Evening star., 1935-04-14
VIEWING LOCAL EXHIBITIONS
Interesting Aquatnts Color at the Library Of Congress-
Paintings by Edward Bruce at Studio House and
Hutty Etchings at Smithsonian.

the Coast" (of England) and the seats
of the gentry In their vicinity, which,
In addition to being good art. must
have proved good advertising. In fact,
this little exhibition throughout teens
with human interest.
At STUDIO HOUSE, 1914 Twenty
first street, there opened yester-
day, with a private view, an exhibition
of paintings by Edward Bruce, con-
sulting expert to the section Of paint
ing and sculpture. public works
branch, procurement division, Treas
ury Department, which has lately
awarded contracts for mural paintings
and works in sculpture TO IL painters
and 2 sculptors for decorations in the
new Post Office and Justice Buildings.
Mr.. Bruce organized and conducted
the great P. w. A. project last year,
under which over $500 artists were
temporarily employed. He has had
an unusual career and is at the pres
ent time a striking personality in the
art world.
Between five and six years ago an
exhibition Of Edward Bruce's paintings
was held in the Reinhardt Galleries,
New York. 1t was not his first show
ing in this country. In fact, some
months before he had won prize
in the Carnegie international by
painting Of a bloSsoming pear tree.
But it brought him definitely to promi-
hn
ton asked, Who is Edward Bruce?"
and were answered by Helen Appleton
Read in THE Arts" who said: "A
New Yorker, for nine generations. who
went to Columbia, played tackle on
the varsity foot ball team, studied
law and later went into banking.
which took him first to the Philippines
and later to China" During his boy
hood he came in contact with j.
Francis Murphy and from him learned
to draw-also. it may be presumed, to
see with the artists insight. During
the 10 or IL years that he spent in
China he became familiar with and
something of a connoisseur of Oriental
art. On trip to Italy he met
Maurice Sterne, showed him some Of
his sketches and was encouraged by
him to go on. Giving up his business
he settled down at Antioch and worked
with Sterne and on his own. for three
years. Then came the Reinhardt eX-
hibition in New York. It Is interest
ing to know that this Spring both
Maurice Sterne and Edward Bruce
were, at the same meeting. elected to
f,,l1 ~
Academy of Design.
The majority of the paintings that
Bruce showed at Reinhardts were
Italian landscapes with flowing lines,
fiat tints, planes simply defined, sensi-
lively seen and delineated. atmos-
pheric, somewhat lyrical in effect. reti-
cent and in a measure decorative.
Especially decorative were his still-life
paintings-a bowl of tulips and other
subjects-particularly effective his
semi-conventlonal studies of Towering
fruit trees-in Italian garden setting.
Since then he has painted in Cali
fornia. in New England, in Florida
and elsewhere, but the greater part of
his time has been given public legisla-
tive problems and Government service
certain measures which he has
strongly advocated have been enacted
by Congress-the public works art prof.
ect has not only been carried to COM
pletion but has left. as heritage, the
new painting and sculpture section of
the procurement division of the
| Treasury.
All of this may have profited the
country, but it has not benefited
Bruces art. Art is jealous mistress
and never tolerates divided interest
+ The paintings made by Mr.. Bruce in
| Vermont last Summer, which compose
! the major portion of the current
/ showing at studio house do not COM
pare favorably with his earlier works
| set forth in the Reinhardt Galleries:
| They are we'll drawn. interesting in
/ composition, rhythmical in line. good
| in color. but they lack the lightneSs
| of touch and the emotional quality
which gave the earlier works signifi-
canoe and distinction. OF course the
artist may have shifted his viewpoint.
To hold to a determined course in the
rough seas of modern thought and
| experimentation is no easy task. But
one does not want to drift backward.
|