Evening star., 1934-10-07

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS.

| I"NdE art season OF lSoa-oo Opeucu
here in Washington with the
incoming of October, when at
! Il least one important exhibition
was placed on view and an
| nouncement made of other almost i'm
| mediately to follow. There is a gen.
eral air Of cheeriness in the galleries
and the studios, and a program of
events promising lively interest in this
field.
The exhibition inaugurating the new
season consists of illustrative work
by the late William A. Rogers. 1t is
to be seen in the south hall in the
Library of Congress, where 1t opened
| on october l. This Is the third exhibit
tion of material from its Cabinet Of
American Illustration" that the De-
partment of Fine Arts of the Library
of Congress has set forth. 1t COM
prises comprehensive collection OF
drawings in pen-and-ink and wash
made as illustrations or cartoons by
one who for more than SO years held
prominent place among American
illustrators. The collection is the gift
of the artists daughter. Mrs. w. w.
Buckley.
William Allen Rogers was born in
Springfield, Ohio, in 1854. The early
70s found him in New York, reporter
On the Daily Graphic. which was prob
ably the first fully illustrated newspa-
! per to be published. That was before
the camera had come into general use
or the half-tone method of reprOduc-
tion invented. Reporters were eX-
pected to be able to illustrate their
reports by their own sketches, and thus
young Rogers got both his art train
ing and his opportunity. Working for
the Graphic at the same time were
A. B. Frost, E. w. Kemble, Thure de
Thulstrup and other gifted young men
destined, likewise, to win distinction
as illustrators. In 1877 Rogers went
| over to the Harpers, there to work
with Abbey, Reinhart, Pyle and Mast.
For the work of the last he had great
admiration, but it was Little Ned Alb
bey" who took his friendship by storm
upon first sight and whose work eX-
erted upon his own most influence.
What good company this was and
what splendid work was produced.
Rogers did his first cartoon in 1880.
How it came about he tells himself -
his delightful autobiography, "A World
Worth While" written and published,
by the way, during his last years,
when he was living here in George
town. Mast was out of town, a car
| toon was wanted for Harper'S Weekly.
! had an idea which presented to
Mr.. J. Henry Harper He was inclined
to accept the idea, but doubted If I
could make the cartoon. wasn't sure
myself, but was willing to take a
chance, and when the drawing was
finished I suddenly found myself a
| full-f1edged cartoonist."
1t probably was not as easy as 1t
sounds, for in the first place Rogers
had some years before made some car
toonS for q Dayton, Ohio. paper, and
one may see for oneself in the present
| exhibition that he made a steady prog
ress in his drawing, the late ones wit
Messing development of technical skill
and intellectual power. But it should
be noted that. becoming a cartooniSt,
Rogers did not give up his illustrating.
In 1880 he made the illustrations for
Toby Tyler" published in Harper's
Young People, which endeared him to
boys all over the country, as Booth
Harrington in his introduction to the
| Rogers autobiography testifies delight
fully.
Besides the Daily Graphic and the
| Harpers, Mr.. Rogers was on the STATS
| Of the Century. st. Nicholas. the