The Sculptural Idea by James J. Kelly (review)

82 Books its history of painting, sculpture, architecture and the industrial arts. It was in architecture and industrial design that he found men that he could appreciate for their vigor and originality. One of Bing’s significant goals was to raise the industrial arts to eminence, as he wrote that ’. . . we should first recognize that our decorative arts have suffered for too long from the exclusive prestige accorded to what we pompously call Fine Art’. In America, he felt that this conservative attitude had not prevailed and artists, such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, had been free to develop according to their own temperaments. Bing realized that for Tiffany ‘. . . glass was the object of his particular passion.. . .’ The essay is very well translated by Benita Eisler. Koch also has carefully selected key illustrations of works of many of the artists whom Bing mentioned in his text, providing a very helpful visual emphasis that was absent from the essay when it was first published. The reverence for the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany is maintained in Koch’s second choice of an article, namely, ‘Louis C. Tiffany’s Coloured Glass Work’, which first appeared in German in Kunst und Kunstliandwerk, in 1898, and was translated into English the following year as an introduction for an exhibit at the Grafton Galleries in London. This glowing tribute to Tiffany helped establish Bing’s interest in his glasswork, a fact that can be documented since Bing had been selling Tiffany glass during the 1890’s. The essay is well illustrated with Tiffany pieces, including examples that Bing sold to the Paris MusCe des Arts Decoratifs in 1894 and 1895. In the third selection, ‘L‘art nouviau’, reprinted from Tlie Architectural Record of 1902, is reprinted one the most famous statements made by Bing where he attempted to clarify what was meant by his use of the words, art nouveau. He emphasizes his commitment to the revival of interest in decorative art and sees himself as a patron of artists ‘. . . disposed to carry out my ideas’. While the article is also of seminal importance for grasping Bing’s ideas, it would have been helpful to have illustrations of some of the works, especially porcelains, produced through Bing’s support in place of the old photographs of the interior and exterior of his shop at 22 rue de Provence. This is, however, only a small criticism. The fourth article, ‘L’artnouveau’, reprinted from The Craftsman of October, 1903,is also of considerable importance. It provides more of the aesthetic principles that guided Bing and, indeed, the art nouveau period, in general, asit appeared throughout Europe and America. More than any other article, this one demonstrates Bing’s awareness of the varieties of art production of his time and clearly reveals his subtle tastes. It is a fitting conclusion to the book. Bing’s support of Japanese art and his many articles on Far Eastern creativity are not represented here. This seems unfortunate, especially since the impact of Japonisme was helpful to art nouueau designers. Further, while the book is lavishly illustrated, other examples might have been selected in order to focus on more specificart nouueau works that Bing commissioned. These criticisms, however, in no way hamper my appreciation of this splendidly produced volume. Koch is to be commended for bringing these writings out of obscurity in order to increase not only our knowledge of art nouueau but also our admiration for Siegfried (Samuel) Bing. The Sculptural Idea. James J. Kelly. Burgess, Minneapolis, Minn., 1970. 102 pp., illus. $3.95. Reviewed by : Matthew Frere-Smith* This book is an attempt to analyse sculpture as it exists today. It is not a presentation of varied schools grouped in a digestible order but an investigation of as much of the inside world of the sculptor as the author could identify. The task is difficult, calling for expxience, research and contact with artists on their work. The book is th: result of an attempt of the author not to collide or be contaminated by the opinions of others. His experience seems to be limited to photographs of sculptures, which can only record a fragmentary visual aspxt of what is essentially a...