The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-03-14

By LIP A Jr.)

Anton Otto FiScher's reproduc-
ton of the peculiar beauty of Key
West waters. something which
hasn't been done before; the
SensitiveneSs of the beautiful
forms of light of F. Townsend
Morgan; a startling mOdernistic
sketch called Abstraction" by
Sally Sortwell; evening shadows
on beached derelictS vivid
ScerS of a boat on the ways by
Eleanor Reed;and finally the uni
que beauty of Key Wset Rain"
of Martha Watson appealed most
to me in a trip through the ex-
hibitiOn of paintings of the Key
West Art Association IN the Fed
eral Art Center.
MIR. Fischer mentioned some
time back that he was going to
attempt to capture Key West
waters and skies He was a sailor
for quite a long time and knows
the sea in all its sheen and moods.
SO much so that many of his sea
pictures are painted entirely from
memory far up on dry land
When / saw MS ''OId Dock"
very nearly exclaimed in delight,
the water was SO much the water
I've known in Key West. II was
the water of calm day at the
SimOntOn street dock. The chan
mel runs a little way out and there
is a CLASSY. oily sheen to il. which
I've never seen caught anywhere
else. Those who attended the first
exhibition of Key West artists
viii remember sunset. channel
buoy, and Rest Beach scenes. on
which Key West waters as they
are Is the arresting feature.
The purple evening shadows on
the old boats at the foot of Greene
street of the painting ~Derelicts"
would make me homsick if / were
away, for the angles and colorings
of the boats touch off that store
up picture in the mind of the
unique beauty and mood of such
Key West groups as this A
contrast is the sunlight scene of
Docking" by the same artist
The blue waters of the T. E. c.
harbor. and deep. smooth green
water in which undulating Shad-
ows almost seem to move reach
ing down to depths beside the
dock scene make one want to sit
for hours admiring the living
beauty a brush has created.
Whether the painting "AbStrac-
ton" by Sally SOrtwell Is sur
realism. dadaiSm. or something
equally as strange. is not for me
to point out. Suffice it to say that
there is hint of the horizonal
fields of deep abstraction. which,
however, seems to me to be
brought to startlingly to life in
the crumpled rolled pieces of tin
or paper. which may signify
thought unrOlling- There are hints
of promise in the work which
may bear fruit by study, but. for
me. il IS just too ''abstracted-"
I've often watched Key West
lust after it has been washed IN
rain. both during the day and in
the evening. marvelling at the
.nsrx dark tones, catching the
him OF sadness in the light gray
pail and the idealiSn of silver in
the sky, and the philosophy Of
the wet. unpainted. gray houses
Rain by Martha Watson has
caught all that for me.
+. Townsend Morgan. Federal
Art Project director who IS an
outstanding artist. known princi-
paIIy in the field Of etching. has
an excellent collection Of etchings
and paintings Among the eteh-
ings IS Key West-The Island
CITY Of the Sea" panorama
which won the Frederick ]. Tai
colt prize Society OF American
etchings. IN New York. in 1888.
and speaks for itself Another
bargaining was selected for
Fine Prints Of the Year last
wear. Morgsn's The Blgeye
shows clearly his ability % per
tray romantic mystical forTns OF
~------- -
: