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August Černigoj by Peter KrečičReview by: John E. BowltLeonardo, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Winter, 1983), pp. 71-72Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1575071 .

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The High Road to the Moon: Paintings by R. A. Smith. Bob Parkinson. British Interplanetary Society, London, 1979. 120 pp., illus. Paper. Reviewed by Bruno L. Stanek*

Space art has become a respected discipline in the world of art as well as among scientists, since reality has caught up with the dreams of early visionaries. The first book on the subject, published in the U.S.A., covered such an enormous volume of pictures and data that there was little room left to devote to individual deserving artists. This gap now has been effectively closed in at least one case by The High Road to the Moon with a text by Bob Parkinson and a presentation of the complete works of Ralph A. Smith. His paintings display many of the early ideas about spaceflight, developed by the British Interplanetary Society. Smith lived just long enough to see at least some of his dreams come true. His artwork reminds us what we dreamed about before it all became reality, something many of us, concerned with space by profession or hobby, easily tend to forget.

Another fact is brought to our attention: Many of the present avant- garde ideas, such as space construction or mining and agriculture on the Moon, are not that new. The most recent artwork depicting these prospects does not look very different from the images conjured up in Smith's paintings, except maybe in respect to color. The black and white printing of the illustrations, however, does not diminish the book's quality. On the contrary, it allows, at a reasonable price, the inclusion of a rich collection of sketches and minor but unique pictures and also comparisons of his schemes with photographs from the real missions and paintings.

The author of the text was obviously devoted to space science, a definite prerequisite for quality. But whether he intended to write about the history of spaceflight or about the contributions of R. A. Smith remains unclear. The latter is a task well worth attempting, but simply to write another book about space, illustrated by an artist who died over 20 years ago, is perhaps not. For those who attempt to predict our future in the universe through an understanding of our past, any literature which illuminates the dreams of early visionaries is welcomed, and the greater part of the book fulfils these expectations.

August Cernigoj. Peter Krecic. Stampa Triestina, Trieste, 1980. 189 pp., illus. Reviewed by John E. Bowit**

This is an album of color and black and white illustrations accompanied by a substantial text devoted to the Slovenian artist August Cernigoj (b. 1898). The book encompasses all periods of the artist's career, although particular attention is given to his early period-the 1920s, when he was an enthusiastic supporter of Constructivism. It is a remarkable fact that, as Constructivism lost its momentum in Soviet Russia in the 1920s, its principles were expanded and exploited further by artists outside Moscow such as Vasilii Ermilov in Kharkov, Strzeminski and Kobro in Lodz, Moholy-Nagy at the Bauhaus and Cernigoj in Trieste and Ljubljana. No doubt, we can look to these places for the real flowering of Constructivist art and design; and certainly, the pioneers of Constructivism-Lissiztky, Rodchenko and Tatlin-would have approved of Cernigoj's experiments, even though they might have regarded him only as a gifted apprentice.

Although dealing with an artist who appears to be rational and objective, Krecic is careful to consider Cernigoj at all times as an integrator of artistic intuition and scientific analysis. Krecic keeps this dual condition in mind as he examines the stages in the checkered career of this Triestine avant-gardist-his emotional paintings of the 1910s, his contribution to the 'little magazines' Novi rod (1922) and Tank (1927), his journey to the Bauhaus in 1924, his coorganization of the exhibition of the Triestine Constructivist Group in 1927, his decorations for middle-class villas in Ljubljana in the 1930s, his church frescoes of the 1940s, etc. Owing to this meteoric temperament, Cernigoj was able to move rapidly from Expressionism to Constructivism, from Con- structivism to 'Neo-Romanticism'; in the 1960s Cernigoj even investigated the notion of Pop Art and then the objet trouve and Conceptual Art, often with a generous dose of eroticism. By and large, however, the later works are tedious and desultory, especially when compared to the Constructivist output.

The High Road to the Moon: Paintings by R. A. Smith. Bob Parkinson. British Interplanetary Society, London, 1979. 120 pp., illus. Paper. Reviewed by Bruno L. Stanek*

Space art has become a respected discipline in the world of art as well as among scientists, since reality has caught up with the dreams of early visionaries. The first book on the subject, published in the U.S.A., covered such an enormous volume of pictures and data that there was little room left to devote to individual deserving artists. This gap now has been effectively closed in at least one case by The High Road to the Moon with a text by Bob Parkinson and a presentation of the complete works of Ralph A. Smith. His paintings display many of the early ideas about spaceflight, developed by the British Interplanetary Society. Smith lived just long enough to see at least some of his dreams come true. His artwork reminds us what we dreamed about before it all became reality, something many of us, concerned with space by profession or hobby, easily tend to forget.

Another fact is brought to our attention: Many of the present avant- garde ideas, such as space construction or mining and agriculture on the Moon, are not that new. The most recent artwork depicting these prospects does not look very different from the images conjured up in Smith's paintings, except maybe in respect to color. The black and white printing of the illustrations, however, does not diminish the book's quality. On the contrary, it allows, at a reasonable price, the inclusion of a rich collection of sketches and minor but unique pictures and also comparisons of his schemes with photographs from the real missions and paintings.

The author of the text was obviously devoted to space science, a definite prerequisite for quality. But whether he intended to write about the history of spaceflight or about the contributions of R. A. Smith remains unclear. The latter is a task well worth attempting, but simply to write another book about space, illustrated by an artist who died over 20 years ago, is perhaps not. For those who attempt to predict our future in the universe through an understanding of our past, any literature which illuminates the dreams of early visionaries is welcomed, and the greater part of the book fulfils these expectations.

August Cernigoj. Peter Krecic. Stampa Triestina, Trieste, 1980. 189 pp., illus. Reviewed by John E. Bowit**

This is an album of color and black and white illustrations accompanied by a substantial text devoted to the Slovenian artist August Cernigoj (b. 1898). The book encompasses all periods of the artist's career, although particular attention is given to his early period-the 1920s, when he was an enthusiastic supporter of Constructivism. It is a remarkable fact that, as Constructivism lost its momentum in Soviet Russia in the 1920s, its principles were expanded and exploited further by artists outside Moscow such as Vasilii Ermilov in Kharkov, Strzeminski and Kobro in Lodz, Moholy-Nagy at the Bauhaus and Cernigoj in Trieste and Ljubljana. No doubt, we can look to these places for the real flowering of Constructivist art and design; and certainly, the pioneers of Constructivism-Lissiztky, Rodchenko and Tatlin-would have approved of Cernigoj's experiments, even though they might have regarded him only as a gifted apprentice.

Although dealing with an artist who appears to be rational and objective, Krecic is careful to consider Cernigoj at all times as an integrator of artistic intuition and scientific analysis. Krecic keeps this dual condition in mind as he examines the stages in the checkered career of this Triestine avant-gardist-his emotional paintings of the 1910s, his contribution to the 'little magazines' Novi rod (1922) and Tank (1927), his journey to the Bauhaus in 1924, his coorganization of the exhibition of the Triestine Constructivist Group in 1927, his decorations for middle-class villas in Ljubljana in the 1930s, his church frescoes of the 1940s, etc. Owing to this meteoric temperament, Cernigoj was able to move rapidly from Expressionism to Constructivism, from Con- structivism to 'Neo-Romanticism'; in the 1960s Cernigoj even investigated the notion of Pop Art and then the objet trouve and Conceptual Art, often with a generous dose of eroticism. By and large, however, the later works are tedious and desultory, especially when compared to the Constructivist output.

The High Road to the Moon: Paintings by R. A. Smith. Bob Parkinson. British Interplanetary Society, London, 1979. 120 pp., illus. Paper. Reviewed by Bruno L. Stanek*

Space art has become a respected discipline in the world of art as well as among scientists, since reality has caught up with the dreams of early visionaries. The first book on the subject, published in the U.S.A., covered such an enormous volume of pictures and data that there was little room left to devote to individual deserving artists. This gap now has been effectively closed in at least one case by The High Road to the Moon with a text by Bob Parkinson and a presentation of the complete works of Ralph A. Smith. His paintings display many of the early ideas about spaceflight, developed by the British Interplanetary Society. Smith lived just long enough to see at least some of his dreams come true. His artwork reminds us what we dreamed about before it all became reality, something many of us, concerned with space by profession or hobby, easily tend to forget.

Another fact is brought to our attention: Many of the present avant- garde ideas, such as space construction or mining and agriculture on the Moon, are not that new. The most recent artwork depicting these prospects does not look very different from the images conjured up in Smith's paintings, except maybe in respect to color. The black and white printing of the illustrations, however, does not diminish the book's quality. On the contrary, it allows, at a reasonable price, the inclusion of a rich collection of sketches and minor but unique pictures and also comparisons of his schemes with photographs from the real missions and paintings.

The author of the text was obviously devoted to space science, a definite prerequisite for quality. But whether he intended to write about the history of spaceflight or about the contributions of R. A. Smith remains unclear. The latter is a task well worth attempting, but simply to write another book about space, illustrated by an artist who died over 20 years ago, is perhaps not. For those who attempt to predict our future in the universe through an understanding of our past, any literature which illuminates the dreams of early visionaries is welcomed, and the greater part of the book fulfils these expectations.

August Cernigoj. Peter Krecic. Stampa Triestina, Trieste, 1980. 189 pp., illus. Reviewed by John E. Bowit**

This is an album of color and black and white illustrations accompanied by a substantial text devoted to the Slovenian artist August Cernigoj (b. 1898). The book encompasses all periods of the artist's career, although particular attention is given to his early period-the 1920s, when he was an enthusiastic supporter of Constructivism. It is a remarkable fact that, as Constructivism lost its momentum in Soviet Russia in the 1920s, its principles were expanded and exploited further by artists outside Moscow such as Vasilii Ermilov in Kharkov, Strzeminski and Kobro in Lodz, Moholy-Nagy at the Bauhaus and Cernigoj in Trieste and Ljubljana. No doubt, we can look to these places for the real flowering of Constructivist art and design; and certainly, the pioneers of Constructivism-Lissiztky, Rodchenko and Tatlin-would have approved of Cernigoj's experiments, even though they might have regarded him only as a gifted apprentice.

Although dealing with an artist who appears to be rational and objective, Krecic is careful to consider Cernigoj at all times as an integrator of artistic intuition and scientific analysis. Krecic keeps this dual condition in mind as he examines the stages in the checkered career of this Triestine avant-gardist-his emotional paintings of the 1910s, his contribution to the 'little magazines' Novi rod (1922) and Tank (1927), his journey to the Bauhaus in 1924, his coorganization of the exhibition of the Triestine Constructivist Group in 1927, his decorations for middle-class villas in Ljubljana in the 1930s, his church frescoes of the 1940s, etc. Owing to this meteoric temperament, Cernigoj was able to move rapidly from Expressionism to Constructivism, from Con- structivism to 'Neo-Romanticism'; in the 1960s Cernigoj even investigated the notion of Pop Art and then the objet trouve and Conceptual Art, often with a generous dose of eroticism. By and large, however, the later works are tedious and desultory, especially when compared to the Constructivist output.

Art in the Third Reich. Bertold Hinz. Robert and Rita Kimber, transl. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1979. 268 pp., illus. Paper, ?5.50. ISBN: 0-631- 12511-6. Reviewed by Joseph Acheson*

Berthold Hinz is Professor of Art History as the Pedagogic Institute in West Berlin. He was a leading contributor to a catalogue of art in the Third Reich, prepared in conjunction with a major exhibition in Frankfurt in 1974. This book is a summary of the substance of the catalogue and the exhibition and the Professor's debates with students during the two years prior to the exhibition.

Professor Hinz claims that his was the first work to concern itself in depth with the art of National Socialism between the years 1933 and 1945, so filling a gap in German art history which had existed since World War II.

Within a few years, the State was able to impose total control upon all forms of art and design. Simultaneously it launched an attack upon all alternative forms, until finally they were eliminated from any public showing within Germany, except for ridicule. The success of this operation, as of National Socialism itself, was possible only because of a strong popular base. The systematic corruption and exploitation of this base is the main theme of the book.

Artist and architect manque, Hitler accorded to the visual arts the highest social value. One of his first actions after coming to power in 1933 was to lay the foundation stone of a 'temple in honour of the Goddess of Art', the House of German Art in Munich. Here was to be housed the eternal German art, tribute to the nation's 'blood and soil' as befitted the destined 1000-year Reich.

Professor Hinz draws upon eight exhibitions held in this building between 1937 and 1944 as principal source material of his research. 'Degenerate' art which defiled such an ideal had first to be eliminated. This embraced all work which could be labelled as 'Marxist, Jewish or culturally Bolshevist', above all that by those international modern artists hated most by Hitler, and dismissed as 'Dadist sensationalists, Cubist plasterers and Futurist canvas smearers'.

Dr Wilhelm Frick, who became the first National Socialist to head a Ministry, that of the Interior, set the example for oppression of the arts, with the destruction of the Bauhaus and a purge of all modern art from Weimar. At his order, films by Eisenstein, Brecht and Pabst and the music of Hindemith and Stravinsky were banned from public performance throughout the Reich.

In 1936, under Goebbels, the Ministry of Culture intensified the campaign. Membership of the Ministry's professional organisations was now made compulsory for everyone involved in the arts, from architecture and fine arts to design photography and auctioneering. Correspondingly, membership was denied to all whose racial or political origins or work was suspect. Art criticism was silenced and censored art reports substituted.

Professor Ziegler, once a minor painter and dubbed 'master of pubic hair' under Goebbel's direction, led an assault on the German museums and collections. Starting with the National Gallery, directors sympathetic to modern art were dismissed and their collections confiscated, to be sold abroad or misappropriated into Goering's private collection. In 1939 the undisposed-of 'dregs of degenerate art' were burnt publicly in Berlin.

In contrast, the 'finished and unproblematic' work of favoured artists seems to our eyes to be utterly banal and depressing, both in form and subject. The painting of 16c Netherlands and 19c German genre provides a spurious base of respectability. 'Simple German types', farmer and peasant, work with their animals in the fields until the needs of war demand a more heroic triad-farmer, industrial worker, soldier. 'Pure landscape' represents the 'soil of the Fatherland'. But, above all, female nudes abound, their 'ideal biological form, a precondition of all folkish and spiritual rebirth', often disguised by classical or symbolic titles, they remain voyeuristic objects, the last area of domination for state-enslaved males.

The book concludes with some discussion of the huge and useless monuments which dominate the architecture of the Third Reich. Reflecting both bastion and tomb, even unfinished they aspire already to the grandeur and pathos of antique ruins.

Professor Hinz, in convincing translation, marshalls his evidence and statistics with remorseless thoroughness. There is little to entertain the reader in this book. The author provides us with its justification, and the warning-'Don't forget'.

Art in the Third Reich. Bertold Hinz. Robert and Rita Kimber, transl. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1979. 268 pp., illus. Paper, ?5.50. ISBN: 0-631- 12511-6. Reviewed by Joseph Acheson*

Berthold Hinz is Professor of Art History as the Pedagogic Institute in West Berlin. He was a leading contributor to a catalogue of art in the Third Reich, prepared in conjunction with a major exhibition in Frankfurt in 1974. This book is a summary of the substance of the catalogue and the exhibition and the Professor's debates with students during the two years prior to the exhibition.

Professor Hinz claims that his was the first work to concern itself in depth with the art of National Socialism between the years 1933 and 1945, so filling a gap in German art history which had existed since World War II.

Within a few years, the State was able to impose total control upon all forms of art and design. Simultaneously it launched an attack upon all alternative forms, until finally they were eliminated from any public showing within Germany, except for ridicule. The success of this operation, as of National Socialism itself, was possible only because of a strong popular base. The systematic corruption and exploitation of this base is the main theme of the book.

Artist and architect manque, Hitler accorded to the visual arts the highest social value. One of his first actions after coming to power in 1933 was to lay the foundation stone of a 'temple in honour of the Goddess of Art', the House of German Art in Munich. Here was to be housed the eternal German art, tribute to the nation's 'blood and soil' as befitted the destined 1000-year Reich.

Professor Hinz draws upon eight exhibitions held in this building between 1937 and 1944 as principal source material of his research. 'Degenerate' art which defiled such an ideal had first to be eliminated. This embraced all work which could be labelled as 'Marxist, Jewish or culturally Bolshevist', above all that by those international modern artists hated most by Hitler, and dismissed as 'Dadist sensationalists, Cubist plasterers and Futurist canvas smearers'.

Dr Wilhelm Frick, who became the first National Socialist to head a Ministry, that of the Interior, set the example for oppression of the arts, with the destruction of the Bauhaus and a purge of all modern art from Weimar. At his order, films by Eisenstein, Brecht and Pabst and the music of Hindemith and Stravinsky were banned from public performance throughout the Reich.

In 1936, under Goebbels, the Ministry of Culture intensified the campaign. Membership of the Ministry's professional organisations was now made compulsory for everyone involved in the arts, from architecture and fine arts to design photography and auctioneering. Correspondingly, membership was denied to all whose racial or political origins or work was suspect. Art criticism was silenced and censored art reports substituted.

Professor Ziegler, once a minor painter and dubbed 'master of pubic hair' under Goebbel's direction, led an assault on the German museums and collections. Starting with the National Gallery, directors sympathetic to modern art were dismissed and their collections confiscated, to be sold abroad or misappropriated into Goering's private collection. In 1939 the undisposed-of 'dregs of degenerate art' were burnt publicly in Berlin.

In contrast, the 'finished and unproblematic' work of favoured artists seems to our eyes to be utterly banal and depressing, both in form and subject. The painting of 16c Netherlands and 19c German genre provides a spurious base of respectability. 'Simple German types', farmer and peasant, work with their animals in the fields until the needs of war demand a more heroic triad-farmer, industrial worker, soldier. 'Pure landscape' represents the 'soil of the Fatherland'. But, above all, female nudes abound, their 'ideal biological form, a precondition of all folkish and spiritual rebirth', often disguised by classical or symbolic titles, they remain voyeuristic objects, the last area of domination for state-enslaved males.

The book concludes with some discussion of the huge and useless monuments which dominate the architecture of the Third Reich. Reflecting both bastion and tomb, even unfinished they aspire already to the grandeur and pathos of antique ruins.

Professor Hinz, in convincing translation, marshalls his evidence and statistics with remorseless thoroughness. There is little to entertain the reader in this book. The author provides us with its justification, and the warning-'Don't forget'.

Art in the Third Reich. Bertold Hinz. Robert and Rita Kimber, transl. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1979. 268 pp., illus. Paper, ?5.50. ISBN: 0-631- 12511-6. Reviewed by Joseph Acheson*

Berthold Hinz is Professor of Art History as the Pedagogic Institute in West Berlin. He was a leading contributor to a catalogue of art in the Third Reich, prepared in conjunction with a major exhibition in Frankfurt in 1974. This book is a summary of the substance of the catalogue and the exhibition and the Professor's debates with students during the two years prior to the exhibition.

Professor Hinz claims that his was the first work to concern itself in depth with the art of National Socialism between the years 1933 and 1945, so filling a gap in German art history which had existed since World War II.

Within a few years, the State was able to impose total control upon all forms of art and design. Simultaneously it launched an attack upon all alternative forms, until finally they were eliminated from any public showing within Germany, except for ridicule. The success of this operation, as of National Socialism itself, was possible only because of a strong popular base. The systematic corruption and exploitation of this base is the main theme of the book.

Artist and architect manque, Hitler accorded to the visual arts the highest social value. One of his first actions after coming to power in 1933 was to lay the foundation stone of a 'temple in honour of the Goddess of Art', the House of German Art in Munich. Here was to be housed the eternal German art, tribute to the nation's 'blood and soil' as befitted the destined 1000-year Reich.

Professor Hinz draws upon eight exhibitions held in this building between 1937 and 1944 as principal source material of his research. 'Degenerate' art which defiled such an ideal had first to be eliminated. This embraced all work which could be labelled as 'Marxist, Jewish or culturally Bolshevist', above all that by those international modern artists hated most by Hitler, and dismissed as 'Dadist sensationalists, Cubist plasterers and Futurist canvas smearers'.

Dr Wilhelm Frick, who became the first National Socialist to head a Ministry, that of the Interior, set the example for oppression of the arts, with the destruction of the Bauhaus and a purge of all modern art from Weimar. At his order, films by Eisenstein, Brecht and Pabst and the music of Hindemith and Stravinsky were banned from public performance throughout the Reich.

In 1936, under Goebbels, the Ministry of Culture intensified the campaign. Membership of the Ministry's professional organisations was now made compulsory for everyone involved in the arts, from architecture and fine arts to design photography and auctioneering. Correspondingly, membership was denied to all whose racial or political origins or work was suspect. Art criticism was silenced and censored art reports substituted.

Professor Ziegler, once a minor painter and dubbed 'master of pubic hair' under Goebbel's direction, led an assault on the German museums and collections. Starting with the National Gallery, directors sympathetic to modern art were dismissed and their collections confiscated, to be sold abroad or misappropriated into Goering's private collection. In 1939 the undisposed-of 'dregs of degenerate art' were burnt publicly in Berlin.

In contrast, the 'finished and unproblematic' work of favoured artists seems to our eyes to be utterly banal and depressing, both in form and subject. The painting of 16c Netherlands and 19c German genre provides a spurious base of respectability. 'Simple German types', farmer and peasant, work with their animals in the fields until the needs of war demand a more heroic triad-farmer, industrial worker, soldier. 'Pure landscape' represents the 'soil of the Fatherland'. But, above all, female nudes abound, their 'ideal biological form, a precondition of all folkish and spiritual rebirth', often disguised by classical or symbolic titles, they remain voyeuristic objects, the last area of domination for state-enslaved males.

The book concludes with some discussion of the huge and useless monuments which dominate the architecture of the Third Reich. Reflecting both bastion and tomb, even unfinished they aspire already to the grandeur and pathos of antique ruins.

Professor Hinz, in convincing translation, marshalls his evidence and statistics with remorseless thoroughness. There is little to entertain the reader in this book. The author provides us with its justification, and the warning-'Don't forget'.

*Littleworth Cross Lodge, Seale Road, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7DS, England.

*Littleworth Cross Lodge, Seale Road, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7DS, England.

*Littleworth Cross Lodge, Seale Road, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7DS, England.

*Wybergliweg 74, CH-6415 Arth, Switzerland. **Dept. of Slavic Languages, P.O. Box 7217, University of Texas,

Austin, TX 78712, U.S.A.

*Wybergliweg 74, CH-6415 Arth, Switzerland. **Dept. of Slavic Languages, P.O. Box 7217, University of Texas,

Austin, TX 78712, U.S.A.

*Wybergliweg 74, CH-6415 Arth, Switzerland. **Dept. of Slavic Languages, P.O. Box 7217, University of Texas,

Austin, TX 78712, U.S.A.

Books Books Books 71 71 71

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.115 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 05:03:38 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Of course, in his move back to a more figurative esthetic, 1Cernigoj repeated the reversal of many Constructivists, Rodchenko and Tatlin among them. Still, in spite of his artistic diversity, Cernigoj remains a pioneer of Constructivism, and his works from the 1920s, as Krecic emphasizes, embody the finest traditions of the Russian avant-garde and the Bauhaus. Although clearly indebted to Moholy-Nagy and, in turn, to Lissitzky and Tatlin, particularly in his concept of the architectonic painting and the relief, Cernigoj looked upon geometric abstraction as a total worldview and applied his idiosyncratic systems to many fields of endeavour-interior design, architecture, stage design, typography and photography. Incidentally, in his photographic experiments of the early 1930s, such as his ground-level perspective of Manlio Malabotta (1933), Cernigoj was surely indebted to Rodchenko, although this particular connection is not discussed.

The almost 100 illustrations of Cernigoj's works in the illustrative section of the book provide us with a solid visual impression of his artistic vision. But the section is ill-organized and self-defeating, for the simple reason that not a single reproduction is dated or titled (the major defect of the book). Even so, acquaintance with the accomplishments of Cernigoj makes us even more aware of the great avant-garde legacy in Eastern Europe that still awaits rediscovery and reexamination. Moreover, such illuminating studies compel us to change our traditional identifications of particular movements with particular countries and to formulate a whole series of new national categories-such as Czech Cubism, Hungarian Expressionism, Ukrainian Futurism, and now, thanks in part to this book, Slovenian Constructivism.

Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective. William Rubin, ed., Thames & Hudson, London, 1980. 463 pp., illus. Paper, ?9.95. ISBN: 0-500-27194-1. Reviewed by Madhoor Kapur*

This is a catalogue to the exhibition which commemorated the artist's birth centenary and the fiftieth anniversary of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. William Rubin's visits to Picasso in the 1970s were the genesis of the idea for such a retrospective, which the artist favoured. In fact, this was the third of the exhibitions to mark the artist's birth centenary. An exhibition at the Grand Palais, Paris, in 1979 displayed works in 'a raw state', their selection not having been presented and analysed in a developed fashion, and an exhibition in Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A., in 1980, which was 'a collector's choice', excluded documentation and reference or supporting works. The New York retrospective was unique not merely because its magnitude was unprecedented, but because it appears that it can never have an equivalent in the future: 'Guernica' was soon to return to Spain, and a major part of displayed works will become housed in the future Musee Picasso in Paris, for which, incidentally, this show served as a rehearsal.

The predominantly visual book can be flipped at random, revealing Picasso's multiplicity of styles, variety of themes and playful inventiveness with a directness that does not overshadow the mysteriousness of his genius, and, in this eloquent homage paid to Picasso, the homage that the artist consistently paid to his times emerges with single-minded clarity. The book is both a startling document of a triumph of the individual and of the achievement, dedication and cooperation of the collective: a herculean task that gave us a gargantuan feast.

A convenient, rather than a sumptuous coffee-table book format has been chosen, and, among the many available Picasso books, this one is a must, being perhaps the most complete album. It reproduces over 900 artworks, every painting, sculpture, graphic and ceramic in the show, some of which would be new to those already well acquainted with the artist's work.

A lucid, laconic biographical text by Jane Fluegel, supplemented occasionally with documentary photographs, accompanies the chronologically ordered visuals and is a useful reference for scholar and layman alike.

The sixteen sections, ranging from 1881-1899 to 1954-1973, span Picasso's lifetime. The last years occupy the largest section, followed closely in size by the 1933-1937 period which culminated in 'Guernica', the 1945-1953 years spent largely in Vallauris, and the 1907-1908 years, an intense time of change and discovery, which bore 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'. A compelling unity persists through the rich diversity of themes, unwittingly apparent even in the inclusion of the earliest

Of course, in his move back to a more figurative esthetic, 1Cernigoj repeated the reversal of many Constructivists, Rodchenko and Tatlin among them. Still, in spite of his artistic diversity, Cernigoj remains a pioneer of Constructivism, and his works from the 1920s, as Krecic emphasizes, embody the finest traditions of the Russian avant-garde and the Bauhaus. Although clearly indebted to Moholy-Nagy and, in turn, to Lissitzky and Tatlin, particularly in his concept of the architectonic painting and the relief, Cernigoj looked upon geometric abstraction as a total worldview and applied his idiosyncratic systems to many fields of endeavour-interior design, architecture, stage design, typography and photography. Incidentally, in his photographic experiments of the early 1930s, such as his ground-level perspective of Manlio Malabotta (1933), Cernigoj was surely indebted to Rodchenko, although this particular connection is not discussed.

The almost 100 illustrations of Cernigoj's works in the illustrative section of the book provide us with a solid visual impression of his artistic vision. But the section is ill-organized and self-defeating, for the simple reason that not a single reproduction is dated or titled (the major defect of the book). Even so, acquaintance with the accomplishments of Cernigoj makes us even more aware of the great avant-garde legacy in Eastern Europe that still awaits rediscovery and reexamination. Moreover, such illuminating studies compel us to change our traditional identifications of particular movements with particular countries and to formulate a whole series of new national categories-such as Czech Cubism, Hungarian Expressionism, Ukrainian Futurism, and now, thanks in part to this book, Slovenian Constructivism.

Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective. William Rubin, ed., Thames & Hudson, London, 1980. 463 pp., illus. Paper, ?9.95. ISBN: 0-500-27194-1. Reviewed by Madhoor Kapur*

This is a catalogue to the exhibition which commemorated the artist's birth centenary and the fiftieth anniversary of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. William Rubin's visits to Picasso in the 1970s were the genesis of the idea for such a retrospective, which the artist favoured. In fact, this was the third of the exhibitions to mark the artist's birth centenary. An exhibition at the Grand Palais, Paris, in 1979 displayed works in 'a raw state', their selection not having been presented and analysed in a developed fashion, and an exhibition in Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A., in 1980, which was 'a collector's choice', excluded documentation and reference or supporting works. The New York retrospective was unique not merely because its magnitude was unprecedented, but because it appears that it can never have an equivalent in the future: 'Guernica' was soon to return to Spain, and a major part of displayed works will become housed in the future Musee Picasso in Paris, for which, incidentally, this show served as a rehearsal.

The predominantly visual book can be flipped at random, revealing Picasso's multiplicity of styles, variety of themes and playful inventiveness with a directness that does not overshadow the mysteriousness of his genius, and, in this eloquent homage paid to Picasso, the homage that the artist consistently paid to his times emerges with single-minded clarity. The book is both a startling document of a triumph of the individual and of the achievement, dedication and cooperation of the collective: a herculean task that gave us a gargantuan feast.

A convenient, rather than a sumptuous coffee-table book format has been chosen, and, among the many available Picasso books, this one is a must, being perhaps the most complete album. It reproduces over 900 artworks, every painting, sculpture, graphic and ceramic in the show, some of which would be new to those already well acquainted with the artist's work.

A lucid, laconic biographical text by Jane Fluegel, supplemented occasionally with documentary photographs, accompanies the chronologically ordered visuals and is a useful reference for scholar and layman alike.

The sixteen sections, ranging from 1881-1899 to 1954-1973, span Picasso's lifetime. The last years occupy the largest section, followed closely in size by the 1933-1937 period which culminated in 'Guernica', the 1945-1953 years spent largely in Vallauris, and the 1907-1908 years, an intense time of change and discovery, which bore 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'. A compelling unity persists through the rich diversity of themes, unwittingly apparent even in the inclusion of the earliest

Of course, in his move back to a more figurative esthetic, 1Cernigoj repeated the reversal of many Constructivists, Rodchenko and Tatlin among them. Still, in spite of his artistic diversity, Cernigoj remains a pioneer of Constructivism, and his works from the 1920s, as Krecic emphasizes, embody the finest traditions of the Russian avant-garde and the Bauhaus. Although clearly indebted to Moholy-Nagy and, in turn, to Lissitzky and Tatlin, particularly in his concept of the architectonic painting and the relief, Cernigoj looked upon geometric abstraction as a total worldview and applied his idiosyncratic systems to many fields of endeavour-interior design, architecture, stage design, typography and photography. Incidentally, in his photographic experiments of the early 1930s, such as his ground-level perspective of Manlio Malabotta (1933), Cernigoj was surely indebted to Rodchenko, although this particular connection is not discussed.

The almost 100 illustrations of Cernigoj's works in the illustrative section of the book provide us with a solid visual impression of his artistic vision. But the section is ill-organized and self-defeating, for the simple reason that not a single reproduction is dated or titled (the major defect of the book). Even so, acquaintance with the accomplishments of Cernigoj makes us even more aware of the great avant-garde legacy in Eastern Europe that still awaits rediscovery and reexamination. Moreover, such illuminating studies compel us to change our traditional identifications of particular movements with particular countries and to formulate a whole series of new national categories-such as Czech Cubism, Hungarian Expressionism, Ukrainian Futurism, and now, thanks in part to this book, Slovenian Constructivism.

Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective. William Rubin, ed., Thames & Hudson, London, 1980. 463 pp., illus. Paper, ?9.95. ISBN: 0-500-27194-1. Reviewed by Madhoor Kapur*

This is a catalogue to the exhibition which commemorated the artist's birth centenary and the fiftieth anniversary of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. William Rubin's visits to Picasso in the 1970s were the genesis of the idea for such a retrospective, which the artist favoured. In fact, this was the third of the exhibitions to mark the artist's birth centenary. An exhibition at the Grand Palais, Paris, in 1979 displayed works in 'a raw state', their selection not having been presented and analysed in a developed fashion, and an exhibition in Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A., in 1980, which was 'a collector's choice', excluded documentation and reference or supporting works. The New York retrospective was unique not merely because its magnitude was unprecedented, but because it appears that it can never have an equivalent in the future: 'Guernica' was soon to return to Spain, and a major part of displayed works will become housed in the future Musee Picasso in Paris, for which, incidentally, this show served as a rehearsal.

The predominantly visual book can be flipped at random, revealing Picasso's multiplicity of styles, variety of themes and playful inventiveness with a directness that does not overshadow the mysteriousness of his genius, and, in this eloquent homage paid to Picasso, the homage that the artist consistently paid to his times emerges with single-minded clarity. The book is both a startling document of a triumph of the individual and of the achievement, dedication and cooperation of the collective: a herculean task that gave us a gargantuan feast.

A convenient, rather than a sumptuous coffee-table book format has been chosen, and, among the many available Picasso books, this one is a must, being perhaps the most complete album. It reproduces over 900 artworks, every painting, sculpture, graphic and ceramic in the show, some of which would be new to those already well acquainted with the artist's work.

A lucid, laconic biographical text by Jane Fluegel, supplemented occasionally with documentary photographs, accompanies the chronologically ordered visuals and is a useful reference for scholar and layman alike.

The sixteen sections, ranging from 1881-1899 to 1954-1973, span Picasso's lifetime. The last years occupy the largest section, followed closely in size by the 1933-1937 period which culminated in 'Guernica', the 1945-1953 years spent largely in Vallauris, and the 1907-1908 years, an intense time of change and discovery, which bore 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'. A compelling unity persists through the rich diversity of themes, unwittingly apparent even in the inclusion of the earliest

existing painting, a bull fight picture entitled 'Picador', done when Picasso was eight, and the last entry here reproduced, 'Picasso Stage' from 156 GravuresRecentes, done when he was eighty-nine: an unending fascination for the arena. The subjects are as varied as life itself, and parallel to them, magnificent self-portraits (28 in this collection) punctuate the book, each one cowering under the verve of the style that possessed the artist at the time. An equilibrium is anchored as life burgeoned all round, a testament to what, as he himself said, he never sought, but always found.

The book exemplifies that we live in 'an age of museums' as much as in an age of art and is also an occasion to remember that the Museum of Modern Art, New York, more than any other, has brought together assemblages of Picasso's oeuvre whenever required, and placed it before an increasingly discerning and growing public.

The Art of Raymond Jonson, Painter. Ed Garman, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 1976. 199 pp., illus. $15.00. Reviewed by Paul Re*

This book is the first major analysis and tribute to Raymond Jonson who has been described as 'a one-man task force for modern art in New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 1976. 199 pp., illus. $15.00. Reviewed. to gain recognition in New Mexico, but his works are an important contribution to modern art. Now with an active career of over 60 years, he is represented in some 50 public collections. In 1971 the University of New Mexico conferred on Jonson the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters. Garman's beautifully designed and printed book is supplemented by some 80 superb reproductions. I feel it will be the first of many books on Raymond Jonson. It is a must for those interested in abstract art and its underlying philosophy.

Although following approximately the chronological development ot Jonson's life, the book is refreshingly organized by concept. For example, some of the 24 section headings are: Declaration of Purpose, Design, New Mexico, Abstraction, The Spiritual in Art, Craftsmanship, The Airbrush and Color. The text is greatly clarified by excerpts from Jonson's own writing (mainly from letters to family and friends and from his diary). For example, Jonson declares that 'the function of the artist is to create or present something that is a statement of the finest qualities conceivable in the human mind and emotions'. He wanted to clarify and make visible the harmony which he felt to be the essential order of life. This was the unifying principle both of his extensive explorations in nonrepresentational art and of his life. By applying it, he arrived at a successful 'fusion of matter with spirit', what he called 'absolute art'. He was chairman of the 10-member Transcendentalist Painting Group organized in 1938 to further development and presentation of nonrepresentational painting. Included in the group were Agnes Pelton and the author of this book, Ed Garman.

Of particular interest to Leonardo readers is Jonson's adoption of the airbrush in 1938. Although used at the Bauhaus and by Kandinsky and Moholy-Nagy, Jonson independently discovered its use in fine art painting. Garman writes 'There is nothing else like his [Jonson's] airbrush paintings in this period of American art, and they represent a unique contribution to painting because of the successful combination of a modern mechanical device and an extraordinarily inventive imagination'. Jonson respected, studied and experimented with many different kinds of working materials. He combined his extensive knowledge of color with meticulous craftsmanship to produce an exceptional diversity of paintings.

In 1950, after Jonson had taught for 16 years at the University of New Mexico (ultimately with the rank of emeritus professor), Jonson Gallery and Residence was erected on the campus. The University provided the building site and established the gallery as an autonomous unit in the College of Fine Arts. It was made possible largely by private funds and provided Jonson with studio, living quarters, storage space and a gallery in which to show both his work and that of other artists. Contained in the Gallery's permanent collections are approximately 700 of Jonson's works and 500 by other artists. Included is the particularly important Jonson Reserved Retrospective Collection which has typical examples of Jonson's work from 1912 to the present and provides a unique opportunity for in-depth study. Indeed, this book is based largely on that collection. To my knowledge, the underlying idea of Jonson Gallery and Residence and its relationship to the University is unique. If

existing painting, a bull fight picture entitled 'Picador', done when Picasso was eight, and the last entry here reproduced, 'Picasso Stage' from 156 GravuresRecentes, done when he was eighty-nine: an unending fascination for the arena. The subjects are as varied as life itself, and parallel to them, magnificent self-portraits (28 in this collection) punctuate the book, each one cowering under the verve of the style that possessed the artist at the time. An equilibrium is anchored as life burgeoned all round, a testament to what, as he himself said, he never sought, but always found.

The book exemplifies that we live in 'an age of museums' as much as in an age of art and is also an occasion to remember that the Museum of Modern Art, New York, more than any other, has brought together assemblages of Picasso's oeuvre whenever required, and placed it before an increasingly discerning and growing public.

The Art of Raymond Jonson, Painter. Ed Garman, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 1976. 199 pp., illus. $15.00. Reviewed by Paul Re*

This book is the first major analysis and tribute to Raymond Jonson who has been described as 'a one-man task force for modern art in New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 1976. 199 pp., illus. $15.00. Reviewed. to gain recognition in New Mexico, but his works are an important contribution to modern art. Now with an active career of over 60 years, he is represented in some 50 public collections. In 1971 the University of New Mexico conferred on Jonson the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters. Garman's beautifully designed and printed book is supplemented by some 80 superb reproductions. I feel it will be the first of many books on Raymond Jonson. It is a must for those interested in abstract art and its underlying philosophy.

Although following approximately the chronological development ot Jonson's life, the book is refreshingly organized by concept. For example, some of the 24 section headings are: Declaration of Purpose, Design, New Mexico, Abstraction, The Spiritual in Art, Craftsmanship, The Airbrush and Color. The text is greatly clarified by excerpts from Jonson's own writing (mainly from letters to family and friends and from his diary). For example, Jonson declares that 'the function of the artist is to create or present something that is a statement of the finest qualities conceivable in the human mind and emotions'. He wanted to clarify and make visible the harmony which he felt to be the essential order of life. This was the unifying principle both of his extensive explorations in nonrepresentational art and of his life. By applying it, he arrived at a successful 'fusion of matter with spirit', what he called 'absolute art'. He was chairman of the 10-member Transcendentalist Painting Group organized in 1938 to further development and presentation of nonrepresentational painting. Included in the group were Agnes Pelton and the author of this book, Ed Garman.

Of particular interest to Leonardo readers is Jonson's adoption of the airbrush in 1938. Although used at the Bauhaus and by Kandinsky and Moholy-Nagy, Jonson independently discovered its use in fine art painting. Garman writes 'There is nothing else like his [Jonson's] airbrush paintings in this period of American art, and they represent a unique contribution to painting because of the successful combination of a modern mechanical device and an extraordinarily inventive imagination'. Jonson respected, studied and experimented with many different kinds of working materials. He combined his extensive knowledge of color with meticulous craftsmanship to produce an exceptional diversity of paintings.

In 1950, after Jonson had taught for 16 years at the University of New Mexico (ultimately with the rank of emeritus professor), Jonson Gallery and Residence was erected on the campus. The University provided the building site and established the gallery as an autonomous unit in the College of Fine Arts. It was made possible largely by private funds and provided Jonson with studio, living quarters, storage space and a gallery in which to show both his work and that of other artists. Contained in the Gallery's permanent collections are approximately 700 of Jonson's works and 500 by other artists. Included is the particularly important Jonson Reserved Retrospective Collection which has typical examples of Jonson's work from 1912 to the present and provides a unique opportunity for in-depth study. Indeed, this book is based largely on that collection. To my knowledge, the underlying idea of Jonson Gallery and Residence and its relationship to the University is unique. If

existing painting, a bull fight picture entitled 'Picador', done when Picasso was eight, and the last entry here reproduced, 'Picasso Stage' from 156 GravuresRecentes, done when he was eighty-nine: an unending fascination for the arena. The subjects are as varied as life itself, and parallel to them, magnificent self-portraits (28 in this collection) punctuate the book, each one cowering under the verve of the style that possessed the artist at the time. An equilibrium is anchored as life burgeoned all round, a testament to what, as he himself said, he never sought, but always found.

The book exemplifies that we live in 'an age of museums' as much as in an age of art and is also an occasion to remember that the Museum of Modern Art, New York, more than any other, has brought together assemblages of Picasso's oeuvre whenever required, and placed it before an increasingly discerning and growing public.

The Art of Raymond Jonson, Painter. Ed Garman, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 1976. 199 pp., illus. $15.00. Reviewed by Paul Re*

This book is the first major analysis and tribute to Raymond Jonson who has been described as 'a one-man task force for modern art in New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 1976. 199 pp., illus. $15.00. Reviewed. to gain recognition in New Mexico, but his works are an important contribution to modern art. Now with an active career of over 60 years, he is represented in some 50 public collections. In 1971 the University of New Mexico conferred on Jonson the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters. Garman's beautifully designed and printed book is supplemented by some 80 superb reproductions. I feel it will be the first of many books on Raymond Jonson. It is a must for those interested in abstract art and its underlying philosophy.

Although following approximately the chronological development ot Jonson's life, the book is refreshingly organized by concept. For example, some of the 24 section headings are: Declaration of Purpose, Design, New Mexico, Abstraction, The Spiritual in Art, Craftsmanship, The Airbrush and Color. The text is greatly clarified by excerpts from Jonson's own writing (mainly from letters to family and friends and from his diary). For example, Jonson declares that 'the function of the artist is to create or present something that is a statement of the finest qualities conceivable in the human mind and emotions'. He wanted to clarify and make visible the harmony which he felt to be the essential order of life. This was the unifying principle both of his extensive explorations in nonrepresentational art and of his life. By applying it, he arrived at a successful 'fusion of matter with spirit', what he called 'absolute art'. He was chairman of the 10-member Transcendentalist Painting Group organized in 1938 to further development and presentation of nonrepresentational painting. Included in the group were Agnes Pelton and the author of this book, Ed Garman.

Of particular interest to Leonardo readers is Jonson's adoption of the airbrush in 1938. Although used at the Bauhaus and by Kandinsky and Moholy-Nagy, Jonson independently discovered its use in fine art painting. Garman writes 'There is nothing else like his [Jonson's] airbrush paintings in this period of American art, and they represent a unique contribution to painting because of the successful combination of a modern mechanical device and an extraordinarily inventive imagination'. Jonson respected, studied and experimented with many different kinds of working materials. He combined his extensive knowledge of color with meticulous craftsmanship to produce an exceptional diversity of paintings.

In 1950, after Jonson had taught for 16 years at the University of New Mexico (ultimately with the rank of emeritus professor), Jonson Gallery and Residence was erected on the campus. The University provided the building site and established the gallery as an autonomous unit in the College of Fine Arts. It was made possible largely by private funds and provided Jonson with studio, living quarters, storage space and a gallery in which to show both his work and that of other artists. Contained in the Gallery's permanent collections are approximately 700 of Jonson's works and 500 by other artists. Included is the particularly important Jonson Reserved Retrospective Collection which has typical examples of Jonson's work from 1912 to the present and provides a unique opportunity for in-depth study. Indeed, this book is based largely on that collection. To my knowledge, the underlying idea of Jonson Gallery and Residence and its relationship to the University is unique. If

* 10533 Sierra Bonita Ave. N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87111, U.S.A. * 10533 Sierra Bonita Ave. N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87111, U.S.A. * 10533 Sierra Bonita Ave. N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87111, U.S.A. *10 Rajdoot Marg. Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, 110021, India. *10 Rajdoot Marg. Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, 110021, India. *10 Rajdoot Marg. Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, 110021, India.

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