SUNDAY MAGAZINE
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1923.
The Realm of the Fantastic
LL art must produce emo- hHALSEY DAVIDSON{be a short sketch of Beardsley as seen
tion. A creation that by a contemporary and a friend, Ar-
does not produce emo- thur Symons. Beardsley, he said, was
tion is ot' rt,'and the one who. 'had the fatal speed of those
depth of the emotion who are to die young, that disquiet-
that is inspired- within ing completeness and extent,of knowl-
us by a work of art is edge, that absorption of a lifetime in
a measure of its worth. an hour, which we find in those wl1o
The assumption I have hasten to have their work before
made is, of course, the time-honored noon, knowing they will not see the
one of the freedom of the intellect. evening." In spite of his precocity,
Every man has a right to his own i I ay call it that, Beardsley was
belief This is especially true where "very, coldly impartial," he possessed
srt is concerned and it is also espec "an astonishing tranquility of nerves."
sally practical in those magic realms The world thought he had assumed a
where the individual is supreme. pose and he had, uit it was the pose
Critics are worth while only so far a Pierof, underneath it were work-
as their reactions are interesting and 'In stsrng eamotions that his domino'
true only so far as they are true to nd paint intensified. As an artist h
themselves., The true critic is just was ,highty original. He set a goal
as much of a creator as the artist andto vast ost of imitators. It is in-
only parasitical in a certain sense, foi terestiig. tp know that le wanted to
the artist creates from the materials be a writ e and published a few frag-
about him just as the critic creates iuets of an astonishing parody on
fronthe material the artist has given the Venus and .Tannhauser story. He
,him, also wrote a few poems which were
Since I am to play the role of a achievements of sheer will power. He
was in ill-health all his life and died
critic here I wish to explain my ideas at an early age, twenty-six I believe.
of a critic. I have started; let ie go Such was the man,-a short, clear
little fsrinhr. I may read a man's flash of lightning.
ectimsate of a book or a painting or a Beardsley's drawings express very
rair of acdirons nerely because it is definite emotions or, perhaps I had
interesting or inspiring to do so. It batter say, call up in me very pro-
is furthest fror my truest ideals to j found emotions. They are mere line
accept that man's ideas as my own. drawings, fantastically conceived and
He may point out thiigs I have missed brilliantly designed of course, but the
but I will not accept his judgment of lines have meaning, they are beauti-
thse things, I cannot even accept fully certain in their intent. 3Beards-
his statement as to their existence.: ley has had to be very perfect, ex-
I must discover and judge for myself. Itremely precise, because of his me.
In doing this I quarrel with no one, dium. He cannot more than outline,
least of all the critics. All disputes and what a wonderul outline he has
are the ill-bred offspring of narrow made! His medium is limited but
mindedness and are wortly of no Beardsley has made a glory of this
man's attention. I have no right tc Isame limitation.
force my opinion on 'anyone and I' * *
maintain my right to my own opinions. THE DANCER'S REWARD 'Beardsley is obsessed with beauty
Everything, it seems to me, is a mat- From Salome " but it is the beauty of air, a diabolic-
ter of personal opinion or individual; force my reactions on anyone. What son of Beardsley to those who may ally perfect beauty that exhausts hu-
reaction. Art, because it expresses in I shall say is worth while only so far not be acquainted with him. AsI man emotions, that can never find its
an epigram as it were, this opinion as it is interesting, for itself alone said, I am only concerned with my re- counterpart in nature. It is an ideal,
or reaction, is highly individual and and not as an interpretation of Au- action to his art. But I have the -a perfected ideal if you will, though
highly subjective and must be viewed brey. Beardsley. solicitous care of an offspring for I insist the contrary. It soars as high
as such. * *y'as the loftiest visions of good and is
No two people ever see the same I do not wish to give a false impres- antidote for the poison to follow would far nearer to good than mere indiffer-
thing. . We are, to a great extent at ence. Artists before Beardsley and
least, the product of very exclusive after him have striven for the same
environments. This means that con-(goal but they have been unsuccess-
cept are built from different ma- ful inclarifying their aim. Today
TT A arfbil fomdUTeen 1-1 we have Wallace Smith and Alan Odl
terials. These concepts are influenced fhH(elstrugglingalong the road Beardley
by certain inherent tendencies in the i V Ia T r i io n strdgwits ase. Ther Bemrdsy
individual and are tiased to the ex- trod with such ease. Their emotions
IIindividual r biased. Whee- are wild and struggling, crudely inco-
tent the individual is biased. When4
look at a certain book I do not see that Iherent, as compared with Beastisley's
look a aicerali bkI drathsetastmyclear, definite conception. He is so
book as it really is but rather pla NEWELL BEBOUT lain and yet so full of intense feel-
haveing, that the point he makes is easily
certain emotions on looking at a booki HEN Thales, the Holy Koran which exists in fact in g that the int maes is easi ymissed
of one kind that I probably would not first Greek philos- Heaven, he begins: "Praise be to God, Beads
have in looking at another sort of opher, was asked the Lord of all creatures, the most Beardsley's evil is not that full,
volume. Neither of these emotions y dk warm sensuous passion we generally
are the same as those that would be "Howmaby a riend of his: ameriful,the king of the ay o judg- call evil. It is a thing far abve that,
produced in other persons viewing the - most easily endure ahead. His inspiration arose out of a thing that inocks its followers fronn
mosteasly endue aead Hisinsiraion ros ou ofa lofty unattainable height. ft can
same books. A thing is very real to misfortune?"l he re- his fear of hell, and out of his con- be sardonic, it can be infnitely crue
me that creates no feeling in another plied: "If he sees his enemies more cern for those who not believing in u from ni itece bu itfis that onl
because that thing Provokes more of unfortunate still." This principle of the one God, would be doomed to ever- nosy tho
my emotions. revenge is largely at the basis of the lasting perdition. The Moslem hell, ino those who so look at it. It is so
y atthebass o the g prdiion TheMosem ell insuperior as "to e unconscious of the
Art, as I said, must provoke enmotion. j Mohammedan hell. The doctrine of fact, was the very starting point Of s
The emotion may be weak, it may be hell-fire has always been used for two the religion. The avoidance of it from nmist that evaporates with the sun,
strong but indefinite, it may be over- purposes: to frighten people into vir- first to last is the mainspring of its he s.rngd an vewhem Ta
powering but incomprehensible or it tue, and to give cruel satisfaction to morality. Consetently a study of a spring day can overwhelm. This
may be sharp and clear. Our emo- those who wish to imagine their op- the hell-ldea is relevant to a just esti-s
Ar!ei euy is a fundamental thing, solIe sr ut srng hti pooe odr
tional response to a work of art varies ponents tortured. Mohammed appro- mation of Islam. strange that it provokes wonder, her.
f ror, fear, and (from the stauncher)
with the amount of emotion we are "priatedthe doctrine to his cause for The important thing to recognize admiration. We can understand it
capable of as well as with the peculiar both reasons. in discussing the judgment-day, how- # (Continued on Page Four)
background we bring to the thing.
In the very first Sura of the Koran, ever, is that in the old days everybody
So in speaking of Aubrey Beards- when the prophet asserted his mission expected it to be very near at hand. The picture reproduced on this
leys drawings and of the emotions on earth by transcribing into human Many persons assumed tilat the3 ' page is from the Modern Library Ed-
h ey arouse in me I do not wish to terms what he saw written in the (Continued from I'ge oe) ition of Aubrey Beardsley's Drawings.