belong to
it, just as
geography
and chem-
istry must
of neces-
sity be sci-
ence, and
belong to
it.
10
HOME DISSERTATIONS'.
'Lucy Crane, in her lectures on Art and the Formation of Taste, furthermore says:
" Many people think that ' High Art,' as they call it is inseparably associated with affec-
tation, and melancholy, and dull colors, and general darkness, and dirt, and discomfort;
this is certainly not the sort of thing I wish to advocate: the art that those first teachers
originated, is an art of simplicity, of cheerfulness and brightness, of comfort, cleanliness,
and hospitality, and is a help to good healthy living, and not a hindrance to it."
The distinction which has somehow arisen between "Color" and "Art color" is a quite
unreasonable one, and based on false ideas. If a color is of such a nature as to be
inadmissable in Art, it is no color at all, properly speaking; it is a stain, a dye, a pigment.
It is easy to trace these expressions back to their origin. They were invented by shop-
keepers, to characterize a kind of goods got up in a certain style to please that part of the
public that cares for fashion and novelty alone; and has no higher aims or desires, and
wishes to have none. So let us leave such expressions to their inventors, who, by bad
imitations of the good work of our time, seek to catch our fancy, careless or idle, as we
most of us are, or else too busy to pay any regard to such matters. There is, however, no
sort of lasting satisfaction in merely following blindly the fashion of the day, whether it be
in house decoration, or in coloring, or in dress, or in pictures; for it seems there is a
fashion even in these. Ideas hastily caught up, and adopted without reason and consider-
ation, must be shallow and worthless ones. The love of novelty is opposed to the pro-
duction of good art which is in its nature and constitution lasting, living, and in a sense
immortal: in the race for novelty, the last new thing runs down the one before it, only to
perish in its turn, because it deserves no better fate. But for those of us who care for
something more in our lives than fashion and novelty, it is worth while to examine into
the real nature and true meaning of Art, so as to possess ourselves of all the various
knowledge and pleasure it is capable of giving.
So, to guard against any misconception from the beginning, let me attempt to define
what Art is. The word in its original sense meant force, or strength, and it was applied
to mechanical work, and is so still. We speak of the art of weaving, the art of printing,
the florist's art, the art of cooking, and so on; and in these we mean to express the result
of man's putting forth his hand and operating on Nature; and Art in its widest sense has
come to be " human labor regulated by human design."
Page 5
Presented as published in 1891. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
belong to it, just as geography and chemistry must of necessity be science, and belong to it.
'Lucy Crane, in her lectures on Art and the Formation of Taste, furthermore says:
" Many people think that ' High Art,' as they call it is inseparably associated with affectation, and melancholy, and dull colors, and general darkness, and dirt, and discomfort; this is certainly not the sort of thing I wish to advocate: the art that those first teachers originated, is an art of simplicity, of cheerfulness and brightness, of comfort, cleanliness, and hospitality, and is a help to good healthy living, and not a hindrance to it."
The distinction which has somehow arisen between "Color" and "Art color" is a quite unreasonable one, and based on false ideas. If a color is of such a nature as to be inadmissable in Art, it is no color at all, properly speaking; it is a stain, a dye, a pigment. It is easy to trace these expressions back to their origin. They were invented by shopkeepers, to characterize a kind of goods got up in a certain style to please that part of the public that cares for fashion and novelty alone; and has no higher aims or desires, and wishes to have none. So let us leave such expressions to their inventors, who, by bad imitations of the good work of our time, seek to catch our fancy, careless or idle, as we most of us are, or else too busy to pay any regard to such matters. There is, however, no sort of lasting satisfaction in merely following blindly the fashion of the day, whether it be in house decoration, or in coloring, or in dress, or in pictures; for it seems there is a fashion even in these. Ideas hastily caught up, and adopted without reason and consideration, must be shallow and worthless ones. The love of novelty is opposed to the production of good art which is in its nature and constitution lasting, living, and in a sense immortal: in the race for novelty, the last new thing runs down the one before it, only to perish in its turn, because it deserves no better fate. But for those of us who care for something more in our lives than fashion and novelty, it is worth while to examine into the real nature and true meaning of Art, so as to possess ourselves of all the various knowledge and pleasure it is capable of giving.
So, to guard against any misconception from the beginning, let me attempt to define what Art is. The word in its original sense meant force, or strength, and it was applied to mechanical work, and is so still. We speak of the art of weaving, the art of printing, the florist's art, the art of cooking, and so on; and in these we mean to express the result of man's putting forth his hand and operating on Nature; and Art in its widest sense has come to be " human labor regulated by human design."