The sculptor who would express heroism in a monument or pathos in a tomb, the delighted glee of a child, or the tenderness of a mother, or a blending of all these things and thousands of others must take the soul of his work from the observations of these actual elements in the faces and bodily movements of those about him. If he wishes to make his work understandable and moving he cannot impose upon it so much of his own secret personal language that it can only be understood, if he himself stands by explaining to all men who observe, down through the ages.
People mistrust emotions they do not readily understand and many of our serious plastic artists because of this personal cloud ing of the observations which they have made, are actually bur lesquing the very emotions, an understanding of which they are so earnestly pleading for. In the tense moment of a great drama an actor can become reasonably extravagant in his gestures, for his audience, having been carried through all of the facts which the dramatist has provided, is with him. They know why he feels
as he does and their sympathy leads them to be moved by acting which, if not explained, would seem ridiculous. All that another actor need do to rouse the laughter of the audience and to bur lesque this tense moment is to walk on the stage and to go through the identical actions with no preliminary explanations. So it is with sculpture, and this may explain in part why sculptors are so loathe to take up new forms. Everyone knows who Diana is and though the work itself may not be good enough to bring to their minds at once the character of the chaste huntress it may be good enough to pass with the proper label. But, if the sculptor has the perception and insight, if he is sufficiently skilled in his technique and if he does not cloud the subject with his own too self-centred subjectiveness it is possible to find a thousand models in the world about him capable of being understood by all men through the ages, and at a glance. (W. E. Cx.)