colleague replied: "The master never uses it at all."
(Mereschowski, LEONARDO DA VINCI).]

Such a grammar of painting can only be temporarily guessed at,
and should it ever be achieved, it will be not so much according
to physical rules (which have so often been tried and which today
the Cubists are trying) as according to the rules of the inner
need, which are of the soul.

The inner need is the basic alike of small and great problems in
painting. We are seeking today for the road which is to lead us
away from the outer to the inner basis.

[Footnote: The term "outer," here used, must not be confused with
the term "material" used previously. I am using the former to
mean "outer need," which never goes beyond conventional limits,
nor produces other than conventional beauty. The "inner need"
knows no such limits, and often produces results conventionally
considered "ugly." But "ugly" itself is a conventional term, and
only means "spiritually unsympathetic," being applied to some
expression of an inner need, either outgrown or not yet attained.
But everything which adequately expresses the inner need is
beautiful.]

The spirit, like the body, can be strengthened and developed by
frequent exercise. Just as the body, if neglected, grows weaker
and finally impotent, so the spirit perishes if untended. And for
this reason it is necessary for the artist to know the starting
point for the exercise of his spirit.