Machinery had taken the place of handwork, and with the death of the
latter art and industry had ceased to have any relation. Public taste
in architecture was equally bad. A 'revival' of the art of the Middle
Ages resulted only in a host of poor imitations. "Thirty or forty
years ago, if you entered a cathedral in France or England, you could
say at once, 'These arches were built in the age of the
Conqueror--that capital belonged to the earlier Henrys.' . . . Now
all this is changed. You enter a cathedral, and admire some iron work
so rude you are sure it must be old, but which your guide informs
you has just been put up by Smith of Coventry. You see . . . some
painted glass so badly drawn and so crudely coloured it must be
old--Jones of Newcastle."[9]
[Footnote 9: Fergusson, _History of Modern Styles of Architecture_.]
John Ruskin, who was in many ways the greatest art teacher of his
age, was the first to point out the value and the method of correct
observation of all that is beautiful in nature and in art.
In an address on "Modern Manufacture and Design," delivered to the
working men of Bradford, he declared: "Without observation and
experience, no design--without peace and pleasurableness in
occupation, no design--and all the lecturings, and teachings, and
prizes and principles of art, in the world are of no use, so long
as you don't surround your men with happy influences and beautiful
things.
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