A Dictionary of Surrealism by José Pierre, and: A Dictionary of Expressionism by Joseph-Emile Muller (review)

Books 169 the U.S.A. The question may be asked, why another book? To the author’s credit, he communicates a deeper awareness of the possibilities in such programs. It shows up in his aim of helping to open the eyes of students to the environment that they know. The book forms a general guide for a flexible program, with suggestions for students to record their heightened experiences in art expression. Examples of the work of students on nearly every page supply visual evidence. Quite a number of drawings and paintings are excellent. They demonstrate, for example, not only the author’s awareness-environment approach, but simultaneously display such intuitive artistic qualities as a highly sensitive response to spatial relationships on the picture plane. What disappoints me as an artist is to note that other illustrations (those beyond the early primary school level), while clarifying the technical instruction, do not support the author’s stress on the importance of composition and the aesthetic requirements for the overall unity of a work. I suspect that Pattemore is a believer in synaesthetic education and approaches the disciplines of composition with a light touch for fear of interfering with the students’ spontaneous flow of ideas and with the discovery of their inner selves. While I applaud such concern, I regret the loss of opportunity for youngsters to attain a foothold in fine art development. The argument to postpone such development until some future time simply means that for most children that future never arrives. In my opinion, by reducing the number of techniques taught and using the time made available to direct children to explore and discard, block out and crop combinations of visual elements in their paintings, one can maintain the principle of self-discovery, self-education and self-fulfillment. Most children respond to such an approach. Opening the eyes of students to the relationships between the elements of a drawing or painting isjust as rewarding as increasing their sensitivity to the relationships of aspects of the outside environment they know. However, while I believe that the high aims of an art educational philosophy deserve student illustrations that exemplify concomitant aesthetic qualities (neglected in many art educational books), I still recognize Pattemore’s unique contribution and recommend his book highly. As regards the third book, I find it appropriate to quote its editor: ‘Art students of any age perceive when they look for material in nature, perceive again when they look at a work of art, and perceive a third time when they stand o f f and look at their own work. Whatever they do with art in later life, a sharpened perception gained in this way is a permanent possession.’ Five contributors discuss and evaluate various approaches to the ‘systematic training of the eyes-the art course’ in relation to general education, from primary school through college. They deserve high praise for the beautiful way they present the ingredients of a balanced education. Not that everyone will agree with the specific programs spelled out. Agreement is not expected. But the scholarly way in which they build a foundation based on sound logic, even allowing for alternative programs and approaches, makes for stimulating reading. The book forms an artistic mosaic that gently challenges one to study it, think about it-and use it. Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. James Hall. John Murray, London, 1974. 345 pp., illus. €5.00. Kenneth Clark in his ‘Introduction’ to the Dictionary recalls that ‘fiftyyears ago we were told that the subjects of pictures were of no importance; all that mattered was the form (then called “significant form”) and the colour. This was a curious aberration of criticism, because all artists, from the cave painters onwards, had attached great importance to their subject matter. ...’ Beginning in the 1930’s Aby Warburg and the art scholars whom he influenced, notably Erwin Panofsky, helped to turn the tide. Hall writes that his Dictionary, intended to help nonspecialist art lovers, ‘is about the subject-matter of art, about the stories it tells and the people it portrays. It is concerned not with individual works but with themes ....’ ‘The book is devoted mainly, though not exclusively, to...