Art for all by Miss Vida Lahey

colollr. Ilitere,t and hazard that our 11\-cs cleinand. (4:mes are another form i )[ compensation, but instead of playing them people watch them. Sport now is an organised spectacle attended with ever greater risks to satisfv the deinand for thrills. instead of beiiig a personal experience, Whereas the elljoyment of the arts, which coilld be the most (leeph- satisfying compensation of all, by which nur (711(,tic)11:11 U n d creative powers would secure exercise a n d release, linds stunted and helated development if any. For instead of enjoying a limited practice of the arts ourselves from our earliest vears, and thus having a fc,uizc]:tion of understancling to bring to the stuck- of thi· great in:isters and of the work of our contemporary artists, we find oursolves with little more to guide us than a *matter- ing of conventional ideas and a vague notion of whitt we like, and therefore little prospect of developing a vital interest in what can be an absorbing and infinite delight. T h e pioneers, iii the h a i d n e s > 4,1 their struggle to s u b d u e natiti-c, had constant calls on their courage, itiitiative and resource w h i c h kept the w h o l e of their physical n a t u r e in play. a n d so t h e y h a d n o t the g a m e u r g e t o w a r d s artificial compensations. B u t w h a t of their g r a n d s o n s iii city oilices ? O r their granddaughters, t a p p i n g a typewriter f i o m y e a f s e n d to year's end, not to metition the w o r k e r s in the heavier a n d h a r d e r tasks of industry ? \\'llat c o u l d h e m o r e d e a d e n i n g t h a n the i n o n o t o n v of s u c h w o r k ? T h e m e n are m e i r cogs in the snulless routine of business. T h e kindergarten. hiking a n d the a m a t e u r theatre 711 h a v e e l e m e n t s of a healthy 1-espouse to t h e u r g e t o w a r d s a Close'r contact w i t h art a n d n a t u r e w h i c h ah,ne c a n restore the balance t o m o d e r n life, P e r h a p s it is -fitting at this point to m e n t i o n the t h e o r y tliat the frustration of Hitler'% artistic gifts forced his p e n t - u p p o w e r s t o seek other a n d m o r e d a n g e r o u s outlets, while o n t h e other h a n d the m i s e r y of the G e r m a n people m a d e a r e a d y channel for his ideas to p e r m e a t e the w h o l e nation. S o w i t h this terrifying e x a m p l e of h o w repressed p u w e r s plus u n h a p p y conditions c a n precipitate w o r l d catastrophe, clare w e treat as a light iii:itter the n e e d for t h e r e a d j u s t m e n t of values ? In t h e phrases, " t h e arts of p e a c e ' a n d " the horrors of w a r , the association of w o r d s is. I think, d o u b l y significant for 1-lot o n l y d o e s p e a c e c a u s e the arts to flourish, but t h e life e n h a n c i n g practice of the arts bring p e a c e 1,3' exten(ling 4)11(ks beiiig into a n o t h e r w o r l d a n d so assuaging the troubles of life. M o r e o v e r , n o t o n l y d o e s w a r c a u s e lic,r]-org, b u t t h e continuation of u n h a p p y conditions finally brings a b o u t war. B y s t u d y i n g life a n d its conditions, then, w e m a v ser its implications in the art of o u r time. T h e tendencies of the times. furthermore, m a y b e K e n visibly p r o p h e s i e d in art, although, like m o s t prophesies, t h e y c a n b e interpreted o n l y iii the light of after events. U h e n t h e " m a n in the street " is confronted w i t h a h e a d b v 1icasso h e is horrified ; in fact, paintings b y a n y of the m o d e r n s h e w o u l d find puzzling a n d rel}eHant : b u t if lie looks at s u c h pictures symbolically, not as portraits of persons or places, but portraits iii