Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-14
THE NORTH WINDOW
BY Leila Mechlin.

an artist standing before the work OF
a fellow painter. He referred to
certain piece of painting, to an I'M
usual way Of doing a thing. but he
might have spoken so of any success
full artistic achievement. 1t Is never
easy, though 1t may look SO, and the
more successful it Is tho easier 1t
looks.
The artist in question in this case
was John G. Johansen and the paint
ing to which he referred was done by
his wife, Jean MacLane. A special
exhibition Of the works Of these two
distinguished artists Is now on view
in the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Mr.
Johansen came to Washington to as
sist the director of the Corcoran Gal
lery in hanging this exhibit.
n X
Lately Mrs Johansen has been
painting in a new vein, and number
Of her works In this exhibition are
distinctly unconventional. 1t Is an eff
fort, Mr.. JohanSen explains, to get
away from the present-day custom of
naturalistic painting, d custom which
has developed in modern times. The
way that Mrs. Johansen came to
adopt this new style was that after
feasting for many days, perhaps
weeks, on the works of the early
Italian painters. she saw an exhibition
of modern work in Rome and was
shocked by its lameness and it's mega
tive quality. In her pictures now she
endeavors to get as close as possible
to the spirit of the early Italian paint
ers, to recreate in her canvaseS the
charm which comes through the ele-
mental beauty of pure color and fin
design. To do this one must have an
inherent instinct for design, a trained
eye for color and a knowledge Of
structure. 1t is ono thing TO pose a
model and paint what one sees, to pro
duce the illusion of naturalness; it is
quite another thing to receive a vital
impression, say of group of figure
against the sky, and interpret it in the
simplest terms of art so that its beauty
Is preserved forever.
When asked IL the early Italian mas
tiers would not have carried their works
farther, making each fragment OF the
canvas beautiful complete. Mr.. Johan-
sen aSSented and said: But they We're
consummate craftsmen; their art was
built on craftsmanship. We still have
much TO learn" And there II is
1t isn't an easy thing to do" and the
artist who achieves must give himself
or herself to the study, heart and soul,
for lifetime, seeking truth, acquir-
ing skill, climbing. ever climbing. TO-
ward the height of achievement. How
interesting and how wonderful 1t is
that for hundreds of years there have
been always those who. along different
paths, have made this steep ascent ard
made 1t joyously, not with the idea of
wealth, not lured by gold, but with
the supreme object of attainment, the
quest of beauty,
That II isn't an easy thing TO do, Mr.
JohanSen unConSciouSly demonstrated
by the account he gave of how some
or his own pictures in this exhibition
were painted, one in particular-the
portrait of Man shall Haig, commission
ed by the national art committee for
the National Gallery of Art. by which
Il is now lent.
This portrait. a large canvas, near
iy full length, was painted in the
war office in London after many
strenuous weeks of work in Paris 1t
vas practically finished; Marshal Haig
had been most interested and kind
and patient, when suddenly. for some
unexplained reason, through a chem
ical reaction, the paint used on the
shadow side of the face turned green
There was to have been but one more
sitting. What could be done? For two
days and two nights the painter, in
agony of mind, walked the streets of
London; then he manfuily decided to
scrape out the entire head-take of
the paint down to the canvas With
this resolve he went to the war Office
early in the morning. 1t was Marshal
Haig'S custom not to arrive until
half past 10, and the PAINTER did not
intend to let him know of the calam
ity-the back of the canvas would be
toward the sitter. 1t was the painter 5
hope to repaint the head in one sit
ting, or at least to get 1t to a state
when a second sitting would complete
it. But that particular morning the
marshal elected to go TO his office an
hour earlier than was his habit. and
he arrived when the painter, with the
canvas fat on the floor, was feverish-
~ at work removing the paint, or, as
the marshal loosely remarked later
on, removing his head. His friendly
greeting filled the painter with hor-
ror, and he rose to look him guiltily
in the face. explaining what had hap
pened. Marshal Haig. realizing his
misery and being more than a mill
tary man, stepped forward, took him
kindly by the elbows and with a lit
tie shake said: why, you need not
have bothered: I don't mind trying
again. It is all right for me-" Later
on he told some one else that he was
greatly impressed by the painters
courage his willingness to tear down
TO the ground and begin over again,
remarking that that was the way,
and the only way, ofttimes, that sue
cess was won. Such was the case in
this instance. The head as now seen
in this portrait is a mastery work
of art.
No, it wasn't an easy thing to do,
and those who find 1t 50 are as rule
those who do it poorly. The great
trouble today in art, as in many other
things, is that we are all in such a
tremendous hurry; life is so short,
time Is so precious, there is so much
to be done. We hear 1t said that
never before in the history of the
world has the workingman had so
much leisure, but, after all, is thi.
true? The workingman may not,
for dollars and cents, work as many
hours day as he once did but is he
not working still harder in his play
hours than in those other hours which
he reckons not his own?
How few there seem, not merely
among the working people, but the
leisure classes, who have time to en-
Joy books, music, art. even comrade-
ship! 1t is a sip here and a peck
| there. and little that is really satisfy
ing to the intellect or the heart.
Stokowski once openly objected to
a lady In his audience arriving with
a bundle in her hand, because he took
1t for granted that she had slipped his
orchestral concert In between a shop
ping expedition and, perhaps, the
| dressmaker's Music. he said, to be
fully enjoyed, must be heard with a
quiet mind. If this were insisted upon,
how small an audience Mr. Stokowski