Evening star., 1922-12-17
COLLECTION of etchings and
drawings by Lester G. Hornby
is now on view in the Corcoran
Gallery of Art There are for

I
six each. These represent work done
at varying times and places. etchings
| and sketches in Paris, 1s06-16: West
| Indies, 1917: Marne valley. 1912 to the
war. and 1918. during the war. when
Mr.. Hornby was with the A. L. +. at
the -ront. and, finally. last summer.
| sketches made at Rockport and at
Gloucester. They are very different and
for this reason perhaps of the more in
terest
| The pencil drawings or sketches. being
! IN crayoh and done with a broad s;roke,
have much the appearance of litho-
graphs and are utterly unlike the etch-
ings. which are extremely fine in line
| and evidence delicacy of touch. The
| Rockport and Gloucester studies are
| characteristic of Cape Ann and possess
tha1 picturesqueness which is typical Of
the places. They are frank, straight
| forward statements. cleverly set forth
| and have in tone and aspect checrI
| robustness. The West India scenes are
! in some respects more interesting and
| snow, II would seem. a greater ability
Tor smpification as well as more strlk-
| ing effects OF light and SHADE. They
have an appearance of greater spon-
| taniety.
| The war etchincs are chiefly of inter
est because of their historical reference
4 Say what on will. war today is not pie
] 'uresque. And what a contrast there is
! between the confused subjective mass
! OF these war ctchings ami tine cain
! serenity of the four other groups done
before death and war stalked abroad
hand in hand.
| To many these etchings are already
familiar. but no amount of familiarity
can rob them Of their beauty or their
charm. In fact, the better they are
4 l. ..
| Nifty.
As Mr.. Weitenkampf. director Of
| the print division of the Public LII
brary in New York. has said in Il pub
/ lished article. MIR. Iiornby does NOT
| see the buildings he etches archi-
eloquent the walls reared long ago,
nor, on the other hand. does humanity
| alone interest him fully or draw out
his best effort. Eut buildings and
streets and figures combine in a pic
| ture OF present-day life and activ-
! ity. Buildings not simply as a dead
| BACKGROUND, but an integral part of
the life presented, figures as active
| participants in that life. AL bathed
in sunlight. presented vivaciously with
| unbiased observation. with light
! touch, spontaneous Vet definite.
For example, take "Dans le ia 1in
| du Palais-Royal" and "Hivcr dams J."
fJardin du Luxembourg" both delight
| full examples Or again, examine SOM"
| of the little archWays. alleys. that h"
pictures, opening off The crowded
| streets. they are all delightful. pic
| turesque. full Of spontaneity and del
| icately rendered. That Mr.. HornhY
| has keen sense of artistic values is
| shown by his choice as well as treat
mert of subjects. Rarely in his inter
| pretation OF architectural themes
does he SET forth elaborate compost
tions. but rather little bits here and
! there of peculiar picturssqueness,
each more charming than the otner.
those things of beauty which the
artists eye most quickly discerns and
! which IL is the artists privilege to
make NANTES; to his fellow men.
| But Mr.. Hornby has not confined
| himself entirely to city subjects. TO
| architecture and people. one entir"
group in this exhibition is made up of
! landscape etchings of the open coan-
which effects OF light are given prom
! inence.
| Back III 1911 or 1912 he did series
F. of nine such etchings of skies AS seen
from as many different hills little or
no variety in the landscane itself: bu',
to again quote Mr.. Weitenkamrf
| just unaSsuming studies of unas-
, suming scenes full of the -moyemeni
of clouds. breezy. sunny" OF all his
etchings these are perhaps the most
marvellous and most individual ON.
is of the Marine at Chateau Thierry As
| il was in 1913. The human element i
introduced in another by way of a
cart driven by peasants. which wends
its way over the broad, ribhonlik.
/. road
Mr.. Hornby has interpreted French
| country with peculiar truthfulness.
and those who love France must love
; his etchings. The French landscape
| is different from that of other coun-
! tries, more open. more reticent. with
features less pronounced. gentle
| lyric couched in loveliest terms.
| Mr.. HorUhy has a place among the
foremost etchers "f. today and he is
one of those who can rightfully claim
kinship with the great ttchers VIII"
have gone before, Whistler. MerHon.
Rembrandt great artists of all time.
CEORGE JULIAN ZOLNAY Of
~ Washington for the past few
! months has been occupying Il studio
! in Rome, where several of his recent
works in sculpture are being cast.
| One of these is a war memorial to he
erected in Nashville. Tenn, under the
auspices of the Kiwanis Club of that
| city. and of this a private view was
! given in Mr.. Zolnay's studio Novem-
/ Der 80.
! Mention was made of the event in
! following comment: This masterful
work. which is to be cas-, in bronze in
! Rome, symbolizeS the sacrifice not
| only of the American soldier but also
the equally heroic sacrifices of the
American mothers who dedicated
their sons to the defense OF the liberty
, of the world.
The conception of this group is
! based upon the motto which viii be
! inscribed on the pedestal of the monu-
ment, I gave my best to make a bet
ter world conception which per
fectly eNpr. SseS the mental attitude
of the American people toward their
participa ton in the world war.
while the bronze moldS are being
made at the foundry Mr.. Zolnay vii!
visit Rumania and Athens, returning
to Rome early in January to retouch
the molds before the bronze is actu-
ally poured.
This is the third time this illus
trioua American sculptor has executed
| work in Italy: the affection he
cherish"s for our country caused him
to prefer Rome TO Paris and follow
ing this personal preference as we'll
as the assistance of his friends at the
Italian embassy in Washington, he
made bis temporary headquarters
here.
I "Mr. Zolnay. like all those who
{, love beauty, adores our Rome and
, expects to- return next year for al
extended stay, and We shall be only
/ too glad to again welcome this dis
| tinguished artist. whose genius con
! tributes so much to hold aloft classic
+, art in America"
In a letter recently received from
Mr.. Zolnay, account is given not OF