The Joys and Sorrows of Recent American Art by Allen S. Weller (review)

Books 87 the author has succeeded in showingthat there exists anaturalandnotanartificial relationship betweenart and science and the one mingles with the other in a most harmonious manner. Thus, a study of history enables the engineer to know how the miracles of irrigation enabled Egypt and Mesopotamia to become seats of great civilizations , how the ascendance of Athens depended in a great measure on the amazing silver mines of Mt. Laurion and how Roman roads and aqueducts made possible a mighty empire. The 6-page chronology of historical landmarks in technologyfrom 4OOOB.C. to 1945 is well worth studying. With the establishment of the Society for the History of Technology in the U.S.A., it must be said that this subjectis now burgeoning into a well merited discipline. In dealing next with literature, which receives the longest treatment, the author spreads his net far and wide and gives an insight into some of the world’s classics as well as the newer pieces of fiction, which affect engineers. He is highly critical of the writings of engineers. He says: ‘When engineers attempt to write creatively. ..the results are usually disastrous .’ This may be true of their novels and poetry but I do not believe this to be true of their popular science writing and sciencefiction. The reader is next asked to cope with aspects of the philosophy of basic science and mathematics, such as concepts as principles of uncertainty, rationalism and empiricism. The author quotes the Hindu philosopher, Nalim Kanta Brahma, in dealing with Planck‘s prediction. Surely he could have chosen a better known Indian philosopher. While history, literature and philosophy may be rather esoteric areas for most engineers, the plastic fine arts and music clearly impinge on engineering. The first bear directly upon architecture and construction . The Greek concept of ‘Golden Section’, the soaring stadiums of Pier Nervi, the latticed domes of R. Buckminster Fuller and the arch bridges of Robert Maillart serve to indicate that creativity goes along with calculations. Music directly affects the work of acoustical engineers. The uniqueness of this book lies in the extensive bibliographyprovidedforeachof theelevenchapters, apart from innumerableother referencesmadein the text. These alone make the work a self-contained monograph that will help the reader to orient himself when standing at the crossroads of engineering and the liberal arts. The Joys and Sorrowsof Recent American Art. The DeYoung Lectures in Higher Education at Illinois State University, 1966. Allen S. Weller. University of IllinoisPress,Urbana, 1968. 185pp., illus., $7.95. Reviewed by :LeGrace Benson* On the last page of his text, Allen Weller quotes from theologian Paul Tillich’s The Courage To Be: ‘Modern art is not propaganda but revelation. It showsthe reality of our existenceas it is. It does not cover up the reality in which we are living.’ Weller * Department of the History of Art, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.14850, U.S.A. goes on to conclude: ‘The joys and sorrows of recent American art are the joys and sorrows of the society, the total culture, of which we are a part. Its study is not only analysis, but also self examination.’ Yet Professor Weller began his book with this sentence: ‘One of the many paradoxes of contemporary art is that while some aspects of artistic creation seem to proliferate at an ever increasing tempo, the deliberate obscurity of that art is also increasing.’ Betweenthese two statementswith their fundamentally different assumptions about the nature and intent of modern art one might expect some resolution, perhaps in terms of first appearances and subsequent knowledge. There is none. Despite the encompassinggeneralizations, the body of the book is concerned with discussions of fairly well-known or prominent artists, not all of them American by the way, that are less illustrative of either of the two principle contentions than they are of the personal taste of the author. Idiosyncratic choice is as allowable to the critichistorian as it is to the artist, although artists seem quite unwilling to grant this point. When the problems of quality or connoisseurship are made subsidiary to spontaneous recognition and gratification , the choices can be as reflective of the individual’s life and times, of his perception...