The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-08-30

Wich Village. has invaded the far
Southwest
This IL no more catchy sentence
based on q few instances; it Is q
literal statement of fact. In two
or three New Mexico towns. and At
large in the surrounding country.
there are probably more people OF
the type called Bohemian than any
where else in the United States. ex-
cept in the vicinity Of Washington
Square In New York sand that Of
Tooker Court, the home Of the Dill
Pickle club In Chicago.
And these strangers have come
boldly in their proper pa<ts. They
have not, to any considerable ex-
tent, taken protective col6ration.
Here are to be seen the short-haired
women wearing sandals and far
away looks. and the men with the
LOG hair who dream the long
dreams and paint the pictures that
look not like the scenery and write
the poetry whereof the meaning is
known only to themselves and God.
It, would be unfair, however, to-
give the impression that the arty
folk. who have come here are all
or even mostly dilettantes and &C.
centres. Both in Santa Fe and
Taos are men and women Of real
achievement. Mary Austin spent
winter here and wrote an excel
lent novel, and there are a dozen
artists in the state of considerable
attainment. One of the most inter-
esting Of these is Gustave Bau-
mann, who has with great success
revived the little-known art Of
making color prints by hand from
wood cuts. He paints his pictures
in water colors, makes a wooden
plate for each color in the compo-
sition and prints perhaps a hun
dred copies, which are much In de-
mand.
But limits of space make it i'm
possible to recount the separate
achievements of the many artists
who have found inspiration and
congenial homes in this theoreti-
cally wild and uncouth country.
The fact Of the matter is that prob
ably more OF real artistic and in
tellectual life in proportion to the
population is centered in northern
New Mexico than anywhere else in
the United States. Boston is an in
tellectual fossil and New York is
an intellectual prostitute. Chicago
makes a flamb0yant and self-con-
scious effort to be cultured but
Pork there sits somewhat heavily
on Poetry.
The Hacks Are Here.
: True, the man who paints pri-
marily for the establishment of cal
endars and the fattening of his own
purse is not unknown in these parts
nor Is the chap who hastily manu-
features local color into bad maya
zfnG fiction. But in the main the
artists and writer's who come here
are sincere folk who are trying tc
get away from the noise and strain
and greed-provoking atmosphere OF
the cities, and to find q new in
SEPARATION. The artists, especially
have been successful. A number
of very substantial and worth while
regulations have been made here
by men whose work in other places
attracted no attention.
Nor is it hard to understand whal
the artists find here. Certainly
one of the essentials of artistic
production is an atmosphere Of
leisure. 1t is hard to give yourself
up unreservedly to dreams of beau
ty which probably will prove un
profitable, when you are surround
ed by people engaged In desper
ate and feverish hunt for money
But down here large part Of tht
population is Mexican, and thu
Mexicans refuse to get excited o.
hurry up. They impart an cas-!
and leisurely tone to existence.
| Even the gringos feel this influ
ence to some extent. Undoubtedl,
New Mexicans as a whole take lii
much more easily than New York
ers. 4
And the actual cost Of decent liv
ing is not high here. You can hav'
a cool and quiet room in an adobe
house and a saddle pony and some
thing to eat for an amount tina
would buy you only a, precariou!
and sordid existence in one of oul
centers Of so-called civilization
Here are none Of the costly flesh
pots that SO often induce the young
intellectual aspirant in New Yorl