Evening star., 1934-12-09
COMMENT ON CURRENT EXHIBITIONS.
.HE Washignton Water Color
Clubs thirty-ninth annual ex-
hibition, which formally opens

l. Ilc WdIcE SOlOT SluU b cAIllUlLlOIl
including 135 works in water color,
ink, crayon and pastel and IS prints
of various types, is an exceptionally
interesting, lively and colorful show.
The paintings are hung two and three
rows deep in the north gallery at
the top of the stairway, while the
prints are arranged in the atrium
cases. There is marked variety in sub
ject matter, media, handling and view
point. One notices few paintings
done in the conservative mode, and a
few others emphatically modern;
but the exhibition as whole strikes
a happy medium between these poles.
The average visitor will probably be
impressed by the large number of
works he would like to have in his
home. There appear to be as many,
if not more, nonresident artists rep
resented in this exhibition as Wash
ingtonians.
Landscapes are in the majority,
comprising about one-third of the
items. They range from familiar local
scenes, freshly presented, to such re-
mote spots as Shanghai (the scene Of
Margaret c. Clements Flower Ven
dors"). Among the former are Eliot
O'Haras South Portico of the White
House." seen in blazing sunshine;
Frances Wheeler's very effective view
of the Potomac glimpsed through the
willow trees In Potomac Park" and
Lesley Jackson's excellent transcript
ton of crowd of Government workers
! ofira OF ssE1nYlr = hirfU "
Susan Chases Down the Lane" de-
picts a Negro cabin near Alexandria,
Va, on a sunny. day. Many other
items probably represent scenes in
nearby Virginia and Maryland. AS
they were done with the selective
vision of artists. it is not possible to
recognize them without hint from
their titles.
In contrast to the broad handling OF
such landscapes as Emily N. Steuart's S
majestic Glacier Park" and Garden
Wall (this deceptive title belongs tc
another Western park scene with tow
ering mountains) are several land
scapes by r. B. Beaman and M. w
Zimmerman, in which the water color
has been applied so smoothly that the
brush strokes are imperceptible. These
| have the glamour associated with GER
tain Japanese prints of night land
scapes. M. w. Zimmerman's title OF
one, "Japanesque," suggests such in
spiration. Tree forms in three OF
these paintings and mountains In
r. B. Beaman's "Adagio Lamentoso'
are darkly silhouetted against deep
blue skies. Quite different from these
are several other landscapes empha-
sizing trees: Elizabeth Evans Graves
dainty Georgia Pines" Elizabeth
Sawtelle's Spanish Moss" Ruth Os-
goods September Breeze" and the
great spreading Oak Tree in New
Orleans" by Vernon F. Duckett, who
also painted Clouds Over Lake Pont-
chartrain" Oouisiana), one of the
loveliest works in the exhibition. It
combines opaque and transparent
colors and shows great white cloud
bank touched by the sun, dwarfing a
ship on the water. There Is COM
pelling sense of space in this marine.
Eliot O'Hara's superb painting of dis
tant RAIN" also showing clouds over a
lake, is one of the biggest paintings in
the exhibition. It is big in conception
and handling as we'll as size. 1t Is mo-
nochromatic in effect.
Row Clark contributes fine land
scape, The Church." actually an en-
tire village seen from height, the
church steeple and portions of other
buildings rising from groves of trees,
! against an effective sky. There are
two outdoor scenes by Elizabeth With
ington of Rockport, Mass, a one-man
exhibition of whose opaque water col
ors opens this afternoon in the recep-
tion room OF the Arts Club.
Charles P. Gruppes flock Of sheep
Going to Pasture" is reminiscent Of
pastorals by Anton Mauve The sheep
in Mr.. Gruppe's landscape, by the
way, are among the very few animal
studies In the exhibition. Only one
painting, a telling portrait of two bird
dogs by J. Duncan MacGregor, jr., Is
exclusively animal"
Flowers and still life constitute an
other group of 19 or 20 pictures. Mar
guerite c. Munn's "In Southern Vir-
ginia" combines still life with land
scape view, in which realistic appear
ance is subordinated to fiat decorative
handling. Edith McCartney's pastel of
Water Lilies" in delicate grayed colors
is one of the most attractive contribu-
tions in this category. Joseph Hirsch
has handled the colors of his "Seckel
Pears" like oils. The work has ex-
traordinary verisimilitude, and one is
tempted to reach for the fruit. Eliza
beth Muhlhofer shows large painting
of bowl of flowers against back
ground of contrasting color. Two
striking studies of flowers in blue vases
are contributed by Jane Peterson.
Architectural subjects and city
scapes form as large class as the
/ flowers and still life-larger, if one
adds the few industrial subjects, such
as Frederick Smiths Goal Pocket. u
Some very fine paintings are in this
group, notably John E. Miller'S beauti-
full rendering Of San Jose, Pueblo,
Mexico" and San Angel, Mexico: /:
Turkish Town." by Marion L. Sim
mons, in which the muezZin's tower
and other warm tinted buildings stand
out against cloudless sky; Village
street, Dy blancne COlInaH, CWo
| Mexican subjects, colorful and illus
trative in nature, by Gertrude Kay
Seward H. Rathbuns exquisite tran
Scription of the interior of Spanish
Colonial church, entitled "a God for
the Indian" shows an elaborate golden
altar with numerous ef1gies of saints
before which an Indian is kneeling in
a shaft of pale yellow sunlight.
In addition to the few water scenes
already mentioned, there are num-
Der of marines, river and harbor SUBJ
jects. Hauling in the Seine" by A.
H. o. Role, president of the Washing
ton Water Color Club, and italian
Fishermen" by Ruth Hudson Lee
deal with similar subjects in individual
styles. Eleanor Parke Gusts "Stuf1
Breeze" depicts yacht race, and the
spacing and list of the graceful boats
gives the painting a sense of swift
movement. Iona Miller Keplinger Of
Baltimore shows two excellent paint
! ings of boats alongside Gloucester
| docks. Augusta Peoples Cooper
Pjvar Cha cks" has realistic form and