BOOK REVIEWS

Fry (second cousin of Roger Fry), "the Omega was really the most
important aspect of Bloomsbury," and the decorative arts more important than the paintings. Nigel Nicolson refers to "the central seven who
were the ringmasters" in a frightening circus. To some of the children
and grandchildren, like Anne Synge and Cressida Bell, cooks and
servants, in whose company they spent a lot of time, were central to the
Bloomsbury houses and to the children's views of their elders.
Finally, there is nostalgia for and defensiveness about Bloomsbury.
In Angelica Gamett's case, the nostalgia is for the conversation and the
nonmaterialistic values. Hugh Cecil fondly recaJls a period of history in
which "the advantaged side of society. . . . could cultivate their minds
and their friendships." Adam Nicolson refers to a time when "there was
more coherence between the worlds of art and diplomacy and politics
than there is now," a time when "maybe it was easier . . . for a group of
friends who might do various things to actually integrate with each
other." Yet the Group, misunderstood or understood only too well, was
attacked. Rylands charges Bloomsbviry's detractors with "envy and
hostility" and distortion. Quentin Bell thinks the press "did assess some
of the attitudes precisely. But there was great animosity and that was
partly prejudice against them, which we still suffer."
Should one spend $39.95 on this slender book? The photographs are
striking and to some people may be worth the price. As for the text, those
who have anything worth saying about Bloomsbury have all said it,
much better, elsewhere. The rest often reveaJ more about themselves
than about their predecessors. The juxtaposition of these many impressionistic remarks tells us something about the tensions in relationships among the generations, but it does not add much to our knowledge
of the Bloomsbury Group.
^.^^^ p GiUespie
Washington State University

Art Nouveau
Julia King. The Flowering of Art Nouveau Graphics. Salt Lake City:
Peregrine Smith, 1991. 144 pp. 150 illus. $29.95

THE AUTHOR'S primary objective is clearly stated in her introduction:

"This book is intended to be a useful introductory guide, of necessity
concise, to the subject of Art Nouveau graphics...." Indeed appljdng the
word "concise" to the text is something of an understatement given the
range of work that falls into the category of graphic design (essentially
any form of reproduced two-dimensional work on paper which in this
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ELT: VOLtJME 36:2 1992

case primarily consists of poster and book illustration) as well as the

fact that the book's dozen chapters cover eleven different European
countries as well as America. In fact one wonders whether the author's
information might have been more usefully presented in a dictionary
format since most of the material in the chapters consists of abbreviated
artistic biographies of such leading individuals as Aubrey Beardsley,
Toulouse-Lautrec, and Gustave Klimt, as well as numerous lesser
known designers. Each one outlines the artist's dates of activity, professional associations, stylistic influences, techniques and major graphic
contributions.
While such information is undoubtedly useful, the repetitive nature
of the biographical format becomes tedious if one is reading from cover
to cover. The biographies in each chapter are predictably introduced
with a brief historical overview of the country's socio-political and
economic development from circa 1860 to 1910 which is followed by an
equally distilled discussion of the cultural situation in the nineties. By
treating each country in the same fashion, the author is clearly trying
to emphasize that there is a common art nouveau experience or, as she
says, a "fashionable and avant-garde style" which "suited the belle
epoque and was fitting for the newly-rich industrialists who became
munificent patrons and the bourgeoisie who bought smaller objects with
enjoyment." By emphasizing various similjirities such as (1) technique
(here the rise of new printing and reproduction technologies plays an
important role), (2) motifs (typical exeunples would include folk themes
and the femme fatale), and (3) design aesthetics (particularly the stress
on curvilinear lines). King suggests that a corpus of art nouveau work
was produced in major European and North American artistic centres.
While she acknowledges that the "underlying impetus was the same
everywhere but it emerged differently in different places," not enough
attention is paid to the shifting contexts of artistic production and
reception.
One of the most serious drawbacks of the book is its failure to provide
any context (other than the art historical) for vmderstanding these
images amd artists. Styles are characterized as rising and falling according to their own internal laws. King's analysis of the situation in Spain
provides a case in point when she observes that "From 1906 or so the
extraordinary flowering of Modemisme was gradujJly superseded by
Noucentisme, soon to be overtaken in its tum by modem art." Rather
than responding to specific material conditions, artists seem to be
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BOOK REVIEWS

inevitably propelled along a path of predetermined formal innovation.

While some artists are more perceptive than others (King makes numerous evaluative judgments), the specific conditions of their eirtistic
choices remain largely unexamined. Part of the problem is the fact that
anything outside the art world is handled as introductory 'Tjackground"
information rather than being integrated into the analysis of specific
images. Instead the images remain locked into the framework of artistic
biography. A further complication is raised by the fact that the artists
are classified by the country of their birth rather than working life.
Hence Felicien Rops is discussed in the section on Belgium rather than
Prance. While such a strategy might tidily suit the needs of archivists
or librarians, it hinders understanding how artistic communities (often
involving individuals from a wide range of nationalities) actually functioned.
Even the images themselves Eire not analyzed with enough sensitivity
to their particularity. Symptomatic of the problem is the fact that many
of the images reproduced are not discussed in the text while others
described at some length are not illustrated. Furthermore, none of the
images Eire given plate numbers which reduces the book's usefulness as
a reference tool. In fact. King's selection criteria for the illustrations
remains a mystery given that they do not seem to be organized according
to theme, genre, or function. It seems as though the author simply picked
the best available reproductions which were then fitted into the biographies. While one can appreciate the fact that all 150 plates could not be
fully described, a detailed analysis of the more important works (however she chose to define them) could have been followed by further
examples of related tj^es. Given that this book is intended as an
introductory text, readers should have been provided with some sort of
interpretative framework.
If the broad scope of the work creates some obvious drawbacks, it also
allows for some fascinating cross-cultursd comparisons. One of the
common themes that emerges from the various chapters is the importance of a number of key cultural entrepreneurs who seem to have
occupied fairly important positions in "official" mainstream culture.
Such individuals as Siegfried Bing (decorative arts dealer and initiator
of the joumal Le Japon Artistique in France), Adolfo Hohenstein (artistic
director of the publishing house Officine Graphiche Ricordi in Milan),
Talwin Morris (art director of the American periodical Collier's) used
their positions to promote an avant-garde style. Such patterns of re251

Ki.T: VOLUME a'i:2

1992

spectable networking are quite different from the "marginalized" status

of the twentieth-century modernist avant-garde and raise interesting
questions about the nature of the connection between art and industry,
as well as the ways in which arts patronage becomes increasingly
restricted to a rarified social elite. Another issue which emerges is the
importance of imperialist nationalism in the formation of this style. The
relationship between colonialism and the rise of art nouveau clearly
requires further exploration in terms of seeing how the possession of
colonies led to opening new markets, discovering new motifs as well as
generating higher levels of disposable income to support cultural pursuits. Unfortunately, King does not address such tantalizing patterns of
historical detail.
All in all, one can conclude that this study provides a useful stairting
point for more detailed analyses and carefully contextualized studies.
The book might usefully serve as a sourcebook for late nineteenth-centur>' undergraduate courses as well as assisting scholars wishing a quick
reference guide to the subject. As is often the case with graphic design,
the medium has been neglected in comparison to the more prestigious
genres of architectiire ind painting. In this respect, although King's
book offers an important contribution, it is frustrating that she perpetuates the old hierarchy of genres. Almost invariably she discusses the
so-called more important mediums first and then uses this discussion
to set the stage for the treatment of graphic designers. The very ordering
of the text works against understanding the integration of the arts
during the perioda concept which King mentions but fails to convincingly develop. While the reproductions in the book are gorgeous, careless
proof reading results in numerous typographical and grammatical errors. This poor state of production is ironic in light of the book's subject.
B. J. Elliott
University of Alberta
L a w r e n c e Biography, I
John Worthen. D. H. Lawrence: The Early Years, 1885-1912. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1991. xxx + 626 pp. $35.00
MANY YEARS AGO Cambridge University Press conceived a massive
and misguided project. Three English academics, none of whom had ever
written a biography, would each write one-third of a discrete life of
Lawrence, totaling at the end about two thousand pagesabout four or
five times longer than a longish literary life. Though two authors have

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