Letter

Frames

Hamish Keith's review of Francis Pound's book Frames on the Land is a typical example of our self-styled academic patriarchs' desire to kill off their young. Keith flounders in complete incomprehension of Pound's approach and unsuccessfully attempts to veil his ignorance. So what if the cover is pink, that the plates are arranged alphabetically, or that it's a 'slim volume'. With his seven landscape genres Pound is not laying down the law but simply reframing or reinventing the established valuations. The message of nineteenth-century landscape painting already exists—now, what else can be said? Pound is not interested in finding 'new facts' but is more concerned with saying no to past theories—surely the only method of furthering intelligent discourse. He is even prepared to say no to some of his own theories—not necessarily a sign of inconsistency but a more playful, and therefore free, approach.

As a young artist interested in and affected by criticism, I'm naturally attracted to Pound's growing body of stylish, scholarly essays. Keith is the one doing the streetfighting!

RALPH PAINE