Evening star., 1937-02-27
Bv Leila Mechin.

- EXCEPTIONALLY attractive is
- the exhibition of portrait
drawings in pastel of Elisa
- beth Telling, portraitist, eth
nographer and lecturer, now on view
in the Corcoran Gallery of Art. There
is a saying that to man the most in
teresting exhibit is man, and if this
were not true why would the benches
on the Boardwalk at Atlantic City
be turned back to the ocean and
facing the grand parade? What else
IS it that gives railway stations and
hotel lobbies their great allure? For
this reason. if no other. portraits in
variably have dual interest-as works
of art and as interpretations of per-
sonalities. Miss Telling's pastel por-
traits are in this respect no exception,
but not only does she show us people
of marked individuality, but from
various and to most of us remote
parts of the world. We see in this
exhibition men. women and children
from Siam. Bali and Java, overseas to
the westward, and from Guatemala
and Yucatan, across our own country
and to the south. They are in native
dress. which is invariably colorful and
out Of the ordinary, but they are very
real people and sympathetically in
terpreted
Before Miss Telling began her
travels she had made name for her
self by her dry point etchings of fig
ures, and her skillful use of line stands
her in good stead in her portrait
drawings and at the same time lends
distinction. Her economy of line is
particularly notable: again and again
a single stroke of her charcoal or
crayon tells the whole story. And to
this significant use of line is added
the charm of color tastefully applied
pure color and unmixed. Admittedly
she had excellent subjects, but they
were, it must be remembered, of her
own choosing. And she has pre-
sented them in most instances with
1ninitable skill.
Ethnologists will probably find
greatest interest in the drawings of
heads because of their racial signifi-
canoe, and artistically these are no
less good; but to lay1nen her full
length figures will undoubtedly make
special appeal. 1t is not easy to draw
little figures on fiat paper and not
have them look like dolls, but in most
instances Miss Telling has inbued
those she has portrayed with life.
And how engaging all these por-
traits by Miss Telling are! Take for
instance the little black-haired and
brown-eyed girl from Bali, mi Desok
Peleting of the Legong Dancers
number 25 in the catalogue-a
fascinating little face. mobile and ex-
pressive-or the old Guatemalan
woman, Julia Amperes," with head
and shoulders covered by a colorful
cloth or shawl, whose face is puckered
and rutted by age, but whose beadlike
eyes peer into those of the beholder
with piercing intentnesS Or in the
figures, note Thomas Mendoza" of
Guatemala, seated, and to be looked
at with pleasure. his colorful costume
adding interest in his friendly per-
sonality Burmese Dancing Girl is
another very successful venture, as
is the Dancer in Serimpe Costume"
reproduced on the cover of the little
catalogue Miss Telling's use of
color in these drawings reminds of
Whistler's somewhat similar but still
more subtle method as seen in his
pastels at the Freer Gallery of Art.
Obviously her touch is not as light
or her stroke as elusive, but her pur-
pose Is much the same and her
method is perfectly suited to her need
All Of the thirty-three or thirty
four drawings included in this ex-
hibition are upheld to a high stand
ard. A few have been singled out for
mention merely as exemplifying GER
tain outstanding characteristics, but
each mas its own particular merit and
charm. Remark may also be made
of the excellent framing of these
drawings and their very effective
hanging on the walls of the little
southeast gallery on the first floor,
which has never presented a more
pleasing array. This exhibition will
continue through March IA.
Marian Macintosh Memorial
Exhibition at the Arts Club.
THE memorial exhibition of paint
ings by Marian Macintosh, which
opened at the Arts Club last Sunday,
provides not only material for pleas
urable inspection but thought. It
comprises 16 oil paintings, about half
of which are of subjects found in
ireland, where the artist was born,
and the other half subjects in and
about Gloucester or on the coast of
Maine. In almost no instance are
these paintings factual They were
painted in the artists studio, rather
than on the spot, and represent q
composite of impressions usually rem
dered. There is about them a certain
eerie feeling peculiarly and delight
fully Irish which sets them apart
While essentially true, it is of the
things unseen rather than seen to
which they witness. For this reason
they are at disadvantage when ex-
hibited collectively-for full compre-
hension and appreciation each should
be seen alone. The wise visitor will
here concentrate attention on separate
canvases and not attempt the more
usual sweeping survey.
1t should not be thought that Miss
Macintosh made up her pictures or
painted them without preliminary
study. She was, in fact, a hard stu
dent and gave herself industriously
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