The Art of Painting on Glass by Albinas Elskus (review)

Book Reviews 61 Table I Creativeman History[1] American[2] Technology [3] Span 500-1970 5000BC-1974 1000-1980 1900-1982 Index no yes yes yes Citation description yes partially yes yes From the foregoing comments it is apparent that the 'creativity calendar' is a worthwhile addition to the calendar genre in which a reader may profitably find unexpected coincidences in time between various historically significant events. Despite this book being oriented substantially more to the arts than are the others, it still is more likely to be purchased by a library than by an individual artist. I. Bernard Grun, The Timetables of History (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1963). 2. Laurence Urdang, The Timetables ofAmerican History (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1981). 3. Patrick Harpur, The Timetable of Technology (New York: Hearst Books, 1982). Perspective and Other Drawing Systems. Fred Dubery and John Willats. The Herbert Press, London, 1983. 128 pp., ilIus. Cloth, £8.95. Paper,£4.95. ISBN: 0-906969-24-7. Reveiwed by Richard Greene* The authors of this book aim "to present and define all the common drawing systems", a task which they accomplish remarkably well in such a short space. They begin with a very brief discussion of schematic representations, but most of the book is devoted to systems which use geometric projection to represent the world ofthree dimensions on twodimensional surfaces. In line with their goal of making precise definitions, their treatment of parallel projection divides the system into a large number ofsubsystems. However, each of these is well illustrated with simple diagrams and with re~ro.ductions of artwor~s ranging from ancient Greek and Egyptian paintmgs to works by Cezanne, Picasso and Bonnard. Their discussion of perspective projection begins with the history of its development, possibly from modifications of parallel projections, and includes an interesting account of Brunelleschi's discovery of linear perspective. They have chapters on the projection of shadows and on mechanical aids to perspective drawing. There are also chapters devoted to the effects which can be achieved by the use of either a long viewing distance or a wide angle of view. The final chapter, on "mixed systems", considers pictures, such as those of the surrealists and cubists which do not fit neatly into any of their previously defined categories, . While the scope of this short book is very broad indeed, it also Inc!udes thoughtful and detailed analyses of specific works by Vermeer, Gns, Hockney, and others. Since the authors are artists themselves, they are able to deal with the technical and aesthetic factors which enter into an artist's choice of a particular system of drawing. They also bring to bear a great deal of recent scientific work which is relevant to their analyses. This is not a manual of practical techniques for artists to follow, but artists may find it interesting and useful as a catalog of possible approaches to problems of representational drawing. It would probably be of greatest use to art historians and critics who want to categorize existing pictures. Although more extensive and precise, the terminology is consistent with that in White's The Birth andRebirth ofPictorial Space (which the authors cite frequently). In fact, this book would make an excellent source of standardized terminology for anyone who needs to describe pictures accurately. Beauty and the Beasts. Stephen E. Weil. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 1983. Cloth, $19.95. ISBN: 0-87474-958-1. Reviewed by Harry Rand** Unwittingly, those unlucky enough not to have heard Stephen Weil speak will miss a lot in this book: a twangy staccato way of rapping out the humanly sensible relationships of art and the law, his flamboyant *4337 Balboa St., San Francisco, CA 94121, U.S.A. **Curator, NMAA, Smithsonian Institution, Eighth and G Streets N.W., Washington, DC 20560, U.S.A. bow. ties (and above them in years past an energetic and intent way of puffing through whole cigarettes in what seemed like one or two drags while listening to a question or pondering). That voice and that presence of bundled energy is necessarily absent from any book. Here, however, it is an especially great loss, as most of the pieces in this volume are the texts...