Evening star., 1935-05-26

face. with a characteristic tilt to her
head and the eyes turned directly to-
ward the observer She is seen seated
in an armchair with a fan in her
right hand and wearing a gown of
rich purple velvet trimmed with lace.
Miss Burdette has not produced a
more notable work in portraiture The
pose is easy and natural. the express
sion good; there is a sense of quiet
and yet Of vitality; the artist has not
only set forth likeness, but also an
Interpretation Of personality; the
painting is broad. the color excellent,
textures are we'll differentiated. Both
the sitter and the artist are to be
congratulated.
Miss Burdette has specialized in
portraiture. but she does not restrict
herself to this branch of art. Men
ton has Just been made of her flower
painting in the Arts Club exhibition:
at the Corcoran Art Gallery she is at
present represented by three minia-
lures, two heads and a landscape, in
the lately installed exhibition of min
iatures by contemporary artists. In
her studio are oil paintings and litho-
graphs of Maine Landscapes made last
Summer, as we'll as other examples of
still life-and. incidentally. a spirited
little painting in process of a dog
belonging TO friend. AS commissions
she has also painted a number of
close copies of historical portraits for
private patrons and public institutions,
among which two hang in Arlington
House. She has lately completed a
very excellent copy of the "Self-Por-
trait" by Malbone. the greatest of our
American miniature painters. which
Is owned and greatly treasured by the
Corcoran Gallery of Art. Her orig
inal. full-length portrait of Washing
ton in Masonic regalia. painted on
order for the Washington Bicen-
tennial, now hangs in the Masonic
headquarters at Alexandria, Va.
THE Corcoran Gallery of Art has
received a very valuable bequest
consisting Of five Flemish tapestries
representing Cupid and Psyche"
which date back to the third quarter
of the sixteenth century and are
valued by experts at $4,000 or more.
These tapestries have hung in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, since 1914, as loans from Joseph
Sampson Stevens. by whose will they
now become the property of the Cor
coran Gallery of Art. They are not
to be removed from the Metropolitan
Museum, New York. nor placed on
view here in the Corcoran Gallery
until next Autumn, but their arrival
and display will be anticipated with
much interest. This is one of those
interesting incidents when an art
museum receives an exceedingly valu-
able gift from a practically unknown
donor without the least previous inti-
nation of interest or benef1cient in
tent. Such gifts, descending as 1t
were from the blue, are particularly
gratifying in as much as they ev1-
dence a sympathy and interest wider
spread than is commonly supposed.
The fact Is. however, that in this
country our public art collections have
been almost entirely built up by pri-
vate rather than public muniflcence,
and in this sense are essentially
democratic. To the rare and valu-
able tapestries in the Clark collection
this Cupid and Psyche" series, lately
acquired, will make notable addition.
AN INTERESTING collection of
- interiors of Washington homes Of
distinction painted in water color by
a young local architect, Robert Carr,
Is now on view in the studio show
room of Elsie Cobb Wilson Co.,
Inc, 1909 H street northwest.
Glimpses are here given of corners
of rooms in the Truxton Beale and
F. l.. Belin residences, in the Phillips
Memorial gallery and in the club
established by Mrs. Curtis at 1925 F
street, shortly to be abandoned, as well
as in the home in old Georgetown of
Gen. and Mrs. Louis McCarty Little,
and others. Paintings of interiors are
enjoying at the present time a special
vogue, and with good reason, for they
have an intimate association with life
and often much beauty. Such is indeed
true of these interiors, designed by
Elsie Cobb Wilson and painted by
Robert Carr. They are not stereo-