Evening star., 1926-04-11
By LEILA MECHLIN.

NN painting In the Corcoran
Gallery of Art, the notable
collection of Italian CO.
temporary art in the National Mu
scum, the exhibition of recent paint
ings by Marjorie Phillips at the Phil
lips Memorial Gallery and exhibitions
of etchingS and water colors at the
Dunthorne Gallery. the Arts Club and
the Smithsonian Institution. the art
season here reaches its height and a
Veritable feast of diversion is set be-
fore the art lover.
The exhibition in the Corcoran Gal
lery of Art is one which improves
upon acquaintance: it is an exhibi-
ton which should be seen repeatedly
to be fully appreciated, and which
the more frequently seen the more
one finds to admire.
1t is seldom that an exhibition has
provoked more interest than the
Italian exhibition at the National
Gallery. 1t is said that more persons
have visited it here than in Boston
or in New York, where it was pre-
viously shown. 1t is an exhibition
about which there is a diversity Of
opinion and one which has created
interesting and engaging discussion.
1t Is essentially Italian in flavor. and
the fact that it could be seen here at
the same time as the exhibition OF
cotemporary American painting has
helped to emphasize this national
note.
& x y X
THE exhibition of recent paintings
- by Marjorie Phillips. which opened
last Tuesday at the Phillips Memorial
Gallery, holds its own with these
great shows because of its marked
individuality and sincerity. 1t is es-
Sentially a Spring showing, and the
first impression the visitor receives
upon entering the little gallery where
in it is set forth is Of freshness and
youth, of gentlenesS and real naivete.
The group of canvSases has just
been shown in the Durand-Ruel Gal
leries. New York. These galleries, it
will be remembered, have been de-
voted for years to the art Of the
French impressionistS. and their
standard is extremely high. At the
Durand-Ruel Galleries one may al
ways expect to find not only the un-
usual. but the beautiful-the works of
artists who have arrived and whose
attitude toward art is sensitive and
exquisite. Earlier in the season, for
instance, they exhibited a most
notable collection of paintings by
Berthe Morisot.
In New York Mrs. Phillips works
were extremely well received by the
critics. The critic of the New York
World said: They show a delicate
feeling for harmony in spacing and
pattern, especially in some of the
smaller compositions, and they have
something of the distinction that Is
more apt to belong to a reticent tenn
permanent than to an aggressive one."
The critic of the New York Times re-
marked: Mrs. Phillips has ability to
compose figures in landscape or in
an interior and keep a certain moving
unity" The critic of the New York
sun called attention to the admirable
massing of great vistas and pervad-
ing poetic feeling. The critic of the
New York Herald-Tribune found not
only evidence of advance in her work,
but remarked a stronger grasp upon
light and air and a more delicate sense
of tone" Perhaps. after all, however,
the art writer fer the Christian
Science Monitor came nearest the
fact when he wrote: This artists in
tellectual approach to nature is def.
mite and undaunted enough to bring
certain robustness of design into
play. This blend of inner mood and
outer manifestation gives Mrs.
PhtllpS work a sane ana SaEOTy
character that is the foundation OF
real art. While her talent is young
and in the making, it Is well balanced
and happily started
The IL or IA canvases which COM
pose this exhibition are for the most
part out-of-door scenes, One uncom-
monty effective Is view of New York
with a tall church steeple in the fore
ground, a view from a high window
looking down, admirably drawn,
sympathetically painted-a difficult
subject impressively rendered. There
is one interior, THE Breakfast
Room" family picture, painted not.
however. with the purpose cx portrai-
ture. but with the intent of interpret
ing the loveliness of atmosphere and
sunlight, the open window through
which the outdoor beauty creeps in.
Cherry Blossoms" is a timely paint
ing made a year ago, just off the
Speedway and shows a child beneath
a canopy of blossoms. and a horse. as
envisioned by the child. in the dis
tance. House on a Hill is the
largest and perhaps the most impos-