Studio: international art (41.1907)

Reviews and Notices

index giving the dates of the births and deaths of
the artists noticed, this new edition of Dr. Muther's
well-known work will no doubt find a place in
many art libraries. But the praise lavished on it by
the American editor will not, we think, be fully
endorsed by those familiar with the many authori-
tative histories of art in circulation on this side of
the Atlantic, for the author, though there is a
certain originality in his method (which is rather
psychological than chronological) does not take the
very high rank amongst art critics of the day
claimed for him. In spite, however, of certain
peculiarities of style, he has brought together in a
convenient form a vast amount of information,
and now and then hits on a very apt comparison,
notably when he calls Jan Steen the " Moliere of
Dutch painting," and Boucher the Correggio of the
Rococo style. Perhaps one of his best essays is
that on Rembrandt, with whom he appears to be
peculiarly in sympathy, for he recognises very clearly
the dual nature of the great master, whose life,
dominated from first to last by conflicting influ-
ences, was indeed, as he says, "a tragedy of fate."

Canada. Painted by T. Mower Martin, described
by Wilfrid Campbell. (London : A. & C. Black.)
2.0s. net.—The author of this new volume on
Canada evidently knows the country well, and is to
a great extent in touch with its inhabitants, but
unfortunately his gift of expression is not altogether
equal to the amount of his information. He has
much to say, but somehow has not succeeded in
saying it effectively. He makes no attempt to
write a history of Canada, claiming as his excuse
for the omission of what would have been a most
interesting record, that the country is a new one,
and " not the stage of centuries of human struggle
and effort in the sense that European countries
are," yet, as a matter of fact, that history has been
from the first full of episodes as thrilling as any-
thing that has taken place on this side of the
Atlantic. Canada, as the writer himself points out,
is the Scotland of America, and he might well have
compared the struggle between the French and
English there with that between the latter and the
Scots before the long feud was ended by the union
of the two countries. In dealing with the great
towns, however, he fortunately departs from the
rule laid down, describing many thrilling episodes
connected with their foundation, bringing down
their life-stories to the actual present, and taking
care in every case to give details that will be of use
to the would-be settler, thus adding greatly to the
value of his work. The water-colour drawings of
Mr. Martin show in a noticeable degree the defects

of his literary collaborator, for with the exception
of the mountain views, which are sympathetically
interpreted, they are essentially matter-of-fact,
topographical rather than artistic, and greatly
wanting in poetic feeling.

Essentials in Architecture. By John Belcher,
A.R.A. (London: B. T. Batsford). Cloth, 5s.
net; leather, 75. net. " All good architecture
addresses itself to the emotions as well as to the
mind. . . A building, however sound and good
on the scientific side, can never be elevated to the
rank of architecture by simply dressing it up in
ornament. The artistic spirit must be at work
from the very first." "Architecture is not a science
plus art, but a science interpenetrated in all its
methods and applications by the true spirit of art."
In such sentences as these, which we find in his
introduction, Mr. Belcher sounds the keynote of a
book every line of which is pregnant with interest
alike to the cultured general reader and to the
professional student, whose attention is called to
those first principles and ultimate ideals which he
is apt to overlook in the maze of practical details.
The book treats of architecture as a fine art, and
the exposition is conveniently and logically arranged
under the heads of Principles, Qualities, Factors,
and Materials. The illustrations, which are
numerous and well printed, have been specially
selected to give point to remarks in the text, and
range from buildings of palatial proportions to the
humble cottage of the country side.

Pierre Paget: Decorateur et Mariniste. By
Philippe Auquier. (Paris: D. A. Longuet.)
Fr. 50.—Born in 1662, at a time of exceptional naval
activity not only in France but in England, Pierre
Puget, the contemporary of the famous Secretary of
the British Admiralty, Samuel Pepys, enjoyed a great
reputation during his lifetime as a designer of the
ornamentation of ships, and also some little fame
as a painter of marine subjects and sculptor.
Before he was seventeen, he is said to have
taken a considerable share in the decoration of
several vessels that aided in the great naval victory
over the Spanish fleet in 1638. At the end of his
term of service he went to Italy to study, walking
all the way to save expense, and on his return
home, five years later, he obtained the important
post of Superintendent of the Arsenal of Toulon,
which he held for many years, during which some
of the finest and most richly-decorated vessels ever
produced in France were launched. Unfortunately,
however, the. sudden change that took place
towards the close of the reign of Louis XIV. in
the opinion of the authorities as to what was

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