Evening star., 1912-04-12
Medley of Caricatures at Cor
coran Gallery of Art.
ON VIEW IN THE MUD ROOM
Parody Paintings and Drawings and
Sculpture Exhibited.
SIXTH ANNUAL SHOW PERIOD
Catalogue Embraces Products Of Fer
tile Imagination as Take-of
of Real Art.

! Wholly lacking in bumps Of veneration
that bunch of cut-ups, all students of the
| school OF art of COrcoran Gallery, call
ing themselves by the grandiloquent title
! OF the Society of Washington Fakirs, has
| perpetrated what they class as parody
paintings and drawings of the dignified
| art performances OF real earnest IDEAL
istic, ambitious, full-fedged and digni-
| fled votaries OF the brush and scalpel,
members of the Society of Washington
| Artists.
The achievements of the Washington
artists are hung in the hemicycle Of Cor
coran Gallery, to their everlasting fame,
exposed to the view of an admiring pub
lie. Right beneath. in what is known as
the mud ROOM of, the gallery, are the
| crimes" Of the Fakirs.
But the imitators are not without the
divlne spark OF genius misapplied There
is many a laugh coming to the visitor
And the gay students, gathered to show
their guests around, make the place lively
with the art student variety of wit. They
are happy lot of youngsters. and de-
Gently proud of their hit-or-miss jokes
on the folks upstairs.
introduced by Catalogue.
First you procure a catalogue. labeled
Sixth Annual Exhib. ton, Society of
Washington Fakirs, Corcoran Art Gal
lery. April II. r. 13, 1912''- On the cover
of the catalogue appears a design by one
of the arch-conspirators. X. Nicolaides,
jr. This presents the presiding genius of
the Fakirs. Mephistopheles. as plying his
Vaccinations with brush apd paint, a
palette in hand.
Catalogue Of the Latest Accidental
Agony of the Society of Washington
Fakirs." says the title page, being key
fr tho CT of
Assurance is given that it is Printed in
Ink. 1912"
Then there IS list Of the "unauthorita,
tive authorities" mic; Most worshipful
self-confessed alias Of Mr.. Nicolaides.
'Peque Goodwin: honorable caretaker for
Mic" is otherwise p. @. Goodwin. Then
there are five respectable mud-sling
designates a blonde young lady, who
takes tickets at the door and sometimes
is respectfully addressed by her real
name, Miss May Mcnamara. "Bertaa."
Lee Offutt responds to Chestnut"
Little Flossie" is known to be the tall
Junoesque Miss Florence Bryant, and
Miss Grace Osborne is ''Ignatz."
A list of "crimeS in the mud room
there are 1853 Preparations against har-
mony and art-school songs, class jokes
on instructors and pupils, alleged humor-
Gus essays of near-art topics, a four-pose
coran Gallery, page of caricatures with
a hole in the middle, whence elislon had
banished something too good to go. and
verses and advertisements complete the
catalogue.
chamber of Horrors
Descending the stairs to the mud room
the visitor is in the chamber Of horrors.
All around the walls of the room have
hon x<>1 fvs> o1x <tvnx
devils heads and black cats, the latter
caricature of the feline mascot OF the
fakirs which runs about the mud room,
rubbing his nose against the trouser legs
and skirts of fakirs and paying patrons
al Ike, purring in sweet indifference to the
pictured assault upon his dignity.
A little piece of canvas about an inch
one way and half as long again, framed
In wood and loosely spattered with dark
paint. is labeled with a tag three times
as big, marked 'sold." This shaft Of wit
is directed at small pictures in art ex-
hibitions which seem invariably to bear a
like mark of appreciative patronage of
art in the miniature
''Hendric's Hammer" is carpenters
tool, at tilt, fastened to board, and
compliment to Hendric Hammer, an
exhibitor in the Washington artists eX-
hibit. The Mission Worker" is the usual
cannibal stew preparing, with the antici
patory dinner tied to a tree.
Other masterpieces"
There'is a sculpture up stairs. labeled
Mother and Child" In the mud room the |
mother smokes cigarette and drinks
from a wine glass. while the child cries
for both. THE Spirit of the Woods" one
of the masterpieces Of the series exhibit. |
is the occasion for several parodies by |
the Fakirs. A pint bottle with. the label
wood alcohol" is one idea suggested |
to Fakir.
''The Pink Lady" is shown rouging up
her toilet table. and singing and dancing, |
not too decOrOusly The portrait Of "Dr.
Eye Craig is a take-On on the cult Of
cultists. and the face on the canvas
squares off at the beholder like a prize
fighter.
Some devils heads, same as in the
frieZe above, decorate the walls and are
labeled with the name Of earnest exhibit
ors of the Society of Washington Artists.
Among those distinguished by the Fax
irs are Miss Florence Harris, her sister.
Miss NJ. Harris: Mrs. Boyd, Mrs. Monroe,
Miss Mulhofer, Mr.. HOff, Mr. Perkins and
Mr. Diohn