Artisticgenius，asM。Tainehasshown，issomethingwhichwilldevelopitselfonlyunderpeculiarsocialcircumstances；and，therefore，ifwehavenotart，wecanperhapsonlywaitforit，trustingthatwhenthetimecomesitwillariseamongus。Butwithoutoriginating，wemayatleastintelligentlyappreciate。
Thenatureofaworkofart，andthemodeinwhichitisproduced，aresubjectswellworthyofcarefulstudy。Architectureandmusic，poetry，paintingandsculpture，haveintimespastconstitutedavastportionofhumanactivity；andwithoutknowingsomethingofthephilosophyofart，weneednothopetounderstandthoroughlythephilosophyofhistory。
Inenteringuponthestudyofartingeneral，onemayfindmanysuggestivehintsinthelittlebooksofM。Taine，reprintedfromthelectureswhichhehasbeendeliveringattheecoledesBeauxArts。Thefirst，onthePhilosophyofArt，designatedattheheadofthispaper，isalreadyaccessibletotheAmericanreader；andtranslationsoftheothersareprobablysoontofollow。WeshallforthepresentgiveameresynopsisofM。Taine’sgeneralviews。
Andfirstitmustbedeterminedwhataworkofartis。Leavingforawhilemusicandarchitectureoutofconsideration，itwillbeadmittedthatpoetry，painting，andsculpturehaveoneobviouscharacterincommon:theyareartsofIMITATION。This，saysTaine，appearsatfirstsighttobetheiressentialcharacter。ItwouldappearthattheirgreatobjectistoIMITATEascloselyaspossible。Itisobviousthatastatueisintendedtoimitatealivingman，thatapictureisdesignedtorepresentrealpersonsinrealattitudes，ortheinteriorofahouse，oralandscape，suchasitexistsinnature。Anditisnolessclearthatanovelordramaendeavourstorepresentwithaccuracyrealcharacters，actions，andwords，givingaspreciseandfaithfulanimageofthemaspossible。Andwhentheimitationisincomplete，wesaytothepainter，“Yourpeoplearetoolargelyproportioned，andthecolourofyourtreesisfalse“；wetellthesculptorthathislegorarmisincorrectlymodelled；andwesaytothedramatist，“Neverhasamanfeltorthoughtasyourheroissupposedtohavefeltandthought。“
Thistruth，moreover，isseen。bothinthecareersofindividualartists，andinthegeneralhistoryofart。AccordingtoTaine，thelifeofanartistmaygenerallybedividedintotwoparts。Inthefirstperiod，thatofnaturalgrowth，hestudiesnatureanxiouslyandminutely，hekeepstheobjectsthemselvesbeforehiseyes，andstrivestorepresentthemwithscrupulousfidelity。