Studio: international art (49.1910)

Reviews and Notices

forms by the craftsman and the designer. The
special purpose the author has in view is to trace
the evolution of these diverse types of ornamenta-
tion derived from plant structures which are to be
met with in architectural and kindred decoration
from their prototypes. The comparative method
pursued by the author is, of course, that of which
biologists have made such beneficial use in their
researches, and to deal adequately with such a
theme as this necessarily requires an extensive
knowledge of botany as well as familiarity with
the history of ornament. The possession of these
qualifications has enabled the author to elucidate
and exemplify in a very interesting way the muta-
tions and divergences which ornament has under-
gone in its descent from its primitive forms, and
these “ Urformen ” in some cases are to be found
on the monuments and buildings of ancient
Egypt and other archaic nations. Herr Meurer’s
treatise is intended chiefly for students and teachers
of historic ornament and architecture, but it has
an additional significance for all who are interested
in those complex problems which bear on the
evolution of decorative art.

A New History of Painting in Italy. By
Crowe and Cavacaselle. Edited by Edward
Hutton. (London: J. M. Dent & Co.) Vol.
III. 20s. net.—The new notes in this concluding
volume of Messrs. Dent’s reprint of Crowe and
Cavacaselle’s History, though not quite so numerous
as those in the first and second, are equally valuable,
displaying a considerable amount of erudition.
Specially useful are those on Luca Signorelli and
his share in the Sistine frescoes; Antoniasso
Romano, who is now generally accepted as the
author of the wall-paintings giving the story of
the Cross in S. Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome;
Benvenuto di Giovanni, to whom very scant justice
is done in the text, and Bernardino Fungai, the list
of whose works has been greatly added to by Mr.
Hutton. Judged as a whole, now that the revision
of the three volumes is complete, it is impossible
to avoid noticing the limitations of the original
publication. The general arrangement leaves much
to be desired, Piero della Francesca and Perugino
being, for instance, considered after Leonardo and
Raphael, and the modern student, for whom,
perhaps, research is now made somewhat too easy,
will miss the quotations from authorities and biblio-
graphy to which the exhaustive completeness of
latter-day monographs has accustomed him, but
for all that the book as it now stands is an ex-
cellent compendium of up-to-date criticism, and
should find a place in every art library.

Orie?ital Carpets, Runners and Rugs. By
Sydney Humphries. (London : A. & C. Black.)
f~2 2s. net. The title of this bulky volume is
scarcely justified by its contents, which consist of
an olla podrida of rambling notes and observations
relating to painting, sculpture, history, biography,
literature, politics, travel, and other matters which
have no bearing whatever on the subject upon
which the book is supposed to treat. The repro-
ductions in colour of a few carpets of Persian
origin or design reveal no especial features, and
the short notes relating to them do not in any way
further the most ordinary information on the sub-
ject. We are at a loss to understand the raison
litre of such a work.

The Year's Art, 1910. Compiled by A. C. R.
Carter. (London: Hutchinson.) 5.1. net. The
desire to keep his compilation within the limits
proper to a handbook has prompted Mr. Carter to
subject it to a process of condensation and pruning,
with the result that some 50 pages have been saved
as compared with the 1909 issue. The elimination
of many names of art workers who are no longer on
the active list accounts for much of this economy,
but in other respects Mr. Carter has been careful to
make no changes which reduce the usefulness of
this annual—one that in the course of its thirty
years of existence has established itself among the
indispensable works of reference.

A new edition, edited by M. H. M. Cundall, of
the late William Chaffers’ Collector's Handbook to
Keramics, is published by Messrs. Gibbings & Co.,
6r. net. This handbook is an abridgment of
Chaffers’ larger work, The Keramic Gallery, and is
intended to form a companion volume of illustra-
tions to The Collector’s Ha?idbook of Marks and
Monograms on Pottery and Porcelaui. The illustra-
tions, which are clearly printed, number 350.

The second volume of Art Prices Current, just
issued, contains a record of the sales of pic-
tures, drawings, and engravings held at Christie’s
from November 21, 1908, to July 28, 1909. The
sales are given in order of date, and the items in
each sale are given as they appear in the catalogue,
with the addition of the purchaser’s name and the
price. The index, which extends to some 90 pages,
enables one to find in a moment the name of a
particular artist. The great care bestowed on the
compilation of this volume makes it a reliable
source of information to picture buyers and
others. It is published by the Fine Art Trade
Journal, London, and Messrs. Dodd, Mead &
Co., New York, and the price in cloth binding is
ioj. 6d. net.

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