Evening star., 1911-06-01
.SEESTUDENTS' WORK
Products of the Corcoran
School of Art Shown.
AWARD OF H0N0RS MADE
Announcements by Director F. B.
Mcclure.
GOLD MEDAL TO MISS BAKER
Principal e. G. Messer, in an Ad-
dress, Discusses Value Of
Academic Studies.
GOLD MEDAL TO MISS BAKER

In spite Of the rain several hundred per-
sons assembled In the Corcoran Gallery
last evening to view the work Of the
students Of the Corcoran School and wit
ness the annual award Of medals and
honors.
The doors were opened at $50 and
shortly after 8 o'clock the faculty OF the
school, composed of e. c. Messer. Richard
N. Brooke. James Henry Moser, Miss
Catharine c.. Critcher and Ruel Pardee
Tolman, with A. ]. Parsons, member
Of the board Of trustees. and F. B. Nc
Guire and c. Powell Minnegerode. direc-
tor and assistant director OF the gallery,
took their places on the landing Of the
grand staircase. From there the an
nouncement Of awards was made by Mr..
MCGUIRE, tho students coming forward
amid hearty applause to receive their
medals and certificates Of honorable men,
ton.
For work In the life and antique classes
. gold medal was awarded to Miss M.
May Baker and a bronze medal to Miss
Lena r. Brooke. For work in the por-
trait class silver medal was given to
Mrs. Mary B. EnQuist and honorable
mention to Miss Matilda K. Schaefer. In
the draped life class a silver medal went
to Miss Florence s. Harris and honorable
u1enIlOn TO MISS ESTHER J.. MCSOIu dIIu
Mrs. Myron D. Smith. In the still life
class q silver medal was won by Miss
Lena Laufenslager and honorable men
tion by Mrs. c. T. Creecy. In the COM
position class g. silver medal for general
excellence was awarded to Miss M. May
Baker: in the water color class. silver
medal to Mrs. Mary B. Enquist and hon
orable mention to Miss Lucy Lee Onutt
and Miss Emma D. Rice.
Before announcing the awards Mr.. Nc
Al~k HfST
. student to have been in attendance at
the school continuously for four months
for two successive years to enter into
competition for any OF the medals.
Attitude Of the Art Student.
The only address made was that OF
Principal e. c. Messer. who said in part
as follows:
I'm the active pursuit Of our academic
studies we find ourselves mainly en-.
crossed with specific class problems. We
must solve these problems without toe
much consideration of their general bear
Of the student in the school toward the
things he draws or paints is. In the words
Of orot, one of submission-that is. ne
submits himself to the patient and real
istic expression Of the model before him
his emotions are held in check for the
time, whatever his ultimate aspirations
may demand Of him. For the time he is a
realist and attempts to put down without
fear or favor the facts before him as they
appear to the normal vision. Perhaps
there Is no such thing as a really normal
vision. but in our regular academic work
we manage to come to reasonable
agreement as to our impressions OF the
forms and coiors before us. and we seek
to express these Impressions in the moss
direct manner possible to us. And we
shall find In survey Of the work OF vari-
Gus schools that there 10 common point
Of view.
1--WE are dealing here with the mechan-
les Of art. We are establishing funda-
mental principles upon which We may
safely base freer and more personal
expression Of our pictorial fmpressions.
II Corot. the freest, the most personal,
the most impressionistic of painters. can
advise a student to put himself in SUBJ
mission to the objects of his studies. We
may feel safe in holding to this close,
exact and unbiased expression In our
class work. But we shall yield finally
to more personal and emotional meth
DDS. There Is to come a time further on
when the direct recording OF fact will
seem less important than the free state
ment OF that which has greatly moved
us, and which must be expressed In the
most adequate, rather than the most ex-
act, way. You are unable to match q
fine Corot, point by point. with anything
In nature. realist. so apparently sound
as Millet. Is not IN agreement WITH the
photographers' camera The fact il, art
Is only interesting when the personal ele-
ment enters In. It is the man behind the
palette that colors and shapes, through
some alchemy Of his mentality. the work
Of his hands.
Value Of Study.
There Is q certain kind Of formulated
and transmitted technical skill by which
q rather commonplace person may man.
age to attract attention. but q great
painter makes his own technique. for the
! simple reason that the patented formula
will not carry his thought. Why then
should we learn q way Of working IL we