The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972 Page: 259
566 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
simultaneously developed in the thirteenth-century European hill
country. In the Southwest the civilization is visually described as
thrusting itself wholly into the majesty of the earth while tightly
clinging to the safety of complete environmental control. The com-
parison with the geodesic domes of American architect and vis-
ionary Buckminster Fuller is completely valid.
The photographs by William Current give a sense of discovery
for which one can feel deeply grateful. They appear at once to be
deserted and brooding settings of a great heroic opera or of the
Land of Oz. Mysteriousness and excitement open like the sipapu
into an ethereal world of spirits. At best the photographs vividly
contrast the living rock and the soap sculpture buildings. They are
tremendously successful in capturing the texture of the whole en-
vironment. This constant viewing of the relationship of building to
site becomes monotonous at times. But then that is what the book is
all about. Although there are several attempts to introduce variety
by inclusion of detail shots of Navajo wall paintings, mosaics, and
differences in stone work there is in the collection of photographs
a certain sameness of tone and darkness that an occasional change
in light quality might have alleviated. The result is that the book
sets mood and atmosphere but does not offer much architectural
information. This final item is not enhanced by the obligation of
the commentary to accompany every photograph.
University of Texas, Austin Roy GRAHAM
Sculptor in Buckskin: An Autobiography by Alexander Phimister
Proctor. Edited, with a foreword by Hester Elizabeth Proctor.
(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971. Pp. xvii+S66.
Illustrations, appendix, index. $1 2.50.)
To the sculptor Phimister Proctor a horse wasn't just another
horse. In creating a group of bronze mustangs for the University
of Texas campus in Austin he built a studio in a King Ranch pasture
to study mustangs in the wild state "because I wanted my mustangs
to look like mustangs, not just horses."
Likewise, before depicting the mounted General Robert E. Lee
he hunted to find a horse that fitted Lee's own description of the
great Traveller. Steeds of still different types had to be used for the
models he made for statues of William T. Sherman and John A.
Logan by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.259
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972, periodical, 1972; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101201/m1/271/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.