Evening star., 1917-03-11
NOTES. OF ART AND ARTISTS

The Corcoran Gallery OF Art is fortu-
nate in being able to show at this time
a collection of tapestries and carpets
from the Palace of the Pardo, loaned by
the King of Spain and sent to this
country in the charge of the Marquis OF
Valverde.. which is being shown here
under the auspices of the Hispanic So
ciety of America. The majority of the
tapestries had not previously been re-
moved from the walls of the royal pal
ace since their completion f'om the
original cartoons in the eighteenth CEN
tury. All were woven at the royal
mandatory at Madrid.
A series of ten are from cartoons by
Goya- To this series one entire room IN
the gallery has been assigned. Though
these tapestries are considerably over
100 years old, their coloring is as fresh
today as the day they were completed
They are all pictorial themes taken
from the life of the time when the car
toons were painted, and are woven to
represent as nearly as possible Goya'f
paintings. Each is stretched smoothly
on the wall and surrounded by golt
frame
One represents picnic party, aEothei
a dance. a third a game of blind mans
bluff. fourth an adventure in kite fly
ing, fifth a coach halting by the way
side, where a vender Is Offering earth
enware for sale. These are all. need
less to say, outdoor scenes. with grass
trees, sky and clouds serving as back
grounds for the figures. The actors
moreover, are gentlefoll1. probably OF
the court, full of gayety and the spirit
of play. There are others in the series
trifie more somber, for example. THE
Pitcher Girls" a group Of peasant WON
EN- coming from the fountain with their
earthern pitchers on their heads: THE
Hawseller." wayside booth patronized
by peasant and courtiers; The Prone
made" a prfncely gentleman and noble
lady, sauntering forth hand in hand
and duly chaperoned by an elderly gen
tleman, is, perhaps. more stereotyped
ana The NincomDoop," which pictures
four gay maidens tossing in Il blanket
the efiigy of man, amid much ap-
parent mirth, is comical, indeed.
These are all essentially pictures OF
the time and reflect the Spanish court
life OF the latter part of the eighteenth
century, as the paintings Of Boucher
and Vatican reflected the life of a
similar period in France.
Goya was born in Aragon in 174S and
dled IN Bordeaux in ISIS. In 1898 he
became painter in ordinary to Charles
~. position of honor which he con-
Because of his ability to caricature and
satiriZe he has been called the
"Hogarth of SPAIN" but he was an un.
commonly brilliant painter and his por-
traits are very remarkable character
izations. His coloring was strong. his
treatment invariably simple.
The series of cartoons from which
these tapestries were woven were made
under royal command for different
rooms in. the royal palace. "The MIN
Mans Bluff" for instance, were both
purposed for the children's bedroom
THE Picnic" and "The Kite" were 70,
the dining room: "The Earthenware
store" The Hawseller" and 1.-THE
Promenade" were for the bedroom OF
the Princess of Asturias.
Technically, they are remarkable
pieces of weaving, brilliant in coloring e
1ne in texture, and when it is realized
that tapestries are all woven on the
wrong side. they are. indeed, marvels
Of craftsmanship.
Perhaps. as tapestries. however, they
are less interesting than the series pic.
turing The Adventures of Don Ouix.
ote. woven by the sons of Jacob Van.
dergoten after cartoons by Proca ccini
Six of this series are shown and will
De found in the loan room of the Cor.
coran Gallery to the left of the stair.
case. They are in more subdued colors
IMAM the Goya set, grays and browns
uull blues and reds predominating, ant
nave very interesting and decorativ.
borders There is no attempt to i,ni.
tate painting; these are frankly tex.
tiles charming in color and decorative
IN effect The borders are not woven
with the pictures. but apparently were
made to 60 with them. The subjects
OF these tapestries are exceedingly
quaint and interesting.
The other tapestries in the collection
seven In number. are all pictorial, but
In the Flemish style. Presumably botl
cartoonist and weaver came from the
low countries, for there is nothing ir
these tapestries suggestive of Spanish
influence.
Spain; like France. has always recog
n1zed the value of the fine arts and has
wisely extended hospitality time and
again to those of other nations who
have excelled in this field. Naturally,
therefore. when the royal manufactory
was established i'll Madrid. Spain sent
to Flanders for its weavers, and these
in turn sought from Flemish artists
their cartoons.
In this country in recent years tapes
try weaving has had 4 renaissance For
this reason and because the art is in
itself both fine and beautiful it is
particularly interesting and gratifying
to have the opportunity of seeing thes.,
fine tapestries belonging to the King
of Spain.
At the Arts Club of Washington, ao27
L street, there is now an exhibition OF
composed exclusively of
work by Washington craftsmen. The
work is varied and of an interesting
character.
There is painted furniture from the
Belgium shop, the work of Miss T..
Mabel Sarton. Miss Lydia Bush Brown
shows stenciled pillow covers and stem
ciled and embroidered table runners:
from Neighborhood House come some
exquisite dyed scarfs, the work of Mr..
Neigh: Mrs. Katherine Crawford shows
an interesting piece of Norwegian
weaving and Mrs NJ. c. NJ. Pelos eX
hibits d piece of bobbin lace on a cush-
ion in process of production. There is a
table set out with porcelain dainty
decorated in conventional design of
green and violet by Mrs. Emma Norris
Martin, who also contributed 4 very