Dictionary of Victorian Painters by Christopher Wood (review)

184 Books But soon the snug world of the 1908 exhibition grew uneasy. Most disturbing was the debut of the young Kokoschka, whose play ‘Murderer Hope of Women’ exposed the universe of flawless harmony for which Klimt painted and heralded a change that pointed, as Hofmann puts it, ‘in the direction of Loos’s and Kraus’s polemics of ten years earlier’. Hofmann’s conception of Klimt stresses many negative aspects. He feels that Klimt knew neither the crisisof doubting one’s means of expressionnor the ensuing discoveries of new realities and that experiences of formally unexplored emptiness are almost completely missing from Klimt’s art. As he says: ‘His women remain only works of art within works of art, inmates of a secure, unendangered , ideal world’. When Klimt died in February 1918 at the age of fifty-six, he left no message. For some time his work had not been in the spotlightof contemporary interest. Hofmann sums up Klimt as neither revolutionary (as were Matisse, Kandinsky and Kokoschka) nor conventional. Due to the fact that Klimt avoided the boldness of the expressionists and the unexplored territory of abstract art, Hofmann seems inclined to feel that in Klimt’s work stylization inhibits the true creative element, achieving a closed rather than an open space, consonance rather than dissonance; and that he bore the burden of a onesidedness that made for both the greatness and the limitations of his work. The Buckminster Fuller Reader. James Meller, ed. Jonathan Cape, London, 1970. 384 pp. 62.40. Reviewed by: S. K. Ghaswala* Buckminster Fuller, 77 years old and sprightly, is a polyhistorin the true senseof the word. Engineer, inventor, aviator and philosopher, ‘Bucky’, as he is knownto many, has developedconceptsthat seek, through comprehensive anticipatory design, ideas and their reduction to physical practice, to reform the environment instead of trying to reform men. In this book are collected some of his significant writingsdrawn from a 20-year period between 1942 and 1963. They are preceded by a chronological inventory and autobiographicalitems of his career. During these years he has invented not only structures like the Dymaxion car, the Dymaxion bathroom and the Dymaxion house but also a new terminology appropriate to his ideas. His ‘teleologic ’preoccupations,his‘energeticand synergetic’ geometry, his concept of ‘transcendentalindustry’ and ‘fluid geography’ all come within the purview of thesewritings. Hisworld lecturetours, the source of muchmaterialin this volume, are demonstrations of his abilityto overcomebarriers between cultures, generationsand specialists. In spite of all his speculative ability and penetrating intellect to bridge gaps in interdisciplinary fields of science and technology, he has not been * Edena,97M. KameRoad,Bombay20,India. able to push his ideas and his exhibition structures into the practical world of industry. Either they are stilltoo advancedfor this ageor they areimpractical by modern tenets of usage. These facts become evident when one reads the book and glances through its 16plates of photographs. DictionaryofVictorianPainters. ChristopherWood. Antique Collectors’ Club, Clopton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1971. 435 pp., illus. E8.00. Reviewed by: George A. Agoston* This book is written for art dealers and collectors, yet, it has obvious value as a factual art reference work. There are over 2,000 biographical entries. Some are very short, but others are more detailed, giving salient professional details of an artist’s life. In particular, his type of painting is specified, the principal galleries and exhibitionswhere his works were shown are cited and the current probable price range of his works is given. Comprehensive bibliographies are given for most artists listed. A tabulation of monograms and symbols used by Victorian artists isgivenat the end of the volume. Over 300excellentblack and whitereproductions of typical paintings are given. Many of these occupy a full page. The publishers plan to issue annually a review list (61.50), recording major price changes in Victorian paintings. Practical Carving. Robert Dawson. Studio Vista, London, 1972. 96 pp., illus. 62.40. Reviewed by: Mike Nevelson** The jacket promotion states: ‘Robert Dawson is a practisingsculptor of wide experience. He lectures in Perception and Communication Studies in the School of Architectureat the Central London Polytechnicwherehe specialisesinmaterialsandmaterial aesthetics. He also teaches drawingand has written books and articles on sculpture, including the studio handbook ‘‘PracticalSculpture”’. I would prefer...