Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-03-26

Observation-Disclosures
official memorial medal for the Indiana
centennial next year.
- J.
| IN the Shelby Clarke galleries spe-
cial exhibition of paintings by Luz
Glen W. Powell has lately opened. This
comprises both oil paintings and water
colors, the latter done much in the
style of the former, rich in color and to
an extent golden in tone. Some of the
! canVases are extremely large espe-
cially that of the Grand Canyon. which
was recently shown in the Society of
Washington Artists annual exhibition.
These canyon pictures are particularly
attractive. interpreting the wonder of
nature in spirit well as in form
The early painters in this country
were allured by this same theme. Bier
stadt, Moran and Church felt that if
they could truly translate the great
scenic wonders of America they would
produce pictures which were essentially
American. But this is not so; it is the
way thing is done that gives it in
dividuality- 1t is something below the
surface which marks us TODAY as
Americans, not merely our dress or the
color of our skins. This national char
acterlstlc is seen more in the works of
Sargent. Notwithstanding the fact that
he has lived most of his life abroad, in
Redheld, in Jonas Lie and some of our
illustrators, Howard Pyle. Jessie Will
cox Smith, Maxfield Parrish, than in
Bierstadt. Moran, Church or Lucien
Powell Indeed. if Mr.. Powell has kim
ship with any painter, it is with Tur-
ner. whose coloring to some extent he
follows. perhaps unconsciously-and it
is the old world glory which one finds
in his paintings of today whether they
be canyon scenes or Venetian pictures.
Mr. Powell went to Venice and filled
his vision with its loneliness its color
its romance and he has not had to go
again and again to interpret its spirit
and colorful charm. He has a remark
able visual memory. To see these pic
lures of Venice in con junction with
Hopkinson Smiths Venice pictures is
nteresting-the one is the Venice of
dreams. the Venice of the Renaissance
the other the Venice of today. beauti-
dreams. the Venice of the renaissance
Mr.. Powell has essentially pictorial
sense. He builds up his compositions
as the English landscape painters of a
former generation did when he has
simple country to picture and he gives
it certain grandioseness, which is in
teresting. but not usual today. Above
all things. however. he is colorist and
his canvases fairly glow.
IT. HERE are some very charming pic
lures by both E. c. Messer and Ho-
bart Nichols to be seen in the Clarke
galleries at present Reference has
previously been made to those by Mr.
Messer, which are beautiful Landscape
themes interpreting the gentlest moods
of nature. one of these paintings has
lately been purchased by Mrs. Alexan-
der Graham Bell and will shortly be
added to her interesting collection.
Mr.. Nichols paintings are the snow
scene lately exhibited in the Society
of Washington Artists annual exhibit
ton, a delightful and accomplished
piece of painting, and two marines
painted on the New England coast
showing the rocks and the sea. The
last two quite small canvases the
kind any one can find place for in a
home, and they are painted with both
truth and freshness. 1t is seldom one
comes across such pleasing and salts
factory pictures of the sea.
Henry Wolf. the wood engraver,
came as a shock to many, and must be
recko as serious loss to the art
world at large. Mr.. Wolf, with Tim
othy Sole, did much to place wood en-
craving on high plane. and to keep
it alive an art. We are fortunate
in having here in the Evans collection
at the National Gallery large and
representative group of Mr.. Volts ad-
mirab bic work. Though he made some
original engravings, his time for the
most part was given to reproducing the
works of other artists. This he did
ways with full sympathy and having a
touch both delicate and firm. A most
excellent portrait of Mr.. Wolf was
painted by Irving r. Wiles. and is now
the property of the National Academy
of Design.
A LARGE and interesting sculpture
1A competition is to be held here very
shortly. This consists of models enter
ed by forty or more prominent sculp-
tors for the Francis Scott Key memo
rial to be erected in Fort McHenry, in
Baltimore. Congress appropriated $75,-
900 for this purpose and placed the
competition under the charge of the
War Department. The models are to
be set up in the rotunda of the Nation
al Museum by the LIST of April. and will
be on view there for some time. The
judges will be two well known and
competing sculptors, dstin-
gushed architect and two laymen The
competition has been approved by the
mission of fine art and by the Ma
tional Sculpture Society of New York |
No doubt the models will be extremely |
varied in character and treatment.
LEILA MECHI IN