International studio (48.1913)

Reviews and Notices

appeared during recent years none have given us
more pleasure than Mr. Tyndale’s latest work. The
title is perhaps a little misleading, for the author
has not, as might be expected, attempted to deal
with the many technical problems which present
themselves to the artist who endeavours to depict
the unique and wonderful beauties of the country,
more especially of the atmospheric effects peculiar
to it, but has given us, in an agreeable and chatty
manner, an account of some of his experiences
during a lengthy sojourn in the country. Many of
his anecdotes are amusing, while his' descriptions
of the native life and customs are always interesting,
for Mr. Tyndale knows his Egypt well. In his
account of the journey to Kosseir, in some ways
the most entertaining part of the narrative, he has
given a wonderfully vivid description which will
appeal to those who have experienced what the
author calls “ the charm of the desert.” If we
have any fault to find with this engaging volume it
is that the writer should have introduced the
gruesome details connected with the story of the
Princess Zohra, and with the death of Abbas; or
the vivid description of the horrors of the “ dancing
dervishes ” and other barbaric practices which have
now almost disappeared. These are not pleasant
reading and seem out of place in such a delightful
book. The twenty-seven illustrations are admirably
reproduced in colour. The subjects are well chosen
and varied, and are treated in the artist’s usual
sympathetic and attractive manner.
The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for my Children.
By Charles Kingsley. Illustrated by W. Russell
Flint. (London: P. Lee Warner, publisher to
the Medici Society.) ^2 12J. 6<Z.—Mr. Russell
Flint’s colour-books in the Riccardi Press editions
have frequently called for praise in these columns,
and we have formerly noted how the artist’s style
has with each book more perfectly accommodated
itself to decorative colour-illustration. The present-
work surpasses any of his that we have already re-
viewed in its thorough understanding of the problem
of book-illustration. There is no sameness in Mr.
Flint’s pictures, although he rightly retains uni-
formity of style. He has considerable inventive
faculty, both in the conception of his subject and
in the disposition of colour, in the latter obtaining
a great variety of effect. The ordinary edition of
“ The Heroes ” is limited to 500, and there are
two other special editions restricted to a few copies
at Z3 3-f- and ^15 15J. net.
Colour in the Home. By Edward J. Duveen.
(London : George Allen and Co.) ^2 2s. net.—It
cannot, of course, be denied that there is still room

for improvement in the taste of the British public,
but in view of the great progress that has of late
years been made in the decorative and industrial
arts Mr. Duveen surely goes too far when he asserts,
in his richly illustrated volume, that the houses of
the middle and lower classes are far less artistic in
their ornaments and furniture than the hut of the
African savage. Moreover, it is scarcely fair to
contrast to the detriment of his native land English
and foreign modern aesthetic feeling, for, to quote
but one case in point, nothing could be more
blatantly vulgar than most of the residences in the
new French seaside resorts, that compare most
unfavourably with the many charming houses in
the garden suburbs near London. Other sweeping
assertions, such as that “ in character and expression
both the Spanish and Venetian schools of painting
are deficient, but no fault can be found with their
colouring,” provoke hostile criticism, but, due allow-
ance being made for a certain want of balance of
judgment and inadequacy of literary expression, the
book—in which, by the way, scarcely any reference
is made to the illustrations—contains much useful
suggestion. The analyses of colours and the defini-
tions of their relations to each other, though they
are scarcely likely to be of much use in educating
the ordinary householder, display a considerable
knowledge of the subject, and the remarks on the
duties of municipal authorities might well be laid
to heart by them. Mr. Duveen would have an official
to control London streets and buildings, with powers
similar to those of the Dean of Guild in Scotland,
and he urges closer co-operation between architects,
sculptors, and painters, who should together control
the builder, the manufacturer, and the artisan, all
working together for the common good.
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors,
and Architects. By Giorgio Vasari. Newly trans-
lated by Gaston Du C. De Verb. (London : P.
Lee Warner for the Medici Society.) Vol. II.
255-. net.—The second volume of the new translation
of Vasari’s “ Vite dei piii eccellenti Pittori, Scultori
e Architetti,” now appearing in ten volumes, well
maintains the high level of excellence of the first,
the fine printing and the beautiful plates, some
in monochrome, others in colour, giving to it a
distinction as great as that of its predecessor.
Specially well interpreted are the Madonna and
Child Enthroned, by Bernardo Daddi, one of Giotto’s
most distinguished pupils; The Death of the Virgin,
one of the few surviving works of Spinello Aretino ;
the Annunciation, by the gifted monk known as II
Monaco; and the Madonna and Child with Angels,
by Masolino da Panicale, the master of the greater
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