New Britain herald., 1928-04-19

New York, April 19. Lillian is so uninterested in everything" the principal of an exclusive girls school in New York complained to mother seven years ago.
 "she just sits and dreams or draws pictures all over the books she is supposed to study. She doesn't { in the least apply herself to her les sons"
 The culprit in the case. sensitive big, black eyes, stubbornly set her lips and waited until the principal departed. Then she burts out rebel liously:
 When I grow up I shall do nothing all day long but paint and paint. with gorgeous color. l wish were grown up right now-or dead."
 Off to Europe - Alone
 If you feel that way about it., Lillian, you shall quit school right now to paint" said the child's un- ldtJltt anu Illot IFi.
 And so Lillian Gaertner sailed for Europe that very summer, alone. The little girl who wasn't interest ed in anything" proved so original and facile with her brushes that she was admitted to the Academy of Art in Vienna when she still was 14- the youngest person ever so hon. ored.
 Now Lillian Gaertner. just turn ed q, has another honor to add to her long list of credits abroad and, during her past two years, here. She has been chosen to design modernistic rugs and carpets to complete modernistic rooms of contemporary furniture--tl1c first American woman to be selected for this new field of work.
 Paints Ti,eater Murals
 Miss Gaertner is best known for her theater work. She painted the 24,0O0 square feet of colorfni mural for the Ziegfeld Theater, de- signed the stage settings and cos tunes for such notable Broadway productions as Much Ado About Nothing" "The Straw Hat,' The :Vienesc Review" and others.
 Right now she is putting in q 12-hour day doing a series of charming juvenile screens-vivid fascinating pictures of Joan Of Arc. the Crusades. some of the early English invasions and other historic tales that delight children. lndefatigable, this young woman paints with q passion for work that is astounding.
 There are only two excuses for a woman's having a career" she amazes one by saying. if she can be induced 10 quit painting long enough to chat while in that pleasant studio of hers overlook ing the Hudson.
 should Heed Talent
 First. if q woman has any tal- cnt. large or small, that drives her, she will be happier if she needs it. Second, if she must sup port herself, she often can find real joy in working, and think she should make a career of it. Otherwise think all women arc happier and better fitted to be de- corative social creatures and home makers. Men really are much more suited to work: they seem constructed to slave and enjoy it!
 You see, 1 really am not a modern" says this strikingly young woman with unrouged lips and unpainted checks Ut is curious how my work is called modern. It really is primitive and it's very simplicity has much in common with the severity of the sophisticated modern. But l have never in all my years of painting, drawn from life. All of my fig ures are imaginative, from the childish illustrations drew in Grim's Fairy Tales. on."
 True, there is nothing of the flapper about this young woman. Night clubs have no appeal for her.
 She pronounces New York 8 hectic rush after amusement "tir- ing and futile." With her Euro rean background, she likes the opera. classical plays, social eve- rings where interesting folks talk of their interesting work.
 Though she never has read a