Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-12-31
NOTES OF ART AND ARTISTS

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
| The exhibition Of pictures of ma.
tional parks by eminent American
artists. which opens in the National
Gallery Of Art, the National Museum
Tuesday evening. is in every sense
notable event. Not only will 1t include
works Of much interest and merit from
tho artistic standpoint. but It will sig.
nifty q turning Of the attention to the
| beauty Of our own country and to the
| value to the citizens of our great ma.
tional parks. That these parks are
merely recreation grounds for the
physical man Is a mistaken concep-
ton. 1t is their natural beauty and
their magnificent scenery. which. both
as government reservations and public
pleasure grounds. are their chief asset
It is customary, especially In this
land Of ours, where natures gifts have
been most lavishly bestowed. to de-
preciate the worth OF our own posses
sions and to hold in low esteem that
which is common. We have ruthlessly
destroyed the works of nature. which
Fin many instances can never be re-
stored. Other nations have been wiser
the enormous value 10Th -estheticallJ
and commercially of her natural
scenery. the result of which. until the
European war began. thousands OF
| mer. enriching her people and. Incl
dentally. themselves. SO
The beauty Of our national parks IL
! for every one, but the painters. through
| their prescriptions and interpreta-
lions. are helping to make 1t known
1t IL for this reason that the Depart
ment of the Interior has arranged this
exhibition and has announced 1t as an
annual affair.
There was boatman who day after
day made a certain trip through par
/ ticularly beautiful section of this coun-
try on one of our canals. 1T must
be delightful" some one once said to
a amino this p psaatifn nis SCENERY y
said the man with some surprise
there amt no, scenery around here
that knows Of" And SO 1t goes, but
| the mission Of the artist is to open
one of the frst outcroppings Of ma
tionalism In our art was evidenced
when a group of artists set out to
paint the majestic scenery of our far
west. with the idea that by picturinS
scenes which could only be found in
America they would be producing work
purely American in flavor. To an ex-
| tent they were correct, for In interpret
ing scenes heretofore Imprinted the in
clination naturally should have been
mode of expression. This, however, did
not follow and the result was in many
instances that the pictures. while pos
| sessing the letter Of truth. failed to
Express the spirit Of nature. That was
back in the days of the Hudson River
School of realistic landscape painting,
when size was misinterpreted as big
ness and the realism of knowledge
as visual truth. Yet there Is much to
be said in defense Of these early piano.
annie paintings by the pioneer paint
RS. After a brief period of favor, how
ever. their works dropped to compare
lively low esteem. and not long ago 1t
was the conviction of the majority of
he artists that the scenery of our
great west in It's vastness and grandeur
was utterly unpainta table.
If we are not mistaken. IT was the
management of one of our great west
ern railroads which corrected this be-
lief, inviting a group of the foremos
Young landscape painters to make
trip to the far west as its guests, and
20 paint pictures. as orders which
would be real pictures and works of
art, and would demonstrate the beauty
of that country through which their
trains passed. So enthusiastic did these
young men become that they formed
themselves into group styled The
Painters of the Far West" and have
mer after summer to paint that which
Md been declared ma efficiently I'M
pa intable.
Meanwhile in the middle west there
has been gro ing up small coterie
of painte who have formed. as IL
were. a school of their own and living
amid the vastness have grown familiar
with its charm. The leader of this
school is Rirger Sandzen. who comes of
Scandinavian stock and is picturing the
great west with some of the force of
that hardy race of people. He is not
painting II as do the eastern artists.
but setting forth visions of his own
and in a manner unlite other painters.
Representative works by all of these
men, the pioneers. the explorers, the
ne he
exhibition so shortly to be set forth in
the National Musn"m under the ausoices
of the Department of the Interior. This
exhibition has been assembled on COM
paratively short notice and 1t does not
pretend to be complete or fully COM
preh ausive. Fut 1t is a beginning, and
a beginning in the right direction. both
as emphasizing the value of hearty as
an asset to be reckoned with in quoting
the V ealth Of a nation and as evidence
OF recognition Of the value of art.
TIE exhibition has been assembled
under the direct supervision of Robert
Sterling Yard of the national parks
service. and is. displayed through the
and assistance of William
II. Holmes, curator of the National Gal
i'll pen to "a
public for q fortnight or more.
The exhibition will be opened to the ,
public Tuesday evening, and no cards of |
admission have been issued.
= u
The first group exhibition to be held in
IT.