and notes – come from Nolde’s archivesand are probably published for the firsttime. Some reproductions of the partici-pants’ original correspondence (such asfacsimiles of postcards and letters) or oldposters, written in German, are nottranslated.

Manfred Reuther’s remarks are alwaysprecise and the biographical overviewprovided in the appendices is quitedetailed. While this Journey to the South Seasshould not be seen as the perfect entrypoint to Emil Nolde’s universe, it willseem like a fascinating complement tothose who are already familiar with hisunique style. It is almost like discoveringanother Emil Nolde. Nonetheless, anyonewho wishes to explore the aestheticallimits of German Expressionism shouldnot overlook this particular period ofNolde’s production. Moreover, studentsand adepts of cross-cultural theorieswanting to link anthropology and art willfind here a fascinating debut and count-less wonderful examples.

yves laberge

Art critic, Quebec City, Canada

HENRY MOORE TEXTILES

anita feldman (ed)

Lund Humphries 2008 d30.00 $60.00160 pp. 188 col/26 mono illusisbn 978-0-85331-993-1

Henry Moore Textiles is a lavishly illus-trated book that documents a little-known area of Moore’s career and

brings to public attention a number ofdesigns that have been discovered recently.The book aims to throw light on hisdesign process, his sources of inspirationand his collaboration with Zika Ascher(the emigre textile manufacturer whoproduced the majority of his designs). Ineffect the volume operates as a catalogueraisonne of all Moore’s documented de-signs, as well as the fabrics that wereactually manufactured.

Henry Moore produced numerous de-signs for fabrics during the 1940s and1950s, although a relatively small numberwere put into production. David Mitch-inson, Head of Collections and Exhibi-tions at the Henry Moore Foundation,records in his preface that 25 designs wereconverted into fabric for Ascher, two forDavid Whitehead Fabrics and one becamea scarf for the Viennese company in the1980s. Mitchinson also provides a very

useful summary of materialavailable to the researcher ofMoore’s textiles.

The book consists of anintroductory essay by the Victor-ia & Albert Museum’s curator ofcontemporary textiles, SuePritchard, and a short essay byAnita Feldman (Curator of theHenry Moore Foundation) onMoore’s involvement in textiledesign. These are followed bythe catalogue, which consists offour sections: ‘Designs’ (includ-ing images of related fabrics);‘Squares’ (headscarves); ‘Dressand upholstery fabrics’; and‘Wall panels’ (large scale limitededition prints).

Sue Pritchard’s essay, ‘Brit-ish textile design: The quest fora new aesthetic’, provides a verygood overview of the context inwhich Moore was working. Sheoutlines the climate of designreform that began in the midnineteenth century and contin-ued into the twentieth, with organisationssuch as the Design and Industries Asso-ciation, and those sponsored by thegovernment, all showing a keen interestin boosting British industry through im-provements in design. She also looks atthe advances made in the production ofprinted textiles, such as the use of screen-printing and relatively new materials suchas rayon. Against such a background,Pritchard covers the major developmentsin the design of textiles, focusing on thekey companies and designers who wereleading the way in progressive Britishdesign. For example, the Omega Work-shops, the Nicholsons, Alec Walker’sCrysede, Allan Walton Textiles, and Edin-burgh Weavers. She also details the workof Zika and Lida Ascher, who arrived inBritain from Czechoslovakia in 1939 andset up a small textile production companywith design contributions from a numberof well-known artists, including HenryMoore. Pritchard’s essay makes a welcomecomplement to Rayner, Chamberlain andStapleton’s 2003 publication, Artists’ Tex-tiles in Britain 1945–70: A Democratic Art.

Both Pritchard and Feldman point tothe relationship between Moore’s social-ism and the democratic nature of design-ing textiles – making artistic endeavouravailable to potentially large numbers ofpeople through dress or furnishing fab-

rics. Pritchard quotes the London IllustratedNews, which commented that as a result ofwearing Ascher’s designs, women wouldbe ‘blossoming out as walking art gal-leries’. In fact, Ascher’s market wasrelatively small and elite. It was companiessuch as David Whitehead Fabrics, whoproduced two Moore designs in the mid1950s, that truly represent democracy atwork in fabric. The firm, led by JohnMurray, used designs by a number ofleading artists and designers of the day,including John Piper, Marianne Mahler,William Gear and the young TerenceConran. They fully exploited mechanisedscreen-printing and fibres such as rayon,resulting in textiles that were well de-signed but affordable.

Feldman explores the relationship be-tween Moore’s sculpture and textile de-signs and provides valuable insights abouthow their study can enhance an under-standing of his more well-known sculp-ture. For example, in his textile designFigure Studies from 1943 she sees a directlink with his 1952 and 1953 leaf figures inbronze. His textiles also demonstrate anengagement with various art movements,such as Surrealism and Abstract Expres-

Henry Moore,Zigzag 1954 TEX23.2 (left);TEX23.1 (right).PrintedbyDavidWhitehead Fabrics.Photo:Matt Pia.FromHenry MooreTextiles byAnita Feldman (Ed.)

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sionism. Her comments on Moore’s use ofcolour are illuminating. She notes that hiscombination of shocking pinks with acidgreen seem at odds with his view as anartist who felt ‘that colour was a distrac-tion from appreciation of form’. The useof imagery by Moore is particularly inter-esting and unusual compared with that ofcontemporary artists and designers work-ing in textiles. His motifs range frominsects and primitive animals, to teepeesand disembodied hands. More conven-tional abstracted florals are combined withbarbed wire, and he was using safety pins asa decorative device 30 years before Punks.

The range of textile designs illustratedare testament to Moore’s versatility andimagination. The patterns conceived asdress or furnishing fabrics are predomi-nantly small in scale and when illustrated asgarments the motifs are sometimes difficultto define. But one in particular is striking.Reclining Figures for Ascher (1943), describedby Feldman as the closest to his sculpture,depicts horizontal rows of figures. Thedraped figures are dominated by lines andalmost blend into a background of similarmarks, creating a ‘fluid rhythm’. One canimagine this fabric working beautifully in adress where the qualities of drape and flowrequired would be enhanced by Moore’s use

of colour and line. By con-trast, his designs for headsquares are most effectivewhen displayed flat.Although Ascher had con-ceived of these artist-de-signed squares (other artistsincluded Graham Sutherland,Henry Matisse and HowardHodgkin) as accessories toenliven the post-war ward-robe, they were most popularframed on the wall.

A discussion of fashionfabrics of any kind is wel-come, as the topic hasreceived scant attention todate, but the focus on artists(who in the main designedfor a tiny market) has beenat the expense of the largenumbers of freelance de-signers who supplied, andcontinue to supply, the tex-

tile industry with huge quantities ofpatterns for both fashion and furnishings.The book is dominated by images ofMoore’s designs and textiles, which aresupported by a relatively modest quantityof text. At times it is quite difficult tofollow the numbering system for theimages and it is sometimes frustratinglyhard to find the image being discussed.Whilst having an extensive catalogue ofMoore’s textiles is interesting and does helpilluminate his more celebrated sculpture,when seen against the actual production ofjust 28 finished fabrics, one could arguethat such a volume is a little indulgent. Butperhaps this book, with its emphasis onpatterned fabrics for fashion, might en-courage future researchers to explore thisalmost untapped subject further.

christine boydell

De Montfort University, Leicester

GIOVANNI BELLINI

oskar batschmann

Reaktion Books Ltd 2008 d39.95 $55.00256 pp. 82 col/104mono illusisbn 978-1-86189-3574

The steady flow of books aboutGiovanni Bellini testifies to therecognition of his pivotal place in

the history of art. Oskar Batschmann’sbook joins this flow and in so doing makesan excellent job of drawing together thetopics of present-day Bellini studies.

Batschmann is Professor of the Historyof Art at the University of Bern and Co-Director of the Institute for the History ofArt. Other books by him cover such topicsas Nicolas Poussin, Hans Holbein, theartist in the modern world, and editions ofAlberti’s treatise on the arts and CarlGustav Carus’ letters on landscape paint-ing. Based on these previous titles it isinteresting to speculate as to what drewhis attention to Bellini. Whatever it was,Professor Batschmann has immersed him-self in the available material, both archivaland bibliographical, and has succinctlyarticulated the salient issues in contem-porary studies of this artist, suggestingsome original slants and approaches.

The main body of the book is dividedinto six sections. The first section dealswith Bellini’s artistic training in theworkshop of his father, Jacopo. Theinfluence of his father’s master, Gentileda Fabriano, is discussed and Batschmannalso speculates on how Bellini may haveachieved freedom from his father’s work-shop and embarked on the development ofhis own. The dating of early works isdiscussed but Batschmann is never dog-matic, recognising that with so manydocuments missing and the confusion ofattributions some fluidity is required.

The following section moves on to adiscussion of Bellini’s early dependence onthe influence of his brother-in-law, Manteg-na and on Netherlandish art, and analysesthe development of his use of oil paints.

Bellini’s creative transformation ofstandard renaissance subjects forms thecore of the subsequent discussion. Batsch-mann considers Bellini’s use and devel-opment of such subjects as the Man ofSorrows, the Virgin and Child, the depic-tion of half-length figures and the con-ventions used in the representation of theDoge. Possible poetic and literary sourcesand how Bellini creatively used them formpart of the discussion of the followingsection. This is then followed by aconsideration of Bellini’s altarpieces and,in particular, his approach to the ‘sacraconversazione’.

It is in the final chapter on music andcolour where one could suggest that themost original and innovative comments andsuggestions appear. The subject of musicand Bellini has been gathering interest inthe past few years. Although little men-tioned in the Cambridge Companion to GiovanniBellini published in 2004, it appears to havebeen attracting attention since that time.

Henry Moore,FernLeavesandPalmBranchesc1946.Fromright to left:TEX 18.14;TEX 18.20;TEX 18.13;TEX 18.17.Printed byASCHER.Photo:Matt Pia.FromHenry MooreTextiles byAnitaFeldman (Ed.)

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