Evening star., 1921-12-04
Notes of Art and Artists

The Washington Handicraft Guild
will open it's first exhibition with
private view in it's new home in the
Allied Arts building. 1106 Connecticut
avenue, Monday evening, December 3.
from which time to December IA. the
exhibition will be open to the public
between the hours of 10 in the morn
ing and 6 in the evening.
The guild. of which Maj. Totten is
president; Mr.. Sanstad. vice president
secretary, and MIR. Neigh. treasurer
was formed this autumn with the OBJ
ject of encouraging and promoting
professional handicraft and stfmhlat-
ing interest in and appreciation OF
such work. 1t should bring together
prove a boon both to them and to the
general public.
We have in Washington some eX-
ceptionally skillful handicraft work
ers, such. for example. as Miss Marian
Lane. whose bookbinding and illumfna.
tions stand with the best produced
today either in this country or abroad
Miss Lane Is an Englislwoman, and
| learned her craft under the best mas
ters of Great Britain, but she brings
originality to each Individual task and
her own particular gift. She has ex.
ceptfonal taste and keen sense OF
! what constitutes merit in design. be.
sides which she is a gifted and pains.
| taking craftswoman.
Mrs. r. w. Smith of this city has
won distinction as a basketmaker, and
has been admitted to the master
| craftsman class of the Boston Society
of Arts and Crafts.
MIR NaIip1, 10 nj iSh DIVER
of artistic fabrics. and has produced
extremely charming effects. both
| through the medium of bat tik and tied
work.
Miss Lydia Bush-Brown. who, though
having studio in New York, counts
| this her permanent home, produces
| charming work in stenciled and EN-.
broidered fabrics of all sorts.
And these are but few. There Is
local craftsman who does eXcellen,
| wood work. gilded and tinted, in the
| manner of the Renaissance. There
| are workers in metal and keramiC
| decorators whose products compare
with the best.
Furthermore, there is a coterie OF
| accomplished craftsmen serving as in.
structors at present at the Walter
Reed Hospital who are accomplishing
| larger results through their teaching
! than many may be aware. One ex-
! ample will suffice: A young man born
and brought up in a mining town in
West Virginia, working in the mines
was drafted, sent overseas. wounded
and returned to Walter Reed Hospit al
There. as his health mended. he was
| taught metal work. When discharged
he secured a position with one Of the
leading art jewelers. of the country
and is today not only supporting him
self through his craft. but is pro-
ducing work Of exceptional excellence
which is attracting marked attention
i i: II x
| The long misuse Of the words arts
and crafts has proved serious handi-
! cap To- craftsmen, producing. to Z
great extent, In the mind of the pub
F; lie the impression that handwork j.
| OF necessity ultra in design, awkward
| and clumsy in execution. The con-
| trary is the fact. There is no work So
satisfactory, SO beautiful. as that pro-
duced by an artist craftsman withou,
! the aid of machinery. And artis'
| carftsmen do exist today as gifted
and as skilled as they did in the time
of the renaissance in Italy. There are
silversmiths now producing work as
| fine both In pattern and execution a.
that produced by colonial craftsmen
There are workers in wrought iron
| making as lovely grills and other
! architectural work as did the great
{
ages. There are tapestry weavers
working at the same kind of looms
and producing tapestries equally fine
in texture and pleasing in design as
those once wrought in Flanders or in
France. There are lacemakers not
| only in New York. but in Calumet
Mich. and in Minnesota that are rival
ing the lacemakers of France and
Italy.
What is being done in the field of
jewelry in this country was demon
strated by the exhibition of hand
! wrought jewelry and enamels lately
held here by Frank Gardner Hale of
Boston.
And. what is more. the craftsmen OF
America are not wanting for patron
age. In fact. the demand for work OF
| the finest quality is greater than can
be filed. And this is we'll. for with
out patronage no art thrives. 1t IL
customary to consider art as exempli-
! fed chiefly in paintings. sculpture and
monumental works but the art of the
craftsmen is quite as worthy and in
some instances even more important,
for it is when utility and beauty are
Joined that art becomes most signifl-
can't.
The National Academy of Desigr
is holding its annual winter exhibi.
tion in the Fine Arts building. 21i
West 51th street New York. This
exhibition. which opened on Novem.
| Der 10 and will continue until De.
ccmber Is. comprises 453 works
paintings sculpture. drawings. etch.
/, ings, engravings and prints. The
place of honor is given to a painting
by the late Abbott Thayer
The prize-winning pictures were
An Indian subject, entitled, Super.
stition." by Ernest L. Blumenschein;
a picture of sunrise by Arthur Spear
| a forest interior by Charles S. Chap.
! man. u still life, Tang Jar b.
Dorothy Ochtman. daughter of Leon.
ard Ochtman: a portrait of John Lane
the London publisher. by Ernest L
Ipsen; a landscape, High River" by
John F. Follinsbee, ami still life
THE White Vase" by George Laur.
ence Nelson.
The sculptors winning prizes were
Robert Aitken. by his monumental
group of George Rogers Clark fol-
Charlottesville, Ea.,s and Joseph NJ
Lore by his group of horses en-.
titled, THE Prairie Fire"
Hobart Nichols. formerly of Wash.
| ington, is represented in this exhi-
| bition by a painting entitled. Angus,
Morning." and Charles Bittinger BY
| one entitled. The Druxbury Hills
Everett L. Warner is represented b.
fornia entitled, MT. San Jacinto.'
! Allyn Cox, son of the late Kenyon
Cox, appears this year as an exhibitor
| being represented by a painting en-
titled. THE Rustic Diety." Mr.. Coz
was a fellowship holder for three
years at the American Academy In
Rome, whence he has lately returned.