Review by Choice Review
Art of the Baltics examines the development of art in the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and faces in two directions: toward the West as a source of artistic models, and toward the East as a source of political domination during five decades of Soviet rule. Yet, the subtitle perhaps overstates the political dimension. The thoughtful surveys of each country's art begin long before 1945. And between the polarities of East and West there are nuances and exceptions, such as the Russian artists who played a positive role in working with Baltic colleagues in both the 19th and 20th centuries. Nonetheless, the works of art reproduced in the book and the biographies of their creators make it clear that the Soviet occupation was a traumatic and defining experience for many artists in the Baltic region. The social context is further emphasized in the appendixes by time lines with historical and cultural events for each country since 1900. The quality of the book's writing and scholarship, as well as its high production standards, makes a convincing case for the importance of this neglected area of eastern European art. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through faculty. W. C. Brumfield Tulane University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
