The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-02-11

BY JOHN w. THOMPSON
Zines STAFF Writer

Dl JsNFN w. luOmE SUN
Zines STAFF Writer
TOR three years, Bomar Cramer
Il has hidden pot of brushes
Nand a palette beneath his studio
piano.
Utterly devoid of the lacka-
daiSicGI Bohemianism common in
his clan, Mr.. Cramer, who is
widely known as pianist and
teacher, has suddenly crashed the
outer shell of a new world of ar
tistic creation and today will open
a one-man show of Is water color
paintings at the H. Lieber Co.
galleries.
The paintings were all done
around Taxco, Mexico, where Mr..
Cramer went last summer, pre-
sumably to delve more deeply into
the realm of pianistic accomplish
ment. It was the cactus and not
the keyboard which caught his
fancy, however, and the result is
the exhibition of brilliant paint
ings which 90 on display today.
Il watched the colony of paint
ers in Taxco paint the scenes
around the town, but although I
was shamed by the beauty of their
drawings I felt that they missed
the real color of Mexico - the
paintings might just as we'll have
been done at Cape Cod" Mr..
Cramer explained today.
A Nd so, unknown to his Indi-
IA annapolis friends and follow
ers. the 34-year-old pianist, an
easel strapped to his back,
tramped the hot mesas OF Mexico,
here and there stopping for a
sketch, done, perhaps, while he
hummed a Beethoven sonata.
The two preceding summers
Mr.. Cramer spent in CharlevoiX,
Mich, where he painted a num-
Der of small water colRrs. Upon
the advice of Wilbur Peat, Heron
Art Institute director, he went to
Mexico to loosen his stroke and
enlarge his scope"
il was Walter H. Heitkam, art
manager at Lieber's. who suggest
ed that Mr.. Cramer display his
paintings.
Il had hoped that I might pack
these neatly away in my trunk so
that the world would never have
to see them" Mr.. Craner said.
You can't hide painting like
that from the world" Mr.. Heit-
kan replied. 1T will be found
sooner or later, and it might as
we'll be now"
So, the paintings went on dis
play.
Mr.. Cramer's formal training
consisted of three months study
in charcoal and plaster cast work
under Miss Eva Fowler in Sher-
man, Tex, his home town, at the
age of II, and approximately 20
evenings instruction in the night
classes of Elmer Taff1inger, Indi-
annapolis artist.
DUT this very lack of instruc-
ID ton and regulation has given
him a freedom of design. tech
nique and composition which is
Immediately evident in his paint
ings. Brilliant in color, some are
shocking in design and all have a
splendid balance and proportion
as well as unusual perspective.
There are several different ap-
proacheS and techniques in Mr..
Cramer's paintings. There is such
definite rhythm and balance in
his work that it was natural to
ask the artist whether his mu-
steal background ever aided him
in his painting.
Il never think of music when I
am painting" he replied. Il only
paint to express feeling and to
have some fun, with no idea of
rhythm"
1t can not be said that all of
Mr.. Cramer's paintings are equally
commendable. One or two seem
am painting" he replied. II only
obviously juvenile in their con-
had no definite purpose in mind
may account for this.
THE center-piece of the cur
l. rent show is "Barranca," an
extremely moderniStic piece of
color depicting narrow valley,
split by a thin stream of water.
This was painted by Mr.. Cramer
while he sat atop a hill near the
Shrine. Vera Cruz, and looked
down at the valley, 312 miles
away. AT that distance. the small
foundations along the stream
seemed to the artist merely planes
of color. and he has painted them
just as they seemed.
The result is, to say the least,
striking.
Mr.. Cramer is an honest and
sincere artist. If he feels that he
can't paint certain type of sky
he simply leaves it out altogether.
His choice of colors. his blocky APP
plication Of them and the modern
istic pattern he conceives from
conventional subjects mark his
work as independent.
His pot of brushes and pal
lette are on top of the piano to-
day. where the world may see
and admire.