Arizona republican., 1922-04-02
|.N164lSflG|
FINE EXHIBITION
Of PAINTINGS BY
MARJORIE THOMAS

Many times Phoenix has had an
opportunity of seeing single-per-
haps one or two-of the pictures Of
Miss Marjorie Thomas of Scottsdale.
But never before has it had the priv
ilege. such as it is now enjoying, at
the MillerSterling galleries. where
Miss Thomas has on view some 30
canvases.
To those who are familiar with her
work, the first impression is of what
stride she has recently made in
her work. 1t has always been re-
garded as very serious carefully
studied, and we'll composed. II there
has been an attempt to render form
so exactly that her work became per-
haps a little tight and her color a.
trifle monotonous, it is not surpris-
ing. Now, however, secure in her
knowledge, she is painting freely;
her color is of a truer and q finer
quality; a luminosity. such as she
never achieved before. is present.
This luminosity is noticeable in a
large cancas entitled Landscape
with sheep and pack burros." ]" 1t dis
plays much feeling, a quality much
more evident in her later work than
in that OF former day. A smaller
canvas, Desert landscape with
cholla," has the hot stiffness of a hot
day on the desert.
"The East at Sunrise" with the
Ismountains holding the last glow, the
| foreground in shadow, and a wagon
with red shi irted Indians, in the twi-
| light, is big and simple. and one on
beholding it, is seized by the same
H1n q ell a.
sents itself in the desert-an uplift-
| ing of spirit. This imaginative quail
ity is also a new development in Miss
| Thomas work.
"Camelback From the Rifle Range"
| is an interesting composition OF
] pleasing color, and well-drawn cac-
| tus and greasewood, exceedingly diff
| ficult objects to handle. Only those
| who have tried to paint the desert
can appreciate the difficulty when an
attempt Is made at detail. in using
"spots" without producing "spotty''
picture And it is only this fault
a little lack of unity--in the "Cholla'
picture with the burros that keeps II
from being satisfying.
In MONDAY" a group Of horses at
rest, Miss Thomas displays her tall
ent for depicting animals. Well
| composed, correctly drawn, full OF
character, this is most appealing
! Her portrait of Bobby" the little
dog, one feels must be a good one, as
well as the water color of the
| "Tabby Cat"
Looking at "Richies Point" one
realizes that she knows and loves
| the desert, In some of its other
moods that she has painted she has
caught its mystery and suggested its
! illusiveness.
Unfortunately the light in the gall
lery is not as good as 1t might be,
| therefore for some reason the colors
do not take their proper values. For
| instance, the reds are redder and the
greens greener than they are in day
light, so the pictures are not entirely
seen to an advantage.
But regarding the exhibition as q
| whole. one has a sense of deep sim
cerity and an earnest striving to
| make each canvas better than the
last A strong impression of a
solidity almost sculptural pervades
all her work. This may be due to
the fact that Miss Thomas studied
modelling with Henry Hudson Kitsor
before she ever attempted drawing OF
painting. She has diploma from the
| hool of the museum OF Fine Arts
. III DOSlOH WilSIE SLuh4CQ WIZ
| such men as Edmund Tarbell. Frank
Benson, Painters Philip Hale foI
drawing and composition, a n 6
anatomy with DIR. Emerson, and per-
spective with Anson Cross. later
working at landscape with Mr.. Gal
lestion and water color with Johr
Wickers. Still later she was pupil
of Louis .Kronberg Miss Thomas is
an artisan as we'll as painter, as
her fine frames testify. Not only die
she design them, but also carved
them after they were built by local
carpenter.
For the last 10 years or more she
has lived in the vicinity of and ir