Page 69 - Studio International - November 1970

Yet BERKELEY is in, oddly, on the strength The faults of the OCA are various and I
of his deriving from Shaftesbury. diffuse. Naturally the sheer difference in scale Etching,
I realize that this work had practical restric­ between this review and its some 3000 topics
tions, which is why even very important terms makes it <1;ppear that from my point of view Engraving,
in the minor arts do not find room, and we the project ran amuck. It did not, and the
are, in fact, told that it is 'not an encyclo­ reason why it did not is, I think, easy to find. and Intaglio
paedia'. I'm not sure what that means, but From the list of contributors it is evident that
if it is really a compendium of information Oxford has drawn heavily upon the Warburg Printing·
ordered along unusual lines, perhaps it could Institute, that brilliant ornament of this
have solved the old problem of dictionaries of country, which, if the Courtauld is 'only an ANTHONY BROSS
architectural terminology, namely, how do eye', is only a mind .. But what a mind. A Although a number of handbooks and
you find CROCKETS if you know what they special salute goes to the anonymous author treatises on this subject have been written
�
�ook •like but not what the word for them is. of'the entry on DECORUM for supplying a lean, the ti e has come for the many methods,'
.
One of the limits imposed set aside all but illuminating exposition of that sometimes matenals, and recent innovations to be
considered and evaluated in one book.
painting, sculpture, and architecture. Per­ neglected keystone of the humanistic arch Anthony Gross, who is an acknowledged
fectly understandable, but who would write between art and life, the single term, maybe authority on the subject as well as a well­
known practising engraver, considers these
about what MONTAGE is without even mention­ above all, of which Everyman has 'most need methods in their historical setting and in
ing the name of Eisenstein? (There is no to be at his side'. D relation to the work of the artists who have
entry at all for film, even though there is one JOSEPH MASHECK used them. 70 text illustrations 70/-
for PHOTOGRAPHY AS ART.)
Those entries on particular artists which I Sculptors' sculptor
have read seem as a rule concise and informa­ The Art Of
tive, and there are bibliographical !eferences Giovanni Pisano Sculptor by Michael Ayrton,
for following up ideas. There are exceptions, with an introduction by Henry Moore. Appreciation
however. The author who wrote that Andy 2�4 pp with 275 monochrome plates and
w ARHOL 'used the silk screen with the colour frontispiece. Thames and Hudson. , HAROLD OSBORNE
I
machine-like precision of industrial art' can­ £5 5s. This book deals with the nature of art
not have looked at his works, whose home­ appreciation in general, with particular
reference to the visual arts. It aims at
made sloppiness, in parody of the accidental Giovanni Pisano's startling genius has long providing a firm basis of understanding for
sloppiness of cheap commercial printing, is been familiar only to art historians, while to the practical skills of appreciation, which is
so much to the point. David Hockney does - the general public he is virtually unknown. treated primarily as a form of percipience­
the enrichment of our capacity for awareness.
not appear, while the heroes of British dumpi­ There has never been a popular book on him 20 photographs 5 0/- paper covers 30/-
ness receive their customary genuflexion: in English, possibly because most of' his The Appreciation of the Arts 4 _
ORPEN ('brilliant, prolific, and somewhat known works have remained in Italy. It was
superficial;' not even 'but somewhat .. .'!) and there that ' writer and sculptor Michael
MCEVOY (on Wilenski's authority superior to Ayrton. first saw them and was inspired to Painting
Gainsborough in 'gracefulness of attitude'; write this book to introduce Giovanni to a
what is that?), etc. A similar myopia enters in wider audience and to share his. profound PETER OWEN
when we relate judgements of foreign artists admiration for him. The book mmt have been Peter Owen suggests ways in which the
to those of native sons. Thus, the OCA has a lapour of love both for Mr Ayrton, and for inherent capacity to perceive and to react to
every right to say th;t HENRI is 'mediocre. and Henry Moore who wrote the Introduction. a painting's visual qualities may be
devel ped. 155 pp of photographs, drawings,
<;>
superficial' (though I would not), but no It is comfortable to hold, a feature rapidly and diagrams 70/- paper covers 35/-
right, then, to pat SICKERT on the head like a becoming rare among glossy art books, and The Appreciation of the Arts 5
naughty boy: 'highly articulat�, though not beautifully presented, even including on the
systematic in the expression of his views' (in dust jacket reproductions of portraits by Mr Oxford Paperbacks
other words, far from excellent· but echte Ayrton of himself and of Mr Moore, a warm
English). British art does not need phony tribute to a friend and fellow-admirer of Handbooks for Artists
buttressing like this to shore it up. It can Giovanni Pisano and a reminder that the
stand on its own merits when men like book is a joint presentation. According to the Two recent titles
BRANGWYN (praised, but with hesitation) or, credits, some 336 photographs were· made Materials and
in our own day, Caro (no entry) receive their specifically for this volume under the direction
due. of Mr Moore (though_ many are repeated Methods 01 Painting
The omission of important contemporary twice) and these alone are a welcome con-. Lrnton Lamb
artists might be understandable on grounds tribution. In the Preface, Mr Ayrton states 16/-
that this volume has taken many years to that this is a 'tribute paid by two sculptors to
· produce, did not Osborne feel free to confe�s a great forerunner,' and there is an urgency
in the preface that 'no attempt has been made in both the text and the Introduction to lettering as
to include such up-to-the-last-minute facts inspire the same appreciation in others.
and opinions about contemporary art move­ As a practising sculptor, Mr Ayrton dis­ Drawing
ments or fashions in art history as would in­ claims any pretensions to involvement in art­ Nicolete Brar
evitably become out of date within a few historical disputes and promises to 'treat of
years'. I am reminded of a passage in my acquaintance with Giovanni Pisano as a two volumes 15/- each
Chesterton's autobiography, a remark of his sculptor'. This and the author's account of
grandfather's: 'Ah, they talk a lot about the excitement these sculptures aroused in WW Oxford
fashion; but fashion is civilization.' How him when first seen lead one to expect a book igw:11;�• Universitu
significant that there should be no entry for through which one sees one sculptor through �ntVIMEAII Press •
'style'. another sculptor's sympathetic eyes, perhaps
213