The two emotions will be like and equal to the extent the work is successful. In this respect a painting is no different from a song, each is a message; the successful singer succeeds in arousing in his hearers the emotions he feels; the successful painter should do no less.
The inner element, emotion, must exist, else the work will be a sham. The inner element determines the character of the work.
In order that the inner element which at first exists only as an emotion, may develop into work, the second element—the outer is used as the embodiment. Therefore emotion is always seeking means of expression, seeking a material form, a form that can stir the senses.[51]
The vital, the determining element is the inner, that controls the outer form, even as the idea in the mind determines the words we use, and not the words the idea.
Therefore the selection of the form of a work of art is determined by the inner irresistible force—this is the only unchangeable law of art.
A beautiful work is the product of the harmonious cooperation of the two elements, the inner and outer. A painting, for instance, is an intellectual organism which, like every material organism, consists of many parts.
These single parts, if isolated, are as lifeless as a finger severed from the hand.
The single parts live only through the whole.
The endless number of single parts in a painting is divided into two groups:
1. The designed form.