Page 71 - Studio International - November 1968

first because it would have been easy to make this
Taste bud almost sure publishing success an insignificant book. Abrams
for the subject itself has an obvious. unavoidable
fascination which is part of the fun. ART BOOKS FOR AUTUMN
If art history in general is a kind of fog in which
Art Deco of the 20s and 3Os by Bevis Hillier. London: distantly spaced lights shine with varying intensities. DALi edited and arranged by Max Gerard
Studio Vista Limited; New York: E. P. Dutton and and in which the function of the historian is to sug­ This is perhaps one of the most 'Dalinian' books
ever published, with al I of its components
Co. Inc. Paper 12s 6d/$2.45. gest where hidden paths lie. the history of this period supervised by the artist himself. The dramatic
is fascinating because the fog is only now rolling in full-page colour plates are selected from every
We are all lucky that the first book to appear on the upon it and you can see its sharp edge swallowing phase of Dali's career, spiced by his own
latest fad in taste is Bevis Hillier's solid. sensible up a local Odeon here or swerving there to preserve inimitable prose.
222 illustrations, including 82 plates in full colour,
treatment of the decorative style which. to evoke one a still attractive lettering style. Everyone can think of and 16 in gravure, 256 pages, 11 x 11¾ inches.
of its favourite motifs. radiated out from the Ex­ at least one favourite uncatalogued item for nomina­ 15gns
position International des Arts Decoratifs et lndus­ tion to the rank of Key Monument. (Mine would be THE SHELL: FIVE HUNDRED MILLION
triels Modernes. held in Paris in 1925. The only Bewlay's Coffee House in Dublin.) But the fog is YEARS OF INSPIRED DESIGN
reservation might be that you don't get much help in rolling in. and it is good that Hillier wrote this clear­ by Hugh and Marguerite Stix and R. T. Abbott,
with photographs by H. Landshoff
connoisseurship-how to tell good Art Deco from headed book before we all got swam13ed by it. Just 203 illustrations, including 82 hand-tipped in full
bad: maybe we just can't say yet. Otherwise it is enough objective history. just enough sympathy. It's colour, 256 pages, 11¾ x 1 Ot inches. 10 gns
terrific. a superbly concise exercise in what Panofsky so elegant. so intelligent. It's the cat's miaow. ISRAELI ALBUM: DEVOTION TO THE
called iconology-the study of artistic motifs in relation Joseph Mashack PROMISED LAND Introduction by Dov
to contemporary culture at large. I praise the treatment Ben-Abba, foreword by Israel Ga/iii
The photographs reveal the land itself and the
people who devotedly gave it the image which it
presents to the world today; and each
photograph is accompanied by a relevant
Old Testament quotation.
and perhaps. when at its most abstract. stiffer than it 126 photographs, including 46 in full colour,
100 pages, 8¾ x 11¾ inches.
The concept of Art need be. But not stuffy. ADVENTURE OF MODERN ART 3 gns
The more exclusive aesthetic theories go down with
a bang. The heroes who support Wollheim's argu­ by Oto Biha/ji-Merin
ment are those who have gone furthest in stressing The author juxtaposes contemporary art works
not only with similar examples, but also with
Art and its Objects: an introduction to Aesthetics by art's attachment to the real world (on the lines of creations by'pre-historic or primitive man, with
Richard Wollheim. 152 pp. Harper & Row. 18s. language) without giving way on its inner quality, telescopic or microscopic views of nature, with
i.e. Freud. Wittgenstein. Adrian Stokes. His account machinery and technical equipment, and with
What is a work of art? Is it a physical object? Is its of the latter is particularly valuable in the way that it urban scenes.
281 black and white illustrations, 368 pages,
standing as an object affected by the fact that it repre­ places him in a wide context. 8½ x 11½ inches. 6 gns
sents something else, or that it is expressive? What Presumably the book is aimed at students of MARINO MARINI: LITHOGRAPHS
do we mean by interpretation and what is the rela­ philosophy and to them its brevity. its extraordinary 1942-1965 Introduction by Giovanni Carandente
tion between interpretation in the performing arts range and detailed bibliography will be high recom­ and catalogue raisonne by L. F. Toninelli
108 illustrations, including 6 hand-tipped plates in
and the non-performing arts? What is the nature of mendations. The non-technical reader might wish full colour, 187 pages, 9¾ x 12¾ inches. 4½ gns
the concept Art within which works of art are that certain ideas had been pressed further even at
recognized? Can the aesthetic attitude be extended the expense of the breadth of his advance. The ques­ ART OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES
by Franr;ois Souchal
outside art? What determines the stuffs and pro­ tion of the aesthetic attitude to nature is an example. This exceptionally beautiful volume explores the
cesses out of which art is made? Is there an analogy In one passage (sec. 18) he deals with the way in arts of Europe from the 11th to the 13th centuries:
between art and language? In pursuit of such ques­ which we endow natural objects with expressive from the Romanesque to the appearance of the
tions Professor Wollheim makes repeated sweeps meaning. and the implication seems to be that this Gothic style.
270 illustratio,os, including 140 plates in full
across the whole field of aesthetics. frequently is a natural and unavoidable -process. In an import­ colour, and 264 pages, 7½ x 8¾ inches. 2 gns
pausing to analyse and test the p_ositions of such as ant passage elsewhere (sees. 42 and 43) he says ART OF THE FAR EAST
Croce, Wolfflin. Gombrich and the protagonists of that the aesthetic contemplation of natural forms by Hugo Munsterberg
the Presentational theory or of Information theory. He is simply an extension of an attitude learned from art. This volume is undoubtedly one of the best concise
does not concern himself with problems of evalua­ It may be that these two statements do not conflict introductions to Oriental Art available in English.
237 illustrations, including 122 plates in full
tion-although his awareness of such values is in within the precise terms of his argument. But in a colour, 1 map, chronological tables, 264 pages,
evidence all along. more general sense they appear to. 7½ x 8¼ inches. 2 gns
To the non-philosophical reader the text is stiff Andrew Forge THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF
ANTHROPOLOGY, MEXICO
Introduction by Ignacio Bernal, with articles by
Pedro Ramirez Velazquez
Here in a magnificent volume is the pictorial
Labour of love by the late Director of the National embodiment of one of the most striking and
daring new museums. The volume was produced
Shorter notices Gallery and his 'first serious attempt at art history' under the direction of Pedro Velazquez, the man
(his own words). who conceived and directed the creation of the
museum.
Recent British Painting by Alan Bowness. 161 pp 308 illustrations, including 53 in full colour, 264
Serial Imagery by John Coplans. 144 pp illustrated 20 colour and 77 monochrome illustrations. Lund pages, 10 x 12½ inches. 8 gns
throughout in colour and monochrome. Pasadena Humphries. 63s. GIACOMETTI: A SKETCH BOOK OF
INTERPRETIVE DRAWINGS
Art Museum. California. Hardback version of the catalogue for the Peter by Luigi Carlucci
Catalogue. with many additional illustrations. of one Stuyvesant Foundation Collection. shown at the Giacometti's affection for the great art of the past
of those fascinating theme exhibitions which are Tate Gallery in 1967. A useful orthodox selection is movingly shown in these highly personal
staged so often in America and so rarely in England. from British paintings of the sixties. interpretations-drawn in his exquisite and
attenuated style of works by Rembrandt,
The generous illustrations reconstitute many series­ Velazquez, El Greco and many others.
from Monet's Rauen Cathedral to Stella's Vees Watercolours from the Turner Bequest by Martin 144 gravure illustrations in black and white, 328
-which are unfortunately never likely to be re­ Butlin. Short introduction and catalogue, in German. pages, 8¾ x 9½ inches. 6 gns
assembled in fact. with a history of Serial Images. a French and English, with 24 full-page colour repro­
Definition, chapters on each artist represented. and ductions. The Tate Gallery. 63s. Harry N. Abrams:
Selected Bibliography. A beautifully reproduced selection from the Tate's
vast holding of Turners. The most extreme and Publishers of ABRAMS
Piero de/Ja Francesca and the Early Renaissance by astonishing aspects of his art are often revealed in Fine Art Books LI U
Philip Hendy. 248 pp with 34 colour and 67 mono­ these later watercolours. and it's worth paying a high
chrome illustrations. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 70s. price to have them reproduced with some accuracy. Barnard's Inn, Holborn, London, E.C.1 01-4054614
229