ductions of Arp's work after 1916? Why not choose a more important
Leger if there is to be only one?)
The contents of the volume fully document the ideas expressed in
the following paragraph from the editorial: "It is indeed fair to say
that popular taste, caste prejudice, and the dependence upon private
enterprise, completely handicap the development of new ideas in art.
But, in spite of this, the ideas represented by the work in this book
have grown spontaneously in most countries of the world. The fact that
they have in the course of the last twenty years become more crystallized,
precise, and more and more allied to the various domains of socIal life,
indicates their organic growth in the mind of society and must prove
that these creative activities cannot be considered as the temporary mood
of an artistic sect, but are, on the contrary, an essential part of the
culturai development of our time."
The photographs may corne as a revelation to many American
artists; probably few have been aware of the strength of England's ab-
stract movement, and that there have been working in London artists
of the stature of Gabo and Nicholson; most of us are even ignorant of
the fact that modem architecture, which really started in England, has
taken a stronger root there than in any other country, as the architectural
section of the volume eloquently demonstrates.
The literary contributions, of which there. are twenty-four, differ
widely in interest; there are several by painters who write abominably,
and others by critics who phrase with lucidity and brilliance, but whose
lack of real plastic sensibility is apparent. On the other hand the book
would be notable alone for four essays by creative artists of the first rank
who can also express themselves verbally-a feat that is rarely accom-
plished. The long discourse by Piet Mondrian on "Plastic and Pure
Plastic Art" is the most lucid key to a painter's intentions that this re-
viewer has encountered; the two essays by Gabo are memorable: and
in the "Quarrel with Realism" Le Corbusier surpasses himself for bril-
liance and clarity. Even Lewis Mumford, America's sole contributor,
reminds one in "The Death of the Monument" that he can write with
skill and insight if he can be persuaded to avoid the subject of painting.
It is rumored that
Circle
is to be an annual publication; let us
hope that the editors will be able to extend their field and sustain the
present high standard of quality.
GEORGE
L. K.
MORRIS
70
PARTISAN REVIEW
MARXISM IN LIMBO
EUROPA IN LIMBO.
By Robert Briffault. Charles Scribner's Sons.
$2.75.
Although
Europa,
Robert Briffault's first novel, was admired and
even "hailed," there were relatively few illusions about its literary merit.
Even its admirers conceded that Mr. Briffault, considered purely as a
novelist, was not gifted-that
neither his characters, his prose nor his
invention exemplified any of the traditional virtues of the novel. To this
a few critics (Mr. Forsythe, Mr. Briffault) had an answer ready, for they
had previously demonstrated that the novel form was the product of the
"shabby bourgeois mind" and an "outworn and artificial" convention:
