Art and Revolution by David A. Siqueiros (review)

Books 253 temporaries who introduced equally important innovations into modern art-especially Cezanne, Brancusi and Mondrian. The author analyzes with keen discernment the innovative contribution of the artist. Among the 20 points listed as ‘The Innovations’ (pp. 38-40), I think that Archipenko’s ‘reduction’ of the human figure is the most important. In ‘Figure in Movement’ (1913) (p. 42). Archipenko shows that a ‘dynamic’ center is sufficient in itself to express movement (an innovation not included in point 5 (p. 38),whichsustains the dynamics of the extremities of the body or the conservation of the most important). The author is loud in his praise of Archipenko and he cites others (p. 160) who have described his innovative work. However, the truth is that Archipenko’s innovations came to an end when he moved to New York City, and I find that his introspective artistic approach was then continued and developed by the sculptor Constantin Brancusi [E. Ciuca, The Kiss (Bucharest: Luceafarul, Aix-No. 21, 1966)]. I wholeheartedly recommend Karshan’s critical study. Art pod Revolutioa. David A. Siqueiros. Lawrence & Wishart, London, 1975.224 pp. f4.00. Reviewed by Enrique Carbajal G. Sab.stian* Within the panorama of Latin American art there have been few movements as congruent with their historical moment and with social roots as the muralist movement in Mexico. One of the principle personalities in this movement was David Alfaro Siqueiros (1898-1974). His individual trajectory was aligned with the collective course of the other artists and intellectuals who, in their epoch, united their efforts to give form to the muralist movement. Siqueiros’life reflectsthe longingsand anxieties that sustained the majority of Mexico’sartists. His struggle was the struggle of an entire generation that searched for a way to communicate revolutionary ideals through new art forms. He was a man with unfaltering faith in the fundamental principles of liberty and equality. From the university, from prison, from the immense walls of buildings, which served as a base of his murals, he directed himself and his work to the welfare of the people of all nations. Behind the artist one finds a steady fighter for social justice. In matters of techniques, he sought to make them adequate for his themes when he dealt with them as a soldier, a union organizer or as a militant communist. In this book one findsnot a chronological narration of artistic achievements but rather the manifestations of the ideas of a historical beingwho livedhismoment intensely,who struggled in the ideological field and who left for the world works of wide artistic and social significance.Through his own words one can see in outline the image of this strikingly consistent man who contributed to the history of art new artistic techniques and theoretical postulates on the function of art and opened new possibilities for Latin American artists. David Smith. Garnett McCoy, ed. Allen Lane, London, 1973. 231 pp., illus. f4.00. Anthony Caro. Richard Whelan. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, England, 1974. I34 pp.. illus. Paper, f 1.10. Reviewed by Harold Cousins** When David Smith died in’anautomobile accident in 1965,metal sculptorsand loversof metal sculpture felta great loss. The book by Garnett McCoy offers aspects of Smith’s work and thought that were unfamiliar to me and, I suspect, to many others. Smith considered himselfa poor writer and he often expressed a profound distrust of the written word, yet hewrote and lectured frequently. His texts were usuallycarefully prepared. Hesaid in a letter he wrote to Henry Hope in 1953:‘I sing onesong of mostly personal views and my own work procedures. There is the same subject in most of my papers.’ Richard Whelan’s book on Anthony Caro consists in large part of a seriesof previously published articles. Caro was born in London in 1924. After receiving a degree in engineering and wartime naval service, he pursued art studies that culminated in an apprenticeship with Henry Moore. In 1959, Caro made his first trip to the U.S.A., where he was impressed by the work of painters Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis. He met briefly with David Smith, whose sculpture he knew mainly from photographic reproductions. On his return to London, he learned...