ART AND WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15912, 8 May 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

ART AND WAR.

BT J.F.

"I have stood," says - kin, "under a roof covered with Tintoretto's noblest pictures, and of these pictures three of the noblest were then in the form of shreds of ragged canvas, mixed up with laths of the roof Ten through by Austrian shells; and aJter such a sight it is not everyone ho would tell you, as I do, that, nevertheless, war was the foundation of all great art.''

Raskin believed, it may be observed in passing, that war, in any noble sense of the word, was a thing of the past, that

"modem, scientific, chemical war was worse than the sarages' poisoned arrow. All the same, Ruskin's paradox is by no means without an element of truth. That that are those who doubt whether art has

any place or mission in relation to war is surely an evidence, either of the fact art is not fulfilling its mission, or that those who doubt have miss«d true appreciation of what art ought to be. For art, broadly considered, is simp y a languageone of many modes of expression. It is more limited than the spoken or written word as regards the scope of its subject matter, but it is far more universal in its appeal. As long as men have something to Pay worth saying they* will find ft medium for expression suitable to the subject. While men are actually fighting, of course, both the pen and the palette mav be laid aside, and British artist* today have joined the ranks of the army in a proport on which will bear comparison with any other profession. The wellknown men who stand at the head of tun profession have, as a rule, attained an age at which they would not be eligible as r. ■ emits, but a hundred names could be given of men less distinguished as painters, sculptors, engravers, and illustrators, who are now serving with the "colours'' in another sense of the word. Along with these are a host of the humbler art-, workers now forming the artists' corps, which was mentioned with honour by Sir John French in his despatch on the recent fighting at 'Neuve Chapelle.

French artists, also, for the time being,' have abandoned their avocation in a whole-! sale manner, and those who are too old to take the field are serving as ambulance men or even hospital porters. They are animated by the same spirit which was shown in 1870. and which was nobly illustrated by Henri Regnault.

Henri Regnault was one of the most distinguished and successful painters ot that time. While quite a young man he had achieved fame and fortune which was seldom the lot of any but veterans in the arts. In order to work undistracted and in good light he had built for himself a magnificent studio in Algiers, where he devoted himself to producing the best work of which he was capable. But when the disasters of the French army came to his knowledge he returned to his native country. Although as a holder of the Prix de Rome, he was exempt from military service nothing could deter him from joining the army. He refused an officer's rank which was offered to him, preferring to join as a common soldier. "I shall make," he said, "a poor officer, but a good soldier." He was utterly indifferent to danger, and met his death'bv a stray bullet while riding about in a dangerous part of the field of operations. There were others, too, who fell in that war whose lives gave hope of great promise, but the national life of France was by no means extinguished. The change which French art underwent at that period of her history is instructive. One would have imagined that after Germany's extortionate demands rigid economy on the part of France would have made it impossible for art to flourish, but economy is one thing and meanness another, and meanness has never been a French virtue. Neither science, art, nor literature was allowed to languish, even under these straitened conditions. And it is to the credit and honour of France that the Government, as well as many individuals were determined to make it possible for the poorest to have a chance, provided they showed talent. But it was not only that art was en-

couragcd French art itself underwent a change. A great authority of French art, I.epnee Penedite says: "The year 1870 is, indeed, a particularly solemn date. It marks the hour of a great upheaval, but at the same time it introduces a new era of democratic liberty and social progress. The serious lesson that these critical days taught bore immediate fruit, An intense animation reigned everywhere in every department of national activity, it was more than a re-awakening, it was a resurreaction. French art had at once risen again with extreme energy, the regular salons went' on again immediately, and at the international exhibition of Vienna in 1873 French art proclaimed its vitality by taking precedence over all its rivals." It developed a new life, and entered on a new period of advance and of growth. It became more national and more virile, and in nothing was this more the case than in landscape painting; men seemed to see with new eyes, old methods and conventions gave place to a directness, originality, and insight which has influenced landscape painting over the whole world.

That there are elements of decay in French art few will doubt, and even English art is not all that might be desired. The yearly exhibitions of the Royal Academy give the impression that English art is waiting for something, one cannot exactly say what. Perhaps this great war of the twentieth century may supply that want: who can say? But that art is ultimately going to suffer from M is not a thinkable proposition. War may debase base people, so also may peace and prosperity, but if there is still a soul in a nation above mere gain of buying and selling it will find expression in art of some kind or other. Reverence, gratitude, admiration for all that is noble, either in man or in nature, must find a fitting expression wherever it is truly felt, but no amount of material wealtii can'conceal poverty of soul. A nation may slumber, and well for it if it can be awakened before destruction come* upon j it. War may be the only means whereby such an awakening can bo effected. When the words of the prophets ait unheeded the sword may come, J hen it is thai falsities and insincerities are swept away. Truth and reality alone htand the. test, and it is precisely these qualities which go to make up any art of real value, whether it be literary, dramatic, musical, or pictorial..