Anyhow, If There Be An Uglier One,
I Hope I Am Feeling Well And Strong When I First Catch Sight Of It.
As for pictures and sculptures, I am thoroughly tired of them.
The
greatest art critic living could not dislike pictures and sculptures
more than I do at this moment. We began by spending a whole morning
in each gallery. We examined each picture critically, and argued
with each other about its "form" and "colour" and "treatment" and
"perspective" and "texture" and "atmosphere." I generally said it
was flat, and B. that it was out of drawing. A stranger overhearing
our discussions would have imagined that we knew something about
painting. We would stand in front of a canvas for ten minutes,
drinking it in. We would walk round it, so as to get the proper
light upon it and to better realise the artist's aim. We would back
away from it on to the toes of the people behind, until we reached
the correct "distance," and then sit down and shade our eyes, and
criticise it from there; and then we would go up and put our noses
against it, and examine the workmanship in detail.
This is how we used to look at pictures in the early stages of our
Munich art studies. Now we use picture galleries to practise spurts
in.
I did a hundred yards this morning through the old Pantechnicon in
twenty-two and a half seconds, which, for fair heel-and-toe walking,
I consider very creditable.
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