THE DECAY OF THE ARTS.

Waikato Times, Volume 117, Issue 18589, 30 May 1935, Page 9

THE DECAY OF THE ARTS.

1 ' ■••, I ‘ \ (To the Editor.) Sir, —The pressure of industry, the ! standardisation of our products, the i speed and efficiency of modern civilisa--1 lion have produced a direct inlluence , upon the fine arts. Drab surroundt ings produce drab lives;, soulless and f monotonous work, produces soulleSs [, men and women ■, s I We deplore cheap and nasty goods, j 1 we deplore the humdrum of work, _ j and the soul of the artist cries out ! for beautiful craftsmanship and in- ' spired works of painting or music. r Before we can regain the lost arts and , crafts two changes must be made. We must create a leisure time where1. in we may develop a taste for fine things; and, secondly,; the creation of the means to buy them ’ At least as. much security and i leisure and empayment as we possessod in, say, the Middle Ages, must ■I he restored to us before the spirit 1 j within us can express , -through, - the i work of our hands j anything either I noble or-valuable—say-the-equivalent of a Gothic cathedral.. It is only upon a system based upon-the -principle's i that Napoleon laid down for- France i.i that “every artisan shall become an I I artist.” , Leisure lime is neither idle- , I ness nor laziness, but an opportunity, | given by the Creator and to be used by j; man, of applying himself to work that !’j Is not less arduous because it is under'j- taken voluntarily .and self-imposed. That, we should be occupied, not en- ' slaved, by useful work is an end devoutly to bo desired, so. that those ’ finer qualities of-humanity may be ; developed.—l am, eto., i ■. i . I ARTIST, i Hamilton, May 28, 1935. i ! ..