The Washington times., 1936-01-07
NOW
Tells Reaction to
Modern Art
THE LITERARY
Rx HELEN ESSARY

this mornings mail. A letter tina
shows the power Of modern arr
the genius of its revelation an
its haunting effect on sensitiv
personalities.
Here's the letter:
'Dear Helen Essary:
81 saw you looking at the
Exhibits of Modern Art and
Sculpture at the Studio House
and Junior League headquart-
ers yesterday and heard you say
that the canvaSeS and sculp-
lures fascinated you.
II wonder If it was a pleasant
fascination. Could you or any
one else feel happy among the
harried, diSillusiOned faces and
figures the mOderniStS use as a
medium for their art?
81 don't believe that even Mrs.
Roosevelt, despite her enthusi-
aSm for the work Of the mod
ern art museum, is really happy
when she is surrounded by the
products Of Gaugin, DegaS, Bar
ZACH and LachaiSe. You must
have noticed that she refused to
have her picture made beside
that Singing Boy. She walked
over to a meek conventional
bust and posed there.
II stared at some Of those
terrible faces on the canvaSes,
ut that woman cut on the bias,
or so she looked to me, at the
two clowns having a joke on the
audience they were supposed to
be amusing; at the amazing
Silence Of RedOn what
thoughts that woman had to
conceaD and thought how
Modern Art discovers humanity
1T its worst.
The exhibit reminded me Of
an experience / had at q din
ner party, during prohibition
days. There was no wine to
continue the mellOwing infIu-
ence Of raw gin cocktails. A
general. conversational. pause,
one Of those curious ones that
sometimes happen, came while
the courses were being changed.
Suddenly for only an instant
I saw the people around me,
old friends, all of them, as I had
never seen them before. The
social masks were down. The
personalities they tried to hide
were revealed. I saw greed and
cOwardice and selfishness and
bitterness and almost no hap
pinesS or repOSe.
ITO me modern art is like
this. 1t strips pitifuI human
nature and even rivers and
forests and plains Of the ideal.
Il concerns itself only with
futility and uglinesS. Its answer
to life is a Smirk.
II stayed long time at the
exhibit and studied the can
vases and sculptures. That
night I went to sleep, thinking
Of their frankness and power.
Before morning I had q fear
full dream. i was pursued over
distorted landscapes by the
leering eyes and grimaces Of the
people Of MOdigliani, Epstein
and MaillOl.
II awOke from the nightmare
terrified, but with a clear mind.
It dawned on me what modern
art and sculpture really is.
at is senSuality stripped Of
beauty and virtue and religion.
1t is Modern Life.
cit frightenS me and 1 hate
1t. E. c."
Whew!!!! E. g.! What hav
gou been drinking? What havI
you been up to?
You sound like those charming
people DR.. Sigmund Freud Wrot
about. I think you need a pSy
choanalyist.
Your letter, E. c., is a flatterin
reaction to the Modern Art e.
hibit. If inanimate canvas an,
bronze can be so potent, the NeI
York Museum should send its e1
lnibits more often. Washington
might learn about itself from
them.
I wonder what Modern Sculr
tors would put into the faces o
the members of the Suprem
Court if they had modelled Their
while the AAA decision was bein
given.
Changing the subject definitel
of all the shows, social, politics
and intellectual, that Washington
offers it's eager population, tn
meetings of the Literary Societ
are to me the most refreshing.
On Saturday night The Literary
rs it has been called during II
life Of 10 years, was entertaine
by the brilliant Mrs. Marie Maj
ming Gasch and the clever Mis-
Genevieve Wimsatt. Mr.. Willia1
Chaplin Huntington read the onl
paper on Russia I have ever bee
able to understand. Mr.. Robel
Lincoln presided gaily and SUI
cessfully.
Pretty Miss Rosemarie Durig-
daughter Of Ernest Durig, tn
sculptor young harpist in flu
tering white, contributed a pr
Jude of enchanting music.
Two presidents of the Unite
States, r. r. Roosevelt and Ga
field, have belonged to The Ii
erary. When their turn came
act as hosts to the society lit hs
no meeting place and no dues
they entertained at the Whit