It takes a big and strong man to pass through schools and academies and come out unscathed. The art school is a godsend to talent and mediocrity; it is a menace to genius. Most paintings are “compositional” to _some_ extent. But from the literalness of Monet’s hay stacks to the abstract qualities of Kandinsky’s improvisations the interval is great. There is, too, a difference in kind, as well as degree, between the compositions of the painter who simply re-arranges nature, persons, or objects to secure a pleasing or effective result, and the painter who uses nature, life, or objects as so many signs or notes to express his inner feelings; the former paints to _impress_ others, the latter paints to _express himself_ to others. The one is thinking all the time of his picture, the other is thinking all the time of his message. All great painters have combined the two attitudes, they have _expressed themselves_ in pictures that not only convey the message but _as pictures_ impress others--that is characteristic of the world’s great art. At the moment the pendulum is swinging toward the extreme where everything is subordinated to the expression of the artist’s _self_, and the indications are that some subtle and wonderful things will be painted before the pendulum swings back. * * * * * To what extent the public generally will accept pure compositional painting it is impossible to say; but the number of those who enjoy it will steadily increase until there will be many lovers of art who will collect only the most abstract works. * * * * * A Russian painter of great strength but entirely different inspiration and technic was asked, “Do you like Kandinsky’s Improvisations?” “Very much.” “Do you understand them?” “No.” “Then why do you like them?” “Because they give me pleasure and I am sure that as I look at them they excite in me the same pleasure they excited in him when he painted them; he has succeeded in conveying to me his own emotions and that is the most any artist can hope to do.” Which brings us back to the proposition laid down in an earlier chapter: the emotional reaction to music and painting may be and usually is quite independent of the intellectual, and while it may be either increased or diminished in _volume_ by _understanding_, it is necessarily _changed_ in character. * * * * * Another artist, an Austrian, was asked: “How do you like Kandinsky’s Improvisations?”