Considered one of the four major categories of art along with architecture, sculpture, and painting, ornament is broadly defined as a complicated decorative patterning device that may exude intense emotion, give pleasure, and enhance beauty. Trilling, who was curator of Old World Textiles at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC, and who taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, provides historical context for ornamentation and traces its use, development, and meaning from Paleolithic times to the present. His beautifully integrated text is accompanied by descriptive illustrations and dazzling examples. Broad chapters highlight the appreciation of ornament, sketches in art history, ornament as conventional system, and ornament in the age of modernism. A welcome addition to all libraries with a focus on design and design techniques. Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tennessee State Univ. Libs., Johnson City Art Instruction By Daniel Lombardo, formerly with Jones Lib., Amherst, MA
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