Oceanic

Artists

QCEANIC Mythology —covering in text and pictures Polynesia Micronesia, Melanesia, and Australia —is the latest in the mythology series by the big British publishers, Paul Hamlyn Pty. Ltd., who have recently begun operations in Australia. High print figures are apparently one of the reasons the group is able to sell an expensive-looking volume like this at a low price. Oceanic Mythology has 140 pages, beautifully bound and produced, with 24 colour plates, and the price is only $2.50. It is edited by Roslyn Poignant, and the text gives a clear straightforward back ground to the areas covered. The illustrations are well selected to show a variety of art forms. There is a good index and a further reading list.

A more specialised work is Carl A. Schmitz’s Wantoat — Art and Religion of the North-east New Guinea Papuans. This book, pub lished by Paul Flesch and Co., sells for $5.95 and carries more text than pictures. It discusses the art and culture of the people living in the Finisterre and Saruwaged areas of the Huon Peninsula and is founded on field work carried out in 1955 and 1956 by Professor Schmitz, of the University of Basel. This is one of Paul Flesch’s Art in its Context series, and Professor Schmitz goes to some pains to show, successfully, that the apparent poverty of art in the area covered becomes a merit if the student closely studies its affiliations and intentions. This book, although attractively produced, is for reading and absorbing; it is not intended for

coffee table perusual.

EW.