The Beauty of Trees 



highly valued than any other element in 

 landscape-painting ; but it is more con- 

 spicuously true of the pictures of elder gen- 

 erations. The great classic masters of land- 

 scape — Claude, for instance, and Poussin 

 and Ruysdael, and also the great modern 

 master Corot, — give admirable lessons to 

 the student of beautiful forms ; and, fortu- 

 nately, their works can be as profitably con- 

 sulted by him in engraved reproductions 

 as on the actual canvas. Of course, they 

 should not be consulted as text-books but 

 as stimulants and explanations, as cultivators 

 of taste, as teachers of what is meant by 

 beautiful associations, by strong or graceful 

 contours, by effective or subtile contrasts 

 of light and shadow, by satisfactory con- 

 trasts of textures — by variety in unity, by 

 diversity in harmony, by dignity, breadth, 

 simplicity, repose, and charm. These are 

 the things they teach, not just what or how 

 to plant in any possible given case ; but 

 these are the things we must learn in advance 

 of any planting, if we are to make a work of 

 art of our result. 



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