Studio: international art (65.1915)

Reviews and Notices

REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

Arte ed Artisti nella Svezia dei Giorni nostn. Di
Vittorio Pica. (Milan : Bestetti e Tumminelto)
Lire 30. As historian of the successive Inter-
national exhibitions of art in Venice, Sgr. Pica has
had rare opportunities of studying the productions
of the various foreign schools which are represented
in these biennial displays, and in the case of Swedish
art we believe he has had the additional advantage
of studying it in its native milieu. Though the
population of Sweden is hardly more than that of
London it possesses a vigorous and independent
school of painters, sculptors, architects and artist-
craftsmen whose productions are worthy of respect
and all the more so because of the comparatively
short time which has elapsed since art in Sweden
derived its chief inspiration from outside. Sgr. Pica
in his opening chapter traces briefly the rise of
the new school, with Ernst Josephson and Per
Hasselberg, painter and sculptor respectively, as
pioneers, and he notes how when this Swedish
school was emancipating itself from the “coldly
classic influence of David and the theatrical
romanticism of Germany ” a kindred movement
was taking place in Russia. The work of Carl
Larsson, “ osservatore gaio,” and Carl Wilhelmson,
“ osservatore triste,” is then discussed; and then
follows a chapter on that “ sapientissimo virtuoso
del pennello,” Anders Zorn. There is also a special
chapter on Sweden’s royal painter, Prince Eugen. In
other chapters the author deals with various groups
of artists according to their particular spheres of
work, such as painters of portraits and genre
subjects—Bergh, Bjorck, Von Rosen, Oesterman,
Thegerstrom, etc.—landscape painters, such as
Fjaestad, Schultzberg, Hesselbom, Anna Boberg,
Nordstrom and others; and three animal painters,
Liljefors, Sjoberg, Norland. The group of sculptors
includes such well-known names as Eriksson, Milles,
Eldh and Axel Petersson, the last named, however,
being placed with a small group of humorists and
“fantasisti” in which Engstrom figures promi-
nently. The closing chapters are devoted to archi-
tecture and various branches of decorative art in
which Sweden has made strides during recent
years. The volume is illustrated by excellent re-
productions of a very large number of works by the
artists whose achievements are reviewed.

The English Countryside. By Ernest C.
Pulbrook. (London : B. T. Batsford, Ltd.)

7v. 6d. net.—With this for his subject the author
has, indeed, a theme upon which he may write
enthusiastically, sure from the beginning of the

sympathy and interest of his readers. Mr. Pulbrook
is one of those in whom lies a deep and sincere
love for the countryside, and while there seem to
be certain districts to which he makes no reference
but which might have been included in his selec-
tion with advantage to the volume, it is obvious
that in a work of these dimensions it would not be
possible to do more than give a broad and general
survey of some of the charms and beauties of our
English countryside. This the author does for us,
with a sympathetic and graceful pen, in chapters
dealing with such different aspects as the coasts,
creeks and rivers, fords and bridges, mills, fields
and field-names, the footpath-way, apropos of
which he truly remarks, “ Roads give us acquaint-
ance with the country, footpaths give us its
friendship ”; wayside and market crosses, village
greens, old-world towns, inns and cottages. In a
chapter on “ The Shepherd and his Flock,” Mr.
Pulbrook traces the growth of the woollen trade to
the Black Death, which, by serious depopulation of
the rural districts, rendered it almost impossible to
till the land properly and caused great areas of
arable land to be turned into sheep-runs. He
speaks also of a quaint custom, now defunct, of
burying a shepherd with “a little piece of wool in
his cofifin, so that when the Day of Judgment
comes he can account for his absence from church
on Sunday.” Over one hundred and twenty
excellent photographs from various sources, very
beautiful and typical of different kinds of English
scenery, serve to illustrate the volume.

Chats o?i Old Silver. By Arthur Hayden.
(London: T. Fisher Unwin Ltd.) 55-. net.—To
the “ Chats ” series of practical guides for collectors
Mr. Hayden has already contributed five volumes
in which he has given the public the benefit of his
wide knowledge of English china and porcelain,
old furniture and prints, and now in this recent
addition to the series he discusses numerous pro-
ducts of the silversmith’s craft which have an
interest for the collector, the objects being mostly
those which have a practical use in connection with
the table, such as drinking vessels of various kinds,
the salt cellar, the spoon, posset pots and porringers,
coffee and tea pots, sugar bowls and cream jugs,
&c. The finer specimens of these silver wares
fetch very high prices, but interesting examples
often fall within the reach of the collector of
moderate means. The book contains special
chapters on ecclesiastical plate and Scottish and
Irish silver, and is abundantly illustrated, the com-
prehensive series of marks found on old silver
forming a particularly useful feature of the book.

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