Estelle May Hurll

“ How, then, is a work of art produced? By a mere haphazard process? Assuredly not. In the first place, the mere mechanical achievement of reproducing a drawing or painting in the form of a print is a marvel. We accept this as a matter of course, as we do all other manufactured articles. In this age of industrial miracles, we have no time to praise one above another. Behind the machinery is the artist with his simple tools, pencil, brush, and color. ”

“ Sometimes they arouse an interest in something we should not otherwise care for by investing the subject with the glamour of art. It was the peculiar charm of the seventeenth-century Dutch school to interpret homely domestic themes. These painters were wonderful realists and clever story-tellers, with good dramatic sense and much humor. Their pictures suggest to the quick imagination endless stories of everyday life—the goldsmith weighing his gold, the old market-woman haggling over her fruit and vegetables, the lady at her piano, or the cavalier with his lute. ”

“ Pictures are primarily intended for pure æsthetic joy, and it is a thousand pities to assume a didactic tone in showing them to children. Let them be, like the stories we tell, among their dearest delights. Above all things else we must avoid mechanical methods of instruction as the most deadly blight to the imagination. We cannot be too careful lest the child’s perception be dulled by prosaic influences, or his taste vitiated by unworthy material. For the imagination is the key by which we unlock the doors of beauty. ”

“ Another class of attractive child pictures emanating from the old masters is the joyous company of angels who figure so conspicuously in religious compositions. They fill the heavenly spaces with their choirs and make music before the Madonna’s throne. They sport playfully in the clouds or make themselves useful on the earth, companions and playmates of the Christ-child, or attendants upon sacred personages. And always, whether praying, adoring, singing, serving, they are the perfect embodiment of the eternal child spirit. ”

“ What will really help us to a more intelligent appreciation of a picture is to understand its structure. For every noble work of art is based on principles as well defined as the laws of nature,—principles which are common to all the branches of the fine arts: painting, sculpture, poetry, music, and architecture. It is true that in the highest creative work, the artist acts as by inspiration, without conscious analysis. But when his work is done, it is tested by its conformity to certain laws of composition. ”

“ Without setting foot out of doors we may travel all around the world in imagination by covering our walls with photographic views. Even more remarkable is the photographic work done in all the great galleries of painting and sculpture, reproducing for us the world’s masterpieces. The Greek marbles of the Vatican and the British Museum, and the works of Michelangelo, may now be as familiar to the children of America as they once were to the children of Athens and of Florence. ”

“ Technically the picture of a child is a far more difficult achievement than that of an adult. When the Italian primitives were struggling with the problems of the human figure they represented children as miniature grown-ups. The Christ-child in the arms of his mother, as old Cimabue and Giotto painted him, is a good deal like a doll. The real live baby was not born into the world of art till a much later date. Indeed, the very young baby has never been a common art subject, for the painter has naturally preferred the more attractive stages of childhood. ”

“ It is an almost cruel fact of psychology that a lack of youthful training can never be fully made up in after years. We see the inexorable law illustrated in the lives of hundreds of people about us, in manners, speech, and taste. So if children are surrounded by sentimental or meretricious pictures, they are seriously handicapped in after life in their susceptibility to noble art. On the other hand, the young mind fed only on the best pictures will by and by turn naturally to the good and reject the inferior. ”

“ We began our program by fastening to the blackboard a large photograph of the Sower, and telling the familiar but ever new story of seed-time and harvest: how the sower carries in his bag the precious grain to feed many hungry folk; how the seed falls into the ground to soften and swell and push up a tiny shoot; how the blades grow into tall, strong stalks which bear the wheat-ears; how the grain ripens and is made into flour, and finally into fragrant loaves of bread. The sower’s task is far-reaching in its results, and he regards the planting season very seriously. ”

“ To surround the child with good pictures chosen from subjects of greatest interest to him and in sufficient variety, to train his eye gradually in artistic discrimination and color feeling, to awaken his sense of joy in beauty,—this has been the burden of my little preachment. So may we wisely foster a love of art which will delight and enrich his life. The mother who has these aims in view always welcomes eagerly any helps towards carrying them out. ”

“ The child of the Chair Madonna nestles in his mother’s protecting arms, seeking shelter from danger, but the Sistine boy is like a little prince who is thinking of his people, and is setting forth to help the world. ”

“ They are consciously posing for your admiration. And as you come to look at them the second time, you see that they are not so young as they seem to be. Some of them are only make-believe little girls, with arch smiles. Even the charming maiden of the Broken Pitcher, so carefully made up with a rose in her hair and a nosegay in her corsage, is not quite convincing. While the picture has some fine qualitics, the motive lacks sincerity and spontaneity, and I for one would give a good deal more for the wistful child with the apple in the London Gallery. ”

“ Only one who has tried his own hand at it has any notion that what looks so easy is really so hard. And just as a few elementary lessons in the use of any musical instrument give the amateur some faint idea of the skill represented in a great orchestra, so the drawing lessons of the public school train the eye to discriminate between fine and faulty draughtsmanship. It is a fashion in certain social circles to frequent the haunts of artists and pick up some of the studio vernacular, but it is a question how far this goes towards raising art standards. ”

“ The Angelus, the best-known, but by no means the greatest, of Millet’s works, represents a man and woman in the field at the close of the day’s labor, bowing in prayer at the sound of the Angelus bell. When the laborers lack facial beauty, their pose is as majestic as Greek sculpture. The Man with the Hoe, notwithstanding his stupid vacant expression, has a monumental dignity and the plainfaced Milkmaid is as graceful as a caryatid. ”

“ They make the home life of historic periods more vivid to us, they teach us how the boys and girls of olden times dressed, and, most of all, they show us that child nature is the same in all ages. With what wonder and curiosity do we gaze upon the monstrous skirts, the long, stiff corsets, and the elaborate finery which burdened little royalty of long ago. ”

“ Though beauty must make its first appeal to the senses, it finds its way at last to the inner spirit, quickening the imagination, and creating a joy which is quite of its own kind. We can never draw a hard-and-fast line between the sense experience and the underlying æsthetic joy, but we come to recognize the signs of the deepening experience in our children’s maturer years. In the mean time we can hardly expect a pictured out-of-doors to produce the same effect that the world of nature does on the child. ”

“ Impressionism is not for children. At first the pictured object is not so satisfying as the real thing, because it cannot be handled. The pictured baby cannot be hugged, nor the pictured animal dragged about the nursery floor. In the course of time, however, pictures make a place of their own in the child’s affections. They are perhaps the most restful of all his playthings. Certainly they afford his most quiet amusement—much to the mother’s relief.
Next to the principle of recognition in the child’s picture experience comes the element of curiosity. ”

“ After all, what does it matter what the child likes best, pianos, pictures, or what-not, so long as it is something in this fairyland of art which will make him want to come again? That is the great desideratum. A picture gallery on a free day is a delightful resort for children. One can pick up many chance acquaintances there. The choosing game almost always meets a response. I have sometimes managed to make friends very quickly with stray young visitors by proposing that we all walk around slowly, and choose the picture we like best. ”

“ It is obvious that the art of a picture may be considered quite apart from the subject, and that we may admire the composition as such, either in color or line, whether the subject is “pretty” or not, and whether we like or dislike the theme. The word “art” is not a synonym for prettiness or sentimentality, though the popular taste so often calls for these qualities. Some of the noblest pictures contain figures which are far from “pretty” in the general acceptance of that term, like Millet’s Milkmaid, or Water Carrier, or the Man with the Iloc. ”

“ With the great portrait schools of the seventeenth century the child came into his rightful art place. From this time forward children’s pictures occupy their proper proportion in the total product of any period and school of art. But with all this abundance of material one can never choose a child’s picture at random. It is not given to all in equal measure to understand the heart of a child. ”

“ A child’s pleasure in a picture is greatly increased by the sympathetic companionship of an older person. Though his imagination is keener than his elder’s, his powers of observation are presumably less developed. His natural impatience to turn the page of a book, or hurry on to the next room of a gallery, can be restrained by pointing out the details of the composition. In forming habits of observation, the memory is trained to retain distinct images of the pictures worth knowing. It is surprising how vague our ideas are of many supposedly familiar things. ”

“ Yet all that teacher and mother can learn about the making of the picture will enable them the better to choose those pictures which will foster the child’s love of art. The critical knowledge, which increases so much our own aesthetic enjoyment, may little by little be imparted to the child as occasion offers. The more unconsciously he absorbs such instruction, the better. The art of teaching at its highest point is an art of concealing art. ”

“ He begins to realize that a landscape painter has a reason for every tree and rock in his picture. When there are figures to photograph, the arrangement of the lines, the position of the hands, the turn of the head, and the focus of the eyes are all points to notice. If the amateur is really anxious to do good work, the pictures of the masters suddenly become very interesting to him. The Raphaels, Titians, and Rembrandts, once regarded as very dull and grown-up subjects, are found worthy the study of every aspiring young photographer. ”

“ It means that in a true art composition there is a reason for everything. Not a single line or spot of color is superfluous or meaningless. Every touch contributes to the whole effect. The architect, sculptor, painter, musician, and poet shape their materials into a complete and perfect oneness—a unity. The methods of reducing variety to unity constitute the laws of composition.
To begin with, a picture contains some one feature to which all others are subordinate. ”

“ A wise mother is glad to have her child enjoy the companionship of other children. It makes for normal development that he should mingle with others of his own age in the home, in the school, and at his play. And it is simply an extension of the same principle that his first books and pictures are about children. Every little boy or girl he meets or hears about is interesting to him, and he welcomes a picture child as a new friend. Among very little ones, pictures of boys or girls are equally enjoyed, but the time soon comes when boys naturally take to their own kind and girls to theirs. ”

“ The child’s enjoyment of pictures is unhampered by any prejudices or preconceived ideas. There is a certain advantage in having nothing to unlearn. The motives which actuate the adult do not affect him at all. It means nothing to him that a picture is by Raphael or Titian, as he has never heard of these worthies. When his love of beauty is aroused, it is an unaflected joy. ”

“ If the school supply of pictures is rather limited, the enthusiastic teacher may supplement it with borrowed prints of large size from outside sources,—library collections and private houses. Who would not be glad to lend a favorite picture to a schoolroom for a week, that the picture might tell its own beautiful story to the children? So much has been said and written of late about the value of storytelling in the schools, as a means of recreation and education, that it is superfluous in this place to present any arguments in its favor. ”

“ The child need not be pretty to be interesting or attractive. Just a plain little everyday kind of girl who looks like a nice playmate, or a jolly good-natured sort of boy who is ready for any fun, makes the most delightful picture. A self-conscious, artificial child is as undesirable in a picture as in real life, and that artist is most successful whose work is most simple and natural. This is why Velasquez is so great, and Greuze often so weak, and Van Dyck so uneven. ”

“ A child’s insatiable thirst for stories is one of the demands which every mother has to meet as best she may. The story-teller’s gift is a special endowment not vouchsafed to many. The most of us have to cultivate it assiduously for the benefit of the little ones. We rack our brains for new ideas, or look through many books in search of interesting subjects. Even when we have a good story to tell, we begin haltingly, failing in the power to express ourselves fluently, and unable to produce a vivid impression. ”

“ What normal, wide-awake child enjoys sitting in a company of silent grown-ups?
Landscape art pure and simple does not interest the average child to any extent. The love of nature in early years is due in a measure to the exhilarating effect of air and sunshine, The great out-of-doors is a glorious playground in which the child delights to sport like any other healthy young animal. ”

“ One can scarcely imagine them doing anything naughty, but they are not too prim to be thoroughly childlike and lovable. Among modern painters the French Millet and the Dutch Israels seem to me the most natural and spontaneous in their delineations of children’s occupations and amusements. In fact, the doings of country children seem to make a wider appeal than city subjects. It would be foolish to insist that a child’s pictures should be only those which have stood the test of years. ”

“ As soon as the child is eapable of grasping more than one object at a time, or, in other words, of relating the various elements of a composition, he progresses from the single object, or unit, to the story picture. His pleasure is now of a higher order than mere recognition or curiosity: it is the awakening of the imagination. This faculty once aroused needs only the right touch to transport him into a paradise of joy. The good story picture is the great desideratuum. ”

“ It is better to admire the wrong thing sincerely than the right thing insincerely. As the child learns more about the principles of art and craftsmanship, the critical faculties enter into his experience and enrich his pleasure. At a certain stage of his development we can help the child to understand and appreciate how the picture is made, as I try to explain in the next chapter. The whole tale of our art enjoyment is a threefold one: the perfect picture satisfies the senses, stimulates the critical faculties, and inspires the spiritual imagination. ”

“ Here is the wizard performance by which a few dexterous strokes will transform a blank sheet into a living creature, or fill vacancy with a fairy world. Outwardly the success of his work depends upon his craftsmanship. He must be master of a thousand technical details. He must know anatomy, perspective, the values of light and shade, modeling, drawing, the mixing of colors, and whatever else has to do with the manipulation of the raw materials. Of all that makes up the so-called technique of art the ordinary layman has little inkling. ”

“ Next come the farm animals which the kindergarteners describe as the child’s friends, the hens which give him eggs to eat, and the cow which gives him milk to drink, the sheep which give their wool for his clothes, the horse which carries him to and fro, and the oxen which draw his heavy burdens. Then come the creatures of the woods, the rabbits, squirrels, fox and deer, the beasts of the jungle, the lion and the tiger, the strange creatures of polar regions and the mythical monsters of old poetry and legend. ”