onvert a mass of detail into tolerably significant form; but in the
greater part of his work (_e.g._ "The Knight," "St. Jerome") fine
conception is hopelessly ruined by a mass of undigested symbolism.

Every form in a work of art has, then, to be made aesthetically
significant; also every form has to be made a part of a significant
whole. For, as generally happens, the value of the parts combined
into a whole is far greater than the value of the sum of the parts.
This organisation of forms into a significant whole is called Design;
and an insistence--an exaggerated insistence some will say--on design
is the fourth characteristic of the Contemporary Movement. This
insistence, this conviction that a work should not be good on the whole,
but as a whole, is, no doubt, in part a reaction from the rather too
easy virtue of some of the Impressionists, who were content to cover
their canvases with charming forms and colours, not caring overmuch
whether or how they were co-ordinated. Certainly this was a weakness in
Impressionism--though by no means in all the Impressionist masters--for
it is certain that the profoundest emotions are provoked by significant
combinations of significant forms. Also, it seems certain that only in
these organised combinations can the artist express himself completely.

It seems that an artist creates a good design when, having been
possessed by a real emotional conception, he is able to hold and
translate it. We all agree, I think, that till the artist has had his
moment of emotional vision there can be no very considerable work of
art; but, the vision seen and felt, it still remains uncertain whether
he has the force to hold and the skill to translate it. Of course the
vast majority of pictures fail in design because they correspond to no
emotional vision; but the interesting failures are those in which the
vision came but was incompletely grasped. The painters who have failed
for want of technical skill to set down what they have felt and mastered
could be counted on the fingers of one hand--if, indeed, there are any
to be counted. But on all sides we see interesting pictures in which the
holes in the artist's conception are obvious. The vision was once
perfect, but it cannot be recaptured. The rapture will not return. The
supreme creative power is wanting. There are holes, and they have to be
filled with putty. Putty we all know when we see it--when we feel it. It
is dead matter--literal transcri