Evening star., 1924-05-22
The North Window
ny LEILA MECHLIN

At the annual meetings of the
American Association of Museums
and the American Federation Of Arts
held in this city last week Prof
Charles r. Richards delivered ad-
dresses on Modern Tendencies in
European Industrial Art" which were
of not only notable interest but rath-
er startling significance. Prof. Rich
ards is at present the director Of the
American Association of Museums
after having been for many years
head Of the department of art OF
Cooper Union, in New York. He has
just returned from ten months in
Europe spent in surveying. industrial
art and Industrial museums. His sur
vey is being made at the instance of
the general education board and is
to be published in full in the late
autumn or early winter. The ad-
dresses to which reference has been
made gave a foretaste Of the trend
that 1t will take
Prof. Richards noted an interesting
change which has taken place in the
majority of the European art muse
umS with regard to the manner of
display. Previously in these muse
ums, as well as in ours. objects were
grouped according to kind; that is.
pottery, textiles. silverware, ETC.. were
each put by themselves Now, real
izing the need of the public, galleries
are arranged to show all of these
Things In relation one to another and
an environment created. or re-created,
such as that in which they might
have originally been seen. In other
words. the endeavor of the European
museums of Industrial art is now
primarily to improve the taste of the
masses. rather than exclusively serve
the student or specialist. In some
instances there is series of rooms
through which the public circuIates
ana additional rooms open to those
VINO desire to make more careful
study. This seems an evidence of
progress and may be taken as an en-
Courasing symptom. But this has to
40 with the art of display, not with
production
In connection with his address, Prof
Richards showed large number of
stefeopticon slides illustrating note
worthy examples Of modern craft
work or manufacture-furni
textiles, pottery. glassware, silver.
wall paper costume design, repre-
sentative OF the modern movement as
1t has manifested itself in Germany.
Austria, Denmark. Sweden, Czecho-
sloVakla. France and England This
movement, Prof. Richards seemed TO
1eei. possesses great vitality and en-
couraging promise. but the works
tressing ugliness and showed an
alarming lack of the elements which
nave given the great art OF the past
Its permanency of interest
Tf ~
modern designers of Europe to cast
aside all tradition and create some
thlng completely new and original
and the chief virtue of what they
are Producing is the extent to which,
along these lines, they succeed So
strongly has this idea apparently
tai ken possession of Europe that no
work which shows even a trace of
innuence of tradition is to be admit
teo 10 the great exposition of deco
ratlve and industrial art to be shown
IN the summer of 1925 in Paris, and
for this reason American desieners
ana craftsmen will be unrepresented
without doubt our manufacturers
WIN visit this exhibition. and Prof.
Rlchards propheSies that through this
medium the works shown therein will
exert powerful influence on our own
production in the future.
many years we have been striving
10 improve the taste of our people,
and great progress in this line has
been made within the past few years.
Is this effort now to be lost in the
ln-sWeep of a wave of yitiated taste
which is rising in Europe? We are
told that we must be hospitable to
new ideas. that we must accuston
our eyes to new forms, but are we
to lay aside all judgment, and are
we TO disregard intuitive instinct
soinpietely' Great art, through its
NOBILITY and beauty, manifests itself
70 al. be1ore a masterpiece in paint
inEs is VI sculpture or architecture a
large percentage of even the ignorant
stand with barred head They do NOT
pugnance re-
We have been reminded latelv tba,
hm,e. We :. 40 NOT Judge art, but are judged
mt an admiration for that which is
grossly ugly and unIovely have We
,iot cause to fear that we ourselves
nave taken downward step? Art
renects life: when life becomes sordid
ana ugly, when law and order are dis
regarded. art takes on this charactar
IS 1t along this pathway that we in
america wish to lead OF be ledo
x X y
frof. Richards says that France is
intent upon capturing the trade of
the world through industrial art and
is therefore concentrating on modern
expression. France that has given us
some of the most precious examines
or beauty along these lines; France
which has stood for generations for
hneness of taste-can it really be that
she is now turning to ugliness as a
medium of expression? Yet it would
seem SO. for these modern designs in
most instances disregard the great
principles of art-rhythm of line
harmony of color. fitness of form to
unified. TO are
There are. OF course. excent;ons
Some of the modern pottery Which
Prof. Richards illustrated was beau.
tl1ul, put the forms in these instances
were traditional. and so, also. were
the designs. The chairs. the lamr
stands. the tables, some of the glass
ware ware, the wall papers conspicuously
seemed to disregard the matter OF
proportion and nicely of skill, and
TO aim merely at extreme originality
was ever any style developed
through an effort on the part of the
3eSisher TO produce something which
mad not existed before? Is not orig
lnaiity an expression of personality
which Is intuitive and which cannot
pc produced to order? Have not the
pest things been designed to salts
~ need and with recognition of the
limitations of material?
+
FIFTY and less years ago we passed
through what we now call a dark
period in American art, the period
or the Mansard roof in architecture
the marble tom 4 a hla In f,,-a;., A.