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Itiscertainlynottheartist'sfaultifsuchconvictionsarenolongerobvious,
andifthesymbolswhichhehasdevelopedoftenseemwantinginthepower
ofdirectcommunication.H.HarvardArnasonrecognizesthisfactwhen
hewritesthattheproblemofthecontemporarypainteristhe"creationofa
setofsymbolswhich maydevelopthesameemotionalandintellectual
appealthattheabstractsymbolsofShangandChou bronzeshavefor
Chinesecivilization."" Neithermechanistic forms norFreudian imagery
seemtohaveprovidedthesolutionsofar.
Thereisalsothedangerthatsuchamovementmayisolateitselfin
toomanyinstancesfromotherkindsofexperiences.Intheprefacetoher
autobiography,theEnglishcomposerEthelSmythwrites: "Iholdthat
thepermanentqualityofanartist'sworkdependsinsomemysticalmanner
onthegenuinenessandmultiplicityofhispointsofcontactwithlife.More
thanthisisneedful,ofcourse;thenotwhollynegligiblematteroftalent,
forinstance;alsothegiftofself-expressionandadequatetechnicalequip-
ment.Buttheindispensablefoundation...isaveryclosetouchwith
reality;atouch,moreover,thathastobeconstantlytestedandreadjusted
astheyearsrollon."Thisstatement,writtenbyamusicianaboutanart
formwhichismoreabstract,morenon-objective,thananypainting,may
applyequallywelltopictorialcomposition.
Inthefinalanalysis,weareboundtolookattheartformsofour
timesinawaywhichisdifferentfromthatweemployinstudyingworks
whichemergedfromen\ironmcnlsotherthanourown.\Vemustmeasure
themagainstthoseideaswhichpre\ailinotherphasesofouractivities,and
wcmustrealizethatartisticanalvsisisinc\itablvakindofself-scrutinv.
Finally,awordatiouttitles.\'isitors aresometimesbothered bythe
nameswhichcertainartistseitherattachordonotattachtotheirpaint-
ings.Ontheonehandthereisagrowingtendencyonthepartofpurists
whodenytheimportanceofanyoutwardlydescripti\eelementsinworksof
arttosimplynumbertheircompositions,asJamesBrooks,FritzGlarner,
AlfredRussellandanumberofothersinthisexhibitionhavedone.Here
