From Library Journal
Schapiro (emeritus, art history, Columbia Univ.) here repackages two of his notable essays on Piet Mondrian and abstract painting. In "On the Humanity of Abstract Painting" (1960), the author defends this art form as containing expressive qualities and intellectual power while disavowing that abstractionism is cold and detached. In "Mondrian: Order and Randomness in Abstract Painting" (1978), he explores and analyses in depth the artist's most notable works from "The Red Mill" to "Broadway Boogie-Woogie" in relation to Bonnard, Degas, Monet, Pissaro, and Seurat. This essay also includes a comparison to a computer-generated variation made in 1964 by physicist Michael Noll in Mondrian's artistic style. Based on lectures, both of these essays have already appeared in Modern Art: 19th & 20th Centuries (Braziller, 1982). Libraries lacking that book, which is currently out of print, might want to consider; otherwise, this slim volume can only be reluctantly recommended. (Illustrations not seen.)-Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson CityCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In "On the Humanity of Abstract Painting," Schapiro systematically dismantles the criticism of abstraction as cold, detached, and inartistic. Instead, he proves that this art form is capable of great expressive and intellectual power, endowed with lyricism and grace. He proposes new ways of viewing and thinking about abstraction, in the end establishes it as "an obvious and necessary enrichment of our lives." With "Mondrian: Order and Randomness in Abstract Painting," Schapiro analyses many of the painter's most important works, from The Red Mill to Broadway Boogie-Woogie. He articulates the subtleties of Mondrian's formal strategies and his innate lyricism. He proceeds to map Mondrian's relation to his predecessors, and shows that this archetypal abstractionist was in fact indebted to the formal compositional strategies of such leading late nineteenth century artists as Degas, Monet, Seurat, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal