BOAS— PRIMITIVE ART 



what may be called the permanent characteristics of an object have 

 not by any means disappeared from modern art, and that, although 

 the conflict between the momentary visual impression and what we 

 consider the permanent form is not as fundamental as it is in many 

 forms of primitive art, its effect may be traced even into modern times. 

 It is easy to show that the absence of realistic forms in the repre- 

 sentative art of primitive tribes is not due to lack of skill. For instance, 

 in those rare cases in which it is the object of the artist to deceive by 

 the truthfulness of his representation, we find that the narrow lines 

 imposed by conventional style may be broken through. Thus the 

 wood-carvers of the North Pacific coast, who are hemmed in so rigidly 

 by the conventional style of that region, succeed in carving heads 

 remarkably true to nature, which are used in their winter ceremonies, 

 and which are intended to give the impression that a certain person 

 has been decapitated. A remarkable specimen of this kind has been 

 illustrated in the Annual Report of the United States National Mu- 

 seum for 1895 (P a l? e 5 4)- Equally convincing are some attempts of 

 these Indians to reproduce in wood-carving classical statues that have 

 been shown to them. We must rather seek for the condition of their 

 art in the depth of the feeling which demands the representation of 

 the permanent characteristics of the object in the representative 

 design. 



Columbia University 

 New York City 



[23] 



