Evening star., 1936-04-04

than half the battle is correct seeing
and mental acutenesS. He teaches
his pupils to seize and memorize the
essentials of composition before at
tempting to transcribe it. His Mex
lean paintings must be regarded in
this light, which, after all, is that in
which all art should be regarded-for
art is a personal understanding
between the painter and the observer
which completely evades technical
analysis.
Miss Rileys
Water COlorS.
OF THE 20 or more water colors by
Mary G. Riley, now on view in the
atrium of the Corcoran Gallery of
Art the majority were painted in Mex
leo last Summer. Miss Riley had, dur
ing her sojourn there, little house in
Taxco, charmingly located, very livable
and attractive, which afforded the
maximum Of living comfort and pro-
vided environment in the best imagin-
able way. Certainly Miss Riley's water
colors convey to the observer a sense
of profound knowledge and under
standing on the part of the painter.
They are exciting because of their
merit and emotional quality, but not
excited. In them there Is no sense Of
haste or accident. One sees behind
their competence knowledge and COM
prehension.
Miss Riley Is member of the So
ciety Of Washington Artists and the
Washington Water Color Club. Her
paintings in oil have for years found
ready welcome in exhibitions here and
elsewhere. Her studies in this medium
have been under such capable masters
as Henry B. Smell and Birge Harrison.
1t was only a couple Of years ago that
she turned to water color painting and
became pupil of Eliot O'Hara. From
him she learned the handling of me-
dium, and to his teaching she does
great credit, but her style has remained
her own.
She, too, paints broadly and with a
full brush, but she has a wide color
range and carries her work beyond in
itial stages. Some Of her compositions
are elaborate, including wide sweep
of country, mountains and sky, with
houses, people, animals, thrown in in
cidentally and always in place, never
intruding. She is an excellent drafts
man, her houses stand up. her trees
are living and characterful-and what
ever she sets forth is enveloped in at
mosphere. But after all, none Of these
virtues fully explains or contributes,
save in part, to the charm Of her
paintings, which, once seen, will not
soon be forgotten. Especially fine are
her paintings Of mountain ranges,
showing conformity, beauty of color,
strength, and suggesting at the same
time with utmost subtlety size, magni-
tude. In several instances she has
cleverly introduced plant growth Of
typical character in the foreground of
her compositions, such as century
plants in "Maguey" and "Organ Cac-
tus" in another bearing this title.
Especially noteworthy is "Guaja
Trees" in which tree trunks and bare
branches are silhouetted against land
scape and sky, clear cut, exquisite in
color, living-a fine pattern. In this
composition a little donkey in an open
shed takes its place Interestingly in
the foreground.
In several of these paintings light
plays q large part in the matter Of
effect, as for instance in Evening in
Taxco," wherein the mountains are
seen over the towns red roofs catching
the last rays of the setting sun.
But not all Of Miss Riley's paintings
were done in Mexico. One especially
significant is of quarry, presumably
near Gloucester. In this rock wall
and still water rejecting a Summer sky
are very boldly and adequately indi-
Gated. The first four numbers in the
catalogue of this exhibition are of
horses seen in farm environment, white
and dark, interesting as studies but
less capably rendered than those done
later, and as incidental to varied COM
positions. On the whole this Is a most
engaging exhibition and one which
does the exhibiting institution as well
as the artist credit. 1t will continue to
April 10.
Portraits By q
Spanish Artist.
[ JNDER the distinguished patronage
of the Ambassadors Of Spain,
Mexico, Chile, Cuba, Japan and Siam
and the Ministers Of Greece, Panama,
Portugal, Bolivia and Ecuador an ex-
hibition Of portraits in pastel by
Fresia del Pulgar of Spain was held
on the first three days of this week in
the Hessler- Henderson Studios, 1926
Connecticut avenue. The majority of
the works shown were portraits of the
wives and daughters of diplomats, and
were done during the past Winter,
which the artist, q sister of Mrs.
Thomas Burke, has spent in Washing
ton. They were ife-size drawings in
charcoal and colored crayons on tinted
paper, in exaggerated imitation of
what may be called the Holbein ira
dition, adapted to conform with mod
ern style. Like the poster. these draw.