IN every painting, as in any other work of art, there is always an IDEA, never a STORY.
The idea is the point of departure, the first cause of the plastic construction, and it is
present all the time as energy creating matter. The stories and other literary associations
exist only in the mind of the spectator, the painting acting as the stimulus.

There are as many literary associations as spectators. One of them, when looking
at a picture representing a scene of war, for example, may start thinking of murder,
another of pacifism, another of anatomy, another of history, and so on. Consequently,
to write a story and to say that it is actually TOLD by a painting is wrong and untrue.
Now the ORGANIC IDEA of every painting, even the worst in the world, is extremely
obvious to the average spectator with normal mind and normal sight. The artist
cannot possibly hide it. It might be a poor, superfluous and ridiculous idea or a
great and significant one.

But the important point regarding the frescoes of Baker Library is not only the
quality of the idea that initiates and organizes the whole structure, it is also the fact
that it is an AMERICAN idea developed into American forms, American feeling, and,
as a consequence, into American style.

It is unnecessary to speak about TRADITION. Certainly we have to fall in line
and learn our lesson from the Masters. If there is another way it has not been
discovered yet. It seems that the line of Culture is continuous, without shortcuts,
unbroken from the unknown Beginning to the unknown End. But we are proud
to say now: This is no imitation, this is our OWN effort, to the limit of our own
strength and experience, in all sincerity and spontaneity.