DOI issue:
No. 251 (March 1914)
DOI article:Reviews and notices
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21209#0173
Reviews and Notices
BAMBOO FLOWER-BASKET. BY MORITA SHINTARO
(Kyoto Bijutsu Kyotai.—See p. ib$)
denounced.' " How many of Ruskin's present-day
followers would agree with him on these points ?
The Splendid Wayfaring. By Haldane Macfall.
(Simpkin, Marshall and Co.) ioi-. 6d. net.—This
book is characteristic of the indefiniteness of so
much of the art-criticism of to-day, and it reflects the
feverish character of artistic aspiration in our time.
The author's method is to be contrasted with that
of the scholar for whom the past lives through
unconscious effort of the imagination. He seems
a little too inclined to identify progress with mere
innovation, but at the same time he is not an
advocate of the extremes of "cubism," "triangu-
lation," and the rest, contending, as he does, that
pictures cannot be attempted in sensations outside
vision. Most of the problems of interest in con-
nection with contemporary art, including the art of
mounting plays, he reviews energetically and com-
batively. It is obvious that the author has his own
point of view, but we are not sure that he always
succeeds in expressing it, or that we are prepared
to accept it in many cases when he does. The
book is picturesque, with fanciful illustration and
effective binding.
168
Neice Deutsche Exlibris. Mit einleitendem
Text von Richard Braungart. (Munich: Franz
Hanfstaengl.) 21 mks.—Great care has been
bestowed on the production of this volume of
modern German book-plates and besides its interest
to the collector of such things it is in itself an
admirable example of that Buchkunsl which is
cultivated with so much assiduity in Germany at
the present day, as the great exhibition to be held
at Leipzig this summer will prove. Various
technical methods are exemplified in the series of
plates presented; there are a few in colour printed
from wood-blocks, others are printed from half-tone
or line engravings, in some cases with a tint; but
the majority are etchings. Numerous artists are
represented in the selection, which comprises nearly
a hundred plates; for the most part they are artists
who specialise in one or other of the "graphic"
arts, but prominent painters such as Gustav Klimt,
Max Klinger, Hans Thoma and Emil Orlik are
also in evidence. Naturally in a collection of this
sort a considerable diversity of motive is to be
found, but perhaps the most striking feature of the
entire series is the reiteration of the nude figure—
and more particularly, the female—as a part of the
design. Herr Braungart in his introduction touches
on the great rdle which the nude plays in the
designing of book-plates by contemporary German
artists, who introduce it chiefly as a symbol of
nature. We presume, however, that it is not as a
symbol of nature that a nude male figure wearing a
pair of spectacles enters into one of the designs in
this series, nor does the same explanation fit
another design in which a horrible creature—
apparently a gorilla or " old man of the woods "—
is carrying off a nude girl in his hairy arms. The
motive evidently refers to a legend familiar to
naturalists, but it is too nauseous for any kind of
artistic treatment. Symbolism, however, in many
interesting forms is met with in this collection of
plates and one of course looks for it in designs of
this character, but in some cases we think the
decorative function of the book-plate has not been
adequately kept in view.
Royal Acade?7iy Lectures on Painting. By
George Clausen, R.A., R.W.S. (London:
Methuen and Co.) 6.f. net.—These lectures were
delivered to the students of the Royal Academy in
the years 1904, 1905, 1906, and 1913, by Mr.
Clausen during his tenure of office as Professor of
Painting. They represent the opinions of an artist
of great ability who has, as he says, tried in these
expressions of his convictions on many important
art questions to avoid dogmatising, and has
BAMBOO FLOWER-BASKET. BY MORITA SHINTARO
(Kyoto Bijutsu Kyotai.—See p. ib$)
denounced.' " How many of Ruskin's present-day
followers would agree with him on these points ?
The Splendid Wayfaring. By Haldane Macfall.
(Simpkin, Marshall and Co.) ioi-. 6d. net.—This
book is characteristic of the indefiniteness of so
much of the art-criticism of to-day, and it reflects the
feverish character of artistic aspiration in our time.
The author's method is to be contrasted with that
of the scholar for whom the past lives through
unconscious effort of the imagination. He seems
a little too inclined to identify progress with mere
innovation, but at the same time he is not an
advocate of the extremes of "cubism," "triangu-
lation," and the rest, contending, as he does, that
pictures cannot be attempted in sensations outside
vision. Most of the problems of interest in con-
nection with contemporary art, including the art of
mounting plays, he reviews energetically and com-
batively. It is obvious that the author has his own
point of view, but we are not sure that he always
succeeds in expressing it, or that we are prepared
to accept it in many cases when he does. The
book is picturesque, with fanciful illustration and
effective binding.
168
Neice Deutsche Exlibris. Mit einleitendem
Text von Richard Braungart. (Munich: Franz
Hanfstaengl.) 21 mks.—Great care has been
bestowed on the production of this volume of
modern German book-plates and besides its interest
to the collector of such things it is in itself an
admirable example of that Buchkunsl which is
cultivated with so much assiduity in Germany at
the present day, as the great exhibition to be held
at Leipzig this summer will prove. Various
technical methods are exemplified in the series of
plates presented; there are a few in colour printed
from wood-blocks, others are printed from half-tone
or line engravings, in some cases with a tint; but
the majority are etchings. Numerous artists are
represented in the selection, which comprises nearly
a hundred plates; for the most part they are artists
who specialise in one or other of the "graphic"
arts, but prominent painters such as Gustav Klimt,
Max Klinger, Hans Thoma and Emil Orlik are
also in evidence. Naturally in a collection of this
sort a considerable diversity of motive is to be
found, but perhaps the most striking feature of the
entire series is the reiteration of the nude figure—
and more particularly, the female—as a part of the
design. Herr Braungart in his introduction touches
on the great rdle which the nude plays in the
designing of book-plates by contemporary German
artists, who introduce it chiefly as a symbol of
nature. We presume, however, that it is not as a
symbol of nature that a nude male figure wearing a
pair of spectacles enters into one of the designs in
this series, nor does the same explanation fit
another design in which a horrible creature—
apparently a gorilla or " old man of the woods "—
is carrying off a nude girl in his hairy arms. The
motive evidently refers to a legend familiar to
naturalists, but it is too nauseous for any kind of
artistic treatment. Symbolism, however, in many
interesting forms is met with in this collection of
plates and one of course looks for it in designs of
this character, but in some cases we think the
decorative function of the book-plate has not been
adequately kept in view.
Royal Acade?7iy Lectures on Painting. By
George Clausen, R.A., R.W.S. (London:
Methuen and Co.) 6.f. net.—These lectures were
delivered to the students of the Royal Academy in
the years 1904, 1905, 1906, and 1913, by Mr.
Clausen during his tenure of office as Professor of
Painting. They represent the opinions of an artist
of great ability who has, as he says, tried in these
expressions of his convictions on many important
art questions to avoid dogmatising, and has