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Books 81 Moholy’swork, which arose from his heart, was propelled by a fierce, uncompromising intellect and expressed with extraordinary skill and sensibility. With him there was no separation between art, life and feeling. TheSculptureof DavidWynne: 1968/1974. Clive Barda, Graham Hughes and Bob Gill. Phaidon Press, London, 1974. 168 pp., illus. f14.00. Reviewed by Peter Lipman-Wulf* This is primarily a photographic record of David Wynne’s sculpture commissions in Britain and the U.S.A. The short Introduction by Hughes provides some basic information on the artist and poetic captions describe the works. In the Appendix is a collection of photographs reproduced in small size that show the range of the sculptor’s output. The main part of the book deals with 12 outdoor sculptures that have been photographed from different angles and close-up. But, as in many contemporary sculpture books and art films, there is a shortcoming in the manner in which works are presented. With two exceptions, the sculptures are shown as the photographer’s demonstration of creativity in the form of dramatic effectsand of views of unimportant details. This leads a viewer to obtain a distorted conception of Wynne’s rather conventional and traditional works. Even the book jacket design, while ingenious, misleads one as to the style of the works. A statue of a female nude balancing birds in arrested flight is multiplied 20 times in interlocking images, recalling Duchamp’s ‘Nude Descending a Staircase’. Such photographic tricks are, in my opinion, a dishonest presentation of Wynne’s works. Hughes in his Introduction considers the book as an urgent plea for more public sculpture. SinceWynne’straditionally made stone and bronze sculpture bears no relation either to contemporary architecture or to urban environments, I believe the plea will fail. The only work incorporated in an architectural setting is the ‘Tyne God’ but there is no organic relationship between the wall and the human figure attached to it. Furthermore, the trickle of water emitted from this piece is, I find, aesthetically embarrassing. It is evident that many of those who are in a position to sponsor big public commissions prefer to put 19th-century art into 20th-century surroundings. I doubt that the photographs showing the procedure for installing Wynne’s large sculptures and the artist in many poses will prove to be of much interest to those who purchase this journalistic appraisal of Wynne’s work. Figure Drawing: The Structure, Anatomy and Expressive Design of Human Form. Nathan Goldstein. Prentice-Hall, Hemel Hempstead, England, and Englewood Cliffs,N.J., 1976.293pp., illus. E10.15. Reviewed by Frank Covino** I find that this book is the most complete one on the subject currently available for art students and teachers. Goldstein has the eloquence that some artist-teachers of figure drawing have lacked in the past. One who comes to my mind is George Bridgeman, who is conspicuously absent from Goldstein’s bibliography, but who should at least have been represented by an illustration in the chapters on structure and anatomy, as his figure drawings are a masterful contribution of this century. However, Renaissance and Baroque masters are well represented , and I find the quality of their works is reinforced when compared with some of the distorted aberrations of recent times alsoincluded inthe book. It isinteresting to note how the work of no two representational masters looks alike, despite their common persuasion. Goldstein warns the student late in the book that ‘noveltymay result from originality, but should never be pursued for its own sake’.That caution would have been more effective early in the book, for I feel that some readers may misconstrue Goldstein’sattempt to defend the work of such antirealists as Picasso,Walkowitz, deChirico, Moore, Desnoyer and *Whitney Rd., Sag Harbor, NY 11963, U.S.A. **Academy of Art, 841 Old Post Rd., Y.M.C.A. Building, Fairfield, CT 06430, U.S.A. Duchamp as more significant achievements. There are times when he appears to be saying that the conceptions of these men are the products of progress in art that supersede the work of Renaissance and Baroque masters, because they go beyond surface perception into the subjectiveworld of imagination. This, I...

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