Studio: international art (72.1918)

Reviews

REVIEWS.

The Art of Painting in Pastel. By J. Little-
johns, R.B.A., and L. Richmond, R.B.A.
With a frontispiece and foreword by Frank
Brangwyn, A.R.A. (London : Sir Isaac Pit-
man and Sons, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net.—There
has been of late years a considerable increase
in the attention given by artists in this country
to pastel as a painting medium, and a wider
recognition by the public of its charm and
value for pictorial purposes. With this growth
in popularity has come, naturally, a demand
for fuller information about the technical possi-
bilities of the medium, and for practical guidance
in executive details. This demand is admirably
met by the book which Messrs. Littlejohns and
Richmond have produced—a book which has
the special advantage of having been written
and illustrated by two artists of repute who
have a thorough knowledge of pastel and use it
habitually with power and distinction. Their
technical directions are practical and intelligible,
and are calculated not only to assist the student
greatly in his work but to enable the art lover
to grasp surely the principles by which all pastel-
painting that is to be reckoned as sound and
legitimate should be directed. The sections into
which the book is divided cover adequately the
whole ground over which the pastel-painter is
likely to travel, and the explanatory text is
ample for all educational purposes; and the
illustrations deserve high praise for their artistic
merit and quality.

Christ in Hades. By Stephen Phillips.
Illustrated by Stella Langdale, with an
introduction by C. Lewis Hind. (London:
John Lane.) 3s. 6d. net.—Perhaps poetry by
reason of its purely intuitive genius cannot in
any practical sense be illustrated. The most
that the artist can do is to provide an accom-
paniment in the shape of design to the motif
of the poem. And this design, in addition to
being in the spirit of the poem, should in method
accommodate itself to printed text. We hardly
think that the impressionism of Miss Langdale,
from which the page illustrations of the book
we are reviewing are reduced, fulfil the last rule.
Flat design is almost demanded in such a case
as this. Miss Langdale’s illustrations are but
mpressionist drawings reduced to the required
size for the page. We are inclined to think, too,
that a matter-of-fact interpretation such as the

artist has here given is less appropriate in the
circumstances than design of a more abstract
and conventional character. Nevertheless there
is a spaciousness and energy in the composition
and execution of her drawings which is often
impressive, and as pictures they show sometimes
much power of dramatic design. Dreadful
suspended business and vast life, especially,
shows breadth of feeling. Mr. Hind’s intro-
duction amounts to a history of the literary
movement of the ’nineties, in which his own
participation was by no means inconsiderable,
and is written with evident enjoyment of the
theme.

The Little White Town of Never-Weary. By-
Jessie M. King. (London : G. G. Harrap and
Co.) 7s. 6d. net.—The exquisite drawings of
Jessie King are well known to readers of The
Studio. In this work we see her in a new light
as a writer for young children, and as her'first
effort in that direction, it gives promise of other
good things from her pen. Always original in
her conceptions, she has now produced a distinct
novelty for the delectation of the little ones.
Children are always pleased with something
pretty to look at and especially when it gives
them something to do. The idea of making out
of cardboard and paper little houses, shops, and
other buildings is an excellent one and has been
well carried out by the writer-artist. Diagrams
and drawings of these little toys are so figured
as to give plenty of occupation in winter days
for ingenious little fingers, and the chatty wav
in which the building operations are described
cannot fail to excite the imagination and interest
of the intelligent young.

By the Wayside. Translated from the Danish
and illustrated by Una Hook. (London:
Chatto and Windus.) 3s. 6d. net.—The collec-
tion of little tales and legends here presented to
English readers was first published in Danish
some six years before the author’s death in
1905 at the age of forty-two. Literary gifts of
a high order are revealed in these stories, which
if in substance not without resemblances to the
fairy-tales of tradition, disclose an unmistakable
originality of idea and expression enlivened by
a rare and subtle sense of humour. Miss Hook
has done justice to the author both in the
rendering of his text and in the charming pen
drawings reproduced as head-pieces to each of
the eighteen stories. From a typographical point
of view the book leaves nothing to be desired.

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