THE ARTISTIC TEMPERAMENT AND THE ARTIST'S PROGRESS

Abstract

rT HE popular idea of the artistic temperament, an idea fostered by most of the novels that take it as their subject, is that it is a kind of freak of nature, a more or less agreeabl e monstrosity; but while it is, perhaps fortunately, of rare occurrence in any family circle, it seems to be a perfectly natural and normal thing, which may be analysed with some benefit to the possessor or his friends. To be sure, it is impossible to detect its presence either at birth or during childhood; but many parents and guardians, when it begins to manifest itself, seem to lose their heads altogether, and to distract themselves with problems as to the treatment of the genius who has come so inopportunely into their midst. It is not really a calamity; but it is a good thing that it is not an everyday occurance for a genius to arrive in any ordinary family, and indeed, if it were so, the contemplation of a regular routine for its proper development, undertaken according to rules, would not be a very edifying one. We might suppose that a regimen of scales and hair-oil would be prescribed as the most practical preparation for the career of an infant prodigy; but the whole idea of such deliberate processes is repugnant to most people. No doubt in some families where one of the parents has shown outstanding artistic ability, there is a tendency to treat the children as if they were certain also to attain eminence in art. The artistic temperament is a most perverse thing, for it most seldom descends from parent to child without some change of kind; there are exceptional cases, like the family of the Bachs, for example, but it is far more common to find that where it is hereditary, the child is apt to show a preference for some other art than that in which his parents have achieved success. A painter's son will often turn into a musician, or a poet's into a painter, and these parents find themselves in the same quandary with the more commonplace parents who are faced with the difficulty I have alluded to. To regard the temperament as abnormal, and to treat its owner as set apart from the rest of mankind, is to do great harm to a child, and not a little to the character of those who have to meet