Page:How to show pictures to children (IA howtoshowpictur00hurl).pdf/99

 tance and the point of view. He begins to realize that a landscape painter has a reason for every tree and rock in his picture. When there are figures to photograph, the arrangement of the lines, the position of the hands, the turn of the head, and the focus of the eyes are all points to notice. If the amateur is really anxious to do good work, the pictures of the masters suddenly become very interesting to him. The Raphaels, Titians, and Rembrandts, once regarded as very dull and grown-up subjects, are found worthy the study of every aspiring young photographer. What better arrangement for a mother holding a baby than in the Granduca Madonna (Raphael)? What pose more graceful than that of the Man with the Glove (Titian)? And when was a group about a table more beautifully planned than in the Syndics of the Cloth Guild (Rembrandt)? The young people whose camera work teaches them to appreciate such pictures have made an excellent beginning in art study.

The amateur’s artistic progress depends very much upon the help of parents. Indiscriminate praise is almost as bad as indifference. Sympathetic criticism is just what is needed. The right-minded boy or girl is glad to learn how the work can be bettered.

In a home adorned with good works of art, where all the family are familiar with pictures, many little picture games may be invented to play with the children. There is one in which each by turn describes a picture for the others to guess the name. A half-hour of this easy guessing is very pleasant while sitting on the piazza in the dark of summer nights. The game is