Woodcarvers

are people

, ... view ° Primitive art as y ? us ? rt ’ submerged in a total ’ has been as come more ? wa . re °f personalities are i es f, mdhied to overrate the £, er °H tle P rimitl Y e community.

J here wl J l . ? ome / tl ™\ say * Pr °~ . A t d r, ian , A \ u Ge £ ran i 5 ' m . " hen the West has an understanding of the motive forces of P ri ” utlve art s ° ! hat lt . mll dlscard ™ c/l term \ as African, American or m ° c .9. arse J or . . 1 L f. acl ™ c " as r < r en,ral A nca - South-west and perhaps even sm f e a single village. . Professor Gerbrands supports his views by presenting, in Wow-ipits (which means woodcarvers in the f° ca l language) the work of eight woodcarvers from one village in the Asmat region of south-west Indo nes!an r W est Irian.

Professor Gerbrands is a clear, r.^. a<^a^ e narrator, able to bring to lte t ” e Personalities of his wood carvers, whom he selected because tneir skillis recognised by their own P5°P* e - There are first-rate illustra !L OI ? s °* , (nen, their methods and their results in this handsome book, which is as suited to the general reader as the specialist,—EW. (WOW-IPITS. Published by Mouton and Co., The Hague, our copy from Paul Flesch and Co., Melbourne. $9.50.)