at this point, the aesthetician might have confronted some new
question of philosophical interest, such as: what are the
priorities of different kinds of technical facilities ? Tintoretto,
Rembrandt and Delacroix are sometimes guilty of careless
foreshortening (as opposed to deliberate distortion), while
Poussin, Caravaggio and G6rome rarely are. Is the ability to
achieve harmonious designs the loftiest skill? Or is a forceful
imagination the highest aptitude? Or is there something else that
is decisive? One will not find out from Isenberg.
Does an extension of his thought into these matters pre- suppose
technical knowledge greater than he had? No. But Isenberg does not
seem to have been particularly venture- some. His forte lay,
rather, in correcting maps charted by less circumspect, more
courageous pioneers. This makes it all the more annoying when
Isenberg asserts his opinion as though it were guaranteed of some
safe perpetuity where none is warranted.
Still, the collection is very much worth the reading. Typical of
philosophical treatments of the arts, it is heavily literary in its
emphases. But the author is usually interesting and fre- quently
provocative. Although he was not a thinker of high order, he was an
exceedingly careful and thorough one and his revelations of
sciolisms, non-sequiturs and wholly ephemeral desiderata are
delightful and handy to know about.
The Anxious Object: Art Today and Its Audience. Harold
Rosenberg. Collier-Macmillan, London and New York, 1973. 272 pp.,
illus. Paper, ?1.50; $2.95. Concerning Contemporary Art: The Power
Lectures 1968-1973. Bernard Smith, ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford,
1975. 185 pp., illus. Paper, ?2.65. Reviewed by Bernard Myers*
If the aims of industrialists were to invent hitherto non-
existent artificial desires and then to establish a monopoly in the
means of satisfying those needs at the maximum price,
industrialists would, quite understandably, be denounced. Yet this
is a fair description of what an artist does. His work does not
exist until he makes it, by its existence he hopes that it will
provoke demand, then he alone satisfies that demand.
I have the feeling (I wish that I could make a more affirma-
tive statement) that this is what Harold Rosenberg has been saying
for a long time. He, however, neglects the causes for describing
symptoms. Artists are in a predicament in 'free' market societies.
Contrary to popular belief, artists are not swindlers by choice.
The competitive nature of the 'free' market forces artists both to
produce and to sell works and dealers generally expect a work to
sell itself. In the past, the patron not only used to commission a
work in advance but, by setting the subject, would also assume
moral respon- sibility for the work. What he required was that the
artist deliver the goods like any other tradesman. Today artists
have to accept or reject that moral responsibility on top of all
their other problems. No wonder that it is too much for most and
that extreme forms of behaviour frequently result from such
pressures.
This anxiety rubs off on the object and is passed on by
contagion to the sensitive critic. Worrying about art (surely there
are more urgent things to worry about) has become more than a
popular pastime; it is a trade. Some of us used to hire critics to
look at things for us and to tell us what they are about, as if
direct exposure to a work itself, unscreened by words, could cause
physical damage. Now critics are employed also to do our worrying
for us. As such, Rosenberg is worth re-reading. As a man who is up
to his eyes in in- volvement with the artists' dilemma, he does
provide insight and a certain amount of clarification.
Reviewing the Power Lectures for the years 1968-1973 is like
reviewing the scripts and scores of a Command Per- formance for
British Royalty at a variety theatre without having been present.
Popular lectures sponsored by the Power Institute of Fine Arts in
the University of Sydney, Australia, are of more importane as
entertainment than as
at this point, the aesthetician might have confronted some new
question of philosophical interest, such as: what are the
priorities of different kinds of technical facilities ? Tintoretto,
Rembrandt and Delacroix are sometimes guilty of careless
foreshortening (as opposed to deliberate distortion), while
Poussin, Caravaggio and G6rome rarely are. Is the ability to
achieve harmonious designs the loftiest skill? Or is a forceful
imagination the highest aptitude? Or is there something else that
is decisive? One will not find out from Isenberg.
Does an extension of his thought into these matters pre- suppose
technical knowledge greater than he had? No. But Isenberg does not
seem to have been particularly venture- some. His forte lay,
rather, in correcting maps charted by less circumspect, more
courageous pioneers. This makes it all the more annoying when
Isenberg asserts his opinion as though it were guaranteed of some
safe perpetuity where none is warranted.
Still, the collection is very much worth the reading. Typical of
philosophical treatments of the arts, it is heavily literary in its
emphases. But the author is usually interesting and fre- quently
provocative. Although he was not a thinker of high order, he was an
exceedingly careful and thorough one and his revelations of
sciolisms, non-sequiturs and wholly ephemeral desiderata are
delightful and handy to know about.
The Anxious Object: Art Today and Its Audience. Harold
Rosenberg. Collier-Macmillan, London and New York, 1973. 272 pp.,
illus. Paper, ?1.50; $2.95. Concerning Contemporary Art: The Power
Lectures 1968-1973. Bernard Smith, ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford,
1975. 185 pp., illus. Paper, ?2.65. Reviewed by Bernard Myers*
If the aims of industrialists were to invent hitherto non-
existent artificial desires and then to establish a monopoly in the
means of satisfying those needs at the maximum price,
industrialists would, quite understandably, be denounced. Yet this
is a fair description of what an artist does. His work does not
exist until he makes it, by its existence he hopes that it will
provoke demand, then he alone satisfies that demand.
I have the feeling (I wish that I could make a more affirma-
tive statement) that this is what Harold Rosenberg has been saying
for a long time. He, however, neglects the causes for describing
symptoms. Artists are in a predicament in 'free' market societies.
Contrary to popular belief, artists are not swindlers by choice.
The competitive nature of the 'free' market forces artists both to
produce and to sell works and dealers generally expect a work to
sell itself. In the past, the patron not only used to commission a
work in advance but, by setting the subject, would also assume
moral respon- sibility for the work. What he required was that the
artist deliver the goods like any other tradesman. Today artists
have to accept or reject that moral responsibility on top of all
their other problems. No wonder that it is too much for most and
that extreme forms of behaviour frequently result from such
pressures.
This anxiety rubs off on the object and is passed on by
contagion to the sensitive critic. Worrying about art (surely there
are more urgent things to worry about) has become more than a
popular pastime; it is a trade. Some of us used to hire critics to
look at things for us and to tell us what they are about, as if
direct exposure to a work itself, unscreened by words, could cause
physical damage. Now critics are employed also to do our worrying
for us. As such, Rosenberg is worth re-reading. As a man who is up
to his eyes in in- volvement with the artists' dilemma, he does
provide insight and a certain amount of clarification.
Reviewing the Power Lectures for the years 1968-1973 is like
reviewing the scripts and scores of a Command Per- formance for
British Royalty at a variety theatre without having been present.
Popular lectures sponsored by the Power Institute of Fine Arts in
the University of Sydney, Australia, are of more importane as
entertainment than as
at this point, the aesthetician might have confronted some new
question of philosophical interest, such as: what are the
priorities of different kinds of technical facilities ? Tintoretto,
Rembrandt and Delacroix are sometimes guilty of careless
foreshortening (as opposed to deliberate distortion), while
Poussin, Caravaggio and G6rome rarely are. Is the ability to
achieve harmonious designs the loftiest skill? Or is a forceful
imagination the highest aptitude? Or is there something else that
is decisive? One will not find out from Isenberg.
Does an extension of his thought into these matters pre- suppose
technical knowledge greater than he had? No. But Isenberg does not
seem to have been particularly venture- some. His forte lay,
rather, in correcting maps charted by less circumspect, more
courageous pioneers. This makes it all the more annoying when
Isenberg asserts his opinion as though it were guaranteed of some
safe perpetuity where none is warranted.
Still, the collection is very much worth the reading. Typical of
philosophical treatments of the arts, it is heavily literary in its
emphases. But the author is usually interesting and fre- quently
provocative. Although he was not a thinker of high order, he was an
exceedingly careful and thorough one and his revelations of
sciolisms, non-sequiturs and wholly ephemeral desiderata are
delightful and handy to know about.
The Anxious Object: Art Today and Its Audience. Harold
Rosenberg. Collier-Macmillan, London and New York, 1973. 272 pp.,
illus. Paper, ?1.50; $2.95. Concerning Contemporary Art: The Power
Lectures 1968-1973. Bernard Smith, ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford,
1975. 185 pp., illus. Paper, ?2.65. Reviewed by Bernard Myers*
If the aims of industrialists were to invent hitherto non-
existent artificial desires and then to establish a monopoly in the
means of satisfying those needs at the maximum price,
industrialists would, quite understandably, be denounced. Yet this
is a fair description of what an artist does. His work does not
exist until he makes it, by its existence he hopes that it will
provoke demand, then he alone satisfies that demand.
I have the feeling (I wish that I could make a more affirma-
tive statement) that this is what Harold Rosenberg has been saying
for a long time. He, however, neglects the causes for describing
symptoms. Artists are in a predicament in 'free' market societies.
Contrary to popular belief, artists are not swindlers by choice.
The competitive nature of the 'free' market forces artists both to
produce and to sell works and dealers generally expect a work to
sell itself. In the past, the patron not only used to commission a
work in advance but, by setting the subject, would also assume
moral respon- sibility for the work. What he required was that the
artist deliver the goods like any other tradesman. Today artists
have to accept or reject that moral responsibility on top of all
their other problems. No wonder that it is too much for most and
that extreme forms of behaviour frequently result from such
pressures.
This anxiety rubs off on the object and is passed on by
contagion to the sensitive critic. Worrying about art (surely there
are more urgent things to worry about) has become more than a
popular pastime; it is a trade. Some of us used to hire critics to
look at things for us and to tell us what they are about, as if
direct exposure to a work itself, unscreened by words, could cause
physical damage. Now critics are employed also to do our worrying
for us. As such, Rosenberg is worth re-reading. As a man who is up
to his eyes in in- volvement with the artists' dilemma, he does
provide insight and a certain amount of clarification.
Reviewing the Power Lectures for the years 1968-1973 is like
reviewing the scripts and scores of a Command Per- formance for
British Royalty at a variety theatre without having been present.
Popular lectures sponsored by the Power Institute of Fine Arts in
the University of Sydney, Australia, are of more importane as
entertainment than as
at this point, the aesthetician might have confronted some new
question of philosophical interest, such as: what are the
priorities of different kinds of technical facilities ? Tintoretto,
Rembrandt and Delacroix are sometimes guilty of careless
foreshortening (as opposed to deliberate distortion), while
Poussin, Caravaggio and G6rome rarely are. Is the ability to
achieve harmonious designs the loftiest skill? Or is a forceful
imagination the highest aptitude? Or is there something else that
is decisive? One will not find out from Isenberg.
Does an extension of his thought into these matters pre- suppose
technical knowledge greater than he had? No. But Isenberg does not
seem to have been particularly venture- some. His forte lay,
rather, in correcting maps charted by less circumspect, more
courageous pioneers. This makes it all the more annoying when
Isenberg asserts his opinion as though it were guaranteed of some
safe perpetuity where none is warranted.
Still, the collection is very much worth the reading. Typical of
philosophical treatments of the arts, it is heavily literary in its
emphases. But the author is usually interesting and fre- quently
provocative. Although he was not a thinker of high order, he was an
exceedingly careful and thorough one and his revelations of
sciolisms, non-sequiturs and wholly ephemeral desiderata are
delightful and handy to know about.
The Anxious Object: Art Today and Its Audience. Harold
Rosenberg. Collier-Macmillan, London and New York, 1973. 272 pp.,
illus. Paper, ?1.50; $2.95. Concerning Contemporary Art: The Power
Lectures 1968-1973. Bernard Smith, ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford,
1975. 185 pp., illus. Paper, ?2.65. Reviewed by Bernard Myers*
If the aims of industrialists were to invent hitherto non-
existent artificial desires and then to establish a monopoly in the
means of satisfying those needs at the maximum price,
industrialists would, quite understandably, be denounced. Yet this
is a fair description of what an artist does. His work does not
exist until he makes it, by its existence he hopes that it will
provoke demand, then he alone satisfies that demand.
I have the feeling (I wish that I could make a more affirma-
tive statement) that this is what Harold Rosenberg has been saying
for a long time. He, however, neglects the causes for describing
symptoms. Artists are in a predicament in 'free' market societies.
Contrary to popular belief, artists are not swindlers by choice.
The competitive nature of the 'free' market forces artists both to
produce and to sell works and dealers generally expect a work to
sell itself. In the past, the patron not only used to commission a
work in advance but, by setting the subject, would also assume
moral respon- sibility for the work. What he required was that the
artist deliver the goods like any other tradesman. Today artists
have to accept or reject that moral responsibility on top of all
their other problems. No wonder that it is too much for most and
that extreme forms of behaviour frequently result from such
pressures.
This anxiety rubs off on the object and is passed on by
contagion to the sensitive critic. Worrying about art (surely there
are more urgent things to worry about) has become more than a
popular pastime; it is a trade. Some of us used to hire critics to
look at things for us and to tell us what they are about, as if
direct exposure to a work itself, unscreened by words, could cause
physical damage. Now critics are employed also to do our worrying
for us. As such, Rosenberg is worth re-reading. As a man who is up
to his eyes in in- volvement with the artists' dilemma, he does
provide insight and a certain amount of clarification.
Reviewing the Power Lectures for the years 1968-1973 is like
reviewing the scripts and scores of a Command Per- formance for
British Royalty at a variety theatre without having been present.
Popular lectures sponsored by the Power Institute of Fine Arts in
the University of Sydney, Australia, are of more importane as
entertainment than as
*Dept. of General Studies, Royal College of Art, Kensington
Gore, London SW7 2EU, England. *Dept. of General Studies, Royal
College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU, England. *Dept. of
General Studies, Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7
2EU, England. *Dept. of General Studies, Royal College of Art,
Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU, England.
scholarship and so they should be if the star performers are
flown half way round the world for a one-night stand. Scholarship
is always better read in the privacy of one's own home under plain
wrappers.
Performance is half the battle in entertainment; the other half
is confirming the prejudices of audiences. The same is true for
those peculiar people who can find nothing better to do than to go
to lectures on art. Without the act heard and seen, published
popular lectures generalize too much, cover too much ground, use
too many illustrations and finish up by saying nothing that cannot
be read elsewhere. Among the star performers are Clement Greenberg,
Patrick Heron and Richard Wollheim singing old favourites by
request.
Avant-Garde Art. T. Hess and J. Ashbery, eds. Collier-
Macmillan, London, 1968. 247 pp., illus. ?0.70. Reviewed by Malcolm
F. R. Miles**
The first question raised by an anthology of this kind is 'what
is avant-garde art?'. Unfortunately, this volume gives no clear
answer. Perhaps none exists, but some explanation of the criteria
used by the editors in making their choice of material would have
been interesting and would have helped to unify the book.
But, accepting its necessarily ubiquitous character, one may
deduce two significant answers to the question. The most prominent
is that avant-garde art is at odds with society. This constitutes
more than art merely relating to social awareness; a political
element is entailed. Linda Nochlin's contribution on Courbet and
Manet is excellently researched and explores precisely this
question.
Other writers, such as co-editor John Ashbury, give un-
acceptability as their criterion. A few simply consider artists who
are called stylistically avant-garde but for no clearly stated
reason. In fact, the argument of style (the comment of art on its
own past) is not entered into fully. An introduction to the book
might have dealt with such questions.
Most of the articles are of a high standard of research and
exposition, especially those by Nochlin, Harold Rosenberg and
William Agee. Those by Michel Butor and Louis Finklestein fall
short, in the former case through vagueness and the lack of any
real idea, in the latter through the reliance on jargon. Some
articles had footnotes; others would have been the better for them.
The illustrations are curiously selected and placed.
The range of material is broad, from Courbet's paintings to
Happenings and kinesis. But I question why Cubism is not included;
if art can be stylistically avant-garde, the 'De- moiselles
d'Avignon' qualifies. I also question the omission of Joseph Beuys
from Allan Kaprow's article on Happenings and the virtual omission
of the French symbolists, who are mentioned only in passing under
Post-Impressionism. For Redon, as for Verlaine and Mallarme, the
avant-garde implied the extension of art to the borders of
experience. This form of radicalism is as valid as the
political.
In conclusion, the book is certainly of interest and a welcome
contribution to the literature of ideas as a frame of reference in
art history, an area that could be expanded. For a paperback
anthology, it covers broad ground and, for the most part, does it
well. Omissions are to be expected and provide hope that future
related volumes may appear.
Spanish Painting. John F. Moffitt. Studio Vista, London; Dutton,
New York; 1973. 159 pp., illus. Paper, ?0.90; $2.75. Surrealism and
Spain: 1920-36. C. B. Morris. Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 1972.
291 pp, illus. ?5.75. Spanish Painting: The Latest Avant-Garde.
Jose Maria Moreno Galvan. Trans. Neville Hinton. New York Graphic
Society, Greenwich, Conn., 1972. 275 pp., illus. $35.00. Reviewed
by Norman Narotzky?
Spanish Painting is a brief survey from cave paintings to those
of the present. The book is organized within the typical
scholarship and so they should be if the star performers are
flown half way round the world for a one-night stand. Scholarship
is always better read in the privacy of one's own home under plain
wrappers.
Performance is half the battle in entertainment; the other half
is confirming the prejudices of audiences. The same is true for
those peculiar people who can find nothing better to do than to go
to lectures on art. Without the act heard and seen, published
popular lectures generalize too much, cover too much ground, use
too many illustrations and finish up by saying nothing that cannot
be read elsewhere. Among the star performers are Clement Greenberg,
Patrick Heron and Richard Wollheim singing old favourites by
request.
Avant-Garde Art. T. Hess and J. Ashbery, eds. Collier-
Macmillan, London, 1968. 247 pp., illus. ?0.70. Reviewed by Malcolm
F. R. Miles**
The first question raised by an anthology of this kind is 'what
is avant-garde art?'. Unfortunately, this volume gives no clear
answer. Perhaps none exists, but some explanation of the criteria
used by the editors in making their choice of material would have
been interesting and would have helped to unify the book.
But, accepting its necessarily ubiquitous character, one may
deduce two significant answers to the question. The most prominent
is that avant-garde art is at odds with society. This constitutes
more than art merely relating to social awareness; a political
element is entailed. Linda Nochlin's contribution on Courbet and
Manet is excellently researched and explores precisely this
question.
Other writers, such as co-editor John Ashbury, give un-
acceptability as their criterion. A few simply consider artists who
are called stylistically avant-garde but for no clearly stated
reason. In fact, the argument of style (the comment of art on its
own past) is not entered into fully. An introduction to the book
might have dealt with such questions.
Most of the articles are of a high standard of research and
exposition, especially those by Nochlin, Harold Rosenberg and
William Agee. Those by Michel Butor and Louis Finklestein fall
short, in the former case through vagueness and the lack of any
real idea, in the latter through the reliance on jargon. Some
articles had footnotes; others would have been the better for them.
The illustrations are curiously selected and placed.
The range of material is broad, from Courbet's paintings to
Happenings and kinesis. But I question why Cubism is not included;
if art can be stylistically avant-garde, the 'De- moiselles
d'Avignon' qualifies. I also question the omission of Joseph Beuys
from Allan Kaprow's article on Happenings and the virtual omission
of the French symbolists, who are mentioned only in passing under
Post-Impressionism. For Redon, as for Verlaine and Mallarme, the
avant-garde implied the extension of art to the borders of
experience. This form of radicalism is as valid as the
political.
In conclusion, the book is certainly of interest and a welcome
contribution to the literature of ideas as a frame of reference in
art history, an area that could be expanded. For a paperback
anthology, it covers broad ground and, for the most part, does it
well. Omissions are to be expected and provide hope that future
related volumes may appear.
Spanish Painting. John F. Moffitt. Studio Vista, London; Dutton,
New York; 1973. 159 pp., illus. Paper, ?0.90; $2.75. Surrealism and
Spain: 1920-36. C. B. Morris. Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 1972.
291 pp, illus. ?5.75. Spanish Painting: The Latest Avant-Garde.
Jose Maria Moreno Galvan. Trans. Neville Hinton. New York Graphic
Society, Greenwich, Conn., 1972. 275 pp., illus. $35.00. Reviewed
by Norman Narotzky?
Spanish Painting is a brief survey from cave paintings to those
of the present. The book is organized within the typical
scholarship and so they should be if the star performers are
flown half way round the world for a one-night stand. Scholarship
is always better read in the privacy of one's own home under plain
wrappers.
Performance is half the battle in entertainment; the other half
is confirming the prejudices of audiences. The same is true for
those peculiar people who can find nothing better to do than to go
to lectures on art. Without the act heard and seen, published
popular lectures generalize too much, cover too much ground, use
too many illustrations and finish up by saying nothing that cannot
be read elsewhere. Among the star performers are Clement Greenberg,
Patrick Heron and Richard Wollheim singing old favourites by
request.
Avant-Garde Art. T. Hess and J. Ashbery, eds. Collier-
Macmillan, London, 1968. 247 pp., illus. ?0.70. Reviewed by Malcolm
F. R. Miles**
The first question raised by an anthology of this kind is 'what
is avant-garde art?'. Unfortunately, this volume gives no clear
answer. Perhaps none exists, but some explanation of the criteria
used by the editors in making their choice of material would have
been interesting and would have helped to unify the book.
But, accepting its necessarily ubiquitous character, one may
deduce two significant answers to the question. The most prominent
is that avant-garde art is at odds with society. This constitutes
more than art merely relating to social awareness; a political
element is entailed. Linda Nochlin's contribution on Courbet and
Manet is excellently researched and explores precisely this
question.
Other writers, such as co-editor John Ashbury, give un-
acceptability as their criterion. A few simply consider artists who
are called stylistically avant-garde but for no clearly stated
reason. In fact, the argument of style (the comment of art on its
own past) is not entered into fully. An introduction to the book
might have dealt with such questions.
Most of the articles are of a high standard of research and
exposition, especially those by Nochlin, Harold Rosenberg and
William Agee. Those by Michel Butor and Louis Finklestein fall
short, in the former case through vagueness and the lack of any
real idea, in the latter through the reliance on jargon. Some
articles had footnotes; others would have been the better for them.
The illustrations are curiously selected and placed.
The range of material is broad, from Courbet's paintings to
Happenings and kinesis. But I question why Cubism is not included;
if art can be stylistically avant-garde, the 'De- moiselles
d'Avignon' qualifies. I also question the omission of Joseph Beuys
from Allan Kaprow's article on Happenings and the virtual omission
of the French symbolists, who are mentioned only in passing under
Post-Impressionism. For Redon, as for Verlaine and Mallarme, the
avant-garde implied the extension of art to the borders of
experience. This form of radicalism is as valid as the
political.
In conclusion, the book is certainly of interest and a welcome
contribution to the literature of ideas as a frame of reference in
art history, an area that could be expanded. For a paperback
anthology, it covers broad ground and, for the most part, does it
well. Omissions are to be expected and provide hope that future
related volumes may appear.
Spanish Painting. John F. Moffitt. Studio Vista, London; Dutton,
New York; 1973. 159 pp., illus. Paper, ?0.90; $2.75. Surrealism and
Spain: 1920-36. C. B. Morris. Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 1972.
291 pp, illus. ?5.75. Spanish Painting: The Latest Avant-Garde.
Jose Maria Moreno Galvan. Trans. Neville Hinton. New York Graphic
Society, Greenwich, Conn., 1972. 275 pp., illus. $35.00. Reviewed
by Norman Narotzky?
Spanish Painting is a brief survey from cave paintings to those
of the present. The book is organized within the typical
scholarship and so they should be if the star performers are
flown half way round the world for a one-night stand. Scholarship
is always better read in the privacy of one's own home under plain
wrappers.
Performance is half the battle in entertainment; the other half
is confirming the prejudices of audiences. The same is true for
those peculiar people who can find nothing better to do than to go
to lectures on art. Without the act heard and seen, published
popular lectures generalize too much, cover too much ground, use
too many illustrations and finish up by saying nothing that cannot
be read elsewhere. Among the star performers are Clement Greenberg,
Patrick Heron and Richard Wollheim singing old favourites by
request.
Avant-Garde Art. T. Hess and J. Ashbery, eds. Collier-
Macmillan, London, 1968. 247 pp., illus. ?0.70. Reviewed by Malcolm
F. R. Miles**
The first question raised by an anthology of this kind is 'what
is avant-garde art?'. Unfortunately, this volume gives no clear
answer. Perhaps none exists, but some explanation of the criteria
used by the editors in making their choice of material would have
been interesting and would have helped to unify the book.
But, accepting its necessarily ubiquitous character, one may
deduce two significant answers to the question. The most prominent
is that avant-garde art is at odds with society. This constitutes
more than art merely relating to social awareness; a political
element is entailed. Linda Nochlin's contribution on Courbet and
Manet is excellently researched and explores precisely this
question.
Other writers, such as co-editor John Ashbury, give un-
acceptability as their criterion. A few simply consider artists who
are called stylistically avant-garde but for no clearly stated
reason. In fact, the argument of style (the comment of art on its
own past) is not entered into fully. An introduction to the book
might have dealt with such questions.
Most of the articles are of a high standard of research and
exposition, especially those by Nochlin, Harold Rosenberg and
William Agee. Those by Michel Butor and Louis Finklestein fall
short, in the former case through vagueness and the lack of any
real idea, in the latter through the reliance on jargon. Some
articles had footnotes; others would have been the better for them.
The illustrations are curiously selected and placed.
The range of material is broad, from Courbet's paintings to
Happenings and kinesis. But I question why Cubism is not included;
if art can be stylistically avant-garde, the 'De- moiselles
d'Avignon' qualifies. I also question the omission of Joseph Beuys
from Allan Kaprow's article on Happenings and the virtual omission
of the French symbolists, who are mentioned only in passing under
Post-Impressionism. For Redon, as for Verlaine and Mallarme, the
avant-garde implied the extension of art to the borders of
experience. This form of radicalism is as valid as the
political.
In conclusion, the book is certainly of interest and a welcome
contribution to the literature of ideas as a frame of reference in
art history, an area that could be expanded. For a paperback
anthology, it covers broad ground and, for the most part, does it
well. Omissions are to be expected and provide hope that future
related volumes may appear.
Spanish Painting. John F. Moffitt. Studio Vista, London; Dutton,
New York; 1973. 159 pp., illus. Paper, ?0.90; $2.75. Surrealism and
Spain: 1920-36. C. B. Morris. Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 1972.
291 pp, illus. ?5.75. Spanish Painting: The Latest Avant-Garde.
Jose Maria Moreno Galvan. Trans. Neville Hinton. New York Graphic
Society, Greenwich, Conn., 1972. 275 pp., illus. $35.00. Reviewed
by Norman Narotzky?
Spanish Painting is a brief survey from cave paintings to those
of the present. The book is organized within the typical
**Linhay, Downsview Rd., Headley Down, Hants., England. ?Corcega
196, Barcelona 11, Spain. **Linhay, Downsview Rd., Headley Down,
Hants., England. ?Corcega 196, Barcelona 11, Spain. **Linhay,
Downsview Rd., Headley Down, Hants., England. ?Corcega 196,
Barcelona 11, Spain. **Linhay, Downsview Rd., Headley Down, Hants.,
England. ?Corcega 196, Barcelona 11, Spain.
76 76 76 76 Books Books Books Books
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Article Contentsp. 76
Issue Table of ContentsLeonardo, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Winter, 1977),
pp. i-iv+1-88Front Matter [pp. i - iv]Articles by ArtistsThe
Development of New Vehicle Recipes for Encaustic Paints [pp. 1 -
5]A View of Non-Figurative Art and Mathematics and an Analysis of a
Structural Relief [pp. 7 - 12]On My 'Maya' Series of Paintings
Influenced by the Hindu Religion [pp. 13 - 15]
Can Computers Be Programmed to Appreciate Art? [pp. 17 - 21]What
Is a Christian Painting? [pp. 23 - 29]NotesThree Murals: Cast
Polyester Panels, an Acrylic Painting and a Plexiglas Relief [pp.
31 - 32]Report on the 1976 Conference on Human and Robot Behaviour
at Leicester Polytechnic, England [p. 33]Metal Sculpture:
Polystyrene Patterns in Ceramic Shell Molds [pp. 34 - 36]John P.
Spiegel and Pavel Machotka on Bodily Communication [pp. 37 -
38]Examples of My Visual Numerical Art [pp. 39 - 41]Sculpture: My
Transformables of 1973-76 [pp. 42 - 43]A Plexiglas Object
Illuminated by Visible and Infrared (Invisible) Radiation
Components of a Laser Beam [pp. 44 - 45]On My Experiences as an
'Artist in Residence' in a Secondary School in the U.S.A. [pp. 46 -
48]Folk Toys of India [pp. 49 - 50]Audio-Kinetic Art: The
Construction and Operation of My 'Laser-Chromasonic Tower' [pp. 51
- 53]Sculpture: The Ammonia Plasticization Process for Bending
Pieces of Wood [pp. 54 - 55]
DocumentsPsychological Aesthetics, Speculative and Scientific
[pp. 56 - 58]Humanism and Science [pp. 59 - 62]
Terminology [p. 63]International Opportunities for Artists [pp.
64 - 65]Calendar of Events: 1977-78 [pp. 66 - 67]Booksuntitled [p.
68]untitled [pp. 68 - 69]untitled [p. 69]untitled [pp. 69 -
70]untitled [p. 70]untitled [p. 70]untitled [pp. 70 - 71]untitled
[p. 71]untitled [p. 71]untitled [p. 72]untitled [pp. 72 -
73]untitled [p. 73]untitled [pp. 73 - 74]untitled [p. 74]untitled
[pp. 74 - 75]untitled [p. 75]untitled [pp. 75 - 76]untitled [p.
76]untitled [p. 76]untitled [pp. 76 - 77]untitled [pp. 77 -
78]untitled [p. 78]untitled [p. 78]untitled [pp. 78 - 79]untitled
[p. 79]untitled [pp. 79 - 80]untitled [p. 80]untitled [p.
80]untitled [pp. 80 - 81]untitled [p. 81]untitled [pp. 81 -
82]untitled [p. 82]untitled [pp. 82 - 83]untitled [p. 83]untitled
[pp. 83 - 84]untitled [p. 84]Books Received [pp. 84 - 85]
LettersOn Seeing a Picture for the First Time [pp. 86 - 87]On
John M. Kennedy's Picture Perception Analysis [p. 87]On
Hypothetical Extrasensory Perception (ESP) [pp. 87 - 88]Robert Falk
as a Teacher of Painting [p. 88]Correction: Environmental Sculpture
in the U.S.A. (Continued) [p. 88]
Back Matter
