In this spirit I have written out the following reflections, blending the practical with the theoretical and personal, as a pendant to my ‘Lessons in Art’ and ‘Life and Nature Studies.’ In the first book I have attempted to give the Alpha of Art; in the second I have given the Omega, as far as I myself know about Art; and in the present I have sought to give something of what lies between.

Whether I have been lucid enough to enable the reader to follow me, or sympathetic enough to interest him in my subject, I must leave to his own judgment. I can only say that my views are the reflections of one item appealing to other items in the big sum of humanity, written out honestly as the outcome of his own personal experience of the subject which interests him most deeply, and with the hope that he may find some readers who have had similar thoughts upon Art and Mankind, although they may not have been tempted to write them down. With this hope I leave my book to the consideration and judgment of each reader.

HUME NISBET.

Hogarth Club: June 1892.



CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
Introduction [ix]
A Word Before [1]
[I.] Where Art Begins[5]
[II.] A Study in Light and Shadow[26]
[III.] The Primaries: Yellow, Red, and Blue[56]
[IV.] Art in its Relationship to Everyday Life[97]
[V.] On Picture Lighting[119]
[VI.] Ships: Ancient and Modern[132]
[VII.] Illustrative Art: Past and Present[150]
[VIII.] Art in Minor Directions[176]
[IX.] Dress and Decoration[196]
[X.] Some of the Old Masters[229]
[XI.] The Sacred and the Comic Sides of Art[250]
[XII.] On Various Subjects Connected with Art[272]
[XIII.] Nature Worship[297]
[INDEX]: [A], [B], [C], [D], [E], [F], [G], [H], [I], [J], [K], [L], [M], [N], [O], [P], [R], [S], [T], [U], [V], [W], [Y], [Z][317]