THE REACH OF MODERN ART

The Reach is really a spread--i.e. a--survey of movements from Impressionism to Kineticism which isolates and relates all the big and little 'isms in between. In origin (the author is a British art educator), organization and appearance it is also unequivocally a text, suitable for college or diligent self-improvement; sparsely illustrated (with one or two black-and-whites per major artist), it assumes that the reader has access to other sources. What the book achieves is a clear exposition of the (1) basic premises, (2) sources and influences and (3) development of each movement--presented just that way. Evaluation is avoided: the reader is not taxed but neither is he trained to look critically. Also, American art is scanted, the chief mention before abstract expressionism being the arrival of European exiles. Limited in intent, further limited by its execution, this can be recommended only as a quick and easy introduction to a refractory subject, as in the sections that spell out the aims of Kandinsky and Klee.