From Library Journal
The approach of this book is by artifact: 48 objects from various Native American tribal sources are depicted and described. The photography is stunning, and Penney, curator of Native American Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts, provides a thought-provoking essay on each artifact. However, the overall effect is to reveal the insidious pressures of coffee-table publishing on fine art book production. Readers are given inviting glimpses into the meanings of important pieces, whether traditional craft objects or fine art. Yet this information is only enough to whet the appetite for better understanding. Even the mixing of pre-20th century objects such as masks, effigies, and pottery with contemporary paintings and jewelry does not coherently explain the new definitions of "art" that the author wants to make. The book does not have a bibliography of any kind. Ultimately, this publication can be of use only to the very general reader or secondary school student, and even those individuals will want to know more about the objects and the cultures from which they came.?Paula A. Baxter, NYPL Poeschke, Joachim (text) & Albert Hirmer & Irmgard Ernstmeier-Hirmer (photogs).
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
