Ancient Pagan Symbols by Elisabeth Goldsmith (review)

Books 83 Seuratand Signacread it. Seuratseemsto have been particularly impressed; Rood‘s contrast diagram was found among his papers, and there is good reason to believe that ThLorie scientifique des couleurs was a direct sourceof reference for ‘La Grande Jatte’. For these reasons, among others, Modern Chromatics is invaluable to historians of Impressionism,NeoImpressionism and Fauvism. The new Nostrand edition of Modern Chromatics is a unique tribute. It comprisesa short biography of Rood, Faber Birren’s own observationson painting and the artisticclimateof the late 19thcentury, a series of eight handsome color plates, Birren’s extensive commentary(with Ralph Evans) on Rood’s text and, finally, a facsimile of the first U.S.A. edition (1878) of Modern Chromatics. Andent Pagan Symbols. Elisabeth Goldsmith. Gale Research, Detroit, Mich., 1976. 220 pp., illus. $8.00. Reviewed by Peter Fingestea* Many publishers try to take advantage of the interest in the scholarship of the past and one is inundated with reprints of outstandingaswellasof dubiousvalue. Thisbook, in theformof a highly selected short dictionary of symbols, was in its first edition (New York, 1929) already too closely patterned after Goblet d‘Aviella’s classic The Migration of Symbols (Westminster, 1894). The present author intended it as a companion piece to her earlier Sacred Symbols in Art, which dealt. with Christian symbols exclusively. Much of the information and several of the text figures are taken from d’Aviella’s book mentioned above, Layard‘s Culre de Mithra. Goodyear’s Grammar of the Lorus and other famous 19thcentury studies. The 20 chapters touch upon the symbolism of the Elements, Lotus, Treeof Life,Sun, Moon,Cross,Triangle,Animals,Birds and a few others. The individualentries are short and general, whilethe term‘Pagan’in thetitleisunscholarlyand unfortunate, even when first published in 1929. Sincethoughtfulartists need thoughtfulbooks to conceptualize ,I append here a select list of authoritative, learned and inspirational books on symbolism, in addition to those I have cited above: R. P. Knight, TheSymbolicalLanguage of Ancient Art and Mythology (New York, 1876) (private edition, London, 1818);W. Durandus, The Symbolism of Churches and Church Ornaments (London 1906)(basedupon translationsof the Latin editionsof 1473and 1599;the originalwas written about 1290); Y. Him, The Sacred Shrine (London, 1912);R. Patai, Man and Temple in Ancient Jewish Myth and Ritual (London: Thomas Nelson, 1947); M. Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return (Princeton N. J.: Princeton Univ. Press, 1954); M. Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion (New York New American Library, 1958); M. Eliade, Images and Symbols (New York: Sheed Andrews & McMeel, 1961); E. Neumann, The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton Univ. Press, 1955); G. Van Der Leeuw, Sacred and Profane Beauty: The Holy in Art (New York: Holt, 1963); J. Campbell, The Mythic Image (Princeton,N. J.: PrincetonUniv. Press, 1974) (this monumental work is international in scope, touches on most periods and is magnificently illustrated). Optical Mgns in Motion w i t h MOMOverlays.Carol Berlanger Grafton. Dover, New York, 1976. 30 pp., illus. Paper, $3.00. Reviewed by Frank J. MaUna** The moire effect phenomenon, extensively studied by Gerald Oster [cf., for example, G. Oster and Y. Nishijima, Moire Patterns, Scientific American. p. 54 (May 1963)], has been applied by several artists who make Op and kinetic art objects. Grafton’scollectionofmoirepatternswill be of use to them.The book has a hand-operateddevicethat permitsthe moirk effectto be viewed in motion. There is no text. *Pace University,41 Park Row, New York, NY 10038, U.S.A. **I7 rue Emile Dunois, 92100 Boulogne Billancourt, France. Generally, artists have not exercised their imagination to produce 2- and 3-dimensional works in which the effect is more than a demonstrationof the physical phenomenon.I believethat more interesting artistic results can be obtained if the fundamentalprinciplesunderlyingthe effectare studied,and the wide variety of moire patterns that have been devised are incorporated in works with a message of wider significance. My experience with the application of the moire effect in pictorial kineticart indicatesthat the effect can be viewed more readilywhen the patterns are in slowmotion than when they are static, as in Op art. where they cause eye strain due to focusing difficulties. Both types should be regarded as safety hazards in...