Sonfist’s Time Landscape, a recreation of thetype of forest found in lower Manhattanwhen the Dutch were colonising the areain the seventeenth century.

Nature The End of Art tracks Alan Son-fist’s landscape-oriented work throughhis development as an artist, during theEarth Art movement of the late 1960s andthe beginnings of his ‘Natural/CulturalLandscapes’, with illustrations of themany commissions the artist has receivedfor archaeological/artistic re-renderingsof an area’s original flora, from clientsfrom the United States and Canada toFinland, Italy and Japan. The book con-cludes with a description of his mostrecent large commission in Germany’sWestphalia region, the Monument of theLost Falcon, completed in 2003. This instal-lation is part of the Woodland SculptureTrail in the Rothaar Mountains. The con-tours, formed by an earthen wall plantedwith European larch seedlings, are in theshape of a hovering falcon, a bird oncecommon to the area, and the interior isplanted with 350 native seedlings nolonger found in the area.

The artist’s references throughout hiswork – the lost natural and culturalresources of the past – are discussed inthe various interviews and essays scatteredthroughout the book. The most importantis the introductory interview with the artistconducted by Robert Rosenblum in 1989.The other essays are by Wolfgang Becker,Jonathon Carpenter, Lawrence Alloway(an excerpt from an unspecified article),Michael Danoff, John Grande and UweR+uth.

This is a worthwhile book, remindingus that there are still many other artists ofthe Earth Art/Environmental Art genera-tion, besides the more familiar names ofMichael Heizer or Robert Smithson, stillproducing interesting work. There is areal problem, however, on the editorialside of this publication and that is itslack of dates, except in the photographiccaptions. There is a selection of criticalexcerpts, a list of public and privatecommissions and an exhibition list, andnot a date to be found. Whether this wasan editorial or design decision, it seriouslylets the artist down by decreasing the long-term usefulness of the book as a referencework.

victoria keller

Writer, New York

ITALIAN PAINTINGS 1250–1450

IN THE JOHN G JOHNSON

COLLECTION AND THE

PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM

OF ART

carl brandon strehlke

Penn State University Press in association with thePhiladelphia Museum of Art 2005 d66.50600 pp. 130 col/680 mono illusisbn 0271-02537-9

UK dist. Eurospan

‘Modest’ is the adjective used twiceto describe John Graver John-son, the Philadelphian corporate

lawyer who left his art collection to hisfellow citizens in 1917. There is, however,nothing modest about this sumptuouspublication written by Carl BrandonStrehlke, the Adjunct Curator of the JohnG Johnson Collection in the PhiladelphiaMuseum of Art. Strehlke began writingthis book on a Smith Corona typewriter,but it has been worth the wait. Althoughthere have been several other cataloguesof the collection, this work is quitemagisterial in its rigorous research, whichexploited the conservation programmeundertaken prior to re-hanging the collec-tion of pre-1900 European art. The fruits ofthis programme, begun in 1989, are nowpresented, with the most up-to-date ana-lytical and art historical information.

Strehlke begins by describing John-son’s development as a collector, initiallyof seventeenth-century Dutch landscapeand genre paintings. The 1876 CentennialExhibition in Fairmount Park promptedhim to establish an art history library andhelped to expand his interest in Italianpaintings, although most of his acquisi-tions were still relatively modern. Bern-hard Berenson’s publication of FlorentinePainters of the Renaissance with an Index totheir Works initiated a long-standing pro-fessional relationship and friendship be-tween the scholar and Johnson. (One ofthe many fascinating facts that Strehlkebrings to our attention is that Berensonused to spell his first name with an ‘h’,as he discovered in his research into thecorrespondence between Berenson andJohnson held at Villa I Tatti). Johnsonhimself became very knowledgeable abouthis own paintings (and those he hadpurchased for the Philadelphia Museumof Art) through his own contacts withother scholars, collectors and art histor-

ians, including Roger Fry, Herbert Horne,Langton Douglas and Osvald Siren. Grow-ing in confidence, he frequently chal-lenged established attributions, oftensuccessfully. Strehlke provides an inter-esting insight into the disputes betweenBerenson, Horne and Douglas over attri-butions, as well as considering the prac-tices of European art dealers.

Berenson catalogued this collection in1913 and, following Johnson’s death, anexhibition of his art collection, includingthese Italian artworks as a highlight, wasattended by nearly 140,000 visitors.

The lay-out of this book is attractive,beginning with an essay by Strehlke toinform the colour catalogue. A biographyof each artist is supplied, along withfootnotes, a bibliography, and then titles,dates and dimensions of each painting arefollowed by technical notes, provenance, ahigh quality colour plate, with a discussionof the work in ‘Comments’, ending witha further bibliography. In addition, blackand white photographs supplement theresearch. Appendix I contains extracts oftexts referred to within the entries andAppendix II contains an index of black andwhite photographs of all punch marks,arranged by artist, and specifying the siteof use, e.g. within a border or a halo.

The descriptions of the paintings alsoprovide details of inscriptions on theirreverse and frames. The technical notesare supported by black and white repro-ductions of infrared reflectograms and X-radiographs, from which it is possible toview not only different artistic practicessuch as underdrawing and the use ofpounced cartoons, but various changes incarpentry practices. Together with theinformation provided on provenance, the‘life’ of a painting, its dereliction, vandal-ism wrought on it through false framingby unscrupulous dealers, aggressive clean-ing and restoration and subsequent sym-pathetic in-painting can be followed.

Finally, a bibliography of 2,500 entriescompletes the meticulous research com-piled here.

This catalogue will be of great inter-est to the scholar, providing a vastamount of information, both visual andfactual, particularly with regard to punchmarks. It is a work to be celebrated andcherished.

susan martin

University of Plymouth

Books andCatalogues inBrief

68 The ArtBook volume 13 issue 3 august 2006 r 2006 the authors. journal compilation r 2006 bpl/aah