Studio: international art (19.1900)

Reviews

To be issued in 16 parts. Price 280 f. We have
received the two first parts of this important work,
which promises to be one of quite remarkable
value. It is strange that no complete history
actually exists of the famous Chateau de Versailles,
although,whether regarded historically or artistically,
it is a subject of surpassing interest. The available
documents relating to it are both voluminous and
valuable; and judging from M.de Nolhac's opening
pages it is evident that he is taking full advantage
of the stores at his disposal. Old plans, drawings,
and etchings of the gardens and chateau are being
reproduced in so excellent a manner as to lead
us confidently to anticipate that the completed
work will be one of the most important events of
the year in the art-publishing world. We hope to
refer again to this undertaking at a later period.

The Floral Art of Japan. By J. Conder,
F.R.I.B.A. (Tokio : Kelly and Walsh. London:
Sampson Low.) This is a second edition of the
Art of Floral Arrangement, published some years
ago by the author. It contains many additional
illustrations, including some coloured prints by
Ogota Gekko. Mr. Conder's name will be known
to readers of The Studio as the author of some
excellent articles on the arrangement of flowers in
Japan, which appeared some time ago in these pages.
Mr. Conder is the authority upon the subject in
Japan, and his volume, as a text-book on this
fascinating art, has absolutely no rival. The
chromo-xylographic plates which appear in the
volume are admirable examples of the modern
development in Japan of that delightful form of
art expression.

A Handbook of Anatomy for Art Students. By
Arthur Thomson, M.A., M.B. (Oxford: The
Clarendon Press.) Price 165.—We welcome this
new edition of a truly admirable work. It contains
fourteen new plates, which succeed admirably
in throwing further light on the relation of
muscular action to surface form. All the illus-
trations having this aim are most useful, for
each one of them has a good anatomical key,
so that the eye can pass rapidly from the nude
figure to the plate representing the same figure
stripped of skin and flesh to the muscles. Some
of the author's sitters were Oxford athletes, others
were professional models; all are useful to the
student, though their forms are rarely without some
striking defect. The book, however, has one
drawback—it is too expensive for most art students.
Could not a cheaper edition be issued in monthly
parts ?
72

Anatomical Diagrams fo> the use oj Art Students.
Arranged with Analytical Notes and drawn out by
James M. Dunlop, A.R.C.A. With Introductory
Preface by John Clkland, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S.,
Professor of Anatomy in the University of Glasgow.
(London : George Bell & Sons.)—This is another
excellent handbook. It will benefit many besides
art students. Every figure painter should have it
in his studio, and the critic, too, will find it very
helpful to him. As might have been expected, the
introduction by Professor Cleland is a little master-
piece. The following passage from it should be a
guide to all students : " The greatest masters—in-
cluding notably Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci,
and Raphael—have found that to give intelligence
to their efforts at representations, and enable them
to understand the indispensable relations of parts,
it was necessary to call in the aid of dissection.
For the eye—though often, even when well trained,
at fault, especially when invention is brought into
play—is yet subtle to detect instinctively the un-
satisfactoriness of error."

The New Education Manual Training: Wood-
work. By Richard Wakk. With two hundred
and eighty-seven illustrations. (London: Chapman
and Hall.) Price 10s.—This admirably prepared
work is adapted to the requirements of the Board
of Education. The system of training is incul-
cated with infinite care and knowledge ; it takes
us step by step, lesson by lesson, through an
elaborate course of study which is methodical in all
its parts; and the author is one of those born
teachers who make us feel that it is their joy to do
all the rough work for us. We learn from them
because we cannot help it—because everything is
made so simple and clear, and so attractive.

Light, Shade and Shadow. By John Skeaping.
(London: George Newnes, Limited.) Price 3*. 6d.—
The author explains in his preface that the aim of
his book is " to give students an immediate ac-
quiantance with the principles of light, shade, and
shadow, by explanation, analysis, and illustration."
He has done his work carefully, his illustrations are
well reproduced, and his subject is one in which
beginners should take serious interest. It is a
pity that some of the examples of shading, such as
the finished study of the egg-plant (p. 188), are
lacking in strength and character.

The Tmver of Dago. By Maurus Jokai
(Sands & Co.)—There is some idea and some
style about The Tower of Dago, slight as it is.
It does not escape being melodramatic, though the
author aims a trifle higher. The plot is old enough