INTRODUCTION 



natural compositions, and of the work of his fellow artists, in his own 

 field and also in architecture, painting, and the kindred arts. It is 

 plainly important that his observations should cover as great a range 

 of character and effect as possible — different countries, different periods, 

 and widely varying types of natural scenery — for these observations are 

 the raw materials from which all his designs must be made. But 

 here again, the value of his observations in his future designs will de- 

 pend almost wholly on the keenness of his analysis, and on the certainty 

 with which he determines in each case the source from which his pleas- 

 ure in the composition is derived. 



A landscape architect adopts his profession for two reasons : he Opportunitiei 

 wants to earn a living, and, properly more important, he expects to °^^ 

 enjoy doing his work. Now part of this enjoyment will be in a way 

 incidental : he will enjoy the outdoor life, the familiarity with plants 

 and other outdoor objects, the intercourse with many different people; 

 if he has executive ability, he will enjoy getting things organized and 

 accomplished, but if he is, as he should be, an artist, he will most enjoy 

 producing original and beautiful things — expressing himself by means 

 of arrangements of forms and colors in outdoor objects as the painter 

 does with oils and canvas, as the sculptor does with marble, as the writer 

 does with language. 



Another of the rewards of the landscape architect is his knowledge 

 of the pleasure and well-being which his work may bring to others.* 

 The designer of a private place, large or small, may take real satis- 

 faction in the outdoor relaxation and pleasure which he has made 

 possible for his client. The designer of a park may feel well repaid 

 by the knowledge that thousands of people are offered a means of in- 

 nocent recreation and a source of refreshment from the insistency of 

 the crowded town. The man who contributes his skill to the design 

 of a new city may properly feel that he has acquitted himself well in 

 the world, if through his efforts the life of many future generations of 

 his kind is made more healthful, more efficient, and more enjoyable. 



* Cf. the remarks on the opportunities and rewards of the profession made before 

 the American Society of Landscape Architects, by President Emeritus Charles \V. 

 Eliot, published in Landscape Architecture, Apr. 191 1, v. i, pp. 145-153, and entitled 

 Welfare and Happiness in Works of Landscape Architecture. 



