Art Out-of-Doors 



ument for a rural cemetery is^ I think, a 

 natural rock or bowlder. Of course such a 

 stone might be so set that, looking out of 

 place, it would seem more artificial than a 

 carven one — there is nothing so artificial as 

 a patent affectation of simplicity. But very 

 often one may be found set by Nature m a 

 spot convenient for a grave, or may be so set 

 by man as to have a perfectly natural look ; 

 and then, with a space smoothed for the in- 

 scription but the rest of its moss-grown or 

 vine-wreathed surface left untouched, it is a 

 simple, serious, dignified, and artistic monu- 

 ment, worthy of the noblest dead. 



Too often a committee charged with the 

 erection of a civic memorial thinks it can 

 dispense with an artist's aid. Too often a 

 group or figure or architectural design (espe- 

 cially if it be for a Soldier's ^Monument) is 

 ordered as a plain block of stone might be : 

 — the commission for its material is given to 

 a stone-yard or a quarry company, and the 



art " is thrown in, some nameless and art- 

 less artisan in the company's employ being 

 bidden to produce, often in the space of a 

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