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THE LONDON SALON 175
But there is more than this to be said for
the London Salon :
its standard of painting is
far higher than that of the Royal Academy
or of the New English Art Club. For this we
have chiefly to thank Mr. Walter Sickert and
his pupils. They set the tone. It is extra-
ordinary that any master should have led so
many pupils so far along the road to art.
All have been taken to that point where work
ceases to appear utterly negligible. All have
been made to search life for realities, and not
for
pictures. They have been taught to
simplify and to select ; and they have been
taught not to select the obvious, the romantic,
and the pretty. They have not been taught,
however, to discover and express the profoundly
significant, for that cannot be taught.
Even Mr. Sickert cannot turn sincere and
intelligent painters into artists.
Entering the arena, the visitor will probably
turn first to the large picture by Mr. Wyndham
Lewis. To appreciate this, he should take
the lift to the gallery, whence, having shed all
irrelevant prejudices in favour of representation,
he will be able to it contemplate as a
piece of pure design. He will be able to judge
it as he would judge music that is to say,
as pure, formal expression. So judging, he
cannot fail to be impressed by the solidity of
the composition, to which the colour is not