Page 69 - Studio International - March 1974

mainly about fashion. Sculpture, on the other
background to the art and explains its relation
hand, is totally ignored. to the 'Diamond Vehicle,' or Path, of
Most of the articles are written in the Mahayana Buddhism, a complex process of
traditional academic style, the main purpose of spiritual unfoldment. The chapter on
which has always been to mystify both the Mandalas and their symbolism is particularly
process of art and the 'lay' reader, a style which illuminating. A large section is given over to
is basically unsuitable to what should have been the reproduction and explanation of the deeper
a critical and polemical approach. One's meaning of the ancient `300 Icons of Tibet'
suspicions about the honest intention of the which form the iconographical basis of Tibetan
publisher is rather confirmed by the painting. The book is well produced, lavishly
triumphant close to the blurb : 'The book is illustrated in colour and black and white, and
superbly illustrated and combines the pleasure the reproductions are, on the whole, of
of a rich catalogue of esoteric erotica, with the excellent quality. Each is accompanied by a
satisfaction of a penetrating and original study'. detailed commentary on its symbolism. There is
Irate women please note the title, lascivious an adequate bibliography, together with various
males please read the subtitle and fork out six esoteric charts, and several useful indices.
pounds on seeing the sexy dustjacket. The works are not dated, but this is less
The book is certainly more noteworthy for its important in a Tibetan context than it would be
lavish illustrations than for its text, part of with us.
which was actually missing in my copy. Only one This thorough exposition shows the
essay was written with the tone and attack one paintings to be 'thought-provoking picture-
would expect from a book which claims to take a tools, revealing the Spiritual Path' : Tibetan
revolutionary position to the history of art, and art may be described as, over and above its
that was the essay by Linda Nochlin, who aesthetic qualities, an instrument through
explores the breasts-as-apples metaphor in art which, by meditation and invocation, the Power
and wittily juxtaposes a 19th-century photograph or Quality personified by the image can be
of a nude lady with a tray of apples with a released in the beholder. Many of the works
photograph of her own — a simpering nude male radiate great spiritual force and beauty; the
holding a tray of bananas at knee-level. Less book is beautiful in itself, and succeeds in
amusing, but certainly interesting, is the conveying the intentions of this potent and
article on pictures painted on the theme of subtle art. q
`Caritas Romana'. Being ignorant of the legend BENJAMIN CREME
of the young Roman matron who kept her Charles Rennie
imprisoned father alive by suckling him at the Mackintosh as a
breast, I was naturally rather startled to see a Beyond the fringe
whole series of paintings depicting an old man Celtic Art: an Introduction by Ian Finlay. designer of chairs
sucking the breast of a young and beautiful 183pp, illustrated. Faber, London. £7.50.
woman. One wonders how many past viewers with an introduction by
Professor Andrew McLaren Young
of these pictures knew the story — or cared. The real Celtic revival took place as long ago as and
The literary message of so many paintings is the Roman withdrawal from Western Europe; biographical and critical notes by
irrelevant: the image tells its own story, and only before that the Celts, at their peak in 30o BC, held Filippo Alison of Naples University
a pedant would come closer to find out a territory stretching from Ireland to Galatia,
whether Susanna was getting out of her bath, infusing it with one common, highly developed The first comprehensive exposition
or if the judge of the bathing beauty contest was culture. There were no outward trappings of the chairs (and their related drawings)
upon which so much of Charles Rennie
Paris. q of organized power to support it, for it seems Mackintosh's reputation at home and
EVA FIGES that the Celts embraced a highly organic, abroad rested. Illustrated throughout,
kinship-based structure of society. Their with 42 plates in colour, and with
concept both of trade and property seems detailed notes on the chairs.
Spiritual aid to have been strongly communal, with an 108 pages
Mystic Art of Ancient Tibet by Blanche emphasis for instance on bartering rather than Price £3.95
Christine Olschak in collaboration with on coinage substitutes. This might indicate
Geshé Thupten Wangyal. 224 pp, a greater range of human values, rather than,
514 illustrations, 142 in colour. George Allen as is often assumed, a lack of 'civilization'.
& Unwin, London, 1973. £10.50. Against this background, so utterly different
from that of the Civis Romanus, the few rare and
The main purpose of this book is to demonstrate intricate examples of their art remain to
the functional aspect of Tibetan religious art as tantalize modern scholars such as Ian Finlay.
an aid in meditation and spiritual growth. For such a people, continually so aware of
The present political situation in that country their environment in a world of nature, it is
makes access difficult to the major art of Tibet, interesting to note how representational art
the large-scale murals in monasteries and gradually disappeared, leaving, by the time of
temples : this book devotes itself mainly to the the Celtic revival in Britain and Ireland, as
secondary art of portable Thankas (picture- strong a concentration of artistic skills as ever,
rolls), bronzes and drawings, most of which are in terms of ornamental work applied to metal
from the author's own rich and varied and jewellery. This propensity towards applied
collection. art was then raised to new levels of sophistication
The scholarly text describes the historical through the direct patronage of the early

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