The artist who improves indeed develops creative faculty, and this is rooted in that spirit which is the spirit of the Creator. To improve upon nature is to add to nature that which human nature has produced by a certain angle of vision. Improving is the perfection of nature. The path of the improver is risky. He sometimes has to produce what the human eye has never seen. Therefore his art, instead of appealing to the sense of beauty, often appeals to the sense of curiosity; and instead of bringing satisfaction, which must come through beauty, it may create a feeling of marvel. The artist must have a wonderful grace of form in order to improve to satisfaction.

There are many artists who develop an art which produces confusion in the spectator, and these are called "illusionists." They sometimes answer to the symbolical fancies of humankind; sometimes they appeal to the spiritualistic point of view; sometimes they produce a vision in their art, a feeling of something in a mist. This kind of art becomes of course a means of expressing the mystical ideas, but in the hands of the incompetent it is nothing but a meaningless art. And in the hands of the pretentious who wish to mystify people with their skill, it is nothing but a means of entertainment. The best way of improving upon nature is by keeping close to nature and yet amplifying the beauty of nature in painting, which is no doubt the true art.