The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1937-05-03

AS I approac the task of SET
ting down the history of this muir
der case, I have just returned
from an interview with Howard
Wrenn, the artist, during the
course of which we discussed his
art and his unfortunate model;
and Wrenn know lodged
Awakening" as his mast 'rpiece.
OF course, he did not use the word
masterpiece" he is altogether
too modest for that. He said sim
ply that it undoubtedly was his
finest bit of work.
The picture shows Margie re-
Ginning on a chaise Tongue. An
open book, face down, is held
against her breast by her left
hand. Her right has just passed
across her eyes, which are wide
open and inquiring. Dark blue eyes
they are, with the memory of vio-
lets in them, and they have just
opened after a pleasant dream.
I don't pretend to any knoWl-
edge of art, but to me the most
remarkable thing about the pic
ture is the effect Howard Wrenn
has achieved with her hair. It is
red hair, with th> CLINT of gold
in it, and it catches the sunlight
streaming in at a window and
throws it back again in a dozen
different CLEANS, like a ripping,
swirling stream.
It is a beautiful painting, and
Wrenn in his unconventional way
has clothed his model in the mod
ish attire of a modern flapper
Cor did we stop calling them flap
pers when their skirts de-
scended?); so that some Ct the
critics have sneeringly called it a
hosiery advertisement. Bl't others,
less prejudiced against nice legs
in silk ste kings, have pronounced
it good.
Except that tragedy cut it
short, Margie Shannon's career
was not unlike those of hundreds
of other girls with whose activ.
tiles the public has become more
or less familiar in recent years.
A beauty contest launched her.
After her death the newspaper
checkupS disclosed that she had
been a clerk in a New York de-
partment store, had entered a
bathing beauty contest one sum-
mer and had been sent to At
lantic City along with other Sec
tional winners.
There she came very close to
winning first prize, but the COM
mittee Of artists acting as judges
decided on an entrant with long
black curls whose appeal was
more demure. The fact remains,
however, that Atlantic City's
boardwalks was sweet to Margie
Shannon and it put new ideas
in her head. Upon her return to
New York she promptly quit the
department store job as too pro
sale and attempted to crash the
movies via one of the studios on
Long Island.
She caught on as an extra in
a few pictures, but these jobs
were few and far between and
yielded less than enough for a
Self-supporting working girl. In
her encouragement her temper
which was as fiery as her hair
got the better of her one day
after she had been turned down
by an assistant in the casting
directors office. She angrily or
dered her record card out of the
files. And never went back.
Between Pictures Jobs She
Posed For Artist
Between pictures she had worked
now and then in the studios of one
of New York'S best known photo
graphic illustrators. The firm
made a lot of advertising illustra-
lions, and because she possessed
an almost perfect form Margie
frequently posed for lingerie and
hosiery ads. She also was used
occasionally in Photographic illus
trationS for serial stories. After
her disappointing experience with
motion pictures she worked for
several months as a Photographic
model. The work was fairly regu-
lar and paid her well. But she
EllzIIEI