BOOKS.
BOOKS ON ART.* ARCHITECTURE seems to be one of the few things at the present time which are not going though a period of anarchy- Indeed, it is more and more reverting to academic tradition. Gothic wildness has been banished, and even Georgian propriety is no longer everything, and we are told to turn back and admire the neo-grec. Those who are desirous of studying this type of architecture, and of tracing its emergence from pseudo-Roman beginnings, will find plenty of enlightenment, both from letterpress and illustrations, in Mr. Richardson's book, Monumental Classic Architecture.' The writer enters a strong plea for the academic in archi- tecture, which is exemplified in such buildings as the British Museum, the Bank of England, Somerset House, and the St. George's Hall, Liverpool. This last is one of the few structures which seem to be something more than an accumula- tion of borrowed details ; it has a life of its own. It is a matter for lasting regret that its author, Elmes, should have died at the early age of thirty-three. Mr. Richardson confines himself almost entirely to what he calls monumental architecture, and it is certain that this style is more suited to public buildings than to houses. An exception may be made in the case of the Circus at Bath, where the houses are treated not individually but in mass. If we find it difficult to share Mr. Richardson's enthusiasm for such things as the Taylor Buildings at Oxford, we can readily admit that he has written an interesting book, and one fully and well illustrated.—A very different spirit is shown in the volume devoted to the houses and gardens designed by Mr. Lutyens.2 Here the variety is wonderful and the ingenuity great, and although there is nothing that is academic, there is much that is monumental in the true sense. For in houses both great and small there is always an archi- tectural idea, definite and recognizable, and often rising to great nobility and distinction of design. Mr. Lutyens first felt his way with Surrey farmhouses, and showed that he was able not merely to copy, but to build so as to embody his original ideas in a way that was in complete harmony with old work. Later the architect has diverged into great variety, but always with the result that the building appears to be an original creation true to the chosen style. But beyond all questions of clever reconstructions of past manners of building, Mr. Lutyens shows that he possesses the essential gifts of the architect—imagination, and a fine sense of proportion. These are displayed not only in the large conceptions like the enclosed garden at Hestercombe, or Marsh Court, but in thatched cottages. Perhaps the sense of proportion is nowhere better seen than in the screen of a Chelsea garden. Here the entire simplicity and absence of ornament show how great an effect can be made with the smallest means by a real artist. Throughout the illustrations before us we are struck over and over again by the wonderful use Mr. Lutyens makes of mouldings. These when designed with perfect taste seem to be the crown of architectural effect. But how seldom now do we see them used as they are used here.
Among several books on Greek art is one, Greek Sculpture and Modern Art,3 which is a reprint of Sir Charles Waldstein's two lectures to the students at the Academy. Here the lecturer impresses on his hearers the importance of their learning the secret of beauty. He makes a comparison between ancient and recent modern art on this particular count. The views expressed are somewhat superficial, and * (1) Monumental, ciassie Architecture. By A. E. Richardson. London : B. T. Botsford. [84 4s, net.]—(2) Houses and Gardens. By E. Lutyens. Described by L. Weaver. London : Country Life. [259. net.]—(3) Greek Sculpture and Modern Art. By Sir Charles Woldstein. Cambridge : at the University Press. 7s. 6d. net.]—(4) Greek Art and National Life. By S. C. Kainea Smith. Loudon : J. Nisbet and Co. [7s. 6d. net.]—(5) The Principles of Greek Art. By Percy Gardner. London : Macmillan and Co. [10s. net.]—(6) The llenaissano* of the Classical Ideal. By Mrs. Boger Watts. London W. Heine, myna. [r21s. net.]—(7) Personal RecoliccSions of Vincent Yon Gog4. B Elirabeth du Quesue Van Gogh. London : A. Constable and Co. [7s. 6d. net.] —(8) Animal Sculpture. By Walter Winans. London: 0. P. Putnam's Sons. 179 Ed. Bet] there is no sign of any very clear understanding of the direction in which some of the younger artists are groping.— Dr. Kaines Smith's book on Greek Art and National Life* begins at the very beginning ; and indeed its most interesting part is the description of the palace of Knossos, where the spade of the excavator turned fairy-tales into history. Dr. Kaines Smith takes us right through Greek art till we reach the Farnese Bull, and Hercules. As the title of the book suggests, the statues are treated, not as abstract works of art, but in relation to national life. The style of the book might be described as the scientific enlivened by purple patches. Occasionally the author plunges into the purely theoretical, as in his discussion of the colour sense of the Northern and Southern races, and when on such delicate ground he becomes dogmatic in a high degree. To bolster up his theory that only the North feels colour and the South form, he pronounces that Turner and Watts " could scarcely draw a human figure." Turner was a landscape painter, and was not called upon to produce perfect figures. To class him and Watts together is nothing short of ridiculous, and to state that the painter of the "Daphne" "could scarely draw a human figure" is merely to exhibit ignorance. It is nearer the mark to say that Spanish painting shows no great feeling for colour than to say that the qualities of colour of the Rokeby "Venus," as well as "the crude vulgarity of the picture," make its authorship by Velazquez impossible. This is only another instance of the fact that academic study does not always produce omniscience.—Less discursive but more informing is Dr. Percy Gardner's handbook on The Principles of Greek AAA Among other things, the student can here learn from diagrams how to make Greek dresses. We say " diagrams " and not "cutting-out patterns" advisedly, for the one inadmissible thing in Greek millinery is a pair of scissors.
Mrs. Roger Watts believes that she has rediscovered the lost secret of Greek physical training. Her study, The Renaissance of the Classical Ideal,6 is interesting in its analysis of the meaning of various poses of statues which do not appear to rise naturally from the actions the figures are performing. According to Mrs. Watts, there is only an apparent discrepancy, because the poses in question were perfectly natural to the Greeks, they having been brought up to a different way of using muscles in action from ourselves. We are given an elaborate description of the new method of the body in tension, which we are told is the secret
of balance and the antidote to fatigue. The discussion is, of course, highly technical, and is illustrated by cinema and other photographs. A very curious result has been produced by attaching electric lights to the feet and taking photographs of exercises done in the dark. The lights are seen to describe rhythmic figures of great precision. The Greek physical training is no doubt worthy of the closest study. It has already produced the Swedish system, for Kling avowedly founded his movements on Greek statues. How far this last development is justified must be examined by experts before its value can be accepted.
It is impossible to read Mme. Du Quesne Van Gogh's. personal reminiscences of her brother-in-law Vincent7 without; feeling sympathy for the beautiful character which had such a tragic ending in madness. Vincent Van Gogh was a saint, and entirely unworldly, to such a degree that it is impossible to guess what would have become of him if he had not been watched over by a devoted family. He was quite uncon- scious of the sacrifices made by his father which enabled him to pursue the erratic career of theological student and evangelist among the Belgian miners, which preceded his transformation into a painter. In the latter part of his life be owed everything to the love and care of a devoted brother, who watched over him, and not only provided him with the means of existence while be was working out his artistic- theories, but also believed in his genius. This is not the place to rediscuss the principles of the art of Van Gogh, but the inquirer will find many reproductions of his pictures in this book. Some of these, with their strong, careful drawing, will surprise people who imagine that artists who depart from natural form do so from incompetence only.
It is difficult to imagine a more complete change than to turn from this account of Van Gogh to a book on Anima Sculpture by Mr. Walter Winans .2 Here we have the mesa realist's belief that minute and exact imitation of nature it the aim of art. At this time of day there is something delightfully innocent in the following words from the preface : " Copy nature as faithfully as you can, and in every detail in -which you have succeeded in imitating nature (if ever so slightly) you will achieve the artistic and sculpturesque, but where you have altered or improved' nature, the result will be -ugliness, deformity, and incongruity." The writer of those -words shows by them that he cannot be an artist. He is a Lean of science. The artist is one who raises emotion. This is not done by merely copying nature. The proof of this is ,given by the illustrations in the book before us. We are shown what Mr. Winans calls the Colonna statue in Rome— there is, of course, no such thing, and what he means is the Colleoni statue in Venice—and all sorts of inaccuracies in the anatomy and pose of the horse are pointed out. As a contrast we are asked to admire a statue of Nicholas I. at Petrograd, by Baron Klod. We are told that "the rider and his horse are in the perfect balance of the canter." And what is the result ? Merely that the realistic man and horse look as if they are about to canter over the edge of their high-built-up decorative pedestal, smashing the gas lamps, railings, and sentry-box on their way to destruction on the paving-stones. If you want to have a purely realistic horse, it must remain on the ground. No one ever feared for the safety of Colleoni, because, instead of being the ignoramus Mr. Winans supposes him to be, Verrocchio was a master perfectly well aware of what he was about.
Previous page
