International studio (22.1904)

BOOKS RECEIVED

PICTORIAL COMPOSITION AND THE CRITICAL JUDG-
MENT OF PICTURES : A Handbook for Students
and Lovers of Art (second edition, revised).
By H. R. PooRE, A.D.A. 8vo. Pages 282.
Iilustrations 83. New York: The Baker &
Taylor Co. 1903.
In a recent issue we had the pleasure of intro-
ducing our readers to a volume by Russell Sturgis,
entitled, " How to Judge Architecture." The pub-
lishers have now brought out, uniform with that
excellent work, a second edition of H. R. Poore's
"Pictorial Composition and the Critical Judgment
of Pictures." The 7*%MW2 rfYTm for this second
edition is explained by the author in his second
preface ; it was found that the references to pictures
were not sufficiently clear, and the book needed an
appendix to place it upon " a working basis," so to
speak. In its present form it seeks to meet the
requirements of the student, proceeding from the
first precepts of formal and decorative composition
into the range of pictorial construction. The treat-
ment adopted divides the book into three parts :
1. Pictorial Composition (Scientific Sense in Pic-
tures, Balance, Entrance and Exit, Circular Obser-
vation, Angular Composition, The Composition of
Units, Groups, Light and Shade, and The Place
of Photography in Fine Art); II. The ^Esthetics
of Composition (Breadth wrjM Detail, Sugges-
tions, Mystery, Simplicity, Reserve, Relief, Finish);
III. The Critical Judgment of Pictures (The Man
in Art, Specific Qualities and Faults, The Picture
Sense, Color, Harmony, Tone Values, Envelopment
and Color Perspective, Bias of Judgment, The Liv-
ing Principle). The illustrations are of as fine
quality as could be desired, exceptionally well
reproduced and well printed.
WINTER. Pictured by RUDOLF ElCKEMEYER, Jr.
Introduction by SADAKicm HARTMANN. Pages
go. New York : Harper & Brothers. $2.00.
As we turn the pages of this book, we see
winter under every aspect,—frost and thaw, storm
and sunshine, softly falling snow-flakes, and whirling
ccxl

drifts. Fifty beautiful illustrations are contained
herein, each one revealing to us Nature in her glo-
rious winter garb; sometimes it is a frozen creek or
river fast bound in ice, under the cold moonbeams ;
sometimes wide fields of snow, melting beneath the
midday rays of the sun. Farmland, forest, and
mountain-region are all portrayed to us, transfigured
in their winter garment. Each illustration is accom-
panied by appropriate verses taken from the writ-
ings of those poets who loved the winter season,
— Cowper, Emerson, Whittier, and many others.
For every lover of Nature this book will be a
source of keen enjoyment, and to one who has
spent his winters in the country homes of New
England these pictures will recall many happy
reminiscences. The "bookmanship" bears the
stamp of Mr. R. H. Russell's exquisite taste. The
imprint is that of Harper Bros., in whose business
Mr. Russell's is now merged.
AMERICAN MASTERS OF SCULPTURE : Being Brief
Appreciations of Some American Sculptors and
of Some Phases of Sculpture in America. By
CHARLES H. CAFFiN, author of " American
Masters of Painting." Square 8vo. Pages xvi +
234. Illustrations 32. New York : Doubleday,
Page & Co. 1903.
THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SCULPTURE. By
LORADO TAFT, member of the National Sculp-
ture Society. With 12 full-page photogravures
and 104 illustrations in the text. 4to. Pages
xvi+ 344. Illustrations 116. New York: The
Macmillan Co. 1903.
" Ars longa est " —a dictum wonderfully realiz-
able when one compares the life and development
of anv one American field of art with that of the
great European nations of the Renaissance. In
politics America's diplomacy can no longer plead
youth, relatively speaking ; for how many European
constitutions have been remodelled, and even recre-
ated, within the last fifty years ! But, except in a
very minor degree, the monuments of a nation's
art do not participate in the decay of her politics.