The New York herald., 1922-03-12
Public Finds Some
Art of Independents
Quite Worth While
Thousand Persons Attend Ex-
hibition in the Waldorf Roof
Some Sales Made.

celebrated Society OF Independent Ar
lists threw open to the public at the
Waldorf roof the doors Of its sixth an
nuai exhibition. The public, In spite Of
the gloom OF q wet March day, or pos
siDly for that very reason. was there.
To- the number or LOCO persons, and
quite obviously meant business. If there
wore laughs 1t was prepared to laugh
them now, and II there. were seriously
good pictures 1t intended to enjoy them.
All day long and almost up to midnight
last night sober citizens. catalogues In
hand, marched 4 through the galleries
alone or In buzzing groups. peering ear
ncstly at titles and scrutinizing the can
vases even yto the rexnotest corners Of
the odd shaped rooms the hanging COM
mfttee had as us1al constructed for the
occasion. There were three sales. Felix
Cross editor Of Art, Reoie,o, bought
"Maytime." by Antoinette Dwight; Ru-
dolph Diamond Of 50 West Seventy-sixth
street. bought Martin J. Jackson's In
dependence Day" and Margaret M.
Laws Racers" W
It was plain that the pictures and not
the people were the attraction. At the
private view Friday night there was
some Doubt as to which was the prfnci-
pal show, though most observers would
have voted for the crowd. which, as
usual, almost literally came with bells
on. .tts4
Yesterday the seriousness of the occa-
sion was almost oppressive. An English
man might have found occasion again
for one Of the well known platitudes
that we lack q sense Of humor or. that
as a people we take our pleasures sadly.
Can 1t be that the reformers have again
got in their deadly work and that peo-
pie no wgo to the Independents Show
as to the Academy. determined to feel
the Uplift and get the Message? Per-
haps. indeed, the Tragic Turnip" and
Poets Dream" do have a message.
Who knows? 1t Is the enigma OF the
Independent Artists. In spite of occa-
sional laughter yesterday it seemed to
be the general impression that they did.
Who knows? Perhaps they do.
Varied Field Covered.
At any rate 1t appeared that In spite
OF much mediocre work with and with
out comic and pretentious titles there
were number Of things this year
quite seriously hsautiful ands worth
while. Some independent fans havo
claimed already that this is a bet
ter show than last year. in fact q
III
1t Is probably too soon to speak with
certainty. For 1t takes time and re-
peated visits properly to appreciate an
exhibition OF the Independent Artists.
The field covered by the varied inten-
tons and methods of the oddly assorted
exhibitors is so great and the situa-
tions created by the astonishing juxta-
positions of the alphabetical hanging so
puzzling that some shrewd looking Is
0ffan ma In, kn nf1a
even tried and trusty friends. And as
for the new friends one is continually
making, they are one Of the excitements
of the Indep pandents, too. Gradually one
becomes surer who they are, as well
as how well the old ones wear In this
cut throat company For the real se-
cret of the Independents shows is that
1t Is test of the mettle OF the OBJ
server quite as much as Of the pictures
medaled. the exhibits. There is no
handy guide for visitors. One enjoys
what one. can. And as In the old fash
ioned circus. theretis something for all
If one comes without a taste or without
knowing 1t he soon creates one or finds
the level ofethe one he has. And the
effect is one Of never failing fascina-
ton. Even so seasoned a student Of
pictures and art shows as John Sloan
admits to It, The more 1 go to Inde-
pendent shows" he, said. a day or two
ago. the harder I find 1t to enjoy any
other kind 49,.
One prospects about and finds new
and piquant things or works OF solid
worth In unsupported corners. Charles
A. Aiken's THE Winds" In the first
room. Is an arresting conception, though
scarcely modern in treatment. The But
lers. father and son, Theodore Earl and
James p, send pleasant things from
Giverny. Oscar Cesare, the cartoonist.
reveals In another room q fresh side In
two thrillingly imaginative water colors,
New York. Alt. 3.000." and From an
Oriole." Jenny Van Fleet Cowdery.
most charming of our amateur painters,
an independent discovery of a previous
year, EXHIBITS two oanvases in her now
well known vein. An ANTIQUE Vase with
Flowers" by Olga Christensen has. in
spite of Its chromolike quality, a gem
uine charm which many OF the more
sophisticated canvases present might
gladly give their frames to possess.
stuart Davis nearby, revels in his most
fuilblown Picasso manner, almost con-
vincing, and James Daugherty across
the way shouts an ''Oratorio" in masses
OF riotous color.
Works of other Artists.
Two such diverse talents as Morris
kantor and Ilonka Karasz hang side by
side. the one with daring improvisations
and the other with glowing fruit and
flower studies. Bertram Hartman shows
one OF the most imposing of his impress
sions OF New York architecture. an oil
called Looking Up" Two witty things
by Lucien Labaudt, Man with the
Gray Hat and The Bridge. San Ma
teo,' proclaim a modern talent new to
these walls. Marjorie Organ-who. can
IL be. 10 Mrs. Robert Henris little sister
appears an. a brilliant caricaturist.
Her In the Greco Room" makes one
hope that whoever removed "John Butler
Yeatss Reading Riders to the Sea" will
return It soon to the space reserved for
Il. fine "Still Life" with flowers. one
of the well understood and painted
things OF the show is by Henry Mattson,
another newcomer here as well as on
Fifth avenue. Fiorine Stettheimer shows
In her usual manner In her usual place
large Spring Sale that is as usual
one OF the genuine joys of the exhibition.
Carl Sprinchorn has two of his bold and
free renderings OF landscape paintings