No comments about Seeing Beyond the Word: Visual Arts and the Calvinist Tradition.

No comments about Madonna: Sacred Art and Holy Music.

3 comments about Art of Our Own.

1. As an artist, I found An Art of Our Own to be a truly great book by an inspiring, deeply informed writer! If you're serious about learning the fundamental purpose of genuine abstraction, pay no attention to the ridiculous and shallow review from the Library Journal. The quality or value of writing, scholarship and art is subjective, which should be an obvious fact.
   
   Consider this: regarding the great pioneers of early abstraction (Kandinsky, Mondrian, Malevich etc), the "private symbolism" referred to by the Lirbary Journal critic is far from being a merely personal thing, but rather springs from the collective unconscious and is in truth the foundation of all things Universal. As established by Frazer (The Golden Bough), Campbell (Hero With a Thousand Faces) and David Fideler (Jesus Christ, Sun of God), we have common instincts, desires, motivations and beliefs that can and are expressed through symbolism or metaphors.
   
   How these universal ideas and feelings came to be expressed succinctly through the evolution of painting and abstraction is masterfully documented by Lipsey and establishes the initial impetus for modern art. This is essential knowledge for artists interested in learning the traditions from which abstraction transformed representational images and gave birth to an art of our own, as opposed to forms dictated by church, state or the marketplace.



2. I picked up this wonderful book after seeing a recommendation in Arthur Danto's column, which noted that Lipsey is one of the few writers who can address the spiritual in modern art in a clear-cut way. I couldn't agree more. If more writers and critics had this facility perhaps the contempory artists whose work is most enriching (Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Astrid Colomar, etc.) would be properly viewed those who are most related to the origiginal pioneers of modern painting. As Lipsey demonstrates, the primary impetus for these pioneers was metaphysiscal rather than formalist. Were it not for Lipsey and precious few others, this crucial element of the history of modern painting would be all but lost in the vast majority of contemporary scholarship.



3. Lipsey describes the social and political scene that surrounded each of the major styles in art that have emerged in the twentieth century and describes the art forms and thinking of many of the well-known artists within each movement--Cezanne's relentless pursuit of the essence of nature, Kandinsky's definitions of the spiritual quality of color and form, the poetry of structure in Cubism, Dada and Duchamp in reaction to World War I, the Russian Avant- Garde and Malevich's Suprematism as integral to the Revolution of 1917, and the domination of abstract art after World War II. Lipsey's theme is that "Twentieth century art embodied a stronger and wiser spirituality than we have fully acknowledged," and his choice of artists is governed not by the degree of their fame, but by the degree to which they succeeded in embodying a contemporary spirituality. Modern art is a statement of philosophy that differs from previous eras, Lipsey posits, in part because "t! wentieth-century artists have for the most part worked individually and without formal adherence to religious or spiritual traditions." Lipsey's careful and thoughtful exploration of the spiritual in twentieth-century art has enormously enlarged this reader's ability to see abstract art and benefit from the experience.

No comments about Path, Portal, Path: Architecture for the Rites: Meeting House Essay #10 (Meeting House Essays, No. 10).

3 comments about Chinese Symbolism & Art Motifs.

1. "Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs" by C.A.S. Williams is listed as a "third edition" and dated 1989 (Tuttle paperback) and 2000 (Castle Books hardcover, apparently with a "new" introduction by Terence Barrow which seems to have been included in a Tuttle edition in the 1970s). This suggests that it is a fairly recent book. In fact these editions reproduce the 1941 Shanghai edition of a book published in 1931 in Peking (now officially romanized as Beijing), as "Outlines of Chinese Symbolism," and previously revised in 1932.
   
   The full title of Williams' final version was "Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives: an alphabetical compendium of antique legends and beliefs, as reflected in the manners and customs of the Chinese." Dover Publications issued it as "Outlines of Chinese and Art Motives" (note the old-fashioned spelling) in 1976 (with correction of "obvious printing errors"); under which title I have also reviewed it. There have been other editions available as well, from a variety of publishers, some of which have slightly varying titles, such as "Encyclopedia of Chinese symbolism and art motives." (The Tuttle paperback seems the only one listed by Amazon to get personal, identifying Williams as Charles Alfred Speed instead of sticking with initials, so C.A.S. Williams is the name to search under.)
   
   With 401 illustrations (including color plates on the inside covers, jacket flaps, or elsewhere, depending on the edition), it is an extremely attractive volume, packed with information, and reasonably well arranged. Williams' compendium looks like everything an ordinary curious reader could want; and I have found nothing quite comparable to it, at least in English, although there are now excellent studies of particular symbols and concepts. (Wolfram Eberhard's "Dictionary of Chinese Symbols" has a different focus, with different strengths and weaknesses.) It is still cited in reputable works by professional Sinologists, along with Williams' "Manual of Chinese Metaphor" (1920).
   
   It should, however, be used with caution; a useful resource to someone with the necessary background can be a snare for the rest of us. Described by Dover as the "work of a scholarly English resident of China," it does not seem to reflect professional skills as a Sinologist, and frequently reports information at second or third hand, some of it already antiquated in 1921. Williams' own observations are interesting, but largely restricted to North China, mainly Peking and its vicinity (to Williams, very properly for the time, Peiping), and various Western enclaves on the coast. It is to Williams' credit, however, that he at least tries to include some Chinese popular culture, rather than just the idealized official versions. It is a reflection of the time that he actually rather apologizes for including Buddhist (therefore "foreign") and Taoist (to the elite as well as the missionaries, "superstitious") as well as Confucian symbols and concepts.
   
   Those who have read much about China will soon notice that the transliterations are inconsistent, and sometimes very odd, at times corresponding to no system that is readily apparent. This is particularly common in Williams' quotations from his sources. I suspect that a mixture of the use of spoken vernaculars and "classical" pronunciation in those sources, alongside differing transliteration systems themselves, is responsible; Williams doesn't seem to have made a clear statement of his approach to this problem (or I missed it). Apparently he used the Wade-Giles himself, but didn't try to impose it on quotations. In a world of books then already littered with German, French, Dutch, English, and other systems for alphabetical renderings of Chinese, and now with the continuing use of the old Wade-Giles system alongside the "official" Pinyin, both with variants, this is a real nuisance, although usually not more than that. (It would be nice if, in some future edition, a qualified person supplied current Romanized renderings for the Chinese characters; and possibly the modern, simplified form; but it doesn't seem likely. Everyone seems to prefer reproducing the old book as-is.)
   
   More serious is Williams' sometimes free-and-easy use of materials without, apparently, checking their ultimate origin, so that his impressive citations can't always be taken at face value. (In addition, his references to nineteenth-century academic journals are of little practical help today, although inevitable when the book was first published.) In one extreme case, the result is rather amusing. Williams mentions that the standard version of the "Willow Pattern" design on porcelain was invented in England in the eighteenth century, and copied for the foreign market by Chinese manufacturers. But he then reproduces a long, romantic, story explaining it, without making it quite clear that the story is also a Western concoction, containing only a few Chinese elements, which he does identify. This leaves the impression that it is, at whatever remove, and however freely, translated from a Chinese source. Robert H. van Gulik, diplomat, scholar, and novelist, later incorporated the main points of the tale into his Judge Dee mystery, "The Willow Pattern," explaining the situation in a Postscript, which cites Williams as a readily available source for the story. The Chinese translation of his novel, he pointed out, would introduce the supposedly Chinese story to the Chinese language....
   
   Wherever there is overlap in coverage, I try to check Williams against Wolfram Eberhard's "A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols" (referred to earlier), which, among its other merits, often mentions whether a particular concept is common Chinese, regional, local, or associated mainly with minority cultures; an issue often ignored by Williams and his sources, including missionaries and merchants who took the groups they were working with as perfect representatives of Chinese culture. Of course, the same problem was found among serious scholars, who often described everything about the better-educated Chinese they came in contact with as "typical" until told that it wasn't; and tended to regard it at as in any case more genuine than the beliefs of the vast majority of Chinese. Williams' industry was admirable; one wishes the product of it had gone through further revision.



2. There ~are~ reasons to commend this book, like the bountiful illustrations, the charts showing the evolution of Chinese characters, etc. What I fault is that at many points the author departs from accuracy and injects over-Europeanized interpretations of Chinese mythology and symbols (for instance, characterizing Tibetan Lamas as "devil-worshippers" and calling the Chinese place of the dead and its god, "Hades" - repeatedly). To be truthful, some of the illustrations are so poorly drawn that you cannot really make out what they are. The text is easy to read and the topics covered numerous. I would use this book with caution, however, checking Williams' interpretations against other, more recent sources. For the record, I am giving this book a two because the only other reviewer to write about it gave it a five and that is far too high for it. I think this should yield an average of three, which is about right for this book.



3. This book is an A-Z listing of hundreds of Chinese names and symbols, with a brief explanation of the items relevance and importance in Chinese culture and history. Want to know the symbolism behind a bat, or a peach, or a mandarin duck, or other more abstract concepts, this book is for you. A very valuable reference tool for those interested in things Chinese.

No comments about Egypt, Dynasty Xxii-Xxv (Iconography of Religions Section XVI) (Iconography of Religions Section XVI).

No comments about The retablo of the cathedral of Ciudad Rodrigo,: From the Samuel H. Kress Collections at the University of Arizona.

5 comments about In a Spiritual Style: The Home As Sanctuary.

1. An inspirational book that can help make your home a more peaceful place to live, work, and meditate in. I enjoyed looking at the photos and reading the text. I would ceretainly recommend buying a copy.



2. This is one of my favorite books to look through. There are so many full color photographs of different altars and sacred spaces. I get so many ideas from this book. Its one of those books that you just pick up now and again for inspiriation. The author truly has the creative spark. My favorite are the photographs of the authors santeria shrines. The Orisha must be pleased with what the author has created for them. Ashe to Laura Cerwinske!



3. As you browse throught this book you will feel inspired in many ways; you will be inspired spiritually of course but also at looking at the world in a different way. In this book the differences between religions are erased, the belief in ancient dieties mesh with contemporary reflections of Jesus, Buddah, Hindu Shiva and Shakti figures, African fetish figures or sculptures are intermingled with Burmese textiles and Mexican altars , complete with crosses adorned with milagros are juxtaposed on other pages with devil wood carvings and images of death in the form of calaveras (skeletons). There is even a section on Santeria altars where the text explains the origins of the religion as coming with the slaves from Yoruba to Cuba and spreading throughout the Caribbean. The book is organized with a text and accompanying pictures of the history of sacred design and the meaning of santuary. If you look at the table of contents you will see that the author explores gardens, rooms and shrines, altars , art and artifacts. The text is less than spellbinding but the pictures are magnificent. The author takes you into several artists homes and naturally they are some of the most spectacular. If you are into wood work from New Mexico than you are in for a real treat. There is nearly a two page spread of renowned santero Ramon Jose Lopez bedroom that shows his "chapel" where he sleeps. The bed has six panels, featuring various saints, a room divider with more hand carved panels of saints, many styles of crosses, including an altar made of wood in form of a pyramid where each level is lit by candle light and colorful retablos. It is a sight to behold and helps explain the inspired beautiful work by Lopez. In general this is a book that opens up the possibilities for creativiy to flow and create your own santuary. Having a mini altar myself that continues to grow and having seen some impressive homes where sacred places exist , this book helps to borrow ideas from or develop some new ideas. The gardens featured range from simple, rustic places to elaborate arts of work complete with sculptural panels and life sized sculptures looking as though they are dancing in the garden in their inanimate state. The colorful pictures seem to reveal something new each time you look at the book, it as though the spirits reveal themselves when the time is right. A fine book for browsing after taking a break from the task at hand, this book will inspire you and elevate your senses as you look to the heavens and give thanks for all the beauty around you.



4. I found this book inspiring. Many different icons and symbolizations are represented from various sects of religion so I believe it has broad appeal. I witnessed glorious worlds beyond my own which to me is the very essence of opening a book in the first place. The photographs are lovely and each time through I have noticed something different in detail from the time before. Serenity flows from the pages.

   We were inspired by another book, Holy Personal by Laura Chester, and built a 10' x 12' meditation room in our back garden. In A Spiritual Style has only affirmed our desire to transform our interior living spaces into sacred, meaningful places of comfort and self-expression for our family as well.




5. Beautiful to browse through, but steeped in a sort of spiritual narcissism which I found distasteful. The writing is disjointed and overall, the book poorly organized. A disappointment.

1 comments about Dictionary of Christian Art.

1. As a church architect, liturgical consultant and church geek, I love this book. I keep it at my desk, so that when I need to know, "How has the transfiguration traditionally been represented in Christian art?" or "What are the traditional Christian associations with violets?" I can look it up quickly, and quickly know enough to be able to do deeper research. Christian art and iconography are becoming a lost language, so that few of us can connect with all the layers of meaning in a piece of art that would have been explicit to earlier generations.
   
   I also find, with the extensive cross references, that I can easily lose track of time browsing in this book. I will start out looking up one entry, then become fascinated by the threads that connect it to other entries, or even just something on the same page that catches my eye.
   
   I wish the illustrations from Medieval, Renaissance and Counter-Reformation art could have been reproduced in color, as many of them are quite beautiful, but again, the point of this book is to give the reader a point of entry: enough information to know where to look for more. As such, the black and white reproductions merely whet the appetite.

1 comments about Angels Calendar (Wall Calendar).

1. the week starts with a Monday instead of the traditional Sunday. I had a calendar like this a few years ago and was confounded for the next 12 months. So I hung it up for the pictures and use another calendar for everything else.