Evening star., 1923-06-07
The North Window
By LEILA MECHLIN

CHANGING to comment some years
ago on the attractive color note sup
piled the otherwise gray London city
picture by the red uniforms of the
British soldiers. an eminent Scotch
architect declared 1t to be his belief
to liven the aspect but to lend energy
to the lffel Of the city. IL he was cor
rect, and there Is much to be said
in support of his argument. the ha-
oitual Washington gait should have
been quickened this week by the
Curiously enough, when the prospects
of the convention were discussed
some weeks ago in an artists studio
behind north window" IL was this
chiefly stirred enthusiasm. Think"
said a painter. how splendid our
white public buildings will look, with
countless red fezzes in the fore
ground.
So much for what the Mystic
Shriners have unconsciously and In
ton during their stay. The question
is, what have they found here ar
tistically worth while. and what in
the way of new vision are they TAX
ton has three galleries of art-mean
ing paintings and sculpture-the Ma
tional Gallery, which is at present
housed and somewhat submerged II.
the National Museum; the Freer CAL
lery, so lately opened. with a build
ing of its own; and the Corcoran
Gallery on 18th street, the oldest of
the three. Through all three of these
galleries many visitors have poured.
How interesting it would be II vote
could be taken to indicate which of
the exhibits in, each of these galleries
has made the most profound impress
sion.
a story was told by an artist lately
returning from Europe of a young
American he met in Rome who was
travelling abroad for the first time
and was seeing as much as he could
in the least number of days. To the
artist he boasted that he had seen all
of Rome in three hours, having
studied his Baedeker before arrtv-
ing, mapped out route which would
take in all of the great sights starred,
hired a taxi and dashed from one to
the other, almost without pause. But
the same young man spent more than
twQ hours that same evening at the
Colosseum when 1t was flooded with
moonlight and gasped when he re-
called the stirring impression that it
made upon him.
The American Federation OF Arts,
which is the national art organiza-
ton, with headquarters in Washing
ton, has attempted to star certain
things in Washington which every
visitor from out of town should see,
but the chances are that any one of
these things seen leisurely, and per-
Sonally discovered, will be worth the
whole list glanced at on a flying
seeing Washington" tour.
But even this published list did not
attempt to look within the art gall
leries, and there may be some who
will wish, in making their tour. to
have attention directed by one who
knows them well to this or to that
exhibit OF special Importance. For
instance, in the Corcoran Gallery's
permanent collection is of special
note painting of Sunlight in the
known as the father of American
landscape painting" In this gallery
are iound also famous paintings of
Niagara, by +. E. Church, and of the
New Jersey Coast" by Richards.
Here, too. are celebrated paintings
Israels, the Dutch master. an Int
rior," with figures; The Helping
Hand" by Renouf. many times repro
duced. and with a certain universal
appeal; besides a painting by George
de Forest Brush, The Mother and
Child which stands high in the es-
innate of connoisseurs; not to men,
tiops many excellent works by con-
temporary painters that go far to
open the eyes of the observer to
beauty in American landscape and
American life. Included in the loan
in
is "a painting by Z. c. Tarbell of a
Young Girl Crocheting" painted with
all the skill found in the works
of the great Dutch masters of several
centuries ago and for which the own
er is reported TO haze paid $4,000,
time for the work of living Amer
lean artist
The National Gallery has a pot-
trait of an old man by Raeburn, which
is SO vital and SO beautifully painted
that it stands for all time as a type
of the best in this branch Of art. Look
ing at 1t one does not think Of how
it was done, one is not conscious of
pigment nor method. but seems TO be
brought face to face with an en-
gagng personality-the spirit, the
soul, Of a delightful old man. u gem
tleman, scholar, in fact an artist.
This belongs TO the Ralph Cross
Johnson collection and is worth a
trip across the continent to see. In
this same collection there is a paint
ing by Titan. so rich in color and
tone that II will explain why this
masters works have held their own
IN the esteem of the world for more
than 800 years.
Among the American paintings that
one should not pass by unseen In the
National Gallery collections are Wins
low Homers great picture of the
rock bound coast of Maine, which
this great American master, whose
genius is acknowledged abroad as
well as at home considered his most
successful work. and which gives a
vivid impression of the subject which
it depicts. Measuring the height of
the cliff, high up against the sky line,
il one looks closely enough, will be
discerned figure, puny in proportion
to the great work of nature, intro
duced to serve as a scale and to bring
in the human element. There are
notable works by Inness in this coll
lection painting by Elihu Vedder, the
illustrator of the Rubaiyat of Omar
Khayyam: a picture of Christ and
painting of The Ascension" in the
Church of the Ascension in New York
is comparable with the greatest
works of the greatest masterS-a re-
ligious picture of profound signifi-
cance.
The Freer Gallery is so new that
even Washingtonians have not yet
had time to fully become acquainted
with it, but therein will be found
that lovely painting of The Virgin"
leading two children forward into the
world, which had become familiar
through reproduction and which en-
bodies the spirit of American woman
hood in an extraordinarily beautiful
way. Here, too, are some famous
works by Whistler, and the Peacock
room, which has become known the