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340 Books response to the aggressive modes of some innovators. More and more, Villon’s softly expressed visual and cerebral delights arc becoming rarer and rarer. As he knew, an important function of art is to be lovingly looked at, as well as written about. Bram van Velde. Charles Juliet and Jacques Putman. In French. Maeght Editeur, Paris, 1975. 200 pp., illus. Reviewed by Peter Cannon-Brookes* This elegantly produced, valuable study of the life and work of Bram van Velde, with essays by Jacques Putman and Charles Juliet, supplements Jacques Putman’s caralogire rnisoriri6 of his paintings (1907-1960) published in 1961. Those unfamiliar with Bram van Velde’s career should turn first to the excellent biography in the form of short notes and photographs in chronological order towards the end of the book, and this immediately provides an explanation for the emphasis on his more recent work. Born near Leyden in 1895, he was unable to devote himself entirely to painting until 1922. He spent five years in Paris (1925-1930), but in 1930 his loss of funds from Holland forced him to move to Majorca and then to the mainland of Spain in order to live more cheaply. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War he returned to France with only 6 or 7 canvases that he was able to save. Shortly before 1940he first met the playwright Samuel Beckett, who was to become an intimate friend. During the next five years, years of deepest misery, he painted nothing. His rcturn to the world of art in 1945 proved very frustrating. dcspitc the fivc-ycar contract he obtained from the Galerie Maeght, Paris, in 1947. His flrst exhibitions met with total incomprehension. The breakthrough had to. wait until 1957-1958 and his exhibitions in the Galerie Michel Warren and the Kunsthalle in Berne. An intcnsely introverted and meditative painter, the impact of Bram van Velde‘swork is esscntiallycerebral. Samuel Beckett, in particular, never wavered in his appreciation of it. The essays of Putman and Juliet, together with the quotations from Bram van Vcldc himself, evoke the spirit of his work, and they arc supported by a full bibliography, illustrated list of his book illustrations, list of exhibitions, 48 colour plates, 125 black and white illustrations and two original lithographs. Josef Albers: Despite Straight Lines. An Analysis of His Graphic Constructions. Francois Bucher. The M.I.T. Prcss, Cambridge, Mass., and London, 1977. I 1 1 pp., illus. $6.95; f4.90. Reviewed by John H. Holloway ** My lasting memories of Josef Albers are of his vitality, the great warmth he exuded and, above all, his childlike and infectious zeal. I remember his emphasis and enthusiasm when he said: ‘I mjoy making line constructions and color instrumentations which seem to work, that is, by inviting the spectator to attain an aesthetic experience and/or a new visual insight.’ This book is about his graphic constructions. It is a slightly extended version of the well-known edition of the book published in 1961 by Yale University Press. About 88% of the new book is identical to the earlier edition, containing Albers’ same illustrations, statementsand poems together with analyses of the constructions by Francois Bucher. Even the typography is the same. The new book differs in that two additional chapters entitled ‘Curved Space’ and ‘Epilogue’ are included, and the Biographical Notes, Principal Exhibitions and Catalogues, and Selected Bibliography sections have been brought up to date. The book is essential reading for anyone who seeks deeper understanding of Albers’ ability to delve into the perceptual *Dept. of Art, City Museums and Art Gallery, Birmingham B3 3DH. England. **26 Sherborne Ave., Wigston Magna, Leiccster LE 8 2GP, England. limitations of human beings to generate visual events by delineations of pictorial space. Albers himself seemed to approve of the earlier version of the book. Understandably so, because it is essentially all a product of Albers-his art, his poems and his statements. Buchers’ interpretations and descriptions of the graphics are clear and reliable analyses, which are of use to serious artist-readers. The introduction to the various chapters and the rationalizations are neat and to the point in the spirit of Albers...

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