Chinese Art. By Judith and Arthur Hart Burling. (Thames and
Hudson. 42s.)
THE art of Chinese painting is the use of the blank space. The authors of this book have shown their admiration of that technique by not hesitating to attempt, in their own words, a comprehensive ' book on paint- ing, bronzes, ceramics, furniture, jade, architecture and the place of art in Chinese life. Yet the book, which is well illustrated from American sources, has a real value. It is not, and by its scope could not be, se much a work of reference for the expert as a book for those many people who are begin- ning to understand that superb craftsman- ship and devotion to the ideal of distilling the essence of a scene or an object has never been better exemplified than by Chinese art.
Because it is not essentially a work of reference it is very readable. The authors have spent some twenty years in China and have a happy knack of making clear. the meaning of some classic piece with history and folk-lore from the past, and anecdotes of the present.
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