Evening star., 1923-05-17
The North Window
ny LEILA .MDCNLIN

Excuse me-. said . tourist to an
old Washington resident. met by
chance south >ofs the White House
grounds. and pQinting to the Wash
ington Monument. will you tell me
II that is mot Clsopatras Nsedle?"
Being disillusioned, her look of ex-
citemsnt vanished, and, with evident
disappointment in her voice. she con-
tinued: y am 50 sorry;I have always
wanted to see 'Cleopatra's Needle"
Such is the' hypnotic influence that
famous sights exert upon the tourist
mind. tits this influence which. sum
mer after summer, draws like q
magnet thousands :qt Americans to
Europe. and It 10 the same influence
which likewise. Is. drawing. many to
Washington. Therefore 1t may be
we'll to consider what are the great
sights. the monumental works of art.
which are worth seeing hers In our
capital city and which, are worth
travelling far to see. .>..I..
*& - --
First among these, would now be
placed by common consent the Lin
coin Memorial. standing in chaste
beauty and monumental dignity in
Potomac Park on the axis of tho
Monument and the copitol Like all
great art. this building Ia so simple
In design that 1t seems to the casual
observer as II 1t could not havs been
other than 1t is: that 1t did not have
to be designed; that 1t merely came
into existence almost as a matter of
course. Because Of the extraordinary
merit of this design. Henry Bacon.
the architect, will tomorrow night be
awarded the gold medal Of the
American Institute of Architects, the
highest award in the gift of the
architects Of this country: the high
est honor. save that of being chosen
to design this monument, that could
possibly come to any living American
architect.
Shortly after this superb building
was completed, a Boston architect,
standing among the foremost in his
profession. commenting upon it, said
that when he was married he took
his bride to Greece to sit with her on
the steps Of the Parthenon In the
moonlight. 1T that were today. he
said, Il would bring her to Washing
to sit with me on the steps Of the
Lincoln Memorial flooded by the light
OF the moon. i know Of no other
sight comparable with that in this
country. or in any country" High
praise, but we'll deserved.
And yet there are those who mur-
mur persistently that it was absurd
to memorialize Lincoln, a typical
American. through the medium Of a
building classic in design; that to
borrow from Greece Is un-American.
What do they want? Curiously
enough. none has said. Such criti-
cism is never constructive it ,nsxsr
takes into considerations the-fact that.
we Americans are the, inheritors sef
the nations. the children Of the old
world. with a full right to carry on
their traditions. And what is really
meant by those who clamor for
things "typically American? IL it
the vernacular of the street or the
language Of the drawing. room? Is it,
the clothes We wear ;or the character,
istics of the people?. We are not de-I
scendants Of the American Indians.
for the most part, therefore. wig
parade in war paint and Wampum.
To be. typical Americans, must we
invariably saunter down the street
whistltng Yankee Doodle? Lincoln
vas great not because he once split
rails,i but because of the noble sim
plieity and superiority Of his charac-
ter. and it Is this which is memo
rialized in the great architectural
monument designed by Henry Bacon,
reared by the nation: a monument
which should carry on it's traditions,
which through it's beauty, its aloof-
ness. should cause men to pause. to
ponder to reach up.
The early builders of the nation
realized the influence of fine build
ing; they were In their way artists
as we'll as statesmen, and they recog-.
nized architecture as one OF the great,
arts. the art Of the people. In q let
ter written by Jefferson from Paris
in regard to a public building which,
was to be erected for public use he
urged that great care be taKen In
the selection Of the design. and sng.:
gested that. whoever might be- the
designer. he should take as his ex-
ample such works as thoie of, past
generations had agreed to admire.
Here. indeed. Is given an excellent
measure of merit. Art. like other
\ b inc N n 10 nj 20 h,,S
those works which generations have
agreed to admire are all of superla-
tive; quality.
- Architecture less than any of the
other arts has been Influenced by the
said, because buildings constructed in
such wise would not stand up--a good
reason. and fortunate; for, whereas, q
picture which is unpieasing may be
hid from sight, building which is
htdeous so long as it remains is an
eye sore. To prevent such we have
art commissions. but all Of the bur-
den of responsibility should not be
put on them. Curiously enough, the
public generally 10 less interested and
less well a,ns informed ,o on this subject
work in sculpture almost every
one has an opinion. but works Of
architecture are accepted without
question. The architect is never
stances he is given neither credit nor
blame. And yet design in archi-
lecture is not very different from
design In other fields: the same basic
principles govern.
r.x ~ * x
IL is interesting to note how gener-
ally architectufal; subject. have been
coming into vogue lately for both,
=