Evening star., 1921-11-20
Notes of Art and Artists

The group Of portraits by Philip A.
de Laszlo now on view In the Cor
coran Gallery Of Art makes distin-
guished showing. The entire east
wall In the middle gallery. facing the
staircase. has been given to the seven
portraits which compose this group.
The portrait Of President Harding
has by right the place of honor and
is now shown publicly for the nrst
time. 1t is an excellent likeness. ine
President is shown seated in an arm
chair directly facing the. the obseaweI; bsnsath
characteristics. heavy brows QuleIiy
into the eyes Of the beholder. Tne
expression is alert. but the pose es-
sentially restful. There Is that di6-
nifty and perfect poise. modest un-
possessed. which characterize our
President. This portrait was painteo
last summer at the White House ana
Is loaned by the President. Mr.. de
Laszlo is a brilliant technician. put
of his craft 1t is soberly painted,
but with great evident skill. and 1t Is
a straightforward. sound. Satisfactory
piece Of work, with the personality OF
the sitter dominant. In short, II ID q
portrait which painters and the pub
lie will equally admire noble por-
trait Of one who today is not only
most prominent in the public eye, put
deeply and sincerely honored and be-
loved by the people Of America
of Mrs. Harding. one OF the most
charming and notable works that
Philip de Laszlo has ever produced
extremely simple in its rendering, ex-
ceedingly vivid in it's Interpretation
of character. a mastery work.
To laff Of prnai6anf'Q
trait hangs a portrait of Mr.. Hughes,
Secretary of State and chair
man of the limitation of armament
conference. This, too, was painted
sketch" 1t makes an excellent
pendant to the portrait of MS. Hard
ing, Mr.. Hughes being represented in
white coat and likewise seen against
a gray background.
three-quarter length portrait Of
former Senator Root hangs to the left
of this and has as pendant q three
quarter length portrait of Gen. Persh-
ing to the right. Both Gen. Pershing
and Mr.. Root are represented as in mo
tion, stepping forward, and there Is q
agreeable. The hands Of Mr.. Roots
portrait are extremely we'll painted
and as indicative of character almost
as the face. Whether or not one ad-
mires this portrait. one must admit
ltS 4udltIlSo. ~ 10 q
great painters analysis and interpre-
tation Of a profoundly interesting.
complex and unusual personality, and
this very few portraits Of today are.
The portrait of Gen. Pershtng Is more
usual. but extremely decorative In ef-
feet.
The end places in the group are oc-
cupied by portraits Of Lord Lee Of the
British admiralty and of Mr.. Castle
of our State Department. The latter
is a rather usual portrait, which calls
for little remark. The former has
distinguished color and an unusual
amount Of intimacy Of feeling. con-
sidering the face is shown in profile.
The group will be on exhibition un-
til the 23d of this month. when the
gallery will be closed in preparation
for the biennial exhibition Of paint
ings by cotemporary American art
lists, which will occupy all OF the gal
leries and is to open with a private
view on December II.
The Corcoran Gallery Is at present
very handsomely decorated with tho
fags of the allied nations in compli-
ment to the conference. and the color
which these give in the atrium with
its gray walls and white casts Is very
welcome and pleasing.
The Jury for the Corcoran Gallery's
exhibition consists Of Frank w. Ben
SON. chairman: Clifford Beal, Charles
II. Davis, Victor Higgins and Joseph
T. Pearson. 3r.
Boston painter with a home in Salem,
Mass A comprehensive exhibition.
both current and retrospective, of his
works was shown in the Corcoran
Gallery last season, attracting wide
spread interest and calling forth high
praise. He is no less distinguished
as an etcher than as q painter and his
pictures are painted Out OF doors as
well as indoors and are invariably
full of the spirit of joyousness and
the illusion Of light and air. His
etchings Of wild birds are unique and
amazingly clever.
clifford Beal comes from New York
and to a degree Is. to be ranked with
the modernists, although his work Is
conservative as compared to that OF
many. He is forward looking. direct
dence interest in color as well as in
form. Mr.. Beal is essentially Of our
time. a genuine artist. strong
Charles H. Davis has made a spe-
cialty Of landscape painting and 10
best known for his midsummer pic
lures In the National Gallery of Art
he is represented by a very lovely
composition of rolling country clad In
the verdure Of midsummer and seen
beneath q blue sky crossed by white
floating clouds.
Victor Higgins comes from Chicago
and is a representative Of tho Taos
school, q group of painters spending
part, at least. of each year at Taos,