The Beginning of the World by Edward Burne-Jones, and: A Decade of Printmaking ed. by Charles Spencer (review)

Books 85 and an art student or an enthusiastic amateur will learn much from his text. Sculpture in Glass Fibre. John Panting. Lund Humphries, London, 1972. 120pp., illus. Reviewed by: Peggy Goldstein· This is an excellent handbook for casting sculpture in polyester resin and fibre glass. It is intended to supplement manufacturers' data sheets, to allow for nonindustrial problems and for solutions in nonindustrial working conditions. The advice is clear, concise and useful. The chapter on joining forms contains information and ideas I have not encountered in other books. Also unusually helpful is the nomograph for estimating quantities of resin. The information on release agents includes some explanation of the action of various waxes, allowing special treatment for heavily textured surfaces. The sculptor who contemplates the prospect of sculpture and mold in unbreakable bend will find this section most helpful. It is particularly apt in providing information on the kind of action to expect of each separator in order to be able to decide intelligently which mold needs only one release agent and which requires several. Occasionally the author states that certain practices are 'inadvisable' or 'unsatisfactory' and gives no explanation. Perhaps this is a sacrifice made in order to keep the book short and easy to use but it is nonetheless unfortunate. If a sculptor wishes to make his first glass fibre casting guided by the book, if he reads a?d follows the advice carefully, he should succeed quite well. Why, then, not tell the sculptor why 'neat thixotropic paste or resin ... can be used as a surface filler but this practice is not recommended' (p. 58)? If the finish is to be opaque, what is the possible harm? 'The use ofmany layers of 1 oz. mat to build up a thickness is not desirable' (p. 72). I think it can be especially useful in a condition that the author does not mention, that of shrinkage around a convex form when the mold is to be saved and reused. A light resin and glass fibre layer can be removed more easily than a thick one and it can be reinforced after the original shrinkage has taken place. Because his reasoning is so helpful when he does giveit, I wishit could have been included in these instances as well. Two pages are grossly insufficient for an explanation of direct sculpture in glass fibre. It would have been better to treat it frankly as an afterthought than to include it as a chapter and to give it equal billing with casting in the stated purpose of the book. The bibliography is an excellent one, though short. An important addition to it would be Plastics as an Art Form by Thelma R. Newman (Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1969). Art and Design in Papier-Mache, Karen Kuykendall. Kaye and Ward, London, 1972. 191 pp., illus. £2.75. Reviewed by: Maurice Lang·· This is a comprehensive book on a versatile medium, amply illustrated with diagrams and photographs in colour. After a brief introduction referring to early French and Mexican styles in papier-mdche, the author presents two hundred pages of minutely detailed information and instructions. The first chapter adequately treats *6Sq.EmmanuelChabrier,75017-Paris, France. **18 tel' rue Madeleine Michelis, 92-Neuilly sur Seine, France. materials and methods. This is followed by chapters devoted to jewelry, cast-offs, furniture and clocks, Christmas ornaments and hand puppets, animals and insects, panels and plaques and free-standing sculpture. I found the discussion repetitious. The methods for making a door knob and a head are basically the same and need not be treated separately. It seems that a more effective approach would have been to discuss the basic techniques at least in one of the first chapters. I would also like to have seen a more complete treatment of the history of the art of papier-mdche in the introduction. The author points out advantages in the use of papier-mdche in art education. Making a topographical map or an insect with the book as a guide may be a good class exercise but this seems to be a tedious way to get a fundamental knowledge and an ineffective way to stimulate original work. As stated above...