Evening star., 1902-02-04
WORK OF THE CAMERA
Exhibit of Photographs at Central
High School.
BEGINNING OF new LOCAL GALLERY
Representative Paintings Donated
by Washington Artists.
DO NOT TEACH HIGH ART

One of the most notable collections of
photographs ever exhibited in the United
States was on view at the Central High
School last week and was inspected by a
great number of high school students
amateur photographers and Washington
painters. The purpose of the display was
to indicate the possibilities Of photography
to those students already interested in the
craft by exhibiting instances of artistic
selection of subject, judicious trimming OF
prints and discriminating development of
particular details. In this, gauged by the
comment of the high school pupils and the
opinion of the artists who inspected the
exhibit, Miss Annie Wilson. the head of
the department, and Miss Ina Chase Steele,
the teacher in charge. were entirely sue
cessful-
Miss Steele was heartily assisted in pre-
pairing the exhibit by Miss Frances Benja-
min Johnston of this city. who contributed
the Paris prints collected for the world s
fair
Pictures From the Paris Salon.
This gathering included works by Mrs.
Gertrude Kasebler, Mrs. Yaida Ben-Yusuf,
Miss Mathlde Well. Miss Brownell, Miss
Eva Watson and Miss Farnsworth Mrs.
Kaseblers display particularly notable
for unstudied, but wondrously picture-like
poses and for the most refined treatment.
Mrs. Ben-Yusuf offered several highly dec
orative. almost oriental studies. Miss john
stons work was more truly portraltlVe
than that of either Mrs. Kasebier or Mrs.
Ben-Yusuf. but it was quite as truly ex-
presSive of the vast progress made by
photographers during the past ten years
| Miss Rose Clark, a Buffalo portrait
| painter, made her debut In washington
| with series of portraits in which only the
| face was clearly printed. She was assisted
to- isEl 11o of hpr
| Mrs. Wade and the products of their joint
| labors excited widespread comment. The
| series was popularity termed The Old Mas
| ters" because of a peculiar Rembrandt-like
! luminosity of countenance and restful.
| deep-toned backgrounds. More than any
| other feature of the exhibit. perhaps, these
| photographs justified the claim of latter
| day camera workers that photography is
| susceptible of development out Of a craft
| into art. ~-''s,' ,t'-
| Mrs Clinton Townsend. New York art
| student. also made the exhibit the-oceasion
| for her first bow to Washington. Her pho
| tographs were all artistfcally colored and,
| while photogra ply and painting are not al
| lied arts the results in these particular in
| stances were very pleasing. ....-
Photography and Sentiment.
| One of the most famous pictures dis
| played was G. H Eickemeyer, jr,,s ,"Sweet
| Home" study which has excited the most
| extended discussion abroad. and which has
| a great deal of that picture quality which
| marks only the most successful landscape
| painting Two or three low farm buildings
just show above the brow of a hill. Snow
| covers the ground half foot deep. The
bare limbs of group of trees stand out in
| relief against a gray sky That is the
tire composition, except a path of deep
| footprints in the snow which reaches from
the foreground to the brow of the hill. The
effect is very sentimental and poetic
Out of the long list of exhibitors who
foil
been indicated as the most prominent: Miss
New and Miss Prall. whose decorative
studies are widely known abroad; DR..
Stewart, an amateur with very fine sense
| of selection; Mrs. Sears, Miss Alice Austin,
the Misses Alien, Mr.. Clarence H. White,
J Mr.. F. Holland Day and Miss Sarah j.
Eddy. all of whom submitted photographs
which had almost much claim on the
art student as on the photographer
Collection of Art Objects.
A by-display which hung on the walls Of
Miss Steele's class room attracted wide at
tention. 1t included series Of Japanese
prints by Helen Hyde. an American art stu
dent who went to Japan and entered on the
study of the Japanese art shoulder to
shoulder with the japanese. In the course
| of few years she acquired many of the
secrets of color and composition which give
| character to the art of that people. To
| them she added the truer sense of drawing
of western art, and the combination SO
pleased the Japanese that she has recently
taken the highest award in a Tokyo ex-
! hibit of native paintings The collection
was lent to the school by Miss Mills of New
York, and it hung near a notable land
scape by Bruce Crane lent by Mrs A. G.
} Mills.
Mrs. ]. w. Pilling of this city lent fine
| example of the work of Miss Nourse-a
study of mother and child. There were
! also number of rare rugs, good brasses,
specimens of pottery and other articles con-
: tributed by Mrs. F. r. Lane, Mr. E. F.
: Tracy and Miss Helen NJ. Reynolds assist
; ant principal Of the Central School,
The Beginning Of a Gallery.
But the most notable contributions were
those given to the school outright-a series
of drawings and paintings presented by
. local artists. The works included were four
drawings by Mr.. ]. H. Moser, presented to
{ the school to Indicate the processes of Sc
lection by which the painter develops a
scene In nature into landscape painting
| and paintings by t.ie following artists: Mr.
F. c; Messer, Mr.. J, II, Moser. Mr.. R. N
. | Brooke, Mr. Max Weyl, DIR. A. j. Corey
n Miss Bertha Perrie. Miss Solomons and
>. | Miss Mueden. These artists saw the ex
!, | hibit of art objects conducted by Miss
| Steele last spring, and now present exam
|, | pies of their own works as the nucleus of a
:. | small gallery. Neither artists nor higt
= school instructors plan to teach high schoo
:, students anything in the nature of wha
!. is popularity known as high art" Bu
. with such a gallery as a basis and occa
- sional exhibits of good photographs, goot
. furniture making and carefully selected
may learn the value Of simplicity ant
soundness of construction in all the ma
terial accessories of their daily lives.
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