artlessness

‘Oh! a beautiful cousin, Mr. Caveton!’ replies the young lady, with that perfect artlessness which is the distinguishing characteristic of all young ladies; ‘an affair, of course.’

Sketches by Boz 2007

Canalis, like Nodier, enchants the reader by an artlessness which is genuine in the prose writer and artificial in the poet, by his tact, his smile, the shedding of his rose-leaves, in short by his infantile philosophy.

Modeste Mignon 2007

Her golden-brown shining hair waved back from a side parting with that carefully contrived artlessness which is the crowning achievement of a coiffeur, and in colour it exactly matched her soft frock, which was of the sports variety with a finely pleated skirt.

Juggernaut Alice Campbell

'Oh! a beautiful cousin, Mr. Caveton!' replies the young lady, with that perfect artlessness which is the distinguishing characteristic of all young ladies; 'an affair, of course.'

Sketches by Boz, illustrative of everyday life and every-day people Charles Dickens 1841

'Oh! a beautiful cousin, Mr. Caveton!' replies the young lady, with that perfect artlessness which is the distinguishing characteristic of all young ladies; 'an affair, of course.'

Sketches of Young Gentlemen Charles Dickens 1841

In contrast to the image of the poet as the orderer, the craftsman, the poets of the _Fragments_ have a kind of artlessness (to us a very studied one, to be sure) that gave them an aura of sincerity and honesty.

Fragments of Ancient Poetry James MacPherson 1766

During the first twenty minutes or so, I wasn't sure I would make it through the entire movie -- it was, I thought, similar in style to a kind of movie I find unbearable: a style based on long handheld shots, a soundtrack that contains little or no music and lots of environmental sounds characters breathing, eating, walking, and a general attitude that seems to fetishize "artlessness", though offers little to replace the art it so disdains.

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days 2008

During the first twenty minutes or so, I wasn't sure I would make it through the entire movie -- it was, I thought, similar in style to a kind of movie I find unbearable: a style based on long handheld shots, a soundtrack that contains little or no music and lots of environmental sounds characters breathing, eating, walking, and a general attitude that seems to fetishize "artlessness", though offers little to replace the art it so disdains.

Archive 2008-02-01 2008

But this is not all; beneath the wonderful singing quality are form, compression, reserve force, meaning; the spontaneity now is that apparent artlessness which is the triumph of the lyrical art. "

The Stranger at the Gate 1912

Thurston Moore's music has ridden far on his goofy charm and teenage enthusiasms, his apparent artlessness arguably his strongest suit.

This week's new live music 2011