Evening star., 1922-10-01


with an exhibition OF immi-
grant types, by Susan Kicker
! Knox Twenty oil paintings comprise
this unique collection, all Of which
were executed in the detention room
at Ellis Island. Nearly two years ago
! Miss Knox went to Ellis Island on a
| Christmas visit. almost by accident.
but what she saw there as a painter
/ and a student of characters Interested
! her greatly and induced her I" repeat
| her visit every day for four months.
As one writer who saw the collection
! in New York said. it required courage
| and persistence to seek such scenes
| daily; to paint in a poor light and
| with hordes of curious ones looking
lover ones shoulder; to discriminate In
| types and not depart from the realm
! of the picturesque; to see as the artist
sees and to dwell in the drudSery Of
| it all.
The pictures first attracted the at
| tention of DR. Walter Laidlaw, gov
ernment statistician. who is also reg
istrar of the Clergy club or New 1ork.
1t was in the rooms of this club. at
DR.. Laidlaw's request, that the pic
lures were first exhibited. From there
they We're taken to the Museum of
Natural History, New York, by Dr
Harry Laughlin of the eugenic records
office at Cold Spring Harbor and as
sistant director of the Carnegie 1nsti-
tuition of this city. From there they
were brought to Washington last win
ter on invitation from the committee
of immigration and naturalization ana
placed on view in the rooms of the
of Congress.
Thus, because of their vivid truth,
they became a factor in government
LEGISLATION concerning Immigration.
Since that time they have been exhio-
tied a chautauduas. ana thty'.are Ia'''
to make a circuit Of the art museums
and associations of the country under
the auspices Of the American Fedora
ton Of Arts.
For the most part these paintings
represent the immigrants from CEN
tral and southern Europe - Czecfs,
Slovaks, Greeks and 1talians-a heavy.
.toical, patient people, showing little
or no emotion in their faces. herded
like cattle awaiting admission TO the
land of promise. Those pictured are
mostly women. frequently inothers.
with babies and little children on
their laps and by their sides. They
arc huddled together. awaiting their
fate without apparent anxiety or in
terest. They are the mothers of fu-
ttlre American citizens.
Miss Knox has handled her subjects
with extraordinary skill and felicity.
Her drawing is strong and good: her
technique direct and forceful and the
effects are impressive and distin-
guished by character No one who has
steamer to the steerage, deck below
but has seen Just such groups and
wondered what gifts they might be
bringing. and what pains they might
be suffering, and what they had left,
and what they would find. It is amaz-
ing how much character Miss Knox
has been able to express in the few
direct strokes Of the brush. There is
something very allurlng about the
children she has painted, and in them
one finds sprightlness and hope. OF
course, Miss Knox has not told the
whole story of immigration. There
are immigrants Of q. better class who
have seen less suffering, who have
blither spirit and who come better
equipped but she has made graphic
one of the great problems OF the day.
and at the same time she has pro-
duced pictures which are essentially
works of art. There is no reason why
art should not concern Itself with CO.
temporary problems, and. that it does
do so occasionally. as in this instance,
gives evidence of a healthy survival
OF the past. when art was more in
timately linked with life than 1t is
today.
THE Corcoran Gallery of Art Is
l. fortunate i'll the loan OF groups
of etchings by D. 2. Cameron and
Anders Zorn from the collection of
Ralph King Of Cleveland, one of the
foremost collectors of prints In this
country. These are at present ais
played in the cases especially designed
for print exhibits in the upper atrium
at the head of the staircase. The
Camerons are TO the left and the
Zorns to the right, and they make for
one another delightful foil.
Cameron. a Scotchman. etches ex-
clusively architectural and landscape
subjects. whereas Zorn is at his best
in figure work. The one is suave and
intellectual, the other bold and v1rile
quisiteness to Calneron's etchings--
beauty Of line, of simplifica ton and.
above all. of texture. which is almost
beyond words, rivaling, while not in
ity of Whistler. In the group now on
kexhibition there Is a charming inter-
probation OF a familiar scene in Edin-
burgh. the. buildings. Of the Royal
Scotch Academy and the National Gal
lery standing in bold relief against the
elusive and almost unbelievable heights
Of Castle Hill-the works Of man con-
trasted with the work of nature-n1ass
with mass--a veil of mist being utilized
to lend not only mystery, but blot out
unnecessary, detail.
There is no etcher who knows better
than Cameron how to concentrate his
lights and shadows and to throw the
one against the other in abrupt con-
trast without apparent effort. His ca
thedral interiors in this exhibition are
peculiarly charming, but no more SO
than his etching of the beautiful door,
way at Harf1eur and other architectural
subjects; nor are these, in turn. more
significant or lovely than his landsca pc
themes, In his pictures of the High
lands almost always Mr.. Cameron Sc
lects broad views of rolling country.
seen. as it were. from a distant height.
patches of woodland here and there
lending accent. His etchings have great
spaciousness, but at the same time
solidity. The little patchwork quilts
laid over the land are delicatelY, indi-
uof- fael "A IL fhA hneixnn. saerA tha