Evening star., 1935-11-03

lack the feeling and atmosphere Of
his architectural plates done abroad
and are less spontaneous. Also to
the writer his Canadian landscapes
lack the intimacy and charm Of those
done in Holland and France, and
while dramatic do not stir the emo
ton as such magnificent scenery
should-and as it, or its counterpart
does, for instance, in D. Y. Cameron's
etchings of the highlands of Scotland.
But this may merely be a matter Of
the personal equation as prints from
these plates are priced higher than
others, and at distance they carry
we'll and are effective.
Mr.. Wright's prints are Of a kind
to again borrow M. Mauclair's words,
"to be put with those very choice and
well-loved things destined to be
quietly admired in intimacy'-always
rare, in good taste, aristocratic. exert
ing charm. What more could one
want-or say? The exhibition will
continue throughout November.
A PROPOS Of the exhibition Of
sketches for mural paintings in
the new Post ONCE, Justice Building
and other Federal buildings through
out the country, now open to the
public in the Corcoran Gallery of
Art. it is interesting to quote a pas
sage from Mural Painting in Amer
ica," written by Edwin H. Blashfield
in 1923, when he himself was dean
of American mural painters. It is
as follows: Il say again that we must
be modern and we must be American.
No matter how saturated we are with
the art Of the past, and the more the
better, we must fasten our souvenir to
the living present; no matter how
much we love the things of the past
we must use our memory of them
as frames to some such happenings as
live for Americans of today" And
again, mo matter how enthusiastically
we have studied the nude body as
presented by the Greeks, by Michel
angelo, Raphael, Donatello, we must
remember that naked bodies bow
themselves to dig our trenches and
puddle our steel, work among us
today. and are as interesting now
under the American sun or in the fire.
light Of our foundries as they were
in the times long past"
This Is the voice of an academician,
past president of the National Acad-
emy of Design, painter of murals,
historical and allegorical, under COM
mission Of the Government and
others-incidentally, painter Of the
mural in the dome of the rotunda at
the Library Of Congress. But could
anything be more up to date? And
strangely enough, it is not because
the painters who submitted sketches
in competition for mural paintings
in our new public buildings did not
take their subjects from contemporary
life, seeing with the artists insight,
interpreting according to their own
vision, that the majority fall fiat and
lack significance. It would seem so.
And how important Is this matter
Of vision? The dullest subject can
be illumined and glorified by those
who can so see it. Certainly it is
not the business of art to make
ugliness more apparent, the com.
monplace more dull. We can, If bored,
close up tedious, uninspired book and
put it back on the shelf, but we
must perpetqally see q painting on
the wall whether it is beautiful or
offensive. The majority of the mural
paintings to be placed in our public
buildings will be painted on can-as
and affixed to the walls-they can be
taken down or painted over-but it
is much easier to put up than to take
down painting so acquired.
Wall paintings were originally for
the edification Of the ignorant, those
who could not read. In this later day
they have become, to q great extent,
to be regarded primarily as decora-
tions. The beautiful murals by Puvis
de Chavanne In the Pantheon In Paris
admirably fulfill both functions, as
does John L. F.ySes. superb mural