Evening star., 1938-05-01
By Leila Mechlin.

By Leila Mechlin.
~HE month of May promises to
be exceptionally interesting in
the number and character of
L exhibitions scheduled here,
and elsewhere throughout the coun-
try. On the 10th the Corcoran GAL
lery will open the great Swedish ex-
hibition brought to the country in
celebration of the three-hundredth
anniversary Of the establishment of a
colony of Swedes on the shores of the
Delaware River not far from where the
city Of Wilmington has grown up. 1t
will comprise precious examples Of
arts and crafts illustrating the ar
tistic development of Sweden from
the earliest era to the present, many
Of which have not heretofore left
Sweden. In connection with the Ma
tional Folk Festival, to be held in
Constitution Hall on May 6. and 8.
there will be a notable display of the
crafts of our American Indians-bas-
kets and pottery by distinguished
craftswomen Of the Hopi and Pueblo
tribes today, as we'll as an exhibit of
dolls in national dress produced by
workers under the Illinois w. P. A.
project for the unemployed About the
same time, May Z. an exhibition of
works by art students in Midwestern
universities, known in the field of
athletics as the Big Ten." will open
in the college wing of the Interior De-
partments Art Gallery. to continue
practically throughout the summer
In addition there will be special ex-
hibitions at the Arts Club, Phillips
Gallery Studio House. the Smithsonian
Institution and elsewhere Certainly
there is no evidence of diminution of
interest as the season draws to close.
Prints by Frank A. Ndnkiuell
Make Engaging Shouting in
Smithsonian Building.
THE MAY exhibition of prints, set
forth in the Smithsonian Building.
under the auspices of the Division of
Graphic Arts of the United States Ma
tional Museum, consists of works in
both color and black and white by
Frank A. Nankivell, most versatile
and gifted artist-painter etcher. en-
graver. aquatinter and printer-to
say nothing of caricaturist and illus
traitor. Few have had more remark
able career. Born in Maldon, Aus
tralia, in 1869, the son Of an explorer
for the East India Co.. he was edu-
Gated in Melbourne. studying architec-
ture and engineering at Wesley Col
lege.
For time he did engineering work
on the Victorian railways, at the same
time making cartoons for Australian
publications. In 1891. against the ad-
vice of family and friends, he set out
for Paris to study painting, but en-
route his money gave out and, finding
himself penniless in Japan. he sought
and secured employment there as
American paper. Box of Curios. This,
however, did not discourage his inten-
ton, and after three years he again
started for Paris, getting this time as
far as San Francisco. Here again he
found employment along his chosen
line. made drawings for the San Fran
cisco Call. Examiner and Chronicle,
which gave him livelihood, and pub
Iished. with Bob Davis, largely for the
fun of it, fortnightly comic, Chic.
BY 1896 he had moved on to New
York and there stayed for 13 years.
joining the staff of Puck as cartoonist
and caricaturist Eventually he got
to Paris, and the desire to paint, pre-
sumably, has never left him, but, with
the perversity of fate, it is as a print
maker and illustrator that success has
smiled upon him.
At the present time Mr.. Nankivell is
on the staff of the Ladies' Home Jour-
nal but he finds time in odd moments
to do very expert printing for his dis
tinguished fellow printmakers; to
make plates himself, and, incidentally,
to produce the first complete reel in
full color for a motion picture anima-
tion. There has certainly been nothing
monotonous in Mr. Nankivells life, nor
Is there in his art.
EIFTY prints are included in the
current showing, Of which, for the
hrst time in connection with these
Smithsonian exhibitions, little cata-
logue with an illustration on the cover
has been printed for free distribution.
These are in pure etching, dry point
soft ground, aquatint and mezzotint;
also occasionally combination of
etching and aquatint. Evidently Mr..
MAXWELL likes to experiment, to ex-
plore. In subject matter, too. his
prints cover a wide field. A lively
mind and alert interest as well as
sensitiveness to impression are reflect
ed In all he does.
OF special note is his portrait in
mezzotint of Mark Twain''-a large
plate rendered with slstained strength
and very great understanding. The
process Of mezzotinting is technically
very difficult To rock" plate of this
size would require. we are told, a week
OF steady labor Of the most monoto-
nous sort. Until this is done the fun"
OF creating the work of art cannot be
begun. Also it is very unusual to at
tempt original work in this medium.
Commonly it has been used to repro
duce paintings by distinguished artists
But Mr. Nankivell displays great free
dom as well as skill in his employment
Of mezzotint.
1t is here that his study of painting
has stood him in good stead. His
textures are those of the painter
rather than the engraver; further
more his portraiture has character
the personal equation is well to the
fore. Perhaps there was a chord Of
unusual sympathy and UNDERSTANDING
between himself and the great hu-
morist-there must have been and
this undoubtedly enabled him to in
terpret the inner man as have few
OF his biographers. There are two
ether portraits In mezzotint in this
collection, both good, but not as good
"A thar 0f Carnual N1o,non.- -uh1nt.