surprising as it often is, does not betoken any special preference for
symbolism, but often results partly from incapacity and partly from the
exigencies of the subject being represented. When full representation
is unattainable they are satisfied to make their meaning intelligible,
and savages, too, often resort to similar expedients. Grosse himself
gives us some Australian drawings on wood where the human face is
represented without a mouth, just as often happens in childish efforts.
In these figures the fingers are symbolized by mere lines. In his
valuable chapter on drawing among the Bakaïri, von den Steinen points
out still closer analogy with children’s work. He says, for example,
that, as a rule, only three fingers and toes are indicated, to serve
as a suggestion for the rest. It seems to me that it is then rather a
question of more or less than any real difference.
Our next topic is the question of beauty, and here, too, the child and
the savage are close parallels. Both have a certain interest in the
introduction of colour which appeals to them, both object to carrying
out the full type, both probably draw from memory, and both lack almost
totally the appreciation of beautiful form. The savage, indeed, does
introduce the simpler elements of beautiful form in his ornamentation,
but in his representations of human and animal figures there is little
effort to preserve such outlines. This bears out our former conclusion
that savages have little appreciation for physical beauty as such, and
with children it is much the same. Some children, it is true, make a
general distinction between people who are beautiful and those who
are ugly, but in drawing not only the ability but often the intention
as well is wanting, to produce beautiful faces. When they do attempt
something definite in the way of expression it is much more likely to
be caricature of homeliness than beauty. It is known also that this
tendency is especially displayed in periods of highly developed art,
and more particularly by the Germans.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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