Studio: international art (37.1906)

Reviews and Notices

REVIEWS AND NOTICES
English Furniture. By F. S. Robinson.
(London: Methuen.) 255.net.—Thenewvolume
of the useful Connoisseur Library, though not
perhaps quite so fascinating as its predecessor on
Miniature, yields nothing to it in thoroughness
and trustworthiness. The author begins his review
of English furniture with an account of the oft-
described Saxon casket of whalebone in the
British Museum ; and after passing in able review
typical work produced between the probable date
of its manufacture and the beginning of the nine-
teenth century, he describes minutely the mode of
construction pursued by different experts and the
materials they employed, giving completeness to a
valuable work by explaining how the heirlooms
of the past should be cared for and cleaned.
In selecting the illustrations nothing that is not
still in existence has been admitted, and preference
has been given to the types likely to be met with
by the collector. At the same time many rare and
beautiful pieces have been included, to demonstrate
the artistic and technical skill of English designers
and cabinet-makers.

The High Road of Empire. By A. A. Hallam
Murray. (London: John Murray.) 21s. net.—
One of the most accomplished amateur artists of
the day, Mr. Murray in this new volume has shown
an even greater command of the medium of water-
colour than in his fascinating record of his travels
in France and Italy. The gorgeous colouring of
the East seems to have appealed to him with
special force, and in his renderings of oriental
subjects he has shown no little skill in composition.
He suggests the details of buildings cleverly, the
figures are well put in and the reflections in water
faithfully rendered. The Bazaar, Agra, The
Benares Ghats, The Man Sing Palace, Gwalior,
and The Tank, Ajmeer, are especially fine, and the
want of atmosphere which makes painting in the
tropics so difficult is scarcely felt. The accom-
panying narrative combines with many a bright
picture of contemporary Anglo-Indian society just
enough history to give permanent value to the book.

London Vanished and Vanishing. Painted and
described by Philip Norman. (London : A. & C.
Black.) 20s. net.—The work of a true lover of
Old London, who knows by heart many of her lost
architectural relics, this finely illustrated volume
will appeal to the historian, the antiquarian and
the archaeologist, as well as to the general public
whose interest is of a more ephemeral character.
Mr. Norman makes no attempt to treat his subjects
from an aesthetic or poetic point of view, he catches
t8o

no transient atmospheric effects, but gives literal
renderings of the scenes he depicts, omitting no
detail however trivial. For all that, however, his
drawings, especialy the Queen's Head Inn, South-
wark, Sir Paul Pindar's House and the Alediceval
Arches, B/ackfriars, are full of charm, whilst the
text is alike readable and trustworthy.

The Cathedrals of England and Wales. By
T. Francis Bumpus. (London: T. Werner
Laurie.) First and Second Series. 6s. each
net.—In his introductory sketch the author of
what is not merely a useful handbook, but a piece
of real literature, sums up succinctly, though elo-
quently, the history of church architecture in
England and Wales, pointing out the differences
between it and that of the Continent, and dwelling
on the modern revival, which he looks upon as a
new and goodly reformation : The decay of our re-
ligious edifices, he says, was once a witness against
us, but their restoration testifies that life is not ex-
tinct. He looks forward indeed to the day when
beautiful architecture shall once more be the lan-
guage of theology. The book is permeated by tiue
knowledge of the past and prophetic hope for the
future; and its interest is enhanced by the
excellent series of plates accompanying the text.

Acht Jahre Sezession. By Ludwig Hevesi.
(Vienna: Carl Konegen.) This work consists
of contributions to the " Fremdenblatt," the
" Pester-Lloyd," and other papers, from the in-
ception of the movement eight years ago, until
the split in the " Secession " itself last June. It
was from the author that the rising generation of
Viennese artists learnt of what was going on in
England, Belgium, France, Holland, and else-
where ; and it was he who advised them to
welcome the art of other lands to Vienna.
From that time to the present day there is hardly
an artist of note in the world, China and Japan in-
cluded, who has not found a place within the
"Secession" walls. From the first Herr Hevesi
has been a warm partisan of the modern movement
in art; both personally and in his writings he has
encouraged it, but has never allowed this to in-
fluence his judgment. This volume, indeed, bears
testimony to the impartial spirit in which he
narrates the history of the movement.

How to Draw in Pen and Ink. By Harry
Furniss. (London : Chapman & Hall.) y. 6/1.
net.—Although, of course, the subtle gifts of insight
into human nature, humour, and the power to give
them expression in effective caricature cannot be
communicated, this delightful little volume, with
its clever illustrations, will be found most useful by