International studio (57.1915/1916)

Reviews and Notices

devoted'a large part of the volume to the anatomy
of the tree and the configuration of its details in
the belief that this kind of knowledge is essential
to the artist who makes use of tree forms, and
though it may be readily admitted that an excess
of merely botanical knowledge may react un-
favourably on his work, we agree that there are
many landscape painters whose work would carry
more conviction if it showed more appreciation of
the specific characteristics of the trees that figure
in their compositions. The volume is provided
with an abundance of illustrations, consisting for
the most part of drawings made by the author but
including reproductions of works by great masters,
ancient and modern, in which trees form an im-
portant part of the composition.
Bath and Bristol. Painted by Laura A.
Happerfield ; described by Stanley Hutton.
(London : A. and C. Black.) 75. bd. net.—The
author has gathered together in the 190 odd pages
of this book a great deal of information regarding
these two cities situated so close to one another
yet fundamentally so different in their character.
He evokes memories of the many distinguished
men who have been closely associated with either
Bath or Bristol, and the text makes interesting
reading. Lord Rosebery is reported to have
declared that “ the city of Bath in the month of May
is the most beautiful city or town in the kingdom,”
and perhaps we may see a revival of the great
popularity which it enjoyed in the days of Nash
and before the foreign spas became so much the
resort of fashionable valetudinarians. The volume
contains twenty reproductions in colour of water-
colours by Laura Happerfield, and two plans.
The Decoration and Furnishing of Apartments.
By B. Russell Herts. (London and New York :
G. P. Putnam’s Sons.) 155-. net.—In the larger
cities of America as in those of England, France,
Germany and other countries, the apartment house
has become an increasingly conspicuous feature in
recent years, and in years to come will probably be
more so, as the “ servant problem ” which in both
hemispheres is largely responsible for this develop-
ment, is not likely to become less acute but rather
the contrary. It is to the occupiers of such
dwellings, ranging from the small two-room suite
to the large suite of ten to twenty rooms disposed
on one, two, or three levels, that Mr. Herts offers
advice in the matter of the artistic treatment of
their houses, and though he is more especially
concerned with conditions existing in America,
these conditions so closely correspond to those met
with wherever the “flat” is in evidence that his obser-

vations admit of general application. In America,
however, he perceives, especially among the well-to-
do, a greater need of enlightenment in artistic de-
coration and furnishing than elsewhere. “ One of
the great difficulties which some Americans have to
face is that of being extravagant gracefully. . .
We do a lot of copying of old things in America,
but we do it chiefly without the background of
inherited tradition. Our ideals, like our apartment
house, smell of fresh paint.” Under such conditions
the decorator’s task is not an easy one, but the
author believes that the future is with the artists of
the profession and not with those whose chief
concern is getting big profits. His counsel,
especially in the equipment of the smaller suites
of apartments will be helpful alike to those who
live in them and to decorators who turn their
attention to the new problems which the new con-
ditions of life have produced. The illustrations
consist of reproductions in colour or monochrome
of interiors designed by the author.
Little People. Rhymes by R. H. Elkin. Illus-
trations by H. Willebeek Le Mair. (London :
Augener Ltd.; Philadelphia: David McKay.)
35. 6ff. net.—Miss Le Mair’s illustrations to nursery
rhymes and children’s songs have captivated the
hearts of a legion of little folk, to whom the young
Dutch artist has endeared herself by that sympathy
with- childhood which is so evident in her dainty
drawings. We are sure therefore that this new
book with its ten illustrations in colour will meet
with a warm welcome from all the “ little people ”
into whose hands it falls.

Under the general title of “Memorabilia,” the
Medici Society through its publisher, Mr. Lee
Warner, is issuing a series of booklets containing
as their subject-matter either some literary classic
or a group of monochrome reproductions of
paintings by old masters with a common theme.
In the former category there is Browning’s
“Christmas Eve” and “Easter Day,” Milton’s
Nativity Ode; Gray’s Elegy, “A Book of Carols,”
and another of “Noels Francais.” In the illus-
trated booklets, the subjects are “ The Visitation of
Mary,” “The Adoration of the Magi,” “The
Flight into Egypt,” “ The Life of Christ (after
Duccio),” “St. George the Martyr,” “St. Francis
of Assisi (after Giotto).” Each booklet is printed
in the beautiful type designed by Mr. Herbert
Horne for the Society and is published at iu net.
Various books published recently have reached us
too late for notice in this number and will be
reviewed in our next issue.

147