Page 70 - Studio International - November 1968

ideas was there. waiting to be picked up. Picasso
Just Out!
CHAGALL
Unpublished Drawings
by J. Lassaigne. Comprising 45
hitherto unpublished drawings and
watercolours (including 13 in colour)
specially selected for this volume
by Chagall from his own private
collection. A Skira Monograph. £3.1 Os
WHO WAS VAN
GOGH?
by J. Leymarie. With 159 illustrations,
34 of which are in colour this book
sheds new light on Van Gogh the
tormented painter, his place in Dutch
art tradition and his contributions
to contemporary painting. Skira. 15s
Coming Soon!
WHO WAS LE
CORBUSIER?
by M. Besset. An impressive study of
one of the most imaginative and
influential architects of this century.
169 pages with 150 illustrations.
including_ 35 in colour. Skira. £3.15s
Zwemmer's
76-80 Charing Cross Road,
London W.C.2
228
unit. It gives scale to the rest of the sculpture and
and the British Museum were the only sources that apart from its features, its poise on the neck has
I ever really needed. (p. 102) significance. . . . (p. 232)
Russell constantly refers to the artists and the works The statement is helpful in interpreting Moore's
of art which inspired Moore. He reinforces the work; it is a statement few painters or sculptors
association by juxtaposing photographs taken by
would refute. Rembrandt for instance always high­
the artist himself of his own work with those Moore
has taken of paintings and sculptures of other lighted the head and hands of his main subject;
Caravaggio did the same. One is reminded of the
artists. In each instance the juxtaposition is latter's Conversion of St. Paul (1601, Santa Maria
pertinent. Russell is outspoken in his criticism of Del Popolo, Rome).
Moore at each stage of his development. Typical is a There are however no less than four pages of photo­
statement like '1931-the most fruitful year to date graphs which relate to this particular thought: a two­
in Moore's career.
page study of Moore's hands clasped behind his head,
one full-page picture of Moore reaching towards the
Characteristic of Moore is the appearance of the
same images over and over again. These are his heavens. and a page including twelve like studies of
obsessions: the mother and child image, the Moore thinking, which show only head and hand
interior­exterior idea and that of the reclining figure. and a pin-stripe shirt. The point is. to say the very
He ex­plains why he repeats: least. overstated. Another colour photo follows. a few
The vital thing for an artist is to have a subject that pages on, of Moore's hands placed on marble.
There are a lot of handsome photographs like it
allows him to try out all kinds of formal ideas-things which give no insight whatsoever into Moore's
that he doesn't yet know about for certain but
wants to experiment with as Cezanne did in his thoughts or his work. While the book is designed to
Bathers series. In my case the reclining figure pro­ be an intimate portrait of the artist. one would expect
vides chances of that sort-the subject matter is to find a number of them in a similar investigation by
given. It's settled for you. and you know it and like Life magazine.
it. so that within it. within the subject that you've There is one in colour showing a silhouette of
done a dozen times before, you are free to invent Moore's head and back taken through the back of a
That is to say Moore is a classical artist if one accepts chair in late afternoon on a beach, and next to it is a
a completely new form-idea. (p. 28)
photograph of Moore bathing under a blue sky in the
Wilenski's definition o,f a classical artist as one in
whose work form is the real subject. and the nominal blue sea with only his head and feet emerging from
the water.
subject is incidental (Wilenski Introduction to Dutch In Russell's book the author observes that:
Art). For instance, as Russell points out about the People who have grown up and grown old with his
sculpture entitled Figure (1933-9). 'th'e swelling is work incline to identify with it to such an extent
the subject. to a degree not paralleled elsewhere. that an attack upon Moore is an attack upon
and all other themes and incidents are subordinated themselves. (p. 219)
to it' (p. 57). Russell goes on to explain:. To them Moore is infallible. The photograph which
appears on the cover of the book also appears in the
There is no trace, in this figure, of the violated
block: all accords with the mysterious. even, body of the text showing Moore's head placed so
powerful and yet perfectly contained swelling of that it is located under the hole in one of his sculp­
the stone which seems. however irrationally, to tures. The implication of a photo like this one is
have been modelled from within. comical and in poor taste as well.
In the final analysis Russell sees Moore as an artist When Andy Warhol produced and reproduced his
who has 'lived all his life a private adventure' (p. oversized portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline
228), whose great works are dramas 'condensed, worshipping its national heroes and heroines. What
Kennedy he was criticizing the public for literally
caught up, concentrated'. (p. 58)
In John Hedgecoe's book it is the artist who pro­ he is saying is that public adoration of these women
vides the text and the author the photographs. Moore has gone so far that a picture of either could justifiably
answers the questions of an unseen interviewer about be hung alongside one of the Virgin Mary. Moore
his work, his family, his surroundings. However, the appearing with a halo around his head suggests
book is essentially a pictorial statement so that similar connotations.
Anyone who may be interested in a further investi­
Moore's comments are meant to complement the
gation of Moore's work should refer to David
pictures. In some cases the two mesh very well; in
others the relationship is forced or overstated. Sylvester's catalogue of the Tate Gallery exhibition
There is a portrait of Moore for example resting his
which will appear in book form this autumn, pub­
head in his hand next to a statement about heads lished by Frederick A. Praeger, Inc, New York. and to
and hands. Part of it reads: recordings of Henry Moore in conversation with
Hands. after the face, are the most obvious part of Phillip James, due for immediate release, together
the human body for expressing emotion .... In with relevant film strips, by Visual Publications.
Suzanne Rosalyn Levitt
figµrative sculpture, the head is, for me, the vital
known, is a friend of Picasso. arid he has had the
Picasso on stage artist's cooperation in the preparation of his text.
The account of Picasso's involvement with the
theatre is clear and thorough-much the best thing
Picasso: Theatre by Douglas Cooper. 360 pp. with on this subject to date. In addition, Mr Cooper tells
55 colour and 435 monochrome illustrations. us how important the experience and idea of theatre
were in Picasso's artistic development. An appendix
Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 10 gns.
to this volume contains unpublished letters and
Surely this must be one of the most elegant picture documents bearing upon Picasso's work for theatre,
books of the year. rich in photographs, drawings, and letters from the artist and from Erik Satie. pages from
colour. It is also what lavish picture books so often Cocteau's Parade notebook and from Picasso·s manu­
are not. a scholarly document. And it is lively with script of Desire caught by the Tail.
sheerly personal touches: Mr Cooper. as is well Gene Baro