Art: The Great Eye

• Share

Most definitions of art are vague, inconclusive. Italian Philosopher Benedetto Croce murmurs abstrusely of "expression." Spanish Philosopher George Santayana distinguishes art as an extension of utilitarian practices into the realm where utility is forgotten and pleasure begins. Thus, a tribal dance pleading for the gift of rain is not art, whereas a ballet, tripped for its own sake, may be. In Manhattan, last week Sculptor George Gray Barnard defined art as the creations of those who possess the "Great Eye."

He explained his principle in telling how spurious ancient sculpture, currently prevalent (TIME, Dec. 17), may be detected from the real. The ''Great Eye," said he, is that which perceives "the division of light and shadow through an infinite number of planes . . . the secret of all living paintings or sculpture." Sculptor Barnard waved a finger at a twisted motif on his mantel, where graceful shadows tremulously yielded to high lights. Fakers cannot achieve this subtle chiaroscuro, so they roughen their surfaces with sandblasting to simulate age.

The principle may be extended to the art of music, in which tonal variations are evanescent. Great virtuosi, who know how to mingle murmurous, tinkling and strident sounds, might be said to possess the "Great Ear." Master perfumers presumably have the "Great Nose."

Sculptor Barnard said he had roamed through museums for more than 15 years before he realized the meaning of the "Great Eye." He now recommends that students cultivate it by the direct study of originals. Reproductions and photographs lose the delicate, important values. Furthermore, stone should be the only material of Great Eyed sculpture. Bronze and clay, the more plastic media, do not lend themselves to final innuendos of light and shade.

George Bray Barnard, sculptor extraordinary, is famed for his Gothic cloister in uptown New York City, where medieval sculpture and ornament abound. His works are scattered worldwide, varying in subject from The Descent from the Cross in Paris, to The God Pan on Columbia University's campus. In London stands his gaunt Abraham Lincoln, focus of livid controversy, of which Theodore Roosevelt said: "I have always wished I might see him; now I do."