The Future of Art
(From “Collectivism and Industrial Evolution”)
By Émile Vandervelde
(Belgian Socialist leader, since the war a member of the Cabinet)
Many a time it has been said that art under all its forms is only the mirror, more or less distorted, yet always faithful, of society. Today it reflects the discouragements of a dying bourgeoisie, the torments, the anguish, and also the hopes of a proletariat which lives and grows in the midst of suffering. Tomorrow, it will reflect the calm and peace of happy generations which, escaped from the mire of poverty, will have founded through their own efforts the sovereignty of labor and the reign of brotherhood.
Art After the Revolution
(From “Syndicalism and the Co-operative Commonwealth”)
By Émile Pataud and Émile Pouget
(See page [857])
Life was now to take its revenge. The human being was no longer riveted to the chain of wages; his aim in life passed beyond the mere struggle for a living. Industry was no longer his master, but his servant. Freed from all hindrances, he would be able to develop without constraint.