The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-05-24
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC }. HAsKN. DireOssr.
Washington ID. @.
MATCHING THE RAINBOW.

I ert Randolph Walters, who is well
known both in this country and abroad
/ as a portrait painter, is the exponent
of the new art He invented the pro-
| cess and has kept it secret.
An exhibition of these Aztec aura
/ textiles has just been held at the Art
1 club here. They are different from
| any other hand decorated silks Tints
| flow into one another in iridescent
| waves of color, and then somewhere,
perhaps at each end, there is shadow
/ scene or a vague spray of flowers such
/ as goldenrOd, apple blossoms or cog
wood. The silken draperies with their
| changing colors and elusive pictures
are as mysteriouS as the process that
evolved them.
Mr.. walters named his new art after
the famous Aztec mantles made of the
rainbow pIumage of humming birds.
1 He saw one of these mantles in the
British museum and was fascinated
| by it. It seemed a pity to him that an
art so beautiful should be lost, for in
the skillfully matched and shaded
| plumage of the birds there was a lus-
ter and an ethereal quality that he
/ had never seen in modern handWork-
1t was practically impossible to re-
vive the old Aztec speciality of feather
work. Tho Aztecs bred humming
birds in large numbers in order to
have a perfect color scale of feathers.
Almost every home had its cages OF
the tiny, gaily coloredz birds.
Once a year the birds were plucked,
and the feathers were collected by
artists who worked on feather gar
ments. On a cotton background the
workers fitted in the feathers. one at
lures and elaborate designs were
worked out by exact placing and
matching of the plumage.
A high standard was eXacted of the
artists. A special dignitary in the
kings court supervised the feather
work of the state and mistakes were
not tolerated. The artists were re-
quired to be so careful that sometimes
an entire day would be spent in match
ing and fitting one feather.
The mantles were highly treasured.
Kings and chiefs wore them and some-
times the gods were dressed in them.
In war times they were exacted as
tribute by conquring enemies. Now
only a few time-worn samples of the
Aztecs' skill remain in museums The
Indians do a little feather work for
souvenirs, and tourists buy these be-
cause of the association. but the art
is lost.
The Vision of an Artist.
Mr.. Walters left London for New
York, but in his studio in Washington
Square he still thought of the subtle
atmosphere of the Aztec color work.
Artists all about him were ecstatically
turning out batik smocks and lamp
shades, and they naturally began to
ular art of dyeinE with wax. He re-
piled that he had a vision of some
thing so ethereally beautiful that batik
with its erotic colors and set designs
had no attraction for him AFTER tax
ing this stand, there was nothing for
him. to do but to try and reproduce
his vision.
Three years ago. he went to the
artists colony at Woodstock, and set
to work in secret. He spent all of
hi with silks md
coloring methods. hoping always to
produce something that would give
him the same feeling Of satisfaction
that the old Aztec mantle had given
him. Eventually he achieved his am
bition.
The process. whether It includes
dyeing or painting with oils or water
colors, he guards carefully He eX-
plains that he has put not only his
fortune but his heart and ambition
into it. 1t was evolved out of his own
background and interests, and the
method as well as the style of the art
is therefore an expression of his own
personality.
Mr.. Walters has had a varied ex-
perience with the arts. He has been
a violin student at Leipsic, a student
of painting at Munich and Paris. and
he spent some time at Oxford delving
into the classics and studying the life
of the ancient Greeks. He invented
color organ to establish a note scale
of warm and cold colors and this scale
he later used as the foundation of his
Aztec color work.
Most of the silks in his exhibition
are meant for wall draperies or scarfs.
Long strips about fifteen inches wide
and seven or eight feet long hang on
the walls. They float in the breeze
from an open window and the ripple
makes the colors more iridescent.
It Differs From Batik
Mr.. Walters explains that this flow
ing of the colors involves one of his
theories. He believes that sharply
outlined designs are not suita Bile for
textiles that are to be draped or al
lowed to float, because the design is
lost or distorted when the material
falls in folds. He believes. that where
folds from the charm of decoration.
the folds ought to have free express
with by hand designs, that the de-
signs should float into the folds. This
is the reason of the shadowy effects.
1t IS not easy to describe anything |
gated hangings. Frederic MacMon-
mics, sculptor of the Civic Virtue |
statue which has SO upset New York, |
calls them a poet painter musicians |
vision of color adapted to fabric. Mac /
Monies added. in a flight of poetic |
glitter and simmer and sheen of |
dragon flies wings and pale sun /
risings and storm blown gardens
There is one piece entitled Rain /
bow" The long strip has at top and /
bottom a shadowy green and blue lake |
with slender reeds half visible in the /
water From these cool colors the |
sky rises thru rainbow tints TO a vivid /
orange sunset. and in the center of /
the scarf between the two scenes is
the conventional rainbow curving /
across the sky.
Morning Star" is a blending of |
dark purple, green and blue suggest |
ing the sea at daybreak, lighted only /
by one shaft of pale lemon coIored I
light. Summer" is a silk hanging |
with a background of sky blue shading /
into rose Delicate yellow flowers
bloom in the grass at the foot of the |