Paris 1900–1914: The Miraculous Years by Nigel Gosling (review)

Books 251 Unfortunately, the book has no Conclusion. Perhaps the authors were not sure whether they had a clear sight of the Windigo when they fired at it or whether they simply had a shot in the dark. It seems to me that much of the material in the various chapters would hold its interest without the preliminary emphasis on cognition. Art in Primitive Societies. Richard L. Anderson. PrenticeHall , Englewood, N.J., U.S.A., 1979. 234 pp., illus. Paper. Reviewed by Jan B. Deregowski* This is a useful and compact introduction to those aspects of art that are seldom mentioned in glossy art books. Although devoted almost exclusively to the visual arts and, within that realm, to the 3-dimensional art of sculpture and pottery, this little book is primarily concerned not with the appearance of artworks but with the role that they play in various spheres of human endeavour. Art is therefore considered as a social force, as an economic lubricant, an aspect that is often entirely neglected, and as an agent of cultural and religious influence. Characteristics of the creative process and of symbolic content are also briefly discussed. The evidence used is that derived from primitive art and comes from a large variety of cultures. It has been carefully selected to elucidate the author's views. The cultures. sampled range from the Eskimo to the Australian Walbiri and from the Northwest Coast Indian to the Abelam of Papua-New Guinea. This variety is skillfully used by Anderson, who adduces only as much evidence as is needed to clarify an issue, and he does not attempt to impress readers by a long string of meaningless references that instead of making a point would tend to obscure it. The essence of the issues in question is thus unambiguously conveyed. Readers whose appetite is thus stimulated can follow the issues further by using the guide for additional reading that closes each chapter. The book is very readably written and could well be used as an introduction to a basic course on this fascinating, if neglected, aspect of art. These complimentary comments need to be somewhat tempered by the fact that the book makes no reference to the Occident, with the exception of references in the chapters explicitly concerned with cross-cultural contact. This seems a pity, for Occidental students would benefit much, I feel, by having such analogies drawn to their attention, even if this were done in a somewhat restricted manner, in order to remain within the limits imposed by the slimness of the book. I found other irritants too: the unnecessary kowtow towards women, the somewhat redundant and inconclusive 'publicrelations ' discussion of the term 'primitive' and the equally inconclusive discussions of such terms as 'art' and 'artist'. Such discussions, which one suspects cannot lead to unambiguous ends, could well have been much shortened or even omitted and the text thus saved used for further elaboration of the more exciting ideas mentioned above. Furthermore, the use of the strange and meaningless tag that 'exception proves a rule', which is so offensive to logic that it ought to be ruthlessly extirpated, infuriated me. (There is of course a meaning of proves that renders the statement wholesome, but it is not the one used by Anderson.) It seems also erroneous, I suspect, to maintain that human bodies are 'top to bottom' symmetrical. Coptic Art and Archaeology: The Art orthe Christian Era from the Late Antique to the Middle Ages. Alexander Badawy. M.I.T. Press, London, 1978. 387 pp., illus. £31.50. Reviewed by Sherley Farness* Another impressive book has been added to Badawy's corpus of scholarly publications. The subtitle indicates that he is·Dept. of Psychology, King's College, University of Aberdeen , Old Aberdeen AB9 2UB, Scotland. "Dept. of Art, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, U.S.A. interested in artworks of a period spanning several hundred years and from many locations. Since he has been a dedicated Egyptologist, this latest work is a logical expansion of his earlier interests. Careful organization, straightforward presentation and thorough description are hallmarks of his method. He begins the book with a historical background that, while short, has much information necessary...