeared  in  its  great  plastic 
and  spiritual  significance,  and  the  Renaissance 
was  developed  in  the  full  glory  of  its  idealism. 


of  Form  59 

The  nude  has  the  high  quality  of  being 
synthetic,  universal.  Its  representation  evokes 
the  unity  of  beings  ;  that  is  to  say,  all  earthly 
souls  are  united  and  form  a  living  being. 
The  nude  can,  therefore,  drive  from  the  heart 
the  crowd  of  ideas  of  social  and  psychic  harmony, 
destroying  thus  the  instinct  for  separation  and 
differentiation  which  divides  men.  By  evoking 
Man  it  evokes  Humanity,  and  the  whole  beauty 
of  Life,  not  life  as  we  moderns  understand  it, 
so  neurotic,  feverish,  and  filled  with  unhealthy 
excitement,  but  the  great  universal  life,  which 
makes  fruitful  the  spirit  and  the  earth,  makes 
both  the  stars  and  the  soul  glow  with  light, 
causes  space  to  vibrate,  which  palpitates  in 
the  substance  as  in  the  essence,  which  rules 
and  moves  the  universe,  beings,  and  things, 
mortals  or  immortals,  in  the  infinite  rhythm 
and  mystery  of  Eternity,  the  divine  macrocosm 
and  human  microcosm,  from  which  the  universal 
Beauty  is  ever  shed  and  reflected,  woven  of 
Love,  Wisdom,  and  Light. 

And  when  the  artist  has  become  conscious 
of  this  Beauty,  when  it  has  appeared  to  him  in 
its  unfading  and  divine  splendour,  he  will 
understand  its  mission.  He  will  learn,  in  fact, 
that  this  beauty  which  he  seeks  in  the  body,  in 
forms,  is  the  same  as  that  which  is  manifested 
in  sentiments  and  ideas,  and  that  his  duty  as  an 
artist  will  be  to  make  it  glow  in  its  purest 
form,  as  the  spark  is  struck  from  an  unseen 


60  The  Mystery  of  Form 

pebble,  through  the  degradation  and  grossness 
in  which  it  has  been  imprisoned.  And  then 
upon  a  mass  of  imperfections,  realisms,  and 
short-lived  ugliness,  he  will  build  a  purer  art. 
He  will  save  art  from  the  frenzy  of  anarchy 
and  the  petrification  of  academies.  He  will  be 
of  those  who  return  to  the  point — the  point 
of  equilibruim  ! — in  the  name  of  indestructible 
and  radiant  Beauty,  which  the  foolish  and 
incapable  have  grievously  profaned,  in  the 
name,  goodness  knows,  of  what  wretched 
instinct  or  antiquated  convention.  For  the 
artist  who  is  not  conscious  of  a  divine  force 
making  his  human  powers  fruitful  with  Beauty, 
and  who,  in  the  depth  of  his  being,  does  not 
perceive  the  God  of  Love  and  Harmony  move 
in  the  breath  which  sways  worlds  and  men, 
is  unworthy  to  belong  to  civilisation.  His 
works  will  be  abortions.  His  talent,  if  he  has 
any,  will  be  wasted. 


VI 

The  Spiritualising  of  Art 

Signs  of  a  New  Age — The  Science  of  the  Ideal — The  Spiritualising  of 
Science  and  Art — Disregard  of  Form  in  Modern  Art — Realism  based 
on  a  Philosophic  Error — Distinction  between  the  Dreamer  and  the 
Idealist — Music  in  Beauty  of  Form — Need  for  Spirituality  in  the 
Artist — Art  cannot  result  from  sensation  alone — Comprehension 
"  the  Reflex  of  Creation  " — The  Beautiful  in  Art  superior  to  the  Beau- 
tiful in  Nature — The  Individual  Ideal  leads  up  to  the  ideal — The 
Artist  an  Alchemist  when  inspired  by  the  Spirit — The  Beautiful  is 
not  one  Form,  but  a  harmony  of  Forms — It  is  Truth  made  manifest 
in  the  Form  by  the  Idea — The  duty  of  the  Artist  to  reveal  Beauty  to 
Mankind — Art  a  Divine  Force. 


L 


ET  the  modern   artist   not  forget  that  a 
new  age  is  beginning,  that   the  Idea  is 
returning  to  the  earth,  and  that  a  purer, 
fairer,  race  is  about  to  inhabit  the  world  ! 

Day  by  day  the  end  of  materialism  is  being 
achieved.  Science  is  forcibly  being  evolved 
and  transformed  before  the  revelations  of  the 
other  world.  The  psychic  sciences  are  arrayed 
against  the  physical  sciences,  and  set  the  occult 
proof  against  that  of  materialism.  The  occult 
sciences,  the  lofty  teaching  of  theosophy,  and 
experimental  spiritualism,  are  setting  out  to 
conquer  the  future  and,  on  the  threshold  of  a 
new  age,  are  about  to  establish  the  Science  of 
the  Ideal  ;  that  is,  the  synthesis  of  science, 
religion,  and  philosophy. 

Above  the  overthrow  of  materialism,  so 
fatally  crushing  to  the  soul  and  spirit,  already 
soars,  in  the  redeeming  light,  the  mysterious 
transformation  of  thought.  If  truth,  scientifi- 
cally, is  the  harmony  of  facts,   then  spiritual 


62  The  Spiritualising 

facts,  proving  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul, 
fall  into  harmony  spontaneously  to  form  truth, 
which  already  rises  to  confront  negation. 

With  this  spiritualising  of  Science,  there 
goes  on,  side  by  side  with  it,  the  spiritualising 
of  Art.  Just  as  materialism  is  a  monstrous 
abortion  of  modern  philosophy,  so  realism, 
its  poisonous  outcome,  is  in  aesthetics  an  actual 
anomaly,  a  case  of  flagrant  degeneration  in 
the  fine  arts.  We  may  seek  in  vain  for  an 
extenuating  circumstance  which  would  excuse 
the  schools  of  realism  or  naturalism  by  con- 
sidering them  as  an  inevitable  and  healthy 
reaction  against  the  slavishness  of  the  conven- 
tional school,  the  old-fashioned  dealer  in  recipes 
and  "  poncifs."  There  can  never  be  any  excuse 
for  ugliness,  whatever  be  the  school  that  praises 
or  produces  it.  Ugliness  cannot  be  the  object 
of  the  fine  arts. 

Nowhere  in  the  history  of  the  epochs  of  art, 
that  is,  in  those  of  civilisation,  can  one  find 
such  a  sheer  fall  into  the  shallows  of  the  trivial 
and  commonplace  as  that  brought  about  by  the 
contemporary  school  of  realism. 

If  the  better  work  of  a  few  great  spirits 
had  not  been  able  to  resist  the  many  evils  of 
its  corrupted  state,  it  might  be  said,  without 
fearing  to  exaggerate  too  much,  that  Art  to-day 
seemed  to  have  quitted  the  sphere  of  Form. 

They  have  replaced  creative  genius  by 
sculptors  without  ability  to  conceive,  soulless, 


of  Art  63 

without  the  power  of  abstraction,  often  even 
without  intelligence,  who  make  sculpture  riot 
in  marble  and  bronze  in  every  species  of  debased 
Form,  either  taking  a  cast  from  nature,  or  feebly 
and  foolishly  making  a  rough  suggestion  of  it 
— a  kind  of  wild  nightmare  in  plaster. 

One  will  stupidly  endeavour  to  reproduce 
the  superficial  imperfections  of  the  skin,  while 
another  tries  to  give  his  sculpture  the  shapeless 
appearance  of  kneaded  mud. 

With  respect  to  those  painters,  without 
idealism,  and  without  idea,  whose  whole  art 
is  contained  in  a  tube  of  colour,  and  whose 
complete  lack  of  sense  is  barely  concealed  by 
the  clever  trickery  of  touch,  who  only  look  in 
a  work  of  art  for  the  reproduction  of  object 
for  object,  and  thing  for  thing,  their  eyes  only 
observe  the  phenomena  of  atmosphere.  They 
are  tubes  of  colour  which  are  emptied  mechani- 
cally on  the  canvas. 

These  colourists,  lacking  the  conception  of 
form  and  the  perception  of  the  ideal  image, 
have  brought  about  a  reaction  in  art.  Their 
painting  rests  upon  their  digestion,  and  their 
consideration  of  colour  only  rests  upon  the 
part  played  by  the  eye,  indifferent  as  they  are 
to  everything  appertaining  to  the  spirit.  The 
nude,  when,  with  sensual  brush,  they  profane 
it,  becomes  fleshly.  Beneath  their  eyes  and 
fingers,  animalism  is  transfused  into  every- 
thing.  These  are  the  traders  in  "  bits."   Neither 


64  The  Spiritualising 

kind  seek  for  Beauty,  but  only  for  things 
material,  whether  they  be  misshapen,  common- 
place, or  vulgar.  Taking  it  as  a  whole,  the 
realist  and  impressionist  period  will  be  held 
as  that  which  pauperised  and  prostituted  the 
fine  arts. 

Since  Proudhon,*  a  celebrated  sociologist, 
but  as  commonplace  in  his  views  on  art  as  he 
is  mistaken  in  his  philosophy,  and  who 
formulates  a  gross  error  in  a  piece  of  stupid 
sophistry  :  "  Since  all  things  are  equal,  there 
is  nothing  ugly!"  artists  and  critics  have 
considered  the  back  of  a  nude  female  to  be 
equal  in  beauty  to  De  Vinci's  "  Head  of  Saint 
Anne." 

Realism,  the  very  negation  of  art,  springs 
from  a  philosophic  mistake  confusing  Life 
with  Substance.  It  perishes  when  that  error 
is  swept  away.  But  new  artists  have  arisen, 
to  renovate  philosophy  and  art  by  means  of 
idealism.  These  men  know  that  the  spirit 
descends  into  form,  form  into  matter,  and  that 
without  form  matter  expresses  nothingness ; 
that  is,  something  which  has  no  reality.  They 
know,  in  accordance  with  truth,  that  matter 
is  the  extreme  limit  to  which  the  spirit  of 
Beauty  can  be  reflected,  and  that  it  is  in 
physical  substance  that  it  appears  to  our  eyes 
under  its  most  shadowy  and  elusive  aspect. 

*  Pierre  Joseph  Proudhon  (1809-1865),  French  writer  on  Socialism 
and  leader  of  opinion  in  the  Revolution  of  1848.  Author  of  the  famous 
paradox,  "  La  Propriety,  c'est  le  vol." 


^ 


O 
D 


PS 
D 

o 


of  Art  65 

This  idealist  conception  of  art,  in  order  to 
avoid  confusion,  can  be  made  still  more  precise. 
Art,  contrary  to  the  simple  notion  of  some 
people,  does  not  waver  between  the  real  and 
"  the  dream,"  but  between  the  real  and  the 
ideal.  The  difference  which  lies  between  "  the 
dream  "  and  the  ideal  may  perhaps  be  expressed 
thus :  "  The  dream  is  the  unconscious  and 
instinctive  feeling  of  confused  aspirations  ;  the 
ideal  is  the  ordered  aspiration  of  the  harmonious 
will." 

Art,  then,  is  neither  the  slave  of  the  real 
or  '  the  dream."  Art  is  that  balancing  force 
which  brings  the  rational  into  harmony  with 
the  spiritual,  emotion  with  reason,  and  the 
natural  with  the  supernatural.  Nature  is 
a  medley  of  enchantment  and  terror,  of 
ecstasy  and  awe.  The  monstrous  is  mingled 
with  the  divine.  It  is  an  astounding  chaos  of 
hidden  glories. 

Man  is  the  Genius,  the  conscious  and  recep- 
tive intelligence  of  mental,  spiritual  vibrations, 
who  from  material  elements  will  extract  the 
pure  essence,  the  typical  form,  the  initial  idea. 
In  the  same  way  as  the  musician  of  genius 
translates  the  harmonies  of  invisible  space 
into  natural  sounds,  the  painter,  the  sculptor, 
can  translate  the  harmony  of  typical  forms 
which  are  in  the  invisible  plastic  light,  living 
prisms  of  divine  beauties,  in  which  are  refracted 
the  splendours  of  the  universal  soul. 


66  The  Spiritualising 

Do  we  know,  indeed,  whether  the  Harmony 
of  Form  does  not  correspond  to,  or  is  not 
actually,  musical  vibration  rendered  objec- 
tive ?  *  Music  is  to  be  found  in  beauty  of 
form  as  mathematics  in  clearness  of  thought. 

But  before  the  sublime  faculty  of  inner  sight 
is  attained,  before  the  power  of  making  the 
material  spiritual  is  gained,  the  artist  must 
become  spiritual  himself.  Then  will  inspiration 
alone  consist  in  making  the  idea  enter  into  the 
form,  and  realisation  in  giving  form  to  the  idea. 

One  does  not  become  an  idealist  by  the  study 
or  imitation  of  the  art  of  bygone  masters,  but 
by  idealising,  spiritualising,  one's  psychic  being. 

Before  understanding  or  attaining  to  the 
purification  of  form,  the  artist  ought  to  endea- 
vour to  purify  his  soul.  The  beauty  of  a  work 
does  not  depend  merely  on  objective  talent  or 
technical  gift,  but  also  on  the  psychic  beauty 
which  emanates  from  its  creator.  An  impure 
soul,  a  base  and  evil  heart,  a  perverted  intellect, 
a  narrow  mind,  cannot  belong  to  such  as 
Pheidias,  Angelico,  De  Vinci,  Michael  Angelo, 
Beethoven,  Bach,  or  Wagner,  since  Beauty 
is  the  divine  aspect  of  the  human  Soul,  and 
the  human  Soul  is  God  within  God. 

Art  is  the  memory  of  the  divinity  within 
Man.  The  work  rises  to  perfection  when  the 
will,  that  divine  energy  of  thought,  gains  the 

*  Science  has  proved  that  waves  of  sound  affect  material  objects, 
so  as  to  give  rise  to  infinite  variety  of  form. 


of  Art  67 

victory  over  the  lower  nature  which  is  guided 
by  instinct.  The  artist's  calling,  so  degraded 
now  by  the  selfish  and  eager  desire  to  satisfy 
personal  vanity,  could  be  raised  even  to  the 
rank  of  apostleship  if  artists  were  fully  conscious 
of  the  grandeur  of  Art. 

Let  us  never  forget,  if  we  wish  to  avoid  a 
common  mistake,  that  Sensation  of  itself  can 
never  conceive  a  work  of  true  art.  Sensation 
is  not  creative  thought.  The  poetry  of  images, 
the  sense  of  forms  and  colours,  the  life  of 
things,  in  short,  are  found  in  Spirit,  but  not  in 
what  is  properly  called  Sensation.  The  vital 
vibration  of  Sensation  acts  evidently  on  intel- 
lectual or  psychic  centres,  but  the  result  of 
that  sensation  will  ever  be  in  proportion  to 
the  capacity  and  power  of  our  ideality.  Two 
persons  of  equal  nervous  sensibility,  but  differing 
in  their  spiritual  nature,  if  brought  before  the 
same  impressive  sight,  will  not  express  their 
sensations  with  the  same  degree  of  power. 

Without  spirit  nature  does  not  exist  for 
man.  As  looking  does  not  mean  seeing,  so 
feeling  does  not  mean  comprehension. 

Now,  comprehension,  as  someone  has  loftily 
expressed  it,  "  is  the  reflex  of  creation." 

It  is  the  sum  of  our  ideal  conceptions  which 
enables  nature  to  be  felt  or  expressed  with  more 
or  less  power. 

If  in  the  creation  of  a  work  it  were  Sensation 
that  alone  could  perceive  and  judge  as  well 


68  The  Spiritualising 

as  the  sight  (which  is  false,  on  another  ground, 
since  it  is  not  the  organ  that  approves  or 
passes  judgment),  what  should  we  think  of 
Beethoven,  who  lost  the  sense  of  hearing,  the 
very  organ  of  musical  sensation,  and  to  whom 
the  world  of  sound  was  henceforth  closed  ? 
But  we  know  that,  starting  from  the  moment 
of  his  deafness,  the  musical  genius  of  Beethoven 
grew  and  developed  with  an  extraordinary 
intensity.  He  composed  the  ninth  symphony, 
his  most  complex  work  both  with  regard  to 
its  orchestration  and  conception  ! 

Let  the  physiologist  who  believes  in  automatic 
action  reply  !    He  cannot. 

But  those  who  understand  the  mysteries  of 
psychic  man  know  that  what  constituted  the 
potential  ideal  of  the  musician,  in  short  his  real 
inner  being,  did  not  need  the  physical  sensation 
of  music  for  the  purpose  of  expression  or 
creation  in  the  conditions  in  which  it  was 
placed. 

We  are  not,  it  will  be  observed,  endeavouring 
to  prove  the  uselessness  of  Sensation,  but  to 
show  that  Sensation,  instead  of  being  the 
beginning  and  end  of  a  work  of  art,  is  only  a 
means  towards  it. 

The  Beautiful  in  Art,  compared  with  the 
beautiful  in  nature,  is  superior  to  it.  Art  and 
Imitation  are  as  wide  apart  as  the  poles. 
One  of  the  fundamental  characteristics  of  Art 
is  that  it  is  the  manifestation  of  mental  emotion. 


of  Art  69 

The  language  of  Imitation  is  the  language  of 
servitude.  Art  belongs  essentially  to  the 
power  of  expression,  and  not  to  that  of  imita- 
tion or  impression.  By  this  we  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  the  artist  should  withhold  himself 
from  the  contemplation  and  study  of  Nature, 
which  affords  art  the  profusion  of  its  materials  ! 

The  artist  seeks  and  finds  throughout  nature 
the  universal  potentialities  of  the  creative 
essence.  Every  true  artist  should  have  his  own 
personal  ideal,  but  he  must  never  be  unmindful, 
unless  he  would  stultify  himself,  that  above 
his  ideal  is  enthroned  the  ideal,  more  perfect 
and  more  absolute  than  his  own,  towarde 
which  he  ever  moves,  as  he  adapts  the  creativs 
effort  of  his  own  personality  to  its  laws.  The 
great  artists  are  those  who  have  a  logical 
intuition  of  these  laws.  They  do  not  despise 
theories  when  they  are  logical  ;  they  make 
use  of  them.  But  the  inferior  artist  is  the  slave 
of  theory. 

A  work  ought  naturally  to  be  the  fruit  of 
many  sensations,  many  impressions,  many 
thoughts,  but  all  these  elements  are  to  be 
co-ordinated,  regulated  by  a  superior  force, 
by  a  law  or  theory  derived  from  that  law, 
otherwise  the  work  will  be  artificial,  confused, 
and  perishable.  Yes,  all  things  serve  as  material 
for  great  work,  provided  that  the  Spirit  is  there 
which  governs  and  co-ordinates  all  things. 
The  artist  is  a  kind  of  alchemist.      Art  is  a 


70  The  Spiritualising 

species  of  occult  chemistry.  Lead  can  be 
turned  into  gold,  but  the  laws  which  bring  about 
this  wonderful  transmutation  must  be  under- 
stood. Just  as  the  magician  by  the  radiation 
of  his  will  brings  under  his  sway  the  wanderings 
and  formless  forces  of  astral  space,  so  the  artist, 
guided  by  his  genius,  brings  into  order  the 
imperfect  images  of  life  by  infusing  into  them 
the  system  of  his  thought. 

The  Beautiful,  a  Platonic  mystic  has  said, 
is  not  one  special  form,  but  the  harmony  of  forms. 

Between  the  creative  wisdom  of  nature  and 
the  form  created  by  nature  there  is  a  vast 
difference. 

The  Beautiful,  considered  in  its  ideal  sense, 
is  not  an  illusion.  Beauty  is  Truth  made 
manifest  in  the  Form  by  the  Idea.  When 
the  artist  draws  beauty  from  ugliness,  purity 
from  impurity,  perfection  from  imperfection, 
order  from  disorder,  he  reveals  Truth,  the 
Divine,  to  humanity.  The  Beautiful,  the  True, 
the  Good  agree  one  with  the  other. 

The  glory  of  Art  is  to  know  how  to  make 
the  eyes  of  profane  humanity  perceive  these 
three  sublime  harmonies.  The  ordinary  man, 
we  must  repeat,  by  himself  only  observes 
what  is  immediately  perceptible  through  his 
senses.  He,  therefore,  sees  Nature  under  her 
ugliest  aspect.  It  is  the  mission  of  Art  to  make 
him  perceive  the  Beauty  that  lies  behind  things. 
And  this  Beauty  is  not  a  fiction  ;    it  exists, 


of  Art  71 

it  is  real.  It  is  not  an  illusion,  but  an  essential 
and  invisible  reality  which  escapes  the  superficial 
glance  of  the  crowd. 

Let  the  artist  and  poet,  whom  a  regrettable 
misunderstanding  keeps  aloof  from  the  soul 
of  mankind,  which  happily  is  intuitive  and 
devoid  of  prejudice,  communicate  to  it  the 
ideal,  the  divine  sense,  of  this  Beauty,  in  order 
that  it  should  likewise  turn  from  the  Universal 
Ugliness,  of  which  it  is  the  unconscious  and 
pardonable  abettor  !  And  for  that  communion 
to  take  place  there  is  no  need  to  specially 
produce  a  "  social  art,"  than  it  is  necessary 
to  create  a  "  select  art '  (art  d'elite).  Art 
must  not  be  the  slave  of  doctrinal  speculation, 
or  descend  to  the  level  and  inclinations  of  a 
particular  class.  Art  must  have  a  universal 
meaning.  The  artist  is  he  who,  through  the 
thousand  forms  of  universal  life,  seeks  out  the 
supreme  expression  of  Beauty  for  those  who, 
whether  poor  or  wealthy,  know  how  to  perceive 
and  understand  it  in  his  work. 

In  the  heart  of  every  individual  slumbers 
an  artist,  a  poet,  which  we  must  know  how  to 
awaken.  A  spring  of  beauty  and  wisdom  is 
ever  ready  to  rise  up  from  the  depths  of  his 
being.  Man  is  never  absolutely  incomplete. 
If  his  dormant  faculties  often  prevent  him  from 
opening  the  eyes  of  his  soul  to  the  artistic 
raptures  of  the  world  and  art,  it  is  the  kindly 
duty  of  the  artist,  the  chosen  person  in  whose 


72  The  Spiritualising 

soul  beauty  is  ever  alive,  to  open  them  and  pass 
before  them  pure  ideas  under  harmonious 
images. 

The  simple  man  is  nearer  to  beauty  than 
he  thinks.  But  if  light,  sound,  colour,  form, 
and  idea  are  not  understood  by  him  in  their 
harmonious  sense,  and  natural  and  ideal 
relation,  the  sentiment  of  unity,  the  life  of  all 
beauty,  escapes  him. 

Now,  it  is  by  means  of  Art  that  the  aesthetic 
perceptions  are  developed.  And  human  beings 
are  not  made  artistic  by  the  conventional 
Academic  school,  which  only  sees  in  the  work 
the  object  of  an  artificial  arrangement  of  the 
figure,  its  subjects  being  posturers,  nor  by  the 
Realist-Impressionist  school,  which  considers 
that  work  should  be  devoted  to  the  imitation 
of  nature.  One  shows  us  body  without  soul, 
the  other  things  without  idea. 

The  art  of  the  idealist  creates  things  of  beauty 
which  are  possible,  and  whose  inner  life  radiates 
from  their  action,  form,  and  colour. 

The  idealist  conception  alone,  emanating  from 
the  artist  free  to  create  a  world  of  beauty 
moulded  to  his  ideal,  thought,  and  emotion, 
can  communicate  to  mankind,  by  making  it 
capable  of  perceiving  it,  that  divine  power 
which  binds  together  things,  souls,  and  spirits 
of  the  visible  and  invisible  world,  and  enables 
it  to  perceive  the  creative  Wisdom,  which  is 
the  Ideal. 


of  Art  73 

Art  is  by  no  means  a  vain  whim  of  man, 
due  to  the  accident  of  selfish  pride.  Art  is 
one  of  the  great  forces  that  God  has  implanted 
in  the  creature.  It  is  our  imperfections,  our 
instincts,  our  want  of  light,  which  too  often, 
alas,  degrade  Art  to  our  own  level,  our  own 
ugliness,  errors,  and  darkness. 

Without  any  wish  to  be  identified  with 
Tolstoi's  creed  of  art,  so  poor  and  uncouth  in 
too  many  ways,  I  am  bound  to  admire  and 
approve  of  this  noble  phrase  of  the  venerable 
apostle  of  Russia  :  "  Art  is  not  an  enjoyment, 
a  pleasure,  an  amusement  :  art  is  a  mighty 
thing.  It  is  a  vital  organ  of  humanity  which 
conveys  the  conceptions  of  reason  into  the  domain 
of  sentiment." 


VII 

The  Art  of  the  Future 

Struggle  between  Spiritualism  and  Materialism — Future  of  Art  dependent 
on  that  of  Science,  Religion,  and  Philosophy — Art  will  cease  to  be 
"  National  " — Influence  of  Idealism  on  Modern  Thought — Art  con- 
secrated by  Metaphysics — Reconciliation  between  Science  and 
Religion — The  Mission  of  Art  to  cause  what  is  Comprehensible  to  be 
Perceived — Influence  of  Art  on  Society — Art  apparently  doomed  by 
Modern  Positivism — The  Course  of  Art  parallel  to  that  of  Science — 
The  Artist  should  show  that  his  Work  results  from  a  High  Ideal — 
The  Art  of  the  Future  will  be  based  on  the  Triple  Formula  of  Idealism 
— Impressionism  lacking  in  real  ^Esthetic  Emotion — Need  of  a  clearly 
denned  view  of  ^Esthetics — The  Art  of  the  Future  will  be  that  of 
Universal  Love  and  Brotherhood — Art  is  intended  to  purify  Mankind. 

WHAT  an  enthralling  problem,  how  con- 
ducive to  thought  and  able  to  stimulate 
the  artistic  intellect,  is  the  endeavour 
to  learn  what  Art  will  be  to-morrow,  what  its 
ruling  influence  will  be,  and  from  what  unknown 
springs  it  will  draw  the  magic  life  of  future 
visions  !  Many  critics,  such  as  think,  philo- 
sophers, and  lovers  of  art,  uneasy  about  the 
future,  and  not  perceiving  any  regular  solution, 
have  been,  and  still  are,  haunted  by  the  dis- 
quieting wish  to  know  the  destiny  of  Art,  or 
at  least  to  conceive  a  logical  view^of  its  process 
of  evolution. 

Owing  to  its  spiritual  essence  Art  is  seen 
to  be  so  closely  joined  to  the  psychic  condition 
of  mankind  that  it  is  necessary  to  begin  with 
studying  and  understanding  throughout  its 
evolutionary  growth  the  mysterious  motive 
power  of  ideas,  and  to  determine  the  degrees 
in  which  ideas  are  projected  into  the  intellectual 
jealms  of  our  times.    Now  the  age  in  which  we 


The  Art  of  the  Future  75 

live,  which  will  shortly  upon  the  dial  of  the 
revolving  centuries  mark  the  hour  of  a  universal 
redemption  in  the  province  of  thought,  is 
hampered  by  two  mighty  currents  of  hostile 
mode  of  thought,  Materialism  and  Spiritualism, 
both  of  which  impetuously  roll  their  waves 
towards  the  future  ocean  of  the  Human  Spirit, 
in  which  each  assumes  that  it  will  be  the 
positive  element  of  truth. 

Which  of  these  forces  will  overcome  the  other 
in  its  triumphant   struggle  ? 

Before  we  can  know  what  the  Art  of  to-morrow 
will  be,  we  must  ascertain  what  Science,  Re- 
ligion, and  Philosophy  will  be  in  the  future. 
The  revival  of  civilisations  is  in  reality  a 
problem  the  solution  of  which  is  to  be  found 
in  the  occult  or  supernatural  depths  of  existence. 
The  present  troubled  period  which  precedes 
the  advent  of  the  Spirit  in  this  world,  whose 
reign  will  transform  the  human  soul  by  directing 
its  vital  and  intellectual  forces  towards  clearer 
perceptions,  is  characteristic. 

Just  as  nations  will  sweep  away  their  natural 
boundaries,  and  all  moral  and  intellectual 
barriers,  so  art  will  break  free  from  nationality. 
Art  must  not  flourish  merely  as  an  ornamental 
adjunct  to  one  centre.  If  certain  schools  show 
that  they  depend  on  natural  surroundings  and 
a  science  of  nature  restricted  and  peculiar  to 
themselves,  is  there  any  reason  to  think  that 
the  artist  cannot  and  ought  not  to  see  and  feel 


76  The  Art  of 

otherwise  than  through  the  eyes  and  senses 
of  his  fellow-countrymen  as  a  body  ?  The 
painters  who  lack  vision  must  inevitably  depend 
on  one  sky,  one  earth,  one  climate,  one  atmos- 
phere, one  type.  They  represent,  indeed,  what  is 
called  "  national  "  art.  And  for  the  evolution 
of  personal  talent  I  know  nothing  worse  than 
this  narrow  feeling  of  nationality.  For  the 
theory  of  environment  (theorie  du  milieu) 
advocated  by  official  art  patronage  has  become 
a  political  principle,  which  requires  the  national 
stamp,  as  in  matters  of  buying  and  selling.  Its 
advocates  and  such  as  desire  "  nationalism  ' 
in  art  fear  too  much  a  loss  of  originality,  as 
though  real  originality  did  not  essentially  dwell 
in  the  creative  personality  of  the  artist,  in  the 
ideal  individual  quality  ! 

Great  artists  and  all  great  men,  for  the  most 
part,  instead  of  being  bound  by  the  prejudices 
and  limitations  of  the  environment  in  which 
they  may  be  placed,  prove  superior  to  it, 
separating  themselves  from  it,  and  passing  be- 
yond it  in  the  full  display  of  their  emancipated 
personality,  give  free  scope  to  the  aspirations 
of  an  ideal  more  in  harmony  with  the  dreams 
of  all  mankind. 

In  the  act  of  creation,  the  man,  the  artist, 
the  thinker,  ought  to  vibrate  in  sympathy  with 
and  on  behalf  of  humanity,  and  not  according 
to  the  mode  of  thought  of  the  place  in  which 
he  happens  to  be. 


the  Future  77 

What  is  termed  "  national  genius  "  or  "  generic 
genius  "  (genie  de  l'espece)  is  too  often  only 
the  lamentable  affection  that  a  race  exhibits 
towards  its  instincts.  The  underlying  spirit 
of  the  race  has  sufficient  power  in  itself,  without 
needing  to  magnify  drawbacks  and  build 
principles  upon  them.  What  is  the  relative 
worth  of  native  environment  compared  with 
infinity  of  soul  ?  Did  Holland  give  Rembrandt 
his  magic  vision  ?  Did  Germany  create  Wagner's 
"Parsifal"?  And  if  the  sky,  the  soil,  the  climate, 
gave  birth  to  the  art  of  Pheidias,  Michael 
Angelo  and  De  Vinci,  how  is  it  that  Greece  and 
Italy,  whose  sky  and  soil,  atmosphere  and  climate, 
have  not  changed,  do  not  produce  works  of  equal 
value  ?  Art  belongs  rather  to  the  realm  of 
ideas  than  to  physical  divisions  of  the  Earth. 

Those  who  are  accustomed  to  watch  with 
spiritual  eyes  the  events  of  the  world  see  that 
a  Spiritual  Force  of  a  providential  kind  now 
soars  above  the  plane  of  human  intellect,  and 
that  its  occult  beams  pierce  the  troubled  depths 
of  men's  hearts,  penetrating  them  with  a  faint 
but  salutary  light. 

Yes,  we  bear  within  us,  in  the  dark  depths 
of  our  conscience,  the  supernatural  germs  of 
a  new  humanity  which  will  have  grasped  the 
mystery  of  life  or  its  immediate  relations  to 
the  Other  World. 

For  the  truths  of  idealism,  there  is  no  reason 
to  disguise  it,  have  begun  to  conquer  the  world 


78  The  Art  of 

of  modern  thought  with  a  methodical  and 
positive  sureness,  which  nothing  can  resist, 
since  it  is  the  bright  sign  of  the  true  evolution 
through  the  Spirit,  the  mediating  power  which 
must  readjust  the  balance  between  the  past, 
present,  and  future. 

Art,  which  has  hitherto  been  hampered  by 
the  contrary  methods  in  which  materialism 
gives  it  encouragement,  kept  in  the  lower 
sphere  of  a  degraded  spiritual  state  and  within 
national  boundaries,  Art  will  assume  propor- 
tions of  which  few  have  little  suspicion  ! 

Art  has  received  the  consecration  of  Meta- 
physics. It  already  bears  within  it  the  new  life  : 
the  renaissance  of  the  Ideal.  This  will  be  its 
fruit. 

It  is  necessary  to  state  precisely  the  particular 
redeeming  character  of  the  present  movement 
of  idealism  in  art  and  of  Idealism  generally. 
It  is  necessary  to  clearly  and  concisely  explain 
the  civilising  mission  of  Art,  the  destiny  of  light 
which  guides  the  artist  and  summarises,  by 
the  very  nature  of  its  glow,  the  ideal  world 
which  humanity  bears  in  its  heart.  It  is  likewise 
necessary  to  remark  on  the  moral  effect  which 
a  work  of  art  produces  upon  people,  upon  the 
crowd,  the  moral  influence  of  Art,  more  con- 
ducive of  health  and  peace  than  that  of  Politics. 

Reason  and  Understanding  will  reign  in 
every  sphere.  Passions  and  sentiments  will  be 
synthetically  balanced.    Rationalism,  shorn  of  its 


the  Future  79 

strength,  will  be  definitely  overthrown  by  the 
triumph  of  Science,  conscious  of  mysteries 
revealed,  but  as  yet  unintelligible  and  unfamiliar. 

Science  and  Religion  ought  to  be  reconciled, 
to  be  the  complements  of  one  another  and 
remain  indissoluble.  This  reconciliation  must 
necessarily  take  place.  It  will  be  the  supreme 
action  of  the  rule  of  the  Spirit.  The  absurd 
and  harmful  antagonism  between  Science  and 
Religion. has  already  begun  to  grow  weaker. 

Man  does  not  know  anything  of  himself. 
The  powers  or  forces  which  constitute  his 
individuality  have  not  been  created  by  him  ; 
but  he  can,  by  the  purifying  influence  of  his 
will  or  subservience  to  his  passions,  either 
strengthen  or  destroy  these  forces. 

The  man  of  genius,  he  who  is  essentially 
creative,  is  inspired.  A  higher  power,  an 
occult  force,  act  in  and  through  him. 

Now  the  same  law  takes  effect  in  the  universal 
as  in  the  individual.  We  have  tried  to  indicate 
this  law  in  order  that  the  sceptical  reader  may,  by 
means  of  his  logical  intuition,  understand  the  pos- 
sibility of  mystery  or  the  action  of  the  universal 
Spirit  in  mankind  in  the  present  and  inthefuture. 

We  said  just  now  that,  before  knowing  what 
the  Art  of  to-morrow  will  be,  we  must  find  out 
what  Science  and  Philosophy  will  be,  because 
Art  is  the  element  which,  most  immediately 
and  in  a  way  that  has  most  social  influence, 
reflects  their  essential  character.     The  Mission 


80  The  Art  of 

of  Art  is  to  cause  what  is  comprehensible  to  be 
perceived.  In  that  lies  the  whole  of  aesthetics. 
Art  is  not  a  fantasy  of  the  human  imagination, 
nor  the  caprice  of  a  few  idlers  ;  it  is  an  extra- 
ordinary effort  of  the  divine  faculties  of  man. 
Art  is  a  sublime  necessity  which  is  brought 
about  and  developed  in  accordance  with  the 
progress  of  civilisation.  It  is  neither  above  or 
below  other  manifestations  of  the  spirit  :  it 
results  from  them  and  completes  them. 

Through  the  infinite  veil,  behind  which  the 
unseen  work  of  the  Great  Unknown  is  carried 
on,  Beauty  sheds  its  light,  quivering  with  the 
divine  radiance,  the  wondrous  effect  of  the 
mystic  harmony  of  essence  and  substance,  of 
which  works  of  art  are  the  objective  suggestions, 
in  proportion  to  the  mental  capacity  of  the 
artist,  inspired  to  receive  them.  It  is  sufficient 
to  reflect  for  a  moment  upon  the  strange 
phenomenon  of  the  artistic  vocation  to  become 
assured  that  Art  has  a  definite  reason  for  its 
being,  and  that  it  consequently  plays  an 
important  part  in  idealising  society. 

Certain  short-sighted  thinkers,  ever  advancing 
hypotheses,  and  whose  pessimism  is  only  the 
sad  result  of  their  ignorance  of  everything 
which  concerns  the  secrets  of  life,  have  assumed 
the  doom  of  Art  to  be  at  hand,  bewildered  as 
they  are  in  the  midst  of  the  present  confusion 
of  so  many  schools  of  such  opposite  teaching. 
To  their  purblind  gaze,  this  confusion,  evident 


the  Future  81 

but  momentary,  is  a  sure  sign  that  the  positivist 
spirit  of  the  age  cannot  be  reconciled  to  the 
aesthetic  imagination  !  They  have  never  dreamt 
of  asking  themselves  if  the  age — the  coming 
age — would  really  be  positivist  or  spiritualist, 
and  if  the  Science  of  the  future  would  be  the 
same  as  that  of  to-day  ! 

That  is  where,  there  alone,  and  nowhere  else, 
the  very  roots  of  the  problem  are  to  be  found, 
and  whence  conclusions  may  be  drawn.  Art 
— we  use  the  word  in  its  widest  sense — pursues 
a  parallel  and  like  direction  to  that  of  Science. 
Often,  indeed,  they  clasp  hands. 

Art  has  been  sufficiently  degraded  by  Theory, 
being  said  to  be  idle,  and  aesthetics  to  be  merely 
instinctive  and  fortuitous  !  The  petty  theorists 
about  "  temperament '  praise  the  art  of  idle 
daubers  who  load  their  palettes  with  the  matter 
derived  from  their  impure  instincts  and  the 
disorder  due  to  their  natural  imperfections. 
Critics  and  artists  have  gone  arm  in  arm  by 
the  path  strewn  with  the  debaucheries  of 
their  "  temperament,"  confident  that  they  were 
marching  along  the  highway  of  Art  ! 

Although  we  do  not  wish  to  insist  that 
each  painter  and  sculptor,  before  setting  about 
a  masterpiece,  should  write  his  little  treatise 
on  aesthetics,  it  is  at  least  necessary  that  he 
should  show  that  his  work  is  the  result  neither 
of  mere  calculation  nor  of  chance,  but  the  ideal, 
emotional,    conscious   outpouring   of   his   soul, 


Sz  The  Art  of 

his  thought,  raised  to  the  level  of  a  subject, 
inspired  by  some  noble  thought.  Betwixt  the 
artist's  life  and  death  his  Work  alone  remains 
below.  And  this  work,  to  be  worthy  of  its  name, 
must  not  be  the  outcome  of  his  instinct  and 
fancy,  but  the  supreme  effort  of  his  soul, 
through  his  will  and  love,  towards  Beauty. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  the  artist's  instinct  or 
method  should  be  observable  in  his  work,  but 
his  whole  consciousness  alone  ;  that  is  to  say, 
his  aspiration  concentrated  on  an  ideal  of 
perfection.  Is  it  not  more  noble  for  the  artist 
to  exhibit  in  his  work,  not  merely  his  selfish 
and  vain  '  personality,"  but  his  honest  love 
for  the  Beautiful  ?  For  through  this  Love  alone 
the  divine  ray  of  genius  is  made  manifest. 

Yes,  the  artist,  if  he  would  gaze  into  the 
divine  brightness  of  Absolute  Beauty,  must 
crystallize  the  immortal  principle  of  his  being. 
At  once  intuitive  and  sensitive,  through  the 
mysterious  faculties  which  are  the  very  condi- 
tion of  his  creative  life,  he  can  then  attain 
perfection,  for  which  otherwise  there  exists 
but  a  vague  and  painful  longing,  and  from 
which  the  external  life,  that  depending  on  the 
senses  alone,  is  far  away. 

But  the  time  has  come  when  the  Fine  Arts, 
regenerated  through  Synthesis  and  penetrating 
into  the  boundless  regions  of  the  Other  World, 
will  at  last  become  "  the  incorporation  of  the 
Idea,  the  Word,  in  Forms  of  Nature." 


the  Future  83 

The  triple  formula — Beauty  of  Idea,  Beauty 
of  Form,  and  Beauty  of  Execution — which  forms 
the  fundamental  principle  of  idealist  art,  and 
over  which  vague  criticism  will  never  prevail, 
will  not  have  been  uttered  in  vain.  It  will  be 
the  basis  of  the  Art  of  the  future. 

Idealism,  in  art,  in  philosoph}7,  and  even 
in  politics,  is  the  mighty  and  everlasting 
movement  towards  the  Better.  We  venture  to 
prophesy  that  the  artistic  creed  of  the  future, 
far  from  deteriorating,  carefully  preserved  from 
all  that  is  romantic  or  academic,  from  naturalism 
and  impressionism,  will  no  longer  be  the  product 
of  the  spontaneous  instinct  of  superficial 
temperaments.  It  will  become  the  harmonious 
concentration  of  the  individual  artistic  faculties 
and  creative  powers  towards  a  complete  art, 
a  harmony  of  form  and  intellect,  worthy  of 
human  beings  that  have  undergone  a  moral 
and  spiritual  evolution. 

A  higher  conception  of  Beauty  and  Life 
ought  to  form  in  the  artist's  soul  side  by  side 
with  a  healthier  and  clearer  manifestation  of 
Emotion  and  Idea. 

Impressionism,  which  is  only  a  neurotic 
realism  or  naturalism,  has  not  been  able  to 
inspire  art  with  the  real  aesthetic  emotion. 
Fact,  instinct,  sentiment,  the  spontaneous, 
the  fleeting,  the  immediate,  the  instantaneous, 
the  ail-but,  the  relative,  those  are  the  only 
themes  of  art  which  it  has  introduced  into  its 


84  The  Art  of 

process.  It  is  the  school  of  Objectivity  and 
Illusion.  Separating  the  Ideal  from  Nature, 
and  Thought  from  Life,  this  school  has  become 
barren.  A  false  conception  of  Nature,  a  false 
conception  of  Life,  a  false  conception  of  Art — 
such  is  the  sum  of  the  realist,  naturalist,  and 
impressionist  views  of  art. 

Believing  mental  emotion,  ideal  emotion, 
to  be  of  no  use,  the  majority  of  modern  painters 
instead  of  getting  into  communion  with  Nature, 
have  distorted  it  (de-naturie). 

Much  talent  has  been  frittered  away  and  lost 
for  want  of  a  clearly  defined  view  of  aesthetics 
and  a  mental  inspiration.  Many,  rinding  them- 
selves possessed  of  real  technical  powers,  have 
only  been  able  to  utilise  them  in  the  representa- 
tion of  trivial  and  inferior  things.  The  fact  has 
been  too  often  ignored  that  just  as  the  universal 
and  cosmic  laws  are  the  primordial  conditions 
of  the  whole  natural,  moral,  and  psychic 
evolution  of  mankind,  so  in  art  the  law  of  the 
Beautiful  is  the  condition  of  all  perfection,  of 
all  idealism.  Artists  at  present,  diverted  from 
their  natural  powers,  unconscious  of  their 
natural  strength,  contemptuous  or  afraid  of 
pure  idealism,  do  not  know  how  to  adjust 
nervous  sensitivity,  the  psychological  condition 
of  the  modern  race,  to  a  lofty  artistic  expression. 

Let  us  henceforward  strive  to  facilitate  the 
natural  evolution  of  Art  by  proclaiming  the 
power  of  the  Ideal. 


the  Future  85 

Without  wishing  to  encroach  on  the  province 
of  sociology,  we  may  affirm,  with  our  gaze 
fixed  on  the  progress  towards  the  Best  (le 
Meilleur-Devenir),  that  the  society  of  the 
future,  whose  clear  shadow  can  already  be  seen 
on  the  broad  luminous  horizon  of  the  new  age, 
will  possess  an  art  where  universal  Love  and 
human  Brotherhood,  the  relations  of  Nature 
to  the  Absolute,  of  the  Invisible  to  the  Visible, 
of  Matter  to  Spirit,  will  be  the  subjects  that 
will  occupy  the  new-born  ingenuity  of  the 
Artist. 

Artistic  creation  will  proceed  wholly  upon 
a  higher  level,  whence  everything  distorted  or 
debased  will  be  logically  banished,  since  the 
form  will  then  be  adequate  to  the  thought. 

The  immediate  Mission  of  Art  is  to  purify 
man.  Deprive  art  of  this  mission,  and  there 
remains  to  it  only  a  barren  imagery,  able  only 
to  interest  the  puerile  soul  of  some  idle  virtuoso 
or  the  commercial  instinct  of  dealers,  who  find 
in  the  wares  of  art  something  which  may  satisfy 
their  sordid  lust  for  gold. 


VIII 

The  Relations  of  Church  and 
State  to  Art 

(i) 

No  utility  in  Uninspired  Art — "  Christian  Art  "  the  product  of  Religious 
Materialism — Modern  Religion  prohibits  Initiation  into  Sacred 
Things — Transmission  of  the  Universal  Wisdom — Its  ability  to 
achieve  the  Unity  of  Religions — The  Fundamental  Spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity— Wisdom  of  East  and  West  derived  from  a  Common  Source 
— Key  to  the  Secret  Doctrine  withheld  by,  and  Beauty  discoun- 
tenanced by,  the  Church — Indissolubility  of  Art  and  Religion — 
"  Christian  Art  "  debased  as  long  as  its  Source  of  Inspiration  is 
corrupt. 

"  A  RT,  like  Science,  can  enlighten  the  human 
-£a»  consciousness."  It  must  never  be  made  a 
pretext  for  diversion  or  an  easy  method 
of  securing  pleasure,  and  when  it  appeals  to  the 
senses,  that  is  to  say,  when  it  limits  sensation 
to  the  empty  objects  of  grosser  life,  without 
raising  the  spirit  to  the  vision  of  the  higher 
life,  when,  in  short,  art  does  not  remind  the 
human  soul  of  the  inner  and  divine  aspirations 
of  Love,  Charity,  and  Light,  then  it  is  better 
to  stamp  it  out,  since  it  is  then  the  cause  of 
a  great  and  deplorable  loss  of  energy  both  to 
the  individual  and  the  community.  Art  which 
has  no  thought,  which  does  not  purify,  and 
which,  in  a  word,  does  not  raise  the  soul  above 
the  vain  shows  of  earth  is  an  art  which  has  no 
utility. 

It  may  satisfy  the  limited  understanding  of 
the  inferior,  it  may  satisfy  the  sordid  personal 
vanity  of  artists  without  ideal,   whose  name 


Church,  State  and  Art  87 

is  legion,  but  such  an  art  will  never  lead  towards 
the  true  goal  of  Art. 

It  dwells  outside  the  artistic  consciousness  ; 
and  among  the  different  kinds  of  perverted  or 
decayed  art  there  is  one  we  must  remark  upon. 
It  concerns  that  religious  materialism  which  even 
now  we  still  venture  to  call  "  Christian  Art." 

We  know  that  the  part  played  by  the  con- 
temporary Church  has  been  pitiable,  not  to 
say  culpable.  Modern  Religion,  whose  orthodox 
and  realistic  mysticism  has  caused  a  material 
conception  of  the  Gospel  Mystery,  is  seen  to 
be  contradictory  to  the  pure  Christian  ideal, 
since  it  has  cast  out  of  its  bosom  esoteric 
initiation  into  sacred  things — its  very  basis. 
It  is  the  Initiation  of  the  Universal  Wisdom, 
which  is,  nevertheless,  ever  alive  and  never  can 
be  destroyed,  for  though  rejected  by  the  creeds 
of  fanaticism  and  hide-bound  orthodoxy,  in 
order  to  assure  the  maintenance  of  the  preroga- 
tives of  the  Church,  it  rinds  a  noble  asylum 
in  the  enlightened  communion  of  rare  spirits, 
whose  Christianity  is  that  of  Christ,  the  divine 
initiator  of  immortal  theosophies.  This  it  is 
which  is  destined  to  bring  about  profound 
changes  in  the  social  and  religious  order  of  the 
world.  This,  too,  is  the  same  mystic  and 
scientific   doctrine,    in    which   Diotime  *    (that 


*  Diotime,  a  Greek  priestess  of  Mantinea,  is  mentioned  by  Plato  in 
the  "  Banquet."  She  is  said  to  have  influenced  Socrates  in  his  theories 
with  regard  to  Love  and  Beauty. 


88  The  Relations  of  Church 

extraordinary  woman  of  the  ancient  world, 
in  the  history  of  mystic  philosophy  coming 
earlier  than  the  pure  victim  of  S.  Cyril,  the 
beautiful  Hypatia),  secretly  initiated  Socrates, 
a  doctrine  which  is  found,  as  though  trans- 
mitted by  initiation,  in  the  poet  of  the  Divine 
Comedy,  Dante,  seventeen  centuries  after  the 
great  Egyptian  initiates  revealed  it  to  the 
philosophers  of  Greece. 

In  the  history  of  philosophic  teaching,  the 
Universal  Wisdom  is  that  which  shines  with  the 
purest  radiance.  Successive  generations  of 
eastern  and  western  initiators  have  trans- 
mitted it  through  alternating  periods  of  light 
and  darkness  to  modern  times,  and  it  is  to-day 
to  be  found  in  two  powerful  bodies  of  doctrine, 
'  Martinism '  and  the  Theosophical  Society, 
the  first  representing  the  western  tradition,  the 
second  coming  from  India,  through  the  august 
and  immemorial  initiation  of  Brahminism,  but 
both  perfectly  united  in  their  teaching. 

Whatever  the  orthodox  may  think,  it  is 
through  this  that  the  great  principle  of  the 
Unity  of  Religion  will  be  established  in  the 
world,  because  it  is  precisely  in  the  realisation 
of  that  principle  that  the  divine  elements  of 
the  universal  brotherhood  are  found,  which 
holds  humanity  as  an  actual  Living  Being  ; 
that  is,  that  individuals,  peoples,  and  races, 
are  members  of  one  body  :  Humanity.  And 
this    esoteric    Wisdom    is    nothing    else    than 


and  State  to  Art  89 

philosophic  Gnosticism,  revealed  according  to 
the  need  of  the  age  for  the  spirits  of  truth  and 
love,  which,  in  the  heart  of  the  unseen,  watch 
over  the  destiny  of  the  human  race.  Our 
gratitude  is  also  due  to  the  intelligence  of 
light  incarnated  on  earth,  and  whose  mission 
is  to  shed  their  light  upon  human  science, 
religion,  literature,  and  art,  each  time  they 
slip  back  and  fall  into  materialism. 

Rama,  Krishna,  Moses,  Hermes,  Orpheus, 
Pythagoras,  Plato,  Manu,  and  our  Master 
Jesus  Christ,  the  early  fathers  of  the  Church, 
St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  St.  Irenaeus,  St. 
John  and  the  Apostles,  were  the  most  brilliant 
and  powerful  teachers  of  the  Science  of  the 
divine  mysteries.  The  pure  mystic  Christology 
of  the  Chaldeans,  Egyptians,  Hindoos,  Persians, 
and  Greeks,  who  were  cognizant  before  the 
coming  of  Christ  of  the  Symbol  of  the  Cross, 
proves,  indeed,  that  this  Universal  Wisdom  or 
Ancient  Wisdom,  as  it  is  usually  called,  is  a 
revealed  science,  whose  unity  is  clearly  to  be 
seen  beneath  the  apparent  divergences,  due  to 
adaptations  to  place  and  period,  of  great 
religions  based  on  an  esoteric  teaching. 

We  must  not  then  sever,  as  obscure  and 
subtle  theologians  have  done,  the  Christian 
teaching  from  this  Science  of  the  Soul,  the 
science  of  sciences,  the  true  Science  of  the 
Ideal,  nor  consider  it  from  a  sectarian  point 
of   view  in   the  light  of   a  heresy,  at  the   risk 


90  The  Relations  of  Church 

of  displacing  the  axis  of  civilisation  or 
causing  the  spiritual  evolution  of  beings  to  go 
astray. 

Gnosticism  or  Universal  Wisdom  is  really, 
indeed,  the  pure  and  fundamental  spirit  of 
Christianity.  All  Christian  theories,  Catholic 
or  Protestant,  have  sprung  from  it,  corrupted 
or  partly  mutilated. 

St.  Pantaenus,*  Athenagoras,  Origen,  know- 
ing it  to  have  come  from  the  temples  of  Thebes, 
Memphis,  and  Sals,  inculcated  its  lofty  teach- 
ing. The  works  of  Abbot  Trithemius,f  Saint 
Denys  the  Areopagite,  St.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
the  admirable  Ruysbroeck,  £  St.  Angela  of 
Foligno,  and  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  are  impreg- 
nated with  it.  St.  Augustine,  one  of  the  classic 
Christian  writers,  has  said  :  "  What  is  now 
termed  the  Christian  religion  existed  in  ancient 
times,  nor  has  it  ceased  to  exist  from  the  beginning 


*  Pantaenus  was  head  of  the  catechetical  school  at  Alexandria  (180— 
202  a.d.),  and  the  teacher  of  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  Origen.  He  is 
said  to  have  originally  been  a  Stoic,  and  was  sent  as  a  missionary  to 
"  India  "  or  Yemen.  His  commentaries  on  various  books  of  Scripture  are 
lost. 

f  John  Trithemius,  Abbot  of  Spanheim,  taught  chemistry  to  Para- 
celsus. He  is  the  author  of  tracts  on  the  "  elixir  vitae,"  the  "  Poligrapkta,'' 
the  first  important  work  on  cryptography  (1500),  and  the  "  Chronicon" 
of  Spanheim  (1506). 

%  John  Ruysbroeck  (1293-1381),  the  father  of  mysticism  in  the 
Netherlands.  His  doctrines  were  rather  practical  than  speculative.  He  is 
chiefly  occupied  with  the  means  whereby  the  "  unto  mystica  "  is  to  be 
attained,  whereas  Eckhardt,  who  greatly  influenced  him,  dwells  on  the 
union  as  an  ever-present  fact.  He  lived  in  seclusion  with  his  little  com- 
munity at  Vauvert,  and  died  as  first  prior  of  the  Convent  at  Groenendael. 
He  has  been  confused  with  William  of  Rubruk,  a  Franciscan  Friar,  who 
wrote  a  narrative  of  Asiatic  travel  in  the  thirteenth  century. 


and  State  to  Art  91 

of  the  human  race  to  the  days  when  Christ  came 
upon  earth."  * 

In  short,  primitive  mysticism,  that  is  to 
say,  such  as  existed  before  modern  orthodox 
theology,  is  this  universal  philosophy,  which 
contains  the  Christian  truths,  and  which  is 
furthermore  the  primordial  spiritual  substance 
of  the  cults  of  East  and  West. 

Between  the  "  Imitation  of  Jesus  Christ ' 
and  the  "  Bhagavad-Gitd  '  there  only  exist 
differences  of  terminology.  The  form  and 
imagery  change  ;  the  essentials  are  the  same. 
It  is  the  same  Word  of  spiritual  life.  The 
Christian  and  Hindoo  adepts,  through  their 
profound  enlightenment,  found  in  it  the  one 
source.  The  Brahmin  of  India  and  the  Christian 
of  Europe,  in  spite  of  time  and  space,  vibrate 
as  one  soul  with  the  harmony  of  the  universal 
Truth.  By  what  right  does  the  pride  of  the 
Catholic  Church  wish  to  shatter  the  spiritual 
harmony  of  two  worlds  ?  By  whose  authority  ? 
In  the  name  of  whom  ?    In  the  name  of  what  ? 

In  the  name  of  Christ  ?  Christ  is  not  called 
the  Pope.  Christ  is  called  Love  and  Light. 
The  Spirit  of  God,  the  universal  Word,  sheds 
its  light  on  all  humanity.  In  this  lies  the 
disagreement   between   the   secret  doctrine  and 


*  St.  Augustine  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  Beautiful — now  lost — in 
which  he  appears  to  have  reproduced  Platonic  ideas  under  a  Christian  guise. 
He  taught  that  Unity  is  the  form  of  all  Beauty  ("  omnis  porro  pulchritu- 
dinis  forma  unitas  est  ").  Infinite  goodness,  truth,  and  beauty  are  the 
attributes  of  the  Deity,  and  communicated  by  Him  to  all  things. 


92  The  Relations  of  Church 

Catholic  dogma,  for  Buddha  is  the  Christ  of 
the  East  as  Christ  is  the  Buddha  of  the  West. 

The  present  Church,  veiling  it  in  obscurity, 
refuses  to  admit  this  truth,  which,  when  the 
day  comes  for  purity  to  be  preferred  to  power, 
it  must  end  by  embracing.  It  has  driven  again 
into  the  darkness  the  light  of  divine  knowledge. 
The  light  will  consume  it  in  its  unquenchable 
flame. 

This  light,  vibrating  with  Love  and  know- 
ledge, is  already  growing  larger,  not  in  order  to 
destroy  dogmas,  but  to  vivify  them,  to 
illuminate  them,  to  render  them  more  trans- 
lucid,  and,  out  of  the  black  petrified  mass  which 
they  have  become,  to  make  a  glorious  diamond 
of  dazzling  psychic  light,  able  to  bring  about  a 
new  rebirth  of  the  human  race. 

Jesus  Christ,  the  founder  of  Christianity, 
who  is  but  a  new  revelation  of  the  divine 
Wisdom,  of  the  Science  of  Mysteries,  said  of 
the  disputants  of  the  Pharisaical  priesthood  : 
"  Woe  unto  ye  who  have  grasped  the  key  of 
knowledge  and,  not  having  penetrated  into  its 
sanctuary  yourselves,  have  yet  closed  it  unto 
others."* 

The  narrowness  and  poverty  of  ignorant 
devotion ,  the  inability  to  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  ritual  of  the  Roman  Church,  the 
continual  Popish  transformations  in  the  per- 
formance of  the  Mass,  falsifyings,  errors  of  all 

*S.  Luke  xi.  52. 


and  State  to  Art  9 


o 


kinds,  have  made  religion,  both  in  practice  and 
understanding,  not  the  realisation  of  the  great 
ideal  of  universality  through  Love  and  Science, 
but  the  political  organisation  of  a  materialised 
faith. 

In  the  darkness  of  Roman  orthodoxy  divine 
Christianity  has  long  gasped  for  breath,  and 
the  policy  of  the  Papacy  has  been  to  take  away 
the  keys  in  order  to  keep  the  much  needed 
truth  closely  locked  up. 

Now  this  same  religion,  which  has  banished 
the  sacred  knowledge,  has  ended  by  reprobating 
Beauty. 

Since  its  munificent  and  productive  patronage 
of  art  during  the  Renaissance,  the  Church  has 
forsworn  any  interest  in  it.  Since  then  religious 
art  has  day  by  day  deteriorated.  The  imagery 
of  contemporary  Christianity  is  as  trivial  as 
it  is  possible  to  conceive.  It  is  a  perfect  expres- 
sion of  nothingness  in  art.  The  artists  of 
"  Christian  art  "  have  debased  religious  inspira- 
tion with  the  grossest  and  most  puerile  elements 
of  bigotry.  It  is  the  reign  of  absolute  common- 
place insipidity. 

The  spirit  of  the  Church  no  longer  compre- 
hends the  Ideal,  and  Christian  art  has  become 
one  of  its  shames.  It  borders  on  sacrilege.  Its 
degradation  is  complete. 

The  religious  spirit  is  now  incapable  of  con- 
ceiving Beauty.  It  lies  in  the  bondage  of  obsolete 
conventions  and  realism   of  an  inferior  kind. 


94  Church,  State  and  Art 

The  scandalised  hypocrisy  which  the  Church 
cast  upon  the  nude  is  the  very  origin  of  its 
artistic  decay.  It  was  bound  to  come  to  this 
impoverished  state.  The  veiling  of  spiritual 
truth  was  bound  to  lead  to  the  veiling  of  the 
most  sacred  of  forms  :  the  human  form ! 
The  cramping  of  the  psychic  faculties  naturally 
brought  about  the  annihilation  of  religious 
inspiration.  Distortion  of  religion  gave  birth 
to  ugliness  in  art.  Religions  have  the  art  they 
deserve. 

Art  and  Religion  are  indissoluble.  The  Princes 
of  the  modern  Church  should  never  forget  it. 
Instead  of  allowing  Christian  temples  to  be 
profaned  by  the  banal  monstrosities  and 
hideous  eye-sores  of  the  School  of  St.  Luc,  that 
manufactory  of  sacrilege,  the  high  dignitaries 
would  be  better  fulfilling  their  spiritual  duty 
by  entrusting  the  Sacred  Images  to  the  genius 
of  inspired  artists. 

It  can  be  seen  that  the  conception  of  "  reli- 
gious "  or  "  Christian  "  art  cannot  be  revived 
from  its  ashes,  if  its  source  of  inspiration  is 
corrupted  by  the  dogmatic  and  conventional 
conceptions  of  the  contemporary  Church. 
Religious  art  will  be  replaced  in  the  future  by 
the  universal  idealist  Art,  the  sign  of  a  new 
spirituality. 


The  Relations  of  Church  and 
State  to  Art 

(ii) 

State  neglect  of  Art — Modern  Rulers  lacking  in  the  "  aesthetic  sense  " — 
Art  Patronage  in  the  Nineteenth  Century — Changed  character  of 
Royalty — The  Reign  of  Mediocrity — Degradation  of  the  Artist — 
Renaissance  Passion  for  Art — Monarchs  and  Republics  culpable 
alike — Art  neither  an  Aristocracy  nor  Democracy. 

BUT  it  is  not  the  princes  of  the  Church 
alone  who  deliver  art  over  to  inferiority 
and  ugliness.  Modern  Kings  likewise 
in  this  respect  have  proved  themselves  unworthy. 
If  the  princes  of  Religion  have  deformed  the 
aesthetics  of  religion,  the  princes  of  the  State, 
at  the  same  time,  have  forsaken  the  worship 
of  the  Beautiful.  Seeing  no  longer  that  the 
artist,  like  the  thinker  and  man  of  science,  is 
the  glory  of  a  nation,  they  have  in  a  petty  and 
commercial  spirit  left  Art  to  take  care  of  itself. 
Modern  kings  are  not  true  kings.  The  disciples 
of  Prudhomme,  their  dynastic  principles  seeming 
to  aim  at  the  perpetuation  of  a  reign  of  intel- 
lectual mediocrity,  they  never  raise  the  eye  of 
the  spirit  beyond  decorous  financial  specula- 
tion, or  trivial  diplomatic  jugglery.  When  a 
prince  lowers  the  nobility  of  his  soul  to  the 
stagnant  level  of  commercialism,  he  falls  from 
his  giddy  height  and  no  longer  deserves  the 
prestige  due  to  his  race.  The  genealogical 
ties  of  the  ruling  houses  has  long  lost  its  sap, 
and  on  its  dry  branches  grows  only  withered 
fruit.    Oligarchs  are  irremediably  tainted  with 


96  The  Relations  of  Church 

the  first  symptoms  of  decay  ;  the  venerable 
mottoes  on  their  escutcheons  are  like  the  mock- 
ing voices  of  a  dead  past,  when  they  claimed  the 
right  to  rule  the  world.  Alas,  the  bright  blue 
blood  of  Royalty  that  once  mantled  their 
brow  with  such  pride,  fit  for  the  purest  jewels 
of  heroic  idealism,  is  terribly  discoloured, 
leaving  wrinkles  of  age  upon  their  sunken 
temples.  For,  if  the  physical  is  the  image  of  the 
moral,  these  two  principles  of  human  vitality 
are  found  among  our  illustrious  degenerates 
in  a  degree  almost  approaching  zero.  It  is 
enough  to  look  for  a  little  upon  their  effigies, 
to  see  very  clearly  the  darkness  that  enveloped 
their  brainless  skulls  and  soulless  bodies.  With 
them  thought  is  no  longer  what  it  should  be, 
that  is  to  say,  the  undying  passion  for  know- 
ledge or  meditation  ;  the  soul  is  no  longer 
that  inexhaustible  well-head  of  splendid  enthu- 
siasm. Absorbed  selfishly  in  its  own  powers, 
participating  no  longer  in  the  mystic  poetry 
of  universal  life,  the  intellect,  instead  of  becom- 
ing refined,  is  dulled,  loses  that  sixth  sense, 
the  aesthetic  sense,  and  becomes  incapable  of 
feeling  that  ideal  thrill,  of  which  the  aesthetic, 
the  great  lovers  of  art,  are  so  proud.  And  then 
inevitably  follows  the  destruction  of  that 
intellectual  Paradise  where  the  bright  flowers 
of  a  pure  taste  flourish. 

The    individual    races    which    are    debased, 
kept  in  subjection,  thrown  back  on  themselves 


PROMETHEE    (j.    DELVILLE). 


f  To   fact  pair  q-j. 


and  State  to  Art  97 

like  sickly  plants,  that  can  no  longer  erect 
themselves  in  the  light  which  has  caused  them 
to  spring  from  the  soil,  become  insensible  to 
high  human  inspirations,  particularly  such  as 
arise  directly  through  special  impulses,  as  Art 
does. 

When  the  French  Revolution  traced  with 
bloody  fingers  the  prophetic  symbol  of  the 
emancipation  of  the  people,  and  in  the  terrors 
of  its  lightning  the  Mene-Tekel-Phares  of  the 
aristocracy  blazed  out,  the  ferocious  activity 
of  its  thousand  guillotines  seems  to  have 
exhausted  for  ever  the  blood  of  the  fallen 
theocracy.  All  the  glory,  character,  and  wit 
that  past  generations  had  bequeathed  to  them 
seems  to  have  perished  in  the  revolutionary 
storm  of  '93.  Indeed  from  that  time  no  monarch 
has  known  how  to  rise  to  anything  extra- 
ordinary either  in  act  or  thought.  Offspring 
of  Italy,  the  land  of  masterpieces,  Napoleon 
preserved  in  his  dark  conqueror's  soul  one  of 
those  great  lights  which  enabled  him  to  hold 
the  art  work  of  his  time  in  respect  ;  a  bright 
constellation  of  artists  arose  from  the  Napoleonic 
era.  But  after  that,  for  anything  like  royal 
encouragement  in  matters  of  art,  there  was 
nothing,  until  France  was  plunged  in  the 
decadence  of  that  curious  empire,  when  Bona- 
parte, obsessed  by  the  majestic  phantom  of 
the  old  imperial  eagle,  did  not  dare  to  neglect 
artists  altogether,  and  bestowed  on  them  the 


gS  The  Relations  of  Church 

foolish  patronage  of  a  sensualist,  better  able 
to  appreciate  obscenity  than  a  real  work  of 
art.  In  fact,  after  vainly  going  through  the 
commonplace  sovereigns  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, it  seems  that  the  only  prince  who  appre- 
ciated his  artistic  mission  was  Ludwig  II.  of 
Bavaria,  "  the  only  true  King  of  that  age  in 
which  Kings  were  of  such  little  account,"  as 
Verlaine  justly  remarked.  Without  the  lavish 
aid  of  that  warm-hearted  enthusiast,  that  quick 
imagination,  Wagner,  poor,  abused,  unknown, 
misunderstood,  would  never  have  realised  the 
cycle  of  his  mighty  conceptions.  Without 
Ludwig  II.  the  temple  of  Bayreuth  would  not 
have  come  into  being,  and  the  genius  of  Wagner 
would  never  have  reached  its  fulfilment,  crushed 
by  the  enmity  of  his  contemporaries  which  is 
the  great  disgrace  of  that  time  I  And  that  is  all. 
After  the  glorious  "  madness  "  of  the  Bavarian 
prince,  no  royal  personage  has  given  new  lustre 
to  the  gold  and  diamonds  upon  his  inspired 
brow.  Constitutional  kings  no  longer  know  how 
to  be  heroes.  Complete  stupefaction  seems  to 
have  absolutely  destroyed  in  them  all  senti- 
ments of  dignity — or  glory.  They  have  not 
even  the  excuse  of  gilded  misery,  and  keep 
their  magnificence  for  the  hideous  official 
ceremonial  in  which  they  are  pleased  to  exhibit 
their  growing  unpopularity.  In  this,  indeed, 
they  are  true  to  their  part  of  government 
puppets,  for  the  modern  king  does  not  make 


and  State  to  Art  99 

laws  :  he  submits,  he  proposes  ;  he  no  longer 
acts.  His  duties  are  automatic,  humiliating, 
abstract,  ineffective  :  it  is  sovereignty  in  its 
most  absurd  form !  The  purple  is  changed  to 
a  frock-coat,  the  sceptre  to  a  walking-stick, 
and  the  crown  to  a  top-hat.  In  such  royal  guise 
M.  Prudhomme  easily  takes  flesh,  and  can  at 
his  ease  use  his  civil  list  profitably  in  commercial 
enterprises,  without  at  all  needing  to  interest 
himself  in  spiritual  matters.  It  would  be  a 
marvel  if  it  were  otherwise  :  it  belongs  to  the 
category  of  moral  destiny.  A  king  whose  govern- 
ment is  in  the  hands  of  lawyers,  manufacturers 
and  the  monied  classes,  whose  interests  are 
mainly  centred  in  common  political  intrigue, 
must,  if  he  wishes  to  dwell  in  peace,  become 
mediocrity  to  some  extent.  A  constitutional 
king — -huge  irony  of  modern  greatness — is  an 
ill-rewarded  slave  seated  upon  a  gilded  chair. 
The  chief  puppet  of  some  ministers  who  are 
recruited  by  election  from  the  lower  depths 
of  the  ambitious  bourgeoisie,  bound  to  deny 
himself  the  slightest  initiative,  he  acts  according 
to  the  whim  of  those  who  pull  the  wires.  His 
whole  interest  in  art  is  represented  by  a  Ministry 
of  Fine  Arts,  whose  business  it  is  to  acquire  at  a 
huge  price  the  wildest  freaks  of  worthless  art,  and 
leave  true  artists  with  their  works  and  projects 
to  perish  of  hunger.  Indeed  it  is  an  under- 
stood thing  that  the  artist  who  cannot  leave 
his  high  probity  and  outspoken  independence 


ioo  The  Relations  of  Church 

behind  in  his  studio,  to  knock  like  a  beggar 
at  the  side  door  of  the  government  office,  will 
never  receive  any  official  recognition — unless 
maybe  at  the  point  of  death,  or,  long  after  that 
has  taken  place,  on  his  tombstone. 

The  part  of  Maecenas  played  by  modern 
potentates  is  lamentable  and  worthless,  and 
when  we  see  in  the  terrible  jumble  of  the 
triennial  exhibitions  the  mark  put  upon  their 
acquisitions,  it  is  hard  to  know  whether  to 
laugh  or  weep. 

These  Boeotians  of  high  rank,  the  costly 
ornaments  of  inglorious  kingdom  or  empire, 
are — it  can  be  easily  proved — beggars  who 
cling  to  the  trappings  of  state  like  Harpagon 
to  his  gold,  and  seriously  profess  an  incurable 
scepticism  for  everything  that  bears  any 
resemblance  to  art.  This  deplorable  poverty 
of  intellect,  and  degenerate  spirit,  is  the  effect 
of  minds  contaminated  by  speculations  on 
the  money  market.  Rothschild  has  come  to 
dominate  their  thought,  their  palaces,  and 
their  whole  being.  They  are  the  strange  votaries 
of  the  Golden  Calf,  around  which  whirls  in  a 
demoniac  frenzy,  in  our  times  of  universal 
pauperism,  the  Saturnalia  of  capitalism.  Ah ! 
the  princes  of  the  Renaissance — we  bow  low 
to  them — took  part  in  commerce  too,  and 
sometimes  even  descended  to  make  raids  on 
the  Bank,  but  the  money,  in  the  hands  of  these 
cultured  enthusiasts,  was  made  the  means  of 


and  State  to  Art  101 

realising  their  artistic  aims.  They  utilised 
their  diplomacy  and  trade  in  aid  of  their  eager 
passion  for  the  Beautiful,  and  commerce  and 
manufacture  never  rendered  their  great  souls 
incapable  of  noble  deed  or  thought.  A  prince's 
revenue  was  the  true  public  treasury,  from 
which  all  those  who  pursued  science  or  art 
drew  what  they  needed  for  their  labours. 

The  Borghese,  Urbans,  and  Medici,  Popes 
and  Emperors,  Kings,  Dukes,  and  Nobles, 
were  the  great  admirers  of  human  genius,  whose 
palaces  were  turned  into  Temples  in  which 
artists  officiated.  Before  the  sovereignty  of 
Art,  they  knew  how  to  put  off  the  sovereignty 
of  rank  ;  this  pure-blooded  aristocracy,  with 
whom  "  action  "  was  "  the  sister  of  dreaming," 
placed  the  aristocracy  of  thought  above  their 
own. 

The  princes  of  those  days,  full  of  that  magnifi- 
cent pride  from  which  spring  noble  passions 
and  great  races,  dwelt  amid  the  luxury  of  art, 
liberal,  easy  of  access,  with  imperial  splendour, 
like  eagles  intoxicated  with  the  light,  and  if 
they  could  rise  from  their  splendid  sepulchres 
would  not  admit  the  bourgeois  monarchs  of 
the  present  day  even  among  their  condottieri 
or  train  of  menials.  Can  there  be  found  among 
the  awful  tribunal  of  those  who  sway  the  sceptre 
in  these  latter  days  one  man  who,  like  Julius  II., 
is  capable  of  uttering  such  a  cry  as  this  :  "  / 
would  drain  my  blood  and  cut  short  my  years 


102  The  Relations  of  Church 

to  give  them  to  Michael  Angelo  !  '  It  was  not 
mere  admiration,  it  was  divine  love.  Genius, 
in  these  days  of  splendid  image-worshippers, 
fired  the  spirit,  heart,  and  soul,  as  to-day  Money 
pollutes,  and  renders  them  base  and  servile. 
On  all  sides  the  sacred  flame  was  fanned  whence 
sprung  immortal  works,  and  the  great  ones  of 
the  earth  suffered  the  impetuous  breath  of 
human  thought  to  sweep  intoxicatingly  through 
their  palaces.  A  thrill  of  aesthetic  ecstasy 
animated  monarchs  and  wondering  peoples. 
It  was  the  Reign  of  the  Beautiful.  Now  it  is 
the  Reign  of  Mediocrity. 

In  the  palaces  of  the  world  the  kings  shine, 
and  intrigue  in  secret,  with  that  dangerously 
growing  concourse  of  social  murmurings,  their 
empty  bulk  alone  acting  as  a  threat.  And 
how  sad  it  is,  amid  this  evolutionary  progress, 
these  increasing  social  complications,  this  grow- 
ing passion  for  art,  this  intellectual  impulse, 
which  is  slowly  and  painfully,  but  very  surely, 
making  headway  among  the  people,  these  new 
forces  which  are  about  to  rule  the  world,  to 
see  in  complete  contrast  the  supineness  of  kings, 
their  littleness,  their  narrow  outlook,  the  spell 
of  their  prestige,  and  their  weak  rule  ending 
in  moral  wretchedness,  complete  and  final ! 
He  will  not  here  play  the  demagogue  desiring 
the  end  of  one  regime  in  order  that  an  inept 
"  social  art  "  may  prevail.  Proudhon  and  his 
great    paradox    have   long   been    overwhelmed 


and  State  to  Art  103 

by  the  later  judgments  of  those  who  have  a 
purer  comprehension  of  art  ;  that  is  to  say, 
those  who  straitly  affirm  that  art  is  neither 
an  aristocracy  nor  democracy,  but  that  it  is 
Art,  that  mighty  emotion  for  the  Beautiful 
under  its  manifold  variety  of  form,  attainable 
by  all  those  who  know  how  to  love  it.  And  not 
more  than  a  barren  Monarchy  could  we  excuse 
a  Republic  that  allowed  men  like  D'Aurevilly  * 
and  Villiers-de-l'Isle  Adam  f  to  die  in  destitu- 
tion, while  its  mighty  commerce  showered 
wealth  on  political  quackery  and  buffoonery. 

But  are  Art  and  State  ever  to  remain  at 
opposite  poles,  the  absolute  antithesis  of  one 
another,  and  will  future  assemblies  and  law- 
makers, like  those  of  to-day,  and  like  our  modern 
Kings,  be  invertebrate  and  empty-headed 
bourgeois,  whose  pitiable  shades  will  never 
move  across  the  stage  of  history,  without 
exciting  the  derision  of  peoples  and  artists  ? 


*  Baxbey  d'Aurevilly  was  a  novelist  of  great  power  and  originality, 
all  his  work  being  marked  by  genius  of  a  rare  kind.  He  wrote  "  Les  Diabo- 
liques,"  "  Les  Prophetes,"  "  Le  Chevalier  Des  Touches."  He  died  in 
poverty  about  1895.  See  an  article  on  him  by  Edmund  Gosse  in  "  The 
Pageant"  (1897). 

f  Count  Villiers  de  LTsle  Adam  (1838-1889),  French  poet  and  drama- 
tist. Inaugurator  of  the  Symbolist  movement.  "  La  Revolte  "  appeared 
in  1870  ;  "  Contes  Cruels,"  a  volume  of  short  stories,  in  1880  ;  and  his 
last  play,  "  Axel,"  was  published  after  his  death  in  1890.  A  romantic 
idealist,  he  had  considerable  influence  on  younger  French  writers. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  VIII 

A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art— The 
Beuron  School 

TH  E  unexpected  spectacle,  amid  the 
decadence  of  modern  Christian  Art,  of 
a  religious  artistic  revival  comes  as  a 
surprise  and  pleasure  to  all  those  who  deplore 
the  way  in  which  Catholic  sanctuaries  are 
profaned  by  imagery  of  the  most  puerile  kind. 
For  a  long  time,  we  know,  religious  art  had 
become  commonplace  and  absolutely  lacking 
in  artistic  feeling.  And  it  must  be  confessed 
that  the  contemptuous  epithet  bondieuseries 
which  has  been  commonly  applied  to  the 
tasteless  and  inappropriate  decoration  of 
modern  churches  was  well  deserved.  The 
unanimous  outcry  of  all  those  that  have  pre- 
served the  sense  of  beauty  in  face  of  the  treason 
against  art  committed  by  such  as  profane  the 
profession  which  has  been  so  blindly  entrusted 
with  the  decoration  of  our  sacred  buildings 
did  not  seem  able,  in  spite  of  its  vehemence, 
to  bring  to  life  again  within  the  Church  anything 
of  the  beauty  of  former  days.  The  artistic 
instinct  of  religion  seemed  indeed  to  have 
utterly  perished,  and  so  flagrant  was  its  poverty 
of  conception  that  it  might  have  been  thought 
that  religious  feeling  would  never  again  recover 
its  proper  expression. 

In  this  degeneration  of  sacred  art  can  there 
not  be  perceived,  as  we  do  not  hesitate  to  afhrm, 


A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art  105 

a  proof  of  the  weakening  of  the  mystic  senti- 
ment, an  impoverishment  of  spiritual  life. 
The  counterblow  given  to  it  by  the  evolution 
of  modern  ideas,  the  growth  of  naturalism, 
the  manifold  theories  of  the  emancipation  of 
the  individual  in  art,  the  incoherence  and 
uncertainty  which  prevail  in  contemporary 
thought,  have  they  not  all  contributed  to 
relegate  to  the  shades  of  a  past  which  has 
become  embarrassing  and  of  no  further  use 
the  glories  and  immortal  example  given  to 
generations  by  the  Primitives  ?  Mystic  art,  it 
might  well  be  thought,  had  lost  connection 
with  great  tradition,  and  the  ugliness  of  the 
present  day,  like  that  of  a  barbarous  age, 
triumphantly  displayed  its  vandalism  in  the 
Catholic  shrines.  There  was  reason  then  to 
regret,  in  the  name  of  outraged  Beauty,  the 
pure  and  solemn  splendour  of  an  artistic  past 
inspired  by  an  almighty  faith.  Certainly  we 
must  take  into  account  the  bad  taste  and 
iconoclastic  tendencies  of  the  seventeenth, 
eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries  when 
seeking  the  causes  which  brought  about  the 
decadence  of  sacred  Art  ;  but,  however  that 
may  be,  there  is  reason  to  deplore  the  influence, 
direct  or  indirect,  of  naturalistic  theories.  Yet 
if  there  is  an  art  which  should  not  be  under 
the  influence  of  wholly  imitative  principles  it 
is  surely  sacred  art,  whose  aim  is  not  to  repro- 
duce perceptible  objects,  but  rather  to  inspire 


106  A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art : 

the  soul  with  piety  and  devotion.  Sacred  art 
dwells  in  a  region  of  its  own,  beyond  the  con- 
tingencies of  the  moment,  in  the  mystery  and 
perfection  of  its  symbols,  in  moral  grandeur, 
and  the  exaltation  of  the  mystic  drama.  And 
this  region  is  so  essentially  sacred,  that  a 
French  writer  whose  name  is  a  synonym  for 
scepticism,  M.  Anatole  France,  speaks  of  it 
in  the  preface  to  his  "  Noces  corinthiennes  " 
in  these  terms  :  "I  deal  in  this  drama  with 
serious  and  delicate  matters — of  matters  of 
religion.  I  have  redreamt  the  dream  of  the 
faith  of  ages  ;  I  have  given  myself  up  to  the 
illusion  of  living  beliefs.  It  would  have  been 
too  wanting  in  the  sense  of  harmony  to  treat 
what  is  pious  with  impunity.  I  have  a  sincere 
respect  for  sacred  things. 

No  one  will  deny  that  the  harmonious  region 
of  mystic  apotheoses  ought  to  have  a  solemn, 
hieratic,  and  ideal  art,  an  art  filled  with  peace 
and  holiness  in  which  form  and  colour  are 
subordinated  to  the  profound  requirements 
of  the  liturgy,  to  the  plastic  exigencies  of  dogma. 

Now,  instead  of  compositions  adequate  to  the 
intellectual  loftiness  of  their  theme  we  see  the 
devotional  Christianity  of  the  Church  com- 
promised by  deliberate  outrages  on  Beauty. 
If  the  standard  of  faith  is  to  be  judged  by  the 
degree  of  artistic  inspiration  shown  by  the 
Church  to-day,  mysticism,  it  must  be  confessed, 
has  fallen  into  decay.      In  setting  this  result 


The  Beuron  School  107 

down  to  external  influences  alone,  those  appear 
much  to  be  blamed  who  have  submitted  to 
it  in  so  passive  and  prejudicial  a  way.  Religion, 
speaking  in  an  aesthetic  sense,  must  not  allow 
itself  to  be  controlled  by  the  ever-changing 
play  of  schools  and  theories. 

From  a  strictly  religious  and  liturgical  point 
of  view,  there  is  no  artistic  evolution  possible 
in  the  fundamental  and  essential  principles  of 
Christian  art,  which  are  order  and  splendour. 
The  character  of  liturgical  art  has  been  deter- 
mined by  the  Primitives.  It  was  only  necessary 
to  continue  them  by  traditional  principles. 
The  type  of  mystic  beauty  having  been  formu- 
lated by  that  tradition,  I  mean  the  aesthetic 
and  technical  principles  of  religious  decorative 
art,  the  Church  had  only  to  perpetuate  them 
on  the  great  lines  laid  down  by  them,  since 
nothing  prevented  their  being  adapted  to  the 
present  day. 

It  is  because  the  Primitives  have  been 
deserted,  the  purity  and  splendour  of  their 
example  despised,  the  mysterious  power  that 
links  together  Art  and  Religion  misunderstood, 
that  the  source  of  inspiration  has  become 
defiled.  Cimabue,  Giotto,  Orcagna,  Fra  Angelico 
are  the  eponyms  of  Christian  Art.  They  are  the 
immaculate  source  of  Christian  aesthetic  in- 
spiration, because  they  reflect,  in  true  proportion, 
the  pure  intermingling  of  the  tradition  of  Graeco- 
Latin  art,  inherent  in  the  very  origin  of  the 


108  A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art : 

religion  of  the  west — Christianity.  Outside 
that  tradition  Christian  Art  cannot  but  lose  its 
beauty,  its  grandeur,  and  its  mission,  and  sink 
fatally  into  the  most  deplorable  exhibition  of 
perverted  taste. 

Sacred  Art  has  no  point  of  contact  with  the 
formless  and  fanciful  productions  of  the  profane 
schools.  It  is  wholly  concerned  with  expressing 
to  the  senses  what,  from  a  mystic  point  of  view, 
appears  to  be  absolute  and  eternal,  the  bases 
of  the  whole  spirit  of  synthesis,  the  foundations 
of  all  aesthetic  unity.  It  demands  nothing  from 
the  individual  because  it  proceeds  from  a 
collective  and  universal  condition  of  the  soul 
springing  from  the  emotional  breath  of  the  sen- 
timental life.  Just  as  Esoterics  possesses  a  vision- 
ary Metaphysics  whose  theories  are  based  on  the 
direct  vision  of  invisible  verities,  so  Religion 
has  its  aesthetic  creed  consisting  of  principles 
created  by  the  superior  psychic  nature  of 
religious  experiences.  Mystic  beauty  is  neces- 
sarily superior  to  natural  beauty  because  it 
expresses  at  the  same  time  the  perfection  of 
moral  beauty.  That  is  why  liturgic  splendour 
is  never  found  in  a  purely  realistic  composition. 
It  is  a  divine  and  not  a  human  art.  Unity  is 
its  end.  Hierarchy  and  hieratism  are  the 
only  possible  means  of  expression  because  it 
should  express,  not  merely  the  manifestations 
of  individual  life,  but  above  all  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  Christian  Virtue  equally  with  the 


The  Beuron  School  109 

adoration  of  its  followers.  Sanctity,  the  highest 
degree  of  inward  evolution,  the  pinnacle  of 
moral  beauty,  needs  a  plastic  representation 
arising  from  a  clear  and  simple  harmony,  which 
abhors  "  movement  which  displaces  line."  Order, 
in  what  is  geometrically  ideal  and  visibly 
harmonious,  constitutes  the  indispensable 
decorative  element  in  works  of  sacred  art. 

Ruskin  said  very  rightly  in  "  The  Seven 
Lamps  of  Architecture  "  :  "  Symmetry  is  not 
an  abstract  quality."  Indeed  symmetry  is 
a  natural  law  whose  manifestation  is  to  be 
found  in  all  forms — visible  or  invisible — in  the 
universe.  The  beauty  of  perceptible  forms 
results  from  that  symmetry.  It  is  the  signature 
of  the  divine  order  in  nature.  Now,  since  the 
object  of  religion  is  the  search  for  order  and  the 
divine,  is  it  surprising  that  sacred  art,  in  its 
monumental  and  decorative  expression,  should 
endeavour  to  draw  nearer  to  the  plastic  essence 
of  nature  by  the  geometric  laws  of  Beauty  ? 

This,  judging  by  the  works  they  have  already 
achieved,  has  been  perfectly  understood  by 
the  monastic  artists  of  the  Beuron  School* 
and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  they  have 
restored  to  the  great  art  of  religious  decoration 

*  The  community  of  Beuron  was  founded  at  Beuron  in  Germany,  by 
the  Arch-Abbe  Naure  VVolter  (died  in  1890).  The  Beuron  School  was  created 
by  the  R.  P.  Desire  Lenz  with  the  object  of  reviving  sacred  art  by  the 
idealist  view  of  a?sthetics.  The  School  has  already  produced  quite  remark- 
able works,  notably  :  The  Chapel  of  St.  Maur,  near  Sigmaringen  ;  the 
decoration  of  the  Churcfr  of  the  Holy  Vigrin,  at  Stuttgart,  in  the  Abbey  of 
Emmaiis,  near  Prague ;  and  in  the  Convent  of  St.  Benoit,  on  Monte 
Cassino,  near  Naples. 


no  A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art : 

its  proper  form  and  rediscovered  the  source  of 
which  the  Church  seemed  to  have  lost  all  trace. 
The  reproduction  of  their  frescoes  and  bas-reliefs 
bears  remarkable  testimony  to  the  high  sense 
of  decorative  treatment  which  guides  them 
equally  with  the  pure  comprehension  of  form 
which  inspires  them  in  their  superb  impulse  of 
revival.  Their  aim  can  be  perceived  in  their 
works,  which  is  to  realise  the  great  principle 
of  religious  art  by  uniting  the  love  of  rhythm 
which  characterises  Greek  aesthetics  with  the 
sentimental  harmonies  of  the  Christian  drama. 
Pheidias  and  Fra  Angelico  should  be  the  chief 
inspiration  of  their  idealism.  Owing  to  the 
universality  of  its  principles  Idealism  is  ever  to 
be  met  with,  because  Beauty  partakes  of  Unity. 
Whether  Pagan  or  Christian,  great  art  is  always 
religious.  Idealism  necessarily  produces  beauty, 
because  it  is  the  very  expression  of  great  art. 

In  proof  of  this  I  mention  the  Virgin  (Vierge 
hieratique)  which  adorns  the  portal  of  that 
wonderful  chapel  of  St.  Maur,  reared  by  the 
Beuron  School  on  the  rocks  of  the  Danube 
valley,  and  which  has  been  well  compared — 
a  wholly  relative  comparison,  be  it  under- 
stood, but  grounded  rightly  on  the  perfect 
harmony  of  its  architectural  proportions  and 
decorative  treatment — to  a  little  Christian 
Parthenon.  All  the  austere  artistic  effort  of 
the  Beuron  School  seems  to  be  summarised  in 
this  wonderful  and  mysterious  image,  beautiful 


The  Beuron  School  hi 

with  the  irresistible  beauty  of  a  perfect  thing. 
It  is  only  a  knowledge  of  the  geometry  of 
aesthetics,  the  knowledge  of  exact  proportion, 
measurement,  and  number,  of  which  Plato 
speaks,  which  could  have  realised  such  per- 
fection in  the  agreement  of  the  whole  and  its 
parts.  The  example  which  the  monk  artists  of 
Beuron  give  there  to  contemporary  art  is  great 
and  significant. 

From  the  simple  linear  ornament  to  the 
composition  of  the  fresco,  everything  in  this 
noble  work  is  eloquent  of  harmony  and  beauty. 
It  is  the  pure  splendour  of  simplicity,  the  con- 
dition of  perfect  equilibrium  between  matter 
and  spirit  which  the  artist  has  reached,  due  to 
his  respect  for  a  wise  tradition  and  a  lofty 
emotion.  That  tradition,  we  repeat,  is  the  only 
one  suited  to  the  decoration  of  sacred  buildings, 
and,  if  it  does  not  wish  to  degenerate  still 
further,  modern  sacred  art  must  become 
impregnated  with  it.  By  following  it,  the 
Benedictine  artists  who  know  how  to  apply 
it  with  proper  taste  and  intelligence  will  return 
to  the  primitive  cradle  of  the  art  displayed  in 
the  catacombs,  which  owed  its  freshness  pre- 
cisely to  the  agreement  between  the  tradition 
of  the  ancients  and  the  Christian  ideal.  Out 
of  the  spiritualism  of  those  two  tendencies 
there  should  arise  a  new  form  of  art  in  which 
beauty  of  form  would  be  conjoined  with  nobility 
of  sentiment. 


ii2  A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art  : 

The  Virgin  of  the  Chapel  of  St.  Maur  agrees 
with  the  liturgic  representation  of  the  Early 
Church,  which  holds  her  at  the  same  time  to 
be  seated  on  the  throne  of  divine  Wisdom. 
Such  as  the  artist  has  painted  her,  with  so  sure 
a  taste,  and  such  proper  feeling  for  mural 
treatment,  would  she  have  appeared  in  the 
sacred  presentment  of  the  Virgin  ;  that  is  to 
say,  according  to  the  Scriptures  :  The  beauty 
of  order  is  in  Me  for  all  eternity. 

This  Virgin  especially,  as  well  as  the  head 
of  Christ,  represent  indeed  the  aesthetic  ideal 
which  governs  sacred  art,  and  we  know  few 
works  that  are  superior  or  equal  to  them.  In 
our  eyes  they  are  worthy  of  being  classed  with 
the  noblest  expressions  of  Beauty  and  Perfec- 
tion which  sought  to  fix  the  ideal  type  in  which 
should  be  manifested  the  union  between  the 
essence  of  what  is  human  and  what  is  divine. 
It  is  only  by  proportion,  purity  of  design,  and 
beauty  of  line  that  these  ideal  types  can  express 
in  art  their  dogmatic  grandeur.  For  Line,  as 
Peladan  says,  is  the  immutable  theology  of  Form. 
All  sacred  art  aims  immediately  at  the  decora- 
tive objectivity  of  the  divine  character  of 
Beauty.  The  Benedictine  painter  bases  himself 
upon  that  beauty,  and  seeks  the  eternal  type 
in  the  human  form.  Ugliness  is  incompatible 
with  the  ideal  of  perfection  which  Christianity 
sets  up.  Besides,  if  history  is  to  be  believed, 
the  saints,  both  men  and  women,  were,  speaking 


THE   VIRGIN   OF   S.    MAUK    (BEURON    SCHOOL). 

'ill  .      pUg?     112. 


The  Beuron  School  113 

generally,  physically  beautiful.  Do  not  nearly 
all  the  lives  of  the  Saints  remark  on  the  admira- 
tion felt  by  their  judges  and  butchers  when  they 
beheld  the  beauty  of  the  martyrs  ? 

Christianity  cannot  remain  insensible  to  the 
beauty  of  human  perfection.  This  is  what  the 
Christian  artists  of  the  Beuron  School  under- 
stand, and  that  is  why,  we  are  glad  to  think, 
they  are  endeavouring,  by  setting  a  good 
example,  to  bring  about  a  reaction  against 
what  is  commonplace  and  in  bad  taste,  and, 
in  a  word,  against  the  clerical  ugliness  of  sacred 
images  which  have  become  the  terrors  of  the 
sanctuary.  For  it  must  be  confessed  that  it 
is  the  clerical  conception  of  religious  sentiment 
that  has  brought  about  the  profane  treatment 
of  modern  sacred  art.  So  that  it  is  with  a 
real  feeling  of  friendship  and  artistic  brother- 
hood that  artists  welcome  the  endeavour  of  the 
Beuron  School  to  bring  about  a  revival.  The 
place  which  the  religious  sense  occupies  in 
modern  civilisation  is  still  sufficiently  prominent, 
it  must  be  allowed,  for  it  to  endeavour  to  express 
itself  in  a  form  of  art  worthy  at  least  of  the 
powerful  current  of  spirituality  which  Christian 
thought  has  sent  throughout  the  West.  In  the 
hands  of  the  artists  of  Beuron  the  decoration  of 
the  churches  will  be  raised  to  the  high  level 
of  the  moral  unity  of  the  Christian  life,  which 
of  necessity  must  produce  in  art  line  and  colour, 
as  well  as  technical  unity,  which  alone  allow 


ii4  A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art  : 

the  harmonious  treatment  of  the  vast  decorative 
schemes  requisite  for  the  architectural  breadth 
of  edifices  consecrated  to  the  religion  of  a  people. 
If  the  historical  evolution  of  art  is  considered, 
we  are  met  with  the  undeniable  fact  that 
decorative  painting,  properly  speaking,  is 
really  an  essentially  Christian  art,  in  the 
sense  that  it  is,  of  all  plastic  arts,  the  most 
fitted  for  the  external  display  of  sentiments 
and  ideas.  Is  it  surprising  then  that  in  the  very 
bosom  of  religion  there  should  be  again  exhibited 
an  artistic  impulse  under  its  most  legitimate 
form  ?  We  have  grown  accustomed  nowadays 
to  consider  sacred  art  as  definitely  dead,  and 
to  look  upon  every  attempt  to  revive  it  as  an 
anachronism.  As  defenders  of  Beauty  under 
whatever  form  it  may  be  expressed,  it  is  our 
duty  to  welcome,  on  occasion,  every  endeavour 
that  is  made  towards  Beauty. 

That  endeavour,  none  can  doubt  who  have 
seen  their  works,  has  been  successfully  accom- 
plished by  the  Beuron  School.  It  corresponds, 
moreover,  to  a  general  tendency  of  art  at  the 
present  day.  Whilst  contemporary  art  is 
struggling  at  this  moment  to  shake  off  the  errors 
of  the  schools  that  rely  on  instinct  and  imitation 
and  is  endeavouring  to  rise  to  the  conception 
of  general  ideas  through  the  form  of  that 
great  decorative  art,  of  which  Puvis  de 
Chavannes  was  the  forerunner  in  France,  these 
solitary  monks  are  likewise  striving  laboriously 


The  Beuron  School  115 

in  the  silence  of  their  monasteries  to  give  a 
new  birth  to  their  religious  ideal  by  means  of 
a  nobler  form  of  art  and  one  with  a  new  meaning. 
Knowing  what  element  of  beauty  their  original 
resources  could  supply,  and  the  method  of 
expression  allowed  to  them  by  Hellenic  and 
Byzantine  traditions  of  sacred  art,  the  Beuron 
School  has  managed  to  evolve  a  sustained  style, 
full  of  grace  and  dignity,  suitable  to  the  religious 
life  of  our  times  and  worthy  of  modern  inspira- 
tion. 

In  these  days  when  religious  beliefs  themselves, 
governed  by  the  law  which  determines  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  conscience  and  profiting  by  the 
acquisitions  of  modern  learning,  have  assumed 
a  more  philosophic  and  scientific  guise  than 
belonged  to  those  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which 
were  too  exclusively  devotional  and  ascetic, 
there  is  wanted  a  treatment  of  sacred  subjects 
which  should  be  better  informed,  better 
balanced,  free  from  the  crudities  of  the  Gothic 
period,  and  in  which  mystic  emotion  should 
be  under  the  control  of  the  laws  of  knowledge, 
wisdom  and  reason.  Formerly  the  works  pro- 
duced in  the  monastic  studios  were  executed 
stiffly  and  mechanically  according  to  the  con- 
ventions and  style  peculiar  to  the  different 
Orders.  The  artist  was  completely  controlled 
and  fettered  by  the  rigid  and  narrow  applica- 
tion of  the  principle  of  the  division  of  work. 
The   manual   of   the   liturgic   artist,    the  monk 


ti6  A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art : 

Theophilus,  was  the  unchangeable  and  uniform 
creed  of  art,  conforming  to  the  expression  of 
the  ascetic  vision  of  the  age,  impregnated  with 
the  violent  reaction  on  which  the  new  Christian 
faith  was  founded  against  the  physical  beauty 
of  paganism.  The  Beuron  School  does  not 
consider  it  necessary  to  continue  to  propagate 
that  early  error,  which  in  the  course  of  time 
brought  about  the  debasement  of  form,  and 
caused  sacred  art  to  lose  the  sense  of  harmony 
and  proportion.  And  if  it  has  chosen  to  return 
to  the  purely  Greek  and  Byzantine  sources  of 
Christian  Art,  it  is  to  properly  apply  the  decora- 
tive beauty  of  tradition  to  the  symbolical 
exigencies  of  the  liturgy,  confident  that  Hellen- 
ism, owing  to  the  rationalism  of  its  artistic 
principles,will  preserve  their  art  from  becoming 
commonplace  and  ugly,  by  restoring  it 
to  grandeur  and  elevation  of  style.  Moreover, 
were  not  the  works  of  Pheidias,  Polycleitos, 
Zeuxis,  Apelles,  and  Lysippus,  the  prototypes 
which  served  as  guides  to  the  early  Christian 
artists  ?  And  has  not  the  tradition  of  the 
technique  of  decoration  been  borrowed  from 
the  ancient  world  ?  The  genius  of  Greece  is 
always  being  encountered  at  the  basis  of 
religious  art. 

A  magnificent  example  is  presented  to  us  by 
the  frieze  of  Flandrin  *    which  so  affords  so 


*  Jean  Hippolyte  Flandrin  (1809-1864)  was,  like  Chavannes,  a  native 
of  Lyons,  and,  like  him  also,  is  famous  chiefly  for  his  monumental  decora- 
tive paintings.    His  early  difficulties  were  removed  by  his  taking,  in  1832, 


The  Beuron  School  117 

harmonious  a  decoration  to  the  Church  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul  at  Paris.  Does  not  this  master- 
piece, one  of  the  most  important  works  of 
modern  art,  unfortunately  too  little  known, 
and  which  criticism  has  not  appreciated  at  its 
proper  value,  owe  the  wonderful  arrangement 
of  its  line  and  perfect  decorative  unity  pre- 
cisely to  the  fusion  of  its  pure  Hellenism  with 
the  gentle  austerity  of  Christian  sentiment  ? 

And  since  we  have  naturally  come  to  speak 
of  the  masterly  work  of  Flandrin,  may  we  be 
allowed  to  take  advantage  of  it  to  offer  here 
a  friendly  warning  to  the  Beuron  School  ? 
In  all  art,  the  danger  to  be  avoided  is  conven- 
tion ;  that  is  to  say,  the  frigid  application  of 
formulae,  which  results  in  a  "  poncif."  In  a  word, 
it  is  inevitably  death  to  personal  inspiration 
or  emotion,  owing  to  the  absence  of  direct 
contact  with  forms  of  nature.  To  speak  frankly, 
there  is  an  omission  which  weighs  upon  modern 
Christian  art  with  all  the  weight  of  the  prejudice 
which  gave  it  birth  :  it  is  the  absolute  proscrip- 
tion of  the  study  of  the  nude,  the  observation 
of  the  human  body,  God's  masterpiece  in  nature ! 

the  Grand  Prix  de  Rome,  and  he  soon  acquired  a  reputation  by  several 
important  works  mostly  of  religious  subjects.  In  1838  he  was  commissioned 
to  decorate  the  Church  of  St.  Severin  at  Paris,  and  from  that  time  onward 
he  was  continually  engaged  in  similar  work.  His  chief  works  are  at  St. 
Germain-des-Pres,  at  Paris,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Paul  at  Nimes,  in  that  of 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul  at  Paris,  and  in  the  Church  of  Amay  at  Lyons.  Regard- 
ing painting  as  the  vehicle  of  the  expression  of  spiritual  sentiment,  Flandrin 
perhaps  paid  too  little  regard  to  the  technical  qualities  of  his  art.  His  work 
is  austere  and  cold,  and  though  it  is  customary  to  compare  him  with 
Fra  Angelico,  his  creations  lack  the  joy  and  purity  of  the  early  master. 
He  died  of  small-pox  at  Rome. 


n8  A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art  : 

It  has  always  been  a  great  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  representation  of  ideas  in  art  takes 
no  account  of  the  study  of  living  forms.  The 
two  unshakeable  bases  of  aesthetics  are  Nature 
and  the  Ideal.  The  attempt  to  follow  the  laws 
of  ideal  beauty,  without  giving  heed  also  to  the 
laws  of  natural  beauty,  results  in  a  "  poncif  " 
and  "  pastiche."  The  traditional  methods  and 
formulae  requisite  for  the  technical  application 
of  a  difficult  art  ought  to  be  put  at  the  service 
of  the  creative  instinct  and  individual  inspira- 
tion. To  continually  endeavour  to  conciliate 
the  experience  of  tradition  with  the  renewal 
of  creative  power  is  not  only  the  duty,  but  the 
right,  of  every  true  artist  devoted  to  great  art. 
However  right  and  proper  the  decorative  treat- 
ment may  be  to  express  a  general  idea,  nothing 
must  suffer  individual  inspiration  to  be  sup- 
pressed. If,  therefore,  the  Beuron  School, 
while  remaining  faithful  to  the  principles  of 
a  legitimate  tradition,  desires  to  carry  out 
successfully  its  attempt  to  give  a  new  life  to 
sacred  art,  it  must  not  embody  its  ideal  in  too 
rigid  a  formula.  It  will  then  be  the  better 
able  to  work  in  harmony  with  the  inviolable 
laws  of  change,  and  not  remain  stationary  in 
a  too  exclusive  imitation  of  the  past,  and  so 
adapt  its  art  with  due  balance  and  proportion 
to  the  changes  of  the  spiritual  sentiment  of 
religion.  Egyptian  art,  itself,  liturgic  and 
sacerdotal    as   it    was,    underwent    changes   in 


The  Beuron  School  119 

the  aesthetic  expression  of  ideas.  It  began 
to  degenerate  from  the  moment  that  its  archi- 
tects, painters,  and  sculptors  began  to  servilely 
copy,  without  infusing  them  with  the  inner  life 
which  renews  external  appearances,  the  scale 
and  proportions  which  had  been  bequeathed 
by  a  powerful  sacerdotal  tradition. 

The  artists  of  the  Beuron  School,  while 
basing  the  form  of  the  figure  on  the  impersonal 
nature  of  the  Greek  cult  of  rhythm  as  well  as 
Byzantine  sacerdotalism,  significant  on  their 
part  of  a  true  sense  of  beauty,  should  aim  more 
at  individualising  their  heads.  Thus,  the 
irresistible  beauty  of  symmetry,  one  of  the 
essential  elements  of  harmony,  will  be  rendered 
more  complete  by  the  irresistible  charm  of  the 
expression  of  type.  That  is,  too,  what  all  the 
great  masters  of  sacred  art,  Giotto,  Cimabue, 
Fra  Angelico,  etc.,  were  accustomed  to  do. 
Without  forgetting  that  the  treatment  of  sacred 
subjects  depends  on  the  formula  so  clearly 
enunciated  by  Denys  the  Areopagite  :  "  When 
we  bow  down  in  worship  to  an  Image,  we  bow 
down  to  the  prototype  represented  by  that  Image," 
the  religious  painter  is  right  in  seeking  among 
the  forms  of  natural  life  for  an  ideal  prototype. 
Certainly  we  are  somewhat  inclined  to  take  the 
Benedictine  artists  of  Beuron  severely  to  task 
for  being  rather  too  anxious  to  emulate  the 
Greek  monks  of  Mount  Athos,  and  regret  that 
the  Guide  to  Sacred  Art  by  Giorgos  Marcos,  a 


120  A  Revival  of  Sacred  Art 

Byzantine  monk,  should  serve  as  their  text- 
book. But  it  is  not  the  less  true  that  remarkable 
works  have  issued  from  the  monastic  studios 
of  Beuron,  and  that  from  this  time  forward 
sacred  art  of  a  more  or  less  renovated  kind  is 
actually  existing.  The  ecclesiastical  authorities 
have  been  shown  how  churches  ought  to  be 
decorated,  of  which  they  have  been  strangely 
ignorant  for  so  long,  to  the  disgrace  of  the 
dignity  of  their  worship  and  the  dignity  of  art. 


IX 

*  The  Social  Influence  of  Art 

"  Of  all  social  forces  which  have  power  to 
assist  in  the  uplifting  of  a  people,  there  is  none 
perhaps  of  greater  importance  than  Art." 

Annie  Besant. 


Harmony  the  Secret  of  the  Universe  and  the  State — Art  reveals  Harmony 
— Birth  of  Social  Intelligence  marked  by  creation  of  an  Image — 
Perception  of  Beauty  inseparable  from  Mentality — Evolution  of  Art 
corresponds  with  Social  Progress — Superficial  view  of  /Esthetics — 
Social  Energy  aims  at  Perfect  Harmony — Social  Problems  solved  by 
the  Cult  of  Beauty — ^Esthetic  Sense  the  great  force  of  true  Spiritual 
Life — Beauty  perceived  through  the  Imagination,  rather  than 
through  the  Senses — Inferior  Artists  afraid  of  Great  Art — Great  Art 
does  not  Imitate,  but  conquers,  Matter — Art  must  illumine  Society, 
not  reflect  it — New  Era  in  Belgian  Art — Beauty  and  Utility  not  In- 
compatible— The  Artist  represents  Public  Thought — The  Mission 
of  Art  is  to  represent  Ideas — Ideas  of  Past  Ages  reflected  in  their 
Monuments — ^Esthetics  a  Social  Benefit. 

AN  illustrious  disciple  of  Plato,  and  an 
influential  friend  moreover  of  Pheidias, 
the  great  law-giver  Pericles,  on  one 
occasion  at  Athens  allowed  this  wise  and  pro- 
found saying  to  fall  from  his  lips,  which  seems 
the  living  echo  of  the  Pythagorean  doctrine  : 
"  Touch  not  the  bases  of  Music ;  you  would 
touch  the  very  foundations  of  the  State." 

In  these  words  Pericles  formulated  the  social 
principle  of  Art,  the  essence  of  which  is  Harmony, 
that  is,  Beauty. 

The  statesman  and  the  artist  in  him  reminded 
Greece  that  what  constitutes  one  of  the  first 
elements  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  harmony 
of  a  civilisation  is  the  feeling  for  the  Beautiful, 


*  This  chapter  is  from  a  paper  by  M.  Delville,  entitled  "  Le  Principe 
Social  de  I' Art,"  contributed  to  "  La  Belgique,"  April,  1907. 


122  The  Social  Influence 

or,  more  clearly,  the  direct  action  of  that 
wonderful  feeling  upon  the  soul  in  the  forma- 
tion of  human  societies. 

Order  and  harmony,  no  one  can  reasonably 
deny,  are  very  prominent  social  virtues.  The 
universe  only  exists  by  harmony,  and  the 
important  formula,  "  order  from  chaos,"  is 
one  of  the  most  formidable  affirmations  of  the 
divinity  of  Harmony  in  the  primordial  genesis 
of  the  world.  If  harmony  is  the  essence  of 
things,  if  it  is  the  great  balancing  force  which 
vibrates  at  the  core  of  worlds  and  in  the  core 
of  the  smallest  atom,  if  it  is,  in  one  word,  the 
secret  of  the  universe,  it  ought,  therefore,  to  be 
the  essence  and  secret  of  the  State  likewise. 

Now,  it  is  Art  which  makes  man  most  directly 
sensible  of  the  fundamental  existence  of 
harmony,  that  universal  harmony  before  which 
modern  materialism  is  forced  finally  to  stammer 
its  admiration  in  despair. 

The  social  principle  of  art  may  already  be 
traced  from  the  earliest  ages  of  humanity,  in 
the  dark  periods  when  the  nascent  civilisations 
scarcely  emerge  from  the  night  of  time.  The 
most  undeniable  document,  the  most  positive 
proof  of  the  advent  of  intelligence  in  primitive 
man,  and  of  the  aesthetic  element  which  enters 
into  his  composition,  the  very  sign  of  the  evi- 
dence of  the  mental  light  in  the  human  animal,* 

*  See,  for  what  more  especially  deals  with  the  esoteric  teaching  of 
human  evolution  or  human  genealogy  :  "  The  Mystery  of  Evolution,"  by 
Jean  Delville,  Lamertin,  Brussels. 


of  Art  123 

do  we  not  find  in  this  fact,  revealed  by  geology 
and  anthropology,  that  the  appearance  of  social 
intelligence  among  mankind  dates  from  that 
wonderful  moment  when  he  learnt  how  to  carry 
his  feeling  for  the  beautiful  into  an  image, 
derived  from  the  forms  of  the  life  around  him  ? 

Yes,  it  was  indeed  by  tracing  on  the  raw 
material,  the  outline  of  a  living  or  inanimate 
object,  the  memory  of  whose  beauty  he  desired 
to  perpetuate  and  which  had  made  its  impres- 
sion upon  his  intelligence,  that  prehistoric 
man,  at  the  dawn  of  the  human  race,  revealed 
the  social  and  intellectual  principle  of  Art. 

Now,  it  has  been  remarked  by  the  great 
English  biologist,  Huxley,  that  in  all  the 
numerous  kinds  of  species  no  animal  has  endea- 
voured to  reproduce  an  image  of  aught  that 
surrounded  him.    Art  is  unknown  to  animals. 

Art,  then,  is,  indeed,  the  undeniable  sign  of 
intelligence  and  wit  in  man.  As  soon  as  man 
could  think,  he  was  an  artist. 

Just  as  primitive  man  expressed  his  ideas 
by  means  of  imagery,  so  in  the  world  of  imagery 
people  become  conscious  of  ideas. 

The  feeling  for  the  beautiful  is  inseparable 
from  the  mental  conscience.  One  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  psychology  of  the  child,  one 
which  marks  an  important  stage  in  the  develop- 
ment of  his  intelligence,  is  the  growing  interest 
that  he  takes  in  the  image.  There  again  we 
have  a  proof  that  the  aesthetic  idea  cannot  be 


124  The  Social  Influence 

separated  from  the  mental  evolution  of  man, 
and  that  art  plays  a  vital  part  in  human  life. 

The  evolution  of  the  aesthetic  sense  always 
corresponds  to  increased  social  consciousness, 
to  refined  sensibility.  The  whole  history  of 
art  shows  us  how  it  works  hand  in  hand  with 
human  progress.  Wherever  in  the  world  the 
germs  of  civilisation  have  been  found,  those 
germs  have  been  manifested  under  one  of  the 
forms  of  art. 

The  domain  of  aesthetics  constitutes  a  social 
factor  of  a  truly  harmonious  psychic  influence. 

Imagination  is  a  real  power  in  man.  Without 
imagination  man  can  create  nothing  and  invent 
nothing. 

The  artistic  faculties  are  not  derived  from 
instinct,  but,  on  the  contrary,  from  spirit. 
Art  is  one  of  the  proper  activities  of  the  Spirit. 
That  manifestation  of  human  Intelligence  which 
is  termed  artistic  genius  is  not,  then,  an  artificial 
product,  a  fantasy,  a  superfluity  which  has 
but  a  relative  and  distant  connection  with  the 
ethical  development  of  society.  Artistic  genius 
is  inherent  in  the  phenomena  of  life,  as  beauty 
is  inherent  in  the  manifestation  of  the  universe. 

It  is  because  they  forget  that  Art  is  a  civilising 
force,  the  roots  of  which  are  deeply  buried  in 
the  origins  of  the  human  soul,  that  most  states- 
men to-day,  and  such  as  represent  the  popular 
power,  adopt  generally  a  mean  and  superficial 
view  of  aesthetics. 


of  Art  125 

Likewise,  because  they  have  forgotten  the 
essence  of  aesthetics  and  the  mission  of  art  in 
the  world,  the  majority  of  artists  to-day  put 
their  talents  at  the  service  of  inferior  emotions 
and  ugliness. 

Of  what  use,  then,  are  the  schools  of  Fine 
Arts,  in  which  the  beauty  of  Form  is  taught, 
if  social  life  ceases  to  be  impregnated  with 
this  beauty  and  if  artists  themselves  turn  their 
talents  in  the  direction  of  the  ugly  and  common- 
place ? 

Of  what  use  are  museums,  if  they  are  crowded 
with  works  in  which  bad  taste  predominates, 
and  from  which  the  artist's  intelligence  is 
absent  ? 

A  great  English  writer  on  aesthetics  and 
socialism,  John  Ruskin,  spoke  truly  when  he 
wrote  :  "  The  ugly  must  be  fought  even  to  the 
life,  and,  after  being  banished  from  its  own 
dreams,  must  be  expelled  from  reality." 

Indeed,  aesthetic  ideas  could  always  be 
applied  to  social  ideas.  Writers  on  socialism 
ought  at  the  same  time  to  be  cognisant  of 
art,  if  they  wish  to  become  perfect  organisers 
of  human  life. 

The  beautiful  is  inseparable  from  social  life. 

The  search  for  social  happiness  of  necessity 
causes  beauty  to  flourish. 

Wretched  and  barbarous  peoples,  we  know, 
have  no  art.  The  social  harmony  is  not  com- 
plete— it  is  not  possible,   I  may  say,  without 


126  The  Social  Influence 

the  manifestation  of  art,  which  is  the  flower 
and  joy  of  the  world. 

Why  is  that  ?  Because  the  Beautiful  is 
intimately  allied  with  the  Good  ;  because  the 
Beautiful  is  the  visible  form  of  universal  Love. 

The  social  and  moral  world  are  the  same 
thing.    Art  has  its  share  in  both. 

Thus  an  immense  responsibility  weighs  on 
the  statesman,  the  writer  on  socialism,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  artist. 

On  one  side,  when  the  powers  of  the  state 
do  not  encourage  the  most  elevated  expression 
of  art,  they  do  harm  to  one  of  the  vital  forces 
of  the  spirit  ;  on  the  other  side,  when  artists 
are  satisfied  with  representing  something 
inferior  and  trivial,  they  compromise  art,  and 
fail  in  their  ideal  and  social  duty. 

This  idea  of  (esthetic  duty  from  a  social 
point  of  view  must  seem  paradoxical. 

However,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  this 
duty  is  based  upon  the  social  principle  of  art 
itself,  and  that  the  social  principle  of  beauty 
assumes  a  powerful  aspect  when  we  know  how 
to  disengage  it  from  the  depths  of  the  activities 
in  which  it  is  hidden  under  the  accumulation 
of  external  appearances. 

If  in  society  we  take  account  of  the  collective 
effort  in  the  differing  manifestation  of  intellec- 
tual energy,  we  are  struck  by  this : — 

The  doctor,  though  a  professional  man,  fulfils 
his  social  duty  by  fighting  against  Disease. 


of  Art  127 

The  statesman  fulfils  his  by  fighting  against 
Misery. 

The  lawyer,  or  the  magistrate,  fights  against 
Injustice. 

The  advocate  does  his  duty  by  fighting  for 
the  Right. 

The  duty  of  the  Savant  is  to  fight  against 
Ignorance. 

Add  together  these  sensible  energies,  which 
really  constitute,  not  mere  lucrative  professions, 
but  harmonizing  activities,  fighting  against 
ignorance,  misery,  disease,  injustice,  against 
all  the  discordant  elements  that  disturb  social 
harmony,  working,  that  is,  towards  the  realiza- 
tion of  a  maximum  of  Beauty  in  the  world, 
and  you  will  see  that  the  end  and  function 
of  all  human  effort,  all  social  energy,  all 
professional  activity,  is  to  realise  the  greatest 
possible  sum  of  harmony,  of  beauty.  Moral 
Beauty  and  aesthetic  Beauty  complete  one 
another. 

Beauty  is  the  culminating  phenomenon  among 
the  phenomena  of  life,  since  it  contains  in 
itself  the  immanence  and  the  infinitude  of 
Perfection,  the  end  of  the  whole  cosmic  and 
human  Evolution. 

Looked  at  from  this  point  of  view,  it  becomes 
easy  indeed  to  understand  the  value  of  the 
social  principle  of  Beaut}*'  and  of  Art,  which 
seems  at  the  same  time  to  be  a  principle  of 
evolution  and  perfection. 


128  The  Social  Influence 

To  desire  that  the  world  should  be  beautiful, 
that  life  should  be  beautiful,  to  wish  that  the 
fine  arts  should  shed  their  calm  inspiring  lustre 
on  society,  is  to  desire  the  Good  of  humanity. 

If,  then,  the  splendid  and  barren  fortunes 
which  are  the  disgrace  of  certain  wealthy 
persons  could  be  utilised  in  producing  the 
greatest  social  Beauty,  could  advance,  that  is, 
the  living  Art  of  a  people,  an  immense  stride 
would  be  made  in  human  progress. 

It  was  a  subtle  philosopher  and  very  observant 
psychologist  who  said :  "  Perhaps  the  cult  of 
beautiful  things  is  the  surest  guide  to  the  solution 
of  social  problems."  And,  indeed,  from  the 
contemplation  of  beautiful  things  spring  joy 
and  happiness.  They  that  show  admiration 
are  good.  Great  artists,  in  spite  of  their  vicissi- 
tudes, have  had  happy  lives. 

Wherever  a  man,  or  a  people,  have  nothing 
to  admire,  they  grow  blase  and  become  boorish. 

So,  then,  we  may  say  that  aesthetic  admira- 
tion is  to  be  included  among  the  catalogue  of 
social  remedies. 

Every  time  that  a  man  finds  himself  face  to 
face  with  a  great  work  of  art,  he  seems  to  grow 
in  stature,  a  kind  of  inner  light  renders  his 
consciousness  more  receptive,  he  experiences 
the  delightful  and  disturbing  sensation  of  being 
enriched  with  intelligence,  goodness,  and  love. 
This  is  because  the  very  nature  of  aesthetic 
emotion  does  not  constitute  merely  a  pleasure, 


of  Art  129 

but  the  elevation  of  life,  morally  and  spiritually. 
Unconsciously,  the  vibration  of  the  feeling  of 
admiration  has  awakened  in  him  one  of  the 
spiritual  principles  of  his  inner  being,  for  it 
is  not  on  the  senses  alone  that  the  sentiment 
of  beauty  depends,  but  it  is  the  spirit  that 
perceives  Beauty,  Harmony,  and  vibrates  in 
agreement  with  them ! 

This,  I  am  aware,  will  seem  somewhat 
romantic  to  such  as  have  a  materialistic  and 
physiological  view  of  art,  completely  ignoring 
the  occult  psychology  of  man,  since  it  is  just 
their  incurable  ignorance  of  occultism  which 
characterises  the  "  esthetes  du  protoplasme." 

To  most  people  art  means  sensuality.  They 
only  expect  from  art  an  agreeable  visual 
sensation,  in  the  physical  sense  of  the  word. 
And  when,  despite  themselves,  they  feel  in 
their  heart  all  the  mystery  appertaining  to  a 
work  in  which  some  artist  of  genius  has  known 
how  to  render  visible  the  mysterious  power  of 
the  spirit,  they  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  that  supreme 
revelation  which  art  breathes  on  their  blunted 
consciousness. 

So  many  modern  psychologists  endeavour 
unsuccessfully  to  define  the  nature  of  aesthetic 
emotion  because  their  arguments  are  based 
upon  purely  physical  data.  The  result  has  been 
a  veritable  materialisation  of  art,  and  artists, 
imbued  with  baneful  theories,  think  that  they 
do  well  to  appeal  only  to  the  incoherence  of 

J 


130  The  Social  Influence 

their  lower  nature.  This  phase,  fortunately, 
is  drawing  to  a  close.  In  spite  of  everything, 
the  conception  of  art  is  becoming  more  elevated 
and  new  aspirations  are  appearing.  Psycholo- 
gists and  philosophers  are  beginning  to  declare 
that  "  the  cesthetic  sense  is  the  great  force  of  true 
spiritual  life."  Truly,  art  is  the  working  of 
spirit  on  matter. 

The  harmonies  of  nature  correspond  to  the 
harmonies  of  existence. 

Art  is  the  expression  of  mysterious  affinities. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  plastic  arts  display 
to  us  material  beauties  by  means  of  the  senses, 
it  is  truer  still  that  the  aesthetic  pleasure 
derived  from  the  contemplation  of  these 
beauties  affects  the  soul,  the  spirit,  much  more 
than  the  senses  themselves.  The  aesthetic 
sense  is  an  inner  faculty  of  man,  a  faculty 
which  permits  him  to  feel  again  in  the  presence 
of  material  beauty  psychic  and  non-material 
impressions. 

The  object  of  art,  then,  is  rather  to  cause 
man  to  perceive  the  essential  reality  of  things. 
And  the  immateriality  of  things  can  be  only 
perceived  and  understood  by  the  immaterial 
principle  of  intelligence  and  spirit. 

If,  as  certain  critics  of  art  still  imagine,  the 
sense  of  beauty  depended  merely  on  physical 
sensation,  the  coarsest  and  most  sensual  natures 
would  be  the  greatest  artists  and  surest 
critics. 


of  Art  131 

Now,  it  is  not  difficult  to  recognize  that 
the  contrary  is  the  case.  Are  not,  moreover, 
those  persons,  in  whom  imagination  as  a  rule 
has  power  over  the  senses — for  Imagination  is 
a  superior  faculty  to  the  senses — those  that  show 
themselves  most  ready,  not  only  in  their  percep- 
tion of  the  manifold  and  subtle  aspects  of  the 
beautiful,  but  likewise  in  creating  it  ? 

Since  it  is  averred  that  the  artist  is  improved 
by  his  art,  and  that  his  art  has  an  elevating 
influence  on  the  human  soul,  is  it  not,  therefore, 
indispensable  to  endeavour  unceasingly  to  raise 
the  level  of  Art,  and  should  not  artists  strive 
to  reach  a  higher  level  of  sensibility  ? 

The  artist,  instead  of  seeking  an  easy  success 
in  the  mere  mechanical  production  of  works 
almost  identical  and  in  which  the  creative 
activities  of  the  spirit  are  no  longer  to  be 
distinguished,  would  do  better  both  as  an  artist 
and  man  of  intelligence  in  attempting  to  bring 
about  the  proper  evolution  of  his  art. 

True  artists  are  not  those  who  paint  or 
produce  sculpture  to  gratify  an  instinctive 
pleasure  in  sculpture  or  painting.  True  artists, 
whether  they  be  painters,  sculptors,  architects, 
or  musicians,  are  those  who  have  discovered 
how  to  construct  for  themselves  an  ideal  of 
Beauty  with  the  spiritual  energies  of  their 
being  and  the  natural  forces  of  life.  Like  the 
mystics,  who,  by  dint  of  the  ideal  they  looked 
to,  ended  by  discovering  in  themselves  "  that 


132  The  Social  Influence 

wonderful  power  of  transformation  by  which 
man  himself  become  that  which  he  worships," 
so  true  artists  reflect  in  their  works  the  ideal 
which  they  have  placed  before  them. 

Most  artists  have  a  vulgar  and  flippant 
view  of  art.  Their  psychology  exactly  reflects 
the  middle-class  ideas  to  which,  with  a  com- 
promising facility,  they  complaisantly  adapt 
themselves.  Those  are  rare  who  have  the  courage 
to  sacrifice  their  artistic  egoism  on  the  altar 
of  art  to  resume  it  in  the  hey-day  of  success. 
Mediocre  artists,  like  the  vulgar,  instinctively 
avoid  great  art  because  they  find  that  it  needs 
too  much  unselfishness.  They  are  afraid  of  it 
— as  a  fool  is  afraid  in  the  presence  of  a  man 
of  genius. 

How  many  artists  are  there  who  understand 
the  social  and  human  import  of  their  vocation, 
and  who  say,  as  Schiller  so  neatly  put  it  : 
"  Beauty  should  be  brought  forward  as  a  necessary 
condition  of  mankind  I  " 

There  are  many  men  who  paint  pictures, 
and  many  who  produce  sculpture,  whose  hands 
are  not  illumined  by  the  great  pure  light  of 
Art,  whose  souls  remain  unexalted  by  the 
love  of  Beauty. 

Is  it  not  rather  by  employing  ideal  themes 
raised  above  inferior  and  commonplace  con- 
tingencies that  artists  will  exert  a  much 
wider  influence  on  the  moral  life  of  the 
people  ? 


of  Art  133 

Michelet  said  truly  :  "  The  birth  of  genius 
is  a  type  of  social  birth.  The  soul  of  a  man  of 
genius,  that  visibly  divine  soul,  since  it  creates 
like  God,  is  the  inner  state  on  which  should  be 
modelled  the  outer  state,  in  order  that  it  should 
be  divine  likewise." 

Nothing  will  prevent  art  from  generally 
playing  in  society  more  and  more  the  part  of 
an  educational  force,  conscious  of  its  mission. 

The  time  has  come  to  infuse  society  with 
art,  the  ideal,  and  the  beautiful.  Society  now- 
a-days  tends  to  depend  too  much  upon  instinct. 
It  is  saturated  with  materialism,  sensualism, 
and  commercialism. 

Modern  art  has  been  used  too  much  as  a 
pretext  for  all  the  impure  and  neurotic  ugliness 
of  the  times.  The  prevalence  of  uninspired 
realistic  and  imitative  productions — whether 
impressionist  or  not — is  the  disturbing  result 
of  what  was  otherwise  a  salutary  reaction 
against  the  old  academic  formulae. 

Too  many  mediocre  artists  take  advantage 
of  the  confused  ideas  of  the  day,  and  the  concep- 
tion of  art,  with  its  splendid  plastic  and  ideologic 
possibilities,  is  seriously  compromised  thereby. 
"  Modernism,"  instead  of  being  a  broadening, 
a  more  complete  expansion  of  all  the  artistic 
faculties  in  the  domain  of  universal  beauty, 
has  really  become  a  levelling  and  narrowing 
influence.  Naturalism,  that  great  artistic 
calamity,    does    not    understand    Nature.       It 


134  The  Social  Influence 

has  only  imitated  ugly  and  material  things. 
Those  who  still  claim  acquaintance  with  her, 
and  those — a  little  ashamed  of  her — who  hide 
under  the  mask  of  impressionism,  are  wanting 
in  clairvoyance.  They  do  not  see  indeed  that 
pictural  ideology,  the  great  decorative  and  monu- 
mental idealism,  is  beyond  any  academic 
servitude,  is  a  wholly  modern  art,  and  which 
even  ought  to  be  considered  as  the  synthetic 
and  social  art  of  the  future.  The  symbol  of 
modern  times  is  thought,  as  the  sign  of  future 
times  will  be  spirit.  All  evolution  of  human 
activities  contend  with  the  effort  being  made 
to  free  mankind  from  the  inert  fatality  of 
matter.  The  only  true  glory  of  this  world  is 
the  knowledge  that,  by  victory  over  matter, 
we  draw  nearer  to  wisdom,  truth,  and  beauty. 
Matter  has  no  real  existence  beyond  the  oppor- 
tunity it  affords  us  of  struggling  against  its 
attraction  and  illusion.  Every  chef  d'ceuvre 
is  not  an  imitation  of,  but  a  victory  over, 
matter.  This  is  not  a  paradox.  It  is  the  key 
to  the  whole  of  creation,  to  all  evolution.  It 
is,  too,  the  very  sense  of  Art,  the  vital  element 
of  which  should  be  Thought  in  its  manifold  and 
varied  plastic  expression. 

Rodin,  the  most  modern  of  artists,  is  the  most 
thoughtful  (le  plus  penseur) .  And  as  he  is  the  most 
thoughtful,  so  he  has  the  greatest  plastic  power! 

Thought,  therefore,  whatever  certain  flippant 
sensualists  and  unthinking  academicians  may 


of  Art  135 

say,  far  from  being  incompatible  with  the 
exigencies  of  the  visual  plasticity  of  art,  is,  on 
the  contrary,  its  true  vital  and  creative  element. 
Has  the  profound  thought  of  De  Vinci 
paralysed  his  technical  power  ?  Never.  On 
the  contrary,  plastic  perfection  is  exhibited 
in  the  works  of  the  great  Florentine  with  a 
magic  greater  as  his  thought  is  more  subtle 
and  profound.  It  is  not  true,  therefore,  that 
realism  alone  brings  about  Realisation. 

How  long  is  it  that  the  artist  has  been  dull- 
souled  and  ignorant  ?  Since  realism  has  for- 
bidden him  to  have  a  brain  and  imagination. 
But  times  are  changed. 

In  face  of  an  sestheticism  lacking  health  and 
vigour,  without  aim,  without  ideal,  which  has 
too  long  kept  its  place  merely  to  satisfy  the  fads 
of  a  snobbish  "  elite  "  at  feud  with  the  bour- 
geoisie, it  is  consoling  to  know  that  ideas  of 
art  are  becoming  broader.  A  new  generation, 
scornful  at  once  of  "  flamingatisme  "  and 
"  libre-esthetisme,"  those  two  aspects  of  art 
so  devoid  of  greatness  and  beauty,  is  daily 
asserting  its  creative  desires  turned  in  the 
direction  of  the  great  symbols  of  life  and 
human  ideas. 

To  narrowly  and  selfishly  foster  one's  own 
"  personality  "  in  the  hothouses  of  "  estheti- 
comanie,"  or  wallow  brutishly  in  the  sensual 
sloth  of  a  national  antiquated  tradition,  what 
can  be  less  likely  to  produce  a  Beauty  possessed 


136  The  Social  Influence 

of  power !  The  true  Moderns  are  not  those 
who,  with  a  shameless  perversity,  are  pleased 
with  contemporary  things  through  degraded 
notions  of  art.  The  true  Moderns  are  those 
who,  understanding  in  short  the  plastic  value 
of  Ideas,  know  that  art  ought  to  illumine  the 
soul  of  society  instead  of  being  content  with 
reflecting  it.  True  aesthetic  culture,  really 
modern  art,  lies  in  that.  And  that  is  the 
renaissance  of  great  Art. 

Very  significant  symptoms  of  artistic  intellec- 
tuality have  triumphantly  appeared  on  all  sides 
— in  England,  Germany,  France,  Be^ium,  and 
Holland. 

With  regard  to  what  more  particularly 
concerns  our  country,*  whose  growing  intellec- 
tual evolution  is  daily  tending  to  widen  the 
artistic  horizon,  it  may  be  said  that  what 
Chauvinistic  criticism  still  calls  "  Flemish 
Painting "  is  becoming  more  and  more  an 
obvious  anachronism.  What  constitutes  the 
glory  of  the  painting  of  the  past,  the  traditional 
splendours  of  the  early  Flemings  and  the 
period  of  Rubens,  is  continued  wretchedly 
enough  in  the  guise  of  a  realism  that  lacks  its 
grandeur.  If  the  so-called  "  Flemish  Painting  " 
is  still  carried  on  in  a  dull,  lifeless  way  by 
certain  landscape,  animal,  and  genre  painters 
wanting  in  soul  and  intelligence,  it  is  no  less 
true  that,  in  spite  of  old-fashioned  prejudices, 

*  Belgium. 


of  Art  137 

the  artistic  genius  of  the  Belgian  race  has  for 
some  time  assumed  a  new  aspect  and  more 
elevated  expression. 

This  tendency  is  in  no  way  accidental  or 
foreign  to  the  temperament  of  the  race.  It  is, 
on  the  contrary,  a  national  phenomenon,  which 
is  manifesting  itself  naturally,  because  Belgium, 
freed  at  last  from  the  grip  of  historical  domina- 
tions which  drained  her  personal  vigour,  is 
again  becoming  conscious  of  her  strength,  of 
her  true  regenerated  personality  as  a  race. 

Belgian  Art  is  about  to  take  flight  anew  to 
a  loftier  sphere.  All  the  immense  and  rich  fund 
of  imagination  and  idealism  so  stored  with 
pictorial  genius,  choked  and  paralysed,  and  for 
so  long  under  the  incubus  of  an  easy-going  feeble 
psychology,  will  when  the  time  comes  emerge 
with  an  impetus  which  will  cause  surprise. 
Sculpture,  which  has  not  had  to  submit,  as 
has  been  the  case  with  painting,  to  the  tyranny 
of  the  "  Flemish  "  tradition,  has  already  proved 
that  the  Belgian  view  of  art  can  rise  to  the 
most  sublime  and  powerful  creations.  It  is 
the  same  with  literature,  which  likewise  not 
having  to  drag  with  it  the  paralysing  weight 
of  a  Flemish  tradition,  has  leapt,  with  splendid 
and  powerful  strokes  of  the  wings,  into  the 
world  of  ideas.  Painting,  the  most  character- 
istic expression  of  the  Belgian  soul,  its  native 
gift,  is  about  to  improve  in  its  turn.  And  it  will 
be  surprising  to  behold  how  wealthy  are  the 


138  The  Social  Influence 

resources  of  pictorial  genius,  when  it  is  definitely 
attempting  to  realise  something  broader  and 
more  ideal.* 

The  themes  of  plastic  representation  are 
renewed  under  the  form  of  great  decorative 
art,  and  painting,  adapting  even  the  ancient 
myths  to  its  living  ideas,  again  assumes  its 
monumental  and  social  function. 

Camille  Mauclair,  in  his  remarkable  study  on 
"  The  Symbolic  Painting  of  the  Future,"  has 
likewise  eloquently  claimed  the  supreme  rights 
of  art  with  regard  to  imagination  and  ideology, 
showing  all  the  new  elements  of  beauty  that 
social  life  and  modern  thought  bring  to  the 
realization  of  great  art. 

And,  indeed,  new  and  splendid  harmonies 
of  colour  and  line  can  be  created  by  the  symbo- 
lisation  of  modern  ideas  and  be  applied  to  the 
necessities  of  artistic  ornamentation. 

Art  is  in  accord  with  the  exigencies  of  all  ages 
and  all  nations,  and  all  ages  and  all  nations  are 
capable  of  expressing  themselves  in  their  art. 
Incompatibility  only  exists  in  the  personal 
powerlessness  of  adapting  one  and  the  other. 

Narrow  utilitarians  have  stupidly  rejected 
the  beauty  of  the  useful,  as  if  those  two  elements 
of  social  activity  were  incompatible  likewise. 
Now  they  are  inseparable  ;  for  what  impartially 


*  This,  too,  is  what  one  of  our  most  learned  writers  on  art,  M.  Fierens- 
Gevaert,  has  been  at  pains  to  show,  with  rare  eloquence  and  enlightened 
enthusiasm,  in  his  recent  course  of  lectures  on  "  Art  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century  :  its  Expression  in  Belgium." 


of  Art  139 

contributes  to  utility  must  inevitably  realise 
the  beautiful. 

It  is  from  a  more  perfect  conception  even 
of  utility  and  a  purer  conception  of  beauty  that 
more  harmonious  groupings  of  mankind  will 
be  formed  and  states  become  beautified. 

Just  as  art  must  be  re-established  in  the  heart, 
brain,  soul  of  artists  and  all  men,  so  also  must 
the  social  principle  of  art  be  recognised  likewise. 
Artists,  like  poets,  are  only  useful  to  humanity 
so  far  as  they  cause  by  their  Art  the  highest 
thoughts,  the  highest  sentiments,  the  highest 
aspirations,  to  be  more  easily  perceived. 

In  the  hierarchy  of  the  higher  national 
forces,  the  Artist,  like  the  Savant,  represents 
public  Thought  (la  Pensee  publique). 

The  multitude,  whatever  some  may  say,  is 
moved  by  great  things,  because  the  emotions 
of  the  multitude  are  pure  and  healthy.  It  is 
enough  to  display  before  it  things  beautiful 
and  sublime,  to  cause  the  multitude,  without 
proper  comprehension  analytically  speaking,  to 
be  touched  by  them.  It  is  clear  that  there  exists 
a  popular  "  instinct,"  but  I  am  much  more 
certain  that  this  anonymous  force  which  is 
so  termed  is  by  no  means  an  absolutely  obscure 
and  blind  force,  and  that  the  soul  of  the  multi- 
tude is  illumined  by  the  inner  light  of  intuition. 

What  a  mysterious  and  profound  faculty 
indeed  is  this  immense  intuition  of  a  people ! 
How  strangely  analogous  it  is  to  genius ! 


140  The  Social  Influence 

The  multitude  understands  genius,  and 
genius  understands  the  multitude.  Between  that 
collective  consciousness  and  that  individual  con- 
sciousness there  exists  a  mighty  affinity. 

The  link  which  binds  together  the  soul  of 
genius  and  the  soul  of  the  multitude  is  the 
divine  perception  of  the  Beautiful.  It  is  Art 
in  its  social  manifestation. 

A  truth  too  easily  overlooked  is  that  the 
mission  of  all  the  arts  consists  in  the  represen- 
tation of  Ideas. 

"Metaphysics!"  those  who  at  present 
represent  "  panbeotisme  "  will  scornfully  reply. 

No  one,  however,  who  is  at  all  conscious  of 
aesthetic  phenomena  will  deny  that  the  repre- 
sentative arts,  such  as  Architecture,  Painting, 
Sculpture,  show  us  the  hidden  travail  of  Ideas, 
imprisoned  in  the  materialist  conception  of 
art.  Now,  there  is  no  better  example  for  a  people 
than  that  in  which  is  shown  objectively  the 
influence  of  the  artistic  creation  which  civilised 
man  has  at  his  disposal.  Humanity  knows 
how  to  derive  from  this  example  of  beauty 
clearly  springing  from  matter  considerable 
moral  energy,  because  the  dignity  of  the  human 
being  is  measured,  not  only  by  the  quality  of 
his  actions,  but  also  by  the  degree  of  creative 
force  of  which  he  feels  himself  capable. 

The  mystery  of  art  is  felt  by  the  multitude 
in  the  same  degree  as  creative  power  emanates 
from  the  production  of  the  artist. 


of  Art  141 

It  is  in  face  of  the  realisation  of  beauty 
that  the  profound  feeling  for  Construction, 
an  intellectual  faculty  inherent  in  the  human 
type,  is  revealed  and  confirmed. 

Man  is  essentially  a  constructor  and  creator 
in  the  widest,  most  ideal,  and  most  aesthetic 
sense,  and  the  arts  generally  are  the  external 
evidences  of  his  innate  construction  and 
creative  powers.  The  whole  surface  of  the 
planet  offers  us  the  spectacle  of  human  creation 
changing  in  its  sense  of  the  beautiful.  Even 
among  the  ruins  of  extinct  civilisations  there 
still  lingers,  like  an  everlasting  enchantment, 
amid  the  chaos  of  time-worn  stones,  the  genius 
of  the  creative  power  of  beauty,  an  undying 
flower  of  human  intelligence. 

The  Ideas  incarnated  in  beautiful  forms  do 
not,  then,  perish,  since  we  find  the  essence  of 
them  again  in  the  material  vestiges  of  the  Past. 

Truly,  therefore,  the  mission  of  all  the  arts 
consists  in  the  representation  of  Ideas. 

Popular  art,  then,  is  again  concerned  with 
one  of  the  most  harmonious  activities  of  life, 
since  the  construction  and  beautifying  of 
human  states  offers  men  a  magnificent  oppor- 
tunity of  exhibiting,  in  visible  splendour  and 
harmony,  the  essential  Ideas  which  govern  the 
construction  and  divine  creation  of  worlds. 

Ancient  India,  Chaldea,  Egypt,  Persia, 
Greece,  Rome,  Byzantium,  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  Renaissance,  are  perpetuated  in  the  memory 


142  The  Social  Influence 

of  modern  peoples,  thanks  to  what  they  have 
left  us  of  art,  public  art,  art  in  its  social  mani- 
festation. 

The  beauty  and  grandeur  of  those  mighty 
aspects  of  the  soul,  which  we  call  ancient 
civilisations,  is  still  displayed  in  their  remains. 

Art,  indeed,  enters  into  the  very  life  of  a 
civilisation,  into  its  civil  and  religious  life,  with 
the  energy  and  pantheistic  beauty  of  a  natural 
force.  The  soul  and  thought  of  a  people  is 
impressed  on  its  monuments,  from  the  soul  of 
the  Ancient  East,  so  full  of  splendour  and 
metaphysics,  as  exhibited  in  her  colossal 
palaces  and  temples,  to  the  Christian  and 
devotional  soul  of  the  West,  transfused  in  the 
sombre  majesty  of  its  religious  and  civil 
monuments. 

It  seems  that  a  mysterious  and  splendid  force 
is  ever  urging  great  peoples  to  stamp  the 
wealth  of  their  intelligence  and  activities  on 
a  form  of  beauty. 

In  all  great  cities  there  spring  from  the 
earth,  as  though  by  a  kind  of  lasting  artistic 
miracle,  gorgeous  and  massive  edifices,  which 
sum  up  the  splendour  of  an  epoch,  the  visible 
aspect  of  its  Ideas. 

Who  will  one  day  tell  us  the  profound 
psychology  of  the  monument  ? 

Who  will  tell  us  the  secret  of  that  creative  power 
of  Art,  that  innate  need  of  Beauty  in  human 
societies,    ever   apparent   in   the   inexhaustible 


of  Art  143 

imagination  of  the  artist,  the  artisan,  and  who 
will  be  able  to  transform  the  need  into  a  Fairy, 
the  Fairy  of  ^Esthetics  ! 

The  artist  and  artisan,  exercising  upon 
matter  the  inventive  impulse  of  their  imagina- 
tion, and  at  the  same  time  making  it  conform 
to  the  necessities  of  space  and  time,  are  only 
making  the  human  Idea  manifest  itself  in 
forms. 

Beauty,  indeed,  is  a  higher  social  need. 

All  substances,  gold,  silver,  stone,  silk,  paint, 
wood,  marble,  iron,  etc.,  which  receive  the 
double  impress,  mental  and  manual,  of  the 
^Esthetic  Will,  are  used  to  gratify  this  social 
need  of  Beauty. 

Every  excavation  made  in  the  vast  empire 
of  buried  ruins  brings  to  light,  to  the  growing 
wonder  of  modern  peoples,  the  glorious  example 
of  human  effort  towards  the  Beautiful,  thus 
bearing  witness  that  art  is  an  activity  of 
man's  spirit  that  cannot  be  checked  and  cannot 
be  exhausted.  Whatever  may  be  the  particular 
character  of  race  or  age,  whatever  may  be 
its  standard  of  social  evolution,  the  constructive 
and  artistic  genius  of  humanity  shows  itself. 

That  original  genius  can  be  seen  as  well 
in  the  primitive  decayed  lake-dwellings  as  in 
the  splendour  of  the  architecture  of  Babylon. 
The  same  innate  power  in  man  is  revealed 
by  the  obscure  and  patient  pile-builders  of  the 
lake   cities   as   by   the   Assyrians   who   hewed, 


144  Tne  Social  Influence  of  Art 

in    the    Chaldean    quarries,    their    tremendous 
monolithic  marble  blocks. 

To  build,  to  adorn,  to  decorate,  what  won- 
drous powers  of  human  intelligence ! 

Thus  the  phenomenon  of  aesthetics,  con- 
tinually to  be  seen  in  the  private  and  public 
life  of  societies,  far  from  causing  the  public 
powers  and  States  of  the  present  and  future 
to  be  indifferent,  ought  to  be  hailed  as  a  social 
benefit  and  as  one  of  the  noblest  aspects  of 
human  activity. 

Can  they  take  into  account  the  utility 
of  the  existence  of  a  body  like  that  of  the 
International  Institute  of  Public  Art  ?  *  Can 
they  answer  its  appeal  by  helping  not  to  increase 
the  ugliness  which  threatens  modern  life,  by 
waiting  for  Beauty  to  spring  up  everywhere, 
and  for  Harmony  to  become  something  like 
a  State  Religion ! 


*  It  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  recall  that  the"  International 
Institute  of  Public  Art  "  has  been  founded  in  Brussels  by  a  Belgian  artist, 
M.  Eugene  Broerman,  to  whom  belongs  the  honour  of  having  been  able 
to  get  together,  as  a  protest  against  the  degradation  of  Public  Beauty,  an 
influential  group  of  leading  international  personalities,  whose  aim  is  to 
struggle  against  the  indifference  and  ignorance  of  the  powers  that  be  in 
matters  appertaining  to  social  aesthetics.  By  a  unanimous  vote  passed  at 
the  last  Congress  of  Public  Art  at  Liege,  in  1903,  an  important  inter- 
national illustrated  review  of  public  art  has  been  set  on  foot  at  Brussels, 
and  will  shortly  appear,  sumptuously  produced  and  ably  edited. 


\ 


L'AMOUK   DES  AMES   (j.    DELVILLE). 


[To /ace  page   145. 


X 
The  Creed  and  the  Critics 

Analogy  between  works  of  Genius — The  Atavism  of  Tradition — Personality 
of  the  Artist  unhampered  by  Tradition — The  Artist  not  a  Creator, 
but  a  Discoverer — Art  creates  the  Artist — Great  Thinkers  and  Great 
Artists  obey  the  same  Laws — Ignorance  of  Modern  Criticism — 
Destruction  of  the  Harmonising  Social  Influence  of  Art — Corrupt 
Art  indicative  of  Corrupt  Morality — Idealism  the  Continuation  of 
"  Naturism  " — Art  an  Emotion  and  an  Instinct — No  Definite  Style 
prescribed  by  Idealism — Style  the  Signature  of  the  Individual,  the 
Impress  of  the  Soul,  the  Real  Presence  of  Beauty — Bond  between 
Science  and  Art — Danger  of  "  Art  for  Art's  Sake  " — Indestructibility 
of  Beauty. 

A  TRUTH,  that  many  artists  foolishly 
despise,  because  they  do  not  understand, 
or  pretend  to  be  ignorant  of,  since  it 
is  easier  to  create  "  novelty  "  than  "  beauty," 
is  the  fruitful  influence  of  Tradition,  that 
golden  chain  spoken  of  by  Homer,  the  Initiate, 
which  creates  a  bond  between  men  of  genius, 
though  of  a  dissimilar  nature,  here  below, 
though  as  far  apart  as  the  poles,  and  separated 
by  centuries,  as  Wagner  and  iEschylus  for 
example. 

Who  has  not  been  struck  by  the  mysterious 
analogy  between  immortal  works  of  genius  ? 
The  relationship  between  masterpieces  suggests 
the  remarkable  influence  of  heredity.  The 
different  phases  of  evolution,  which  alone 
classifies  them  and  which  contributed  to  bring 
them  forth,  has  never  been  able  to  destroy 
this  relationship,  which  I  am  willing  to  call  the 
atavism  of  tradition.      But  this  Tradition,   if 


K 


146  The  Creed  and 

I  may  further  insist  upon  it,  does  not  extinguish 
individuality,  does  not  restrict  personal  evolu- 
tion. It  is  not  a  Procrustean  bed  which  the 
personality  is  forcibly  made  to  fit.  Instead 
of  being  the  revenge  of  age  on  all  that  is  young 
and  vigorous,  Tradition  is  the  result  of  experi- 
ence, the  sum  of  centuries  of  knowledge  ;  it 
is  the  same  eternal  truth  soaring  on  high,  the 
cyclic  unity  round  which  revolves  the  perpetual 
motion  of  human  genius. 

All  the  masters  comprehended — "  compre- 
hension is  the  reflex  of  creation,"  as  Villiers  has 
said! — or  knew  of  the  abyss  that  lies  between 
reality  and  art,  and  that  the  artist  must  leap 
this  abyss  with  his  thought  if  he  wishes  his 
work  to  be.  Beauty  has  no  being  where  nature 
and  spirit  are  not  linked  in  the  harmony  which 
governs  their  seeming  contrast. 

Yes,  in  a  work  the  harmony  of  the  senses 
and  thought  should  be  perfect.  The  artist  who 
does  not  know  how  to  find  in  himself  the  inter- 
mediate manifestation  between  his  instinct  and 
his  consciousness  will  never  completely  attain 
to  a  masterpiece. 

And  this  is  as  precise  as  the  mathematical 
sanctity  of  numbers  :  just  as  the  expansion 
of  a  principle  in  substance  produces  life,  the 
expression  of  an  idea  in  form  produces  beauty. 

Neither  the  artist  nor  inventor  create  :  they 
discover  or  re-discover  pre-existing  laws,  inde- 
pendently   of    their    intellectual    power,    but 


the  Critics  147 

which  they  explain  or  manifest  according  to 
the  receptive  value  of  their  personality. 

There  exist  somewhere,  around  us,  without 
or  within  us,  in  the  depths  of  the  unseen  world, 
spheres  where  are  formed  the  eternal  images 
reflected  in  our  intellects,  and  which  the  artist 
or  poet  filch  from  Mystery  by  the  magic  power 
of  their  imagination,  that  mysterious  divine 
faculty  which  must  be  known  in  order  to  be 
in  tune  with  the  harmony  of  the  World. 

"  The  Artist  does  not  create  Art,  but  he 
throws  into  confusion  its  divine  harmony  in 
society  when  Art  does  not  make  the  artist. 
Now,  for  Art  to  make  the  Artist  the  Science  of 
Art  must  exist,  and  this  last  plays  the  part  of 
a  religion  or  synthesis  of  sciences." 

Clear  logic  and  plain  truth  like  this  statement 
by  Saint  Yves  d'Alveydre  *  no  one  would 
venture  to  deny  without  danger  of  going  astray  ! 
Furthermore,  these  words  are  of  greater  value 
when  we  consider  that  they  come  neither  from 
a  professional  critic  nor  unreliable  virtuoso. 
Far  from  being  an  impostor,  he  who  said  it 
was  one  of  those  rare  transcendental  beings 
who  have  nestled  against  the  bosom  of  the 
Sphinx  to  hear  the  heart  of  mystery  beat  the 
better. 

When  such  a  man  speaks  it  is  because  he 
has  something  to  say,  and  the  words  he  utters 

*  St.   Yves  d'Alveydre,  an  eminent  writer  on  esoteric  philosophy, 
lately  dead.   An  important  work  by  him  is  "  La  Mission  des  Juifs." 


148  The  Creed  and 

always  shed  light  ;  which  indeed  never  happens 
when  the  growing  swarms  of  aesthetics  try  to 
debase  the  dignity  of  Art  to  their  mean  compre- 
hension and  low  bourgeois  taste. 

The  broad  paraphrase  of  Saint  Yves,  there 
is  no  doubt,  is  intended  to  appeal  to  the 
weakened  understanding  of  contemporary 
artists  and  critics.  Both,  stained  with  the 
mire  of  a  confused  and  barren  system  of  art, 
can,  nevertheless,  if  they  take  the  trouble  to 
think  about  it,  gain  some  insight  from  it,  and 
be  thus  again  enabled  to  tread  the  fair  avenues 
that  wind  around  the  vast  and  splendid  gardens 
of  Art. 

These  few  lines,  indeed,  extracted  from  a 
weighty  work  on  esoteric  sociology  and  full 
of  learned  philosophy,  and  which  it  would  be 
well  if  some  of  our  smart  writers  would  use  as 
their  daily  paper  or  keep  at  their  bedside, 
solve  nearly  the  whole  problem  of  Esthetics. 

I  know  that  some  will  argue  in  the  face  of 
its  clear  masterly  logic,  being  convinced  before- 
hand that  it  is  in  no  way  necessary  to  try 
to  settle  this  problem,  and  that  it  is  better  to 
go  on  instinctively  daubing  canvases  which  are 
of  the  least  possible  utility  to  the  human  race. 

Others,  as  dull,  will  call  in  question  the 
competence  of  an  esoteric  in  matters  of  art, 
and  argue  that  the  artist  need  not  receive 
laws  from  anybody,  after  the  manner  of 
Nature,  which,  it  may  be  said  parenthetically, 


the  Critics  149 

reverently  fulfils  the  laws  prescribed  by  God ! 
It  may  be  observed,  nevertheless,  that  the  ideas 
of  great  thinkers  agree  with  those  of  great 
artists.  This  is  because,  consciously  or  intui- 
tively, they  are  filled  with  the  same  light, 
and  their  genius,  though  different  in  character, 
tends  towards  the  same  goal. 

Do  not  the  "  Organon  "  and  the  Parthenon, 
using  different  methods  of  expression,  lay  down 
the  same  sovereign  laws  for  science  and  beauty  ? 

Do  not  the  Sistine  Chapel  and  the  Divine 
Commedia  utter  the  same  word  of  the  immensity 
of  the  other  world  ?  Are  not  Plato  and  Raphael 
essentially  saying  the  same  thing  ?  And  does 
not  the  same  ideal  influence  glow  in  Wagner's 
Parsifal  and  Lacuria's  "  Harmonies  of  Exist- 
ence ?  " 

But  if  there  exists  such  an  obvious  identity 
of  thought  between  men  of  genius,  of  the  same 
power  but  differing  in  their  method  of  expression, 
can  we  doubt  that  the  same  luminous  breath 
— the  Divine  Breath — wafts,  to  the  mystic 
and  absolute  goal  of  perfection  and  beauty, 
the  creative  spirit  of  the  most  precious  of  beings : 
the  thinkers  and  artists ! 

The  reason  is  because,  above  the  whirlwind 
and  chaos  of  error,  the  sacred  Ideal  which  they 
venerate  guides  them  and  holds  before  the 
eye  of  the  soul  the  sacred  torch  of  Tradition, 
in  order  to  light  them  in  their  progress  towards 
Truth. 


150  The  Creed  and 

And  it  is  above  all  in  our  time  of  civilised 
barbarism  and  intellectual  darkness,  in  which 
the  anarchical  negation  of  principles  is  so 
supreme,  that  we  can  more  easily  see  the 
shining  path  traced  by  the  bright  elect  of  the 
human  ideal  on  the  dawn-tinged  sky  of  the 
ages.  If  I  insist  so  much  on  the  perfect  analogy 
between  the  various  views  that  great  men  have 
of  all  that  has  reference  to  the  essential  mission 
of  aesthetics,  it  is  in  order  to  warn  the  reader 
against  that  inevitable  puerile  objection  which 
is  always  employed  by  the  dull-witted,  and 
which  claims  that  a  philosopher,  whether  an 
initiate  or  not,  ought  not  to  intrude  into  the 
"  business  "  of  Art ! 

To-day  all  that  is  settled,  one  way  or  another, 
by  the  trivial  criticism  of  the  papers.  And  woe 
to  the  artist  who  does  not  side  with  their 
views !  Woe  to  him  who  dares  to  make  a  wry 
face  at  the  fine  dish  of  artistic  hash  which  is 
daily  prepared !  They  will  know  how  to  make 
him  swallow  all  the  venom  of  their  backbiting 
and  the  poison  of  their  malice ! 

Indeed,  the  legion  of  critics — I  say  legion 
because  the  number  of  petty  critics  is  equivalent 
to  the  incalculable  number  of  failures — forms 
its  judgment,  not  on  the  artistic  principles  of 
the  great  masters,  nor  on  those  of  great  thinkers, 
but  are  content  like  sheep  to  follow  stupidly 
that  polluted  stream  of  chance  or  caprice  known 
as  the  vogue.     These  trivial  critics,  and  with 


the  Critics  151 

them,  the  whole  brainless  company  of  impostors, 
are  in  fact  ignorant  of  the  Goal  and  the  Mission 
of  Art. 

Ignorant  of  the  sublime  raison  d'etre  that 
gives  them  the  mysterious  Law  of  Beauty  as 
their  guide,  instead  of  seeking  the  Truth  they 
only  indulge  in  idle  claptrap.  Should  a  work 
or  line  of  thought  come  under  their  notice 
conveying  any  suggestion  of  a  higher  life, 
or  whose  form  or  conception  possesses  an  ideal 
significance,  it  will  escape  their  dull  stolid  minds, 
and  they  will  prefer  the  stupid  ugliness  of  some 
painting  in  which,  amid  tricks  of  the  palette 
and  vulgarity  of  conception,  no  idealism  is 
apparent ! 

With  the  soul  hermetically  closed  to  the 
sacred  things  of  Beauty,  and  urged  by  some 
morbid  instinct  or  other  towards  the  ugly 
and  commonplace,  these  critics,  whose  paltry 
opinions  exercise  such  a  dangerous  influence 
on  the  public  mind,  never  hesitate  to  decry 
the  idealist  creed  with  its  synthesis  and  uni- 
versality, proclaiming  as  it  does  the  ideal  of 
plastic  form,  that  is  to  say,  of  abstract  beauty, 
and  able  to  regenerate  Art,  in  order  to  extol 
the  creed  of  individualism,  naturalism,  and 
nationalism,  which  are  calculated  to  bring  about 
the  absolute  degradation  of  Art. 

Between  the  productions  of  idealism,  carried 
out  by  a  hand  at  once  cunning  and  sensitive, 
and    where    country,    place,    time,    race,    and 


152  The  Creed  and 

things  are  lost  sight  of  that  they  may  be  found 
again  in  the  universal  significance  of  their 
characterisation,  under  the  living  idealism  of 
synthesis,  and  the  productions  of  realism  and 
impressionism  in  which  all  the  essential  aesthetic 
qualities  are  wanting,  so  as  to  leave  room  for 
a  clever  and  speedy  process,  delicacy  of  touch, 
and  sparkle  (flamingdtisnie)  of  colour,  the  minor 
critics,  with  their  narrow  views,  are  in  no  doubt 
which  to  acclaim ! 

Between  Rembrandt,*  that  arch-magician 
(Kabbaliste)  of  painting,  whom  some  simple 
folk  still  rate  as  a  realist,  who  transfigured 
beings  and  things  under  the  magic  influence  of 
his  inner  sight,  and  Hals,  that  merry  rascal, 
the  painter  of  revellers  and  swash-bucklers, 
that  wonderfully  skilful  delineator  of  nothing- 
ness, the  buyers  of  art  do  not  hesitate  in  their 
choice ! 

And  it  is  under  the  remarkable  excuse  that 
a  painter  ought  to  paint  that  they  prefer  the 
craftsman  to  the  artist !  It  is  true  that  these 
gentlemen  have  never  asked  themselves  on 
what  ground  Raphael  is  an  inferior  painter  to 
Jordaens,f  or  Vandyck,  a  greater  painter  than 
De  Vinci.  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  their 
ideas  on  this  head  would  be  extremely  diverting. 

Until  they  can  explain  this,  they  will  continue 
to  drag  Art  and  artist  down  to  their  own  level. 


*   Rembrandt  (1607-1669),  Dutch  ;   Franz  Hals  (1584-1666),  Flemish. 
t  Jacob  Jordaens  (1594-1678),  Flemish  painter,  pupil  of  Rubens  ; 
religious  and  mythical  subjects. 


the  Critics  153 

For  these  are  they  who  cause  the  confusion  in 
aesthetics  which  marks  our  age.  Esthetics 
without  aesthetics,  genteel  triflers,  foes  of 
harmony,  noisy  demagogues,  upholders  of 
instinct,  wild  irresponsibles,  incompetent 
quacks,  sneering  eclectics,  amateur  judges, 
idle  daubers,  wretched  failures,  wrongheaded 
artists,  and  foolish  critics — these  form  the 
heterogeneous  mass  which  represents  the 
miserable  idea  of  art  at  the  present  day.  I 
have  already  said  above,  and  I  repeat  it  here 
again,  that  we  may  form  a  clear  judgment 
with  regard  to  the  intellectual  and  moral 
standard  of  a  people,  a  race,  or  an  age,  from 
its  art.  How  will  the  future  judge  us  ?  Alas, 
to  look  at  the  mournful  display  at  our  triennial 
shows,  those  great  official  fairs,  to  see  the 
majority  of  our  private  drawing-rooms,  those 
shows  on  a  small  scale,  where  we  are  free 
to  exhibit  the  marvels  of  painting  in  all  the 
confusion  arising  from  a  spurious  "  individual- 
ism ' '  in  art,  to  behold  the  general  stupor  and 
complete  lack  of  power  which  most  works 
exhibit,  it  is  not  difficult  to  form  an  opinion, 
with  a  sorrowful  glance,  of  the  condition  of 
soul  and  spirit  in  this  age  of  materialism. 
In  fact  there  is  no  longer  thought,  style,  or 
technique  !  No  Beauty  either  in  idea,  or  form, 
or  execution  !  We  see  that  Art  no  longer  creates 
the  artist,  but  that  it  is  the  artist  who  wishes 
to  create  Art.      And  in  the  judicious  phrase 


i54  The  Creed  and 

of  Saint  Yves  d'Alveydre,  it  is  clear  that  "  the 
artist  is  throwing  into  confusion  the  divine 
harmony  of  Art  in  society,  when  Art  does  not 
make  the  artist  !  " 

Art  withers  and  dies  when  the  idea  of  Per- 
fection, which  is  the  condition  of  our  psychic 
life  and  even  of  that  of  our  works,  is  absent. 
Every  time  that  Art  falls  into  decay  and  becomes 
puerile,  it  is  because  the  part  played  by  the 
artistic  genius  of  a  race  or  age  undergoes  a 
change  simultaneously  with  the  corruption  of 
its  moral  genius.  Now — and  so  much  the  worse 
for  those  who  do  not  perceive  it — we  are 
passing  through  such  a  period  of  depression. 
It  was  inevitable.  Like  all  that  deviates  from 
the  mighty  impulse  towards  harmony,  from 
that  living  love  of  unfading  and  fertile  Beauty, 
all  that  rebels  against  that  universal  movement 
which  forms  the  flux  and  reflux  of  eternal 
and  divine  laws  bearing  within  themselves  the 
elements  of  durable  creations,  all  that  runs 
counter  to  order,  which  is  the  consciousness 
of  the  world  and  our  being,  Modern  Art, 
degraded  by  its  illicit  intercourse  with  material- 
ism, bears  within  it  the  seeds  of  death. 

There  have  been  men,  crabbed  theorists, 
who,  unconscious  of  the  errors  of  an  incomplete 
and  materialistic  philosophy,  have  proclaimed 
the  absolute  freedom  of  instinct,  denying 
principles,  theories,  laws,  denying,  in  short, 
the  science  of  Art !   Rightly  aiming  at  a  reaction 


the  Critics  155 

against  the  barren  conventions  of  academic 
training,  but  overstepping  in  their  ardour 
the  limits  of  legitimate  reaction,  it  followed 
that  these  men,  though  in  a  different  way, 
fell  into  the  same  mistake.  The  impressionist 
school,  which  at  the  present  is  supreme,  excel- 
lent though  it  may  be  in  intention,  since  it 
has  managed  to  clean  the  mud  from  the  palette, 
has  confined  the  practice  of  art  to  degrading 
trivialities  by  restricting  the  powers  of  the 
artist.  Born  with  the  taint  of  realism,  these 
good  people  assume  that  a  picture  should  take 
the  place  of  a  mirror,  and  should  repeat  natural 
objects  with  the  most  absolute  fidelity.  That 
is  the  business  of  the  inferior. 

Exhibitions  and  museums  of  modern  art 
afford  a  painful  commentary  on  this  subject, 
and  one  is  as  much  overcome  with  nausea  by 
the  shameless  perpetrations  of  men  like  Ensor, 
Monet,*  Seurat,  and  Gauguin,  who,  under  the 
pretence  of  freedom  in  art,  with  the  silly 
approbation  of  ignoramuses,  frame  the  most 
shocking  studio  daubs,  as  by  the  photographic 
"cliches"  of  Meissonnier  and  Van  Beers !  f 
The  disgust  has  become  so  symptomatic  and 
so  general  that  a  reaction  has  arisen  among 


*  Claude  Monet  and  Gauguin,  both  French  Impressionist  painters. 
Monet  (b.  1840)  may  be  termed  the  leader  and  founder  of  the  school,  since 
its  name  is  said  to  have  been  derived  from  a  landscape  of  his  entitled  "  An 
Impression."   His  work  is  solely  landscape. 

t  Meissonnier  (1815-91),  French,  historical  and  military  subjects, 
mostly  on  small  scale  and  of  elaborate  finish.  Van  Beers,  Belgian,  delineator 
of  feminine  coquetry. 


156  The  Creed  and 

new  literary  centres.  Ill-distinguished  from 
"  Naturalism,"  and  with  its  feet  still  clogged 
with  the  mire  out  of  which  Zola  moulded 
material  for  his  novels,  "  Naturism  "is  a 
logical  evolution,  of  which  "  idealism  "  is  the 
central  continuation  or  culminating  point.  In 
this  mystic  pantheism,  in  the  limbs  of  which 
the  '  naturists  '  seem  still  plunged,  it  is  easy 
to  recognise  the  beginnings  of  a  definite  move- 
ment towards  complete  Idealism.  One  of  them 
has  already  proclaimed  the  necessity  of 
"harmony,"  of  "proportion"  The  divine 
sense  of  natural  objects  corresponds  with  the 
aesthetic  sense  of  most  people,  in  spite  of  the 
gross  prejudice  in  which  they  still  persist,  of 
thinking  that  it  is  necessary  to  know  how  to 
incarnate  the  national  aspirations  of  a  people 
in  order  that  art  should  become  "  heroic," 
or  be  the  synthetic  expression  of  life. 

It  is  idealist  art,  above  all,  that  soars  above 
limitations,  that  truly  realises  life  in  all  its 
fulness,  since  it  enables  the  Universal  to  be  seen 
in  the  individual.  This  definition,  however, 
must  not  be  confused  with  the  allegorical 
expression  of  the  idea.  If  form  without  idea 
is  of  small  value  in  art,  idea  without  form  is 
not  worth  much  more.  The  artist  is  he  who 
produces  depth  of  feeling,  and  knows  how  to 
transmit  this  feeling  into  the  domain  of  the 
will  :  one  is  impossible  without  the  other. 
First  there  is  the  state  of  passive  emotional 


the  Critics  157 

receptivity,  and  then  that  of  active  intellectual 
conceptivity.  From  these  two  functions 
working  in  harmony  springs  the  work  of  idealist 
art.  The  artist  allows  the  powerful  instincts 
which  move  the  natural  world  to  sink  into  his 
heart,  and  absorbs  into  his  soul  the  powerful 
ideas  which  move  the  spiritual  world.  The  work 
of  art  is  at  once  an  emotion  and  an  instinct. 
Separated,  or  allowed  to  run  riot,  these  two 
divine  movements  become,  one  of  them  amor- 
phous, the  other  conventional.  Someone  has 
said  that  Art  is  Nature  continuing  her  work 
in  the  Spirit.  We  might  reverse  the  definition 
and  say  :  Art  is  the  Spirit  continuing  its  work 
in  Nature.  Inspiration  is  not,  as  some  pretend, 
the  dazzled  bewilderment  of  the  Spirit,  but  the 
supreme  moment  of  the  harmonious  concen- 
tration of  the  emotional  and  intellectual 
faculties,  which  constitutes  Will.  And  Genius 
is  nothing  more  than  this !  Analyze  the  best 
masterpieces  and,  if  they  are  only  the  product 
of  a  spontaneous  instinct,  you  will  observe 
this  mistake  or  untruth  which  underlies  con- 
temporary psychology. 

Superficial  critics  have  thought,  either  through 
simplicity,  or  puerile  malice,  that  idealist  art 
pretended  to  lay  down  the  inviolable  formula 
and  deliberate  tyranny  of  an  impersonal  style. 
We  must  protest  with  all  our  strength  against 
this  way  of  misrepresenting  our  intentions, 
and  denying  again  the  existence  of  a  definite 


158  The  Creed  and 

style.  If  idealism  assumes  the  need  of  style, 
as  being  one  of  the  means  by  which  a  work  of 
art  may  attain  perfection,  it  does  not  therefore 
mean  to  impose  any  particular  style,  which 
would  be  to  absurdly  fall  into  the  trap  set  by 
the  schools  that  the  wings  of  the  artist  may 
be  clipped. 

Style  is  the  signature  of  the  individual,  the 
impress  of  the  soul,  the  spirit.  It  always  indicates 
the  dominating  quality  of  the  artist  perceptible 
beneath  the  plastic  writing  of  form.  It  indicates 
what  degree  of  psychic  elevation  the  personality 
that  manifests  it  has  reached.  But  since  style 
is  the  absolute  reflection  of  a  condition  of  soul 
or  spirit,  it  is  to  the  artist's  advantage  to  seek 
the  moral  and  intellectual  perfection  of  his  ego* 

If  style  is  the  same  as  the  man,  then  the 
more  a  man  rises,  the  more  elevated  will  his 
style  become !  Now,  idealism  invokes  style, 
because  it  knows  that  it  is  the  real  presence  of 
beauty  in  form.  There  can  be  no  beauty 
without  style — no  style  without  beauty. 

Style  is,  moreover,  the  synthetising  element 
which  is  the  product  of  the  science  of  aesthetics, 
and  that  science  consists,  as  far  as  the  artist 
is  concerned,  in  considering  the  laws  of  concep- 
tion with  regard  to  the  laws  of  life.  The  science 
of  art,  possessed  by  all  the  great  masters,  does 
not  destroy  life,  but  illuminates  it.    Science  has 

*  The  Ego  is  not  understood  here  in  the  narrow  egotistical  sense  that 
Maurice  Barres  wrongly  gives  to  it. 


the  Critics  159 

never  even  paralysed  the  creative  idealism 
of  the  artist.  Of  this  Leonardo  de  Vinci  and 
Goethe  are  striking  proofs.  The  study  of  the 
laws  of  the  universe,  far  from  checking  the 
exercise  of  the  aesthetic  faculties,  affords  them 
a  wider  field  in  their  search  for  the  ideal. 
Behind  the  birth  of  worlds  shines  the  secret 
light  of  the  spiritual  universe.  All  men  of  genius 
have  known  it.  To  great  minds  there  is  no  chaos  ; 
everything  is  linked  together  and  perfect. 

Pheidias  was  a  true  philosopher  familiar  with 
deep  metaphysical  problems.  He  is  in  some 
ways  the  Plato  of  sculpture.  The  great  artists 
of  the  Italian  Renaissance  assiduously  studied 
the  Platonic  philosophy,  and  the  splendour  of 
Medicean  palaces  was  enhanced  by  their  learned 
converse. 

How  can  the  study  of  the  laws  of  natural 
phenomena  check  aesthetic  emotion  ?  Has  the 
mathematical  investigation  of  universal  motion 
prevented  De  Vinci,  "  the  man  of  all  ideas  and 
all  emotions,"  as  Arsene  Houssaye  terms  him, 
from  reproducing  the  movements  of  the  human 
soul  ?    Science  is  the  matrix  of  the  Ideal ! 

Shakespeare,  there  is  little  doubt,  was 
acquainted  with  magic  science,  and  escaped 
being  burnt  as  a  sorcerer.  The  great  tragedian 
possessed,  indeed,  the  secrets  of  the  Kabbala, 
the  most  wonderful  of  human  knowledge. 

Taine  on  one  occasion  used  a  fine  phrase  : 
"  The  relationship  which  links  art  to  science  is 


i6o  The  Creed  and 

an  honour  to  both ;  it  is  a  glory  for  the  latter 
to  furnish  beauty  with  its  chief  supports,  and 
for  the  former  to  rest  its  noblest  constructions 
upon  truth."  In  fact  the  analogy  of  relationship 
exists  in  perfection  between  Art,  Science,  and 
Religion. 

By  speaking  in  this  way  I  do  not  mean  to 
confuse  them,  which  would  be  utter  nonsense, 
but  I  dare  to  affirm,  without  fear  of  contra- 
diction, that  artistic  intelligence  should  not 
be  the  exclusive  mechanical  belonging  of  a 
single  profession,  and  that  artists  who  are  only 
"  painters  "  never  rise  above  the  common  level 
of  fools.  Art  is  not  a  trade  ;  the  artist  is  not 
an  artisan. 

Has  not  even  the  insane  Chardin,*  the  very 
type  of  a  painter  of  subordinate  details,  been 
forced  to  admit  :  "  When  I  paint  a  violin  or 
a  saucepan,  I  am  still  only  a  professional  painter, 
but  when  I  paint  a  face,  then  only  am  I  an 
artist." 

Into  the  difficult  task  of  realising  beauty 
there  passes  unceasingly  the  breath  of  the  living 
spirit,  which  ever  gains  new  strength  whereso- 
ever it  finds  it.  The  theory  of  art  for  art's  sake, 
beautiful  in  itself,  necessary  in  itself,  and 
defensible  whenever  unskilled  popular  writers 
attack  it  to  the  gain  of  speculations  which  are 
outside  the  province  of  aesthetics,  can  never  be 


*  Jean  Baptiste  Chardin  (1701-1779),  French  genre  painter  ;   painted 
scenes  of  a  domestic  character,  allegorical  subjects,  and  fruit. 


the  Critics  161 

considered  as  absolute  and  may  become  a 
danger.  Rigorously  applied  it  lowers  art  to  the 
mechanical  technique  of  narrow  conceptions. 

The  artist  must  be  universal.  If  he  confines 
his  creative  power  to  a  piece  of  cleverness,  or 
a  landscape,  he  weakens  his  personality,  and 
is  usually  likely  to  degenerate. 

We  will  close  with  that  hypocritical  admission 
which  some  artists,  and  some  inferior  critics, 
make,  which  pretends  that  the  facial  expression 
of  a  monkey  is  as  proper  for  artistic  treatment 
as  the  mask  of  Olympian  Jove  !  Be  it  observed 
that  idealist  art  is  a  synonym  for  Beauty ! 

In  the  sphere  of  conceptions  Beauty  is  the 
immediate  reflection  of  the  divine  world,  and 
every  work  unilluminated  by  it  will  be  dead 
and  null. 

And  what  we  affirm  will  last  as  long  as  our 
strength  allows  us  to  cry  aloud  to  all  the  deaf 
and  all  the  blind  who  hear  without  listening, 
and  look  without  seeing ! 

There  is  nothing  true  but  Beauty.  To  strive 
towards  it  is  to  project  oneself  into  the  very 
substance  of  its  laws  of  light.  To  believe  in 
it,  to  believe  in  its  existence,  its  reality,  is 
to  come  into  closer  communion  with  the  wisdom 
of  the  world. 

Like  Truth,  Beauty  causes  the  divine  principle 
which  slumbers  in  the  depths  of  our  imperfect 
nature  to  again  become  quick  within  us.  To 
manifest  it  is  the  most  eager,  pacific,  and  earnest 


162  The  Creed  and  the  Critics 

delight  of  the  soul.  In  the  same  way  as  prayer, 
it  causes  all  the  energies  of  the  spirit  and  heart 
to  vibrate. 

The  demon  of  war  may  pass  over  the  world 
with  its  trail  of  horror,  and  Beauty  will  not 
perish.  For  it  can  no  more  be  destroyed  than 
the  stars,  from  which  it  borrows  its  resplendent 
harmony. 

And  though  the  red  rain  of  barbarism  fall 
upon  the  abodes  of  mortality,  there  will  ever 
blossom  anew,  in  the  sunrise  of  a  loving  dawn, 
the  great  dream  of  Order  and  new-born  Beauty  I 


XI 

Idealism  in  Art :  Some  Mistaken 

Notions 

Ignorance  of  Materialism — Form  the  Sister  of  Number — Physical  Ugliness 
expressive  of  Moral  Ugliness — Ugliness  advocated  under  the  pretext 
of  Emotion — Harmony  the  Highest  Emotion — Separation  of  pure 
from  impure  by  agency  of  the  Spirit — Instinct  due  to  the  obscuring 
of  Spirit — Ugliness  the  Animal  Sign  of  Instinct — Distinction  between 
Nature  and  Matter — Idealist  Artists  close  students  of  Nature — The 
Artist  must  strive  towards  the  Harmony  of  the  Individual — Beauty 
is  Unity  in  Variety — Idealism  confused  with  Conventionalism — 
Idealism  does  not  pretend  to  regulate  Inspiration — It  demands 
moral  beauty — It  rescues  the  Artistic  Temperament  from  Materialism 
— It  is  not  antagonistic  to  the  Physical  Universe — The  Domain  of 
Ugliness  limited,  that  of  Beauty  infinite — -Idealism  developes  Style 
and  Personality  alike — "  Style  is  the  Soul  " — Importance  of  Choice  of 
Subject — Synthetic  Nature  of  Idealism — Idealist  Genius  "  super- 
conscious." 

IF  BEAUTY  were  not  the  divine  impress 
of  the  spirit  upon  matter,  and  if  our 
senses  were  not  the  instruments  by  which 
the  soul  works  this  transformation,  perceptible 
only  to  our  thought,  how  should  we  explain 
in  a  rational  way  the  astounding  prestige  of 
aesthetic  magic — of  Art  ?  Whence  could  a 
work  of  art  derive  its  power  of  enchantment, 
if  not  from  the  ideal  source  of  the  divine  principle 
which  illumines  the  depths  of  the  human  being, 
and  if  the  heart  of  Mystery  did  not  actually 
beat  in  the  bosom  of  Art  ? 

Considered  in  its  metaphysical  sense  Beauty 
is  one  of  the  manifestations  of  the  Absolute 
Being.  Emanating  from  the  harmonious 
radiance  of  the  divine  plane,  it  traverses  the 
intellectual  plane  in  order  to  further  irradiate 


164  Idealism  in  Art : 

the  plane  of  nature,  where  it  is  quenched  in 
the  darkness  of  matter.  Matter,  in  itself,  has 
neither  proper  form  or  beauty,  but  it  is  the 
passive  primordial  element,  in  which  the  beauty 
of  the  spirit,  traversing  another  element,  the 
astral  element,  is  reflected  and  made  external. 

The  great  error  of  the  realist  or  materialist 
theory  is  due  to  its  absolute  ignorance  of  what, 
in  theosophical  language,  is  called  the  generating 
ray  of  the  Image  of  God  in  Man  traversing  the 
three  principles  of  Being. 

I  know  that  many  strong-minded  people,  in 
their  calm  and  self-satisfied  contempt  of  the 
Other  World,  who  meet  lofty  mysteries  with 
idle  negation,  and  who,  nevertheless,  at  the 
decisive  moment  of  death,  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  nothingness  in  which  they  have  made 
themselves  believe,  tremble  and  despair,  I 
know  that  for  them  this  theosophical  phrase 
only  contains  words  void  of  sense  and  reality  ? 

But  the  mystery — the  evidence  of  its  occult 
genuineness  can  be  obtained — which  creates 
and  generates  forms  in  Nature  and  Being,  which 
organises  them  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
order,  proportion,  and  harmony — the  Word — 
"  the  exemplary  form  of  created  things,"  as 
St.  Thomas  says,  "  determining  and  formulating 
Form,  that  Form  which  renders  the  world  in- 
telligible " — has  it  been  understood,  has  it  even 
been  suspected  by  such  as  gaze  at  and  listen 
to  Life  through  the  mists  of  instinct  alone  ? 


Some  Mistaken  Notions  165 

Did  they  ever  guess  that  Harmony  is  the  Soul 
of  the  World,  and  that — all  honour  to  aesthetic 
reasoning! — it  exists — that  Form  is  the  sister 
of  Number  ? 

However,  just  as  the  root  of  the  soul  is  to 
be  found  in  the  centre  of  Nature,  so  Form  has 
its  root  in  Number,  since  Number  is  the  funda- 
mental law  of  all  created  things. 

Hugo,  whose  genius,  when  not  dominated 
by  the  light  and  shade  of  his  Romanticism, 
sometimes  rose  to  metaphysical  heights,  saw 
this  clearly  :  "  The  Infinite  is  an  exactitude. 
The  profound  word  Number  is  the  basis  of  human 
thought ;  it  is,  to  our  intelligence  elemental ;  it 
signifies  harmony  as  well  as  mathematics.  Number 
is  revealed  to  Art  by  Rhythm,  which  is  the  heart- 
beat of  the  Infinite." 

Is  it,  as  some  superficial  thinkers  believe  it 
to  be,  speculative,  superannuated,  and  vain  ? 
No.     It  is  eternal ! 

All  Form  is  the  union  of  Essence  with  Sub- 
stance. All  Form  is  Thought.  The  world  of 
ideas  becomes  the  world  of  forms.  In  the 
imposing  symbolism  of  forms  expressing  realities 
in  which  the  Word- Image  is  the  secret  inter- 
pretation of  the  language  of  Beauty,  the  work 
of  creation  appears  like  a  permanent  trans- 
mission of  Rhythm  to  Form  ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  production  of  living  forms  in  the  realms 
of  nature,  or,  better  still,  Rhythm  in  its  true 
state  inscribed  in  a  material  form. 


166  Idealism  in  Art : 

Form  is  explanatory.  It  is  the  great  revealer 
of  meanings.  There  is  always  an  agreement 
between  Form  and  Expression.  Each  thing, 
each  being,  has  an  exact  form  corresponding 
with  what  it  is  destined  for,  or  according  to  its 
degree  of  evolution.  The  destiny  of  mankind 
is  measured  out — O  wonder  of  the  ignorant!  — 
because  it  is  governed  by  the  laws  of  number. 
The  physiognomist  and  astrologer,  more  positive 
than  is  supposed,  know  it,  and,  better  still, 
prove  it. 

No,  nothing  indubitably  will  transmit  the 
rhythm  of  a  statue  by  Pheidias  into  the  body 
of  a  gorilla.  No  ignoble  idea,  no  trivial  senti- 
ment, could  be  expressed  by  a  form  that  had 
good  rhythm.  Physical  ugliness  always  repre- 
sents moral  ugliness. 

Numbers,' Ideas,  Forms,  that  is  the  analogical 
mystery  of  the  whole  of  creation !  The  Bible 
— why  not  quote  it  since  it  utters  what  is 
true  ? — says  :  "  God  ordered  all  things  by 
weight  and  measure."  And  the  whole  of  nature, 
from  the  atom  to  the  universe,  is  a  demonstra- 
tion of  this.  One  of  the  immortal  masters  of 
modern  hermetics  has  proclaimed,  moreover, 
that  these  beautiful  words  are  also  just,  and  that 
the  wonders  of  the  natural  world  are  a  symbolic 
system  of  mercies  and  glories.  They  are  not 
chance  definitions. 

The  hazy-minded  advocates  of  impressionism, 
vague-minded  and  vague-sighted,  would  profit 


Some  Mistaken  Notions  167 

by  knowing  that  the  generation  of  numbers  is 
analogous  to  the  association  of  ideas  with  the 
production  of  forms.  Face  to  face  with  life 
they  would  have  a  worthier  and  surer  artistic 
consciousness.  But  they  prefer — it  is  easier, 
no  doubt — to  disparage  this  life  which  is  con- 
tinued afar  into  the  infinite  and  above  into 
the  world  beyond  further  than  they  suspect; 
this  life  which  vibrates,  not  with  passing 
moods,  but  with  the  tremendous  thrills  of  the 
Invisible  ;  this  life  about  which  they  speak  with 
such  literary  ostentation  and  of  which  they  do 
not  know  the  occult  principles  which  generate 
it  ;  this  life  which  they  debase,  I  say,  through 
I  know  not  what  vague  or  superficial  instinct, 
which,  sadly  enough,  procures  for  them  their 
fleeting  emotions.  Their  artistic  creed  has 
confined  the  influence  of  emotion  to  things 
which  are  obscure,  formless,  crude,  and  wanting 
in  harmony.  They  thus  propagate  the  mysticism 
of  Ugliness  under  the  pretext  of  Emotion. 

Now,  there  is  no  loftier  emotion  than  that 
of  Harmony. 

And  Harmony,  whether  we  like  it  or  not, 
has  been,  is,  and  will  ever  be,  Proportion  and 
Equilibrium.  Harmony  is  Perfection.  When 
there  is  no  Perfection,  there  cannot  truly  be 
Genius.  Genius  does  not  proceed  from  instinct, 
but  from  the  Spirit.  There  is  no  inspiring 
force  in  instinct,  the  Spirit  alone  inspires.  That 
is  why  all  great  works  of  art  are  willed.     The 


168  Idealism  in  Art : 

Spirit  makes  use  of  the  will.  Contrary  to  instinct, 
the  ideal  function  of  the  Spirit  is  to  separate 
the  pure  from  the  impure,  and  this  wonderful 
creative  function,  instead  of  attacking  individual 
initiative,  instead  of  leading  to  loss  of  per- 
sonality, gives  to  the  artist  a  power  more 
conscious  of  itself. 

Woe  to  the  artist  who  has  never  found  it 
necessary  to  meditate  upon  the  mystery  of 
his  art !  Woe  to  him,  for  he  will  never  see  the 
glorious  blossoming  of  the  human  ideal  arising 
from  the  chaotic  darkness  of  instinct,  and  will 
never  know  the  splendours  of  the  true  life ! 

"  He  who  has  never  wateied  with  his  tears 
the  bread  that  he  eats,  he  who,  with  anguished 
heart,  has  not  through  long  sleepless  nights 
remained  seated  in  sorrow  on  his  bed,  such 
a  one  will  never  know  you,  Heavenly  Powers  !  ' 
once  exclaimed  Goethe. 

All  instinctive  emotions  are  due  to  the 
clouding  of  the  Spirit. 

All  Ugliness  is  the  animal  sign  of  Instinct. 
Artists  who  make  ugliness  their  favourite  theme 
are  dominated  by  instinct,  and  have  lost  the 
memory  of  the  divine  ray  in  the  soul.  They 
suffer,  for  the  most  part,  from  a  particular 
kind  of  madness  or  a  particular  kind  of 
perversity.  Every  time  that  one  makes  a  con- 
cession towards,  or  tolerates,  ugliness,  that 
is  to  say,  whatever  lacks  form,  or  is  misshapen, 
a  bond  is  entered  into  with  the  lower  regions 


Some  Mistaken  Notions  169 

of  the  astral  plane,  wherein  lurk  the  forms  of 
lower  beings  and  inorganic  things,  and  where 
the  phantasmagoria  of  elementals  ever  streams  ! 

What  makes  one  despair  is  the  ignorance 
that  the  artist  and  critic  display  when  con- 
fronted by  the  mental  phenomenon  of  Art. 
How  many  know  that  the  Mission  of  Art  is 
a  mission  of  Light  ? 

"Art"  protests  the  seer  Zanoni,  in  the  great 
Rosicrucian  novel  of  Bulwer  Lytton,  "  profane 
not  thus  that  glorious  word.  What  nature  is  to 
God,  art  should  be  to  man  ;  a  sublime,  beneficent, 
fertile,  and  inspired  creation.  That  wretch  may 
be  a  painter,  but  an  artist  never  !  And  for  you, 
who  aspire  to  be  a  painter,  has  not  that  art,  whose 
progress  you  would  hasten,  its  magic  power  ? 
Ought  you  not,  after  a  prolonged  study  of  beauty 
in  the  past,  to  be  able  to  grasp  new  and  ideal 
forms  of  beauty  in  the  future  ?  Do  you  not  see 
that  for  the  poet  as  for  the  painter  great  art  seeks 
the  true  and  abhors  the  real  ?  Ought  one  not  to 
treat  nature  as  a  master,  and  not  follow  it  like 
a  slave  ?  Has  not  art,  which  is  truly  noble  and 
great,  the  future  and  the  past  for  its  province  ? 
What  is  a  picture,  then,  but  the  concrete  representa- 
tion of  the  invisible  ? 

11  Are  you  discontented  with  the  world  ?  This 
world  was  never  made  for  genius,  which  must, 
to  exist,  create  another  for  itself.  By  two  outlets 
we  escape  from  the  petty  passions  and  terrible 
calamities  of  earth — both  lead  us  to  heaven  and 


i7°  Idealism  in  Art : 

rescue  us  from  hell — Art  and  Science.  But  art 
is  more  divine  than  science.  Science  makes 
discoveries,  art  creates  .  .  .  Astronomy  which 
numbers  the  stars  cannot  add  an  atom  to  the 
universe ;  a  universe  by  a  poet  can  be  evolved 
from  an  atom.  The  chemist,  with  his  substances, 
can  cure  the  infirmities  of  the  human  body  ;  the 
painter,  the  sculptor,  can  give  to  the  human  form 
divine  and  eternal  youth  which  sickness  cannot 
destroy  or  the  ages  wither." 

In  order  to  penetrate  it,  then,  in  the  mighty 
interests  of  Art,  Nature  must  appear  as  other 
than  matter.  Nature  is  a  spirit,  the  spirit 
of  the  Universe,  of  which  matter  and  the 
elements  compose  the  body.  Nature  can  feel, 
and  is  capable  of  suffering  and  sorrow,  whilst 
matter  cannot  feel.  We  can,  and  we  ought,  in 
aesthetics  as  in  philosophy,  to  distinguish  Nature 
from  the  Real. 

I  know  that  many  will  not  accept  this  distinc- 
tion, which  they  will  hold  to  be  too  subtle, 
but  I  must  warn  them  that  for  the  simple 
illusion  of  the  senses  it  is  not  enough  to  deny 
this  truth  of  cosmogony,  that  the  universal 
plastic  force,  which  shapes  the  visible  world, 
is  independent  of  the  physical  forces  of  matter, 
that  lowest  degree  of  the  involution  of  the  Spirit. 
The  notion  of  the  Real  and  the  Spiritual,  we 
may  now  clearly  say,  has  been  perverted,  on 
the  one  side  by  a  petrifying  positivism,  and 
on  the  other  by  an  inconsistent  spiritualism. 


Some  Mistaken  Notions  171 

Art  has  been  governed  by  two  contradictory 
influences  at  the  same  time.  Hence  the  chaos 
at  the  present  time  :  realism  which  deals  with 
allegory,  and  impressionism  which  concerns 
itself  with  symbolism,  in  which  Beauty  is 
rejected  or  misconceived,  because  the  har- 
monious relations  of  life  and  the  ideal  are 
unknown  to  it. 

With  the  idealist  artist  it  is  the  eye  that 
looks  and  the  spirit  that  sees.  If  it  is  the  eye, 
the  most  wonderful  and  translucent  of  organs, 
which  establishes  a  connection  between  the 
external  world  and  himself,  it  is  the  spirit 
which  reveals  light  and  form  to  his  consciousness. 

Can  it  be  said,  finally,  that  idealism,  as  some 
opinionated  people  of  weak  understanding 
suggest,  is  mistaken  in  its  views  of  life  ?  There 
are,  indeed,  no  greater  lovers  of  Nature  than 
the  idealist  artists,  since  they  see  her  under 
her  twofold  aspect,  the  most  trivial  spectacle 
of  the  physical  world  becoming  for  them  a 
world  of  ideas.  Material  images,  real  forms, 
fill  not  only  their  eyes  but  their  intelligence 
too.  They  not  only  see  in  Nature  the  matter 
of  created  things  ;  they  perceive  what  is 
expressed  in  forms,  namely,  Intelligence.  The 
elements  of  which  the  external  world  is  com- 
posed are  used  by  the  idealist  to  recreate  and 
rediscover  an  ideal  world  in  his  thought.  The 
ideal  he  knows  to  be  the  logical  vision  of  his 
thought   towards   harmony,    Beauty.      Certain 


172  Idealism  in  Art : 

aesthetic  writers,  philosophising  upon  art  in 
a  fanciful  and  impulsive  manner,  declare 
harmony  to  be  a  proposition  and  beauty  an 
illusion.  To  make  a  distinction  between  harmony 
and  beauty  is  a  fundamental  mistake.  There 
is  no  beauty  without  harmony,  no  harmony 
without  beauty.  Instead  of  being  an  illusion, 
an  abstraction,  Beauty  is  the  very  realising  of 
the  Ideal. 

As  Love  is  characterised  by  Charity,  so 
Beauty  is  characterised  by  Spirit.  Spirit, 
holding  the  balance  between  Will  and  Intelli- 
gence, is  inseparable  from  Beauty.  The  genius 
of  Art  is  expressed  by  the  genius  of  Nature, 
which,  by  virtue  of  the  principles  of  evolution 
and  selection  which  governs  it,  ever  tends 
towards  Beauty.  It  is  the  genius  of  Nature 
which  the  artist  ought  to  seek  behind  the 
confused  appearance  of  the  real.  His  soul 
should  enter  into  communion  with  it,  if  he 
wishes  to  find  the  ideal.  For  the  ideal  is  nearer 
to  man  than  he  thinks.  Unfortunately  he 
does  not  know  how  to  seek  it,  and  since  he  does 
not  find  it  he  denies  its  existence.  We  are 
thus  led  to  conclude  that  the  weaknesses  of  a 
work  are  due  to  weaknesses  of  thought,  to 
something  lacking  in  the  soul,  to  an  infirmity 
of  a  real  or  psychic  nature.  There  exists,  in 
fact,  in  the  sensibility  of  one  and  the  other 
flagrant  discords.  And  it  is  usually  in  the 
name   of   these  native    or    accidental,  psychic 


Some  Mistaken  Notions  173 

or  physiological,  discords,  that  impressionist 
critics  and  artists  reprobate  the  fundamental 
laws  of  aesthetics.  This  undoubtedly  gives  rise 
to  that  deplorable  individualism  in  art  which 
is  at  bottom  merely  the  idle  indulgence  which 
mediocre  and  unskilful  artists  allow  themselves. 

It  is  usually  overlooked  that  the  Ego  of  each 
individuality,  as  the  esoteric  physiognomy 
clearly  indicates,  has  different  aspects,  either 
contradictory  or  complementary.  Man,  in 
fact,  has,  so  to  speak,  four  temperaments.  There 
are  these  four  moral  psychological  contra- 
dictions which  it  is  his  business  to  harmonise 
and  balance  one  against  the  other.  In  every 
man  there  is  manifested,  in  different  degrees, 
a  lymphatic,  sanguine,  nervous,  and  bilious 
temperament,  and  it  is  only  when  these  four 
different  sides  of  his  individuality  are  brought 
into  harmony  that  the  man  becomes  perfect 
and  evolved.  Lack  of  balance  is  due  to  the 
abnormal  preponderance  of  one  of  these  aspects 
over  the  others.  This  is  what  makes  a  man's 
nature  objective,  subjective,  passive,  or  active. 

The  harmony  of  the  individual  is  the  psycholo- 
gical end  towards  which  the  artist  should  strive. 

There  is  no  other  individualism. 

All  great  artists  know  that  Art,  without 
belonging  to  analytical  science,  without  being 
bound  by  conventional  rules  or  barren  precepts, 
contains  a  science  whose  laws  are  naturally 
fixed  by  the  supreme  logic  of  beauty.     They 


174  Idealism  in  Art : 

know  also  that  beauty,  in  order  to  be  different 
according  to  the  idiosyncrasy  of  the  masters, 
is  not  the  less  governed  by  a  mysterious  unity, 
which  centralises  things  similar,  and  which  is 
its  greatness  and  strength,  realising  a  sovereign 
formula  :   Unity  in  Variety. 

I  say  again  that  to  give  up  aesthetics 
to  the  caprices  of  individual  sensibility,  to 
deliver  it  over  to  the  idle  fancies  of  the  in- 
competent, to  all  kinds  of  degenerate  influences, 
constitutes  the  great  mistake  of  contemporary 
eclecticism. 

Many  have  attempted  to  oppose  the  idealist 
tendency  with  arguments  as  vain  as  ridiculous. 
Some  coolly  wish  to  confuse  it  with  the  con- 
ventional school.  People  may  be  found  who 
at  the  very  name  of  idealism  give  a  melancholy 
shrug  of  the  shoulders  and  assume  quaint  airs 
of  repulsion.  They  say — without  believing  it ! 
— that  the  name  conceals  a  superannuated 
assembly  of  Buddhist  priests  laying  down 
automatically  with  square  and  compass  inviol- 
able rules  and  calmly  drawing  up  a  table  of 
recipes  for  the  use  of  wise  artists — something 
like  the  chrestomathy  of  the  perfect  scholar ! 
They  have  argued  against  this  wide  and  liberal 
tendency  without  understanding  it.  Conse- 
quently their  argument  is  practically  nothing 
more  than  a  clumsy  tissue  of  prejudices. 

We  are  forced  to  cry  aloud,  with  all  the 
strength  of  our  lungs,  that  the  idealist  creed 


Some  Mistaken  Notions  175 

of  art,  in  spite  of  its  apparent  dogmatism,  is 
not  a  doctrine  to  induce  narrowness  ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  affords  an  impetus  to  the  artist's 
personality,  which  remains  unfettered,  com- 
pletely unfettered,  as  far  as  it  can  be  before  the 
imposing  logic  of  art,  which  contains  a  science 
of  harmonies  in  which  reason  is  mingled  with 
emotion,  and  in  which  law  amplifies  sensation. 
It  is  wholly  the  development  of  personality 
in  the  direction  of  loftier  conceptions,  of  per- 
sonality which  perceives  more  clearly  the 
great  possibilities  of  art.  It  brings  the  artist 
back,  not  to  preconceived  forms,  not  to  decaying 
academic  ideas,  but  to  the  ideal  and  eternal 
principle  of  art.  Just  as  science  makes  clear 
to  us  that  general  laws  govern  the  relations 
between  man  and  the  elements,  so  idealist  art, 
correctly  defined,  proves  that  there  are  laws 
governing  the  relations  of  nature  to  art.  It  is 
about  these  laws  that  personality  with  its  ideas, 
sentiments,  and  sensations,  performs  its 
evolutions. 

The  sign  of  great  art  is  Beauty.  The  sign 
of  Beauty  is  Harmony.  The  sign  of  Harmony 
is  Unity. 

In  concentrating  in  his  spirit  and  will  his 
manifold  various  vital  sensations,  which  should 
be,  not  confused  or  fanciful,  but  vigorous, 
clear,  and  distinct,  the  artist  will  be  enabled 
to  perceive  aesthetic  unity,  without  which  there 
is  no  perfection  possible. 


176  Idealism  in  Art : 

Unity  is  one  of  the  great  secrets  of  the 
beautiful.  Unity  is  the  very  soul  of  style, 
and  since  style  is  personality  in  its  most  subtle 
expression,  the  more  personality  is  evolved, 
morally  and  spiritually,  the  more  enlightened 
will  the  artist  become  through  the  idea  of  unity. 

Does  this  mean  that  idealism  consists  in 
sacrificing  everything  to  thought  ?  That  would 
be  absurd.  It  refuses  nothing  to  the  senses. 
It  devotes  them  to  higher  ends  by  rendering 
them  more  subtle.  Between  sensation  and 
temperament  is  placed  notion. 

It  in  no  way  subordinates  the  subject  to 
the  painting,  or  the  painting  to  the  subject. 
Neither  does  it  place  style  above  idea.  It  does 
not  pretend  to  regulate  inspiration.  It  enriches 
and  fortifies  it,  revealing  its  power  by  its  union 
with  the  absolute.  Idealism  rejects  none  of 
the  artistic  faculties.  It  harmonises  and  welds 
them  together.  It  aims  at  concentrating  and 
complementing  faculties  tending  in  diverse 
directions.  It  desires  the  synthesis  of  the 
divine  word,  of  the  human  word,  of  nature's 
word. 

Idealism  lays  down  a  hard  and  fast  condi- 
tion :  Moral  Beauty.  It  rejects  the  black  magic 
of  art,  which  consists  in  spiritualising  what 
is  evil.  It  has  an  educational  and  general 
socialising  influence,  quite  apart  from  any 
particular  scheme  of  socialism.  It  knows 
nought,     for     instance,     of     aristocracies     or 


Some  Mistaken  Notions  177 

democracies.  It  sees  humanity  in  the  immense 
vitality  of  its  ideal  growth.  If  the  artist  would 
become  conscious  of  that,  his  personality  must 
be  purified  and  elevated.  He  must  likewise 
know  how  to  bring  his  life  into  harmony  with 
natural  and  occult  bond  which  links  the  sense 
to  the  soul,  and  soul  to  the  spirit. 

The  duty  of  modern  idealism  will  be  to  rescue 
the  artistic  temperament  from  the  fatal  scourge 
of  materialism,  to  save  personality  from  the 
dangers  inherent  in  the  worship  of  uncompre- 
hended  matter,  to  lead  it  away  from  the  degrad- 
ing appeal  of  the  ugly,  in  order  to  guide  it, 
definitely,  to  the  pure  regions  of  an  art  which 
proclaims  a  spirituality  about  to  be  made 
manifest.  It  can  do  it,  it  must  do  it,  without 
needing  to  have  recourse  to  the  imaginings  of 
morbid  dreams,  to  superficiality,  and  all  the 
wretched  unnatural  creations  of  diseased  minds 
and  the  baneful  stupefying  of  the  intellect,  the 
disgrace  and  misery  of  art ! 

What  is  the  artist,  then,  whether  he  be 
painter,  sculptor,  poet,  or  musician,  if  he  be 
not  the  man  who  seeks  to  recover  the  traces 
of  that  invisible  world  of  harmony  and  beauty, 
that  spiritual  world  whence  his  struggling  soul 
has  preserved,  throughout  its  period  of  gloom 
and  intuition,  a  reflected  radiance  ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  ideal  and  divine  attraction. 

From  this  progress  of  art  and  the  artist  to 
transcendental  heights  must  it  then  be  assumed 


M 


178  Idealism  in  Art : 

that  idealism  recoils  in  disdain  from  physical 
nature  ?  Certainly  not.  Idealism  attracts  life, 
all  life,  to  itself,  by  spiritualising  it,  by  pro- 
jecting its  form  and  colour  on  the  splendours 
of  the  spiritual  world,  of  which  the  artist 
possesses  the  inner  interpretation.  Between  the 
material  passiveness  of  the  object,  and  the 
lively  suggestion  of  sensation,  the  idealist  allows 
the  harmonising  energy  of  conception  to  move 
within  him.  The  principle  of  his  work  does  not 
consist,  as  it  has  been  falsely  thought,  in  a 
cold  delineation  of  the  abstract  from  which 
emotion  is  excluded.  Idealist  art  must  not  then 
be  libelled  by  having  the  mystico-burlesque 
nightmares  of  certain  incompetent  painters 
attributed  to  it,  such  as  revive  the  rudimentary 
deformities  of  early  times,  and  fall  back 
miserably  into  an  amorphous  and  incoherent 
past,  in  which  protoplasm  is  confused  with 
larva 

The  obvious  end  of  idealist  art  is  the  purifica- 
tion of  art. 

The  modern  art  movement,  if  it  would 
voyage   to   the   bright   horizons   of   the   ideal, 

must  struggle  against  the  continual  encroach- 
ments of  the  ugly,  no  matter  beneath  what  mark 
this  is  hidden  :  whether  beneath  the  hypo- 
critical pretence  of  symbolism,  characterisation, 
impressionism  or  realism,  those  inferior  methods 
of  expression  by  which  those  who  dally  with  it 
are  led  astray. 


Some  Mistaken  Notions  179 

It  has  not  been  sufficiently  observed  that 
the  domain  of  ugliness  is  confined  to  narrow 
limits,  whilst  that  of  pure  beauty  is  infinite. 
The  former  holds  art  captive  and  forces  it  to 
breathe  an  impure  atmosphere,  and  is  the  aethe- 
tics  of  darkness.  Art  then  falls  a  prey  to  the 
lower  influences  of  the  astral  world,  which  act 
upon  the  ready  imagination  of  the  artist  un- 
conscious of  the  phenomena.  The  other  renders 
active  all  the  latent  powers  of  the  higher 
influences.  Into  the  now  unclouded  imagination 
peers,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  the  third  eye, 
which  receives  the  reflection  of  a  world  become 
spiritualised  .  .  .  Must  it  be  ever  re- 
peated that  beauty  depends  no  more  on  sensi- 
bility than  on  a  cunning  ordering  of  accepted 
rules. 

Idealism  does  not  lay  down  a  particular 
style.  It  developes  the  personal  style  side 
by  side  with  the  development  of  personality. 
It  has  been  said  :  "  Style  is  the  Man  "  ;  it 
should  have  been  :  "  Style  is  the  Soul."  Style 
is  the  imprint  of  the  soul  coming  in  contact 
with  Essence  and  Substance.  Through  the  soul 
the  spirit  descends  to  matter  ;  matter  ascends 
to  the  spirit  through  the  soul. 

If  I  insist  on  the  mediating  influence  of  the 
soul,  it  is  because  it  is  a  folly  to  wish  to  bring 
spirit  and  matter  into  immediate  connection. 
That  is  why  Idealism  does  not  aim  at  the 
awful  sublimity  of  an  ideology  without  emotion 


180  Idealism  in  Art : 

and  does  not  demand  the  extinction  of  emo- 
tional forces. 

What  it  proclaims  and  realises  is  the  indivi- 
duality of  the  artist  seeking  synthetically  a 
supreme  accord  with  plastic  harmony,  moral 
harmony,  and  intellectual  harmony ! 

Can  beauty  be  reasonably  detached  from 
the  idea  expressed  in  the  work,  and  is  the  choice 
of  "  subject,"  which  is  ever  in  relation  to  the 
personal  worth  of  the  artist,  an  additional 
and  needless  preoccupation,  and  one  that  may 
be  neglected  ?  The  theory  of  "  no  matter 
what  "  borders  dangerously  on  depravity.  It 
enfeebles  the  artist.  It  lessens  the  importance 
of  his  function.  It  falsifies  his  aim.  It  strangles 
his  thought  and  brings  the  fertile  and  idealising 
principle  within  him  to  a  standstill.  The 
species  of  eclectico — sceptic  pantheism  which 
finds  beauty  everywhere — especially  where  it 
is  not — on  the  ground  that  beauty  in  art  is 
on  an  equal  footing  with  and  in  no  way  different 
to  beauty  in  nature,  results  in  degrading  art 
as  much  the  opposite  theory  of  originality, 
that  intrusive  originality  under  cover  of  which 
are  produced  such  absurd  and  grotesque 
abortions. 

Let  us  pass  on. 

We  know  :  neither  one  or  the  other  have 
hitherto  conceived  a  harmonious  notion  of 
nature  and  art,  nor  have  they  known  how  to 
understand    the    mutual    relationship    between 


Some  Mistaken  Notions  181 

the  real  and  the  ideal  image.  That  is  precisely 
the  synthetising  power  of  idealism  in  art ;  it 
possesses  the  sense  of  universal  harmony  and 
the  sense  of  divine  harmony.  It  knows — it 
has  the  desire  too — that  before  there  can  be 
the  desire  of  creating  the  wing  of  a  seraph, 
there  must  be  ability  to  draw  the  wing  of  a 
swallow.  Nature  and  the  ideal  are  not  in  oppo- 
sition. Truth  and  beauty  are  not  irreconcilable. 
Logically  the  two  are  different,  but  they  are 
linked  by  extraordinary  points  of  resemblance. 
Those  who  remain  the  slaves  of  instinct  will 
never  guess  the  secret  that  these  similarities 
reveal.  Someone  has  well  said:  "  Idealism  soars 
aloft  to  a  complete  synthesis."  Has  it  not  reached 
those  heights  when  art  can  be  illumined  by  the 
magic  and  stupendous  magnificence  of  Beauty  ? 

It  is  here,  indeed,  that  the  artist  learns  how 
to  realise  the  law  of  infinite  relationship,  the 
philosophy  of  line  and  of  colour,  their  universal 
significance,  the  inner  meaning  of  gesture, 
the  power  of  ideas  and  of  form,  the  motion  of 
the  body  and  of  the  soul,  the  connection  between 
the  visible  and  invisible,  the  communion  of 
beings  and  things,  and  the  sublime  mathematics 
of  eternal  harmonies. 

Here  finally  the  regenerated  artist  discovers 
a  power  of  aesthetic  expression  proportioned  to 
the  sublimity  of  his  aspirations  and  thoughts. 
Here  finally  the  whole  glorious  life  of  art  is 
unrolled  in  its  majesty. 


182  Idealism  in  Art 

The  time  has  arrived  when  genius  will  no 
longer  be  unconscious.  The  genius  of  the 
idealist  will,  we  boldly  prophesy,  be  super- 
conscious. 

And  what  will  this  super  consciousness  be  ? 
An  abstract  sensibility  ?  An  intellectual 
orthodoxy  ?  A  psychic  pedantry  ?  Will  it 
involve  closed  eyes,  systematically  closed,  to 
the  bright  blossoms  of  life,  or  mean  that  the 
heart  and  senses  should  become  atrophied, 
voluntarily  atrophied,  when  confronted  with 
the  enormous  and  ineffable  palpitation  of  the 
world  ? 

No,  it  will  be  nothing  so  insane.  But  it  will 
be  the  knowledge  that  life  is  not  limited  to  the 
senses  and  that  it  is  extended  into  the  splen- 
dours and  forces  of  the  Invisible,  where  it  will 
be  purified  in  the  inevitable  Ideal. 

And  that  will  be — in  the  work  ! 


INDEX 


A.E.  on  landscape  painting,  note,  21 

Academic  School  present  Body 
without  Soul,  72 

"  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  The"  (De 
Vinci),  7 

jEschylus,  5,  45,  145 

..Esthetics,  Peladan  on  Salvation 
of,  44 

need  of  a  clearly  defined  view, 

84 

Alexandrian  School,  90 

Ancient  Wisdom,  The,  see  Universal 
Wisdom 

Apelles,  116 

Art,  completes  Nature,  xxiii.  ; 
influence  of  Nature  study  on,  3  ; 
In  Belgium,  note,  10  ;  aspires  to 
condition  of  Music,  49  ;  a  species 
of  occult  chemistry,  70 ;  a 
Divine  Force,  73  ;  a  vital  organ 
of  Humanity,  73 ;  consecrated 
by  Metaphysics,  78 ;  its  course 
parallel  to  that  of  Science,  81  ; 
threatened  by  Positivism,  80 ; 
its  mission  to  cause  what  is 
comprehensible  to  be  perceived, 
80 ;  to  purify  mankind,  85  ; 
indissolubly  bound  to  Religion, 
94  ;  neglected  by  the  State,  95  ; 
patronage  of  in  France,  97  ;  in 
Bavaria,  98 ;  patronage  of  at 
the  Renaissance,  100,  101  ;  nei- 
ther aristocratic  or  democratic, 
103 ;  its  influence  on  Society, 
121-144  ;  the  revealer  of  Har- 
mony to  Mankind,  122  ;  un- 
known to  animals,  123  ;  super- 
ficial views  of  statesmen  as  to, 
124  ;  evolution  of  correspondent 
to  Social  progress,  124 ;  the 
working  of  Spirit  upon  Matter, 
130 ;  must  overcome  Matter, 
not  imitate  it,  134  ;  must 
illumine  and  not  reflect  Society, 
136  ;  its  mission  to  represent 
Ideas,  141  ;  creates  the  Artist, 
147  ;  modern  degradation  of, 
153  ;  when  corrupt  significant  of 
a  corrupt  morality,  154  ;  its 
mission  a  mission  of  light,  169 

Art  of  the  Future,  Peladan  on,  30  ; 
dependent  on  future  of  Science, 
Religion  and  Philosophy,  75 ; 
to  be  based  on  the  triple  formula? 
of  Idealism,  83 

Art,  work  of,  must  represent  an 
Idea,  8 ;    has  Body,  Soul,  Spirit, 


25  ;  imperfect  without  Beauty, 
27  ;  at  once  an  emotion  and  an 
instinct,  157 

"  Art  for  Art's  Sake,"  fallacy  of 
theory,  160 

Artist,  Initiation  necessary  to, 
xxvii.,  xxxiv.  ;  lack  of  great 
artists  at  present  time,  xxxv.  ; 
high  calling  of,  7  ;  loss  of  in- 
dividuality by,  8  ;  the  revealer 
of  Beauty  to  mankind,  72  ;  un- 
importance of  his  environment, 
77  ;  should  show  that  his  work 
is  not  the  result  of  chance,  81  ; 
distortion  of  Nature  by  modern 
artists,  84  ;  degradation  of  by 
the  State,  99  ;  mysticism  of  the 
Primitive,  107  ;  social  responsi- 
bility of,  126 ;  inferior  artists 
afraid  of  great  art,  132 ;  the 
representative  of  Public  Opinion, 
139  ;  a  discoverer  not  creator, 
146  ;  created  by  Art,  147  ;  great 
artists  and  great  thinkers  akin, 
149  ;  must  strive  towards  the 
Harmony  of  the  Individual,  173 

Athenagoras,  90 

Athos,  Mt.,  the  monks  of,  119 

Bach,  5,  66 

Bandinelli,  note,  46 

Banville,  Theodore  de,  17 

Barres,  Maurice,  158 

Baudelaire,  on  the  Artist,  7,  19  ; 
on  the  limitations  of  Nature, 
20,42 

Bavaria,  art,  patronage  in  by  Lud- 
wig  II.,  98 

Bayreuth,  Wagner's  theatre  at,  98 

"  Beautiful,  The,  is  the  Ugly "  : 
fallacy  of  the  dictum,  52 

Beauty  :  Spiritual,  Plastic,  Techni- 
cal, xxviii.  ;  absence  of  in 
modern  Art,  8  ;  threefold  char- 
acter of  14,  27  ;  absolute  prin- 
ciple of,  29 ;  the  synonym  of 
Truth  and  Harmony,  30  ;  the 
reflection  of  the  Essence  in  the 
Substance,  33 ;  Beauty  in  Art 
superior  to  Beauty  in  Nature, 
68  ;  the  harmony  of  Forms,  70  ; 
discountenanced  by  the  Church, 
93 ;  resulting  from  the  Sym- 
metry of  Nature,  109  ;  percep- 
tion of  inseparable  from  Men- 
tality, 124  ;  its  influence  on 
Social  problems,  128  ;    perceived 


184 


Index 


through  the  Imagination  rather 
than  through  the  Senses,  130 ; 
a  necessary  condition  of  man- 
kind, 132  ;  not  incompatible  with 
utility,  138  ;  A  Society  to  protest 
against  degradation  of  Public 
Beauty,  144  ;  ignorance  of  art 
critics  as  to,  151  ;  necessary  to 
all  subjects  for  artistic  treat- 
ment, 161  ;  indestructibility  of, 
162  ;  is  Unity  in  Variety,  174  ; 
its  domain  infinite,  179 

Beers,  Van,  note,  155 

Beethoven,  31,  66 ;  his  deafness 
and  ninth  symphony,  68 

Belgian  Art,  new  era  in,  136,  137  ; 
note,  10 

Besant,  Annie,  quoted,  121 

Beuron  School,  The,  a  revival  of 
religious  Art,  109 ;  foundation 
of,  note,  109  ;  study  of  Greek  and 
Christian  tradition  by,  110  ;  a 
reaction  against  ecclesiastical 
ugliness,  113  ;  influence  of  By- 
zantine and  Gothic  Art  on,  116 

Bhagavad-Gita,  91 

Botticelli,  58 

Bouguereau,  A.  W.,  note,  46 

Braeckeleer,  De,  note,  37 

Brahminism  in  harmony  with 
Christianity,  91 

Broerman,  Eugene,  144 

Brussels,  Art  Societies  at,  note,  10 

Buddha,  the  Christ  of  the  East,  92 

Bulwer  Lytton,  his  "  Zanoni  " 
quoted,  169 

Burne-Jones,  xiv.,  xxv.,  8,  46 

Byzantine  Art,  58 ;  influence  on 
the  Beuron  School,  116 

Canova,  note,  46 

"  Cercle  des  Vingt,"  10,  48 

Chardin,  note,  160 

Chavannes,  Puvis  de,  xxv.  ;  chief 
works  of,  note,  17  ;  his  criticism 
of  Impressionism,  18  ;  on  Art  and 
Nature,  19,  46,  114 

Chenavard,  xxxvi.  ;   note,  46,  50 

Chesterton,  G.  K.,  on  Watts,  46 

Chevreul,  his  theory  anticipated  by 
Delacroix,  note,  39 

Choice  of  subject,  importance  of, 
Delacroix,  181 

Christ,  the  Buddha  of  the  West,  92 

Christian  Art,  the  product  of  re- 
ligious materialism,  87  ;  to  be 
replaced  by  Universal  Idealist 
Art,  94  ;  revival  of  by  Beuron 
School,  104-120  ;  not  to  be  de- 
pendent on  imitative  principles, 
105;  should  be  hieratic  and  ideal, 


106,  108 ;  Order  indispensable 
to,  109  ;  Ugliness  incompatible 
with,  112  ;  opposed  to  the  nude, 
117 

Christian  mystics,  89,  90 

Christianity,  in  harmony  with 
Brahmanism,  91 

Church,  The,  hostile  to  Initiation, 
87  ;  early  Fathers  of,  89,  90 ; 
Key  to  Secret  Doctrine  with- 
held by,  93 ;  Beauty  discoun- 
tenanced by,  93 

Cimabue,  58,  107,  119 

Colour,  not  dependent  on  the  genius 
of  the  artist,  39 ;  theory  of 
Delacroix  as  to,  39 

Colour-sense,  possessed  by  animals, 
38  ;  influence  of  digestion  on,  38 

Comprehension,  the  reflex  of  Crea- 
tion, 67 

Conception,  the  Ideal  and  Spiritual 
stage,  23 

Consciousness  of  Genius,  5 

Consciousness,  influence  of  spiritual 
vibration  on,  11 

Coppee,  19 

Corot,  21 

Courbet,  10 

Couture,  17 

Criticism,  modern,  ignorant  of  Law 
of  Beauty,  151  ;  exalts  crafts- 
man above  the  artist,  152 

Dante,  an  initiate,  88 

D'Aurevilly,  Barbey,  destitution  of, 
his  works,  note,  103 

David,  J.  L.,  his  love  of  the  an- 
tique, note,  50 

Delacroix,  his  theories,  the  fore- 
runner of  "  pointillisme,"  note,  39 

"  Democratising  of  Art,  The,"  9 

Design,  the  foundation  of  art,  48  ; 
compared  with  Music,  49 

Diotime,  87 

"  Divina  Commedia,  The,"  8,  88, 149 

Eckhardt,  90 

Edison,  39 

Emotion,    the   middle   stage   of   a 

work  of  Art,  23 
Ensor,  J.,  vulgarity  of,  note,  8,  155 

"  Fair  is  Foul,"  xxiii. 

Fierens-Gevaert,  lectures  on  19th 
century  Art,  188 

Flandrin  Hippolyte,  his  works,  note, 
116,117 

"  Flemish  Painting,"  an  anachron- 
ism, 136 

Form,  Beauty  of,  15  ;  expressive 
of  creative  power  of  the  world, 


Index 


18* 


32  ;     its    connection    with     the 
Idea,  49  ;    the  product  of  sound 
waves,  66  ;    the  union  of  Essence 
with  Substance,  165   ;  the  sister 
of  Number,  165 
Fra  Angelico,  58,  66,  107,  110,  119 
France,  Art  patronage  in,  97 
France,  Anatole,  100 

Gallait,  note,  46 

Gauguin,  note,  155 

Gautier,  Theophile,  17 ;  opinion 
of  Gallait,  46 

Genius,  its  productions  not  spon- 
taneous, 55  ;  Michelet  on,  133  ; 
analogy  between  men  of,  145 

Germany,  Beuron  School  in,  109 

"  Gioconda,"  7 

Giorgos  Marcos,  119 

Giotto,  58,  107,  119 

Gliick,  22 

Gnosticism  akin  to  Universal  Wis- 
dom, 88  ;  the  fundamental  spirit 
of  Christianity,  90 

Goethe,  42  ;  on  Form  and  Design, 
49  ;  on  the  Greeks,  54  ;  quoted, 
168 

Gothic  Art,  58 

Greek  Idealism,  53,  57 

"  Guide  to  Sacred  Art,  The;'  119 

Hals,  Franz,  note,  152 

"  Harmonies  of  Existence,  The,"  149 

Harmony,  the  essence  of  the  social 
influence  of  Art,  121  ;  the  secret 
of  the  Universe  and  the  State, 
121  ;   the  highest  Emotion,  167 

Herkomer,  xxv. 

Hermes,  89 

Holman  Hunt,  xxv. 

Homer,  an  initiate,  145 

Houssaye,  Arsene,  159 

Hugo,  Victor,  on  Number,  165 

Huxlev,  Prof.,  123 

Hypatia,  88 

Idea,  Beauty  of,  14  ;  connection 
with  Form,  49 

Ideas  of  past  ages  reflected  in  their 
Monuments,  142,  143 

Ideal,  The  Science  of  the,  61  ; 
superior  to  all  individual  ideals, 
69 

Idealism,  Threefold  nature  of, 
xxviii.  ;  present  in  every  true 
w 1. 1 k  of  Art,  10  ;  means  the  spiri- 
tualising of  Art,  11  ;  a  synonym 
for  Art,  11  ;  reaction  against 
Realism  and  Impressionism,  13  ; 
Threefold  principle  of,  14  ; 
Artist  unfettered  by,  16  ;  de- 
mands study  of  Nature,  17,  171  ; 


not  exclusive  ,  19  ;  is  the  har- 
mony of  the  Natural,  the  Human, 
and  the  Divine,  36  ;  not  to  be 
confused  with  "  dreaming,"  65  ; 
influence  on  modern  thought,  78  ; 
the  continuation  of  Naturism, 
156  ;  does  not  insist  on  a  definite 
style,  158  ;  confused  with  Con- 
ventionalism, 174  ;  does  not 
regulate  Inspiration,  176 ;  de- 
mands "  moral  beauty,"  176  ; 
rescues  the  artist  from  material- 
ism, 178  ;  not  antagonistic  to  the 
physical  Universe,  178 ;  its 
synthetic  nature,  181;  its  "  super- 
consciousness,"  182 

"  Ilissus,  The,"  51 

Image,  An,  is  Sensation  spiritual- 
ised, 24  ;  the  invention  of,  the 
dawn  of  social  intelligence,  123 

"  Imitation  of  Jesus  Christ,  The" 
91 

Impressionism,  corresponds  to 
scepticism,  xxii.  ;  a  pursuit  of 
the  Ugly,  xxii.  ;  results  in  the 
negation  of  Form,  4  ;  a  neurotic 
malady,  9  ;  the  Poetry  of  the 
Moment  :  its  fallacy,  18  ;  lacking 
in  real  aesthetic  emotion,  83 

Initiation,  necessary  for  the  artist, 
xxvii.,  xxxiv.  ;  of  Greek  artists, 
54 

"  International  Institute  of  Public 
Art,  The,"  144 

Jesus  Christ,  89,  92 
Jordaens,  note,  152 
Julius,     II.  ;     his     admiration     of 
Michael  Angelo,  101 

Kings,  modern,  lacking  in  "  aesthe- 
tic sense,"  96  ;  inglorious  char- 
acter of,  99,  100 

Krishna,  89 

Lacuria,  149 

Landscape-painting,     xxx.  ;      only 

translates   impressions,    17,    21  ; 

A.E.  on,  note,  21  ;    an  element  of 

decoration,    21  ;     a   background, 

22  ;      an     illegitimate     form     of 

Art,  23 
"  L'Assommoir,"  8 
Lebrun,  note,  46,  50 
"  L'Ecole  de  Platon,"  xvi. 
Lenz,  R.  P.  Desire,  founder  of  the 

Beuron  School,  109 
Leys,    Baron   Henry,   influence   on 

Belgian  Art,  10 
"  L' Homme- Dieu"    xvi. 
"  Libre  Esthetique,"  48 


N 


i86 


Index 


Life  confused  with  Substance,  64 
Line,  the  essence  of  Form,  48  ;  the 

immutable  theology  of  Form,  112 
Ludwig  II.  of  Bavaria,  patronage 

of  Wagner,  98 
Lysippus,  116 

"  Macbeth  "  quoted,  xxiii. 

Magi,  The,  their  initiation  of  the 

artist,  53 
"  Mammon,"  15 
Manu,  89 
Martinism,  88 

Materialism,     erroneous     view     of 
Art,  xxix.  ;    future  overthrow  of, 
61  ;    its  struggle  with  Spiritual- 
ism, 75 
Mauclair,  Camille,  138 
Meissonier,  note,  155 
Memphis,  98 
Michael  Angelo,    xxx.,    13,   45,   58, 

66,  77 
Michelet,  on  Genius,  133 
Millais,  Sir  J.  E.,  xxv.  ;    note,  46 
"  Minotaur,  The,"  15 
Mission  of  Art,  The,  a  mission  of 

Light,  169 
Monet,     Claude,     founder    of    Im- 
pressionist School,  note,  155 
Moreau,    Gustave,    xxv.,    46 ;     his 

aims  and  work,  note,  46 
Moses,  89 

Music,  its  aid  in  the  aesthetic  com- 
prehension   of    Form,    49 ;     the 
basis  of  social  harmony,  121 
Musical  vibration,  correspondent  to 

harmony  of  Form,  66 
"  Mystery   of   Evolution,    The,"   by 

Jean  Delville,  122 
Mysticism,  Christian,  89,  90 

Napoleon  I.,  his  patronage  of 
Art,  97 

Napoleon  III.,  patronge  of  Art,  98 

"  National  "  Art,  xxx.,  _xxxvii.  ; 
doomed  in  the  future,  75,  76 

Naturalism,  atrophies  the  creative 
powers  of  the  artist,  xxi.  ;  corre- 
sponds to  materialistic  panthe- 
ism, xxii. ;  debasing  influence  on 
Art,  5 

Nature,  an  evolution  towards 
Beauty,  xxiii.  ;  principle  of  selec- 
tion in,  19  ;  Puvis  de  Chavannes 
and  Baudelaire  on  Incomplete- 
ness of,  19  ;  a  medley  of  enchant- 
ment and  terror,  65  ;  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Real,  170 

Naturism,  an  evolution  from 
Naturalism  towards  Idealism, 
156 


Navez,  note,  46 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  5 

Nike,  statue  of,  from  Samothrace, 
51 

"  Noces  corinthiennes,"  100 

Nude,  The,  its  moral  significance, 
56  ;  expresses  the  true  sense  of 
Nature,  57 ;  the  Alpha  and 
Omega  of  /Esthetics,  58 ;  its 
study  can  regenerate  Art,  58  ; 
neglected  by  the  Primitives,  58  ; 
studied  by  artists  of  Renais- 
sance, 58  ;  its  synthetic  quality, 
59 ;  it  evokes  Humanity,  59 ; 
made  fleshly  by  Realism,  63 ; 
studv  of,  opposed  by  Christian 
Art,117 

Occultism    of    Rembrandt,    152 ; 

of  Shakespeare,  159 
Orcagna,  58,  107 
"  Orfeo,"  scenic  poetry  of,  22 
"  Organon,  The,"  149 
Origen,  90 
Orpheus,  89 
the  lyre  of,  55 

Palais  de  Justice,  Brussels,  xvii. 

Paracelsus,  90 

"  Parsifal"  77,  149 

Parthenon,  The,  149 

Pater,  W.,  49 

Peladan,  Josephin,  character  of 
his  Idealism,  note,  xxxvii.  ;  on 
the  Art  of  the  Future,  30  ;  on 
the  Salvation  of  ^Esthetics,  45  ; 
on  Line,  112 

Pericles,  53,  54,  121 

Pheidias,  31,  45,  54,  66,  77,  110, 
116,  121, 159,  166 

Plato,  53,  55,  87,  89,  111,  121,  149 

"  Poets  of  the  Moment,"  the  Im- 
pressionists, 18 

Polycleitos,  116 

Primitive  artists,  eponyms  of  Chris- 
tian Art,  113 

"  Promethus  Vinctus,"  5 

Proudhon,  his  sophism  on  the  Ugly, 
64  ;  his  famous  paradox,  note, 
64,  102 

Pythagoras,  42,  89 

Rama,  89 

Raphael,  xxx.,  5,  45,  152 

Real,  The,  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  Natural,  170 

Realism,  its  ignorance  of  the 
Divinity  in  Man,  164 

Realist-Impressionist  School  pre- 
sent Things  without  Idea,  72 


Index 


187 


"  Reformation  of  Human  Know- 
ledge, The,"  42 

Religion,  future  reconciliation  with 
Science,  79 

Rembrandt,  77  ;  the  Kabbaliste  of 
painting,  note,  152 

Renaissance  passion  for  Art,  100—2 

Rhvthm  of  Form,  31 

Rodin,  134 

Romanticism,  an  advance  towards 
Idealism,  xix.  ;  Idealism  with- 
out Idea,  xix.  ;  lacking  in  a  clear 
synthesis,  xx.  ;  overthrown  by 
Naturalism  and  Positivism,  xxi. 

Rosicrucian  romance  of  "  Zanoni," 
169 

Rossetti,  xvi. 

Rubens,   136 

Ruskin,  John,  his  failure  to  per- 
ceive the  essential  in  Art,  xxv., 
xxxvii.  ;  on  Symmetry,  109  ;  on 
the  Ugly,  125 

Ruysbroeck,  John,  father  of  Flemish 
mysticism,  note,  90 

Sacred  Art,  see  Christian  Art 

Sais,  90 

"  Samothrace,  La,"  note,  51 

Scheffer,  17 

Schiller  on  Beauty,  132 

"  School  of  Athens,  The,"  5 

Science,  future  reconciliation  with 
Religion,  79  ;  the  matrix  of  the 
Ideal,  159 

Seailles,  Gabriel,  quoted,  24 

Sensation,  and  Sentiment  steps 
towards  the  Idea,  xxix.  ;  rela- 
tion to  Consciousness,  23  ;  the 
first  stage  in  work  of  Art,  23  ; 
only  a  means  towards  a  work  of 
art,'  68 

Seurat,  Impressionist  method  of, 
note,  43,  155 

"  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture, 
The"  109 

Shakespeare,  occultism  of,  xxii., 
159 

Signac,  Impressionist  theory  of,  43 

Sistine  Chapel,  149 

Sizeranne,  Robert  de  la,  xxi  v. 

Social  Art,  no  necessitv  for,  71 

"  Socialising  of  Art,  The,"  9 

Societe  Libre,"  10,  48 

Society,  influence  of  Art  on,  80 

Socrates  initiated  by  Diotime,  88 

Sophocles,  45,  54 

Spiritualising  of  Science,  62 

St.  Angela  of  Foligno,  90 

"  St.  Anne  "  (De  Vinci),  51,  64 

St.  Augustine,  affirms  Christianity 
to  have  existed  before  Christ,  90  ; 


his  lost  treatise  on  the  Beautiful, 

note,  91 
St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  89 
St.  Denys  the  Areopagite,  90 ;    on 

Image- worship,  119 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  90 
St.  Irenaeus,  89 
St.  Luc,  School  of,  94 
St.  Maur,  Chapel  of,  110 
St.  Pantaenus,  note,  90 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  90  ;    quoted, 

164 
St.    Vincent   de    Paul,    Church   of, 

Frieze  at,  117 
St.   Yves  d'Alveydre,   on   Art   and 

the  Artist,  note,  147  ;  quoted,  154 
State,  The,  neglect  of  Art  by,  95 
Strasburg    Cathedral,     astrological 

clock  at,  5 
Style,   an    idealising    quality,   51 ; 

no   definite   style   demanded  by 

Idealism,  158  ;    the  signature  of 

the  individual,  158 
"  Style  is  the  Soul,"  179 
Symbolic  painting  of  the  Future, 

138 
Symmetry,  a  natural  law,  109 

Taine,  on  the  Ugly  and  the 
Beautiful,  52 ;  on  the  relation- 
ship of  Art  and  Science,  159 

Technique,  Beauty  of,  15 

"  Temperament,"  theories  as  to,  81 

Temperament  of  Man  fourfold,  173 

Thebes,  90 

Theophilus,  the  monk,  his  manual 
on  Art,  116 

Theory,  necessity  for,  39 ;  idle 
objections  to,  40  ;  able  to  purify 
Art,  43 

Theosophical  Society,  The,  88 

Tolstoi',  concerned  only  with  the 
morality  of  Art,  xxvi.,  xxxvii.  ; 
conception  of  Art,  73 

Tradition,  the  Living  and  the  Dead, 
45  ;  Artists  of,  45,  46  ;  subordina- 
tion of  personality  to,  45  ;  in- 
fluence of,  145  ;  the  atavism  of, 
145  ;  personality  of  artist  un- 
fettered by,  146 

Trithemius,  Abbot  of  Spanheim, 
note,  90 

Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  A.E.  on,  note,  21 
his  limitations,  22 

Type,  Importance  of,  119 

Ugliness,  symbolic,  examples  of, 
note,  15  ;  Academic  and  Realist, 
34  ;  non-existence  of  according 
to    Proudhon,    64  ;     Ruskin    on, 


i88 


Index 


125 ;  physical  ugliness  expres- 
sive of  moral  ugliness,  166 ; 
propagated  under  the  pretext  of 
Emotion,  167  ;  the  animal  sign 
of  Instinct,  168 ;  its  domain 
limited,  179 

Universal,  The,  Plato  on,  41 

Universal  Brotherhood,  influence 
on  future  Art.  85 

Universal  Wisdom,  The,  able  to 
achieve  the  unity  of  Religion, 
88 ;  its  transmission  to  modern 
times,  88  ;  akin  to  Gnosticism, 
89 ;  the  fundamental  spirit  of 
Christianity,  90 

Utility,  lacking  in  uninspired  Art, 
86 

Vandyck,  152 

Venus  of  Milo,  39,  55 

Verlaine,  opinion  of  Ludwig  II.,  98 

Villiers  de  LTsle  Adam,  Count,  his 

writings  and  influence,  note,  103  ; 

quoted,  146 


Vinci,     Leonardo     de,     xxx.,     5 ; 

dictum  of,  31  ;   his  "  Treatise  on 

Painting,"    41,    45,    58,    66,    77, 

135,  152,  159 
"  Virgin  of  St.   Mam,   The,"   110, 

112 

Wagner,  Richard,  note,  5,  31,  42, 
46,  66,  77  ;  aided  by  Ludwig  II., 
98,  145,  149 

Watts,  G.  F.,  xxv.,  15  ;  belief  in 
Priesthood  of  Art,  46 

Whistler,  xiv.,  21 

Wiertz,  A.,  xxxvi.  ;  ugliness  ex- 
hibited in  his  works,  37  ;  chief 
works  and  method,  note,  37 

Wilde,  Oscar,  quoted,  6 

Willette,  his  "  Pierrettes,"  note,  13 

Wronski,  Hoene  de,  his  mathemati- 
cal formula?,  note,  42 

"  Zanoni,"  quotation  from,  169 

Zeuxis,  116 

Zola,  on  Naturalism,  xxi.,  8,  156 


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