Leonardo

Alexandra Exter by Andrei B. NakovReview by: John E. BowltLeonardo, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Winter, 1974), pp. 80-81Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1572758 .

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Surrealism had on the evolution of the cinema. Again Breton's enormous inspiration is given its due respect, for the principle of 'disorientation', in the sense of taking man out of his natural surroundings, is basic to the art of the cinema. Surrealists, like Jean Levi, saw surrealist qualities in the film 'King Kong', particularly in the terror evoked, as well as in humor of the kind developed by Chaplin, Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers. The greatest event of surrealist film-making was, of course, 'Un Chien Andalou' by Bunuel and Dali. The book gives this a careful verbal analysis that, however interest- ing, does not evoke the same images and surprises for one who has not seen the film.

Fragments of several surrealist scripts are quoted that are as static as the few stills reproduced in blue. All four chapters deal with the prehistory of surrealist films, scripts, film-makers and writers and a final chapter is on Luis Bunuel in his role as commercial director. Several of Bunuel's well-known films are reviewed, such as 'Viri- diana', 'El Angel Exterminador', 'Belle de Jour' and others.

The surrealist movement itself was disappointed in its own lack of success in bending this marvellous new medium of film to its use while the film industry was reluctant to utilize the breathtaking new imagery Surrealism had developed. Unfortunately the approach of this book is overly academic, the material thin, and the style dry.

Balakian's book is an enlarged edition of the one that was first published in New York in 1950, when it had an enormous impact both for its insights into Surrealism as for its felicitous style. In the introduction to the second edition the author tries to account for the fact that Surrealism had relatively little influence on American writing and art, except for some exponents of Pop art and Neo Dada. She feels, however, that the surrealist spirit has caught on now with several poets and is expected to increase, which indeed is the fact.

She traces its development from the symbolist move- ment to the remarkable Breton and his followers. Breton attributed Symbolism's weakness to its confusion of the mysterious with the marvellous. The discovery of the marvellous by Mallarme, Breton, Aragon and others was the trap door that liberated the minds of artists from the merely symbolic, pseudo-occult and the morbid. Balakian is, of course, best in her own field of literature when she discusses, in turn, Apollinaire, Reverdy, Breton, Aragon, Eluard and other masters. Her worship as well as understanding of Surrealism and its leading protagonists is evident on every page. Although more compact and less elegant in the photo- offset version of the first edition, this book is a small masterpiece.

Alexandra Exter. Andrei B. Nakov. Galerie Jean Chauvelin, Paris, 1972. 63 pp. Reviewed by: John E. Bowlt*

A very significant but, unfortunately, neglected exhibition of the work of the Russian artist, Alexandra Exter (1882-1949), was held at the Galerie Jean Chauvelin in Paris in May/June 1972. The illustrated booklet which accompanied this exhibition, compiled by Nakov, is a most useful document and provides a serious contribution for studies of modernist Russian art. Not only is this the first monograph on Exter

Surrealism had on the evolution of the cinema. Again Breton's enormous inspiration is given its due respect, for the principle of 'disorientation', in the sense of taking man out of his natural surroundings, is basic to the art of the cinema. Surrealists, like Jean Levi, saw surrealist qualities in the film 'King Kong', particularly in the terror evoked, as well as in humor of the kind developed by Chaplin, Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers. The greatest event of surrealist film-making was, of course, 'Un Chien Andalou' by Bunuel and Dali. The book gives this a careful verbal analysis that, however interest- ing, does not evoke the same images and surprises for one who has not seen the film.

Fragments of several surrealist scripts are quoted that are as static as the few stills reproduced in blue. All four chapters deal with the prehistory of surrealist films, scripts, film-makers and writers and a final chapter is on Luis Bunuel in his role as commercial director. Several of Bunuel's well-known films are reviewed, such as 'Viri- diana', 'El Angel Exterminador', 'Belle de Jour' and others.

The surrealist movement itself was disappointed in its own lack of success in bending this marvellous new medium of film to its use while the film industry was reluctant to utilize the breathtaking new imagery Surrealism had developed. Unfortunately the approach of this book is overly academic, the material thin, and the style dry.

Balakian's book is an enlarged edition of the one that was first published in New York in 1950, when it had an enormous impact both for its insights into Surrealism as for its felicitous style. In the introduction to the second edition the author tries to account for the fact that Surrealism had relatively little influence on American writing and art, except for some exponents of Pop art and Neo Dada. She feels, however, that the surrealist spirit has caught on now with several poets and is expected to increase, which indeed is the fact.

She traces its development from the symbolist move- ment to the remarkable Breton and his followers. Breton attributed Symbolism's weakness to its confusion of the mysterious with the marvellous. The discovery of the marvellous by Mallarme, Breton, Aragon and others was the trap door that liberated the minds of artists from the merely symbolic, pseudo-occult and the morbid. Balakian is, of course, best in her own field of literature when she discusses, in turn, Apollinaire, Reverdy, Breton, Aragon, Eluard and other masters. Her worship as well as understanding of Surrealism and its leading protagonists is evident on every page. Although more compact and less elegant in the photo- offset version of the first edition, this book is a small masterpiece.

Alexandra Exter. Andrei B. Nakov. Galerie Jean Chauvelin, Paris, 1972. 63 pp. Reviewed by: John E. Bowlt*

A very significant but, unfortunately, neglected exhibition of the work of the Russian artist, Alexandra Exter (1882-1949), was held at the Galerie Jean Chauvelin in Paris in May/June 1972. The illustrated booklet which accompanied this exhibition, compiled by Nakov, is a most useful document and provides a serious contribution for studies of modernist Russian art. Not only is this the first monograph on Exter

* Department of Slavic Languages, University of Texas, Box 7217, Austin, TX 78712, U.S.A.

* Department of Slavic Languages, University of Texas, Box 7217, Austin, TX 78712, U.S.A.

since Tugendkhold's book of 1922 but also it is the first scholarly, although of necessity still limited, analysis of the artist's exciting two- and three-dimensional work.

The short text is well organized and falls conveniently into four basic sections (period of maturation, Cubism and Dynamism, theatre activity and 'experimental' painting) plus a general introduction, a biographical scheme and a selective, if somewhat arbitrary, biblio- graphy. The author limits himself almost exclusively to Exter's pre-emigration career and, perhaps unfairly, makes no mention of her work of the 1930's and 1940's (for example, her charming illustrations for Mor6al de Brevans' books, Along the Coast (1939) and Down the River (1940)).

Of particular interest are the data presented on her links with Russian, French and Italian art circles, a matter that has been neglected. There is, perhaps, too much emphasis on extrinsic influence and not enough on the Russian qualities of her mature work. In this respect, more references might have been made to the Russians' intense concern with painterly construction manifested in 1912/1914 particularly in the writings of D. Burliuk, V. Markov (W. Matvei) and 0. Rozanova, especially since Exter was active within the Union of Youth of which the above were also prominent mem- bers. Again, more might have been said of Exter's painting of about 1912, derivative, but still striking, and sharing common ground in treatment of color and line with the parallel work of Pougny and Konchalovsky. Similarly, closer examination should have been given to such terms as 'monist' (p. 17) and 'dadaist' (p. 18). The former has strong theosophical associations and one wonders, in fact, to what extent she was interested in Steiner, Bergson or even Kandinsky, especially in view of her proximity to Kulbin and of her efforts to teach 'rhythms and colours' (p. 38) to small children, so remindful of Alexandra Unkovskaya's earlier efforts. Similarly, the term dadaist, deserves qualification because of Western historians' exaggeration and general misconception of the 'destructive' tendencies of the Russian futurists.

Perhaps the most important section is that which deals with Exter's experimental painting of 1915 and after, since this touches on one of the least known aspects of the Russian innovative artists. One may not agree with Nakov's conception of Constructivism, particularly when he limits the term to a chronological framework of 1919/1921 (p. 44) (whereas the term itself became currency in Russia only in 1922) or with his application of the term to such unlikely painters as Drevin (p. 42) but one is grateful both for the quotations from Exter's unpublished texts on her ideas and for the author's comments thereon. One's suspicion is con- firmed that the genesis of Russian and Western Con- structivism owed more to the pre- and post-Revolu- tionary concepts of Exter, Pougny, Rodchenko and Tatlin than to the single, much quoted Realistic Mani- festo of Gabo and Pevsner.

Nakov's text is, unfortunately, marred by occasional inaccuracies, although, one trusts, they will not reoccur in his connected studies that, as he states, are about to appear. The details of Note 20 (p. 15) should refer to a review article by M. Matyushin in the 1913 issue of the cited journal and not to Markov; Markov's book on texture appeared in 1914, not 1913, and was called Principles of Creation in the Plastic Arts. Texture (p. 16,

since Tugendkhold's book of 1922 but also it is the first scholarly, although of necessity still limited, analysis of the artist's exciting two- and three-dimensional work.

The short text is well organized and falls conveniently into four basic sections (period of maturation, Cubism and Dynamism, theatre activity and 'experimental' painting) plus a general introduction, a biographical scheme and a selective, if somewhat arbitrary, biblio- graphy. The author limits himself almost exclusively to Exter's pre-emigration career and, perhaps unfairly, makes no mention of her work of the 1930's and 1940's (for example, her charming illustrations for Mor6al de Brevans' books, Along the Coast (1939) and Down the River (1940)).

Of particular interest are the data presented on her links with Russian, French and Italian art circles, a matter that has been neglected. There is, perhaps, too much emphasis on extrinsic influence and not enough on the Russian qualities of her mature work. In this respect, more references might have been made to the Russians' intense concern with painterly construction manifested in 1912/1914 particularly in the writings of D. Burliuk, V. Markov (W. Matvei) and 0. Rozanova, especially since Exter was active within the Union of Youth of which the above were also prominent mem- bers. Again, more might have been said of Exter's painting of about 1912, derivative, but still striking, and sharing common ground in treatment of color and line with the parallel work of Pougny and Konchalovsky. Similarly, closer examination should have been given to such terms as 'monist' (p. 17) and 'dadaist' (p. 18). The former has strong theosophical associations and one wonders, in fact, to what extent she was interested in Steiner, Bergson or even Kandinsky, especially in view of her proximity to Kulbin and of her efforts to teach 'rhythms and colours' (p. 38) to small children, so remindful of Alexandra Unkovskaya's earlier efforts. Similarly, the term dadaist, deserves qualification because of Western historians' exaggeration and general misconception of the 'destructive' tendencies of the Russian futurists.

Perhaps the most important section is that which deals with Exter's experimental painting of 1915 and after, since this touches on one of the least known aspects of the Russian innovative artists. One may not agree with Nakov's conception of Constructivism, particularly when he limits the term to a chronological framework of 1919/1921 (p. 44) (whereas the term itself became currency in Russia only in 1922) or with his application of the term to such unlikely painters as Drevin (p. 42) but one is grateful both for the quotations from Exter's unpublished texts on her ideas and for the author's comments thereon. One's suspicion is con- firmed that the genesis of Russian and Western Con- structivism owed more to the pre- and post-Revolu- tionary concepts of Exter, Pougny, Rodchenko and Tatlin than to the single, much quoted Realistic Mani- festo of Gabo and Pevsner.

Nakov's text is, unfortunately, marred by occasional inaccuracies, although, one trusts, they will not reoccur in his connected studies that, as he states, are about to appear. The details of Note 20 (p. 15) should refer to a review article by M. Matyushin in the 1913 issue of the cited journal and not to Markov; Markov's book on texture appeared in 1914, not 1913, and was called Principles of Creation in the Plastic Arts. Texture (p. 16, Note 22). There is no concrete evidence to assume that Malevich's 'Black Square' was painted in 1913 or that the so-called abstract backdrop to 'Victory Over the

Note 22). There is no concrete evidence to assume that Malevich's 'Black Square' was painted in 1913 or that the so-called abstract backdrop to 'Victory Over the

80 80 Books Books

This content downloaded from 195.34.78.29 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 10:47:49 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

History of Art, Vol. 23. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1971. 300 pp., illus. Reviewed by: John E. Jones*

The final stages of a prolonged illness prevented Eggeling from being present on 3 May 1925 in Berlin at the first public performance of his film 'Diagonal Symphony', the culmination of a single-minded en- deavour extending over years of demanding labour and sustained analytical thought. Two weeks later he died at the age of 44. In the same programme, a film matinee organized by the November Group and U.F.A., were: 'Entr'acte' (Picabia/Clair); 'Ballet Mecanique' (Fer- nand Leger); 'Opus 2, 3 & 4' (Walter Ruttman); 'Film ist Rhythmus' (Hans Richter) and a Bauhaus colour film by Hirschfeld-Mack, all by artists now celebrated for their innovations. Not so renowned, Eggeling is the odd man out; yet 'Diagonal Symphony' was quite as substantial a manifestation of the artistic goals of that epoch as any of the other considerable films exhibited that day.

In thousands of drawings made for the film and in his 'Scrolls' (sequential drawings of abstract motifs syste- matically developing by contrast and counterpoint) from which the film derived, Eggeling embodied the most comprehensive realization of the then current pre- occupations called 'dynamic abstraction', 'visual music', 'absolute cinema' and a 'language of pure form'. When Richter said the tendency of moder art was towards cinema, he might well have had Eggeling's work in mind. It seems certain that, but for his death, the scope and integrity of Eggeling's particular line of enquiry would have placed him in the front rank of twentieth century artists.

As it is, he is little known. O'Konor's book goes a long way to dispel our ignorance. In the best tradition of objective art-historical detective work, it brings together all the facts a tenacious researcher can dig out before the sources dry up.

The book, prepared as a Ph.D. thesis for the Univer- sity of Stockholm and added to for publication, has that thoroughness of documentation of original source material that characterizes the best academic work. It includes accounts of his early life and family from relatives and friends; statements by Janco, Arp, Gabo, Hausmann, Tzara et al. about his life in Paris and his association with Dada in Zurich; his published work and private notes are reproduced and analysed in an attempt to clarify his theoretical standpoint. His available paintings and drawings are catalogued and illustrated. Specially important works and the studies for them are recorded and scrutinized in detail, in particular the film 'Diagonal Symphony' is examined sequence by sequence and key frames are reproduced.

Appendices, bibliography, list of major exhibitions, biographical notes on artists and colleagues associated with Eggeling and his ideas and reproductions of his writings combine to make this an exemplary art history dossier. The impressive 'Acknowledgements' indicate the thoroughness of the home-work (which includes a period of work on 'Hour of The Wolf' with Ingmar Bergman, to gain practical knowledge of film-making, the better to understand Eggeling's work with film.)

Such a dossier of facts ousts some ill-founded specu- lations and misunderstandings that tend to rush in and fill the vacuum of ignorance. In this respect the book is quite dramatic. Right at the heart of what might have

History of Art, Vol. 23. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1971. 300 pp., illus. Reviewed by: John E. Jones*

The final stages of a prolonged illness prevented Eggeling from being present on 3 May 1925 in Berlin at the first public performance of his film 'Diagonal Symphony', the culmination of a single-minded en- deavour extending over years of demanding labour and sustained analytical thought. Two weeks later he died at the age of 44. In the same programme, a film matinee organized by the November Group and U.F.A., were: 'Entr'acte' (Picabia/Clair); 'Ballet Mecanique' (Fer- nand Leger); 'Opus 2, 3 & 4' (Walter Ruttman); 'Film ist Rhythmus' (Hans Richter) and a Bauhaus colour film by Hirschfeld-Mack, all by artists now celebrated for their innovations. Not so renowned, Eggeling is the odd man out; yet 'Diagonal Symphony' was quite as substantial a manifestation of the artistic goals of that epoch as any of the other considerable films exhibited that day.

In thousands of drawings made for the film and in his 'Scrolls' (sequential drawings of abstract motifs syste- matically developing by contrast and counterpoint) from which the film derived, Eggeling embodied the most comprehensive realization of the then current pre- occupations called 'dynamic abstraction', 'visual music', 'absolute cinema' and a 'language of pure form'. When Richter said the tendency of moder art was towards cinema, he might well have had Eggeling's work in mind. It seems certain that, but for his death, the scope and integrity of Eggeling's particular line of enquiry would have placed him in the front rank of twentieth century artists.

As it is, he is little known. O'Konor's book goes a long way to dispel our ignorance. In the best tradition of objective art-historical detective work, it brings together all the facts a tenacious researcher can dig out before the sources dry up.

The book, prepared as a Ph.D. thesis for the Univer- sity of Stockholm and added to for publication, has that thoroughness of documentation of original source material that characterizes the best academic work. It includes accounts of his early life and family from relatives and friends; statements by Janco, Arp, Gabo, Hausmann, Tzara et al. about his life in Paris and his association with Dada in Zurich; his published work and private notes are reproduced and analysed in an attempt to clarify his theoretical standpoint. His available paintings and drawings are catalogued and illustrated. Specially important works and the studies for them are recorded and scrutinized in detail, in particular the film 'Diagonal Symphony' is examined sequence by sequence and key frames are reproduced.

Appendices, bibliography, list of major exhibitions, biographical notes on artists and colleagues associated with Eggeling and his ideas and reproductions of his writings combine to make this an exemplary art history dossier. The impressive 'Acknowledgements' indicate the thoroughness of the home-work (which includes a period of work on 'Hour of The Wolf' with Ingmar Bergman, to gain practical knowledge of film-making, the better to understand Eggeling's work with film.)

Such a dossier of facts ousts some ill-founded specu- lations and misunderstandings that tend to rush in and fill the vacuum of ignorance. In this respect the book is quite dramatic. Right at the heart of what might have

History of Art, Vol. 23. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1971. 300 pp., illus. Reviewed by: John E. Jones*

The final stages of a prolonged illness prevented Eggeling from being present on 3 May 1925 in Berlin at the first public performance of his film 'Diagonal Symphony', the culmination of a single-minded en- deavour extending over years of demanding labour and sustained analytical thought. Two weeks later he died at the age of 44. In the same programme, a film matinee organized by the November Group and U.F.A., were: 'Entr'acte' (Picabia/Clair); 'Ballet Mecanique' (Fer- nand Leger); 'Opus 2, 3 & 4' (Walter Ruttman); 'Film ist Rhythmus' (Hans Richter) and a Bauhaus colour film by Hirschfeld-Mack, all by artists now celebrated for their innovations. Not so renowned, Eggeling is the odd man out; yet 'Diagonal Symphony' was quite as substantial a manifestation of the artistic goals of that epoch as any of the other considerable films exhibited that day.

In thousands of drawings made for the film and in his 'Scrolls' (sequential drawings of abstract motifs syste- matically developing by contrast and counterpoint) from which the film derived, Eggeling embodied the most comprehensive realization of the then current pre- occupations called 'dynamic abstraction', 'visual music', 'absolute cinema' and a 'language of pure form'. When Richter said the tendency of moder art was towards cinema, he might well have had Eggeling's work in mind. It seems certain that, but for his death, the scope and integrity of Eggeling's particular line of enquiry would have placed him in the front rank of twentieth century artists.

As it is, he is little known. O'Konor's book goes a long way to dispel our ignorance. In the best tradition of objective art-historical detective work, it brings together all the facts a tenacious researcher can dig out before the sources dry up.

The book, prepared as a Ph.D. thesis for the Univer- sity of Stockholm and added to for publication, has that thoroughness of documentation of original source material that characterizes the best academic work. It includes accounts of his early life and family from relatives and friends; statements by Janco, Arp, Gabo, Hausmann, Tzara et al. about his life in Paris and his association with Dada in Zurich; his published work and private notes are reproduced and analysed in an attempt to clarify his theoretical standpoint. His available paintings and drawings are catalogued and illustrated. Specially important works and the studies for them are recorded and scrutinized in detail, in particular the film 'Diagonal Symphony' is examined sequence by sequence and key frames are reproduced.

Appendices, bibliography, list of major exhibitions, biographical notes on artists and colleagues associated with Eggeling and his ideas and reproductions of his writings combine to make this an exemplary art history dossier. The impressive 'Acknowledgements' indicate the thoroughness of the home-work (which includes a period of work on 'Hour of The Wolf' with Ingmar Bergman, to gain practical knowledge of film-making, the better to understand Eggeling's work with film.)

Such a dossier of facts ousts some ill-founded specu- lations and misunderstandings that tend to rush in and fill the vacuum of ignorance. In this respect the book is quite dramatic. Right at the heart of what might have

Sun' in that year was either abstract or a square on square (pp. 22, 36). The catalog of the exhibition, 'Tramway V', was not illustrated and Nakov has in mind the separate booklet compiled by Tatlin and issued later at '0.10' (pp. 18, 35); Obmokhu was founded in 1919 and not in 1922 (p. 42). A few important facts are missing, e.g. Exter's contribution to the New Society of Artists in St. Petersburg in 1908 and 1909 and to the big show organized by the journal, In the World of Arts, in Kiev in 1908; her illustrations to Aksenov's book, Unacceptable Grournds (Moscow, 1916) and her role in Soviet fashion design in the early 1920's. But the above points are minor when compared to the undoubted worth of this booklet. It serves, above all, to reinforce my opinion that after the several general surveys of modernist Russian art published recently, the time has come to analyze in detail the particular personalities and aesthetic directions that contributed to the regenera- tion of Russian culture.

Max Jacob and the Poetics of Cubism. Gerald Kamber. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1971. 183 pp., illus. $8.50. Reviewed by: J. S. Bodolai*

It is generally a difficult task to draw analogies between one art form and another. Often this is a useless en- deavour. When this type of stylistic comparison can reveal intellectual affinities, however, it is most useful. Kamber's book attempts to make precisely this sort of comparison.

The author believes that Max Jacob shared a vision, a way of looking at things, with the cubist painters Braque, Gris and Picasso, of whom he was a friend and neighbour. From a common way of perceiving common things, each artist translated his perceptions into his own peculiar idicm. Yet, in subject matter and in method, Jacob clearly reveals a good deal of compassion for cubist sensibilities.

The book contains a highly readable account of Jacob's life and poetry. Kambler's explications of Jacob's works are thorough and clear and offer some substantial ideas about the language of Cubism. What his exposition makes most clear, although without being explicit, is the importance of cubist subject matter in defining the intellectual and conceptual basis of Cubism.

It is more than mere arbitrary coincidence that the cubist painters chose to depict musical instruments newspaper fragments, and other objects that they confronted in their everyday studio and cafe life. The importance of these as subjects is often assumed to be in their mere vulgarity, as opposed to either the sacred or the academic. Yet, as a study of Jacob's work reveals, a strong case can be made that these objects were selected because they lent themselves to the depiction of different temporal realities in one visual moment, which is the core of Cubism.

Jacob's literary works 'Cornet a des' ('The Dice-Cup') and 'Jouer du bugle' ('Playing the Bugle') exhibit a like emphasis on subjects that normally create some sort of formal change through time. Jacob's method of handling this depiction, Kamber proves, evidences a vision that is quite clearly cubist. And by doing so, Kamber has greatly clarified what that cubist vision really is.

Viking Eggeling 1880-1925: Artist and Film-maker,

Sun' in that year was either abstract or a square on square (pp. 22, 36). The catalog of the exhibition, 'Tramway V', was not illustrated and Nakov has in mind the separate booklet compiled by Tatlin and issued later at '0.10' (pp. 18, 35); Obmokhu was founded in 1919 and not in 1922 (p. 42). A few important facts are missing, e.g. Exter's contribution to the New Society of Artists in St. Petersburg in 1908 and 1909 and to the big show organized by the journal, In the World of Arts, in Kiev in 1908; her illustrations to Aksenov's book, Unacceptable Grournds (Moscow, 1916) and her role in Soviet fashion design in the early 1920's. But the above points are minor when compared to the undoubted worth of this booklet. It serves, above all, to reinforce my opinion that after the several general surveys of modernist Russian art published recently, the time has come to analyze in detail the particular personalities and aesthetic directions that contributed to the regenera- tion of Russian culture.

Max Jacob and the Poetics of Cubism. Gerald Kamber. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1971. 183 pp., illus. $8.50. Reviewed by: J. S. Bodolai*

It is generally a difficult task to draw analogies between one art form and another. Often this is a useless en- deavour. When this type of stylistic comparison can reveal intellectual affinities, however, it is most useful. Kamber's book attempts to make precisely this sort of comparison.

The author believes that Max Jacob shared a vision, a way of looking at things, with the cubist painters Braque, Gris and Picasso, of whom he was a friend and neighbour. From a common way of perceiving common things, each artist translated his perceptions into his own peculiar idicm. Yet, in subject matter and in method, Jacob clearly reveals a good deal of compassion for cubist sensibilities.

The book contains a highly readable account of Jacob's life and poetry. Kambler's explications of Jacob's works are thorough and clear and offer some substantial ideas about the language of Cubism. What his exposition makes most clear, although without being explicit, is the importance of cubist subject matter in defining the intellectual and conceptual basis of Cubism.

It is more than mere arbitrary coincidence that the cubist painters chose to depict musical instruments newspaper fragments, and other objects that they confronted in their everyday studio and cafe life. The importance of these as subjects is often assumed to be in their mere vulgarity, as opposed to either the sacred or the academic. Yet, as a study of Jacob's work reveals, a strong case can be made that these objects were selected because they lent themselves to the depiction of different temporal realities in one visual moment, which is the core of Cubism.

Jacob's literary works 'Cornet a des' ('The Dice-Cup') and 'Jouer du bugle' ('Playing the Bugle') exhibit a like emphasis on subjects that normally create some sort of formal change through time. Jacob's method of handling this depiction, Kamber proves, evidences a vision that is quite clearly cubist. And by doing so, Kamber has greatly clarified what that cubist vision really is.

Viking Eggeling 1880-1925: Artist and Film-maker,

Sun' in that year was either abstract or a square on square (pp. 22, 36). The catalog of the exhibition, 'Tramway V', was not illustrated and Nakov has in mind the separate booklet compiled by Tatlin and issued later at '0.10' (pp. 18, 35); Obmokhu was founded in 1919 and not in 1922 (p. 42). A few important facts are missing, e.g. Exter's contribution to the New Society of Artists in St. Petersburg in 1908 and 1909 and to the big show organized by the journal, In the World of Arts, in Kiev in 1908; her illustrations to Aksenov's book, Unacceptable Grournds (Moscow, 1916) and her role in Soviet fashion design in the early 1920's. But the above points are minor when compared to the undoubted worth of this booklet. It serves, above all, to reinforce my opinion that after the several general surveys of modernist Russian art published recently, the time has come to analyze in detail the particular personalities and aesthetic directions that contributed to the regenera- tion of Russian culture.

Max Jacob and the Poetics of Cubism. Gerald Kamber. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1971. 183 pp., illus. $8.50. Reviewed by: J. S. Bodolai*

It is generally a difficult task to draw analogies between one art form and another. Often this is a useless en- deavour. When this type of stylistic comparison can reveal intellectual affinities, however, it is most useful. Kamber's book attempts to make precisely this sort of comparison.

The author believes that Max Jacob shared a vision, a way of looking at things, with the cubist painters Braque, Gris and Picasso, of whom he was a friend and neighbour. From a common way of perceiving common things, each artist translated his perceptions into his own peculiar idicm. Yet, in subject matter and in method, Jacob clearly reveals a good deal of compassion for cubist sensibilities.

The book contains a highly readable account of Jacob's life and poetry. Kambler's explications of Jacob's works are thorough and clear and offer some substantial ideas about the language of Cubism. What his exposition makes most clear, although without being explicit, is the importance of cubist subject matter in defining the intellectual and conceptual basis of Cubism.

It is more than mere arbitrary coincidence that the cubist painters chose to depict musical instruments newspaper fragments, and other objects that they confronted in their everyday studio and cafe life. The importance of these as subjects is often assumed to be in their mere vulgarity, as opposed to either the sacred or the academic. Yet, as a study of Jacob's work reveals, a strong case can be made that these objects were selected because they lent themselves to the depiction of different temporal realities in one visual moment, which is the core of Cubism.

Jacob's literary works 'Cornet a des' ('The Dice-Cup') and 'Jouer du bugle' ('Playing the Bugle') exhibit a like emphasis on subjects that normally create some sort of formal change through time. Jacob's method of handling this depiction, Kamber proves, evidences a vision that is quite clearly cubist. And by doing so, Kamber has greatly clarified what that cubist vision really is.

Viking Eggeling 1880-1925: Artist and Film-maker, Life and Work. Louise O'Konor. Stockholm Studies in

* 375 Huron St., Toronto, Canada.

Life and Work. Louise O'Konor. Stockholm Studies in

* 375 Huron St., Toronto, Canada.

Life and Work. Louise O'Konor. Stockholm Studies in

* 375 Huron St., Toronto, Canada.

been rather dry routine cataloguing O'Konor discovered

* 28 Rochester Terrace, Leeds LS6 3DF, England.

been rather dry routine cataloguing O'Konor discovered

* 28 Rochester Terrace, Leeds LS6 3DF, England.

been rather dry routine cataloguing O'Konor discovered

* 28 Rochester Terrace, Leeds LS6 3DF, England.

Books Books Books 81 81 81

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