Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-09
BY LEILA MECHLIN.

WO' very different but equal!
interesting and unusual exhi
billions are on view at Gordon
Il Dunthorne's, on Connection
avenue. These are water col
S by Alice Ravenel Huger Smith Of
larleston, &. c., and etchings and
later colors by the late Ernest Has
ILL, a stanch New Englander.
Miss Smiths water colors. all OF
hich are Of Charleston subjects, are
the upper gallery and make, col
ctively, a showing in which eX
lisiteness of color, subtlety of effect
I'd distinction In style are dominant
rotes.5 When one saws Charleston
subjects" a vision Of fine old houses
Interesting iron grills and bewitching
gardens is instantly summoned
1t Alice Huger Smith paints none
these things. Her pictures are OF
e environs OF Charleston, the cy.
'ess swamps, the rice fields with
their intersecting canals, the live
ks draped in moss, the haunts OF
re white egret and the blue heron,
Zen under exceptionally romantic
'nditions-early moonrise, late after.
ow, incoming salt mists. They reg.
ter invariably the impression made
all eAlIeIUtly SeIlSlIlN0 FlSlO1 at
,uned to that which is artistic, but
they are true interpretations of place
& nd time and are rendered with con
summate skill. There is in almost all
81 element of the Japanesque
Alice Huger Smith is practically
lf.taught, though to two artists in
trticular she owes special indebted
SIS for criticism and announcement,
fvHc Ntvsc1f In. TAAra f,.rrN
harrison. the well known landscape
FAINTER, for many years head of the
.trt Students League Landscape
School OF Woodstock, n. y, and
lthor of an admirable book on
Landscape Painting" who. for many
iars, has spent part of his Winters
4 Charleston, and the late Helen
'yde of Chicago, who learned to
lake woodblock prints from the
Japanese, and by the Japanese was
Eiven honor for achievement beyond
that of cotemporary japanese print
makers. Miss Hyde CHANGED to go to
harleston a good many years ago
tor the purpose of making q Southern
series of etchings and drawings. She
& nd Miss Smith met, and the result
vas not only a close and lasting
'iendship, but a valuable addition, in
lie person of the latter, to the wood
lock printers Of America. Alice
[uger Smiths Celestial Figs" and
Moonfiower and Hawkworth." seen
IA a New York gallery, were pur-
thased by a Japanese collector and
carried triumphantly back to that
land of supreme woodblock printers.
When Mr.. Harrison first went to
charleston, Miss Smith begged him
10 take her as his pupil, but he would
not; he was there for rest. However,
ne was glad to give her friendly coun-
sci and criticism. An interesting lit
lie story is told by Marietta Neff in
connection with the meeting between
hese artists. Moss" said Mr. Har-
ison, lis not paintable." That"
said Miss Smith in retort, SIS just
what ] think about SNOW" Mr.. Har
rison is still painting snow pictures
and, as this exhibition at the Dun.
thorne Gallery admirably demon
strates, Miss Smith has proved that
moss Is paintable.
Miss Neff in the article already
quoted. published last year In the
American Magazine Of Art. tells some.
thing of Miss Smiths method of pro.
ducing water colors. She says,
Hours, days, weeks Of thinking may
have gone before the brushwork. but
once the scene has been reconfposed
at it's most arresting moment, 1t is
fixed upon the paper with. magical
speed and lightness, as If the essence
Of it had merely paused"
The artist herself insists that the
result is due largely to the materials
used. which lay upon the painted un.
escapable obligations. Wrapping pa
per and transparent color" she ex-
plains, forbid mistakes and second
thoughts" 1t is because of her direct
method Of working that she has been
able to catch and hold extreme sub
tlety of impression.
Among the most successful Of her
works in this exhibition is one en-.
titled "Mists From the Sea-" broad
view across rice fields and swamp
land, with a pale moon discernible
through the mist-laden atmosphere
low on the horizon, mingling its light
with the last rays Of the already set
sun. Greek in Flood is another typi-
cal and excellent work. Tops of the
Pines" has an essentially Japanesque
element in its composition and treat.
nlent. Dusk in the Cypress Swamp
Of the Wanda" and "a Colony of
Herons" are fine. typical scenes.