Present Apathy
In this the co-operation of the general public is essential. In the past, as is evident in the simplest utensils, beauty was universally appreciated, but at the present time the large majority are apathetic to æsthetic environment; regarding art vaguely as the production and display of pictures and sculpture.
The present shows a considerable advance on the deplorable taste of the mid-Victorian period, but we have still far to go. The incongruity of domestic decoration and furniture which, unhappily, is too general, is the result of individual selection which is invariably uneducated.
The manufacturer can do much, and the designer may be prepared to do more, but until artistic appreciation is more generally diffused, any progress must necessarily be very slow.
CHAPTER IX
WAYS AND MEANS
THROUGH the medium of sight, interest and emotion are excited by phases of colour and form, varying in individuals according to temperament. The artistic perception and appreciation of these are invariably due to natural faculty, though much may be acquired by intelligent study.