KERAMIC STUDIO 
79 
gerations, both of color and form, but the 
wickedest of all is the common-place. To 
sum up : we are to look and work for beauty 
of line, of color, of dark and light, and all 
else will be added unto us. 
[Quoted I 
letter of Miss Elizabeth Mason, 
New York.] 
I had the pleasure once last winter of 
hearing a talk given by Mr. Fellosa, the 
Curator of the Boston Museum, who, by 
several years residence in Japan, has famil- 
iarized himself to a wonderful extent with 
the methods and principles of Japanese Art. 
With these as a basis he has been able to 
formulate rules or methods for the teaching 
and criticising of art. 
It is this new method that Mr. Dow, 
who was for some time his assistant, and 
who became imbued with Mr. Fellosa's ideas, is applying in 
all his classes. Since this method originated really with the 
study of Japanese art, it is often designated as the Japanese 
method. This is quite erroneous, for as Mr. Fellosa explained, 
while he deduced his principles from Japanese works of art 
and often referred to these same works in demonstrating certain 
points, it was because 
MARSHAL FRY. 
in these Japanese 
things we have the 
simplest and clearest 
exposition of these 
rules. However, the 
value of them lies in 
the fact that they are 
universal and that 
they are quite as 
applicable to the art 
of any period or 
people as to the Japanese. He thinks that while the 
Italian Masters most probably did not study Japanese 
prints, etc., they were governed by exactly the same rules, 
MAUD MASON. 
with the mark of the potter's thumb, but while the lines were 
not painfully exact, their beauty was never destroyed. He 
considered that the charm of these little jars lay in their 
irregularity and uniqueness, the personality and freedom of 
the artist who fashioned them showing in every line and 
feature. Mr. Dow also spoke of the making beautiful of the 
ordinary utensils of 
daily life, referring es- 
pecially to the charm 
of the old iron kettles 
of the Japanese, and 
by contrast pointing 
to the commonplace 
tea kettles of to-day, 
turned out by the 
thousands without a 
touch of individu- 
ality. 
Referring to the studying of Oriental methods of decora- 
tion, he remarked on the desirability of studying from the 
objects themselves, as even the best colored reproductions in 
books are imperfect and inexact and lose their individuality the only difference being that they presented in a complex 
in the reproduction. Mr. Dow wishes to bring every one into a way what the Japanese did in a simple way. 
mental attitude wherein one picks out only the beautiful and ELIZABETH MASON. 
ignores the bad. He thinks in this way we will grow to see We would add that Mr. Dow in becoming an exponent 
only the beautiful. There is a great moral sermon 
in this as well. Why not? Is not true Art and — — — ^ — — — ■ ^— — — \ 
Religion one? And why " true Art ? " All Art is 
true : anything else is not Art. To gain the ability 
to discriminate between the true and the false in 
art, to feel and know beauty, to recognize and ap- 
preciate fine art, in fact, is the end and aim of all 
our work and study. Each has this instinct within, 
unless perverted, and it can be brought back like 
the prodigal son. This knowledge is power, not 
only in our own work, but in helping others to an 
appreciation of the genuinely artistic. Especially 
in the crafts, such as pottery, weaving, etc., is this 
knowledge needed, and the public generally should 
be educated to know what makes a thing good or 
bad, artistically considered. 
The great thing to learn is the beauty of sim- 
plicity, and the avoidance of the common-place, and 
what Mr. Dow terms the wicked, by which we con- •^^^■■■^^^■B 
ceive him to mean all violent colors, all lying exag- marshal fry. 
