The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mind of the Artist, by Various

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Title: The Mind of the Artist
Thoughts and Sayings of Painters and Sculptors on Their Art

Author: Various

Commentator: George Clausen

Release Date: June 22, 2006 [EBook #18653]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE MIND OF THE ARTIST

[Illustration: _Rembrandt_ THE POLISH RIDER _Berlin Photographic Co_]

THOUGHTS AND SAYINGS OF PAINTERS
AND SCULPTORS ON THEIR ART

COLLECTED & ARRANGED BY
MRS. LAURENCE BINYON

WITH A PREFACE BY GEORGE CLAUSEN, R.A.

LONDON
CHATTO & WINDUS
1909

_All rights reserved_

PREFACE

It is always interesting and profitable to get the views of workmen on
their work, and on the principles which guide them in it; and in
bringing together these sayings of artists Mrs. Binyon has done a very
useful thing. A great number of opinions are presented, which, in their
points of agreement and disagreement, bring before us in the most
charming way the wide range of the artist's thought, and enable us to
realise that the work of the great ones is not founded on vague caprice
or so-called inspiration, but on sure intuitions which lead to definite
knowledge; not merely the necessary knowledge of the craftsman, which
many have possessed whose work has failed to hold the attention of the
world, but also a knowledge of nature's laws.

"The Mind of the Artist" speaks for itself, and really requires no word
of introduction. These opinions as a whole, seem to me to have a harmony
and consistency, and to announce clearly that the directing impulse must
be a desire for expression, that art is a language, and that the thing
to be said is of more importance than the manner of saying it. This
desire for expression is the driving-force of the artist; it informs,
controls, and animates his method of working; it governs the hand and
eye. That figures should give the impression of life and spontaneity,
that the sun should shine, trees move in the wind, and nature b