Studio: international art (20.1900)

Reviews

that Mr. Prior's exposure of the many so-called
" Restorations" will awaken those who read his
work to the necessity of a strong stand against the
wanton destruction of our national monuments.

Alfred Lichtwark's Palastfenster und Fliigel-
thiir. (Berlin : Bruno and Paul Cassirer.) Price
3 marks.—Professor Alfred Lichtwark, Director of
the Public Gallery of the Kunsthalle at Hamburg,
has been actively engaged for years past in attempt-
ing to awaken and spread a feeling for real art,
especially among the middle classes. His numerous
writings have made his name—and, what is still
better, his views—popular. The present brochure
deals with two architectural details which have
tended to spoil many of our modern German
buildings. The author attacks the radical error
of constructing monumental facades and putting in
elaborate windows, which, adapted as they might
be to the palatial style of Italy, are quite out
of place in the middle-class house of to-day, and
this without any regard for the actual requirements
of the building. He also condemns the craze for
having too many doors in our living-rooms, there
being no necessity that they shall all communicate
the one with the other. In an unpretentious
house, he argues, all this is superfluous, and the
doors destroy the unity of the wall - spaces.
Professor Lichtwark aptly points to the typical
English private house, in which modern needs
have not been subordinated to an old-fashioned
sentiment. He also draws attention to the excel-
lence of the older middle-class houses in Germany,
a style of building which, owing to the senseless
mania for destruction, is steadily disappearing.
All who are interested in the question of the
construction of middle-class houses will read this
well-written volume with pleasure and profit.

The Art and Craft of Garden-Making. By
Thos. H. Mawson. (London: B. T. Batsford
and G. Newnes & Co.) Since the appearance of
The Formal Garden, by Reginald Blomfield, we
have seen no work on the fascinating subject of
artistic gardens to be compared in interest with
the one under review. There are numerous ex-
cellent books that treat of the varieties of trees
and shrubs and the growth of flowering plants, but
they fail to dwell, as a rule, upon the selection of
sites for, and the arrangements of gardens, upon
the details of well designed fences, gates, summer-
houses, trellis-work, conservatories, sundials and
garden furniture generally. These apparently
secondary subjects are of immense importance,
and their careful consideration is absolutely neces-
sary in the planning of a beautiful garden.

Mr. Mawson has approached his subject with
considerable knowledge of the elements of success
in garden-planning, and with excellent judgment in
the selection of well-designed details. The archi-
tect and the would-be owner of a really satisfactory
garden cannot do better than consult his treatise,
for it is full of suggestions, some of which will un-
doubtedly be found useful.

Art in Needlework. By Lewis F. Day. (Lon-
don : B. T. Batsford.) Books upon the em-
broiderer's craft are numerous. The subject has
been dealt with from every point of view, and
with so many means of instruction available for the
worker, the present age should be more notable
for its advancement in the art than we fear it can
actually lay claim to be. But, given the desire to
do good work, and the time in which to do it, we
know of no volume upon the subject that could be
of more practical aid to the worker than this
excellent handbook by Mr. Day. The numerous
illustrations are of especial value, as they are pro-
duced upon such a scale that the style and character
of every stitch is clearly shown. With such repre-
sentations as models, letterpress becomes almost a
superfluity; and yet Mr. Day's interesting details
will be found instructive.

Nos Humoristes. By Adolphe Brisson. (Paris :
Societe d'Edition Artistique.) Price 12 francs.
Admirers of the drawings of Caran D'Ache, J. L
Forain, Hermann-Paul, Leandre Robida, Steinlen,
and Willette, will find much to interest and amuse
them in the collection which M. Brisson has
brought together and upon which he discourses
so brightly and entertainingly.

Heraldry in Relation to Scottish History and Art.
By Sir James Balfour Paul. (Edinburgh :
David Douglas.) Price ioj- 6d. net. This work
consists of a series of six lectures delivered by the
author in 1898, and is illustrated by a large
number of drawings. It is a very readable book,
and contains much valuable information and many
important suggestions to the artist and craftsman.

Especially interesting are the chapters devoted
to " The Art of Heraldry " and to " The Artistic
Application of Heraldry." In these days, when
crests and coats-of-arms are so largely used, it
is necessary that the designer should acquaint
himself with the many pitfalls into which he
may readily stumble, so that his work may be
free from the errors which are so commonly to be
found in armorial designs executed in the last
century and in the early part of the present one.
To this end these lectures may be perused with
much profit and advantage.

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