Evening star., 1937-07-31
the new Interior Departments audi

The artists to whom wall space in
the stair wells Of the Justice Build g
nave been assigned are Emil Bsttram
John Ballator and Symeon Shimin
The first has completed his work and
1t is now In place. This is a panel of
considerable size made up Of a large
center panel representing justice sew
erlng the chains of bondage and a
series Of pictorial side panels showing
Womans present freedom to enter into
all fields Of intellectual and physical
achievement. This work is done with
almost painful accuracy and tells its
story lntellieibly to the dullest mind,
but 1t Is spiritless and Ineffective
there is no spontaneity in the paint
ing. no imagination In conception, 1t
is the kind Of thing one might expect
to md in an old-fashioned child's
primer. Bisttram has done and is
capable Of doing far better work than
this. The declared intention of the
painting and sculpture section of the
Treasury Department Procurement
Division is ito secure suitable art of
the best quality available for the
establishment OF public buildings"
This painting certainly does not EN-
belllsh.' Neither does it teach.
In the field of art We Americans are
rather clumsy when we attempt propa-
ganda, and those who visit the Justice
Department. or are employed therein,
are Intellectually beyond the primer
stage.
Wall space in the entrance from
| the inner court in this building has
been assigned to Boardman Robinson,
now of Colorado Springs.
The first Of the 10 pairs of mural
| paintings for the Post ONCE Building
to be completed were by Reginald
| Marsh and are to be found on the
| fourth floor in the north lobby. They
represent Transfer of Mail From
Liner to Tugboat" and Sorting of
Mail" both very realistic, not espe-
cially colorful, but we'll drawn and
painted, Very similar in character
is the pair by Alfred Crimi in the
south lobby on the same floor, repre-
senting Post Office Work Room" and
'Transporta ton of Mail" works which
serve as a record Of current activity
and nothing more-and are too busy"
and complex as compositions to be
seen to advantage in the narrow con-
fines of their location.
The pair by William Palmer, lately
placed in the north lobby on the sew
enth floor. certainly provide enter
talnment for the young and have pic
torial interest. One of these shows
party of pioneers making their way
in the traditional covered wagon
across the plains surprised by murder
ing Indians; the other vividlv SET
forth a stage coach held up by armed
bandits. There is plenty of movement
and incident, but absolutely no dig
nlty-no trace Of the universal which
alone gives to work OF art last
ing merit.
RETTER by far is the pair in the
south lobby on the fifth floor by
Ward Lockwood, on which the artist
has been working during the past
months, transferring his very COM
plete cartoons to the plaster wall.
after the method of true fresco. These
represent Opening Of the Southwest"
and Building Of the Railroads In the
West" and are very freely interpreted.
Each composition includes numerous
tull-slze figures, but the grouping Is
good, the types are we'll chosen and
the treatment is simple and direct.
Also these panels are very colorful.
Obviously they are pictorial rather
than decorative. but so are the ma
Jority Of the present-day mural paint
ings done under Government patron
age, and a forced effort to be ma
tionalistic.
Among the other painters commits
stoned to fill twin spaces in these Post
Office Department lobbies are Rock
well Kent, painter, illustrator, print
maker and author (es well as a few
other things. and Eugene Savage,
Academy at Rome fellow and head of
the department Of painting at Yale
University. both of whom have sub
mltted preliminary sketches which
have met the approval of the Commits
sion of Fine Arts as well as the
Treasury Section Of Painting and
Sculpture. Their completed works
will, it is thought, be ready for place
ment within six months. Also. on the
strength Of other work produced for
the Treasury Art Project, George Hard
ing, Karl Free, Frank Mechau and
Doris Lee have received commissions
for additional paintings in this group.
Meanwhile. Ton Lea's panel. The
Nesters' in the lobby of the Benjamin
Franklin Sub-Station has been COM
pleted, and its companion. to be done
oy Alexander Brook is. it is under
stood, on its way The Lea panel is
very successful.
Much too can be said in praise of
the series Of panels representing con-
struction work in progress which has
been given placement on the walls OF
the lobby of the Government Ware
house, Seventh and D streets south
west, where the Procurement Division
OF the Treasury Department is
quartered. These panels are the work
of Harold Weston, are quiet in color
flavor-they both record and decorate.
THE mural paintings ii the new
Federal buildings in Washington
stand as witness to a growing recogni-
ton Of the necessity of correlating the
arts. Also, perhaps, to an under
standing on the part OF the Govern
ment Of the necessity Of patronage, if
art is to survive and again flourish
But as compared with the vast activ-
tiles carried on in this field. by the
Government under the Treasury De-
! partment, during the past three years,
these works are merely a drop in the
bucket. Under these auspices. mural
paintings are being placed at the
present time in approximately 500
Federal buildings throughout the
country, the ajority Of which are,
| however east OF the Mississippi River.
/ And pnt foly ,S,t1