PN D&ESNCA OF THE CURgaIC

eros one hears the term “‘coldly classic” used in opprobrium.
What is meant, I suppose, is imitation classic, and that is cold, because
it is dead and never was alive. But the true classic of the Greeks is
alive and vital today after more than two thousand years. The columns
of their temples spring from the ground as naturally as though the life
blood of a plant flowed through them—they are not absolutely perpen-
dicular, but have the same vitality that a good drawn line has in com-
parison with one which is ruled. The splendid marble friezes are so full
of rhythm and keen observation of shape that I only wish we had today
an equally forceful spirit. Because that is the secret-—you cannot copy
outward forms in your work and have it live.

The Greeks were a colour-loving people, though no one today
thinks so on casual acquaintance. Their marble statues were all coloured
originally—whether or not to their improvement, I cannot feel quite sure.

ere is one piece of 4th century B. C. sculpture still preserved in colour
—it is called the Tomb of Alexander (the Great) in Constantinople, and
Is said to be marvellously beautiful. Read Homer, and you will know they
were a colour-loving people—think of such a phrase as “wine dark sea.”

The Classic in art as opposed to the Romantic is taken to mean
that which is more ordered as opposed to that which is more imaginative.
It is difficult to see why the two should be opposed, because after all, to
order or select is an essential part of the artist’s work, while the original

aSssic 1s as imaginative as anything that has ever been seen.

SS AO