Evening star., 1937-02-20
Bp Leila Mechlin.

which make up Cne CURRENT
II showing in the print rooms of
the Phillips Memorial Gallery are full
of significance and engaging interest
If the visitor will take the time to give
them careful study. They were never
meant to be hung on wall or other
wise exhibited. For the most part they
are studies made by the artists for a
particular purpose and are intimate
and very personal. Some were in
tended as illustrations for reproduc-
tion. some obviously found inception
as themes to be etched while still
others undoubtedly served as studies
for paintings. In other words, they
were a means to an end rather than
an end in themselves. But from this
very fact they derive special interest,
giving, as it were, insight into the
artists way of working
Craftsmanship Is the basis Of all art,
and only those who master it can
hope to achieve success in this field
or any of its subdivisions. In her
delightful autobiography, Heads and
Tales" recently published, Malvina
Hoffman tells how at almost their first
meeting Rodin emphasized to her the
Importance of careful drawing. Exam
lining the studies she had made from
one of his works in sculpture, he asked
her if she considered them drawings,
and, on receiving her assent, gravely
told her that they we're merely
sketches, and warned her against too
great facility. Later he sent her to
the Louvre to study and copy the
works of the masters, firmly fixing in
her mind the necessity of acquiring
through endless discipline control of
her hand as we'll as accuracy of vision.
To be a sculptor, painter, an etcher,
an artist must draw and draw and
draw until drawing becomes as Sec
ond nature-a sixth sense.
This fact has been recognized by the
greatest artists Of all time and ex-
plains why drawings by the old mas
tiers today command such fabulous
prices in the art market. To the Chi
nese painters of the old dynasties and
to the japanese print-makers Of the
last century, line has been of utmost
Importance, and it is primarily line
with which the craftsman concerns
himself One may draw with pencil
or crayon or brush and in the finished
work the actual drawing may be lost,
but the line is still there and pro-
foundly significant. No one who could
not draw could have produced the
Colleoni statue in Venice or the ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel in Rome-or, for
that matter, any Of the works of art
which by common consent of succeed
ing generations are called great.
PUT drawing for awhile seemed to
go out of fashion. partly through
overemphasis on other elements in
the making of a work of art, and
partly, it must be confessed through
an eagerness for short cuts among
those of the younger generation. Also
good drawing has been associated with
academic training, and therefore been
anathema to many. Today the tide is
seen to be turning. and much more
attention is given to drawing, much
better drawing is being done.
Sustaining this conviction, remark
may be made that perhaps the finest
line used by any artist represented in
the exhibition at the Phillips Memo
rial Gallery is that of Frank Mechau
painting in the Colorado Springs Post
Office. This is very thin, fine, even
line, but it flows exquisitely with per-
feet ease and delightful rhythm.
Thomas Handforth, who is capable of
a similar line is represented here by
a brush-drawlng, impressively simple,
in a manner doubtless learned in
China. where for some years Of late he
has happily lived and worked.
At the other end of the scale is an
sllegorical drawing by Benjamin West
in crayon and chalk, very reminiscent
Of his day when the classical revival
was at its height, and suggestive of
the decorative use then made of figure
compositions. Presumably this draw
ing was made as cartoon to be rem
dered in other medium. There is
something very handsome about it
and quite worth considering. We talk
much of progress. but how often We
mistake for it mere change of coat.
There are in this collection two
drawings by Winslow Homer, who be-
gan his career as an illustrator and
never abandoned his habit of making
careful drawings of things SEEN One
of these harks back to Civil War days
when he was on the staff of Harper's
Weekly figure of ''zouave," while
the other, group of children on a
Nj 1,n
Summers which somewhat later he
spent at Gloucester. In the latter
drawing one sees the painted gaining
ascendance over the illustrator-there
is a tone quality to be remarked.
Evidently illustrative and of special
local interest is a drawing in wash by
Joseph Pennen of The Main Stairs
of the Corcoran Gallery of Art" In
as much as these are the stairs in the
old building on the corner of Pennsyl-
vania avenue and Seventeeth street,
some may be mystified by the label,
but to those who remember the old
building with its glamor of other days
this drawing will be delightfully."- remi-
niscent. It is indeed a very correct
rendering and up the broad flight, as
pictured, one catches a glimpse of the
paintings high hung in the imposing
gallery at the top.
ONE finds here also three interest
ing little portrait drawings
head by Whistler-supposedly of
swtnburne, but strangely like the late
Charles L. Freer-the figure of a
woman Standing" by Homer Martin,
best known as a landscape painter,
contemporary of Inness and Wyant-
and a portrait of "Mr. D."-labeled
by the artist-"M. D"-a seated figure
very characterful and well drawn by
Eastman Johnson, well known genre
painter of the COS and later.
The versatile Mahonri Young
sculptor painter and etcher-is repre-
sented by a drawing, very slight, but
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