Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-16

the picture alphabet and the great works
Of the masters. The chief function of a
decoration is to decorate; that Of an illus
tratlon to illustrate, and yet both the pro-
ducers and observers frequently over
look this fact. An Illustration may be
good without rivahng the painting of
a master; each in it's own way may
be a genuine expression of art. That
this is true only a glance at the Collier
exhibition will demonstrate. Maxfeld
Parishs splendid cover designs are mani
testify decorations. Howard Pyle's impress
sive paintings distinctly Illustrations but the
art In both annot be suppressed denied.
Indeed, when 1t comes to direct question
of art 1t may be aueried whether many
modern paintings will stir in the beholder
as keen a sense of esthetic pleasure or fur
nish as wholesome mental food as the works
of these two master illustrators. And these
are only two of many. Jessie Wilcox
Smiths pictures of children are no less ar
ustic than they are charming, and A. B.
Frost's wash drawings show a comprehen-
sion Of the aNioms Of art as well as knowl-
edge of human nature. There are, of course
some works that are not SO worthy-pictures
which were produced for the passing hour
and are unworthy of lengthy remembrance,
but for the most part they are notably we'll
drawn, serious and sincere 1t is large
exhibition and there are many points of In
terest, but the surprise of the collection has
proved to be group of life-siZed portrait
studies painted In oil by Charles Dana Glib
son. There are four in a1l-crude, unfinished
sketches, awkwardly put together and yet
so toneful and amazingly vital that directly
they must command attention and receive
respect. There Is almost no illustrator who
has proved SO large a stumbling block to
art students as Mr.. Gibson, for his clever
ness has proved most elusive and to the I'M
Initiated covered multitude of structural
inaccuracies. but there is also none who has
more consistently demonstrated the value
of simple. terse utterance. George Gibbs
and Charles Livingston Bull. formerly
Washington artists, are both admirably rep
resented In this exhibition, as are also
Christy, Remington, Yohn, Smedley, Leyen-
decker, Reuterdahl and score of others
It will continue until next Friday, and will
undoubtedly attract much attention.
An exhibition of Indian photographs made
by Mr.. C. f. Curtis Is now being held in the
assembly hall of the Cosmos Club Through
previous exhibitions Mr.. Curtis. work is well
known In Washington, but 1t Is of sufficient
merit to bear repetition. and at this time It
is supplemented by much that is entirely
ard His portrayal of the Indians has al
ways been good and ethnologically of great
value. but his compositions have not been
as consistently admirable, his prints as
genuinely artistic as they are now. The
walls Of the gallery are covered from floor
to ceiling with the Photographic pictures.
and In the collection thirteen tribes are rep
resented. Some OF the portraits are strong,
vital and well lighted, but with q few ex-
ceptions the general compositions are of
greater interest from the pictorial stand
point These seem to interpret better than
1t would be possible for single individual
the life and environment OF the Indians.
They are psychological, rather than ethno-
logical; works OF art. rather than mechan-