Page 63 - Studio International - June 1974

anguish, typical of his greatest prints. different processes used to maximum
The other three are from Tauromaquia, effect.
the series which documents bull- The German expressionists are
fighting. In contrast to Picasso's represented by prints by Kirchner,
moving depiction of the trapped bull Schmidt- Rotluff and Nolde. The
or Minotaur in the Vollard Suite, the technique of woodcutting,
bull ring has no sinister connotations; traditionally a means of reproducing
Goya thoroughly enjoys the spectacle. images for the benefit and instruction
As Aldous Huxley has pointed out, of simple people, was well suited to
these prints are from the series least the reforming aims of the Brücke. The
likely to be of interest to people not demands and restrictions of the
brought up in the Spanish tradition, technique even contributed to their
but their juxtaposition beside Manet's formal vocabulary. Many people
Les Gitanos is enlightening. The value Kirchner's prints, which he
younger artist's debt is clear. printed himself, more than his
An earlier state of Manet's Les paintings, and his Fünf Kokotten is
Gitanos appeared in the first album of one of his most impressive. These
the Société des Aquafortistes, which emotion-charged prints interact with
was founded in 1862 to encourage Braque and Picasso's major Cubist
the neglected art of original etching. etchings, which provide the
Although the society survived in one exhibition with an oasis of calm and
form or another for twenty years, its order. The Expressionists' aggressive
portfolios were not in demand and approach contrasts with the
most talented artists turned in other deliberation of the Cubists, summed
directions. The amount of time up by Braque's statement: 'I love the
Whistler devoted to print-making was rule that subordinates emotion'. The
seen then as a sign of his eccentricity. taut etched line was particularly
But a group of his delicate impressions suited to the short strokes with which
of the Thames, sketched on the spot the cubists fragmented form and
with the etching needle, are in the suggested space.
exhibition. The complete break with figurative
Lithography, with no history, had art is represented by prints by a
fared even worse as a respected number of Russian artists produced in
medium for 'fine' art. The first major and outside Russia. As well as
painters to overcome their suspicion several pamphlets and poems
of the new medium were Goya, containing interesting illustrations
Géricault and Delacroix. But neither and typography by Lissitsky and
Goya nor Géricault had long to live Malevich, the show includes the Matisse Nu de Profil (Grand bois) 1906 art-for-its-own-sake demand that art
once they began to make lithographs, woodblock for Malevich's Woodcut, 48 x 38*5 cm, edition 50 works be comments on art works has a
and Delacroix— a small etching Suprematist Cross, which became larger history than the more recent
is in the show— eventually gave the symbol of Suprematism. considered the purest and most derivation of blandness in such
up print-making, disheartened Kandinsky's first Bauhaus portfolio direct translation of his emotions, and discussion. All new developments in
by the lack of public interest. He Kleine Welten II is in the reserve the richly worked elaborate American art in recent years have been
declared he had no time for such collection. compositions. The sheets are put over as a piece of honest-joe
minor works. It was in the popular The more recent prints in the imaginatively displayed in a way comment. This goes as much for
press that lithography thrived. This exhibition, including series by that retains their printed nature. Donald Judd as it does for
less distinguished channel of activity Sutherland, Richards, Miro and Fresh intimate portraits of his Lichtenstein and Warhol. Baldessari,
is alluded to by a fine early caricature Picasso, are on the whole the least friends, luxuriating odalisques in therefore, has a firm tradition backing
by Daumier, whose talent as a painter interesting. Commissioned by diaphanous finery and stark heads, up his genial comments on art.
and sculptor was not generally publishers like Marlborough Fine Art, float in front of the walls. The three Baldessari's earlier work does not
recognized in his lifetime. The print St Georges Gallery and Maeght, they large lithographs of a nude seated in satirize overtly : rather, he attempts
lampoons Louis-Philippe, showing are by the same generation of artists an armchair provide a rare chance to to constitute his works as art works in
him with his face hidden in his hands, grown older. Are Fischer Fine Art Ltd. watch the process of composition. a 'throw-away' manner, evincing in
so as not to upset the censor. the root of establishment 'taste' ? The feature which distinguishes isolation the least element necessary
With the revival of interest in print- It would be hard to see such a this exhibition from Lumley Cazalet's in their constitution. The progress of
making towards the end of the fine collection of prints anywhere earlier shows of Matisse's prints is the his work is thus reflective of the
century, the exhibition really gets else outside a museum, yet presence of the woodblock for progress of American reductionism.
under way, bringing out the something is missing. No Nu de profil (grand bois). It is easy One of Baldessari's paintings, Quality
increasingly important role played by idiosyncrasies emerge. A shrewd to forget that the craft aspects of Material, lists and exhibits the qualities
the publisher. As well as an unusual machine rather than an individual has print-making play almost as of good craftsmanship which much
selection of some of the attractive made the selection. The stock important a part in the creation of a American art at the time would see
prints by Bonnard, Lautrec and includes several sets of wonderful print as the initial artistic impulse; it is as the superficial requirement of hard-
Bernard, taken from the publications prints by the neglected and refreshing to be reminded of their edge painting. Baldessari's art charts
that were centred on colour mysterious Max Klinger, but few are artisan origins. As well as being a the development of practical
lithography, there is a curious group on show and those that are, are beautiful carving in its own right, the involvements of American art
of monotypes by Degas. Thought hidden shamefully in a corner. His block, with its deep furrows and rich attempting, like so many artists in
to have been in Vollard's collection, fascinating fantasy Paraphrase über patina, adds considerably to our their own ways, to find the point
they were used by him as illustrations den Fund eines Handschuhes should understanding of the print. between art and banal absurdity,
to Maupassant's La Maison Tellier in have been unfolded, in full view of Susan Lambert though his interests in the demarcation
the thirties. everyone, above the staircase, in points is not to discover (and indicate)
The magnificent group of works by place of the dreary and celebrated John Baldessari at the Jack where the banal comes up for the
Munch, including etchings, woodcuts plates from Henry Moore's 'Elephant Wend ler Gallery, London, May. count in art, but rather the reverse,
lithographs and prints combining Skull Album'. John Baldessari has for many years where the normative action becomes
woodcutting and lithography, Lumley Cazalet have another fine aspired towards occupying the banal and absurd. His 'parable' tales
provide a link between the French show of Matisse's magnificent prints. position in American art which Buster operate in this fashion as 'sound'
artists — Munch produced his first All aspects of his spasmodic activity Keaton had in American film. The advice for aspiring artists and reduce
prints in Paris— and the German in the art of black and white are, with stance of the straight-faced funny- their revered social position.
expressionists. The examples bring the exception of the rare Fauvist man is now a popular one where the The most recent works of
out his sympathetic handling of the lithographs, represented. A norm of American art has Baldessari on show at the Jack
different tools and materials, with balance is held between the free imperceptibly shifted to satire of the Wendler Gallery exhibit a shift towards
the intrinsic characteristics of the linear images, which the artist norm of American art. The American more 'traditional' concerns in art,