Pounds Artists

Handsomely illustrated and meticulously researched, this cohesive collection coincides with an exhibition displayed under the same title at London's Tate Gallery. It does not serve as a catalogue, but rather charts, in both chronological and geographical sequence, Pound's influential interest in the visual arts. As the authors discuss in their three essays, from 1908 to 1920 Pound was closely associated with the Vorticist movement, having conceived and defined its principles in Wyndam Lewis's periodical, Blast. Pound also championed the work of the French sculptor Henri Guadier-Brzeska, Edward Wadsworth, Fredrick Etchells, Jacob Epstein and photographer Alvin Langdon Coburn. During the five years Pound lived in Paris he actively sought out ""moderns,'' promoting the work of Francis Picabia, Brancusi and Leger and becoming briefly involved in the Dada movement. The closing essay deals with Pound's esthetics and interest in the artists and patrons of the early Italian Renaissance. (April)