The Washington herald., 1921-03-29
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sMITa FaoFEssoa TELLS

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SMITH. PnoFEssoa TELLS
OF ART IN AMERICA. -
Prof. Al ". Churchill. Of Smith
College was here last week for the
annual meeting Of the College Art
Association OF America. %
what is the dominant tendency
in modern art" the writer in
Quired.
simplicity" responded Prof.
Churchill. ''as expressed in the
works Of modern post Impression
lists such as Childe Hassam in this
country. :. The three outstanding
figures in the new movement in art
are Paul iCezanne. Gauguin and
Van Gogh-the first two were
French by birth, the last Dutch
man, but undoubtedly French in
feeling and technique,
The professor explained that
these men had received their in
spiration from the French impress
sionfsts Of 1870. among whom Monet
and D'Aubigny are the best known
examples.
Perhaps the best way to explain
the difference, between the impress
sionIst and the post -impressionist
would be. to take q picture by
Cezanne and compare 1t with one
Of Monet's," the professor said.
DRAWS PARALLEL. -
BETWEEN ARTISTS.
"we should hnd that Ceramics
work is characterized by an i'm
mense simplicity. even in technique.
We should discover the brush
strokes to be .imperceptibly fine. as
compared. with Monet's, which stand
out. in the four colors always used
by the impressionist painter. We
should find an absence of detail in
Cezanne's work. and an endeavor to
portray the eternal verities in the
appearance of the object rather
than the appearance OF the object
at any one time.
Il might illustrate this last point
by reminding that Monet, who en-
joyed painting light and shade
once strove to get the varying ef-
fects of daylight on a hay stack.
He bought one of his neighbor's
stacks in order to have the subject
UNDER his eye and SO that 1t could
not ba removed.
First\ he studied II in the light
OF the morning, then at noon, then
in the afternoon. He soon found.
however, that its appearance
changed many times during the day
because of the difference in Light.
Then he found that with the sea-
sons the appearance of the hay
stack changed. as well. From these
experiences he learned that the ap-
pearance of all material things Is
subject to change. He concluded
that the impression the artist
should strive to portray on canvas
should not be that of one day or
the next, but~of all time. This is
what the post-impressionists today
have in mind.
DESCRIBES AIMS
OF IMPREssIONIsTs.
They are not trying to put on
canvas the mere image made b.
nature on the retina of a mans
eye. What they are attempting 10
draw and to paint is the impression
that the sight of that object pro-
duces upon the entire consciousness
Of the behoijer."
Simplicity. Prof. Churchill empha-
sized as the most Characteristic note
in modern art. We find that the
same thing Is being carried out In
literatur. and music" he contin-
ued.
~'Tolstoy struck the same note.
When nearing the close of his career
he came to the conclusion tina, the
style he had followed in his writ
ing had been a mistaken ore. One
day he was thinking OF the style he
had followed in the writing OF
ANNA Karenina." work upon
which he had lavished much pains
and in the writing Of which he had
desir so much. with every detail OF
the life of his characters
Comparing his style with that
of the story of Joseph IN the Bible.
he concluded that he had struck the
wrong note in accurately delineat-
ing life with his pen. 1t Is an in
teresting fact that Tolstoy hit upon
this idea in literature contempo-
raneously with the early post
impressionist painters in their
grasp of the same conception in
art
The same simplicity of style Is
being employed by some Of cur
modern sculptors. Prof. Ch1rchili
pointed out, and will become more
pronounced as time goes on.