THE ROYAL ACADEMY, 1946

Abstract

“CRITICS have always been people less susceptible than other men to the contagion of art. For the most part they are able writers, educated and clever, but with their capacity for being infected by art quite perverted or atrophied.” Tolstoy's diatribe against critics was inevitably brought to mind by the present Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. The first impression was disappointing, and the critic had to determine where the fault might lie. Subsequent impressions were no more favourable ; it proved distressingly easy to spot artist after artist without recourse to the catalogue. Another source of disquiet was the obvious dependence of many exhibitors on French artists of a generation or so ago. Neither of these is a healthy sign: the first indicates a tendency to fixity of style, to painting to a formula, and the second a lack of originality. It seemed likely, therefore, that there might be something wrong with the exhibits after all. Now Tolstoy propounded a muddled variant of the generally held view that the fruits of an artist's labours constitute a work of art only in so far as they convey his emotions to the spectator; he also held the opinion, more popular than ever in certain circles to-day, that “art should belong to the people”. Hence his high opinion of the untutored peasant as a judge of art. If such indeed were the case, the artistic value of “Flower Piece” by E. Wadsworth (No. 665), or of “Objects in a Scene of Devastation” by H. A. Lunn (No. 657) could not be rated very highly, for, whatever may have been the emotions of the artists as they painted, they are completely hidden from the vulgar perception. On the other hand, “Girl in Grey” by J. B. Souter (No. 454) would obviously be of higher artistic value, because a picture of a pretty girl standing with one hand resting on the mantelshelf seems to tell its own story. The falsity of this reasoning is not immediately apparent. That Mr. Souter's painting is of considerable artistic merit arises, not from the subject, but from the artist's skill in drawing and design, and from his sense of colour, and that this is the real explanation is shown by his other picture, “Wood Wind” (No. 520), in which there is no pretty girl to disturb the judgment.