SUPPLÉMENT A L’AMOUR DE L’ART ,SUMMARY OF AMOUR DE L’ART geLruary 1929) SIDE-LIGHTS ON THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON FOLK LORE AND POPULAR ART. (Prague october 7-13, 1928). Only comparatively recently has Europe discovered the importance of folk-lore and primitive art. The first interna-tional convention dealing with these subjects has recently been organized by M. Focillon under the auspices of the international Institute for Intellectual Co-operation, itself an off-shoot of the League of Nations. The delegates of the thirty-one countries represented discus-sed the questions involved from many angles and the success of the meeting was due in no small degree to the foresight with which it had been prepared by M. Dupierreux and the encyclopedic learning of A. Van Gennep who presided over the scientific section of the gathering. An outstanding feature of the convention was the emphasis laid on the fact that to understand other nations it is more useful to be familiar with their cultural life, their religious beliefs and local customs and arts than to learn the dates of occasional conflicts with neighboring countries. France, unfortunately, is backward in an appreciation of the value of the scientific study of folk-lore and in the preservation and presentation if its innumerable manifesta-tion of primitive art. The museum at the Trocadero is a dusty necropolis whose development is hampered by the red tape of officialdom and indifterence. The result of this neglect was apparent, for instance, in the exposition of master-artisans held lately at the Pavillon Marsan. Although the exhibits were triumphs of technical skill and ingenuiety they lacked that quality wich stamps an odject with the indelible imprint of the country where it was produced. The hands of the French workmen have not lost their cunning but their brains no longer repeat the inherited rythm of their race. One of the most eloquent protests against an undue stan-dardisation and modernisation of the arts has been uttered by an American. Sherwood Anderson, in a volume recently trans-lated brilliantly by Victor Llona, arraigns bitterly a civili-zation which substitutes physical comforts for spiritual values. Can a revival of the ancient traditions be affected through educational channels ? Certain experiments in this direction have proved successful. If children could be brought into contact, not with dusty plaster casts of an alien antiquity, but with figures and objects conceived and executed by their own forbears, or at least by men of the same race, much might be accomplished. If they were asked to adapt certain local art products to modern life, to introduce for instance into the « santons » of Provence contemporary characters such as an aviator or a deputy they might become conscious of the conti-nuiety of esthetic expression and create in turn works as crafstman. THE COURTAULD COLLECTION, (continued). Manet ranks second in the Courtauld collection as far as the number of his works are concerned. His contribu-tions include a preliminary sketch for the faraous « Déjeu-ner sur l’herbe », « L’atelier de Monet », « La rue Mosnier aux paveurs » a view of the street, now colle the rue de Berne where the pointer lived in the spring of 1878, and the last of Manet’s Salon pictures the « Bar des Folies Ber-gère » with its curious reflection of the scene in a mirror. Renoir contributes his celebrated canvas « La Loge » (1874) a scintillating glimpse of the Place Pigalle and a portrait of Ambroise Vollard. Although painters of the Impressionist group dominate the collection one notes a fine Don Quichotte by Daumier, and a delicate sketch by Ingres for his « Odalisque ». Degas is represented by a sketch for « Lola », Toulouse-Lautrec by a « Scene de Bar ». « L’homme à l’oreille coupée avec estampe japonaise » and landscape « Paysage d’Arles » show Van Gogh, while the gloomy « Never More » by Gauguin contrasts strongly with the luminous canvas « La Fermière » by the same artist. Any description of the Courtauld collection would not be complete without mention of the works of that mysterious master Seurat. Among them are « La Poudreuse » exposed at the sixth Salon des Indépendants of 1890 and the « Pont de Courbevoie ». CONSTRUCTION ET ARCHITECTURE. In a book just out in Germany : « Bauen in Frankreich, bauen im Eisen, bauen im Eisenbeton » (i), the author, Mr. Giedion demonstrates the immense value of French contribution to the development of « new architecture ». The two construction media, steel and reinforèed concrete, conditioning this architecture were both evolved in Fiance, (about 183o and 1892 respectively). Their apparition gave rise to a school of thought best expressed in three words « Kons-truktion wird gestaltung » — construction becomes Mr. Giedion belongs to this school. We consider however that when a problem has more than one solution, leaving room for what is technically known as « play », then architecture by adopting one solution fixes the form : done construction helps its realisation. Properties ot steel give few possibilities of « play » and technical cons-truction imposes itself. On the other hand reinforced concrete, an intinitely less tyranical medium, only suggests, leaving possibilities for many expressions, — even that of decoration repudiated by our young constructors. f o conclude, Mr. Giedion’s statement that no building now constructed with unlimited means and great luxury will be of importance in architectural history, is a logical outcome of this school of thought and part of the century’s mystical paradox. To confuse technical considerations with pure aesthetics, as Mr. Giedion and Mr. Le Corbusier frequently do, is mere childishness. No reproach is meant, history but repeats itself in quarrels between ancients and Modems. Our constructivists whether they want it or not create architecture and we were the first to regret the sacrifice of Mr. Le Corbusier’s League of Nations project to the insipid official design. SOME FOREIGN WOLD-ENGRAVERS. France was brilliantly represented at the recent exhibition of modern wood-cuts held at the Pavillon Marsan. But as the work of our artists is already familiar to the readers of this Magazine it is proposed to devote this article more especially to the work of foreign engravers. Great Britain and Ireland together showed some hundred works executed by sixteen artists. The whimsical humor of Gordon Craig, the inexhaustible imagination of Douglas Percy Bliss, the experiments in synthetic expressionism by Gertrude Hermes and Gibbings were indications of a great versatility of production. One felt that the effort of the contemporary English wood-engravers is not to upset established traditions but to rejuvenate them. In Germany on the other hand we find an exuberant, restless spirit that is frequently allied with a• ignorance or disdain for the laws of the medium through which the artist seeks to express himself. Esthectic theories have run wild in Germany and both the qualities and weakness of the movement appear in the works shown. Obsessed with the desire to see things in a large way such men as Beckstein and Beckman create pictures that are decorative rather than expressive. Real power however is shown by Felix Muller who deserves quite special mention while surrealism is represented stri-kingly by Max Pechstein. The Italian wood-cuts shown differ widely from those of the Germons. Here one finds the elimination of every super-fluous detail carried to the point of exageration. It may be said however that the exhbits shown are not altogether repre-sentative. The same remark applies to Spain. The Slav races have in general been deeply affected by the cubist movement in art. This is apparent in both the wood-cuts from Russia and those of Poland. However one may note that primitive traditions have excercised a salutary counter-influence. Frequently the result is highly original as in the case of the Polish engraver Skoczylas as well as his compatriots Bartlomiejczki and Madame Konarska. The formers « Tête de Berger » has a concentrated power that is remarkable. Lettonia is not well represented, and this is also the case with other Northern European countries. On the other hand ail of the Dutch exhbits deserve attention. (i) Klinkhard et Biermann, Editurs, Liepzig. FIND ART DOC
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