The New York herald., 1922-03-05
Striking Drawings and
Poems by Rose O'NeiH

The drawings and sculpture by Rose
O'Neill, now on view In the Wildenstein
Galleries, are bewildering. People do
look at them with distended eyes. for
they are powerful, passionate and re-
ligious. II is impossible to tour the
ga allery without arriving at the convic-
tior. that one has been preached at, and
as nest of us have something on our
oorscences these days and are ready
to run :f anybody says Boo" it's
mighty guilty looking set. usually. that
the elevator man takes down from the
WilGeLstein Gallery this week.
Mrs. O'Neill is Michelangelesquc in
her attack. Her thought has roamed the
world and all the ages. Dante knew
nothing she doesn't know, and besides,
she has consulted satyrs, fauns. unborn
souls and the old lady around the corner
who reads the future. The result she
puts on paper with Rabelaisian JUNCTION.
Rabelais and Nine. Clara Butt combined.
/ don't know why / thought OF Nine.
Clara Butt all the time 7 was viewing
Rose ONeills drawings. But | did Per-
haps, unconsciously, il was call for
help. | didn't get II. never under
stood Nine. Clara Butts art. Why
should she help me? Probably l shall
This deep, powerful and terrible thinker.
you understand. is also the inventor of
the household necessity known as the
"kewpie." At least you see them about
In all the candy Shops. And also she
writes poems. The poems I understand.
They are beautiful. One of them is at
tached to the frame of one of the pic
trres, and ! wish now that | had copied
it down. But at the time l was too agi-
tated. The drawing called mot Till
Am Mad Am l Sound" had disturbed
fue.
But one thing got from the exhibit
ton and that is the impression that
Rose O'Neill Is another of those who
turn away from a contemplation of the
present. Like Jacob Epstein and Ber-
nsrd Shaw. she seems to be saying,
Enough of this. Take me anywhere
s0.c00 years A. ID. or B. c.. anywhere
and anything except the thing | see
before me-" Poor Rose O'Neill. Poor
Bernard Shaw and poor Jacob Epstein
DO you suppose 1t simply means that
they are growing old?
1t Is pleasant and rcassuring to know
that the French found these drawings
easy to cspt. The ancient Greek past
is more with the French than il is with
us. So Arsene Alexandra. critic, wrote
of these drawings, when they were
shown In Paris, as follows:
In viewing the powerful drawings ~
Madame Rose O'Neill one would hardly
bc surprised TO learn that this strange
and profound artistic is also a great
poet Her melodious and nostalgia
verses are at the same time an emana-
tloa OF and a stlmulant to her plastic
fe cling
But for us who are gathered at this
moment 70 enjoy the visions expressed
IN her drawings these are amply suf-
ficient to bring US JOY. JOY. II Is true.
a trifle strong and bitter. but all thi
more rare these powerful forms ade.
duate for powerful thoughts. Madame
Rose O'Neill has realized In herself an
alliance of paganism with spiritual
conception which the pagan world was
unable to formulate. Her drawings are
at once sombre and full OF light. ex-
allied and terrifying. IL she owes in a
certain measure TO Hellenism "a HELEN.
ism modified by ardent modern culture)
she owes more TO Pan than TO Apollo.
And this indeed is very well. for
Pan Is a more universal god on the
whole. and more vital.
But these perhaps are considerations
trifle too abstract as applied to works
that are 70 eloquent 10 the eye In
truth. ! think " Is not without cause
that the memory Of Edgar Poe asso.
ciates itself in my mind with the i'm
preston of these works. II is not
necessary to 20 very deeply to the foun-
dation of things to appreciate the i'm.
aginative artist who presents herself
for the first time. For the first time7 ?
Perhaps not quite Several years ago
visitor discovered al the National
Salon some spirited drawings which
were entirely original and executed In
a brilliant and firm manner. These
drawings were not signed, and II was
rather difficult TO discover the author
but finally Il was possible 10 induce
Nine. Rose o'Neill TO bring from Ire