The Indianapolis times., 1935-11-19
Annual Fall
Disp|ayHe|d
byMembers
1873 Paintings Shown al
AyreS Galleries by 104
Exhibitors.
BY JOHN w. THOMPSON

We didn't see man bite dog
yesterday. But we die see an art
gallery jam-packed with people who
actually seemed interested in the
paintings-and that's just about as
valuable as news.
For just 20 years, the Indiana
Artists Club has sponsored Hoos-
ier palette progress, and as a spe-
cial birthday treat they are holding
their annual fall exhibition in the
L. S Ayres 65 Co. galleries. Here
are 1913 paintings by 104 Indiana
artists
1t used to be that trip through
an Indiana Artist exhibition was
somewhat Of bore. The usual Gus
tom was to paint beech trees, au-
tumn landscapes sWathed in sun
light or a tumble down Brown
County snack with tinted trees in
the background and a soft haze over
all Something changed all that a
year or so ago. 1t might have been
what Grant Wood said about Indi-
ana art, when he characterized it
as local color" And again it may
have been just the natural tranSi-
ton that artists must go through.
Anyway it's all different now.
Variety Is Shown in Exhibit
Taking a turn through the cur
rent showing of Hoosier paintings is
like getting a lesson in geography
a lecture on Characterization and
hear-to-heart talk about color
rhythm and line
Bill Peed, local artist, walked off
with the prize offered by the In
diana Artists Club for the exhibits
outstanding picture His painting,
Coming of the Storm, is a deli
cately manufactured piece of action
and color. 1t shows a circus wagon
train struggling through the mud,
horses with WildnesS in their eyes,
mer straining at ropes, and animal
wagons. It's all painted in a sub
dued light, not at all characteristic
of the modern period.
A great contrast is March" a
lovely landscape by Clifton
Wheeler, which won the H. Lieber
$40 prize for the outstanding land.
scape. One almost could walk out
on the bank of the stream Fall
Creek which Mr.. Wheeler has
transferred to his canvas There is
the mist of early morning, crisp,
ot1O1ncnhnrn a lNn Of Of
stagelighting in the picture. Be
sides, Mr. Wheeler has caught the
COloring of leaves, trees and water
under such light and he wasn't
afraid to put the actual colors down
on canvas.
Another Courageous Soul
Another who has courage to fol-
low his convictions where color is
concerned is William A. Eyden
whose woodland" and Autumn
Beeches" didn't win a prize, but,
nonetheless, are astoundingly real
istc, almost overwhelmingly beau
tiful.
Marriage License Bureau" a Paul
r. Jones OIL is the most neWSWorthy
of the lot, and it won the prize for
figure composition in oil Mr. Jones,
who helped do the striking carica-
lures for the Indiana Artists Ball
last year, almost has written his
paintings. 1t tells a series Of stories
about the folks one can see in
nuptial license office. There is the
tall Negro buck and his bride.
dressed in green satin; the two old
folks hanging over the counter; the
gold-digger and her prey, middle
aged millionaire; and of course, the
poor young thing who got left, not
at the church, but worse than that
at the license bureau
For those who like to think in
terms of Stream-lineS, dazzling de-
sign and what flowers would look
like to a mechanical engineer, there
is the painting of a decorative panei
by Theodore Van voorhees,, Short
ridge High School art department
head. Mr. Van voorhees, has added
daring color to the technical per-
lection of his piece
Best of PaStelS
The best of paStelS is Water
melon Boats by William F. KaeSer,
Irvington artist whose work has be-
come increasingly popular the last
few years.
Paul BEEN won the prize for still
life with a precise painting of three
pears and a red plume, backed up
by a folded piece of linen. Carl
Debb'S "SnowballS." a water color
of vase of flowers and a copy of
Esquire won the first prize in that
division.
It's gala show. There are PIC
lures for all, big ones, little ones,
and many of them would look we'll
over anybodys fireplace. It's Hoo
Sier art at its best, and will be on
exhibition until Nov. 80.