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selection are therefore paramount. The sub - title ‘A Life in the Picture Trade’ and book series (Jewish Lives) of Rachel Cohen’s recent biography suggest commercial and religious emphases, but this book proves to be a remarkably balanced treatment of a pro- foundly complicated and compelling life. It should be said at the outset that this is not an exhaustive biography, nor one that reveals overlooked documentation or hidden aspects of Berenson’s life: in the author’s words it is ‘more distillation than excavation’. And here Cohen is adroit in conveying the qualities of the man by presenting not only significant 61. The First events in his life, but unusual episodes that International give depth and perspective to Berenson’s Dada Fair, Berlin, character. 1920. (Photo - Cohen follows Berenson’s life chronologi- grapher unknown; cally, and from the beginning his natal religion Bildarchiv (he later converted from Judaism to Episco- Preussicher palianism, then to Catholicism) is examined, Kulturbesitz, less as an indicator of his personal beliefs than Berlin). as a social determinant in his education, career and relationship to others over nearly a cen tury of both benign and virulent anti-Semitism, versions of events are on what they chose to and Weimar Germany; as White observes, tolerance and nuanced respect. (Nor are tell’ (p.26). White’s attentiveness to these a substantial number of Berlin Dadaists – Berenson’s own intermittent expressions of accounts’ constructed nature and their per - Hausmann, Mehring, Blumenfeld, Citroen, anti-Semitism neglected – one of the many sistence beyond the Dada era is an important plus the Berlin-bred Zürich Dadaist Hans inconsistencies that comprise his personality.) contribution, for, perhaps alone among Richter – were Jewish, and the exploration, Cohen approaches her subject critically but modern movements, Dada had a persistent obfuscation, and fabrication of identity central sympathetically. The figure that emerges from afterlife, principally in the mid-century to White’s understanding of Berlin Dada this book is one of a powerful intellect with an phenomenon of ‘Neo-Dada’. Yet following appears intimately related to this fact. With unquestioned seriousness of purpose, passion- the Dadaists’ lead has its drawbacks. While Generation Dada, White has presented readers ate in his devotion to art and ambitious in his White offers deeply researched accounts of with a powerful new portrait of an avant- quest to become a significant man-of-letters. his subjects’ personal histories and dealings garde that flourished in one of the most But his self-doubts and conflicted responses with each other, this occasionally results in a fraught cities of the early twentieth century. to his successes were life-long, and cast an haze of detail obscuring his larger argument. air of melancholy over his extraordinary Although he writes lucidly, and individual 1 C. Craft: ‘Dada: Paris, Washington and New York’, career. Berenson lived with an eye to posterity, chapters read as fascinating case studies, it can THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE 148 (2006), pp.505–06. and his personal reflections suggest both be difficult to follow his trajectory, which confession and posturing. If he regretted often backtracks to previously discussed his involvement in the art trade as adviser, events. A reader who is not already familiar consultant and quasi-dealer, it was not for the with the history of Berlin Dada may have wealth that it brought him, nor out of any difficulty following his burgeoning cast of ethical misgivings, but that it took him away characters as they intersect at cafés and collab- Bernard Berenson: A Life in the Picture from what he had envisaged as a life of pure orate on montages. Likewise, White’s treat- Trade. By Rachel Cohen. 344 pp. incl. intellectual pursuits devoted to exploring the ment of these montages skews to examples 23 b. & w. ills. (Yale University Press, inner experiences and responses to works of that embody representations of Dada selves New Haven and London, 2013), £18.99. art. While he enjoyed his recognition as and relationships, without providing a larger ISBN 978–0–30014–942–5. the greatest connoisseur of Italian painting of understanding of the technique’s practice. his time and embraced the popular celebrity Nonetheless, White’s approach restores to Reviewed by ROBERT B. SIMON that accompanied it, Berenson was forever Berlin Dada’s orbit remarkable individuals tortured by his inability to fulfil his youthful who have previously been neglected, espe- THE AUTHOR OF a concise biography of ambitions to be a writer–philosopher in the cially in art-historical studies. The most Bernard Berenson could well be mired by the mould of Walter Pater. His long struggles to important of these is undoubtedly Wieland immensity of available primary and secondary establish I Tatti, ‘his library with living rooms Herzfelde, Heartfield’s brother, a publisher, sources. In addition to Berenson’s own writ- attached’, as a Harvard research institute, writer and key figure in the movement. Oth- ings, including diaries and memoirs, and his demonstrated profound gratitude to the col- ers include the trio of Blumenfeld, Mehring voluminous correspondence across a ninety- lege that was crucial in his formation, but also and Paul Citroen; Otto Schmalhausen, a four year lifetime (much published, but suggested personal expiation. close friend of Grosz; and Hausmann’s ally most in manuscript, with over forty thousand Cohen is not an art historian, yet she has Johannes Baader. But even with more famil- letters remaining at his former home, I Tatti), an incisive understanding of Berenson’s iar figures, White provides a fresh perspective there exist numerous reminiscences by asso - contributions to scholarship, the history of revealing unexpected connections: for exam- ciates, students, friends and lovers, as well as collecting in America and the practice of ple, Grosz and Höch attended the same art several articles and biographies, ranging from connoisseurship. She notes that Berenson’s school, sharing (and vying for attention the scholarly to the sensational. That Beren- facility in delineating the characteristics of from) the same teacher, Emil Orlik. A deftly son’s circle included distinguished figures in a individual painters was methodologically presented subtheme of the book which variety of fields, many of whom have been the indebted to his predecessors (in particular, Gio- certainly begs for deeper future consideration object of their own biographical scrutiny, vanni Morelli), but sees his achievement of a is Jewish life and anti-Semitism in wartime presents further challenges. Perspective and systematic classification of Italian Renaissance

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painters and draughtsmen as the consequence contents are portraits in the strict sense. I would idiosyncratic, solitary and obsessive perfectionist, ded - of a devotion to accuracy and an exceptional question the decision to include Kokoschka’s early life icated to his craft and vision. His work stands merci fully drawings – rapid sketches of the naked model in move- aloof from art that clamorously aspires to a New visual memory, abetted by two technological ment – or similar works in watercolour during his time Zealand (or, in its Maori counterpart, Aotearoa) iden - advances of the late nineteenth century: the teaching in Dresden in the 1920s. Even more doubtful tity. Subtly, Cleavin’s iconography nevertheless does on development of railways, that facilitated rapid in the context of portraiture are his decorations and occasion allude to his – and his country’s – place in the travel, and the advent of photography to doc- designs for the Wiener Werkstätte, his illustrations for world, apparent in the etching Anatomy of A(NZUS) ument works of art, permitting comparisons Der Sturm, his allegorical paintings and print portfolios predator – from Triad ’84 (1984), where a bird’s skull over distance and time. The results include his alluding to his fraught relationship with Alma Mahler, neatly fits the profile of an RNZAF Skyhawk, thereby his studies for the life-size doll he commissioned in her creating a witty but menacing presence. It dates from Lists, serially revised over his lifetime and still image, his political pictures made in response to the First the height of the debate over New Zealand’s future seminal in the field, and many specialised and Second World Wars, and so on. However, their commitment to ANZUS, the Australia, New Zealand studies. ‘Alunno di Domenico’, the first article inclusion certainly makes for a more interesting exhi - and United States military alliance, which was provoked in the first issue of this Magazine, remains bition and allows the authors of the catalogue scope to by ‘our nuclear free stance’, as Melinda Johnston, the a tour de force, brilliant in conception, and, write about genres and media in which Kokoschka author of this book, states. The near contemporaneous if imperfect in details, the model for more produced equally compelling work. If one wanted to etching and aquatint Childsplay I (1984) provides a novel than a century of reconstructions of artistic stretch the definition of portraiture intelligently, a more twist to the adage ‘Drop babies not bombs’, where a legitimate category would have been Kokoschka’s land- Stuka aircraft drops the babies as bombs. Cleavin’s 1 personalities. Less compelling today is Beren- scapes of cities such as Dresden, Prague and London, vision shares not a few characteristics of the ‘Cold son’s aesthetic terminology – ‘life-enhancing’, which have been exhibited in the past under the title War’ art of his British near contemporary Colin Self: ‘tactile values’, ‘space-composition’ – which ‘City Portraits’. But they are excluded. fastidious drawing, impassioned political conviction and has come to sound dated. The exhibition Das Ich im Brennpunkt (The ‘I’ in – evident rather more in Cleavin than in Self – a macabre Much attention is given to the women in Focus) was about Kokoschka’s relationship to photo - and barbed sense of humour aimed at human folly. graphy. Although he was dismissive of the medium, What emerges from this beautifully produced book Berenson’s life: to Mary Logan Costelloe, his he was not averse to using photographs and picture is Cleavin’s consistency and inexhaustible productivity, wife, sometime collaborator, and the evident postcards as aides-memoire in his paintings. And he without it ever becoming a clichéd imitation of his architect of his professional livelihood; Nicky was happy to be photographed throughout his long earlier self. Although his work is sometimes grotesque Mariano, from 1919 his assistant, mistress and and eventful life by the fashionable portrait photo - and frequently satirical – spanning an unlovely Adam companion; and the renowned librarian to graphers of the day – Austrian, German, French, and Eve in The garden (1966) and the Photoshopped J.P. Morgan, Belle da Costa Greene, who was British, American – as well as by press photographers mug shots of a clutch of finance company fraudsters and anonymous ‘snappers’. In fact, he skilfully used The Lombard four (2012), Cleavin ‘enjoys the fact Berenson’s partner in the most powerful and photography to promote his work and his views, that he isn’t tied into being a satirist’. As a printmaker intimate relationship of both their lives. dramatising himself in a variety of roles and situations, Cleavin has remained something of a cult figure. Cohen negotiates the personalities of and presenting himself to the camera with the often This reviewer hopes that the overdue publication Berenson’s friends, acquaintances, rivals, col- famous subjects of his portraits. He had the advantage of Johnston’s intelligently observed monograph will leagues and business associates with delicacy of being photogenic, with a strong sense of the the- redress the situation; without doubt the artist has and balance, although many episodes, contro- atrical: he wrote and directed his own plays and met his match in the scholar and it is hoped that versies and individuals have necessarily been designed sets and costumes for opera. the book will secure Cleavin his rightful place in That so many of these photographs have been antipodean art history. omitted from the tale. In so doing she is able preserved in one place is entirely due to the foresight, MARKSTOCKER to describe his overarching evolution from dedication and generosity of the late Olda Kokoschka, beginnings as a fervent immigrant student to a the artist’s widow, who donated five thousand prints to career as an eminent authority to a finale as a the Oskar Kokoschka-Zentrum der Universität für angewandte Kunst, Vienna (Oskar Kokoschka Centre Alexander Calder – Avant-Garde in Motion. Edited by sage – social, intellectual and financial transfor- Susanne Meyer-Büser, with texts by Daniela mations that brought him adulation, criticism of the University of Applied Arts), which she helped establish in the former School of Applied Arts where Hahn, Susanne Meyer-Büser and Gryphon Rue and envy. Cohen’s Berenson is complex and Kokoschka had studied as a young man. Further gifts Rower-Upjohn. 143 pp. incl. numerous col. + b. & w. ills. (Hirmer Verlag, Munich, 2013), 29.95. genuine, self-critical and occasionally self- and acquisitions have increased this number to some € loathing, a perceptive participant within a six thousand items – a unique resource for scholars ISBN 978–3–7774–2117–9 (German edition); rich cultural network and a devoted student of run by Patrick Werkner and Bernadette Reinhold, 978–3–7774–2060–8 (English edition). who have both contributed to the catalogue of Das Large-scale, well-designed catalogue to a loan the Italian painters who sustained him profes- exhibition at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-West- sionally and practically throughout his life. Ich im Brenn punkt. What they and their colleagues at the Leopold Museum have given us is a rich pictorial falen, Düsseldorf (7th September 2013 to 12th January), biography, in which photographs are cross-referenced which concentrated on Calder’s works with sound such 1 B. Berenson: ‘Alunno di Domenico’, THE BURLING- to Kokoschka’s paintings and works on paper, as well as the Museum’s own work of 1936, the inspiration for TON MAGAZINE 1 (1903), pp.6–20. as to the artist’s correspondence and manuscripts the exhibition. bequeathed by Olda Kokoschka to the Central Library in Zürich. It is of lasting value. Chagall. Love, War, and Exile. By Susan Tumarkin Publications Received RICHARDCALVOCORESSI Goodman, with an essay by Kenneth E. Silver. 147 pp. incl. 72 col. + 27 b. & w. ills. (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2013), 30. ISBN Lateral Inversions: The Prints of Barry Cleavin. Kokoschka. Das Ich im Brennpunkt. Edited by Tobias G. By 978 –0–300–18734–2. € Natter and Franz Smola. 364 pp. incl. 340 col. ills. Melinda Johnston, with a contribution by Rodney This publication accompanied an exhibition at the (Leopold Museum, Vienna, 2013), 29.90. ISBN Wilson. 288 pp. incl. 125 col. + b. & w. ills. € Jewish Museum, New York (15th September 2013 978–3–85033–785–4. (Canterbury University Press, Christchurch, 2013), to 2nd February), exploring the middle period of Oskar Kokoschka. Portraits of People and Animals. Edited $NZ55. ISBN 978–1–927145–47–0. Chagall’s career, the 1930s and 1940s, which included by Beatrice von Bormann, with contributions by Over the past half-century, Barry Cleavin (b.1939) many versions of Crucifixions and politically moti- Régine Bonnefoit and Katharina Erling. 216 pp. has emerged as New Zealand’s foremost printmaker, a vated paintings. Eleven poems by the artist are also incl. numerous b. & w. ills. (Museum Boijmans powerful and compelling complement to the more reproduced. Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 2013), 35.95. ISBN mainstream talent of John Drawbridge (1930–2005), 978–90–6918–267–4. € who studied in Paris with S.W. Hayter and Johnny It is unusual to find two large exhibitions devoted to Friedlaender. Cleavin’s lengthy career has witnessed Jennifer Bartlett: History of the Universe. Works 1970–2011. the same artist coinciding in different cities. Oskar both the rise and fall of the medium itself. The latter By Klaus Ottmann and Terrie Sultan. 104 pp. incl. Kokoschka: Portraits of People and Animals (first at the boomed in the affordable and democratic New Zealand 50 col. + 110 b. & w. ills. (Yale University Press, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, and art world of the 1970s, when Cleavin began a twelve- New Haven and London, 2013), £30. ISBN now at the Kunstmus eum, Wolfsburg; to 17th August year teaching stint at the University of Canterbury 978–0–300–19735–8. 2014) and Kokoschka: Das Ich im Brennpunkt (Leopold School of Fine Arts. Now, however, printmaking is Catalogue of an exhibition of a trim selection of Museum, Vienna) both opened last autumn and were in tragic free fall: a damning managerial review rec - works by Bartlett (b.1941) held last year at the accompanied by substantial catalogues, but there the ommended its discontinuation at that institution in the Penn sylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and now on resemblances end. People and Animals is a fairly conven- very week this book was published. Yet it would be show at the Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill NY (to tional show, concentrating on Kokoschka (1886–1980) otiose to praise or blame Cleavin for circumstances that 13th July). Writings by the artist are included. as a portraitist, though not much more than half of its are quite beyond his control: he is sui generis, a unique, R.S.

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