The daily worker., 1933-12-23
Portray Hunger, Fascisn, War
AT John Reed Club Art Exhibit
Many Artis is New
in Rev volt tion ary
Work Represented
BY BERNARDO BRYsoN

That art can be vital and real to
the worker is shoun in the exhibition
Of drawings and paintings at the
John Reed Club, 430 Sixth Ave. The
pictures deal with Hunger, Fascism
and War;" three great gifts of capi-
talism to the working class.
The subjects are handled with
humor, with tragedy, with militant
ass-consciousness. Some are merely
comments on the times: the moro
thoroughly Marian show also di-
rection, imply the growing revolt OF
the masses.
Gropper ridicules the greed Of the
capitalist by giving him six or eight
arms and hands. all reaching for
everything in sight. He grabs ma
ctfnery, food, clothing, homes, even
laborers, Stuffing into his mouth
everything it will hold.
Ben Kopnan, in two fine litho-
graphs, tells us something about gen
erals. One, 1.-THE Commander at the
Front" shows the commander hiding
behind a rock while his soldiers do
the fighting. Two Generals on
Leave" shows the fancy costumes
which generals like to wear to i'm
press the people. These generals look
very fat and sly and wise, and un-
heroic.
Butch Iinbach shows a 'Hero
His head is shot off and his hands
drip with the blood Of other heroes
This picture shows him in his true
role, not as the idol set before school
boys, but simply as the one who
kills and gets killed.
Some Of the artists have expressed
the feelings of hunger, sickness and
despair, emphasizing the misery of
human beings under capitalism. The
paintings are nora than realistic;
they are dramatizations OF the ira
gedy Of the oppressed.
Such paintings are Irwin Hoffman's
Figures of Earth" nightmare OF
sta~yin9 women and children. NE
groes," by the Mexican artist, Orozco
is a gruesome lynching scene, exag-
gerated by the intensity of the art
ists hatred for lynchings. George
Biddle shows Hunger" by a desper-
ate looking mother lowering over q
grave where three starved children
| lie.
These paintings, while they express
the bitterness of poverty, and have
q certain destructive function, are
still defeatist. They lack the resist
ance, the spirit Of revolt which is
truly characteristic Of the masses.
A more militant note Is struck In
the many pictures Of demonstrations
hunger marches, and workers strug-
giles. One Of these by Alexander VIII
son Is called, We've Starved Long
Enough" and shows an angry worker
tearing himself away from the ruin:
OF capitalism. Another workers De.
mand Their Rights" by Mark Baum
shows an enormous red fist bangins
on the Green baize table top at a banl
directors meeting.
Strike pictures are, workers De-
fend YouSelvesi" by Seymour FogeI
Milk Strike Rckets," and ''ReIie1
Demonstration" by Edward Deutsch
Revolt of the Oppressed" an etch.
ing by Alex Stavenitz, "Allentowr
Child Strikers" by Max Spiyak
Demonstration, q. s. Bank" by
Yamasaki. Nicolai Cikovsky's beauti.
ful painting of Young Communist
being ridden down by 8 cop on 9
! horse.
A fairly good example OF the Marx
ian viewpoint is Edward Laning's
Relief" Here people are shown in
ragged clothing shiyering outside a
relief station while rich man walks
by, superciHously drawing on a glove
This picture not only shows the in
equality between rich and poor, but
points toward revolution; the people
on relief look at the rich man with
hatred and resentment. They are not
Just poor, they are also class con-
scious and rebellious. There is here
rrstty well contained in single pic
ture. the sstting for revolution.
The John Reed Club exhibition
shows how artists everywhere are be-