BOOKS ON ART.*
THE Warden of Wadham writes pleasantly of the charm of Oxford,' and Mr. Blacken has illustrated the book with a series of pencil drawings. These drawings are also issued in a portfolio separately. Mi. Blacken draws very well, though we Could Wish that he had varied his technique sometimes to suit his subject ; there is a prevailing air which is somewhat monotonous. The drawings, however, are detailed so as to recall minutely, at the same time showing taste in selection. Sketch-books of towns without letterpress are quite nice reminiscences of places, and Miss Woollard has drawn Bristol, and Miss Austin Warwick in this way.2 In both cases the drawings are good, being alike fresh and delicate in the use of the pencil. Miss Austin is particularly happy in those sketches which have in them bare trees, which she combines excellently with the buildings.
Mr. Hill, of the British Museum, has written a book3 dealing with the portraits of Christ on medals, and also with the'repro- ductions of Jewish shekels. In a preface Mr. Hill tells us that the constant inquiries made at the Museum on the subjects dealt with in this book have induced him to put the facts on record, " to make it easier for scholars to answer the inquiries addressed to them. At the same time, some few of those who are curious in such matters are interested to learn the truth ; others are occasionally convinced by the printed word where the mere assurance of a Museum official would be received with passionate incredulity." The portraits of Christ on medals begin with one by Pasti, the pupil of Pisanello in the fifteenth century, and so are of comparatively recent date. After that time they became more frequent and were distributed over Europe. With regard to false shekels, Mr. Hill tells us that there is a trade in these which profess to be facsimiles of real coins, but these originals in truth are forgeries. Then comes the question of the thirty pieces of silver, more than that number of which are treasured as relics. It is probable that the original pieces given to Judas were not Hebrew coins of Maccabean origin, but Roman coins minted at Tyre or Anticeh.
Those who respond to the call of desert places and primitive things will enjoy a book written by an American artist4, which is a journal kept by him during a winter spent with his son, a • (1) The Charm of Oxford. By J. Wells. Illustrated by W. G. Blackall. London : Simpkin. Marshall. [218.1—The Drawings Alone in a Portfolio. Same pub- lisher. 142s.]—(2) A Sketchbook of Bristol. By Dorothy E. G. Wooliard ; A Sketchbook of Warwick.' By R. 8. Austin. London : Black. [2e. each.}—(3) The Medallic Portraits of Christ. By G. F. Bill. Oxford : at the Clarendon Press. [18s.]—(4) 1Vilderness. By Rockwell Kent. London : Putnam.—(5) Bookplates. By Frank Brangwyn. London : Borland Press. [42s.1------(6) Daniel Gardner. By Dr. Williamson. London : John Lane. [15 5s.]—(7) War Posters. By Martin Hearne and A. K. Sabin. London : Black. [25s.]—(8) British Painting. By Irene Magulness. London : Sidg- wick and Jackson. [10s. 6d.]—(9) French Furniture. By Roger de Felice. London : Heinemann. (is. 6d.]—(10) Brothers in Art : Holman Hunt and Millais. By IL W. Shrewsbury. Epworth Press. [10s. 13d1—(11) Tioenti- lour Portraits. By William Rothenstein. London : G. Allen and Unwin. [21s.]
boy of ten years old, on an island off the coast of Alaska. The climatic conditions must have been the worst imaginable, as when it did not snow it rained, and the variableness of the weather was very great indeed. Mr. Kent tells us the colours of the landscape were of extraordinary splendour, but we have to content ourselves with his black-and-white drawings; these are full of intensity, but have the fault of being in the figures far too reminiscent of Blake. This is a great pity, as it is obvious that the artist has much originality of his own, and we can but regret that he has adopted Blake's figure convention, which at second- hand is insupportable. In the drawings in which the snow peaks and glaciers of the mainland appear the artist has made his own convention, and a very striking one it is with its solid blacks and whites. There is a drawing called The Sleeper, in which a range of snowy peaks towering above the dark foot- hills rising out of the sea are suggested with quite remarkable force and beauty. The journal is good reading for those whose imagination likes to wander in places where there is complete peace amid majestic surroundings untroubled by man. One of the features of the journal is the evident enjoyment of the wild life by both father and son. We must not forget to mention the inside of the cover with its pictorial map. It is beautifully drawn and full of character.
Mr. Brangwyn's artistic activity is immense ; he passes from vast wall paintings to book plates' with equal virtuosity and dash. Here we have a collection of sixty-nine specimens, which are varied in treatment, all very clever and many very uncon- vincing. Here as elsewhere there is a feeling about Mr. Brangwyn's work of strain ; a really tall man does not need to 'stand on tiptoe. Nevertheless, no one can fail to recognize the vitality and variety of the work.
Dr. Williamson proceeds with his laborious biographies of third-rate eighteenth-century portrait painters, and the latest of these is Daniel Gardner', who began his career in the studio of Reynolds, where he learnt to imitate all the least satisfactory parts of his master's painting. Gardner may be regarded as one of the many ancestors of those painters who, by their cheap sentiment, love of prettiness, vulgarity, and want of technical skill in drawing, have made Academy Art in England a byword and reproach, causing wild excesses of reaction.
An interesting selection of war posters% has been got together, representing the efforts to stir opinion not only by the Allies but by our enemies also. Looking back at them now we do not find very much that seems of lasting value except some by Mr. Brangwyn and Mr. Spencer Price, and that wonderful piece of concentrated energy by M. Jules Abel Faivre, " On les aura."
A useful handbook of British Paintings, which is sensible if not profound, has been written by Miss Maguiness, and M. de Felice's' small work on the furniture of the time of Louis XV, has been translated, and there also appears a somewhat un critical panegyric of Millais and Holman Hunt.'"
Mr. W. Rothenstein gives us twenty-four portrait drawingsn of his distinguished friends, and these gentlemen have written biographical notes upon each other, so that the book is a fine example of a mutual admiration society. Mr. A tells us that the work of Mr. B is immortal—and vice versa. The panegyrics are not signed, and so we have the additional amusement of speculating as to their authors. The drawings are meri- torious but lacking in the finer qualities of portraiture. Both artist and sitter seem painfully self-conscious ; indeed, many of the heads have that anxious look so often to be seen in self- portraits. The work of reproduction of the drawings has been most perfectly done by Mr. Emery Walker.
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