NA TURE 



389 



THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1901. 



THE GENESIS OF ART. 



The Origins of Art ; a Psychological and Sociological 

 Inquiry. By Yrjo Him. (London : Macmillan and 

 Co., Ltd., 1900.) Price loj. net. 



THE various studies usually grouped under the 

 general term of Anthropology are slowly but 

 surely extending their scope. Not very long ago art was 

 considered to be beyond the realm of science, and its 

 exposition was mainly in the hands of art-critics ; but of 

 late years scientific methods have been employed to dis- 

 cover why works of art are created and why they ase 

 enjoyed, and to trace the modifications which they have 

 undergone. Those who have paid attention to the sub- 

 ject have recognised, with Bastian, that art is a branch of 

 psychology, and Herbert Spencer and Grosse have also 

 laid stress on the immense importance of art in the 

 evolution of human societies. It is therefore with great 

 pleasure that we welcome an investigation into the 

 origins of art from a psychological and sociological point 

 of view by the learned Finnish savant. Dr. Yrjo Him. 



Even a casual glance at this clearly and brightly 

 written book will demonstrate that the author has 

 assimilated a mass of information gained from a wide 

 range of reading. A more careful perusal shows that he 

 handles his facts judiciously, and keeps himself well in 

 hand. The deductions are lucidly stated, and the 

 authority for each statement of fact is quoted ; the reader 

 has, therefore, every facility for traversing an argument 

 should it not appear at first sight to be valid. 



To those who have a fair knowledge of the culture of 

 primitive peoples the book will prove very suggestive, as 

 new light will be thrown upon many well-known facts, 

 and isolated observations will be brought into line. 



In the following summary of the main arguments of 

 the book the author's own words have been largely 

 employed, which also will assist towards giving a more 

 complete conception of the work. It is perfectly safe to 

 prophesy that this book will prove of very great value 

 not only to the student at home, but to the investigator 

 in the field. 



Despite the generally received dictum of " art for art's 

 sake" it will often be found, especially among primitive 

 folk, that some form of interest, personal, political, ethical 

 or religious, enters into what is regarded as disinterested 

 iesthetic activity. In almost every case where the orna- 

 ments of a tribe have been closely examined, it has 

 appeared that what seems to us a mere embellishment is 

 for the natives full of practical, non-oesthetic significance, 

 such as religious symbols, owners' marks, or ideograms, 

 and it is surprising what religious or magical significance 

 lies concealed behind the most apparently trivial of 

 amusements. The dances, poems, and even the forma- 

 tive arts of the lower races possess unquestionable aesthetic 

 value ; but this art has generally a utility, and is often 

 even a necessity of life. 



The play-theory of Groos, although it unquestionably 

 is explanatory of a great deal, does not account for 

 the origin of the artistic impulse. The aim of play is 

 NO. 1634, VOL. 63] 



attained when the surplus vigour is discharged, or the 

 instinct has had its momentary exercise ; but the function 

 of art is not confined to the art of production ; something 

 is made and something survives. Excitement and intense 

 delight manifest themselves in movement, dances and 

 songs which rather relieve incipient pain than express 

 pleasure, violent movement acting rather as a regulator 

 by which the organism restores itself to its natural state. 

 By the control of the bodily movements, which form its 

 simplest expression, joy may be diverted into the region 

 of thought. 



While supplying man with a means of intensifying all 

 his varied feelings, art at the same time bestows upon 

 him that inward calm in which all strong emotions find 

 their relief. It is very difficult for an individual to resist 

 the contagion of collective feeling, and all strong feelings 

 act as socialising factors. A work of art is the most 

 effective means by which the individual is enabled to 

 convey to wider and wider circles of sympathisers an 

 emotional state similar to that by which he is himself 

 dominated. 



Grosse and Wallaschek have emphasised the important 

 part rhythm has played in the struggle for existence by 

 facilitating co-operation, and the contagious power of an 

 idea is vastly increased when it is cast in rhythmical form, 

 whether it be the gymnastic dance, unmelodious music, 

 poetry, or decorative art. Later, owing to more complex 

 emotions, simple gymnastic dancing becomes pantomimic, 

 and the drama is evolved. A histrionic element also 

 manifests itself in other forms of artistic production — for 

 example, literature and the formative and decorative arts 

 of design. With the increased importance of the intel- 

 lectual elements accompanying the emotional states, 

 direct emotional suggestion appears an inadequate means 

 of communication ; and in ornament and music, as well 

 as in painting and novels, there will be found an imitation 

 of nature which serves what, in the widest use of the term, 

 may be called an epic purpose. 



In the endeavour to secure the transmission and per- 

 petuation of a feeling, the expressional activity gradually 

 loses its purely impulsive character and becomes trans- 

 formed into deliberate artistic production which is con- 

 scious alike of its aim and of the means for attaining it. 

 The more the work grows in definiteness in the thought 

 and under the hand of the artist, the more it will repress 

 and subdue the chaotic tumult of emotional excitement. 



The art impulse, in its broadest sense, must be taken as 

 an outcome of the natural tendency of every state of feeling 

 to manifest itself externally, the effect of such a mani- 

 festation being to heighten the pleasure and relieve the 

 pain. 



Various other influences hav^ all along been at work 

 which have determined the concrete forms of art. Groos 

 has rightly laid stress on the play-impulse, which has 

 been of incalculable importance in the history of art ; 

 but there are also, for example, the impulse to attract by 

 pleasing and the imitative impulse. Dramas may have 

 been composed, pictures painted, or poems made in play, 

 or out of a desire to please, or out of an inborn taste 

 for mimicry. 



Among primitive peoples, the dance, the pantomime, 

 and even ornament, have been of great importance as 

 means for the dissemination of information. Although 



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