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312 THE CUI BONO OF SCHOOLS OP ART FOB W...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
.+ . In Attempting 1 To Answer Tlie Comm...
Schools of Art , or more properly speaking , of Art as applied to Design , have two objects mainly in view . First—to raise and
extend the intellectual culture of the students . Secondly—to offer ways and means for the remunerative exercise of their artistic talent .
We have placed these two aims designedly in the order in which they standbecause the" first appears to us to be "b y far the more
, important ; though the second is generally allowed the precedence . A few words will suffice to show in what manner this latter
object is sought to be attained . The great desideratum is , to give the students such a comprehensive artistic trainingat comparatively
small expense , as shall enable them to carry out , the principles of Art into the varied branches of ornamental design . For this purpose ,
the preliminary course of study consists of the usual elements of an artist ' s education ; viz . free-hand drawing and rigid outlining of
, ornament and figure from the flat and the round ; the study of light and shade ; painting in water-coloursin oil and in tempera
from all kinds of natural objects ; and the stud , y of perspective and , practical geometry .
Then comes the distinctive education of the school , which embraces instruction in lithography , wood-engraving , painting on porcelain ,
and modelling in clay ; in the theory of colour ; and the elements of botany , meaning by thatnot the mere ability to classify plants
but the careful study of their , anatomical structure and laws of , growth .
The students are then taught the rules of constructive Art , or the way in which Nature ' s forms can be adapted to conventional uses .
They are taught that the designer is not merely an imitator , but an adapter ; that their duty is to find out the principles on which Nature
adjusts her lines and applies her tints , and then , as far as lies in their power , to carry out those principles in the wide field of
conventional ornamentation . And in order to do this , they must become familiar with the special limitations of the several branches of
design . Whether it be the manufacture of textile fabrics , or the working of china and glassor mural decorationeach
department has its separate conditions , , which must ; be understood , and complied with , ere the genius of the artist can be brought to bear
upon it . And added to , or rather carried on simultaneously with , all these studies , is the study of the history of Art . The students
are taught to trace the transmigrations of Art ; to distinguish the various features and characteristics of Egyptian , Grecian , Roman ,
Early Byzantine , Christian and Gothic Art : to note the time of its decay and of its revivaland to observe how each varying phase of Art
is the exponent , more or , less , of the time and place to which it belongs , and how the social , political and religious elements of the period act
upon , and are in their turn influenced by , the artistic development . Having thus carefully trained the studentsthe managers of
these schools hope , and surely not unreasonably , that , manufacturers ,
and others who are interested in the diffusion of right principles
312 The Cui Bono Of Schools Op Art Fob W...
312 THE CUI BONO OF SCHOOLS OP ART FOB WOMEN .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Jan. 1, 1863, page 312, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01011863/page/24/
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