Fraternity-Testvériség, 1963 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1963-12-01 / 12. szám
FRATERNITY 11 the character he wishes to give it. Behind these lines lies the idea which gives the work its special character. The artist must continually strive for absolute perfection. When he feels that he has nearly reached his goal, he must suddenly realize how far he still is from it. The principle that one must strive to know more today than yesterday applies not only to science but to art. According to Finta, the goal of art is harmony created by rhythm. The idea must be blended with the form to create a feeling of perfect harmony. Though the form is more limited than the idea, two different emotions can be expressed within it. This is evident, for example, in Finta’s composition, “Nymph and Faun”, described above. Here the form is the shape of the heart, the symbol of love. Within this form, the artist was able to blend harmoniously the sensual lust of the faun and the modesty of the yielding nymph. In Finta’s opinion, the purpose of form is to “. . . reduce the intolerable chaos of the world, when truth and beauty collide, to an understanding unity and order . . .” 3 Idea cannot be expressed without form, but an exaggerated decomposition of form only enlarges chaos and produces grotesque works which express ideas more usually conceived in a deranged mind. “The Greek artist”, he wrote, “took a block of stone, projected into it his dream, and then cautiously worked inward, discarding all that was superfluous, until his dream stood revealed to the world.” 4 Though he believed that the artists’ “task ... is to liberate themselves from the domination of their materials”,5 he saw this as a process proceeding from discipline rather than anarchy. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibidi (To be continued)
