And in art we have the same play of opposing factors, straight lines and curves, light and dark, warm and cold colour oppose each other. Were the balance between them perfect, the result would be dull and dead. But if the balance is very much out, the eye is disturbed and the effect too disquieting7. It will naturally be in pictures that aim at repose8 that this balance will be most perfect. In more exciting subjects less will be necessary, but some amount should exist in every picture, no matter how turbulent its motive9; as in good tragedy the horror of the situation is never allowed to overbalance the beauty of the treatment.
220
Between Straight Lines and Curves
Let us consider in the first place the balance between straight lines and curves. The richer and fuller the curves, the more severe should be the straight lines that balance them, if perfect repose is desired. But if the subject demands excess of movement and life, of course there will be less necessity for the balancing influence of straight lines. And on the other hand, if the subject demands an excess of repose and contemplation, the bias10 will be on the side of straight lines. But a picture composed entirely11 of rich, rolling curves is too disquieting a thing to contemplate12, and would become very irritating. Of the two extremes, one composed entirely of straight lines would be preferable to one with no squareness to relieve the richness of the curves. For straight lines are significant of the deeper and more permanent things of life, of the powers that govern and restrain, and of infinity13; while the rich curves (that is, curves the farthest removed from the straight line) seem to be expressive14 of uncontrolled energy and the more exuberant15 joys of life. Vice16 may be excess in any direction, but asceticism17 has generally been accepted as a nobler vice than voluptuousness18. The rococo19 art of the eighteenth century is an instance of the excessive use of curved forms, and, like all excesses in the joys of life, it is vicious and is the favourite style of decoration in vulgar places of entertainment. The excessive use of straight lines and square forms may be seen in some ancient Egyptian architecture, but this severity was originally, no doubt, softened20 by the use of colour, and in any case it is nobler and finer than the vicious cleverness of rococo art.
221We have seen how the Greeks balanced the straight lines of their architectural forms with the rich lines of the sculpture which they used so lavishly21 on their temples. But the balance was always kept on the side of the square forms and never on the side of undue22 roundness. And it is on this side that the balance would seem to be in the finest art. Even the finest curves are those that approach the straight line rather than the circle, that err23 on the side of flatnesses rather than roundnesses.
Between Flat and Gradated Tones
What has been said about the balance of straight lines and curves applies equally well to tones, if for straight lines you substitute flat tones, and for curved lines gradated tones. The deeper, more permanent things find expression in the wider, flatter tones, while an excess of gradations makes for prettiness, if not for the gross roundnesses of vicious modelling.
Often when a picture is hopelessly out of gear and "mucked up," as they say in the studio, it can be got on the right road again by reducing it to a basis of flat tones, going over it and painting out the gradations, getting it back to a simpler equation from which the right road to completion can be more readily seen. Overmuch concern with the gradations of the smaller modelling is a very common reason of pictures and drawings getting out of gear. The less expenditure24 of tone values you can express your modelling with, the better, as a general rule. The balance in the finest work is usually on the side of flat tones rather than on the side of gradated tones. Work that errs25 on the side of gradations, like that of Greuze, however popular its appeal, is much poorer stuff 222than work that errs on the side of flatness in tone, like Giotto and the Italian primitives26, or Puvis de Chavannes among the moderns.
Between Light and Dark Tones.
There is a balance of tone set up also between light and dark, between black and white in the scale of tone. Pictures that do not go far in the direction of light, starting from a middle tone, should not go far in the direction of dark either. In this respect note the pictures of Whistler, a great master in matters of tone; his lights seldom approach anywhere near white, and, on the other hand, his darks never approach black in tone. When the highest lights are low in tone, the darkest darks should be high in tone. Painters like Rembrandt, whose pictures when fresh must have approached very near white in the high lights, also approach black in the darks, and nearer our own time, Frank Holl forced the whites of his pictures very high and correspondingly the darks were very heavy. And when this balance is kept there is a rightness about it that is instinctively27 felt. We do not mean that the amount of light tones in a picture should be balanced by the amount of dark tones, but that there should be some balance between the extremes of light and dark used in the tone scheme of a picture. The old rule was, I believe, that a picture should be two-thirds light and one-third dark. But I do not think there is any rule to be observed here: there are too many exceptions, and no mention is made of half tones.
Like all so-called laws in art, this rule is capable of many apparent exceptions. There is the white picture in which all the tones are high. But in some of the most successful of these you will generally 223find spots of intensely dark pigment28. Turner was fond of these light pictures in his later manner, but he usually put in some dark spot, such as the black gondolas29 in some of his Venetian pictures, that illustrate30 the law of balance we are speaking of, and are usually put in excessively dark in proportion as the rest of the picture is excessively light.
The successful one-tone pictures are generally painted in the middle tones, and thus do not in any way contradict our principle of balance.
Between Warm and Cold Colours.
One is tempted31 at this point to wander a little into the province of colour, where the principle of balance of which we are speaking is much felt, the scale here being between warm and cold colours. If you divide the solar spectrum32 roughly into half, you will have the reds, oranges, and yellows on one side, and the purples, blues33, and greens on the other, the former being roughly the warm and the latter the cold colours. The clever manipulation of the opposition34 between these warm and cold colours is one of the chief means used in giving vitality35 to colouring. But the point to notice here is that the further your colouring goes in the direction of warmth, the further it will be necessary to go in the opposite direction, to right the balance. That is how it comes about that painters like Titian, who loved a warm, glowing, golden colouring, so often had to put a mass of the coldest blue in their pictures. Gainsborough's "Blue Boy," although done in defiance36 of Reynolds' principle, is no contradiction of our rule, for although the boy has a blue dress all the rest of the picture is warm brown and so the balance is kept. It is the failure to observe this 224balance that makes so many of the red-coated huntsmen and soldiers' portraits in our exhibitions so objectionable. They are too often painted on a dark, hot, burnt sienna and black background, with nothing but warm colours in the flesh, &c., with the result that the screaming heat is intolerable. With a hot mass of red like a huntsman's coat in your picture, the coolest colour should be looked for everywhere else. Seen in a November landscape, how well a huntsman's coat looks, but then, how cold and grey is the colouring of the landscape. The right thing to do is to support your red with as many cool and neutral tones as possible and avoid hot shadows. With so strong a red, blue might be too much of a contrast, unless your canvas was large enough to admit of its being introduced at some distance from the red.
Most painters, of course, are content to keep to middle courses, never going very far in the warm or cold directions. And, undoubtedly37, much more freedom of action is possible here, although the results may not be so powerful. But when beauty and refinement38 of sentiment rather than force are desired, the middle range of colouring (that is to say, all colours partly neutralised by admixture with their opposites) is much safer.
Between Interest and Mass.
There is another form of balance that must be although it is connected more with the subject matter of art, as it concerns the mental significance of objects rather than rhythmic39 qualities possessed40 by lines and masses; I refer to the balance there is between interest and mass. The all-absorbing interest of the human figure makes it often when quite minute in scale balance the weight and interest of a great 225mass. Diagram XXVII is a rough instance of what is meant. Without the little figure the composition would be out of balance. But the weight of interest centred upon that lonely little person is enough to right the balance occasioned by the great mass of trees on the left. Figures are largely used by landscape painters in this way, and are of great use in restoring balance in a picture.
Diagram XXVII. ILLUSTRATING41 HOW INTEREST MAY BALANCE MASS
Diagram XXVII.
ILLUSTRATING HOW INTEREST MAY BALANCE MASS
Between Variety and Unity42.
And lastly, there must be a balance struck between variety and unity. A great deal has already been said about this, and it will only be necessary to recapitulate43 here that to variety is due all the expression or the picturesque44, of the joyous45 energy of life, and all that makes the world such a delightful46 place, but that to unity belongs the relating of this variety to the underlying47 bed-rock principles that support it in nature and in all good art. It will depend on the nature of the artist and on the nature of his theme how far this underlying unity will dominate the expression in his work; and how far it will be overlaid and hidden behind a rich garment of variety.
226But both ideas must be considered in his work. If the unity of his conception is allowed to exclude variety entirely, it will result in a dead abstraction, and if the variety is to be allowed none of the restraining influences of unity, it will develop into a riotous48 extravagance.
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1
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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3
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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4
totters
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的第三人称单数 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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5
deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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6
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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7
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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8
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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9
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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10
bias
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| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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11
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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12
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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13
infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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14
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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15
exuberant
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| adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的 | |
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16
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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17
asceticism
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| n.禁欲主义 | |
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18
voluptuousness
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| n.风骚，体态丰满 | |
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19
rococo
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| n.洛可可；adj.过分修饰的 | |
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20
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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21
lavishly
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| adv.慷慨地，大方地 | |
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22
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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23
err
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| vi.犯错误，出差错 | |
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24
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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errs
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| 犯错误，做错事( err的第三人称单数 ) | |
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26
primitives
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| 原始人（primitive的复数形式） | |
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27
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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28
pigment
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| n.天然色素，干粉颜料 | |
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29
gondolas
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| n.狭长小船( gondola的名词复数 )；货架（一般指商店，例如化妆品店）；吊船工作台 | |
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30
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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31
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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32
spectrum
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| n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列 | |
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33
blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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34
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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35
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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36
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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37
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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38
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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39
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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40
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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41
illustrating
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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42
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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43
recapitulate
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| v.节述要旨，择要说明 | |
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44
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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45
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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46
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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47
underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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48
riotous
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| adj.骚乱的；狂欢的 | |
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