Evening star., 1927-05-03
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM


slow.inoving friend upstairs was get.
ting himself clothed and into his right
mind toward yet another day. / picked
up book from the table beside me.
The look Of II drew me as, now and
then, the appearance OF n passing
stranger does. A quiet. soft.toned lit
tie book, on the outside mauve and
gold and, within, pages that gave the
feel OF fine substance and skilled
handiwork in paper making. Dutch
handmade paper. 1t finally turned out
to be.) It was the pictures. however
that caused me TO forget that dawdiing
fellow above stairs. 4 dozen of them
there were, each generous fuil-page
reproduction Of admirable quality. all
of them communicable in striking
measure. And this last. It seems 10
me, Ia the ultimate test of any pic.
ture, OF any work OF art, indeed How
ever. I'm no critic and this may not
he right--but IL is. he that as It may.
the pictures of this book roused in me
vivid recollections Of days too long
gone by when ]. a country lad, had
the habit Of gathering up into my
eyes bits Of landscape whose beauty
would sink down, 40 satisfyinRIy, into
the deep places where, in every one.
I think, a sense OF beauty lies and
with IL the stir of welcome and hap.
piness that beauty always brings.
Just homely scenes, these, the work
of this American artist A path
across the fields, q farm stretching
contentedly beside an idling little
river, pasture neglected and weed
grown, a russet glory of Autumn on
tree and shrub. Nothing more. But
these worked the spell of old days
upon me and was happy in the thrall
of them. Ia such an effect of art any
measure of the worth Of that art2
don't know. but / think it is. Ponder.
ing, it seemed to me that these pic.
lures might have been exactly true to
every honorable canon of creative art
and yet might have lacked the power
to communicate TO another, to me,
any emotion, any fragrance of van
ished experiences, any happiness of
revived memories. And by that lack,
or so it appeared to me, they would
have fallen below the highest aim of
all creative work. But, happily. there
was here no such lack. The pictures
were as filled with spirit as they were
complete in form.
Who is this man, this J. Francis
Murphy, American artist?" For an
swer I turned here to Eliot Clark 8
story OF hinl--a story that confidently
assigns this painter to an honored
place among those who have helped
soundly to create and sustain an
American art, A simple man, just as
the pictures declared him to be, one
who for a long time went lone way
of self-training, thereby securing to
himself his own individuality, his own
instinct toward the work in hand, be-
fore these could become lost in any
sort of tradition, or school, or cult, or
other initiative whatnot Of learning
to paint. Later. such larger training
did ensue, greatly fortifying and on.
riching the early groundwork of crea-
tive individuality. And 1t turns out
that this man-simple, slow, COM
posed, ,unambitious in the sense of jeal-
Gus rivalry plodding an independent
path, has succeeded, markedly, in COM
municating to others the spirit of his
work. This passes on the simplicity of
the artists vision, the integrity of his
outlook, the sincerity Of his pursuit,
the composure and beauty OF his spirit.
Hello. therel" Sorry to have made
you wait SO longp'--sang out my
friend, the painting man.
1T hasn't been long. like this
book--like the man, too. On my first
halliday off I'm going to the Corcoran
Gallery to see at first hand Murphy's
October / want this book
"All right. Take it along II at last
you are stirring in your sleep toward
artists and their doings. delighted, I'm
sure to help the fine adventure on its
way. Here. take those two also Know
anything about etching-about its
technic, its possible effects. its recog-
nized value? Thought not. Right
here is your first lesson. Take these
books with you. Look at them and
leaf them over as the small boy does
his own beloved picture book. Don't
try to understand them. You couldn't.
Just look ut them and, maybe, feel
them. These two etchers are top-notch-
ers--- masters they are called. If YOU
enjoy them you'll be likely to catch a
difference between them--possibIy
like the surface difference
that you would sense between John
Smith and Tom Brown. That's about
all you'll get at first, I'm thinking.
But so ahead with your pictures!'
MASTERS OF ETCHING.
famed McBey. BY Malcolm G.
Salaman. Frank Brangwyn. BY
NhC SaInG autnOF. Inc STUDIO.
Leicester Square. London.
On another day I spread my pic.
ture books side by side, not very
ardent in expectation. Plain black
and white as pictorial medium
looked to me as fneager as print
itself In such capacity. In less
the first stir of surprise. For
through these pictures there pressed
toward me two men of distinct per-
sonality, different in outlook from
each other, different in taste and
manner and power of artistry. One
lived his professional life at it's high
of tension and suspense, the
other walked the familiar ways of
everyday existence. Even though
dealing with practically the same
theme, one approached Ii in q pas.
sionate fervor of dramatic apprecia-
ton, the other in a calm acceptance
Of the beauty and charm of common
things. One book fairly rocked with
action, the other rested in a mood
of quiet reflection. Equally. vital,
equally beautiful and direct in their
call, these two books represented
clearly. nevertheless, the mastery of
Il single medium by way of two radi-
cally different conceptions and inter
pretations. The power of black and
white in pictures, its rich delivery Of
the artists personality, it's whole
effect--these made an as
discovery for me and spread
an adventure so fine and stimulating
as to stay by for many day, even
up to this day. And / turned to
Malcolm Salaman for more intimate
of these two master"
and for possibly a clue to an
art that is amazingly versatile and
strong where in my ignorance / had
not been able to count for it much of
anything at all. And in each book
Mr.. Salaman, on very knowing terms
with the etching art, tells not only
the story of these two artists, but here
and there he. simply and clearly. gives
many q point about the technic of
the art itself. Oddly enough, these
Two man like Francis Murphy i'm biS