Evening star., 1935-03-04
ART|ST'SFAM|LY
VIEWS HIS WORK
Widow and Children of Late
John Kane at Labor De.
partment Exhibit.

In a lofty. paneled room at the
new Labor Department Building to-
day the .amily of the late John Kane
stood before a special exhibit of his
bold landscapes to pay homage to the
steel worker and self-taught artist who
wrought as surely with brush as with
hammer.
The party consisted of Kane's
widow. his two daughters, Mrs. L. w.
Corbett Of Alexandria, Va. and Mrs.
Mary Edwards of High Point, N. c.,
and four of his grandchildren. They
had been invited to view a collection
OF Kane's best-known paintings, which
will be on exhibition for the next
month
Toiled in Blast Furnaces.
Kane died last August at the age
of "a, after creating $50 canvasses
of the grim scenes about Pittsburgh
where he had toiled as day laborer
in the great blast furnaces, in the
coal mines and about the smoky
freight terminals.
1t was not until the last 10 years
Of his life, his widow recalled. that
Kane was enabled to devote his full
time to painting. Since childhood
he had worked hard with his hands
first in his native Scotland. and later
in the coal and iron regions about
Pittsburgh.
Kane saw the strength and rugged
beauty Of his surroundings and began
- toic Skpfrh-
ing scenes about Pittsburgh. Spare
moments were few and far between
for a day laborer struggling to pro-
vide for his wife and growing family.
Never Sought Recognition.
Kane, among his other Jobs, had
been a house and sign painter. He
had a sense of color and line which
began to develop with years OF pa
tient effort. Kane never sought pub
licity or recognition for his work.
The Canvasses he piled in out-of
the-way corners or left on their
easels.
He could not afford the more ex-
pensive oil paints, and ground and
mixed his own colors.
He saved and stinted to buy canvas,
which he stretched on his own frames.
and to buy the expensive brushes so
essential to the detail work he turned
out.
One Of Kaneis first canvasses,
which remained his favorite, is gay
study, "The Highland Lassies," of
killed girls clogging on platform to
the music of the bagpipes. He was
fond Of children and the scene was
of his own childhood in
Scotland.
Sketched Dances In Park.
Kane used to go to a public park
in Pittsburgh where Scottish clan
groups held dances on occasion. He
sketched the dancers and later trans
ferred them to large canvas. One
of his later works in the "self-por-
trait" which somehow dominates the
exhibition.
It shows Kane. at the age of 6o,
stripped to the waist, powerful, mus
cular workman, boldly and surely
painted.
Kane's last work, which he never
signed, is big landscape of railroad
trains crossing junction at Pitts
burgh. The scene is portrayed with
Kane's stark realism.
It was Kane's enthusiasm for his
work which led to his death. He had
come here on bus in mid Winter, to
be with his grandchildren in Alexan-
dria on Christmas before last, and to
sketch scenes on the way. At every
opportunity he got out of the bus to
sketch Winter landscapes.
Kane caught cold, but insisted on
to Pittsburgh in the bitter
weather to work on his unfinished
canvases there. He never recovered
from the exposure and died after an
illness of several months.