Art Out-of- Doors 



trast with its neighbors is appraised, and 

 gradually we learn the laws upon which 

 harmonies and discords depend, and realize 

 what elements unite, and how they unite, 

 to produce those different kinds of beauty 

 which we call serious or pictureso^ue, digni- 

 fied or lovely, delicate or effective. And 

 then we are ready to use this developed 

 taste in looking at the pictures wherein man 

 has assisted Nature. 



Sterling's words are as true of this as of 

 any other department of intellectual effort : 

 ^- Will is the root, knowledge the stem and 

 leaves, and feeling the flower." A keen, 

 sensitive, catholic and yet reasoning feeling 

 for works of art must be developed if we are 

 to comprehend and enjoy them fully. The 

 first step toward understanding the beauty 

 produced by an artistic re-uniting of Nat- 

 ure's ^'scattered excellences," is to gain ac- 

 quaintance with these excellences ] and the 

 first step toward doing this is to unseal our 

 eyes by lea^rning all that we can from books 

 and pictures, from science and art. 



Few people in America, even among 

 those who profess to love both Nature 



352 



