THE ART EXHIBITION

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21320, 13 November 1934, Page 8

THE ART EXHIBITION

TO THa BDITOB OT THE PRasS. Sir,—"W.B.H." in his letter this morning, seems to have the idea that when religion is mentioned, it means since the days of the "Jewish Carpenter." That is a point that he with his knowledge of art should know more about. Even if he took that great story of the ideal man as a subject, that subject could never be worked out by man's interpretation of it; and as the whole story is one of great beauty, it will never be lost by humanity—even after the cycle has

passed when another arch type has been manifested on earth. Now, I should like to point out that the true religion which only true artists can comprehend is the ideal of all time, not just that phase of it which the great Craftsman —the Carpenter—typified. I know, that true music (which is art in one form) speaks of the eternal beauty of life—even of its sorrowful phases; it points out that there is beauty even in sorrow, and that there is pain in joy. "WB.H." says that two courses are open to the artist: (a) to face the facts of life, and (b) to attempt some means of escape from those facts. I say there is only one course and that is course (a) because life cannot be got away from. It has many phases and many stages of evolution, subjects galore for the artist to choose from, whether he writes or paints or tells it in music. And the great spiritual march in evolution, is the greatest theme. I like an agnostic or atheist as an artist if his sense of beauty is real, because he can without being chained by ortho-doxy-or creed truly depict the great religion in forms that to-day's thought will have none of. All the beautiful myths and Leauty of the gods of Jld he can give to the world, although he knows not that he depicts the one God but by another name. So when an artist tries to get away from life, he is creating distortion or the grotes-que-Yours, etc., November 12, 1934.