Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-27
Washington Musician Finds Symphonies
In Paintings Shown at New York Gallery

| of the body the robust final movement
based on dance forms.
1.-THE principal contrapuntal device
employed is rising and falling melo'
| die theme containing a distinct eli
max. This theme Is represented pic.
| than right angle. 1t occurs most
obviously in the corner of the table
at the left side of the picture, but is
| ingeniously employed in many other
| places: at the wrists, elbows, shoul-
| ders, neck, waist, hips. knees, ankle
and heel; in the hair, eyebrows, eyes,
nose, lips and chin of the figure and
| In the shoulder straps, the bodice, the
| rose and the shoe Of the costume. The
| figure as a whole even bends into this
| melodic curve. A counter theme is
found in the straight leg of the table.
which is balanced in the opposite cor
| ner by the hanging red stockings.
Both themes are likewise developed in
the background.
1.-THE best comparison to the hori-
Zontal movement of counterpart can
be obtained by turning the picture on
it's side, with the table Shutdown. The
undulating sweep of the upper line of
the figure from this position, with the
straight lines in the background
flowing serenely above and below it.
is most suggestive of contrapuntal
music
"Harmonically, the picture is doubt
lessly composed in the major and
minor modes. In spite of unusual
tone combinations and frequent, I'M
expected meditation, there is not a
claShing diScord in the whole compo-
sition. Particularly intriguing are the
four different red tones of the rose,
the flowers in the upper left back
ground, the hair on the head and the
stockings in the upper right back
ground. They suggest four adjacent
dissonant tones of a scale, so dis
tributed that they form a pleasing
and sonorous chord
The art critic of the New York
Times remarked: For once the two
arts are given an ineligible relation,
and Mr.. Spier's Interpretation def
nitely aids the observer to find his
way through the painters composition
with increased interest and recogni-
ton Of the organic character of the
work
In the art notes of the February
issue of the New Yorker the critic
rather bitingly attacks the idea with
ridicule and caustic comment. He
says:
walt Kuhn having advertised that
he was giving show in the Grand
Central Galleries, and having pre-
pared brochures to the effect that his
new pictures would not be like other
little pictures, but would sing songs
and play symphonies, we rushed over
to see what the Vitaphone idea had
done to graphic art The place was
plastered with wild kuhns. the rooms
were filled, and there was music.
Aghast, we stood before the painting
known as 'Amalgam,' looking at the
score provided In the catalog. AS we
read music but slowly. we had gone
no further than fast and brilliantly,
so we couldn't check-up with the par
ticular movement that 'Amalgam'
was playing. But music it was, we
could not deny Singing pictures there
are, but they never require a score or
book of the play. So please be kind
and forget that Mr.. Kuhn sponsors
all this bunk about 'melodic curves
and horizontal counterpart and go
up to the galleries and see some ex-
naip inf ipcr