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THE ART OF CELTIA
COURTNEY DAVIS
BLANDFORD €15.09
128 PR 70 COL170 MONO ILLUS
ISBN 0-7137-2909-2
CELTICART, with its endlessly flowing forms,
mythlcal beasts, images of saints and evoca-
tions of legend, seems to many people to
capture the very flow of time and the vital
energies of past, present and future.
In this book, Courtney Davis shows how
the art forms of the Celts can be transferred
into striking visual messages for today. His art
work is supported by extracts from poetry
and explanatory notes on the underlying
symbolism and historical significance of his
designs.
Although he has received no formal art
training, Davis enjoys a growing reputation as
the best artist working today in the field of
Celtic symbolism. He is a partner of Spirit of
Celtia Ltd, a company which has been
formed to exploit his talent and publicise his
art work. He is the only artist creating original
colour Celtic art work today, and he sees his
work as “a focus for the healing between the
mind and spirit which is so out of balance at
this time”.
He hopes his images from Celtic legend -
including the Flaming Door, Sacred Pre-
sence, Rebirth, the Goddess and many others
- will “awake the inner spirit in each of us,
helping to heal wounds deep within”. In the
words of the foreword by Sir George
Trevelyan, he has “done a remarkable and
wonderful thing in presenting Celtic Art to us
in this manner. It is just what is needed at this
time. So many of us are fascinated by the
mystery of these twisting forms, but need
some lead to help us to understand and
appreciate them. The mystery of the Celtic
myths is stirring and so many feel drawn to
understand its deeper meaning. Courtney has
surely made a beautiful contribution to our
understanding.”
The Art of Celtia is an intriguing book, and
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compared Prague to a “rich, vast poem of
illustrator’s mastery of such an ancient art.
sw
VISIONS OF THE
MODERN
JOHN GOLDING
THAMES L HUDSON r 2 8
368 PP. 38 MONO I W S
ISBN 0-5002-3674-7
THERE IS ALWAYS much to be said for
volumes that bring together assorted and
hard-to-find essays, reviews and lectures by
major art historians. John Golding will need
no introduction to anyone interested in the
history of cubism, and among the many fine
inclusions in this volume are his valuable
essay on Picasso and surrealism first pub-
lished in book form in 1973, his talk on
Guillaume Apollinaire given in 1962, his long
and somewhat inconclusive study of Duch-
amp’s Large Glass which appeared in the
much-missed Penguin ‘Artin Context’ series
in 1973, and his reviews of important Picasso,
Matisse and futurist exhibitions. One or two
of the contributions creak a bit, especially the
review of various books on Brancusi, which is
far less authoritative than its author possibly
hoped - I would have left that piece to rest
quietly in obscurity - but in the main there are
so many superb things here that the occa-
sional weakness can easily be excused.
Invaluable.
ES
PRAGUE HIDDEN - WORKS ON PAPER 1914-1920
SPLENDOURS
MARKETATHEINHARDTAND PASCALVAREJKA
FLAMMARION €20
128 PRlOO COL ILLUS
ISBN 2-0801-35544
THEAUTHORS of this book, Marketa Thein-
hardt and Pascal Varejka, are natives of
Prague, and via its pages guide us through
500 years of the interior architecture of their
city.
The poet Rainer Maria Rike once
Country
THE ART BOOK
and watercolour drawings, the sculptural
architecture”. The Czech capital‘s magic
atmosphere has been retained for longer
than other cities, due to a series of historical
accidents. The loss of Bohemia’s political
independence, and the transfer of its govern-
ment to Vienna in the seventeenth century,
relegated Prague to the position of a provin-
cial city during two centuries of Hapsburg
rule. In the twentieth century, economic
growth was completely stifled during the
Nazi occupation and recent Communist rule.
The result is a harmony of stone houses and
palaces with patterns of winding streets which
lie relatively undisturbed in spite of being
situated in the heart of Europe and at the
crossroads of a remarkably diverse range of
cultural, religious, artistic and political forces.
Behind the fabulous faqade of this city is
another facet waiting to be discovered; the
interior architecture, revealed here through
the beautiful photographs of Pave1 Stecha.
Magnificent chambers, libraries, churches and
private residences, many of which are not open
to the public, are shown in luxurious colour
and accompanied by short informative texts.
A visitor’s guide to the buildings and
monuments is also included with addresses,
historical data and other useful information.
This book is visually a great pleasure, but at
E20 it should be considered a coffee-table
volume.
sw
ALEXANDER
RODCHENKO
ALEXANDER RODCHENKO
INTRODUCTION BY LORDQOWWE
=SAYS BY DAWD ELLIOlTANDAIEXANDER
LAVRENnEV
s o ~ n e ~ yr i~a 5s i ~
212 PR
ISBN 0-8566-7418-4
A DELUXE EDITION of a collection of 82 fine
drawings, watercolours and gouaches as-
sembled by the artist. It includes the costume
designs for Oscar Wilde’s The Duchess of
Padua, Rodchenko’s first objective pen, ink
I enclose a chequelmoney order for E
payable to The Art Book
Please debit my MastercarcWisdAmex Card No:
Expires I Signature:
lighting fixtures for the Moscow Cafk
Pittoresque, studies for paintings, architectur-
al designs and line drawings. Besides ‘Notes
from Rodchenkow’s Journal” and ‘A Chron-
ology”, David Elliott’s “An account rendered”
is a well-wrought historical discussion of the
works on paper in the context of Rodchenko’s
artistic career. It is complemented by Alex-
ander Lavrentiev’s ‘I Choose to See Usual
Objects in an Unusual Way”, focusing on the
artist’s creative process. Reduced to E25.
PR
SOUNDINGS -
CROSS-CHANNEL
PHOTOGRAPHIC
MISSION
CCPMIUIND HUMWRIES €14.95
108 PR 50 COL160 MONO I U U S
ISBN 0-9517-4275-2
SINCE1987 the Cross-Channel Photographic
Mission (CCPM), a major photographic
initiative supported by South East Arts
Board, Kent County Council and East
Sussex County Council, has been commis-
sioning photographs to look at cultural, social
and environmental changes which have been
brought about, or had attention focused on
them, by the advent of the Channel Tunnel
and the accelerating process of European
Union.
Soundings, published to coincide with the
formal opening of the Channel Tunnel,
brings together a selection of this work
compiled between 1989-1 994 which offers
different perspectives on a changing society
and different approaches to photography.
‘Exhibitions from three of the CCPM
commissions included in the book by Peter
Kennard, Karen Knorr and Paul Trevor are
being exhibited at the Royal Festival Hall,
London during May, June and into July
under the generic title of “Brittania”.
MK
N.B. This book will be rariewed at length in the
new photographic section in the September issue.
VOLUME 1 N O 3 29