Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-09-20
JOHN D. MclLHENNY
On Possibilities In National Art

MANY DISTINGUISHED critics have dis
AVl covered portents of a great epoch IN
American printing and sculpture. Johh ~.
McIhenny. president Of the l"nnsylvania
Museum and School Of Industrial Art. Is one
of them. Recently Mr.. Mcilhrnny returned
from n reyisitntion of various European art
cpntcrs and was much encouraged oE 'he
signs he found there.
"Most significant" he says. was the GiS.
covery thnt American taste in art iS a' 'aHt
on n firm basis. For certain evidences oI
his fact. ono indeed does not need to go
nbrond, but was delighted to have the word
from such experts as the European dealers
themselves Never we're there so many
American tourists in Europe as now. ana
never has so much American money peeh
spent on art.
"On the other hand. American BUYERS
wore never 20 sure of their ground. The
hest are equal to the cOnn0lSScurs "t
Europe, and the hest equipped OF them are
not to BE- impressed by m"rctrl ,i"uS w"rkS.
The general run of pictures coming INTO thn
as. IL not better than, the general run OF
nicturrs that find their way from European
studios and galleries into European homes
Are Buying With Discrimination
81 don't mean that Americans are buying
mn wholesale the art treasures. stories OF
that sort of thing have been exaggerated;
mean that Americans are buE'hS M'h nlE
criminatiOn and sound thst"' Il r'Su' LhIs''!
NJ the ert consciousness that is growing at
home.
.,II,u much this means will strike any
ono familiar with the samples Of European
ort' brought home by american to"rists m "i
tho seventies and eighties. They are still
TO be seen plcntifully in homes ana IN SHOPS
while an old family fails into difficulties;
,harc il nm auction and these grot"Sque ana
nnthctic specimens are offered with the
nrthrr household goods for sale. Whoever
hnrs doe. SO usually for reasons more or less
u"cr,t u"S A. decorations they are wors" than
worthless The rcgenernt"d taste of the
,i,'o. Confines them sheepshly to garrets or
sub cellars.
."rho new discretion is evident among all
classes Of people. although naturally it IL
further dcvcloprd-and Som't'm'S cSqui-
siely dcveloped-hnohs PeoP" VI "''''
general culture.
American Critics Respected
eft would be- we'll II Americans generally
know that their countrymen are weN to the
frnnt us critics and are listened to with
No. greatest respect In Italian art they
dominate the field, The foremost living
authority on Italian art is BERNARD Her"n-
son r. Mason Perkins and krhard ohncr
Hkewise are among the great scholars in
this field.
"It will be seen that IL We have not yet
an American tradition or an American style
We have American scholarship, American
interpretations Of the greatest standards,
and mt last II trustworthy popular taste.
E,nch wear we are growing less dependent
unon Europe Though few years in
Europe are still very important thing in an
ort students education, all but the most
nmhitious of them can manage without It,
,"The time will come when. except for tra-
ditions we may be altogether independent
nf Europe; that il to say, our schools may
hecome as sufficient to our students as those
of France to the French students. How far
nwnv that is depends much on things which
cannot be determined by arithmetic.
Future Note Yet Unsounded
oft il lust as impossible to say what note
or combination OF notes the new American
ort will strike. Social life Is in constant
ANY and with it to some extent the 'Amer-
con scene Perhaps there Is some beginning
in the school Mt Taos, n NJ. No one can
say ut the moment,
"As to the influences that have brought
| Ms so far the greatest Of them has been the
American realization Of the utility Of art
I'tlity has been and always will be the
strongest force in any art What can be
done with it? The answer must be---nearly
everything. The uses OF an art that can
| present instantuneousy and viyidly a given
iden or the mere nuance Of q given idea are
infinite. But there are uses that more than
any other fit the spirit Of the age. -Advcr-
tising il doubtless one OF them. Many Of