Evening star., 1920-03-28

In the presence OF these W. ~ :,
! is bound to recall the sculpture oi
! Prince Troubetzkoi, which is likewise
| ivivacious and enormously clever per
; hans n little more studied. "a niue
more profound. but of somew ha
similar type and also deliGhttul.
CuriousIy enough. these e>'rer,leiS
! modern works also bring TO ntnd
, works bv an American sculptor OF our
| darkest period. which have beeh III
!recent years held in such dIsrepuie
| that they have been mentioned only
! to he condemned or smiled at YET
l works which possessed more thah an
element of real merit-the small
sculnture groups. by John Rogers.
which during the civil war per1oo anu
jimmediately thereafter We're 10 be
! found in many best parlors ihese
| we're not fundamentally plastic III
! conception. They We're sup1eCtiNe'
but they were we'll modelled ana re-
hected cotemporary Amerisan ad ~ .saI
; at it's best Not a few possessed rea
! charm and pathos. in others puople"
! I'D a delightful humor. Figures IN
| these groups were detached Tor the
most part. In other words. the groups
J did not build up in pyramidal FORM.
[ which Lessing declared essentiai ior
| correct plastic expression but'
strangely enough. We are returning
! today to this detached mode OF sculp-
| tural grouping. Witness the only wa 7
| memorial which has s yet beeh se'
lup in Paris-figures of woman VIZ,
! a child in her arms and of return ne''
. soldier set some feet apart. but IN
obvious relationship Witness the
Boy Scout monument by Andre W
| O'C'onnor. lately erected in one OF
| lChicago's great parks through lne
| generosity of private cltlZeh' III
which four little boys and dog are
lined up together. each independen,
of the other. each very vital ana ,,,, iu,,
of energy. Witness again finally
some of these little sculptures by Mrs.
Osborne OF children portrayed III
happy play but at arms length from
one another.
None of these groups is more
; charming or more meritorlous than
| that of the little Hennen and sylvia
Hackett. grandchildren of the late
Hennen Jennings. The group setting
forth Mrs James ]. Storrow ana her
grandson is very delightfully."- per
sonal. Each, however has It's own
individuality.
That thev are not faultless is not
to say that they are without charm-
Perfect English may give expression
to extremely dull ideas. MRS. Us
borne's ideas are not dull. but, to the
contrary are very entertaining.
II must be admitted. .thowever. that
these little works in sculpture are
very badly shown and that Tor their
anpreciation they have everything
against them. The light is from
both sides, the surroundings are out
of scale the backgrounds are insult
able. 1t has been discovered by the
museums today that there is ainosl
as much art in display as here is IN
production. Every work OF art. iur-
thermore, should have the best chance
that can be given it for an under-
standing appreciation.
AT the Hisada Studios. in the orl-
entail department, there are no" TO oe
seen two extremely flne ana uhusuai
oriental paintings. one, japanese anu
the other Chinese. The former is
complicated design showing three
principal figures in the center. Buddna
and Bodhisattwas surrounded by
border made up of innumerable de-
mons of varied co1ors. some red, some
brown. some green. so comelned thdt
the pattern is most interesting ana
excellent. a curious motive. most Ell
fectively handled. To the student OF
oriental art all this is insignificant.
but to the average art lover the charm
of this panel lies in it's amazing COL
orings, its superb decorative erect
The oher painting. which is Chinese
of perhaps the seventeenth century,
is portrait-a likeness OF woman
who took an active part in political
life and exerted strong influence
over the ruling powers of her day.
She is shown seated and is wearing
a red gown. The figure and race are
squarely toward the. observer There
is no modelling. no attempt at sug-
costing perspective. Simplification
along these lines has been carried
to the nth power. Here. in fact, is
in Superlative degree what Manet
and his followers strove to accom-
pli/h, what Holbein and Eelasquez
n0inted toward. in evidencinS the
Fundamental relation of all great art
this is an extraordinary example:
During the war certain discoveries
were made. two of these already nav
ing and promising to have sun more
influence upon the development on arr
In this country One was the use OF
the pictorial for advertising pur
poses. and the other was the use OF
shop windows for the purpose OF sPe
ciaI displays. 1t has been SAID that
billboards and the shop winoows a,o re
the peoples picture galleries, ana 10
an extent this is true. we see Whal
is on the streets while we do not al
ways have the time to go to the mu-
Sc inns in search of recreation: Ihe
Fifth Avenue Association OF Ne"
York is going to hold a unique eXhi-
bition. During the week or April
10 10 .he 5th avenue shop windows
will carry to the passing throngs the
national message of art ana COM
merce Special exhibits for each es-
tabIishment are being planned, uhder
the cooperation of a special commit
tee. and the whole will be considered
as a unit and so designed. 1t will be-
come a great community festival.
There will be tableaux of industrial
art, community singing. decoration
and illumination of streets and stores.
iS
Of color by day and glorious golden
way by night" Each exhibit will
carry "A lesson in fine craftsmanship.
1t is hoped that II relationship be-
tween commerce and the arts VIII be
established making for a finer citizen
ship. 1t will be spectacular. but with
a purpose If ii is done successfully.
and there is little doubt but what 1t
will so be done. the example could be
followed in other communities with
excellent effect.
We have had, in Washington during
the past week, a suggestion of the
possibilities along these lines. The
automobile Dealers shops have sud
denly blossomed forth ike spring gar
dens and the windows Of some of the
shops on F. street show in their spring
decorations not merely cleverness Of
arrangement but genuine art in de-
sign These things evidence an i'm
provement in taste and will go far to-
ward creating in time an art loving
public.
X X
An exhibition of miniatures by Lucy
NJ. stanton and bronZes by Mr. and
Mrs. Hermon A. MacNeil is in progress
now a the Jones Art Gallery. 800
North Charles street. Baltimore. Md,
and is well-worth seeing. Miss Stan
ton comes from Athens, Ga. and has
won great success miniature
painter. rendering little portraits Of