Evening star., 1926-11-25
THE NORTH WINDOW
By Leila Mechlin.

thankfulness. If one were to visit
the International Exhibition OF Mooern
Art assembled by the Soclete
Anonyme. now on view in the BrooK'
lyn Museum. doubts might be engen-
dered as to whether sor not grounds
for thankfulness on this score actually
existed. But even here indication OF
a change Of heart concerning old ira
ditions is to be noted. if one looks
close enough, and elsewhere one sees
it plainly.
To revolt is comparatively simple.
but to keep up a continuous state OIL
revolution is not so easy. For INSTANCES,
the New Society of Artists, formed
eight years ago as protest asanls'
the National Academy. has taken into
it's ranks in these later days g. gen.
erous number OF the more conserva-
tive artists-painters and sculptors-
and is showing at the present time III
its annual exhibition only q sparse
sprinkling of what might De calieo
unacademic work. Heretofore TINS
society has held its exhibitions at the
Anderson Galleries and has included
in them some genuinely shocking
things. This year 1t is exhibiting at
IIl6 AcILidI 1SbAASAASo' SNAN~ -
not only milder in character, but sur
rounded, as it were. by WORKS OF tnose
outside the fold.
The good things in this exhibition
would be found acceptable anywhere.
The freaks and monStrOsities, rather
than detracting from the interest, Aeno
attraction by contrast. For instance,
in the place of honor on one wall or
the main gallery is to be seen The
White Church." by Carl Melchers-a
beautiful picture painted good many
years ago and as lovely now as 1t was
then, the interior of Dutch house
of worship. The place of honor on the
opposite wall is occupied by painting
by Guy Pene Du Bois. entitled The
Opera EoX" showing q young Womans
with pale lemon -colored hair. flesh and
gown, rising in undulating curves
from her seat in an opera box. IKE
the pale frond Of a fern In dark
forest, pushing upward to the light.
The comment of a conservative mem
Der of the society on this picture was,
well. we don't all see things alike.
And neither do we.
The star picture of this eXhlDltlon
is undoubtedly "The Net Wagon, by
Clifford Beal. q work which recalls d
little, through it's vitality and strength,
the works of Winslow Homer and OF
Rockwell Kent, but is distinctly an
individualistic expression. Mr.. Beal /,
who is one of the strongest of our
Younger men, has never achieved a
better result Here is a work which
combines modern force with traditional
beauty.
There is some excellent sculpture
in this show-Edmond Quinn'S por-
trait of James Stevens. for instance
and Chester Beach's series of sketches
of a baby . days old, days old, 5
weeks old, gurgling.
Dougherty and Schof1eld. Randall
Davey and Robert Henri all make ad-
mirable contributions, and John
Sloan's picture of the concourse Of
the Grand Central Station is an ex-
ceedingly clever page from cotem'
porary life. But even the water colors,
which are the most extreme In hand
ling, are by no means startling. One
might come across just such works In
any of the big exhibitions. No. these
reyolutionists seem to have come back
to the fold.
This is not to say, however, that the
revolt was in vain. for 1t was not.
Cotemporary painting today Is un-
doubtedly more vital, healthier than
it was 20 years ago. when the younger
painters were all trying to follow in
the footsteps of those generation
ahead, re-echoing what had been said
rather than seeking new message.
In other words. one Of the good effects
of the revolution has been to induce
the artists to make friends with the
life Of today, to seek for truth and
beauty in that which Is close at hand.
X X X
The question is, has the public kept
step with the artists In this particu-
lar? Is it doing what 1t can, not only
to applaud, but to encourage, enortf
Obviously the great art of the past is
infinitely precious and should be pre-
served and cherished, but II the artists
of the past had not been encouraged
to produce, had not been patroniZed
and appreciated, where would that art
be? Italy Is not reckOned great today
because during the Renaissance she
brought to her shores great works
produced by Greek artists or rein
stated works by Roman artists of the
classical period, but on account of
what the artists who lived during the
Renaissance produced. Our only hope
Of remembrance in the future rests
on what we produce today, not what
we save.
Among our American art museums,
the most revolutionary is, and has
been since the first. the museum in
Newark, N. J. This came into exist
ence as the child Of the Public Library,
and developed under the care Of the
librarian, John Cotton Dana, a man
of original and forward looking
thought. 1t now has a home of its
own, given to the city by a public
spirited citizen, a Newark merchant.
It Is essentially an institution OF the
people.
In an admirable paper given at the
annual meeting Of the American AS
sociation Of Museums. held in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art last
May, Mr.. Dana set forth some Of the
ideals Of his museum, urging the
necessity Of a change of attitude on
the part of the museums to accord
with the changing world in which we
live. The difficulty of such change
he did not minimize. Most of us"
he said, being conservative by birth
and training, are uncomfortable In the
presence of q new idea; hence, he
argued that q majority Of those who
visit museums today prefer those of
modest, gazing sort His ideal OF
an art museum is one which Is IAN
effective factor for more wisdom and
happiness in it's community" What
could be better?
X * X X
art" says Mr.. Dana. ''is not in a
museum save in relatively unim-
portant quantity: art is where it Is
seen and not merely where self-con-
stituted experts have placed it." 1t Is
on this theory that the museum under
his direction proceeds. For instance.
in the Newark Museum one may come
across an exhibit Of everyday art