A workthat aspires however, humbly to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its every aspect. It is an attempt to find in its forms, in its colours, in its light, in its shadows, in the aspects of matter and in the facts of life, what of each is fundamental, what is enduring and essential – their one illuminating and convincing quality – the very truth of their existence.
The artist, like the thinker or the scientists, seeks the truth and makes his appeal. Impressed by his aspect of the world the thinker plunges into ideas, the scientist into facts whence, presently emerging they make their appeal to those qualities of our being that fit us best for the hazardous enterprise of living. They speak authoritatively, to our prejudices, sometimes to our fears, often to our egoism – but always to our credulity. And their words are heard with reverence, for their concern is with weightly matters; with the cultivation of our minds and the proper care of our bodies, with the attainment of our ambitions, with the perfection of the means and the glorification of our precious aims.
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