The Democracy of Art

Author(s): Charles L. Hutchinson

Source: The American Magazine of Art, Vol. 7, No. 10 (Aug., 1916), pp. 397-400
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20559499
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 THE DEMOCRACY OF ART 397
than the material things of life signify,
forand
"man to live by bread alone." It is
that in the truest sense it is impossible
in this spirit that this Museum has had its
even in this so-called materialistic age
inception.

THE DEMOCRACY OF ART*

BY CHARLES L. HUTCHINSON
President of the Art Institute of Chicago
First Vice-President of the American Federation of Arts

IT IS my privilege and my pleasure to moving the question mark. One could

bring greetings and congratulations
from the Trustees of The Art Institute of
Chicago to the Trustees of the Cleveland
Museum of Art. We rejoice with you in
the dedication of this beautiful building.
The citizens of Cleveland may well be
proud of what you have accomplished, for
this temple dedicated to the fine Arts will
bring beauty and inspiration into their
lives. We would express also our apprecia
tion of the munificence of John Huntington
and Horace Kelley, to whom not only you
but all the citizens of our country are in
debted.
Many may wonder why I have chosen a
subject so old and trite as the Democracy
of Art. It is almost as hackneyed as the
word Art itself. What word of the English
language has been more often misused and
so much abused. Think of the crimes
committed in its name. This of all that we
have been called upon to accept as master
pieces of Art. Surely Art has been used
as a cloak to cover a multitude of sins.
Her devotees, wise and unwise, have
preached her doctrines so incessantly of
late years that we are often weary of them
and the cause they represent. But until
the mission of Art is more widely understood
there will be need of much preaching.
This preaching should emphasize the
democratic nature of Art and set forth the
great value of Art as a vital factor in the
everyday life of the materialistic age in
which we live.
There are many definitions of the word
Art. No universally accepted definition
of the word has yet been found. Tolstoi
has written a full volume in answer to the
question, "'What is Art?" without re
*An Address delivered at the opening of the Cleveland Museum, June 6, 1916.
consume an entire evening in quoting the
various definitions of the word. Many of
them are very amusing. Perhaps that of
Mr. Gookin is the best one yet presented to
us-" Art is the coordinating intelligence
and skill which man exercises in creating
beautiful things."
Originally the word Art included almost
every form of human endeavor. As late
as the Italian Renaissance, no distinction
was made between Art and Craft, every
craftsman was an artist in his degree, and
every artist was a craftsman of a superior
sort. This was true of Donatello, Verroc
chio, Leonardo, Raphael, Michael Angelo,
Titian and Paul Veronese in the south, as
well as of Van Eyck, Memling, Durer,
Holbein, Rubens in the north. They were
all workmen skilled in form and color.
Now we make a distinction between the
useful and the fine arts. At the present
time when we use the word Art it is
generally understood that we refer to paint
ing, sculpture or architecture. This
limited use of the word is unfortunate, since
it has in a large measure led unthinking
people to look upon Art as something apart
from daily life. Nothing is more untrue
than this assumption. Art is not destined
for a small and privileged class. Art is
democratic. It is of the people and for
the people. The basis of all great Art is
human nature, and this fact is its one per
manent element.
As industry takes the raw material of
wood, and coal, and iron, and shapes them
into the necessities and comforts of life,
so Art takes the raw material of leisure,
ambition, and desire, and creates with them
forces for the refinement of living.

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 398 THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE OF ART

Christian
It is a privilege to work for a good cause, nation on the face of
and every good cause can only be kepttoday. alive
There are in many countr
by constant effort. It is the perpetual
Christian people, enough to keep
effort of true men and good women fromthatgoing to rack and ruin, but
keeps alive in the world thoseaseternal a whole is very far from Chr
things which make the world fit for great city of Chicago, where it i
human
ity. Therefore be patient with those lege who
and pleasure to live and wor
seem to be harping on any wornmoral subject,
city-far from it; but all it
even though it be one so old as that areof not
Art. bad. There are many
Art has had its mission in. the lifeamong them with lofty ideals an
of every
people. Indeed in many cases the nessArt toof devote
a time and energy to
nation is its only surviving record.
good.Art
It is they who keep the c
still has its mission. It has not utter
been ful
degradation. So also in the
Art. There
filled, and there is need to emphasize the is no nation of today
truly
value of its influence upon daily life, artistic.
for a Art must still be
great many of our people still lookby the the
upon few who appreciate its valu
world of Art as something outside What an opportunity then is o
the pale
of ordinary life. They look upon ArtArt
every as Museum to minister in
way not
the pastime of the idle or the plaything ofonly to the enjoyment of
the dreamer. Nothing is morebut untrue.
to the uplifting of the life o
One cannot maintain the theory munity.
that Art
Art for
belongs only to the powerful and the art's sake is a selfish and erroneous
rich.
It exists for the common heartdoctrine,
and for unworthy those who present it.
ordinary culture. While one can assert
Art for humanity and a service of Art for
those who live and work and strive in a
that the Fine Arts are truly intellectual
amusements, he can with equal humdrum
assurance world is the true doctrine and
the one that
declare that they minister to the pleasure of every Art Museum should
the masses as well. There is ancherish.
infinite
The
relation between the highest and the value of an Art Institute should be
lowest
in life. In the humblest walks ofmeasured by the service it renders to the
life you
community
will find the most conspicuous examples ofin which it stands. The prin
cipalafunction
virtue. There also you may find true of an Art museum is the
appreciation of Art. The sense ofcultivation
beauty is and appreciation of the beauti
present everywhere. The sense of ful. The Trustees
beauty is of our Art Museums are
a means of happiness. There isalivenothing
to the fact that in the advancement of
more closely allied than beauty the
and art. of the present age, no agency
civilization
It is not the sole mission of Art tosave that ofor
amuse commerce can be more potent
to furnish moral instruction. than
Thethat of Art. Art is a luxury for the
true
rich,
mission of Art, as Hagel says, is to but a necessity for the poor. The
discover
and present the ideal. Trustees of our Art Museums appreciate
There is need at the present time as never
in thebefore the great educational possi
world of scholarship and religion,bilities
as wellof the
as Museum, and are endeavoring
through
in that of politics and business, of it to diffuse information about Art
exalting
the value of our ideals. May we notand lay
to develop
the a just apprecaition of Art
terrible war now raging in Europeamongtothethemasses. The introduction of
fact that the world has grown this
rich educational
and feature into the adminis
trationrapid
strong in material things at a very of our Museums is the most sig
pace during the last generation, nificant
while factits in the progress of the Fine
advance in morals has not kept Arts
paceinwith
recent years. The Art Museum
its material growth? In the lightof theof
past has been set aside. It has been
all
that has occurred in Europe duringtransformed
the past from a cemetery of bric-a-brac
to a pride
two years, what shall we say of our museum of living thought. The
Museum of today is democratic in the best
in the civilization of the nineteenthcentury?
What shall we say of our so-called sense of the word. It has adopted the
Christian
nations? As a matter of fact theremotto is
of the
noAmerican Museum of Natural

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 THE DEMOCRACY OF ART 399
History of New York-" For the architecture,
People, in terms understood by all.
for Education, for Science." The As
Museum
Kenyon Cox has said-perhaps the
of the future will stand side by side greatest
with thedistinction between modern Art
Laboratory and Library. It will
and thatco
of the past lies in the fact that the
operate with Library and School Art
as one ofpast was produced for a public
of the
the principal agencies for the enlighten
that wanted it, and understood it, by
ment of mankind. It will be a source of understood and sympathized
artists who
inspiration, a means of happiness,
witha their
vitalpublic. The Art of our time has
factor in the everyday life of the com
been for the most part produced for a public
munity. that did not want it, and misunderstood it,
Man is still led by an inner light. The by artists who dislike the public for which
ideals, the moral convictions, and the vital they work.
principles of a people are the most im The great artists of the past were ap
portant factors in its history. We are preciated in their time. As a matter of
governed by our ideals. It is the function fact with the exception of Rembrandt you
of Art to present the ideal. will scarcely find an unappreciated genius
The secret of the greatness of the Art of in the history of Art until the nineteenth
the Italian Renaissance is to be found in century. The great masters of the Renais
the fact that it was the ideal realization of sance from Giotto to Veronese were duly
Italian reality. Beauty has been and is honored in their day and generation.
still everywhere present. Its standards The great artists of the Italian Renais
vary from time to time, and from age to sance were great men, good citizens, in
age, but there is no people civilized or terested in the affairs of the community
uncivilized but has its standard of beauty. in which they lived. In these days we
The sense of beauty is a means of happiness. would speak of them as men of affairs, as
If we wish to increase the happiness of well as painters, sculptors, and architects.
future generations, we can do nothing They did not set their Art upon a pedestal
better than to foster a love for the beautiful where few could see it, and where those who
among the children of the present time. did got but a distorted view of it. They
We can do nothing better for our youth than placed their Art upon the ground where
to stimulate its imagination, for without children could look and gaze at it, and by it
imagination there can be no advance in the be inspired. They realized that there are
civilization of the world. many artists in the world who can not
Artists themselves often fail to appreciate paint or carve, or build, many who have
the democracy of Art. Many of them look artistic sense and taste, who can not create.
upon themselves as members of a privileged They appreciated the fact that no good
class, exempt from all the rules that govern thing can be made too common. Many
society. They live in a world apart from artists of today complain of lack of sym
the life about them and complain of the pathy on the part of the public. There is
lack of appreciation accorded to them. ground for their complaint. It lies partly
They forget that the greatest Art of every in the condition of modern life, and partly
age has been that which has been inspired in the state in which Art finds itself at the
by the common life of the time; that which present time. In modern life leisure no
has expressed the aspirations of the com longer exists. Contemplation is almost a
mon people. Phidias did not create Greek lost faculty. Novelty-that which is sensa
art. On the contrary he was the product tional is demanded. Nothing else attracts
of his time. The great Italian masters attention. Legitimate Art does not court
were those who best expressed the life of novelty or sensation. Therefore it often
the fifteenth century in Italy; the ideals fails to receive due consideration. On the
of the people of their time. The people other hand there are influences at work
easily recognized these matters in their in the realm of Art which tend to alienate
day, for they were those like Verrocchio, the people. Tendencies toward the il
Donatello, Raphael and Michael Angelo, legitimate and the insincere. The public
who could best express the life and the hope has been taught for centuries the language
of the time in painting, sculpture and of the great masters of the past, and it is

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 400 THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE OF ART

slow to recognize new forms of expression

Let us not forget that although the w
even though they may be good. It may is constill be called vulgar. men admir
founded by the work of many ignorant chaste and the refined. Do not lose
of the refining power of the beautif
and self-interested men who seek to exploit
themselves and their Art by presuming not forget that the love of beauty is
to follow in the footsteps of talentedpresent
and everywhere. Emerson spoke
competent artists who are sincerely truthex when he said, "Truth, Beauty
Goodness are but different expression
perimenting in the craft of their profession.
theofsame
Even the sincere artist is often forgetful All." Let us dedicate
the public in the pursuit of technique in
Museums not to Art, but to the servi
color and in light. His ignorant followers
humanity. Let us be free with the wo
ourour
lacking genius, talent or industry fill hands as is the Supreme Master A
galleries with ugly creations andwho
claim
hath created the beauty of the hea
approval solely on the ground of newness
the land and the seas, and all that there
andthe
and originality-forgetting or ignoring given to all men for their us
fundamental traditions of all greathappiness.
Art. May these Museums re
Let us go on our way uninfluenced by to those who enter their portals
those
who find nothing good in the art of theuniversal
beauty of all about us,
past.
Out of all discussion pro and coninspire
will them in the Art of all Arts
Art of living.
come some values worthy of recognition.
The glory of the early morning, the
Some old rules will be more firmly estab
lished. There are as many different splendor
modes of the setting sun, the beauty of
of expression in painting as there the
areearth
in clad in the garment of spring
literature. There is no one supreme or bathed in the sunshine of June, will
master in painting. There are many. never be out of date. They are works of
In every age of Art, painting has Art
beencreated
a by the Supreme Master. No
more of
sufficient medium for the expression will a great work of Art coming from
men's minds. There is no great artthe hand of man ever become common
with
out great men. When we have great place
menor obsolete if it be grounded in
we have great Art. The great artist universal
never fact and expressed in a universal
ignores the public. language.

THE LOVE OF ART

BY ERWIN F. SMITH

When Michael Angelo his David carved,

He took from choice a stone rejected thrice
By lesser men; when aged Rembrandt starved,
He painted canvases beyond all price;
Which proves the common man not master-wise.
Indeed, how should he hear the higher voice,
Whose throat is overfull of specious lies?
But those who walk in Art's highway, from choice,
They breathe a purer air than ever blows
O'er common ways; and comradeship if rare
Is rich beyond compare, and fairer grows
With lapse of years. Up rugged steeps and bare
The pathway leads, but he who climbeth knows
The prospect grows at every turn more fair!

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