Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1890 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XIII. ART, MORALS, AND SCIENCE. It is indispensable to a clear comprehension of the theory of art that we keep before us the truth, already fully developed in earlier pages, that essentially all art is creation. This is as true of what is termed reproductive or imitative art as it is of any other. A work of art is a product of the constructive power of the human mind, introduced as a new thing into the objective world. As such it is something done in realization of an ideal. In appreciating the work it is necessary for the observer to understand to some degree the ideal. He must be able to see what the artist had in mind in order to judge of the resultant product. If, then, it be well done, according to an ideal apprehended by the criticising mind, there is certainly aroused an aesthetic pleasure, greater or less according to the degree of excellence. This last may depend upon a variety of causes, in all of which, however, the difficulty of the achievement is an important element. That which the most of men cannot do elicits admiration; much more that which artists generally are unable to achieve. The reader will remember the remark of Arreat, before quoted, to the effect that the true aesthetic idea in work is that of difficulty conquered, and which seems to have been conquered freely, or for the sake of the conquest. Wherever this appears an aesthetic emotion is produced, independently of the subject-matter of the work itself. We say: Here is a fine thing, showing great power and genius. It is quite true, therefore, that an artistic creation may give pleasure in itself, because it is aesthetic, irrespective of any scientific or moral value. In order, however, to get at the bottom of the matter, the question must be asked: What...
