The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-12-12
WORLD of
ART
A Significant Art ShOI0

THE ART SHOW at the Daily
Worker Chorus rooms, at At East
18th Street, New York City, is a
surprisingly good one. 1t was gotten
together by members Of the Artists
Union, with practically no advance
notice, and presented with a lack OF
fanfare and ballyhoo
It is a collection Of drawings and
paintings on social themes which
have wide range Of conception and
execution. Some Of the presenta-
tons are examples of clearly thought
out, mature proletarian art, while
others are rather badly confused.
Some Of the paintings reach high
standard and others evidence the
need Of development and experience.
However, in general, and taking into
consideration the fact that most of
the artists represented are new TO
the movement, the general impress
sion is most favorable one.
There are also some familiar
names. Phil Bard shows sketch
which was later worked up into a
finished mural. There is a Hugo
Gellert. Tamotzu, who has done
and can do better, presents Visions
of the Daily Worker in Glass War. -
There is painting by Joseph Vogel
which has a somewhat weird history.
1t was originally hung in the Office
Workers Union but was removed for
some strange reason, at the insis-
tence of the Wall Street section. 1t
is called America in Revolt" and
is splendidly organized and exc
cuted panorama of the American
scene. The sequence flows logically
and naturally from the beginnings
of class struggle into higher forms,
sweeping past an ironic Statue of
Liberty to the building of new
society.
There is also an excellent paint
ing by Sarah herman. The symbol
ism is clear-cut, the characters are
remarkably well-drawn, and it has
all the necessary attributes Of revo-
lutionary art. The color is somewhat
uncertain, but this is minor defect.
JACK KAINEN'S drawing, entitled
y Right To Organize" shows a
worker holding another bleeding
from wounds evidently inflicted by
company police This painting is
sentimental and hardly calculated
to arouse the fighting spirit of the
onlooker.
There is an abstraction by Ben
Zion. on which is pasted the mast
head of the Daily Worker, evidently
based on the assumption that the
mere mechanical inclusion of the
central organ Of the Communist
Party makes for revolutionary art.
There is a delightful satiric sketch
by Ben Shahn of two relief officials.
Raphael Soyer has a splendid paint
ing entitled Waiting for the De-
preston To End" Phil Sawyer's
"Stevedore Police Line up" is highly
commendable both from the polit-
ical and artistic point of view. So
are the contributions of Marantz
and Ferrugio. Joseph Merits mo
Work Today" and Joseph Solman's
IN. r. A. Leisure" accomplish their
objective.
A pencil plan for a mural by
Mischa Richter is excellently done,
as is a linoleum print by Ralph Fox
called Mother" There is a sketch
by E. Tribach, Demonstration, Z"
which indicates splendid possibilities
in the artist. DAY In and Day
Out" by Jack Reynolds, is an epic
of the drabness and colorless exis-
tence of workers exploited under
this system. This painting alone IS
worth visit to the show. Riot
by Georgia Cavalla, is a painting
that is attractive in color and well
composed. Also a landscape by
Lorenzo Santillo and an abstraction
by Orozco Gasparo called Evening"
Don't miss Isadore Margolies'
Enforcing Ia painting that is
both solid in composition, good in
color and in which the characters
are delineated with authenticity and
familiarity.
The show, in sum, is a splendid
example of the present trends of
thought in those artists who are
sensitive to the social forces around
us,