New-York tribune., 1912-01-27
ART EXHIBITIONS
The Architectural League Show
at the Fine Arts Gallery.

tectural League opens an annual exhibition
tomorrow. for the purpose of bringing the
public into closer touch with what is being
done and what might be done in architect
.ure and in decorative design. The show
occupies all OF the available space at the
Fine Arts Building, and many exhibits had
10 he rejected for lack of room. The effect
Of the galleries as whole Is pleasing,
though there has been some necessary
crowdng.
The Academy room contains mainly plans
and photographs of buildings; the south
gallery is given chiefly to decorations in
color, panels, windows wall designs and a
little sculpture In the centre gallery are
drawings and decorative motives, with a
generous showing of sculpture, while the
architects have taken most Of the Wander
blt gallery, with an exceedingly interesting
assortment Of photographs and drawings OF
finished work and studies-mainly the for
ner. as though to indicate their conclusion
that the average visitor outside the profess
sion will not be greatly edited by plans and
elevations but will look readily at views OF
actual structures and their surroundings.
On the whole, the exhibition proves It's
right TO be looked upon as one bearing upon
the life Of to-day. by precept and example.
The clou of the exhibition Is. curiouslY
enough, a loaned group Of old French
drawings. mostly Of the time Of Louis NN,
and before further mention of these 1t Will
be worth while to look at some examples
Of current work by American artists and
architects. Since experiment is the life of
art. a special interest attaches TO efforts
10 carry the practical side of decorative
design step nearer 10 the needs MADE
manifest by our time and conditions Moth
ing here has more direct value in this re-
spect than a series of paintings intended
as decorative pieces for walls in houses
rot Of q monumental character. done by J.
Monroe Hewlett, Charles BasinC and Ralph
T Willis. respectively. The theory upon
which these men have proceeded is that the
general preference Of sensitvely organized
persons for tapestries, when obtainahe
rather than paintings. as decorations for
the walls Of their homes, shows that the
point Of advantage of the tapestries is
largely in their beauty Of surface, their
rich reticence. 50 20 say. in textures. How
70 obtain more Of this in a decorative
painting. or in something more practicable
and less expensive To produce than wo-
ven tapestry, was the problem they at
IA cked, a problem in the working out NJ
which they were materially assisted by
their experimental work, done some two
years ago. in devising the scenery Of the
New York production OF Rostand'
"Chantecler"
The concrete examples here include Mr..
Hewletts triptych, The Home Garden;
Mr. Basings triptych. The Fleet; Mr..
wills's Light Of Asia" and studies for
two back drops in the "Chantecler" pro-
duction. made by J. NJ Hewlett. Arthur r.
Hewlett and Charles Basing. In the first
,riptych the painting of the design has
been done upon a linen scrim. instead Of
canvas. in transparent colors and the high
lights have been afterward put in. or rein
forced. by painting them over with Opaque
color This has made it possible 10 gain
the effect Of marked contrasts between the
high lights and the parts Of the compost
ton less accentuated. while remaining
within a comparatively narrow ramut Of
color values. The secret Of this is the
difference in textures between the rough
and absorbent surface OF the scrim, when
covered merely by the transparent paint
and when made smooth solid and light
rejecting by the addition of the Opaque
nj gnent at the few desired places.
j =
ess is used. except that the painting is
done on the rough side of piece of can
vas This affords slightly different scale
of texture values so to say. and in each
case the surface OF the finished decoration
has a depth and reserve force in its effect
upon the observer which approaches that Of
q fabric with woven design.
Another method. which recalls the
d Tta1-. xIrffh n
its scratched and colored plaster, is pur-
sued in Mr.. Willis's upright panel The
paint is applied with heavy impasto. TO
the surface Of a very rough canvas. and
is then mostly washed off again. except
where high lights are wanted, the washed
parts retaining enough Of the original
color, soaked into the interstices of the
fabric. 20 impart the necessary tone and
hue to form a judicious contrast to those
spaces on the canvas that have been left
with their full quota of pigment.
The effect in every one of the three ex-
amples cited here is of decided attractive
ness as TO decorative quality The de-
signs for which tho several artists are re
s.onsible are pleasing. and the treatment
harmonizes we'll with their quiet pervasive
character The result has that aspect Of
informality and of livabeness needed to
lend a restful atmosphere to room. As
the development of something worth while
by men already busy and successful in
their own fields Of activity-Mr. Hewlett
is better known as an architect than as a
painter-the achievement must be deemed
notable And IL is understood that its
SPONSORS have In mind further extension
OF those methods TO the reproduction OF
designs by stencils 1r other mechanical
means.
Another instance in the Architectural
League exhibition OF work being done along
lines that involve experiment is found in
window by Tsber Sears an Ascension.
for a memorial, of which a fragment Is
shown here as a cartoon. Mr.. Sears has
returned 10 the old English way OF using
stained glass, I'm shapes approximately OBJ
long. or. at least avoiding the extremely
complex and irregular patterns In which
glass is now cut i'm most American win
- dows. Having in view an attempt to make
his design and material speak in what has
been termed the vernacular Of the glass.
and Of the lead lines that bind the fabric
into a whole. Mr.. s/has sought and o5-
tanned effects Of singular dignity and re-
serve force.
Looking at this window design. the aver
age layman will conclude that II repre-
sfntS a normal, we'll balanced utilization
Of the materials There is no effort TO ex-
tend the bounds of the field in which these
materials are naturally operatiye-this lat
Ter process may be in itself interesting but
that is not the point What the artist has
done is influential through it's absence Of
etrst,, through its sane well ordered COM