life-like; but we still feel them to be intensely real in the sense
that they still powerfully appeal to our tactile imagination, thereby
compelling us, as do all things that stimulate our sense of touch while
they present themselves to our eyes, to take their existence for
granted. And it is only when we can take for granted the existence of
the object painted that it can begin to give us pleasure that is
genuinely artistic, as separated from the interest we feel in symbols.

[Page heading: ANALYSIS OF ENJOYMENT OF PAINTING]

At the risk of seeming to wander off into the boundless domain of
æsthetics, we must stop at this point for a moment to make sure that we
are of one mind regarding the meaning of the phrase "artistic pleasure,"
in so far at least as it is used in connection with painting.

What is the point at which ordinary pleasures pass over into the
specific pleasures derived from each one of the arts? Our judgment about
the merits of any given work of art depends to a large extent upon our
answer to this question. Those who have not yet differentiated the
specific pleasures of the art of painting from the pleasures they derive
from the art of literature, will be likely to fall into the error of
judging the picture by its dramatic presentation of a situation or its
rendering of character; will, in short, demand of the painting that it
shall be in the first place a good _illustration_. Those others who seek
in painting what is usually sought in music, the communication of a
pleasurable state of emotion, will prefer pictures which suggest
pleasant associations, nice people, refined amusements, agreeable
landscapes. In many cases this lack of clearness is of comparatively
slight importance, the given picture containing all these
pleasure-giving elements in addition to the qualities peculiar to the