Evening star., 1927-11-27
BY LEILA MECHLIN,


eraI public, 1t was the talk OF Rome'
THE artist was Walter Beck. an eN'
hibtion of whose paintings opens TO-
siay at the Arts Club, TO continue
through December 10.
Mr.. Beck is by no means unknown
70 Washington art lovers. In me
National Gallery of Art are TWO OF ms
paintings of the Life OF Cnrlst any -
large series of his portraits OF C!Vl1
war veterans. The latter were
scanned about Grants Tomb on the
fiftieth anniversary of Gettysburg. ana
rict,ue the veterans, not In the Hush
cf youth, but as they appeared al 'hat
time. They are very straiyhttor"a,u'
frank. representative paintings tis
Life of Christ" paintings are mus
trative and idealistic. twenty ol
these are owned by the biooh.s ~
Museum. one is 10 he found in the Art
Museum At MontClair. y. D. ai'ot"e'
in the Newark Museum
Rut II was not realism, 1t was not
portraits of military heroes or ldeai
islic. illustrative compositions "hiCh
set Rome agog: it was a compete III
noyation in the realm OF painting. an
effort 10 express. through the medium
Of color and form, emotional reactlons'
The paintings were entitlea leln'
neramentals." They set forth Lyric
4 :
of a Cello" The Element OF Light.
"A Voice in the Garden
In the Fall of 1925 these paintings
were shown at the Grand Central Gal
leres. New York, and those VINO spoh'
Sored the exhibition awaited with con-
siderable trepidation the reaction or
the public. To an amazing degree. IT
was favorable. The people went ana
went again. were interested "eie
1.a
y hold on their imacination. \ wriler
referring to this exhibition. said. Inc
series. when studied. will furnish con
|;ncinc evidence that the more ap.
stract presentation OF beauty ana
subject. matter is an ineNhauStlole
source of Interpretation. The magma
zion is whetted 10 a fmitless numper
nf sensations and versions In response
10 a survey of the pictures" Among
the more engaging or the muslcai SUP
iects shown at that time was one en-
1itled :'Oyertones," which was de.
srrihed as follows: ''The color would
seem to he of the earth, the sea, the
skv. the rainbow. sunsets and moon
rises. all subdued into something
glorious and satisfying. Into TINS
mass of formless color. vaporous and
more or less atmospheric and pene.
trable, Beck has painted a group OF
half.earthlv. half-heavenly ngures.
Between the definab,e and the inde.
Unable they circle and float. With an
unbelievable majesty and grace, with
n beauty Of line which only the robed
human figure can convey, these be-
ings. laden with ideas which link
humanity and divinity, long out OF
the depths, carry onward and upward
their spiritual overtones. One
loses ones self in fairyland where
fantasie rules and philosophy plays.
Others have attempted to demon.
strate the close association OF color
and sound. particularly musical sound,
hut none seems to have achieved quite
the success or interpreted 1t in quite
the way that has Walter Beck.
Mr.. Beck was born in Dayton, Ohio.
in March, 1864. He studied art at the
ROYAL Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.
and taught for some years at the Cin-
cinnati Academy of the Fine Arts.
He worked at that time in the Rook'
wood Pottery, gaining thereby an ap-
preciation Of form and of decoration.
He taught also at Pratt Institute.
Brooklyn, and lectured on pictorial
composition. In 1898 he won a COM
petition for mural decorations for the
vestibule of the city hall. Cincinnati.
He is the author Of a book on art
Principles in Portrait Photography
an extremely versatile, all-rouad artist.
TN the lower room at the Arts Club.
i beginning today and continuing for
two weeks, are to be seen photographs
: by Frances Benjamin Johnston, who
= has lately found a new field for photo.
graphic Interpretation in examples OF
early American architecture ana
colonial gardens. 1t is these which
she presents in this exhibition.
Miss Johnston, as almost every one
knows. has been for years a leader
among American Photographic pic
torialists and has done much through
her work to place photography among
the fine arts.
or special interest to local art
~ lovers is book which has lately
been published in England, The
Valiant Gentleman" the biography OF
the late Herbert Ward, whose splen-
did African collection. including his
own magnificent works in sculpture
of native Africans. was given SIX
years ago to this Nation, when 1t was
placed permanently in the National
Museum, Natural History Building,
adjacent to the halls occupied by the
National Gallery OF Art.
Through the medium Of letters and
extracts from his diaries Mrs. Ward.
the author OF the biography. has
striven to reconstruct, and to re-
narkable extent succeeded in recon-
structing the imposing and really
splendid figure of this great explorer
artist. She has brought to our knowl.
edge through her instinctively graceful
writing and the art of the sympathetic
understanding biographer the per-
sonaiity Of the man to whose talent
we are so greatly indebted. She has
told OF an artist who was more than
an artist; she has reminded us that
he was the Herbert OF Hopkinson
Smiths memorable tale, The Arm
chair at the Inn; she has recalled the
association of her husband not only
with Hopkinson Smith, but with our
own Thomas Nelson Page. as with
Stanley and other great characters.
She has unfolded an amazing tale OF
adventure, Of courage. Of high ideals,
Of devotion to mankind.
The book was written for the Ward
grandchildren, that they might know
their grandfather whom some OF them
had never seen, but it is a great gift
10 us all and to the literature on art
and it makes even more valuable
those astounding works which Herbert
Ward produced and which we Of this
country are honored by possessing.
X x u
A T the Corcoran Gallery of Art
there has been placed indefinitely
on exhibition as a loan a charming
little bronze by Janet Scudder. the fig
ure of Il child which might we'll serve
as a garden ornament or for a foun
tain.
Miss Scudder is one Of our most
gifted woman artists, skilled medal
ist, a producer of charming small
bronzes which. while full OF gayety
HnssesS the stability of fine art