Present day art lovers have a] deep. regard' for. the arts. and crafts of ancient China. We continually observing fresh evidence greatly increasing interest thie' fareinnting subject, Within the last few years, when so many fetonishingly beautiful early pieces have. been discovered, culated People in every walk of life have Ruddenly' realized' that the-art Ghina was by no means confined to charming Wang "iis" vases and Siuaint coloured prints, Chinese art Fepresents far wider Range of desthetie. experience than is, re-Trevented by these. It is one of the Erentert and. most richly. varied Facial arts. inthe "world. Con-these have been added a very valuable bibliography and tables of dynasties, pronunciations, marks by which the work of various periods may be identified, and several fine maps with places famous in the Listory of the arts specially marked These illustrate the boundaries, place names, etc, during the great liered ether from the. point of view of form of as expressive of 1 highly personal attitude to life stands second to none in modern Yet the thousands of western people who admire Chinese works of Brt have hitherto been ill supplied with the material for study and ap-Dreciation such as is available to Htudents of the arts of other ages and peoples. Innumerable large and elaborate books, most of them Nery costly, ured, each separate. att. oF craft, and often coufned to a very Himited' period. Nearly all these Books are designed for the specialist, fand their subjects 40 treated Sender them of small "service. to Tenders who are not teamed Orlentatists. Such readers. neither can afford the extremely high Prices rometines charged for these Works, mor the necessary Teisure to Fed them. Why. a. really. frst cass Introduction to Chinese art has not hitherto" appeared. it "is Aiticult t0 say The need has now been met by publication of a delightful volume "Chinese. art, an. introductory review of Painting, Ceramics, exiles, Bronzes, "Sculpture, Jade, ete, being. one of the Burlington Magazine Monographs. Needless say, the work is a handsome one, beautifully produced and Hlusteated, ana ite pric, 25/ is' marvel of cheapness, eipeciaily remember the high prices at present ruling 1 the publishing. world, and frequent: Jy for works of comparatively small Intrinsle interest. "Here, however, volume which should. be source of "endless interest as. it Certainly is one of great educational ful arti vale.
Bernard Rackham, Laurence Binyorr The contributors, Roger Fry,
W. Percival Yetts, A, F. Kendviek Gsvald Sirén and W. W. Winkworth, fre all experts in their several sub? Jeets, and these they present in a wannet which cannot but make strong' appeal to the amateur d: Teetor and student, In" brief, Inc teresting articles they sketch) the lain tentures of Chinese art history direct the ender to the. most Sitnificant types of Chinese crafts: Ianship. They cannot have had more dificult task than that of a tempting to suthmarize so large and complicated "a subject "as Chinese aut, But they have succeeded. well in "presenting just those elements of the subject which an introductory treatise should. possess "and. these well-known. writers will be. found efficient no less than interesting guides. Mr. Roger. Fry con. tributes an attractive preface which he discusses the relationship the art of China to the art of the world, and this i. followed by chapters on each of the atte. To the biscuit within and periods and the names and posi altogether The illustrations, of wh we give example the book. There are 150 of them, in'eolour and monotone, and are all without exe: ption beautiful examples the arts they so worthily repre sent.
By way of further introduet to this admirable work, we give the following. tntereating quettions from various chapters The Philosophy of Chinese Art hinese art tremely accessible to the European sensibility, 1f one approaches in the same miood. of attentive passivity which we cultivate before an Tal Inasterpiece of the Renaissance, oF Gothic or Rémanesque sculpture.
man peed not be Sinologist. to Sndvrstand the aesthetic appeal of a Chinese statue, It may represent Tome outlandish divinity, but it is expressed according Ca certain principles of design sand by means of 8 definite rhythm. And it 20 happens that both the principles of Chinese design and mature of thet rhythms are not half s0. unfamilie: to' the European eye as Chinere musical rhythms. are to our. ears, (On the contrary, they are so similar that T could point to certain, much beloved European artists, who. are nearer in this respect to the Chinese than they ave to certain other great European artists, Chinese art nothing like so dificult of access as Hindu art. It has, to begin, with, colour schemes that are pre-eminent ly harmonious to the European eye; has the same general notions logical and. clear ce-ordination. tie parts within the wholes ala similar equilibrium and it doe hot allow the elaboration of detail destroy. the general "structure; whereas in much Hinda art and in "ome of the art of the Near Cost From "Chinese Art
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.