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The Seven Arts Chronicle Seven Arts, August...
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T h e S e v e n A r t s C h r o n i c l e
ics cannot face its second year w ith that same w ise avoidance of professional criticism . Perhaps it is hum anly impossible fo r the Province - town P layers to preserve w ithin themselves the same real indifference to outside criticism w ith whch they came into N e w Y o rk last year. B y ju st so much as they value it, how ever, and are influenced consciously or unconsciously by it, they depart from the basic ideal on which the W h a rf T h eater at Provincetow n w as founded— a theater for playw rights, artists, and actors, avow edly experim ental, inviting an audience interested in experim ents rather than results, holding themselves serenely
apart from the current cant o f comment w hich blames or praises, too interested in the p lay fo r the p lay ’s sake to be self-conscious or afra id .
B u t, not inviting publicity, they have achieved it, and in their prospectus have accepted it. T h e ir ideals m ay be rooted deep enough to survive the crucial test o f this second and crucial year. I f they do move through their second season here w ithout sw ervin g from their ideal policy to consider plays first, the audience last, and critics not at all, they w ill have w rought out o f themselves one o f the few m iracles o f dram atic history in A m erica.
Z .
PhotographyPhotography, which is the first and
only im portant contribution, thus far, of science to the arts, finds its raison d'etre, like all media, in a complete uniqueness o f means. T h is is an absolute unqualified objectivity. U n like the other arts which are really anti-photographic, this objectivity is of the very essence of photography, its contribution and at the same time its lim itation. A n d ju st as the m ajority of w orkers in other media have completely misunderstood the inherent qualities of their respective means, so photographers, w ith the possible exception of tw o or three, have had no conception of the photographic means. T h e fu ll potential pow er of every medium is dependent upon the purity of its use, and a ll attempts at m ixture end in such dead things as the color etching, the photographic painting and, in photography, the gum print, oil print, etc., in which the introduction of hand w ork and m anipulation is merely the expression of an impotent desire to paint. It is this very lack
of understanding and respect for their m aterial, on the part of the photographers themselves, which directly accounts for the consequent lack o f respect on the part o f the intelligent public and the notion that photography is but a poor excuse for an inability to do anything else.
T h e photographer’s problem, therefore, is to see clearly the lim itations and at the same time the potential qualities of his medium, for it is precisely here that honesty no less than intensity of vision is the prerequisite of a livin g expression. T h is means a real respect for the thing in front o f him, expressed in terms of chiaroscuro (color and photography having nothing in common) through a range of alm ost infinite tonal values w hich lie beyond the skill of the human hand. T h e fullest realization of this is accomplished w ithout tricks of process or m anipulation, through the use o f straight photographic methods. I t is in the organization of this ob jectivity that the photographer’s point o f v iew
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tow ards L ife enters in, and w here a form al conception born of the emotions, the intellect, or of both, is as inevitably necessary for him, before an exposure is made, as for the painter, before he puts brush to canvas. T h e objects m ay be organized to express the causes o f which they are the effects, or they m ay be used as abstract forms, to create an emotion unrelated to the ob jectivity as such. T h is organization is evolved either by movement of the cam era in relation to the objects themselves or through their actual arrangement, but here, as in everything, the expression is sim ply the measure of a vision, shallow or profound, as the case m ay be. Photography is only a new road from a different direction, but m oving tow ard the common goal, which is L ife .
N otw ithstanding the fact that the w hole development of photography has been given to the w orld through “ C am era W o rk ” in a form uniquely beautiful as w ell as perfect in conception and presentation, there is no real consciousness, even among photographers, o f w hat has actually happened : nam ely, that A m erica has really been expressed in terms of A m erica w ithout the outside influence of P aris art-schools or their dilute offspring here. T h is development extends over the com paratively short period of sixty years, and there w as no real movement until the years between 18 9 5 and 1 9 10 , at which time an intense rebirth of enthusiasm and energy m anifested itself all over the w orld . M o re over, this renaissance found its highest aesthetic achievement in Am erica, where a sm all group of men and women w orked w ith honest and sincere purpose, some instinctively and fe w consciously, but w ithout any background of photographic or graphic fo rmulae, much less any cut and dried ideas of w hat is A rt and w hat isn’ t ;
this innocence w as their real strength. E veryth in g they w anted to say had to be w orked out by their own experiments ; it w as born of actual living. In the same w ay the creators o f our skyscrapers had to face the sim ilar circum stance of no precedent, and it w as through that very necessity of evolving a new form , both in architecture and photography that the resulting expression w as vitalized. W here in any medium has the tremendous energy and potential power o f N e w Y o rk been more fu lly realized than in the purely direct photographs of Stieg litz? W h ere a more subtle feeling which is the reverse of all this, the quiet simplicity of life in the Am erican sm all town, so sensitively suggested in the early w ork of C larence W h ite ? W here in painting, more originality and penetration of vision than in the portraits of Steichen, K asebier and F ran k E u gene? O thers, too, have given beauty to the w orld , but these w orkers, together w ith the great Scotchman, D avid O ctavius H ill, whose portraits made in 1 860 have never been surpassed, are the impor- tant factors of a liv in g photographic tradition. T h e y w ill be the masters no less for Europe than for A m erica because by an intense interest in the life of which they w ere really a part, they reached through a national, to a universal expression. In spite of indifference, contempt and the assurance of little or no rem uneration they w ent on, as others w ill do, even though their w ork seems doomed to a tem porary obscurity. T h e thing they do remains the same ; it is a w itness to the motive force that drives.
T h e existence of a medium, after all, is its absolute justification, if as so many seem to think, it needs one, and all comparison of potentialities is useless and irrelevant. W hether a w ater- color is inferior to an oil, or whether
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a draw ing, an etching, or a photo- gratitude everything through w hichgraph is not as im portant as either, is the spirit o f man seeks to obtain everinconsequent. T o have to despise some- fu lle r and more intense self-realiza-thing else is a sign of impotence. L e t tion.us rather accept joyously and w ith P a u l S t r a n d .
Music and RecruitingIt w as at the concert of Ju n e 20th,
the first of those planned for this season by the C iv ic O rchestral Society, that M r . O tto H . K ah n addressed the audience.
T h e concert, as w e ll as the entire series, had been advertised as “ P a tr iotic .” T h e adjective has of late lost something of its edge, its precision of meaning, and most of the people who attended the first concert doubtless speculated on the element that w ould distinguish this concert from others. T o some, the w ord no doubt suggested that St. N icholas R ink , w here the concerts take place this year, w ould be festooned w ith the banners of the U nited States, of B ritain and of France. T o some, it foreshadowed the inclusion of certain patriotic airs in the exercises. T o others, the w ord presented itse lf as the advertisem ent of the fact that the society had obtained the services o f a Parisian conductor eager to include a good deal of French music on his program m es. T o few , however, did it intim ate the perform ance that w as to take place.
T h e guesses w ere accurate to a certain extent. T h e rink w as draped w ith the banners of the U nited States, of Britain and of France. M . P ierre M onteaux did conduct an overture of L alo , the symphonic fragm ent from F ran ck ’s “ Redem ption,” and the air from “ Lou ise” , conducted them incisively as he conducted the T h ird Leonore O vertu re badly. T w o verses of the “ Star-Spangled B an n er”
w ere sung by M iss A n n a Case, becom ingly draped in the folds of the A m erican flag. It w as only when, at the close of the intermission, there appeared in the conductor’s stand not M . M onteaux, but M r . O tto H . K ahn , that the audience realized w ith a shock that there w ere intentions in the w ord “ patriotism ” w hich it had not as yet encountered.
M r . O tto H . K ah n made a speech. I t w as not a short speech. B u t it can be summed up in a fe w sentences.
M r . O tto H . K ah n congratulated the audience on the fact that art w as still neutral, and expressed his delight that the conductor of the concerts of the C iv ic O rchestral Society w as a “ son of F ran ce .” H e expressed also his delight that the realm of music had not as yet been contam inated by the w ar, and announced that it w as the intention of the Society (o f which he is T re a su re r) to dem onstrate the connection between music and patriotism by introducing speeches on Patriotism and A r t and other allied subjects into the course o f each concert. H e concluded by presenting to the audience Colonel C h adw ick , U . S. A ., the first speaker.
M r . O tto H . K ah n then descended from the stand, and C olonel C h ad w ick, U . S. A ., neatly clad in khaki, ascended it, and made his speech on A r t and Patriotism and other allied subjects. H e reminded the audience that volunteering in N e w Y o r k C ity w as lagging, that only a fraction of the quota had offered itself for
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service. H e w as positive that everyone in the audience w ho w as not him self fit fo r service knew some young man w ho was, and could bring pressure to bear on him. H e could not recommend sufficiently the benefits of jo in ing the arm y. It made, he said, a ll the good in you “ come out.” Because of the w ages paid the soldiers the arm y today compared favorably w ith all other professions. In fact, sim ply because of the education and the training and the advantages it offered you, no other institution could rival it. A nd , best of all, those who joined the arm y M ad e the W o rld S a fe for Dem ocracy, and enabled their C ountry to have at its disposal, a fter the w ar w as over, a large body o f trained men.
Thereupon Colonel Chadw ick, U . S. A ., stepped down, and M . M on- teaux resumed his place.
T h e audience that heard those speeches w as not Bought w ith G e r man G old . It w as not even an assemblage of “ slackers, traitors, and pacifists.” It w as quite a norm al and representative gathering, as far as one could make out. M an y of those who composed it, one can be sure, w ere convinced of the righteousness of this w ar, the justice o f the draft, w ere ready to give their a ll to the prosecution of the business, no m atter how terrible it seemed to them. A n d yet, there w as little applause. T h ere w as applause neither for the speech of O tto H . K ahn, nor for Colonel C h ad w ick ’s little contribution to A r t and Patriotism and other A llied subjects. Am erican audiences do not hiss. One has often cause to regret that they do not. A n d yet, they have their own fashion of sign ifying disapproval. T h e y remain silent, be it from dislike of publicity, be it from tim idity. So it w as that night at St. N icholas R ink. B u t one had only
to observe the m anner in which the auditors listened to the speeches, w ith heads bent over their laps, w ith eyes fixed on the floor, one had only to observe the disdainful smiles on the faces of those w ho w atched the speakers, to listen to the rem arks whispered a ll about one, to know w h at they felt. F o r w hat they knew and w hat they felt, w hat they w ould have said if they had spoken, w ere the w ords w ith which the mother, in the story that w e all know, scolds her disobedient little son: “ W h at you did isn’t bad, W illie . I t ’s worse than bad. I t ’s v u lg a r !”
A nd they w ere right. T h e act of introducing recruiting speeches into the program m e of a symphony concert is a contem ptibly vu lgar one. I t is contemptibly vu lga r from all points of view , from the point of v iew of those who favor this w a r as w ell as from the point o f v iew of those who oppose it. I t w ould have been quite as vu lgar if the “ lecture” had been the most brilliant of orations, and not the stupidest o f recruiting speeches. I t w ould have been vu lgar even if there had not been statutory a law conscribing ten m illions of men fo r m ilitary service. F o r it w as w ithout any doubt an action motivated by, and indirectly revealing, a brutal ignorance of values, or a brutal disregard for them. I t w as an action that could be perpetrated only by persons devoid of reverence both for the m arvelous human beings w ho gave themselves in music, and for such of their own fellow s w ho come in need to those great souls. C e rtainly, only one w ho lacked all grasp of the actual content of music w ould dare thrust him self upon the art, w ould dare to seek to force it to carry his w ill rather than that of the men who created it. O n ly such a one would even dream of daring to use
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it for ends other than its own, and press recruits by p laying Bach and C ésar F ran ck. A n d only one w ho w as quite ignorant o f the impulse that takes people to music w ould consider standing between them and their refreshm ent. A n d yet that is w hat M r . K ah n and those associated w ith him are quite prepared to do. T h e y are w illin g to perm it Bach and Beethoven and F ran ck and the rest to speak, so long as their speaking abets recruiting, so long as their speaking fu rnishes an excuse for drum m ing recruits. T h e y are w illin g to perm it their fellow s, at least those w ho are able to afford their dollar or half- dollar or quarter-dollar, to obtain their consolation and nourishment, on condition that they submit themselves
for tw enty m inutes during each concert to those thoughts that have made them most needful o f the m inistration of music. M u ch irreverence for human monuments and hum an rights has been displayed during the course of this w ar. M u ch o f it has been barbarously cruel. B u t one doubts w hether irreverence, w hether ignorance o f values and disregard o f them have, during the entire course o f the w ar, assumed a form quite as contemptible as the one they are assuming at the concerts o f the C iv ic O rchestral Society. F o r the sake of those w ho still attach some glam or to it, M r . K ah n and his associates ought to remove the w ord “ P atrio tic” from the advertisem ents o f their concerts. P a u l R o s e n f e ld .
Conspirators“ W oe unto them that stand in our
w ay in this hour of high resolutions!” I have been attending the trial of three o f those w ho tried to stand in our w ay. T h e G overnm ent could scarcely have had victim s more unfortunate for its own purposes in its desire to root out disloyalty. M y three students w ere arrested as symbols of a vast conspiracy which w as to involve the seditious teachings of professors in a great U n iversity and to trail back to G erm an moneybags. A t the end of the trial, the prosecutor, unable to discover professors or pro-Germ ans, w as reduced, “ as a Colum bia graduate,” to thanking G od that his U n iversity w as not responsible for such doctrines as these. In the haste to uncover a conspiracy, the G overnm ent agents had not w aited for the students to commit a pragm atic crime. T h e m anifesto urging people not to register had been seized in the printing shop. So the charge w as the m etaphysical one of “ conspir
acy .” T o “ conspire” you do not have to carry out your w icked purpose. Y o u m erely have to agree together to do something u n law fu l, and then have one o f you make some gesture tow ards carryin g it out. I t is very subtle. Y o u r wickedness seems to consist not so much in in ju rin g the G overnm ent or causing anybody to disobey a law , but rather in obscurely hurting the feelings of G overnm ent by concertedly starting some such disobedient enterprise. T h e students actually never got their document into the hands of a single person w ho m ight be urged to violate the law . B u t the N e w Y o rk newspapers, the day a fter the seizure, printed the document, either in whole on in part, thus putting its seditious eloquence into the hands of thousands of young men o f conscript age a week before registration day. In this gratuitous distribution, however, the newspapers w ere quite innocent of crime, fo r they w ere perform ing the
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legal act of reporting a jud icia l proceeding. P ragm atically , they did the very crim e— and w ith far more comprehensiveness and dispatch than the “ conspirators” ever hoped for— which the latter faced tw o years in prison for m erely hoping to do. Presum ably, any one of the “ conspirators” could have bought two thousand copies of the N ew York Herald, which printed the document in fu ll,— could have cut out the m anifesto and mailed it to two thousand men of registration age. H e w ould then, w ith perfect legality, be personally accomplishing the very end which he w as indicted for tryin g unsuccessfully to do.
Such law and such grotesqueries belong to the stage of “ A lice in W on derlan d ” rather than a modern Am erican civilization. Y e t a w ell-bred and democratic G overnm ent w as found seriously pressing this m etaphysical charge of “ conspiracy,” and a patriotic ju ry w as found solem nly convicting the two youths, P hillips and C at- tell,— Eleanor P ark er having been acquitted at the direction o f the judge. N o conceivable human purpose w as served, except that the G overnm ent whose feelings had been covertly insulted, and an archaic principle of E nglish law which had been outraged, m ight receive appeasement, and that the functionaries whose business it is to furnish that appeasement m ight earn the rew ard of good and faith fu l servants. I think that people indicted for mystical crimes like this are entitled to be freed if they are techically innocent of the m ystical crime. A n d since one cannot conspire alone, the intention of either one of the defendants to bring the seditious document w ithin the law made them both technically innocent of conspiracy. A l l this the judge emphasized, stressing the need o f acquittal if the testimony o f C a tte ll ’s parents and friends w as to be believed.
B u t the ju ry w as of plain blunt men, brushing through the technicalities of the law , and deeming it no time, when w e are all w orking to make the w orld safe for democracy, to countenance any such opinions or desires as these students held.
It is un fair to the students to say that the defence tried to take advantage of technicalities. T h e re is nothing cow ardly in trying to avoid a perfectly real pragm atic punishment o f a prison sentence for a m erely m etaphysical crim e which a G overnm ent is trying to fasten on you, “ as a w arn ing to others.” Ph illips w as brave enough in refusing personally to register, and thus m aking him self inevitably subject to the punishment his document urged others to risk. T h e re is no need of m aking heroes out of Phillips, C at- tell and E leanor P arker. T h e y are w inning and rather clear-eyed people. T h e y w ere idealistic and ingenuous to a fau lt. T h e y must have been surprised at their capture by the G o vern ment as dangerous conspirators. B u t strenuous objections should be made to their punishment on the charge made. It w as a most unpleasant experience to sit in the courtroom and hear the young prosecutor ridiculing their opinions and trying to stigm atize them as cravens and cowards. T h e newspapers docilely backed him up w ith their usual unfairness tow ards all who do not bow before the w ar-spirit.
A s this verdict stands, I think there is a stain on a G overnm ent which, in a reputedly democratic w ar, is w illing to use legal mysticisms to punish idealistic young students w ho oppose its m ilitaristic technique. A lthough the sentence w as a minimum sentence, concession having been made to the upper-class status of the defendants, G overnm ent prosecutors and grand juries should not be encouraged to use the metaphysics of the law against
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pacifists w ho cannot be charged w ith actual pragm atic crime. Ju r ie s should not be encouraged to convict on the basis o f patriotic feelings when evidence beyond all reasonable doubt is absent. A l l these archaic concepts of political conspiracy and sedition that cluster around the idea of “ lese-ma-
jeste” a dem ocratic governm ent can afford, even in w ar-tim e, to a llo w to become corroded through neglect. T h e y do not in any w a y protect the safety of the people, and they become, in w ar-tim e, the easiest instrum ents of oppression and spite.
R . B .
CommunicationIn the Ju n e “ Seven A rts C h ron icle,”
M r . P au l Rosenfeld w rote of the recent perform ances in N e w Y o rk of L is z t ’s “ E ine F au st S in fonie” and B e rlio z ’s “ Requiem .” T h e perform ances in question w ere D r. M u c k ’s conducting of the form er at a Boston Sym phony concert and E d g a r V arese ’s o f the latter.
M r . R osenfeld ’s critical w ritin g is generally w orthy ; it has sanity and is unquestionably sincere. O ccasionally w e find him basing final judgm ents on insufficient acquaintance w ith w orks o f art. A n d , in a sense, his rem arks on these w orks o f L isz t and B erlioz — which he feels w ere “ recreated” by D r . M u ck and M r . V arèse— smack o f something of this kind. I am prompted to set these w ords down for but two reasons: first, to inform those w ho do not know them of the fa c ts ; second, because I am rendered “ exceeding com fortless” by a critic of discrim ination standing in aw e before the B erlioz “ Requiem .”
M r . Rosenfeld, in speaking of the L isz t “ F a u st,” says: “ W e, w ho had heard the ‘F au st ’ Sym phony only under S transk y.” T h a t sentence, w ith its undeniable sneer, should have been contributed to the D anie l G r e gory M aso n -A rth u r W h itin g A n ti- Philharm onic drive in the N e w Y o rk Sunday Times last w inter. T h a t is w here it belonged. M r . Stransky ’s
reading of the “ F a u st” Sym phony— I have heard him do it three times— is unforgettable. In m y opinion, andI am not alone, it quite surpasses D r. M u c k ’s, the la tte r ’s lacking in passion, in em otional fullness. Especially the “ G retch en ” m ovement w as devoid o f a plastic freedom as D r . M u ck did it and its changing moods not sm oothly shifted. A s fo r the revised score which the Boston conductor found at “ W a h n frie d ,” the cuts are not significant and the transference o f some bassoon recitatives w as e ffected by M r . Stransky long ago, though he never saw L is z t ’s revised score. R ea liz in g that L isz t thought of these passages in a tone-color fo reign to the bassoon, though he set them down for it, M r . Stransky gave them to the bass-clarinet. T h a t is precisely w hat L isz t did when, years after he finished the symphony, he made a revision of the p artitu r!
“ Perhaps as the most classic artist w ho ever composed m usic” — M r. Rosenfeld believes that of B e r lio z ; I shudder! B erlio z the verbose,— the bombastic, corruscatingly b rilliant Berlioz, poverty-stricken in ideas— the most classic! N o one denies that B erlio z w rote w e ll and sonorously, but w ith p ow er? N o ! In conversation one evening this w inter, M . Ern est Bloch expressed the regret that B erlio z had been a musician. W h a t a
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splendid mathem atician, philosopher, or essayist he w ould have m ade! Bu t a m usician, from an inspirational standpoint— M . Bloch agreed w ith me that B erlio z had failed.
Invention — thematic m aterial — ideas— call it w h at you w ill ! H e w as barren— and nothing is more barren than the “ Requiem .” Be not deceived by its “ furious clangor o f trum pets,” its big brassy climaxes— they are not v ita l, they are theatric. I f you grant their authenticity, you must do the same for the hopelessly banal finale of Abbé L is z t ’s “ Preludes.” L is z t ’s music, even in this commonplace instance, is a good tune. A nd w e have all our life been searching for a really good tune in Berlioz.
W e did not hear the Varèse- Scranton C h oral Society perform ance of the “ Requiem ” ; we make it our business to be among those not present when this tiresome music is dragged out once a decade. B u t w e
know this music very w e ll and it pains us to have M r . Rosenfeld attem pt to tell us— unquestionably in a ll sincerity— that the line of B e rlio z ’s music can be compared only “ w ith the lines of E gyptian sculpture.” I t makes us fear that one of these days he w ill w rite an essay on the delicate line of the 5 /4 movement of T sch ai- kow sky’s “ P athètiq u e !” A t that, Tschaikow sky had more to say— though w e personally are not especially keen to listen to it— than did H ector Berlioz !
A . W a l t e r K r a m e r .
A u t h o r 's N o te .— It is regrettable, of course, that Berlioz must do w ithout the regard of M essrs. K ram er and Bloch. B u t for those who hold him in esteem, it w ill be some consolation to remember that he counts among his fervent adm irers a critic like Rom ain R ollan d and a composer like R ichard Strauss.
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“The Masses” and American Rights
TH E latest incident in a series of bureaucratic infringements on the liberty of the press in the United States, is the suppression of the August Masses and the threatened indictment
of its editors. This last number of the magazine, which contains criticisms of the war policy of the Administration, was denied the use of the mails by the Solicitor of the Post Office, on the ground that it violates “ in spirit” the recently passed Espionage Act.
The terms of the Espionage Act are sufficiently vague, affording an opportunity for illiberal bureaucratic construction under which any paper which ventures to oppose the war can be suppressed. But the practical difficulties of liberal journalism are made almost insuperable by the refusal of the Solicitor to specify the passages which are alleged to violate the law. The actions of the postal authorities are, by custom, not subject to review in any court of law; and it is thus possible for any periodical to be temporarily suppressed without legal determination of the facts of the case, and without the possibility of appeal in time to save the issue.
The Post Office censorship thus established definitely refuses to pass in advance upon the contents of periodicals; it denies to such issues as it chooses the use of the mails; and for having attempted to mail such periodicals, the editors are put in jeopardy of a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both!
It remains to be seen if public opinion— and Congress— will tolerate this bureaucratic attempt to abrogate the right, constitutionally guaranteed to the American people, of a free press.
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Alfred A. Knopf announces a New Borzoi BookBy James Oppenheim
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N ew York Times.
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iv
Seven Arts, August 1917
The Children’s
School (Fourth Year)
The aim of the school is to develop t h e personality of each child as basis for social sciousness.
Classes in open-air rooms through
out the building
For boys an d girls from
2 to 81/2 years
A large roof p layground; carpentry shop; studio for modelling and draw ing; auditorium for music and dancing. Particular attention to Science and spoken French. Special teachers for special subjects. A fternoon trips in connection with school work.
Write for bookletMiss Margaret Naumburg
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A U T H O R S ! Special attention to beginners. Serials, s hort Stories, Articles, etc., marketed on commission. Terms, 10%. No charge for editing, revising, or typing work unless it is sold. Criticism (5,000 words or under) S1.00. Submit mss., or write for full particulars. WM. N. LABBERTON, L it. Agt.. 569 West 150th St., New York City.
Your Friends?P E R H A P S the most interesting thing about
a magazine, significant of its real strength or otherwise, is what its readers think and feel about it.The Seven Arts' readers are never indifferent; they either like it very much— or dislike it very much. There is no middle ground.You, yourself, for instance, feel very strongly about this magazine; but what do your friends think?Should it chance that some of your friends do not know The Seven Arts and would appreciate a magazine with which they will either agree or disagree thoroughly, we will gladly mail them a specimen copy.A n d w e w ill s in cere ly th an k y o u fo r sen d in g us the nam es o f those in terested in th is m ag az in e fo r , a lthough o u r fa m ily is g ro w in g sp len d id ly , w e w a rm ly w elcom e each n ew m em ber.
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Seven Arts, August 1917
for forty years. And out of its plans grew an inhuman machine— terrible in perfection, terrible in power, terrible in its challenge to the democratic faith in the capacity of men to govern themselves.
Potsdam’s plans are to be overthrown, not by a million minute men that rise up over night, nor by the valor of good intentions. But by other plans as thoughtfully conceived, as painstakingly developed, and as brilliantly executed.
As Potsdam thinks, so Germany acts. As America thinks, so America acts. To think straight and far just now is to contribute to the vitality of American public opinion— our motive power, the source of our action.
Herbert Hoover says that the best balanced organ of liberal thought in America today is The New Republic
____________ .Tear off and mail today to The New Republic, 421 West 21st Street, New York City
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Seven Arts, August 1917
T H E S A M O V A RS i x E a s t T h i r t y - S i x t h S t r e e t
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INDEX OF ADVERTISERS\
Page
ART GALLERIES
Frederick Keppel & C o ......................................... i
BOOK-SELLERS
Brentanos ................................................................ i
INTERIOR DECORATORSEmily Rockwood .................................................. vii
Flambeau Weavers .............................................. v
COSTUMES
Bertha Holley ........................................................ ii
L IT ERA RY AGENCIES
Mary Asquith ........................................................ v
W illiam N. Labberton ....................................... v
PERIOD ICALS
The W riter’s Bulletin ......................................... vii
The New R e p u b lic ................................................ vi
American Asiatic A s so c ia t io n ......................... iv
PUBLISHERS
Henry Holt & C o .................................................... iii
Horace Holley ....................................................... i
Alfred A. Knopf .................................................. iv
L iberty Publishing Assoc.................................. i
Polish Book Importing C o ..............................Cover
Porter E. Sargent .............................................. vii
TEA ROOMS
Samovar Tea Room ............................................ vii
SCHOOLS
American Schools’ Association........................ ii
The Children’s S c h o o l......................................... v
TUTORS
Tutor, Care The Seven A r ts .............................. vii
S a r g e n t ' s h a n d b o o kAmerican Private Schools, 1917
3d Edition, revised and enlarged, new featuresA Guidebook for Parents A Compendium for Educators
A critical and discriminating account of the Private Schools as they are, written without fear or favor.
Indispensable for Parents, Educators, College Officials and all interested in Secondary Education.
New Introductory Chapters: “ Educational Advance in 1916,” “ Educational Literature of 1916” ; “ Measuring Intelligence,” by Prof. R. M. Yerkes of Harvard University; “ Choosing a Camp,” by Morton Snyder of Newark Academy; “Vocational Guidance,” by F. C. Woodman of Morristown School. 672 pages, round corners, crimson silk cloth, gold stamped, $2.50.
Our E d u c a t i o n a l I n f o r m a t i o n B u r e a u supplements the Handbook in furnishing unprejudiced and reliable Counsel to Parents. Write us. No Fee.
A Handbook of New England
Descriptive of Town and Country along the Routes of Automobile Travel. A H umanized Baedeker, a Year Book, a Gazetteer, a Guide Book. The only book that presents New England as a whole. Introductory Chapters on Geology, Flora, Architecture, etc. Directories and Appendices.
New 1917 Edition, enlarged and improved. 900 pages, with Illustrations and Maps. Round corners, crimson silk cloth, gold stamped, $2.50. Limp crimson leather, $3.00.
Circulars and Sample Pages on Request.
PORTER E. SARGENT50 Congress St. BOSTON, MASS.
THE WRITER'S BULLETINAND LITERARY REVIEWHelps You Write, Re-Write and Sell. Includes a Monthly, Up-to-Date List of Manuscript Markets$1.50 a Year. Foreign and Canadian. $1.75. Single Copies, 15c.
No Writer Can Afford to be Without a Copy on His DeskIssued Monthly byThe Bulletin Publishing Company
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Experienced teacher and tutor, young man of refinement, desires position as resident or visiting
T U T O RAvailable for summer or winter. Excellent references. May be interviewed in New York. Address Tutor, Care of Seven Arts.
vii
Seven Arts, August 1917
Note to AdvertisersT h e P h ilip G oo d m an C o m p an y, P u b lish e rs o f “ B o tto m s U p ,” b y G eo rge Je a n N ath an , in serted a q u arter-p age ad vertisem en t in the Ju n e issue o f T h e S e v e n A r ts . “ B o ttom s U p ” w a s the G oodm an C o m p a n y ’s first book ; both it and the com pany itse lf w ere p ractica lly un kn ow n to either the trad e o r to the bo ok-b u yin g public.
Yet The Seven Arts brought these results.
June 2 1 , 19 17 New York City.
The Seven Arts Publishing Co.,132 Madison Ave.,
New York City.
Gentlemen :—I am sure you will be interested to know that our adver
tisement in The Seven Arts has brought us the most gratifying results. It just so happened that your publication carrying the ad in question appeared before any other publication, and with electric effect we heard from book stores all over the country.
Whether or not this was the result of a consumer demand we cannot say, but nevertheless The Seven Arts’ dollars- and-cents value was made clear by the fact that those very inquiries came in before any other publication carried the advertisement.
Sincerely,The Philip Goodman Co.
(Signed) Howard Deiz
Seven Arts, August 1917
POLISH BOOK IMPORTING COMPANY, Inc.83 Second Avenue, New York
P O LIT IC A L H IST O R Y
POLANDI A * ' A T rv%# i **» * !butmiaiiMmuiii^njiiiiiiiiJH’jiiiiiu^iimicd d i >tniniiiiiuiiiiJiimiiiiiiiiiiD)iiifiiiiiiiiiutiumiuiiuiLimJ
E.H.LEWINSKI-CORWIN
T h e thrilling story o f Poland, from the era when P o lan d ’s confines stretched northw ard to the Baltic, through the formatiort o f the Polish Republic, the Cossack W ars, to the tragedy o f Poland ’s extinction, and the Polish question o f the present w ar, is told in this new book. It is accurate, scholarly, yet an intense throbbing expression o f Polish national life, o f Poland ’s rights to unfettered existence. E v e ry A m erican voicing President W ilson ’s ringing plea fo r " a united, independent and autonomous P olan d” should read it.
644 Pages, Profusely Illustrated zvith 268 Pictures and 14 Maps
H andsom ely Bound in Cloth, $ 3 .0 0 ; by m ail, $ 3.15 Lim ited de L u x e Edition (O oze leather bound), $ 7 .0 0 ; by m ail, $ 7.25
For sale at all bookstores or direct from the publishers
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Seven Arts, August 1917