reasons, stratagems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections d

nd finds an echo there because, though to

Jacques-Dalcroze i

e. London, Cons

ote: Cf. Paul Signac, D'Eugene Delacroix au Neo-Impressionisme. Paris. Floury. Also compare an in

mark he seems to foretell the position in which painting is today. She stands, in fact, at the first stage of the road by which she will, according to her own possibilities, make art an abstraction of thought

two weapons a

our. 2

ject (either real or otherwise) or as a pu

ur is evoked without definite boundaries. If such are necessary they have deliberately to be imagined. But such red, as is seen by the mind and not by the eye, exercises at once a definite and an indefinite impression on the soul, and produces spiritual harmony. I say "indefinite," because in itself it has no suggestion of warmth or cold, such attributes having to be imagined for it afterwards, as modifications of the original "redness." I say "

red that exist and (2) a limited surface, divided off from the other colours, which are undoubtedly there. The first of thes

ute-or obtuse-angled or equilateral) has a spiritual value of its own. In connection with other forms, this value may be somewhat modified, but remains in quality the same. The case is similar with a circle, a square, or any conceivable geometrical figure. [Footnote:

gle, a blue circle, a green square, or a green triangle, a yellow circle,

p forms (e.g., a yellow triangle), and soft, deep colours by round forms (e.g., a blue circle). But it must be remembered that an unsuitabl

le, their combination and their influences are

rm in the world says something. But its message often fails to reach us, and even if it does, full understanding is often withheld from us.] and, properly speaking, FORM IS THE OUTWARD EXPRESSION OF THIS INNER MEANING. To use once more the metaphor of the piano-the ar

ims. The task of limiting surfaces (the outer aspect) i

n is most expressive when least coherent. It is often most expressive when ou

ashion of them some material object; (2) Or form remains abstract, describing only a non-material, spiritual entity. Such non-material entities, wit

orms are, at present, the store on which the artist has to draw. Purely abstract forms are beyond the reach of the artist at present; they are too indefinite for hi

, which are perhaps more artistic than his intentions and refuse to aim at photography alone. Many genuine artists, who cannot be content with a mere inventory of

ation as at emphasizing the character of the object, by the omission of non-essentials. The desire of the future will be purely the expression of the inner meaning. The

t full expression, are the impulses which drive the artist away from "literal" colouring to purely artistic aims. An

composition ha

ition of the

to suit this whole. Singly they will have little meaning, being of importance only in so far as they help the general effect. These single objects must be fashioned in one way only; and this, not because their own inner meaning demands that particular fashioning, but entirely because they have to serve as building material for the whole composition. [Footnote: A good example is Cezanne's "Bathing Women," which is built in the form of a triangle. Such building is an old principle, which was

cured by purely material ideals. Its gradual advance is natural enough, for in proportion a

ly different (in which case the combination may be unavoidably discordant). However diminished in importance the organic form may be, its inner note will always be heard; and for this reason the choice

that without affecting the fundamental harmony of the whole? If the answer is "Yes," we have a case in which the material appeal directly weakens the abstract appeal. The human form must either be replaced by

continually subject to these appeals. But the results are often dubbed either sub-or super-conscious. Nature, that is to say the ever-changing sur

of three elements: the impression of the colour of the object, of its

ividuality of the art

wills, these three e

HOICE OF OBJECT (i.e.

M) MUST BE DECIDED ON

UMAN SOUL; AND THI

OF THE I

material, and for them substituted pure abstractions, or largely dematerialized objects. The more an artist uses these abstracted forms, the deeper and more confidently will he advan

As every word spoken rouses an inner vibration, so likewise does every object represented. To deprive oneself of this possibility is to limit one's powers of expression. That is at any rate the c

n that of one set obliquely on its side.] Nothing is absolute. Form-composition rests on a relative basis, depending on (1) the alterations in the mutual relations of forms one to another, (2) alterations in each individual form, down to the very smallest. Every form is as sensitive as a puff of smoke, the slightest breath will alter it completely. This extreme mobility makes it easier to obtain similar harmonies from the use of different forms, than from a repetition of the same one; though of course an exact replica of a spiritual harmony can never be produced. So long as we are susceptible only to the appeal of a whole comp

terial or abstract) such composition can never be other than meaningless. Apparently aimless alterations in form-arrangement will make

question of anatomy. But, on our argument, this secondary consideration does not appear, only the real, artistic question remaining.

lly or as parts of a whole; further, the concord or discord of the various elements of a picture, the handling of groups, the combinations of veiled and openly expressed appeal

our provides a whole wealth of possibilities of her own, and when combined with form, ye

of his age, is impelled to express the spirit of his age (this is the element of style)-dictated by the period and particular country to which the artist belongs (it is doubtful how long the latter di

third. But he who has this realization will recognize that a rudely carved Indian c

the coming "style" becomes more frequent daily. But for all their importance to

day more subtly than it did to its chronological contemporaries; for they judged it with the hampering

le today; but a modern work of art which is full of the third element, will fail to reach the contemporary soul. For many centuries have to pass away

her period nor nationality. But as style and personality create in every epoch certain definite forms, which, for all their superficial differences, are really closely related, these forms can be spoken of as one side of art-the SUBJECTI

change from day to day, and, as it continually advances, what is today a phrase of inner harmony becomes tomorrow one of outer harmony. It i

nt of art is an ever-advancing expression of the eternal

upreme. At present we say that an artist can use any form he wishes, so long as he remains in touch with nature. But this limitation, like all its predecessors, is only temporary. Fro

relationship of art throughout the ages, is not a relationship in outward form but in inner meaning. And therefore the talk of

s particular age. He must watch only the trend of the inner need, and hearken to its words alone. Then he will with safety employ means both sanctione

is, at first, a matter of feeling. Any theoretical scheme will be lacking in the essential of creation-the inner desire for ex

ting a kind of mechanical harmony. One of his pupils, after trying in vain to use this system, in despair asked one of his colleagues

it will be not so much according to physical rules (which have so often been tried and which to

blems in painting. We are seeking today for the road whi

r produces other than conventional beauty. The "inner need" knows no such limits, and often produces results conventionally considered "ugly." But "ugly" itself is a conventional term, and only

y, if neglected, grows weaker and finally impotent, so the spirit perishes if untended. And for th

the study of colour

of complicated colour, but rather at first to

individual colours, and so make a simple chart, which w

cold, and into light and dark. To each colour there are therefore four shades

o speak, on one basis, the colour having a constant fundamental appeal, but assuming either a more material or more non-mater

ave another movement of their own, which acts with a violent separative force. This is, therefore, the first ant

dark caused by the pair of colours just mentioned. These colours have once more thei

GU

titheses. (inner

B. the

arm

e = First

move

hori

<< >>>---> Away from the sp

low

- and c

ight

k = Second

move

disc

but with Absolu

he White Black of p

irth) fut

as in case of yellow a

concentration will reveal in the yellow a spreading movement out from the centre, and a noticeable approach to the spectator. The blue, on the other hand, moves in upon itself,

k, i.e., as it becomes darker. This means that there can never be a dark-coloured yellow. The relationship between white and yellow is as close as between black and blue, for blue can be so dark as to bor

real. The blue by its contrary movement acts as a brake on the yellow, and is hindered in its own movement, till the two together become stati

ibility of movement, because gray consists of two colours that have no active force, for they stand the, one in

have a movement of their own, it is possible, on the b

n of the yellow), and also the second movement, that of over-spreading the boundaries, have a material paral

an insistent, aggressive character. [Footnote: It is worth noting that the sour-tasting lemon and shrill-sin

hades of tone,-so yellow has shades, which can be expressed by various instruments. But in making such par

ture of blue makes it a sickly colour. It may be paralleled in human nature, with madne

of retreat from the spectator, (2) of turning in upon its own centre. The inclination

typical heav

ky-blue for symbolic figures (i.e. spiritual beings); (Kondakoff, Histoire de l'An Byz

eling it create

way to the supernatural lies through the natural. And we mortals passi

black, it echoes a gri

violet stand to blue as does gr

s weaker and more distant. In music a light blue is like a flute, a darker blue a c

Green is the most restful colour that exists. On exhausted men this restfulness has a beneficial effect, but after a time it becomes wearisome. Pictures painted in shades of green are passive and tend to be wearisome; this contrasts with the active warmth of yel

en keeps its characteristic equanimity and restfulness, the former increasing with the inclination to lightness, the l

lthough often considered as no colour (a theory largely due to the Impressionists, who saw no whit

our. But to the impressionist-realist it seems a bold liberty to take with nature. To him it seems as outrageous as his own change from brown shadows to blue seemed to his contemporaries. Van Gogh's question mar

ng. White, therefore, has this harmony of silence, which works upon us negatively, like many pauses in music that break temporarily the melody. It i

ems the dawn of another world. Black is something burnt out, like the ashes of a funeral pyre, something motionless like a corpse. The silence of black is the silence of death. Outwardly black is the colour with least harmo

ite, but against black with clear strength. Light yellow

s gray which, as has been said, is silent and motionless, being composed of two inactive colours, its restfulness having none of the po

acroix sought to express rest by a mixture

ut rings inwardly with a determined and powerful intensity. It glows in i

a skillful use of it in its different shades,

extent varied between warm and cold, but no col

re and appeal, and gives a feeling of strength, vigour, determination, t

accurately speaking, such a mixture produces what is called a dirty colour, scorned by painters of today. But "dirt" as a material object has its own inner appeal, and therefore to av

used in primitive and traditional decoration, and also in peasant costumes, because in the open air the harmony of red and green is very beautiful. Taken by itself this red is material, and, like yellow, has no very

audible, but there rings out a powerful inner harmony. Skillful blending can produce an inner appeal of e

t as in deep green. There always remains a hint of renewed vigour, somewhere out of sight, waiting for a certain moment to burst forth afresh. In this lies the great difference between a deepened red and a deepened blue, because in red there is always a trace of the ma

out towards the spectator. But the element of red is always sufficiently strong to keep the colour from flip

ed withdrawn from humanity by blue. But the red in violet must be cold, fo

ently rather sad and ailing. It is worn by old women, and in China as a sign of mourning

the question, "How are you?" answered glo

antitheses of the primitive colours. They stand to each other in the same relatio

URE

theses (physical ap

D co