many of them so complicated as to have no mathematical
denomination.

Between these two extremes lie the innumerable forms in which
both elements exist; with a preponderance either of the abstract
or the material. These intermediate forms are, at present, the
store on which the artist has to draw. Purely abstract forms are
beyond the reach of the artist at present; they are too
indefinite for him. To limit himself to the purely indefinite
would be to rob himself of possibilities, to exclude the human
element and therefore to weaken his power of expression.

On the other hand, there exists equally no purely material form.
A material object cannot be absolutely reproduced. For good or
evil, the artist has eyes and hands, which are perhaps more
artistic than his intentions and refuse to aim at photography
alone. Many genuine artists, who cannot be content with a mere
inventory of material objects, seek to express the objects by
what was once called "idealization," then "selection," and which
tomorrow will again be called something different.

[Footnote: The motive of idealization is so to beautify the
organic form as to bring out its harmony and rouse poetic
feeling. "Selection" aims not so much at beautification as at
emphasizing the character of the object, by the omission of non-
essentials. The desire of the future will be purely the
expression of the inner meaning. The organic form no longer
serves as direct object, but as the human words in which a divine
message must be written, in order for it to be comprehensible to
human minds.]