Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c7.15

c7.15

NOTHING is more significant of the gulf which separates East from West than the general ignorance of Europe regarding the ideals of Indian art. India, unlike Europe, has a still living, traditional, and national art, intimately bound up with the social and religious life of the people; and this art, if we knew it better, might help both Europeans and Indians to a closer mutual sympathy and understanding. But the secularised and denationalised art of Europe has no affinity with the living art of India, and we, aliens in race, thought, and religion, have never taken anything but a *dilettante*, archæological, or commercial interest in it. Its deeper meanings are hidden from us, and those spiritual longings and desires, which come straight from the heart of a people, to find expression in their poetry, music, and their art, strike no chord of sympathy in ours.