One is reminded in this connection of a story concerning Kobori-Enshiu.Enshiu was complimented by his disciples on the admirable taste he had displayed in the choice of his collection.Said they, "Each piece is such that no one could help admiring.It shows that you had better taste than had Rikiu, for his collection could only be appreciated by one beholder in a thousand." Sorrowfully Enshiu replied: "This only proves how commonplace I am.The great Rikiu dared to love only those objects which personally appealed to him, whereas I unconsciously cater to the taste of the majority.
Verily, Rikiu was one in a thousand among tea-masters."It is much to be regretted that so much of the apparent enthusiasm for art at the present day has no foundation in real feeling.In this democratic age of ours men clamour for what is popularly considered the best, regardless of their feelings.They want the costly, not the refined; the fashionable, not the beautiful.To the masses, contemplation of illustrated periodicals, the worthy product of their own industrialism, would give more digestible food for artistic enjoyment than the early Italians or the Ashikaga masters, whom they pretend to admire.The name of the artist is more important to them than the quality of the work.As a Chinese critic complained many centuries ago, "People criticise a picture by their ear."It is this lack of genuine appreciation that is responsible for the pseudo-classic horrors that to-day greet us wherever we turn.
Another common mistake is that of confusing art with archaeology.The veneration born of antiquity is one of the best traits in the human character, and fain would we have it cultivated to a greater extent.The old masters are rightly to be honoured for opening the path to future enlightenment.
The mere fact that they have passed unscathed through centuries of criticism and come down to us still covered with glory commands our respect.But we should be foolish indeed if we valued their achievement simply on the score of age.Yet we allow our historical sympathy to override our aesthetic discrimination.We offer flowers of approbation when the artist is safely laid in his grave.The nineteenth century, pregnant with the theory of evolution, has moreover created in us the habit of losing sight of the individual in the species.
A collector is anxious to acquire specimens to illustrate a period or a school, and forgets that a single masterpiece can teach us more than any number of the mediocre products of a given period or school.We classify too much and enjoy too little.
The sacrifice of the aesthetic to the so-called scientific method of exhibition has been the bane of many museums.
The claims of contemporary art cannot be ignored in any vital scheme of life.The art of to-day is that which really belongs to us: it is our own reflection.In condemning it we but condemn ourselves.We say that the present age possesses no art:--who is responsible for this? It is indeed a shame that despite all our rhapsodies about the ancients we pay so little attention to our own possibilities.Struggling artists, weary souls lingering in the shadow of cold disdain! In our self-centered century, what inspiration do we offer them? The past may well look with pity at the poverty of our civilisation;the future will laugh at the barrenness of our art.We are destroying the beautiful in life.Would that some great wizard might from the stem of society shape a mighty harp whose strings would resound to the touch of genius.
