Page 49 - Studio International - April 1966
P. 49
Artists of their generation
London commentary by Edward Lucie-Smith
`Hard-edge' and 'soft-edge' —do these convenient terms The effect is quite different from that of the Vasarelys at
Right
Victor Vasarely Belatri ill have any real meaning when we apply them to abstract the BROOK STREET GALLERY. His cool intellectualism is,
1957 27 x 36 in. painting? Certainly, when used as a kind of journalist's somehow, much easier to discuss—friendlier to words,
Tempera on board
Brook Street Gallery short-hand, they tell us a little of what to expect. Al without being in the least 'literary'. Vasarely is searching
Stadler, at the KASMIN GALLERY, is an artist who uses for the firm definite statement—the works in black-and-
Below
Albert Stadler Spindrift 1965 broad, softly brushed bands of colour, often isolated white shown here are especially interesting, because they
48+ x 95f in. Kasmin Gallery against a neutral field. remind us of Vasarely's lifelong interest in architecture—
whole cities seem to rise up out of these complex designs,
only to fade and disappear again, as the optical flicker
sets a whole new set of patterns going. It is interesting to
compare these pictures with the works by Kassák, who is
also being shown at the BROOK STREET GALLERY. Kassák,
is one of those rediscoveries who are perhaps beginning to
turn up a little too frequently in the world of modern art.
A veteran Dadaist, whose use of typography anticipates
the present 'concrete poetry' movement, Kassák is also
related to constructivism, and, in particular, to the work
of his compatriot, Moholy-Nagy. Vasarely makes the
kind of thing he does look a bit static.
Yet, perhaps, one is entitled to argue that artists should
remain 'of their generation'— that there is nothing worse
than the aping of younger men. Souverbie, at ROLAND,
BROWSE AND DELBANCO, exemplifies this dictum perhaps
a little too thoroughly. A painter of monumental figures,
chiefly female nudes, he is the epitome of twenties classi-
cism. Nothing could be less fashionable at the moment,
and one's discomfort is increased by the immense debt
which the painter seems to owe to Braque. Yet these are
honest pictures, and one at least is very fine—a large,
sombre painting which carries one back beyond Braque
to Puvis de Chavannes; and beyond him, in turn, to
Ingres and David.
Souverbie has many of the same ambitions as an 'intel-
lectual' abstract artist like Vasarely. The human form is,
for him, a vehicle for general ideas; he seems to feel little
need for direct observation. Though the designs he creates
are grand enough, we are increasingly conscious of the
extent to which particular details are interchangeable.
The luscious quality of the paint sometimes seems at war
with this almost abstract content—of all qualities, sensual-
ity is the one which takes least kindly to generalizations.
Yet here is a minor artist who is still worth a second look.
J. Souverbie Sybil
46x 36 in. Oil on canvas, signed
Roland, Browse and Del banco
