THE NATURE OF ART
Stand why certain harmonies are present or dissonances resolved without any reference to the objects and events in nature or human life. In the same way we understand why in a picture a certain color demands its contrasting and complementary color, or a certain line its balancing line, independent of what the color is the color of, or a certain line its balancing line, independent of what the color is the color of, or the line the line of. In a poem, we know that a word of a certain length and sound texture is demanded, independent of its meaning, because of the necessities of rime and rhythm. And even in a statue, where it might seem as if every part had to be just what it is because of the laws of anatomy, there are relations of harmony and balance of line and mass that cannot be understood in that way, but are intelligible in their own way. I do not mean to imply that intrinsic and extrinsic form are as separate in any work of art as might appear from my discussion; for, on the contrary, there must be a fine adaptation of one to the other, for beauty. Yet I would insist that they are two very different types of form, springing from different roots; the one type following the objective laws of nature, and so creating in every work of art some semblance of truth; the other based on those subjective principles of human nature upon which depend all value or satisfaction. Elsewhere I have tried to formulate these laws; but I have no room to go in to the matter here. What is of immediate concern to us is the possibility of defining art in terms of intrinsic form. That intrinsic form is a universal factor in works of art, and for that reason belongs among the indispensable elements in any definition, can I think be proved. But that it is no exclusive characteristic, for all the activities of man, so far as they are valuable, display it. His walk is rhythmic, when he enjoys it; his body is beautiful to him when harmonious and well-balanced; even his life as a whole is happy when it possesses intrinsic form. In is true, I think, that intrinsic form is most perfect in works of art; because imagination is of all spheres the most plastic to desire, and because the technique of expression of the imagination in the medium of the arts, being vastly simpler than the technique of business or politics, has achieved a perfection there unmatched anywhere, except perhaps in mathematics. For this reason art will always seem to be the superlative example of form, even though, as has been shown, it be not the sole example.
In conclusion, let me summarize the chief points I have been making in regard to the definition of art. I have tried to show that there is no single and sufficient criterion by means of which art may be defined. There are single characteristics which apply to all works of art, but none which applies exclusively to art. The definition of art must therefore be in terms of a complex of characteristics. Failure to recognize this has been the fault of