I recently read an interview with American author Richard D. Mohr who wrote a book about Arts and Crafts pottery makers, Frank Ingerson (1879-1968) and George Dennison (1873-1966)—The Splendid Disarray of Beauty: The Boys, the Tiles, the Joy of Cathedral Oaks—A Study in Arts and Crafts Community (published in 2023). Mohr’s final comments in the interview made me consider “all the things worth having.”
Frank and George were prolific designers, painters, and sculptors, often creating as partners and signing both names to a work of art. The book describes their life and work which began with their honeymoon project in 1910 of a freestanding summer art school. Located in the the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Cathedral Oaks school followed the teachings of Arthur Wesley Dow, dean of American Arts and Crafts design. After a fire burned their home, studio, and the school, Frank and George went on to lead glamorous lives as interior designers in Hollywood and Europe. Among their friends were Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine, Yehudi Menuhin, Ruth St. Denis, and Lotte Lehmann.
Their most important project is the Ark of the Covenant at San Francisco’s Reform Temple Emanu-el. Installed in 1927, the nine-foot-tall, 3,000 pound bronze box holds the Temple’s Torah scrolls. According to Mohr, “Its radiant maximalism . . . is the focal point of a cavernous otherwise modernist space . . . The ark is studded with 600 sculpted enamel cabochons in imitation of rubies and sapphires and is crowned with a technical triumph—seven translucent medallions using at once both plique-a-jour and sculpted enamel techniques. Each technique on its own counts as a tour de force, the combination is stupendous.”
The Cathedral Oaks school influenced many artists. Pedro Lemos, who was at the school in 1912, learned art printing which led him to co-found the California Society of Etchers and he became one of California’s major woodblock artists. Calthea Campbell Vivian was head of the art department at the teachers’ college in San Jose. Her experience at Cathedral Oaks inspired her to give up arts administration and devote all her energies to painting and prints.
Cathedral Oaks school also led to the founding of three other summer art schools in northern California—William Merritt Chase’s school at Carmel, a School of Craft and Design at Pacific Grove, and a summer program at the San Francisco Art Institute, which was founded by Pedro Lemos.
At the end of the interview Mohr is asked, “Is there a single take-away from this (book) you want readers to have?”
“An aspirational one, I fear: Though at the end of their life together, the men ran out of money, for half a century they radiated the message that just by being yourself you can attain all the things worth having – ‘Freedom, Beauty, Truth and Love,’ or so Moulin Rouge! would have them.”
This quote made me stop and think, “What would I consider to be all the things worth having?” After pondering this, I, too, conclude that freedom, beauty, truth, and love are essentials. They are primary in our lives as creators—and as humans.
Freedom
Freedom is the ability to make choices and act without fear. We should have the right to act, speak, or think as we choose—as long as we do not harm other people, animals, or the world. Freedom allows us to live in a way as to be true to ourselves and express our individuality. We can make decisions that align with our values and beliefs. At the same time, we are not free (or should not be free) to force our beliefs on others. They are at liberty to believe as they wish and opt for different paths than we choose.
Beauty
Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasing to look at—such as landscapes, sunsets, people, and works of art. Together with art and taste, beauty is the main subject of aesthetics. I always think of the old saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Certainly sometimes beauty may be subjective and reflect the experiences of the person observing.
Beauty plays a central role in works of art and nature. Beautiful art (of any kind) fills us with pleasant emotions—feelings of happiness, calm, wonder, or peace. And, sometimes, it could be we simply marvel at the achievement of what is capable in art.
Mathematical beauty is the aesthetic pleasure derived from the abstractness, purity, simplicity, depth, or orderliness of mathematics. Mathematicians often describe this pleasure by saying math is beautiful or describe mathematics as an art form . . . or a creative activity.
Truth
Truth is the state of being factual—conformity to knowledge, reality, fact, actuality, or logic. Most human activities depend on the concept of truth, where as an idea it is assumed.
In art, truth is authenticity or a genuine expression of the artist’s vision. Abstract art, may not represent reality in a literal sense, but can convey truths about human emotions and experiences.
Love
Love is an intense feeling of affection for someone that is based on emotional connection, understanding, and respect. One can also have a strong enthusiasm or liking for anything—such as a love of books.
I believe love can also be used in a general or universal sense—as in loving our neighbors as ourselves. To love our neighbors (including all of humanity) we do not need to know them specifically. There is not a direct emotional connection other than that we are all humans. Loving in this sense would be treating everyone as we would want to be treated.
Expressions in Art or Creativity (and Living)
Artists and creators need freedom to express beauty, truth, and love through their art, in their creations—and, in their lives. I would argue that every human needs freedom to express who they are through their work, in their family, and in their hobbies.
Something inexplicable, beyond words, dwells in our work, our art, and our lives that has the capacity to reach out and touch another person’s humanity, memory, or psyche. This connection is the beginning of understanding—a dance if you will. It is a movement of emotions, thoughts, and ideas. If everything we do flows from our core being, it will reflect our personal truths which may also mirror universal truths.
Is art able to influence the world? I believe art can capture the imagination and change the consciousness of people. If the consciousness of people changes, then the changed people will also change the world around them.
When a young architect came to Louis Sullivan to report the destruction of one of his buildings, Sullivan said:
If you live long enough, you’ll see all your buildings destroyed. After all, it is only the idea that really counts.
— Louis Sullivan (1856-1925) American architect
When we die, any material possessions we own are lost, destroyed, or perhaps given to or bought by someone. We are temporary owners of any material possession. What we create, what we build, what we write, remain after we are gone. They are testaments not only to our life, but also to humanity.
Freedom to create art that expresses, inspires, and reflects beauty, truth, and love—love for everyone, every race and nationality throughout the world—is important to me. I agree with Louis Sullivan that ideas are important. The ideas of freedom, beauty, truth, and love are all the things worth having (and leaving behind when we die).
It cannot for a moment be doubted that an art work to be alive, to awaken us to its life, to inspire us sooner or later with its purpose, must indeed be animate with a soul, must have been breathed upon by the spirit and must breathe in turn that spirit.
— Louis Sullivan (1856-1925) American architect
Art is the perpetual motion of illusion. The highest purpose of art is to inspire. What else can you do? What else can you do for anyone but inspire them?
— Bob Dylan (b. 1941) American singer-songwriter
from The Rolling Stone Interview by Jonathan Cott (26 January 1978)
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