Page:Landscape Painting by Birge Harrison.djvu/178

LANDSCAPE PAINTING in comparison to the overwhelming influence of the private master, whose dominant personality must have been felt at every hour of the day for years at a stretch. The truth is that where an artist is born with the three essentials—temperament, character, and sincerity—it is impossible to destroy the personal note in him. Nothing can submerge it. The main thing is for him to acquire knowledge and more knowledge and still more knowledge, and the source of his information matters not one whit.

Personally, I am convinced that the synchronous arrival of the art school and the Decadence of Italian art was a mere coincidence, and that the modern system of art instruction—the great art school with its corps of intructors [sic]—is a distinct improvement over the ancient method. [134]