MANIFOLD NATURE 



ture, or a drama, or a symphony, in which all life 

 plays its part, in which all scenes and conditions, 

 all elemental processes and displays, play their part 

 and unite to make a vast artistic whole. The con- 

 tradictions in life, the high lights, the deep shadows, 

 the imperfections, the neutral spaces, are but the 

 devices of the artist to enhance the total effect of 

 his work. In ethics and religion we ask of a thing: 

 "Is it good?" In philosophy: "Is it true?" In sci- 

 ence: "Is it a fact, and verifiable?" But in art we 

 ask: "Is it beautiful?" or "Is it a real creation?" 

 " Is it one with the vital and flowing currents of the 

 world?" 



The artist alone is the creator among men; he is 

 disinterested; he has no purpose but to rival Na- 

 ture; he subordinates the parts to the whole; he il- 

 lustrates the divine law of indirections. The bald, 

 literal truth is not for him, but the illusive, the sug- 

 gestive, the ideal truth. He does not ask what life or 

 Nature are for, or are they good or bad, but he in- 

 terprets them in terms of the relation of their parts, 

 he reads them in the light of his own soul. He knows 

 there is no picture without shadows, no music with- 

 out discords, no growth without decay. The artist 

 has "no axe to grind"; to him all is right with the 

 world, however out of joint it may be in our self- 

 seeking lives. Art is synthetic, and puts a soul under 

 the ribs of Death. Science is a straight line, but Art 

 is symbolized by the curve. 



27 



