INKS: CARTOON AND COMIC ART STUDIES, Vol. 1, No. 1 by Lucy CaswellReview by: Raymond W. SmithArt Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 13, No. 3(Fall 1994), pp. 154-155Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27948674 .

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154 Art Documentation, Fall 1994

The black-and-white and color photos used by Rose, including details, provide the reader of this volume with a sense of the scale, texture, and color of Abakanowicz's oeuvre.

According to Rose, Abakanowicz's art is neither consciously

political nor didactic; yet individuals?depending upon their own

experiences?who have seen her piece Bach have interpreted the work to depict victims of the Holocaust or Hiroshima. Actu

ally, she was influenced, in her conception of the piece, by im

ages of Russian soldiers she saw sleeping in the Prague train station in 1968. Such is the universality of her work that she

responds "yes" when asked if the works symbolized particular human suffering, because she feels her art is about general prob lems of mankind.

According to Rose, the uniqueness of Abakanowicz's vision is due to her isolation from the sophisticated mainstream art mar

ket, which allowed her to discover art through nature. Rose has

not defined Abakanowicz's art according to any school or art

historical scholarly approach, but instead she has woven together Abakanowicz's personal experiences and unique vision in this

monograph. Lists of shows, exhibitions, and a selected bibliogra phy of articles and exhibition catalogues from around the world are included in this well-bound Abrams publication, and reflect the international interest of this productive artist. No footnotes or index are present.

Peggy Keeran

University of Denver

8-BIT ALBERS INTERACTION OF COLOR / Josef Albers. Interactive CD ROM edition, version 1 for Macintosh computers. New Haven:

Yale University Press, March 1994. 1 CD-ROM disc, 1 floppy, & a user's guide. ISBN 0-300-05995-7: $125.00.

There is no question that the original print version of Interac tion of Color is a classic in the field of color studies. There is also no question that for artists and art students working on a com

puter many principles of color are purely theoretical because the

computer screen is generally not able to display colors as viewed on the printed page or the painted canvas. This has as much to do with the mode of display?RGB (red, green, blue) for the

computer and CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) for most

printed color?as it does with the fact that computer color has

light shining through it. A digital version of Albers's title opens up the world of systematic color exploration for the digital artist in a way the paper version never could.

The package includes the complete text, plates, and notes of

the original on CD-ROM; an installation disk; and a User's Guide.

System requirements are a color monitor, System 7.x, and a CD

ROM drive. The software includes tools for navigating through the chapters, displaying the plates, and changing the colors of the objects in each plate to explore color relationships. Once learned, the system is simple and fun to use as well as being educational.

And therein lies the problem. The system is not easy to learn without thoroughly reading the User's Guide. Although the con

cept behind publishing Interaction of Color on CD-ROM is bril liant, the interface needs more work before this program will be as naturally usable as the print version. The major problem is the "controller" window that is displayed as the navigational tool. Its icons are not intuitive, and experienced Mac users could not

decode them even with experimentation. Also, if the user only navigates by the controller, the menus that make it possible to

modify the images never appear. Much more useful is the map, which is hidden under the File menu. If the program designers

had used this as the primary navigational tool, most of the inter face problems of this program would be eliminated.

Another problem is that there is only one window for text and illustrations. If one is reading the text and clicks on the icon for the appropriate illustration, the text window closes. When re

turning to the text, the program does not recognize the point at

which it was interrupted and returns, instead, to the beginning of the chapter. Separate windows for text and illustrations would eliminate this annoyance and make the program easier to use.

It should be noted that the colors of the illustrations do not (and cannot) match the colors of the printed plates?they match

only as well as the standard Mac system palette can accommo

date. I did not find this a problem because the meaning behind the lessons still applies. Those who are new to computer color

will find this a good tool for learning about color relationships and restrictions (of an 8-bit video card) in a digital world.

As for library applicability, this is a useful title in libraries that serve digital artists or any one interested in color theory. Making it available to the public, however, will require some preparation or continuing staff time if users are not the type to read manuals.

I would not circulate this title, because it would also require circulating the software. Our library is not sufficiently staffed to check for viruses or modifications made to returned floppies, and the CD-ROM is not usable without the disk. If, however, the CD were self-running (as some titles are) this would be a perfect candidate for home or studio use.

Susan Jurist University of California, San Diego

ISSUE ORIENTED INKS: CARTOON AND COMIC ART STUDIES, Vol. 1, No. 1, February 1994 / Edited by Lucy Caswell.?Columbus, OH: Ohio State University?ISSN 1071-9156?3x yr; $20/yr for individ uals, $35/yr. for institutions, foreign add $4.00.

The first issue of INKS, a scholarly journal devoted to the

study of the cartoon as art form and as cultural artifact, includes

three articles, three book reviews, an exhibition review, a short

bibliography on ethnicity and cartoon art, and a descriptive arti cle on the Ohio State University Cartoon, Graphic, and Pho

tographic Arts Research Library. Robert Harvey's essay on Bud Fisher and his pioneering comic

strip "A Mutt" (which evolved into "Mutt and Jeff) is well re

searched and informative. It makes a case for its being the first

successful daily strip and a major influence on the evolution of the genre. Harvey has drawn on a number of sources, including Fisher's reminiscences, secondary material, and the original strip as it appeared in the sports pages of the San Francisco news

papers of the period. The article represents the kind of original scholarship, combined with artistic assessment and historical eval

uation, that should be the hallmark of this new journal. Oliver

Harrington's "View from the Back Stairs" is an autobiographical memoir of his development as an African-American cartoonist in an essentially closed society. A collection of Harrington's "Boot

sie" cartoons (four of which are reproduced), published in 1958, was the first by an African-American cartoonist to focus on that

culture, though the series is not mentioned in the reminiscences. The editor's note provides tantalizing biographical information, which makes one wish Harrington had been encouraged to go further than his high school years in this nevertheless interesting memoir. Lucy Rollins's "Guilt and the Unconscious in Arhham

Asylum' attempts a psychoanalytical interpretation of David McKearis recent Batman "graphic novel." Since the author em

phasizes McKean's use of color and collage, the somewhat muddy black-and-white reproductions are insufficient. For the uniniti

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Art Documentation, Fall 1994 155

ated, the article provides no background on the artist or refer ence to other Batman publications, while its claims for com

parison to Joyce and Breughel seem overstated. Judging from the illustrations as well as from my examination of the book, I think the novel deserves further scrutiny, but needs to be placed in more of an historical context.

Of the book reviews, Joseph Witek's review of Scott McCloud's

Understanding Comics is useful for those considering comics as a

genre worthy of academic study. Witek discusses his experience with developing core texts for a course he developed on Comics and/as Literature, and his comments on the usefulness of

McCloud and other texts (notably Will Eisner's Comics and Se

quential Art) are insightful. The other two reviews are more de

scriptive than critical. A review of a book of cartoons on Senator

Margaret Chase Smith seems to have overlooked its distinctive ness as the first to focus on an American woman politician and

offers no comment on the fact that "a significant portion of the cartoonists' (all male, of course) attention to MCS was primarily by reason of her gender." A feminist slant on the book might have provided more of an overview. An exhibition review of cartoonists from The New Yorker dwells on the lack of cooperation from the magazine, without noting that other exhibitions using the magazine's name have not incurred threats of a lawsuit. More comments on the exhibition, or at least some explanation of The

New Yorkers stance, would have been in order.

The bibliography on "Ethnicity and Cartoon Art" is a disap pointment. A number of well-known books on American car

toons, which treat the subject peripherally if at all, are included, without page references. Since the bibliography is unannotated, one can only guess the topic of such articles as "Chasing Rain bows," from the Sacramento Bee, or "Comic Being Offered," from

Editor and Publisher. Such titles take up about half of the 87-item

bibliography. The important Cartoons Magazine, from the teens, and other early humor magazines have apparently not been scanned, though 10 articles by David Astor, all published in Edi tor and Publisher, are cited. The bibliography lacks depth and balance and requires annotation.

This first issue of INKS presents a broad spectrum of cartoon and comic art studies in an attractive format?similar to Art

Documentation in size and paper quality. Although most periodi cals devoted to the subject (such as Cartoonist Profiles) have ap pealed to the enthusiast and amateur, INKS seeks a more

scholarly audience. The articles are readable and interesting enough to appeal to the general public, while schools with American Studies and Popular Culture programs should wel come this journal. In addition to book review and exhibition review sections, a listing of new publications and current or

forthcoming exhibitions would be useful.

Raymond W. Smith New Haven, Connecticut

I =] BEYOND FINGERPAINTING SCHOOL ART IN AMERICAN CULTURE, 1820-1970 / Foster

Wygant.?Cincinnati, OH: Interwood Press, 1993?240 p.: ill ISBN 0-9610376-1-X; LC 93-077475: $23.85 (pa).

School Art in American Culture, 1820-1970, is a comprehensive history of art in America's public schools, from the early 19th

century, when education was beginning to take a foothold, to the 1970s, when art was established in most schools across the coun

try. Of significance are the references to artists and art move ments of each time period and how they affect art education. Each of the six chapters deals with art education and its correla tion with social and cultural conditions, visual arts, conditions in

general education in America, and curricula of that time period. The external stimuli of the times?such as the Depression and World Wars and their effects on art education?are identified. Each chapter also presents discussion of art movements, tech

nological advances, federal influences, and research of leading educators.

The development of the media has been well researched, from

the beginning tools of drawing and ink wash in the 19th century to the diversity of the 1960s, i.e., drawing and painting, print

making, photography, sculpture, design, ceramics, and crafts. Of particular interest is the development of art-supply companies, such as Prang, who developed products that contributed to the expansion of art in the classroom. Similarly, 19th-century pub lications by art educators were the forerunners of our textbooks and curriculum guides written by Pestalozzi, Francoeur, and Peal. Art educators, including Dewey, Lowenfeld, Barkin, and Eisner are discussed and their contributions chronicled. The study ends with the formulation of discipline-based art education; however, the term itself is not specified in the text. The emergence of art agencies, such as NAAE to NAEA, and

periodicals, such as School Arts, gave art educators a voice and are

cited here. A good number of the black-and-white illustrations that are reprinted from School Arts come from new ideas and new

technologies of the time period. The book contains an ex

cellent selection of inserts from manuals used in the 19th cen tury, when art was taught primarily to help students become draftsmen.

College students preparing to become art teachers will find this singular survey to be straightforward and factual. Recom

mended for library collections at colleges and universities with education departments.

Ross Bryant Anderson (South Carolina) School District 5

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED (Subject to Later Review)

REFERENCE Art & Design Documentation in the UK and Ireland: A Directory of Resources I Compiled

and edited by Gillian Varley.?Bromsgrove, England: ARLIS/UK & Ireland, 1993.?247 p.?ISBN 0-9519674-2-8: ?50.

Faberg? and His Works: An Annotated Bibliography I Christel L. McCanless.? Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, January 1994.?408 p.: ill.?ISBN 0-8108-2836-7; LC 93-46653: $49.50.

Feminist Art Criticism: An Annotated Bibliography I Cassandra Langer.?(Reference Publications in Art History)?New York, NY: G. K. Hall, 1994.?291 p.?ISBN 0-8161-8948-X (cl., alk. paper); LC 93-822: $55.00.

Georges Braque: A Bio-Bibliography I Russell T. Clement?(Bio-Bibliographies in Art and Architecture, Number 3}?Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, March 1994.? 256 p.?ISBN 0-313-29235-3 (cl., alk. paper); LC 93-45310: $69.50.

Les Sculptures, I: Le Mus?e I Simone Hoog.?Paris, France: Mus?e National du Ch? teau de Versailles, 1993.?464 p.: ill.?ISBN 2-7118-2743-7: 680 franc.

Papercutting: An International Bibliography and Selected Guide to U.S. Collections I Martha Kreisel.?Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, April 1994.?277 p.? ISBN 0-8108-2856-1; LC 94-2516: $35.00.

Spanish Artists from the Fourth to the Twentieth Century: A Critical Dictionary, 3 vol. / Frick Art Reference Library.?New York, NY: G. K. Hall, 1994.?est. 2700 p.? ISBN 08161-0614-2; $420.00.

World Directory of Moving Image and Sound Archives I Compiled and edited by Wolf gang Klaue.?(Film, Television, Sound Archive; vol. 5)?New Providence, NJ: K. G. Saur/Reed Reference Publishing, 1993.?192 p.?ISBN 3-598-22594-6 (cl., alk. paper): $90.00.

SERIALS

De?gn and Art Direction, 1993 I The Designers and Art Directors Association of the United Kingdom.?New York, NY: Rizzoli, 1994.?ISBN 0-8478-5754-9.? Annual: n. p.

Leonardo: Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sdences and Technology, Vol. 26, No. 1-5, 1993 / Edited by Roger F. Malina.?Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.?ISSN 0024-094X-5x/yr. with companion volume Leonardo Music Journal; $65.00 (indi viduals), $320.00 (institutions), $45.00 (students and retired), $25.00 (electronic version via the Internet).

GENERAL WORKS & THEORY

Angeh: Messengers of the Gods I Peter Lamborn Wilson.?(Art and Imagination)? New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, dist. by W. W. Norton, June 1994.?96 p.: ill.?ISBN 0-500-81044-3; LC 93-61374: $15.95 (pa.).

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