The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-03-10
Fine Collection Of Pewter Is Now on
View at John Heron Art Institute


Heron Art Institute, lent by Miss
Anna May johnson and displayed in
cases in Gallery III, includes some
exceptionally fine examples of this
ware.
The items on display are chiefly
European: Dutch, English. Scotch,
French, Swedish, German and Swiss.
Some of the articles display en-
graved or carved surfaces but the
loveliest are those with smooth
how the soft sheen of the pewter
has retained it's texture through
years of use, and appears beautified
by the passage of time. A French
urn shown in the same case with the
Dutch, is a more formal and ele-
CANT utensil, possessing a stateliness
that is often associated with silver,
but retaining the simple flow of line
that is appropriate to pewter.
In several instances, such as
stems and apothecary's bottles. the
article proper is pottery and the
pewter is wrought into screw caps
and hinged covers. Porringers are
always an important part of pew
ter collections, and the porringers
shown here are numerous and are
particularly attractive.
The plates and platters are i'm
pressive in their size and the beauty
of their texture. There is one large
I,xr
its size and shape that it may have
served as model for a familiar
type of present-day thermos bottle
intended for table use.
The candlesticks, lamps, pitchers,
boxes, buckets, pots and communion
services are all examples of the
most gracious simplicity of design
and the most careful workmanship.
Modern European art has no
more interesting exponent than Ber-
nard Boutet de Menyel. The son of
a distinguished artist, his own pro-
auctions are more robust than his
fathers, but his tendency to sim
plicity, to economic both line and
color marks his kinship with the
elder painter of the name.
Bernard early achieved promi-
hence through his portraits and fig
ure studies of outdoor life, all of
which are frankly decorative His
landscapes, too, display faultlss
judgment. in the formality of their
arrangement and the balance of
their composition. He is essentially
French, with an individuality of
technique that places him with the
eminent Maurice, his father, among
the commanding personalities of
French art.
An exhibition of his paintings in
New York during the fall was one
of the brilliant displays of the metro
politan season, and from this exhi-
bition the Indianapolis Art Associa-
ton has just purchased through the
James E. Roberts Fund one of the
paintings that received especial COM
mendation This is a decorative
presentiment of the Moroccan city of
Fee.
1t is called ''Fez-Seven O'clock"
and shows the tiers of flat-roofed
houses rising one above another,
grayed in the foreground by APP
preaching twilight, but touched with
gold at the summit of the hill by
the last rays of the sun. Straight
lines, fiat masses, simplicity of color
and an inspired restraint in accent
give charm and dignity to the can
vas 1t is new note in the perma-
nent collection and most valuable
addition to the possessions of the
Institute.
Last Sunday, the Twentieth An
nual Exhibition of Work by Indiana
Artists and Craftsmen opened to the
public. In this connection, word
for the benefit of those whose work
has been rejected may not be amiss.
Juries are only human. They have
their biasses and prejudices, and
juries differ enormously in tempera-
ment and point of view. A work
that is rejected by one jury may be
adjudged a prize winner by another.
Also it has been known that a pic
ture rejected by a jury one year has
been accepted by that same jury at
a later date. Times change, and
with them tastes and opinions.
Two juries have been elected to
judge the work submitted for this
years exhibition. They are: Jury