Evening star., 1926-03-07

- xdfS. NOOlluSe, recently pdlIllSu
by Philip de LasZlo. were
i placed temporarily on exhibit
ton in the COrcoran Gallery OF
Art yesterday. They are both admi
rable likehesses and supreme works OF
art.
The portrait of the President shows
him seated with a paper, possibly a
state document or one of his own
speeches, in his hands. He wears a
dark suit of clothes, but there is a
CLINT of white edge to the Waistcoat
and a touch of high light strikes a
button and the watch chain, breaking
the dark mass. Obviously, interest
is centered in the head. The eyes are
turned slightly to the left; the lips
are closed, but not TOO firmly: the eX-
preston is Thoughtful yet alert. Mr..
de LasZlo has painted the President
in his capacity for leadership. He
has done what the great portrait
painter should always do, interpreted
personality and rendered character.
This is not merely the image of man;
1t is a living man, one who will con-
tinue to live through the work of an
artist, even if he did not do SO by right
of achievement. 1t is by no means
the usual official portrait. 1t is not
the office but the man that Mr.. de
Laszlo has painted, yet that dignity
which comes with office, with author
ity, is indicated.
The portrait of Mrs. Coolidge is no
less satisfactory. Because it is in
tended for her alma mater. the Univer-
Sity of Vermont, she is represented
In her academic gown. Again the
head is turned to the left and the eyes
do not look straight into those Of the
observer, but are fixed on distant
object. Again there is Interpretation
of character, and character with dig
nifty. 1t is a characterful, rather than
fiattering portrait, one which gives
indication of intellectually as well as
personal charm. 1t is to be regretted
that this is not to find place in the
White House. Both are splendid eX-
amples of the works of a most emf
nent portrait painter.
DROBABLY the most noteworthy of
u the numerous current exhibitions
Is that of portraits in marble and
bronze by the erstwhile Russian
sculptor, Moses Wainer Dykaar, lately
shown in the New Gallery, New York,
and now on view in the National Mu-
scum under the auspices Of the Ma
tional Gallery of Art
Born in wilma in 1885. the son of
Russian parents. Dykaar at an early
age gave. evidence of such exceptional
talent that the Russian government
offered to pay for his artistic educa-
ton in Paris. The offer was refused.
The young artist preferred to make
his own way, and did so with such
marked success that at one time the
French called him "the prince of mar
BILE" Coming to this country, he spent
a season or more in Washington,
working in an improvised studio
placed at his disposal in the National
Museum. 1t was here that he
modelled the portraits of William H.
Holmes, the distinguished director of
the National Gallery of Art. and presi-
dent of the two leading local art socie-
ties; DR.. Charles d. Walcott, secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution; Justice
Wendell Phillips Stafford of the Dis
trict Supreme Court, eminent both as
jurist and poet; the late DIR. AleYand
Graham Bell, President and Mrs.
Coolidge, to mention only a few. The
portrait bust of DR.. Alexander Graham
Bell, Mr.. Holmes considers one of the
finest works of pOrtraiture in Sculp-
ture that has come to his attention.
The busts of Mr.. Holmes, DR.. Walcott
and Justice Stafford are all excellent
hkenesses, boldly rendered
1t is said that Eugene Debs, on see
ing his own portrait bust. exclaimed:
81 stand in wonder and humility, try
ing to analyZe what is really contained
in my house of clay, what that can
inspire a soul such as Mr.. Dykaar
possesses
The bust OF the late Samuel Com
pers has been enlarged to heroic size,
indicative perhaps Of his importance
as q lshnr leader
In all of Mr.. Dykaars works there
is n suggestion of the primitive, the
tradition of the peasant that which
today greatly allUres the sophisticated
But with him this form of expression
is by rights his own. His art is posi-
tive and elemental. He has an excel.
lent grasp of the quality which we
call plastic. His best modelling is in
the foreheads of those he portrays.
He secures likeness In almost every
instance, but he does not interpret
personality. His work is obvious
rather than subtle and suggestive. but
it's strength allures: Many have done
much worse; few have done better.
This exhibition opened on March
and will continue until March 20.
X x X
A T the Arts Club, 2017 street, there
is group of 25 paintings by five
Boston artists, each contributing one
fifth of the showing. The artists rep
resented are Charles Hopkinson. who,
ii will be remembered, was one Of the
artists sent to Europe by the National
Art Commission to paint portraits of
persons eminent in connection with
the war; Harley Perkins. art critic of
the Boston Transcript: Charles Hovey
Pepper, a member of the New York
and Boston Water Color Societies, the