Geometry of Greek Vases: Attic Vases in the Museum of Fine Arts Analysed According to the Principles of Proportion Discovered by Jay Hambidge

Caskey, L.D.

Edité par [Museum of Fine Arts], Boston, 1922

A propos de cet article

Meet "Geometry of Greek vases: Attic Vases in the Museum of Fine Arts Analysed According to the Principles of Proportion Discovered by Jay Hambidge." The title of this work raises a number of questions for the uninitiated. First of all, what are "Attic vases"? Well, they re not vases you find in your grandma s attic. They are the classic vases that spring to mind when one thinks of Greek art: red figures, often in action, against a black background. Such work was made in the region of Greece called Attica, of which Athens was the center. They were made out of a red clay and painted with black. With Attic pottery, that means the background was what was painted and the red figures were blank clay. (There is another, similar, type of pottery that features black figures against a red background, which was generally made earlier. That is not "Attic.") The pottery from Attica was exported throughout Greece and beyond for about a hundred years. Literal "Attic" pottery dominated the market throughout the fifth century and into the beginning of the fourth century BC. After about 320 BC, the style was still popular but the manufacture began to be taken over by artisans well outside of the region, particularly in southern Italy. But what does any of this have to do with "the principles of proportion discovered by Jay Hambidge"? Jay Hambidge was an artist in the early 20th century who created a way of analyzing and designing artistic compositional space using geometric figures, mostly triangles and rectangles. He called his method "dynamic symmetry." Though it remains influential with some painters, his book "Dynamic Symmetry: The Greek Vase," published in 1920, was controversial from the start. According to art historian Michael Quick, within a year critics were able to "expose the basic fallacy of Hambidge's use of his system on Greek art." However, L.D. (who also went by his fuller name, Lacey D.) Caskey was a convert, and as he was the Curator of Classical Antiquities at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston a collection the American Journal of Archaeology still calls "renowned" his opinion carried a lot of weight when it came to Attic pottery. That made this an important book. Caskey included the diagrams measuring out fourteen Attic vases in his charge according to Hambidge s principles to prove it. That said, is it is simply, though effectively, bound in the same manner as the catalogs published by the Museum Fine Arts at the time: it is quarter-bound, with a dark green cloth spine and lighter green paper covering the boards. There is a black-printed label glued to the spine. The pages are deckled. They suffer with the age tanning that is to be expected from a work of over a hundred years old, but it does not interfere at all with the legibility of the text or the diagrams. The only marking is the name of a previous owner on the upper corner of the inside of the front cover. There is some light staining along the edges of the both the front and back inside covers and free endpapers from where an earlier owner apparently created their own dust jacket, which is not included. The corners of the covers are bumped and worn. There is also very light shelf wear at the top of the spine and along the bottom edges of the cover. What appears to be a water stain is most evident at the bottom inner cloth corner of the back cover, wrapping around to part of the spine. However, the binding is still quite tight and square and there are no loose or missing pages. Photos forthcoming or on request in the interim.

N° de réf. du vendeur 542

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Geometry of Greek Vases: Attic Vases in the Museum of Fine Arts Analysed According to the Principles of Proportion Discovered by Jay Hambidge
• Éditeur: [Museum of Fine Arts], Boston
• Date de parution: 1922
• Reliure: Hardback
• Édition: First Edition.
• État de l'article: Very Good
• État de la jaquette: Jaquette
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Art and Architecture