The instinct of the child is to “compose,” to create. It is only after much chiding and correction that the child draws literally—copies what it sees.
It takes a big and strong man to pass through schools and academies and come out unscathed. The art school is a godsend to talent and mediocrity; it is a menace to genius.
Most paintings are “compositional” to some extent. But from the literalness of Monet’s hay stacks to the abstract qualities of Kandinsky’s improvisations the interval is great.
There is, too, a difference in kind, as well as degree, between the compositions of the painter who simply re-arranges nature, persons, or objects to secure a pleasing or effective result, and the painter who uses nature, life, or objects as so many signs or notes to express his inner feelings; the former paints to impress others, the latter paints to express himself to others. The one is thinking all the time of his picture, the other is thinking all the time of his message.
All great painters have combined the two attitudes, they have expressed themselves in pictures that not only convey the message but as pictures impress others—that is characteristic of the world’s great art.
At the moment the pendulum is swinging toward the extreme where everything is subordinated to the expression of the artist’s self, and the indications are that some subtle and wonderful things will be painted before the pendulum swings back.
To what extent the public generally will accept pure compositional painting it is impossible to say; but the number of those who enjoy it will steadily increase until there will be many lovers of art who will collect only the most abstract works.