Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-04-22

The Corcoran Gallery has recently
received and placed on exhibition as a
temporary loan The Dancing Girls.
an important painting by Cecilia Beaux.
This picture represents two sisters, the
daughters of the late Richard Watson
Glider. the older holding the younger
by the hand and teaching her one OF the
first steps in dancing. Each has foot
extended. is holding out her dress and
looking down in interested attention.
not posing for portrait. but portrayed
at a moment when utterly unconscious
and absorbed. The younger sister
wears a pink frock, the older is dressed
in white. but pink underdress shows
through the hlmy waist of her gown.
repeating the delicate COLOR note in the
graceful composition.
1t is not a recent work, but il is a
notable accomplishment. one of the
really fine and great paintings which
have been produced in this country.
Some may object that it lacks the note
of modernity found in Miss BeauNs
more recent portraits. but it is no less
distinguished or characteristic. Not
only does it satisfy the eye. but also
the intellect. and its appeal is not for
the moment alone. but for all time.
This painting is pervaded by gentle
sentiment and tender reserve not in
compatible with strength and frank
ness. though perhans rarely SO COM
bined. 1t was in this picture, in which
for the first time the painter demon
strated her belief in the theory.
strength in the center and flexibility
at the circumference" which has
strongly Influenced her productions.
Miss Beaux is without question one
of the strongest and most distinguished
of our American painters. She is a
Philadelphia by birth. her mother an
H..
From her earliest childhood she has
been surrounded by cultured people.
Her success. however, has been at
tanned almost entirely through her own
efforts. When but young girl ii be-
came necessary for her to earn her
art, using without scorn the means
closest at hand, but casting each aside
as in the process of advance it became
useless. She did certain work for the
geological survey, She painted china,
she made crayon portraits and photo
graphs and she taught. doing each of
these things to the best of her ability,
studying and applying each bit of ac-
CURED knowledge. not pampering her
talent, but never deSecrating it by
poor product. When opportunity came,
she went abroad and in a very short
space of time came into her own as a
painter, her pictures being exhibited at
the salon and her place among paint
ers being almost Immediately assured.
Miss BeauX is abundantly endowed
with talent, but, what is more. she has
an exceedingly rich nature and forceful
character: whatever she does inTari-
ably possesses distinction. derived not
alone through the artists genius. but
as the expression of her own personal
ity.
She is not represented in the perma-
nent collections of either the Corcoran
Gallery of Art or the National Gallery.
and for this reason the present loan of
THE Dancing Girls" is the more noia-
worthy and welcome.
The American Federation of Arts an
nounces it's eighth annual convention,
to be held in this city May To- IL and
Is. This will bring to Washington
artists, art museum directors. officers
of art societies and art lovers from all
over the country. The sessions of the
which will be open to the
public, will be held in the ballroom of
the Raleigh Hotel.
At the opening session, May 16. the
address of welcome will be made by
James l.. Slayden, chairman of the Ii
brary committee of the House of Rep
resentatives. and the speakers will be
Breckenridge Long, third assistant sec
rotary of state and president of the St
Louis Art League. who will speak on
THE Place Of Art in a Democracy" and
Charles Moore. chairman of the federal
of fine arts and director of
the Detroit Art Museum, whose subject
will be, Outdoor Art in Washingt ton"
Robert w. de Forest, president of the
American Federation of Arts, as well
as of the Metropolitan Museum, New
York. and vice president of the Red
Cross, will preside at this meeting:
AT the afternoon session John Fred
erick Lewis. president of the Penn
sylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,
will preside. and Modern Art and
Modern Methods" will be under dis
cussion. Duncan Philips speaking on
Modern Art; Arthur Fairbanks, di-
rector of the Museum of Fine Arts.
Boston, on Museum Standards" and
Florence n. Levy, editor of the Amer
lean Art Annual, on The Cost of Art
The subject on the morning of May
II will be Educational Work" Arthur
A. Hamerschlag, director of the Car
negie Institute of Technology. Pitts
burgh. will preside. The speakers will
he Dudley Crafts Watson of Milwau-
kee, who will tell of the introduction
of art exhibitions in state fairs: George
Breed Zug of Dartmouth College will
speak on Art Exhibitions in Colleges"
and Mrs. George w. Stevens of the To-
ledo Museum of Art on Museum
Methods"
.aThe Useful Arts" will be considered
at the afternoon session on the second |
day. when John r. Van Derlip, presi- |
dent of the Minneapolis Institute of