Studio: international art (55.1912)

Reviews and Notices

points out that there, “ as in Germany, Spain, and
the Netherlands, the style was always struggling,
never wholly free,” in this respect presenting a very
marked contrast to Italy, “ where there was no
absolute break with tradition, and no resurrection of
principles which had been entirely abandoned, for
in that classic land Gothic architecture was never
acclimatised. It had been tolerated but not
properly understood, and when the time for revolt
was ripe the Italians threw off its shackles without
difficulty and without regret.”

Notes on the Art of Rembratidt. By C. J.
Holmes, M.A. (London: Chatto and Windus.)
•js. 6d. net.—These notes form the substance of
lectures delivered by their author at Oxford, and
they deal almost entirely with the problem of art
education. Mr. Holmes begins with the intro-
duction of Italian methods and standards into the
academies of Northern Europe, and attempts to
show that the greatness of the artistic record of
the eighteenth century in England and France
cannot, in general, be attributed to the influence
of Italianised training. He shows that academies
have been hostile to painters who have succeeded
in spite of them, the struggles of the men of 1830
in France and of the Pre-Raphaelites in England
against official enmity, being instances. If we
understand him rightly, the academic system shows
its direct results only in artists who are followers
and therefore belong to the second rank, whereas
an artist in the end stands or falls by his personality.
From this position the author enters on an
elaborate analysis of the development of the
personal genius of Rembrandt, chiefly through a
study of his etchings, forty-five plates of which are
reproduced in illustration. This task it is which
forms all but the first chapters of the book.
Whether so conscious a following of what we
believe must in Rembrandt’s case have been a
quite subterranean and instinctive process is to be
trusted, is a question for those who are interested
in the psychology of individual artistic develop-
ment to decide. We cannot praise too highly the
perfection of the reproductions, or imagine that we
shall have an opportunity of introducing a more
illuminating book to the student of Rembrandt, or
to the collectors of his plates.

The Biography of fohn Gibson, R.A., Sculptor,
Rome. By T. Matthews. (London: W. Heine-
mann.) ioj\ 6d. net.—It is no doubt true as a
general rule that the personal record of any life
faithfully told is full of fascination, but in the case
of the autobiographical notes and letters that form
the bulk of Mr. Matthews’ book the effect is
164

considerably marred by the egotism of their author.
Convinced as was the future sculptor from the
very first of his own genius, the attractive element
of suspense is wanting, and his own success having
been throughout his career his chief preoccupation,
he concerned himself little with the hopes and fears
of others. Except in the case of Mrs. Robinson,
with whom he fell in love as a boy, Canova, to whom
he owed much, and the beautiful Italian model,
Grazia, he calls up no real presentment of any of those
with whom he was brought in contact. Still, there
is much of interest in what he says, notably in the
account of the body-snatching that in his student
days was part of the routine of a course in anatomy ;
the glimpses given of the political situation in
Rome during his residence there, and, above all, the
criticism of the masterpieces of antique plastic art
in the Imperial City, that is marked by true
aesthetic insight.

' The Work of Henry Ospovat. With an apprecia-
tion by Oliver Onions. (London: St Catharine’s
Press.) 21 s. net.—The late Mr. Henry Ospovat
had not what Heine mockingly called the “ talent
to make his genius avail.” That is practically all
that wras wrong with him. He died at the age of
thirty-one and not many young artists of our time
have given more visible evidence of genius. Mr.
Oliver Onions goes right to the heart of the matter
in his “appreciation,” which amounts to an
analysis of the methods of genius, at least in places.
The incident of Ospovat’s early death is made a
little less sad from the fact that he had communi-
cated sufficient to make his friend’s exposition of
his qualities of mind indisputable. Apparently the
artist could justly be accused of indolence; but if
time would not wait for him, it may prove to be on
his side when in the future it is called upon for
judgment upon the exercises of his pencil.

The Book of Decorative Furniture. By Edwin
Foley. (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack.) 2 vols.
50s. net.—The publication of the second volume
of this work brings to completion an undertaking
which has called for an extensive knowledge of all
kinds of furniture, and the result is a veritable
encyclopaedia of the subject to which collectors and
designers especially, but also illustrators and
painters who introduce furniture into their compo-
sitions, may consult with profit and advantage.
The work as a whole contains one hundred plates
in colour mounted on grey paper and representing
choice specimens of furniture belonging to various
periods and countries, while distributed throughout
the letterpress are a thousand illustrations of com-
plete articles or details drawn in pen and ink.