Science and Art 117 



the same as in most of my problems in morphology that 

 you have the theme in one of the old master's works fol- 

 lowed out in all its endless variations, always appearing 

 and always reminding you of unity in variety. So in paint- 

 ing; what is called "truth to nature" is the intellectual 5 

 element coming in, and truth to nature depends entirely 

 upon the intellectual culture of the person to whom art 

 is addressed. If you are in Australia, you may get credit 

 for being a good artist I mean among the natives if you 

 draw a kangaroo after a fashion. But, among men of 10 

 higher civilization, the intellectual knowledge we possess 

 brings its criticism into our appreciation of works of art, 

 and we are obliged to satisfy it, as well as the mere sense 

 of beauty in color and in outline. And so, the higher the 

 culture and information of those whom art addresses, the 15 

 more exact and precise must be what we call its " truth to 

 nature." 



If we turn to literature, the same thing is true, and you 

 find works of literature which may be said to be pure art. 

 A little song of Shakespeare or of Goethe is pure art ; it is 20 

 exquisitely beautiful, although its intellectual content may 

 be nothing. A series of pictures is made to pass before 

 your mind by the meaning of words, and the effect is a 

 melody of ideas. Nevertheless, the great mass of the 

 literature we esteem is valued, not merely because of hav- 25 

 ing artistic form, but because of its -intellectual content; 

 and the value is the higher the more precise, distinct, and 

 true is that intellectual content. And, if you will let me 

 for a moment speak of the very highest forms of literature, 

 do we not regard them as highest simply because the 30 

 more we know the truer they seem, and the more com- 

 petent we are to appreciate beauty the more beautiful 

 they are? No man ever understands Shakespeare until he 

 is old, though the youngest may admire him, the reason 



