Such cases as these impress on us the importance of not confusing that mechanical kind of realisation which is known in artistic circles as ‘finishing’ or ‘high finishing’ with the demands for ideal determination. The ideal towards which all works of art [Illustration: _PLATE LXXXVII_ LUCERNE: EVENING WATER COLOUR. 1844] aspire is that of making the connection universally valid between the sign and the state of consciousness which is its meaning, _i.e._ to exclude all kinds of accidental and not strictly necessary emotional effects. But this demand is only a formal one. Where a certain ambiguity of interpretation forms a necessary factor in the meaning of the work, the demand for definition is obviously limited. The form, on a final analysis, must be determined by the content, and not _vice versâ_. * * * * * In conclusion, I will only say that I am well aware of the inadequacy of these remarks, but that I cannot regard this as the proper place to amplify or develop them. I have said enough, I hope, to draw attention to the point of view which the novel character of our subject-matter has forced upon us. In dealing with the completed work of art, as art criticism mainly does, it is comparatively easy to rest satisfied with a mere analysis of external shape, or a simple description of the machinery or anatomy of pictorial art; to treat works of art, in short, as the dried specimens of the botanist’s herbarium. But when we come to study the rudimentary forms of artistic expression,--an artist’s sketches and studies--we begin to discover the shortcomings of the merely statical or morphological point of view. Works of art, we find, are something more than the fossil remains or dead bodies of artistic activity. They are factors in the living process by which the artist’s thought and emotion are kindled afresh in the bosom of the spectator. Instead, therefore, of merely describing the anatomy of the dead specimen, we have had to address ourselves to the much harder task of attempting to comprehend the living activity of art. The old static or morphological point of view had to give place to a dynamic or physiological system of interpretation. The emphasis was placed on function rather than on structure. The new ideal of art criticism which has thus been forced upon me is a synthetic view of function and form, the interpretation of function in relation to structure. Art criticism would thus become a science which treats of the mode of action of works of art and of the function of their parts. It would be concerned entirely with the positive facts of art as an active method of communication, and it would seek only for verifiable generalisations--for a classified and unified account of the phenomena of artistic activity. The present volume, with all its shortcomings and defects, is, I hope, at least a feeble and hesitating step in this direction. INDEX