•1 I LMES, PROCTOB \M> amks. 



genius we nuist attribute to tin* great artists, there is, it is believed, no 

 artist who lias intuitively recognized and depicted all the character- 

 istics above mentioned; and in spite o\' the fad thai distortion, the 



most apparent of these characteristics, has in the past been used by 



many great artists it has been recognized and used as far as the writers 

 know by hut one artist living today, i.e., Sir William Orpen. 



In fact SO little o\o we know as to what we see that the ordinary 



person, including art students and many painters, Ao not know that 

 we see clearly only those objects upon which we focus. They believe 

 that the whole oi the field of view is clear because when they are inter- 

 ested in the question of the clarity of any part o\~ it they look directly 



at it and are uneonseious of the two movement. 



Granting that it is desirable tor the painter to he able to recognize 

 and depict the character of his retinal impression it is believed that 

 there is no question hut that he can be greatly helped by an intellectual 

 know ledge of the characteristics of his retinal picture. The knowledge 

 that la- never sees the whole of tin- scene with equal clearness will, 



after he has tried a few times, awaken his consciousness to tin- fact 

 that he sees objects away from the center of focus less clearly. The 

 knowledge that the characteristic edges and shapes of those objects 

 not at tin- center of interest can he seen only if the eye is kept focused 

 on the center oi interest will enable him to see these characteristics. 

 The knowledge of distortion and the perception following therefrom 

 will cause him to become conscious o( its existence. Similarly the 

 knowledge of the characteristic chromatic edges of objects nearer and 

 farther than the focus point, of the accentuation of radial and tangen- 

 tial lines and o( the greater brightness of blue at a slight obliquity 

 w ill lead to his conscious perception of these phenomena. Apart from 

 the matter o( developing his perceptions, the knowledge of the char- 

 acteristic imaging of objects in various parts of the field of view will 

 enable him to produce an effect of depth without the use of, or to 

 supplement, the means now used. It will also enable him to produce 



a natural center o( interest. 



The objection has been raised that such an intellectual knowledge 

 would ho harmful to an artist by destroying the "innocence" of his 

 eye. That is in his knowledge o( and expectation of seeing these 

 things, he would see them where they o\o not exist, or would over- 

 accentuate them. If the eye were "innocent" in the Brst place such 

 an objection might have weight. But it is not. Take for instance 

 the matter o( the detail which we see in objects. We know that all 

 objects both those in focus and those nearer and farther are sharp and 



