at way, of course. But all the great masters obey the eternal
laws of beauty!

JOE

There aren't any eternal _laws_ of beauty! There's only the eternal
impulse to create. Every artist has to express himself in his own way.
What you call the "eternal laws" are merely the particular expressions
your own favorite painters happened to work out in their time. If they had
lived in another time--

MR. WENTWORTH

A master would always be a master. There's no change possible in the
vision of the soul.

SILVIA

You see, Mr. Wentworth, what I have learned these last two years from
living among artists is that the painter with an original vision is always
opposed by the schools. That is, at first. But when he wins out, then the
schools merely take over his technic and use it as a club to put down the
next creator. And so it goes.

MR. WENTWORTH

Naturally, the great artist suffers hardship. But if we once admit there
are no _laws_, where are we? Anarchy!

JOE

The laws are contained in the impulses themselves. They come _with_ the
vision, not before it! If any one thinks this modern art is just an easy
way of painting--

SILVIA

Indeed it isn't! Joe works much harder than the students who go to the
schools. Of course, he doesn't paint by the clock.

MR. WENTWORTH

But the Louvre! All those beautiful pictures, those priceless treasures!
What about the Louvre?

JOE

The Louvre? It's a _museum_.

MR. WENTWORTH

What do you mean by "it's a _museum_"?

JOE

I mean that it's the place to put pictures in when they are dead.

MR. WENTWORTH

_Dead?_ A great masterpiece _dead_?

JOE

Of course. No man lives forever. Nobody that was ever born was useful
enough to live forever. The bigger a man is the longer his influence is
creative, in art and everything else, but the time always comes when his
value is spent. When the world needs a new influence.

SILVIA

It's really wonderful, Mr. Wentworth, how knowing the truth about art
shows one the truth about other things. When I remember what I used to
believe!

MR. WENTWORTH

But see here, young man, you wouldn't do away with the _Louvre_, would
you? Why, what would happen if these ideas were carried out....

JOE

No, I wouldn't do away with it. Why should I? If to burn it down would
wake people up to _life_, I'd do it in a minute. But it wouldn't. They
would only sanctify the superstition and make it immortal. No, leave the
Louvre as it is. It's reall