THE PICTURES WE LIKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19454, 9 October 1926, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE PICTURES WE LIKE.

Br W. PAGE HOWE.

PREFERENCE AND TASTE.

Tho other day a certain lady said to me, "I do wish yon would take me to the Art Gallery, and show me what 1 ought to admire. I don't know anything about art. I know what I like, but I expect I don't always like the right kind of pictures." My answer was ready enough, becauso it was not the first time, by a very long way, that I had been asked to do this service. I replied that I would be delighted to go to the Gallery in her company, but as for telling her what pictures she ought to admire, I must beg to bo excused, becauso art puts us under 110 obligations to all like tho same kind of art, and that it would be a very dull world if we did. What we like, in art or life generally, is governed by our experience and our personal preferences, which are our rightful possessions, and nobody is justified in dictating to us what we ought to like. When someone admires a picture which I have tho best reasons to know is a bad picture,. 1 may express my opinion, and even try to point out his error of judgment, but it would bo senseless to insist that he ought not to like the picture, or that he should prefer those of my own choice. It would be very much like censuring a man for not liking tomatoes. Tho appreciation of art is an acquired taste, in most cases, and not every one has both the inclination and the capacity to achieve, it. Nevertheless those who do persevere, generally come to love art very much, to their very great benefit. It is a significant fact that there are opportunities in every country for acquiring this taste. Art is one, of the most universal expressions of humanity. It is not a product of civilised nations only, but is developed, often to a very high degree, by the most barbaric and primitive peoples. National and Personal Preference. Not only are true works of art produced by every nation, each with its own characteristic expression, but they all conform to certain broad fundamental principles. Art is ono of the very first things to which man turns his attention, when he has provided for his shelter, sustenance, and self-defence. I icturemaking is a somewhat later development, as distinct, that is, fiom casual drawings, such as those of tho prehistoric cave-men. Tho kind of picture we like is, of course, greatly influenced by our national preferences, our habits and customs. British people have so lately become established in New Zealand that the character of such art as is produced in this country is essentially the same as that at Home, although it is necessarily somewhat behind the times. A well defined New Zealand school will not come into being until the tide of immigration from Home has practically ceased. Personal preference is, however, the first factor of personal judgment. If we are content to trust to it entirely we shall greatly restrict our outlook, and our enjovment of art. When a man says, "I 'know what I like," he usually means that he is quite satisfied to be guided by his natural likes and dislikes, and sees no necessity to know anything about art in order to form an adequate opinion about a picture, which is as reasonable as saying that ho is qualified to judge a machine by instinct, without learning first what purpose it is intended to serve. Tho art of painting is very commonly thought to begin and end with the accurate imitative representation of things seen. A certain degree of accuracy is without doubt desirable, in spite of some revolutionary theories, but it is not the end of art. Art is essentially artificial, not using the word as meaning something unreal, but as denoting a process by which a new thing is created out of existing materials, and we must know something about that process if we are to really appreciate pictures, or music, or poetry, or any other branch of art, and a very • delightful study it is. Our natural preferences are not to be suppressed, but used as tho raw material from which taste is produced. Uncontrolled and uneducated, they leave us at a very elementary stago of comprehension, at tho mercy of limited experience. We realise what we see in terms of what wo know. Anatolo France tells of an old picturo Bfble which delighted him in very early youth, " The seventh plate represented Noah's Ark, with the animals going in two by two. The Ark in that picture was a sort of long galley surmounted by a wooden chateau with a double pent roof. It boro an exact resemblance to a Noah's Ark that had been given me for a Christmas present, all smelling of resin ; and this resemblance I looked upon as an important proof of tho truth of the Scriptures." Cultivation of Taste. We know that there are some superior beings who assert that "public taste" is a contradiction in terms; that the capacity to appreciate art is possessed by so small a minority that it will never leaven tho whole lump. These are tho people who talk about "Art for art's sake," meaning that it is self-contained, and not related to life. Nothing could be further from tho truth. Art, in the proper use of the word—meaning all tho. "fine arts " —is the supremo expression of the feelings, the emotions, and it is our feelings which bring us into effective touch with our fellow-men, and make the outer world ours. As I have said, art is found with all nations. Tho Maori had, and still has, the instinct for expression by art very highly developed. Much of his poetry is exceedingly beautiful, and his decorative art is of high quality. Every phase of nature' had for him its symbolic significance, and symbolism is the lifo of art. Tho people as a whole loved art and did high honour to the artist, which more civilised nations do not. concede to the same degree. The public taste was alive and cultivated. Wo attribute a somewhat exaggerated dignity to our civilisation. Our knowledge outstrips our wisdom becauso we apply 't too much to serve our material wants, to the neglect of our spiritual and cultural welfare. Mr. George Clausen, R.A., an artist of world-wide reputation, in a letter to the present writer said, "The trouble nowadays is that our civilisation is so fierce and so energetic that-it is in danger of devouring itself—that people get so busy about tho means of living that they haven't time to live," Our tastes are deep-rooted growths which will grow rank and unfruitful unless wo cultivate them. It is "what, wo like" thai we make the most use of; we make the best use of things we understand best. The uncontrolled and undisciplined senses produce sensuality. They crave for sensationalism, with an ever-growing exaggeration of expression. Good art abhors exaggeration, and reveals truth to us in all its beauty. It is not enough, then, "to know what we like " if wo are to get the best out of art and life. We must got to know why wo like it, and educate our' innate preferences, so that they shall reach out to tho beautiful and tho true.