Art Notes.

Free Lance, Volume XVIII, Issue 988, 11 June 1919, Page 26

Art Notes.

INTR ODUCTORY. IN tlaese days of readjustment and . reconstitution of tlie affairs o.f life, it may be well to clarify our thinking and consider tlie claims of Art and its potentialities as a help in regaining the equilibrium on which depends the development of our national life During the past few 3'ears we have had examples in plenty of morale, not only in our fighting men but in the men and women engaged in production and in the service of the nation. But have we ever thought or realised how much greater is the value of this morale which, after all, means maximum service, when it is applied to increase the happiness of tlje people by means of the Fine Arts? *■»***■» It is true, no doubt, that every human beina is born with a potential love of beauty and whether this capacity lies dormant or develops into activity depends largely upon his education in the school-room and on the influences at home and elsewhere that mould his character. That rest and happiness may be found in those things which bv their form and colour appeal to the eye is not as yet fully understood or appreciated by our educationists, nor by those who control the destinies of the nation. The cultivation of the faculty of seeing correctly may or may not add to the earning power of the individual, but it does, 1111 questionably, make for an increase in happiness, and this in turn re-acts upon the health of mind and body. The eyes that know how to look for beauty, be it on our streets, or in the daily round of life, ana a mmd that can appreciate its spirit, are real assets to the individual, and through him to the home, the community and the nation. Do our rulers, our civic authorities our ecclesiastics, our professors, our instructors realise that they have an important role to play m fostering the innate love of Beauty m all? Do they believe that, through co-operation with our artists, whose helpful service mav be sought in beautifying our streets and buildings P a ;£ks wi statuary, and our public buildings and mercantile institutions with mural decorations, inspiration and help may be added in the maintenance ot national endeavour ? If Beauty be an asset to the individual, and through him to the nation, where do we stand to-day ? *** • ■ During the war days many practical services "have been .rendered, and the burdens the war has left us will now have to be shouldered in a greater or lesser degree by each in his own way. Let us not forget, however, that while cash and patriotism are all-important in the service of the country in time of war, the maximum service m national progress is the improvement ot the cultural standard of the people. And this improvement can come only by means of Art. ..* * * * When we fully realise that Art is an asset, that our workshops and schools are not entirely business ventures but places where tlie national taste may be moulded, that everything produced to which beauty has been added and every lesson learned in a perfect ay are factors of the great mosaic of national culture, then and only then nmy we be satisfied that New is on the high road to real and lasting prosperity.