Evening star., 1936-02-09
ARTTYPES CONTRAST
Three Exhibitions at National Gallery Inclut
Portraits in Oil, Drawings and Etehings,
and EnameS.
and Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor at Badeck,
New Brunswick.

and Mrs Gilbert Grosvenor at Badeck,
New Brunswick.
ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, Feb
ruary IL, John Taylor Arms, the
eminent etcher, president of the So
ciety of American Etchers, New York,
will give a lecture on contemporary
Etchers Versus the Old Master" in the
auditorium of the Corcoran Gallery OF
Art. under the auspices of the Wash
ington Society of the Fine Arts. He
will illustrate his lecture by examples
and that he will make it vital and
engaging none who have ever heard
him speak on this subject or demon
strate the art of etching will doubt.
Mr. Arms was born in Washington and
grew up here. graduating from the
Central High School, then going to
Princeton, then to the Boston Tech
At the last he studied architecture and
for few years after his graduation
York. Then came the war and service
in the Navy, the outcome of which.
strangely enough. was a desire and
later determination to give his whole
time to etching, Today. in this field
he stands in the foremost ranks, not
only in this country but abroad. None
so commands this delicate and difficult
technique as he. So fine is his line.
so impeccable his craftsmanship, that
it seems at time humanity impossible.
unbelievable. He has specialized chiefly
in etching architectural themes, and
these for the most part Gothic. He is
an industrious worker and has large
output, but whatever he does is held
to very high standard Obviously an
artists first interest is in production.
but John Arms has done vast amount
to advance the art of etching in this
country. He has written an excellent
handbook on etching and the other
graphic art, which should be on every
ones library shelf; he has organized
exhibitions to be shown both here and
abroad; he has in many ways pro-
NOTED better understanding of prints
and print making. He is a clear,
dynamic speaker, and his demonstra-
tions. once seen. are never forgotten.
An exhibition of Mr.. Arms etchings is
to be held in the Corcoran Gallery of
Art later in the season.
IN THIS connection, further and
fuller mention should be made of
the exhibition of etchings by Levon
West, now on view in the Smithsonian
Building, under the auspices Of the
Division of Graphic Arts of the Ma
tional Museum. 1t affords, the print
lover opportunity for rare pleasure.
No reproduction of an etching can
possibly do justice to the original. The
significance of an etching is in the
line and the subtlety is lost through
Photographic reproduction. AS Kreisler
will not broadcast because of the inter-
mediary trapsmitter, so it would seem
that certain etchers might well de-
cline to be reproduced by mechanical
process. But they rarely do-in fact
they are pbenomenally generous in
such matters
What it is that lifts an etching out
of the ordinary and sets it on a high
monplace and makes it enhancing, is
hard to say-but this quality these
etchings of Levon Vests have to an
extraordinary degree. Obviously he
knows the limitations as well as the
potentia.ities Of etching, and while
getting all there is out of his medium,
never presses 1t too far. His compost
tions are excellent, he knows how tc
use wide, untouched space to perfec
ton; he is an adept at wiping his
plate. But all these virtues and ac-
complishments put together do not
explain the lovely results he attains-
lovely in the finest sense of the word,
denoting a kind of ethereal beauty met
with only now and then, even in the
realms of music and poetry. And
what is more. this seems incidental
on the part of the etcher. as though
he were the unconscious medium
through whom it became manifest.
Mr.. West made his reputation by
his etchings of our Western lands and
of scenes in the Canadian Rockies,
but he did not allow the vogue for
these subjects to mislead him-he de-
veloped no formula. His etchings of
sportsmen are quite as good and, it
seems, quite as much in demand. and
now most recently he has turned his
hand to Venetian subjects, which he
has rendered with fresh zest and new
Indeed, although his
manner m these prints has altered
exceedingly, he has found something |
to say, something to show us, that has |
not been said before or seen. In these |
1t is the masses Of light and shade
that create effect, together with sur
face textures. the line heretofore so
and significant is lost in the
larger and greater truth. They are
superb. The opportunity that these |
exhibitions In the Smithsonian Build |
ing, arranged by Mr.. Tolman, acting |
director of the National Gallery of |
Art, and his assistant, Mr.. Sherwin, |
afford print lovers to see and study |
the works of the foremost con-
etchers is very great and
valued.
DUMBARTON HOUSE, the nation
al headquarters Of the Colonial
DANES Of America. Is to be congrstu-