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Hieronymus Bosch by Charles de Tolnay Review by: F. E. Hyslop, Jr. The Art Bulletin, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec., 1937), p. 604 Published by: College Art Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3045710 . Accessed: 10/06/2014 19:02 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . College Art Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Art Bulletin. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 193.104.110.110 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 19:02:19 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Hieronymus Boschby Charles de Tolnay

Hieronymus Bosch by Charles de TolnayReview by: F. E. Hyslop, Jr.The Art Bulletin, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec., 1937), p. 604Published by: College Art AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3045710 .

Accessed: 10/06/2014 19:02

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

College Art Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The ArtBulletin.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 193.104.110.110 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 19:02:19 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Hieronymus Boschby Charles de Tolnay

THE ART BULLETIN THE ART BULLETIN THE ART BULLETIN

Hokusai started with the usual Japanese conception of space, depth being indicated by placing the farther objects higher on the picture plane than the nearer objects. The size of the objects depended more on their importance as subjects than on their spatial relationships. For the most part his compositional forms were either the "S" or the triangle. Early in his career his insatiable curiosity led Hokusai to attempt European perspective as he had learned it from the Dutch. Finally, shortly before the appearance of the first of his great landscape series, he managed to fuse the two perspectives into harmony.

The treatment of the final chapters on subject matter is likewise scholarly. Here Nagass6 discusses in detail the three kinds of clouds, the several varieties of water, trees, firs, smoke, bridges, the column, and the human being. On the plea of dullness he omits the mountains, rocks, snow, and houses. In the opinion of this reviewer the omission is regrettable, for these are more characteristic than, say, the column. At least, he should have discussed the rocks and the hill shapes, and drawn a comparison between the forms of the waves and the hills.

The above analysis is based almost entirely on Hokusai's landscape prints and makes only a few references to his paintings. Nagasse claims these are too rare, and form too small a group for analysis. Apparently, he is unfamiliar with two exhibition catalogues by E. F. Fenollosa; that of the Tokyo Exhibition of 1900 (published by B. Koba- yashi, 1901) contains several illustrationsof landscapepaint- ings. In addition there are the sales catalogue of The Collection of a Well Known Amateur (London, Sotheby's, March, 1910o), containing illustrations of the unused draw- ings for the Hyakunin Isshu Uba ga etoki series, which reveal the difference between his painting style and the one he used in making drawings for woodcuts, and, F.L. Lowenstein's chapter on Hokusai und sein Kreis in his Die Handzeichnungen der japanischen Holzschnittmeister. However, their absence is not a serious fault for this doc- toral thesis, but one which, on account of the rarity of authentic Hokusai landscape paintings in Europe and America, forms a field for further research by the author in Japan. Nevertheless, their omission here affects his con- clusions. The necessary interposition of the engraver and the printer, admirable as their interpretations are of Hoku- sai's designs and instructions, inevitably diluted Hokusai's real style with unknown elements (Hokusai once com- plained to his publisher that an engraver was cutting his faces in the Utagawa manner) which can only be revealed by an analysis of his landscape paintings. Consequently, as he himself points out, Nagasse's conclusions remain tentative, having validity only for Hokusai's print style rather than for Hokusai the painter. Despite this fault, the book deserves commendation for its excellent illustrations, for its translations from Hokusai's writings, and for its scholarly research and analysis of Hokusai's style in land- scape prints.

JOHN E. MCCALL

HIERONYMUS BosCH. By Charles de Tolnay. 129 pp.; 128 pls. Bale, Les Editions Holbein, 1937. Francs Suisses 80.

Recent interest in the painting of Jerome Bosch has led to a series of publications about his work. M. de Tolnay has gathered together in a single book most of the pertinent material. The short chapters of general discussion develop an interpretation of the painter which is not essentially different from that proposed by the Spaniard Siguenca in I605; they attempt also to establish a chronology on stylis- tic grounds. There are extensive notes, including a few important documents, a useful appendix of sixteenth and seventeenth century literary sources, and a catalogue raisonne of the painter's oeuvre.

Among the sources of Bosch's work Tolnay mentions the earlier paintings done in Bois-le-Duc, prints, such as

Hokusai started with the usual Japanese conception of space, depth being indicated by placing the farther objects higher on the picture plane than the nearer objects. The size of the objects depended more on their importance as subjects than on their spatial relationships. For the most part his compositional forms were either the "S" or the triangle. Early in his career his insatiable curiosity led Hokusai to attempt European perspective as he had learned it from the Dutch. Finally, shortly before the appearance of the first of his great landscape series, he managed to fuse the two perspectives into harmony.

The treatment of the final chapters on subject matter is likewise scholarly. Here Nagass6 discusses in detail the three kinds of clouds, the several varieties of water, trees, firs, smoke, bridges, the column, and the human being. On the plea of dullness he omits the mountains, rocks, snow, and houses. In the opinion of this reviewer the omission is regrettable, for these are more characteristic than, say, the column. At least, he should have discussed the rocks and the hill shapes, and drawn a comparison between the forms of the waves and the hills.

The above analysis is based almost entirely on Hokusai's landscape prints and makes only a few references to his paintings. Nagasse claims these are too rare, and form too small a group for analysis. Apparently, he is unfamiliar with two exhibition catalogues by E. F. Fenollosa; that of the Tokyo Exhibition of 1900 (published by B. Koba- yashi, 1901) contains several illustrationsof landscapepaint- ings. In addition there are the sales catalogue of The Collection of a Well Known Amateur (London, Sotheby's, March, 1910o), containing illustrations of the unused draw- ings for the Hyakunin Isshu Uba ga etoki series, which reveal the difference between his painting style and the one he used in making drawings for woodcuts, and, F.L. Lowenstein's chapter on Hokusai und sein Kreis in his Die Handzeichnungen der japanischen Holzschnittmeister. However, their absence is not a serious fault for this doc- toral thesis, but one which, on account of the rarity of authentic Hokusai landscape paintings in Europe and America, forms a field for further research by the author in Japan. Nevertheless, their omission here affects his con- clusions. The necessary interposition of the engraver and the printer, admirable as their interpretations are of Hoku- sai's designs and instructions, inevitably diluted Hokusai's real style with unknown elements (Hokusai once com- plained to his publisher that an engraver was cutting his faces in the Utagawa manner) which can only be revealed by an analysis of his landscape paintings. Consequently, as he himself points out, Nagasse's conclusions remain tentative, having validity only for Hokusai's print style rather than for Hokusai the painter. Despite this fault, the book deserves commendation for its excellent illustrations, for its translations from Hokusai's writings, and for its scholarly research and analysis of Hokusai's style in land- scape prints.

JOHN E. MCCALL

HIERONYMUS BosCH. By Charles de Tolnay. 129 pp.; 128 pls. Bale, Les Editions Holbein, 1937. Francs Suisses 80.

Recent interest in the painting of Jerome Bosch has led to a series of publications about his work. M. de Tolnay has gathered together in a single book most of the pertinent material. The short chapters of general discussion develop an interpretation of the painter which is not essentially different from that proposed by the Spaniard Siguenca in I605; they attempt also to establish a chronology on stylis- tic grounds. There are extensive notes, including a few important documents, a useful appendix of sixteenth and seventeenth century literary sources, and a catalogue raisonne of the painter's oeuvre.

Among the sources of Bosch's work Tolnay mentions the earlier paintings done in Bois-le-Duc, prints, such as

Hokusai started with the usual Japanese conception of space, depth being indicated by placing the farther objects higher on the picture plane than the nearer objects. The size of the objects depended more on their importance as subjects than on their spatial relationships. For the most part his compositional forms were either the "S" or the triangle. Early in his career his insatiable curiosity led Hokusai to attempt European perspective as he had learned it from the Dutch. Finally, shortly before the appearance of the first of his great landscape series, he managed to fuse the two perspectives into harmony.

The treatment of the final chapters on subject matter is likewise scholarly. Here Nagass6 discusses in detail the three kinds of clouds, the several varieties of water, trees, firs, smoke, bridges, the column, and the human being. On the plea of dullness he omits the mountains, rocks, snow, and houses. In the opinion of this reviewer the omission is regrettable, for these are more characteristic than, say, the column. At least, he should have discussed the rocks and the hill shapes, and drawn a comparison between the forms of the waves and the hills.

The above analysis is based almost entirely on Hokusai's landscape prints and makes only a few references to his paintings. Nagasse claims these are too rare, and form too small a group for analysis. Apparently, he is unfamiliar with two exhibition catalogues by E. F. Fenollosa; that of the Tokyo Exhibition of 1900 (published by B. Koba- yashi, 1901) contains several illustrationsof landscapepaint- ings. In addition there are the sales catalogue of The Collection of a Well Known Amateur (London, Sotheby's, March, 1910o), containing illustrations of the unused draw- ings for the Hyakunin Isshu Uba ga etoki series, which reveal the difference between his painting style and the one he used in making drawings for woodcuts, and, F.L. Lowenstein's chapter on Hokusai und sein Kreis in his Die Handzeichnungen der japanischen Holzschnittmeister. However, their absence is not a serious fault for this doc- toral thesis, but one which, on account of the rarity of authentic Hokusai landscape paintings in Europe and America, forms a field for further research by the author in Japan. Nevertheless, their omission here affects his con- clusions. The necessary interposition of the engraver and the printer, admirable as their interpretations are of Hoku- sai's designs and instructions, inevitably diluted Hokusai's real style with unknown elements (Hokusai once com- plained to his publisher that an engraver was cutting his faces in the Utagawa manner) which can only be revealed by an analysis of his landscape paintings. Consequently, as he himself points out, Nagasse's conclusions remain tentative, having validity only for Hokusai's print style rather than for Hokusai the painter. Despite this fault, the book deserves commendation for its excellent illustrations, for its translations from Hokusai's writings, and for its scholarly research and analysis of Hokusai's style in land- scape prints.

JOHN E. MCCALL

HIERONYMUS BosCH. By Charles de Tolnay. 129 pp.; 128 pls. Bale, Les Editions Holbein, 1937. Francs Suisses 80.

Recent interest in the painting of Jerome Bosch has led to a series of publications about his work. M. de Tolnay has gathered together in a single book most of the pertinent material. The short chapters of general discussion develop an interpretation of the painter which is not essentially different from that proposed by the Spaniard Siguenca in I605; they attempt also to establish a chronology on stylis- tic grounds. There are extensive notes, including a few important documents, a useful appendix of sixteenth and seventeenth century literary sources, and a catalogue raisonne of the painter's oeuvre.

Among the sources of Bosch's work Tolnay mentions the earlier paintings done in Bois-le-Duc, prints, such as

Schongauer's St. John on Patmos, which is the basis of the St. John on Patmos in Berlin; the van Eycks and the so-called Maitre de Flemalle; the writings of van Ruys- broeck; Flemish proverbs, such as The world is a mountain of hay; each one seizes what he can of it, which explains the Hay Wain more clearly than the usual Biblical references do; and the general influence of the independent ideas of the Brothers of the Common Life.

He has something to say also about the iconographic, technical, and psychological contributions made by Bosch to later painting. Brueghel seems to have taken his figure of Carnival directly from Bosch, and the left panel of the Hay Wain may have been in his mind when he painted the Fall of the Rebellious Angels. Tolnay believes that Rubens owes something of the luminosity of his color to the earlier painter. The moral caricature which appears in the Frank- fort Ecce Homo appears again in Daumier and Rouault in their interpretations of the same theme. His influence even makes itself felt in literature, as in Flaubert's Temptation of Saint Anthony. Tolnay regards the Garden of Earthly Lusts as the beginning of Freudian psychoanalysis, which he uses, in turn, to analyze the Flemish painter's work. He speaks of the relation of Bosch-more apparent than real- to contemporary Surrealisme.

Probably there will be less question about Tolnay's inter- pretation of Bosch as an artist who aimed at representing men as they are inwardly than there will be about some of his datings. Sometimes his conception of the painter's evolution seems to be at odds with the actual style, which is supposed to be the basis for dating. Thus the Christ Carrying the Cross, at Ghent, is considered one of the artist's latest and most crowning expressions. But, in spite of the masterly construction of its forms, the relatively opaque and neutral color suggests a somewhat earlier period, as do its tightness and hardness. From a non- stylistic point of view its partially self-defeating savagery of caricature reflects an attitude less than fully mature. The Prodigal Son, in the Boymans Museum at Rotterdam, which is rather different from the Ghent picture stylisti- cally, is placed almost equally late. It is surprising to find the Prado Epiphany placed so much later in time than the early version in Philadelphia, despite the Eyckian and pre- Eyckian elements which made Friedlaender's earlier date seem reasonable. Although it is useless to put too much confidence in stylistic criticism, Tolnay's chronology is for the most part fairly convincing. Nor should there be much disagreement with his choice of genuine works. But so far as the pictures in America are concerned his doubts about the Epiphany, in the Metropolitan Museum, seem to me mistaken, as do those of Hulin de Loo about the Christ Before Pilate, at Princeton.

Tolnay's book, which is a handsome thing in itself, is indispensable for students of Bosch; and it can be recom- mended to everyone who is interested in Flemish painting.

F. E. HYSLOP, JR.

PALMA VECCHIO. By Gyoirgy Gombosi. xxxiii, I44 pp.; 195 ills. Klassiker der Kunst, XXXVIII. Stuttgart and Berlin, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1937. 8vo. RM. 20.

Only a few years after the publication of Spahn's book on Palma, Dr. Gombosi, the young Hungarian art histo- rian, presents us with a new book on the same subject. The book is richly and well illustrated and a worthy addition to the previous volumes of the Klassiker der Kunst series. Gombosi amplifies considerably Miss Spahn's very re- stricted list of authentic pictures. His attempt to recon- struct the master's early period is of special interest. At first sight Palma Vecchio's artistic personality does not appear to present many problems. Most of us, I am sure, have quite a distinct conception of Palma's characteristics. Yet, when we follow the chronology of the pictures as Dr. Gombosi proposes to reconstruct it, we begin to realize

Schongauer's St. John on Patmos, which is the basis of the St. John on Patmos in Berlin; the van Eycks and the so-called Maitre de Flemalle; the writings of van Ruys- broeck; Flemish proverbs, such as The world is a mountain of hay; each one seizes what he can of it, which explains the Hay Wain more clearly than the usual Biblical references do; and the general influence of the independent ideas of the Brothers of the Common Life.

He has something to say also about the iconographic, technical, and psychological contributions made by Bosch to later painting. Brueghel seems to have taken his figure of Carnival directly from Bosch, and the left panel of the Hay Wain may have been in his mind when he painted the Fall of the Rebellious Angels. Tolnay believes that Rubens owes something of the luminosity of his color to the earlier painter. The moral caricature which appears in the Frank- fort Ecce Homo appears again in Daumier and Rouault in their interpretations of the same theme. His influence even makes itself felt in literature, as in Flaubert's Temptation of Saint Anthony. Tolnay regards the Garden of Earthly Lusts as the beginning of Freudian psychoanalysis, which he uses, in turn, to analyze the Flemish painter's work. He speaks of the relation of Bosch-more apparent than real- to contemporary Surrealisme.

Probably there will be less question about Tolnay's inter- pretation of Bosch as an artist who aimed at representing men as they are inwardly than there will be about some of his datings. Sometimes his conception of the painter's evolution seems to be at odds with the actual style, which is supposed to be the basis for dating. Thus the Christ Carrying the Cross, at Ghent, is considered one of the artist's latest and most crowning expressions. But, in spite of the masterly construction of its forms, the relatively opaque and neutral color suggests a somewhat earlier period, as do its tightness and hardness. From a non- stylistic point of view its partially self-defeating savagery of caricature reflects an attitude less than fully mature. The Prodigal Son, in the Boymans Museum at Rotterdam, which is rather different from the Ghent picture stylisti- cally, is placed almost equally late. It is surprising to find the Prado Epiphany placed so much later in time than the early version in Philadelphia, despite the Eyckian and pre- Eyckian elements which made Friedlaender's earlier date seem reasonable. Although it is useless to put too much confidence in stylistic criticism, Tolnay's chronology is for the most part fairly convincing. Nor should there be much disagreement with his choice of genuine works. But so far as the pictures in America are concerned his doubts about the Epiphany, in the Metropolitan Museum, seem to me mistaken, as do those of Hulin de Loo about the Christ Before Pilate, at Princeton.

Tolnay's book, which is a handsome thing in itself, is indispensable for students of Bosch; and it can be recom- mended to everyone who is interested in Flemish painting.

F. E. HYSLOP, JR.

PALMA VECCHIO. By Gyoirgy Gombosi. xxxiii, I44 pp.; 195 ills. Klassiker der Kunst, XXXVIII. Stuttgart and Berlin, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1937. 8vo. RM. 20.

Only a few years after the publication of Spahn's book on Palma, Dr. Gombosi, the young Hungarian art histo- rian, presents us with a new book on the same subject. The book is richly and well illustrated and a worthy addition to the previous volumes of the Klassiker der Kunst series. Gombosi amplifies considerably Miss Spahn's very re- stricted list of authentic pictures. His attempt to recon- struct the master's early period is of special interest. At first sight Palma Vecchio's artistic personality does not appear to present many problems. Most of us, I am sure, have quite a distinct conception of Palma's characteristics. Yet, when we follow the chronology of the pictures as Dr. Gombosi proposes to reconstruct it, we begin to realize

Schongauer's St. John on Patmos, which is the basis of the St. John on Patmos in Berlin; the van Eycks and the so-called Maitre de Flemalle; the writings of van Ruys- broeck; Flemish proverbs, such as The world is a mountain of hay; each one seizes what he can of it, which explains the Hay Wain more clearly than the usual Biblical references do; and the general influence of the independent ideas of the Brothers of the Common Life.

He has something to say also about the iconographic, technical, and psychological contributions made by Bosch to later painting. Brueghel seems to have taken his figure of Carnival directly from Bosch, and the left panel of the Hay Wain may have been in his mind when he painted the Fall of the Rebellious Angels. Tolnay believes that Rubens owes something of the luminosity of his color to the earlier painter. The moral caricature which appears in the Frank- fort Ecce Homo appears again in Daumier and Rouault in their interpretations of the same theme. His influence even makes itself felt in literature, as in Flaubert's Temptation of Saint Anthony. Tolnay regards the Garden of Earthly Lusts as the beginning of Freudian psychoanalysis, which he uses, in turn, to analyze the Flemish painter's work. He speaks of the relation of Bosch-more apparent than real- to contemporary Surrealisme.

Probably there will be less question about Tolnay's inter- pretation of Bosch as an artist who aimed at representing men as they are inwardly than there will be about some of his datings. Sometimes his conception of the painter's evolution seems to be at odds with the actual style, which is supposed to be the basis for dating. Thus the Christ Carrying the Cross, at Ghent, is considered one of the artist's latest and most crowning expressions. But, in spite of the masterly construction of its forms, the relatively opaque and neutral color suggests a somewhat earlier period, as do its tightness and hardness. From a non- stylistic point of view its partially self-defeating savagery of caricature reflects an attitude less than fully mature. The Prodigal Son, in the Boymans Museum at Rotterdam, which is rather different from the Ghent picture stylisti- cally, is placed almost equally late. It is surprising to find the Prado Epiphany placed so much later in time than the early version in Philadelphia, despite the Eyckian and pre- Eyckian elements which made Friedlaender's earlier date seem reasonable. Although it is useless to put too much confidence in stylistic criticism, Tolnay's chronology is for the most part fairly convincing. Nor should there be much disagreement with his choice of genuine works. But so far as the pictures in America are concerned his doubts about the Epiphany, in the Metropolitan Museum, seem to me mistaken, as do those of Hulin de Loo about the Christ Before Pilate, at Princeton.

Tolnay's book, which is a handsome thing in itself, is indispensable for students of Bosch; and it can be recom- mended to everyone who is interested in Flemish painting.

F. E. HYSLOP, JR.

PALMA VECCHIO. By Gyoirgy Gombosi. xxxiii, I44 pp.; 195 ills. Klassiker der Kunst, XXXVIII. Stuttgart and Berlin, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1937. 8vo. RM. 20.

Only a few years after the publication of Spahn's book on Palma, Dr. Gombosi, the young Hungarian art histo- rian, presents us with a new book on the same subject. The book is richly and well illustrated and a worthy addition to the previous volumes of the Klassiker der Kunst series. Gombosi amplifies considerably Miss Spahn's very re- stricted list of authentic pictures. His attempt to recon- struct the master's early period is of special interest. At first sight Palma Vecchio's artistic personality does not appear to present many problems. Most of us, I am sure, have quite a distinct conception of Palma's characteristics. Yet, when we follow the chronology of the pictures as Dr. Gombosi proposes to reconstruct it, we begin to realize

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