Studio: international art (86.1923)

REVIEWS

The Book of Lovat Claud Fraser. By-
Haldane Macfall. (London: J. M.
Dent & Sons, Ltd.) 25s. net.—When an
intimate friend of an artist sits down to
write about him, more especially if he has
gone from among us, there is perhaps
some extenuation for the use of superla-
tives. Mr. Macfall writes under the sway
■of Fraser's charming personality, and it is
no doubt natural that his eulogy should
be unmarked by such qualifications as
might suggest themselves to a more
detached critic. As a personal tribute of
regard and affection it is all that could
be desired. But as time goes on it matters
less and less to posterity what the
personality of an artist may have been
unless his art be deeply and directly
affected thereby. Who would now exalt a
less gifted man above Morland or Byron
because of the irregularities of their lives i
Lovat Fraser showed great promise : he
had a rich sense of colour, and at times
displayed a bold mastery in the massing
of his subject. It is therefore to be re-
gretted that Mr. Macfall has chosen to
include among his reproductions so many
mere scraps from Fraser's sketch-book
which will not add to his reputation. It
is the art that matters, far more than the
personality, and Mr. Macfall perhaps
bases the high claims he makes too exclu-
sively on this second foundation. 0 0

William Strang: Supplement to the

4‘Catalogue of his Etched Work, 1882-1912."
Illustrated with 179 reproductions. (Glas-
gow : Maclehose, Jackson & Co.) 635.
net. This admirable production deserves
a higher title than “ catalogue ” (if a
suitable one could be evolved), for it is
much more than a mere list. It is preceded
by an introduction by Mr. Laurence
Binyon, setting forth the essential elements
of Strang's work, and opposite to each
entry is a reproduction of the subject there
annotated. An astonishingly prolific artist,
Strang kept within no circumscribed field,
and was equally facile in dealing with
architecture, landscape, portrait and genre.
In the last two realms his powers of
penetration and analysis of character are
strongly marked. They are strikingly
evidenced in A Matter of Business and in
the two portraits of Mr. Thomas Hardy ;
especially here, for Strang obviously sees
302

not only the stoic philosopher of “ The
Return of the Native ” and “ Tess," but
also the side which a superficial observer
is inclined to miss, namely, the genial
creator of Reuben Dewy, Joseph Poorgrass
and Tony Kytes. 0000
Wallpaper : its History, Design and Use.
By Phyllis Ackerman, Ph.D. (London :
William Heinemann, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net.

Dr. Ackerman has produced a book full
of painstaking research, and deals with her
subject from every angle and in a very
comprehensive fashion. She gives a history
of the rise and development of wallpaper,
together with a number of reproductions
of papers old and new, and pleads for the
greater utilsation of the patterned paper
as a vehicle for decoration. 0 0

To many readers, some of the examples
given would appear, in the words of Mrs.
Carlyle on her famous son, “ gey ill to live
wi','' more especially if used in conjunction
withpictures. But it should not be forgotten
that conditions exist wherein pictures are
not necessary or desirable adjuncts to the
general scheme ; and there is much to be
said in support of Dr. Ackerman's con-
tentions. She covers the practical ground
as well as the theoretical, and adds a useful
appendix of dealers and manufacturers,
and a bibliography of the subject. 0

The Garden of Adonis. Illustrated by
Oliver Hill. (London : Philip Allan and
Co.). 21s. net. Those who aver that photo-
graphy is not an art, even in the most
capable hands, should be silenced by a
book like this. Mr. Hill has illustrated a
number of poetical quotations, ranging
from the sixteenth century to our own
times, with figure-studies of children in the
nude. The result is a conspicuous success,
pointing the lines alongwhich photographic
art may develop to most advantage. Mr. Hill
has displayed a happy taste in composition,
and has, wonderfully enough, almost elimi-
nated self-consciousness from his models.
Where all the studies are so good, it is
difficult to select any one for special praise.

Messrs. Philip Allan & Co. have just
issued three more volumes in their inter-
esting series of primers, “ British Artists,"
—Morland and Ibbetson by B. L. K. Hen-
derson, Wilson and Farington by Frank
Rutter, John Crome by S. C. Kaines Smith.
5s. net each. 00000