Meaning in Modern Art (1917) In art, progress does not consist in extension, but in the knowledge of limits. Limitation of means determines style, engenders new form, and gives impulse to creation. Limited means often constitute the charm and force of primitive painting. Extension, on the contray, leads the arts to decadence. New means, new subjects. The subject is not the object, it is a new unity, a lyricism which grows completely from the means. The painter thinks in terms of form and color. The goal is not to be concerned with reconstituting an anecdotal fact, but with constituting a pictorial fact. Painting is a method of representation. One must not imitate what one wants to create. One does not imitate appearances; the appearance is the result. To be pure imitation, painting must forget appearance. To work from nature is to improvise. One must beware of an all-purpose formula that will serve to interpret the other arts a...
