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King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 384, 5 August 1911, Page 7

Material gathered from life, even (f actually true, does not constitute Literary work,, the most interesting and valuable part of a book being not that which an artist takes from life, but that which he gives us out of his own ego. The commonplace praise that is so often heard about a book, or a picture, or a statue, or a drama, that it is like real life, is not only the utterance of ignorance, but also grossly insulting to a true artist ; for, to mention only five works of art, one could not say of the greatest of masterpieces,, such as ;he Venus of Milo, the Madonna Sistina of Raphael, Lord Byron's '"Childe Harold," Scott's "Kenilworth," and Westminster Abby, that they are true to real life, the truth Df the matter being that they have nothing in common with it. That which constitutes the permanent value of a work of art is its form, its unity, its harmony of composition, and, above all, its serenity, and these qualities cannot be attainad by naturalistic writers, for they produce their books in the midst of street noises and hospital moans, and have not the time to turn*impressions into thoughts. —"Contemporary Review."