Excerpt from Art-Making From Mexico to China<br><br>There is a maxim of Delacroix's that has helped lead astray many an artist, and that defines to a great extent the shortcomings of many of our modems: The artist should use nature as a dictionary. This representation of natural vision as a phenomenon which, if not actually to be despised, is nevertheless to be considered as a means only, has imbued many a painter with a disrespect for the world as we see it and an exaggerated admiration for the shapes and fancies that dwell only in the artist's head. Yet if, before using nature as a springboard for in spiration, the painter would examine and analyze the nature of this accessory, he would perhaps, as other masters have before him, become so engrossed in his analysis and full of admiration for the results, that there would be no need to spring, that he could paint what he sees, and replace the sense of his own importance by a sense of awe before nature.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.