Page 17 - Studio International - June 1966

cussed with slight envy directed towards New valuable paintings at Sotheby's-in a dark trends and individual artists, as well as
York Arts, Art News and, later, Ariforum, corner. Arts, which in many ways is ve ry books and exhibition catalogues, and its
nobody anticipated that by 1966 there would similar to Art News, tends to be less radical nineteen volumes to date represent a fair
be a special magazine devoted to sculpture, in content. Art International, which most survey of present-day art. The most luxurious
that Studio International would change its people say they would buy if they were to reportage periodical, despite its scope, it
editorial policy, and that Art & Artists get one magazine only, gives the most· deals with neither philosophy nor theory of
would finally appear. Meanwhile Lawrence impressively international coverage in art. None of the magazines mentioned here
Alloway, Gordon House, and William several languages without translation. The specifically relate art to literature or to music,
Turnbull brought out two issues of Gazette eleven monthly chronicles from different or draw any parallels between contempora
ry
in 1961 which consisted almost entirely of countries provide the bulk of the magazine, thought and contemporary art. Metro, which
statements by artists; Theo Crosby andJohn and features of ve ry varied quality lack the started out in an adventurous spirit of
Bodley edited three issues of Living Arts, essence of intensive inqui ry and originality of discovery, recently settled down to a safe
planned to complement the activities of the its sister publication, the Lugano Review, conventional formula. The only periodical
ICA-ajournal of which the.basic aim was to which deals with both literature and art. which consistently attempts to draw parallels
examine and exchange ideas; while Ruari Since Art International was recently redesigned, between the different spheres of creative
McLean edited several numbers of Motif, given a spine and printed on both matt and activity and experiment is the Palermo
which dealt with more adventurous aspects glossy paper, the text and illustrations have magazine Collage, which is non-commercial
of art in Britain. been split up, and one tends to flip through it to the extent that none of the editors or
So far none of the new journals provide the rather than settle down to four or five solid writers get paid. Outwardly a most
sort of radical forum where a single aspect of pages of print, which beyond a title such as unpromising publication, subtitled 'Dialogues
art or a specific idea can be examined exten­ 'Lettre de Paris' fail to suggest in any way of Culture', Collage contains the sort of
sively and from different angles-the sort of what the contents might be about. It has material on music, symbology, and the visual
approach which would take any given issue been remarked that Art International might arts which one is not likely to find elsewhere.
out of the realm of ephemera and establish it be read only for its advevtisi.ng, which gives It is magazines like Collage and It Is ( the
as a document. This would come'near rise to the idea that thete could be room for a voice of abstract expressionist artists in the
the coverage attempted by Aujourd'hui magazine composed solely of art advertising USA), as well as various art school publications
which devotes specific issues of the magazine which would be given away free. The bi­ like It's (Wimbledon School of Art) and Link
to the coverage of individual countries; monthly Art in America devotes more space (Gloucester College of Art) that supplement
recently, for instance, an entire issue dealt to peripheral features, on subjects such as and question the thoughts of the establish­
with Le Corbusier. The Norwegian toys designed by artists, art and television, ment, to which glossies invariably belong.
magazine Kunsten Idag carries no reviews and what artists eat, than any other periodi­ Most art magazines fall between the two
whatever and contains only one or two cal, and does not attempt international stools of wishing to be different and wanting
features on lesser-known subjects. coverage. to please everyone simultaneously. One
Despite the overall impression of sameness On April 1st two new magazines appeared. cannot be both catholic and radical, popular
there are certain distinctive features which Art & Artists, which follows the usual formula and learned. If one remembers that art
help one to decide which magazine to of covering the international scene from a magazines are commercial propositions, it is
subscribe to. Ariforum, the West Coast number of angles, verges on the florid in both unwise to expect the editors to follow in the
magazine, originated in 1962 and is sub­ content and layout. Billedkunst from steps ofEugeneJolas, fill the pages with
divide.cl into two main sections: reviews Denmark limits its editorial to a number of truly original contributions, and declare
which give it a local character and which chosen themes ranging from Kitaj to a study that if more than 2,000 copies were sold they
occupy the greater part of the paper, and of relationships between art and film, would believe it to be a failure. If aJolas
'Forum', which contains high-powered Eisenstein's sketches for films, and collages were to appear on the art scene today,
features and interviews, often dealing with by Hans Christian Andersen, as well as new despite the art boom and all that it entails,
new subjects which have not been tackled painting from the Soviet Union. With superb he would probably be found in a small
elsewhere. Art News, which looks as if the colour, functional layout, and English back-room somewhere with nothing more
design had not been changed since the summaries, it is one of the most absorbing elaborate than a heap of paper and a roneo
magazine was founded in 1902, is probably, publications on the market. machine. D
America's most influential art organ, with its Apart from the monthlies and bi-monthlies,
reputation based strictly on content and Quadrum, which appears three times a year
standard of criticism, where important without attempting to cover the scene up to
articles are displayed in a similar way to date, gives extensive coverage to current
. .

Gene Baro publishes widely on the visual arts and on Lindsay, is a historian, biographer, and novelist. T.G. Rosenthal, art critic of The Listener, is a frequent
literature, and contributes to Art International, The Several of his historial works, such as Byzantium into broadcaster on the B.B.C. Third Programme. He Is
London Magazine, The New Yorker, and other periodi­ Europe, have had a good deal to say on art, and his working on a monograph on Jack Yeats.
cals. He Is also London Correspondent of Arts Maga­ latest work, J, M. W. Turner-A Critical Biography, is
zine and Art in America (both of New York). to be published on June 30 (Cory, Adams & Mackay, Theo Crosby, architect and designer, is the author of
63s.; the U.S. publishers are The New York Graphic Architecture: City Sense (Studio Vista, 1965).
'A sculptor's landscape', by Barbara Hepworth, which Society). This work is the first major biography of
appears on page 257, consists of excerpts from an Turner to be published since Finberg's Life came
autobiographical essay which will be included in out in 1939.
Barbara Hepworth-Drawings from a Sculptor's Land­
scape, to be published In November. This will repro­ Robert Melville, art critic of the New Statesman and a Acknowledgements
duce eighty full-page drawings and have a critical contributor to a number of art journals, is the author We wish to thank the following for the loan of
introduction by Alan Bowness. of books on Picasso and Graham Sutherland. He is at blocks: The British Council; The Tate Gallery; The
present engaged on a book on the erotic element in Peter Stuyvesant Foundation; Kasmin Ltd; Robert
Jack Lindsay, son of the Australian artist Norman European art. "' Fraser Gallery; and Thames and Hudson,
227