Evening star., 1938-05-29

pencil-surprsingly so.
There Is much to commend In Henry
N. Basset's Smooth landings pic
ture of q gull, handled with originality
and breadth, and in Waldemal
Brandl's Magnolia Shadows" pre-
sumably on the portico Of Arlington
House, which are not only Interestingly
patterned, but also vital, literally quiv'
ering.
In this exhibition, as in those OF
paintings, there Is less pure landscape
than formerly or is to be expected
In fact, the lyrical landscape seems
no longer to attract attention. George
j. Siefert's La Pineta di Fregene
Near Rome" Is q notable exception
a very handsome composition delight
fully set forth. "The Cascade" q
swift flowing little mountain torrent
by Carl w. Lewis, Is also outstanding
and memorable for merit, as are three
other prints Of varied themes-"Co-
lonial Doorway" and Union Station, y
both by Walter j. Reck, the latter
exceptional in composition and at
mospheric effect. and Frozen" q
fountain meshed with winters lace
beautifully interpreted by Marjorie
van der Water. Some praise, and
very cordial, should likewise be given
to a print Of a peacock with spread
tail. many eyed, by Robert Thurber
entitled Mr.. Vanity"
Strangely enough this exhibition is
not strong in either portraits or fig
ure studies, and for the most part
those shown are comparatively usual
the portraits too large and not in
terpretative-thef figures not we'll fitted
to their environments. The modern
element finds expression in certain
prints Of themes utterly lacking in
inherent beauty, such as terra Gotta
conduits or building blocks. ropes,
circles and cylinders, etc. Also some
were taken from unusual points of
view, looking sharply down from above
or up from below OF the latter
an excellent example is Spiral" by
Marion Manning-a view. looking up
of spiral staircase, bedizzying as
the law of perspective narrows its
curve.
From one contributor alone have
come works in color. This is Will
liam ]. Nagel. whose contribution con-
sists of study of colorful containers
"Iebkuchen," a study of violins;
"Chromatic Symphony" and a picture
Of the seven little dwarfs standing
at the foot of Snow Whites bed
These, as evidencing the potentiali-
ties of not only color photography,
but also Of its use in printed pub
licity and possibly book illustration,
constitute q notable feature.
CUPPLEMENTING the National
Capital Salon Of Photography in
the gallery Of the Arts Club is, In
the reception room and hall, a small
but very interesting collection of print.
by club members. Peggy Duffy, Roy
Lyman Sexton. Maria and Felian Gar
zia. The first two are most largely
represented-Peggy Duffy by portraits
Roy Sexton by pictures of place
many such, and we'll chosen. The
number and excellence of the por-
traits by Peggy Duffy compensate fol-
the slimnesS of the representation in
this branch in the salon. Her work
In every instance Is sensitively inter-
pretative and very sound. Included
in her showing are portraits of Mrs
Henry Morgenthau. jr.; Senator Borah
Countess Mary Roberti. Mrs. John L
Lewis, Mrs. Elmer Collins. Mrs. Jaspal
Du Bose. not to name all, and in ad-
dition. Of Alice Barry, Joan Wilmer.
dig and Peter Strong, all young peo-
pie, in the protraiture of whom this
most gifted artist undoubtedly excels
These exhibitions will continue only
until June 8, after which the clubs
summer show Of members work will
60 up.
Works by Students and
Professional Artists ShoUn at
Phillips Gallery House.
pHILLIPS GALLERY STUDIO
HOUSE is holding, at this time
and until June S, its closing exhibition
for the season. This consists Of works
by students Of the Phillips Gallery
Art School and of group Of profess
sional artists associated with Studio
House who have worked under the di-
rection Of Mr.. c. Law Watkins. Also
included are studies by what Is known
as the amateur group, adults who for
the pleasure of the doing have given
one period week to painting.
Obviously such an exhibition raises
the question as to what constitutes
q professional in art. In law or medi-
cine, to be accredited as professional,
one must complete certain established
courses, be the recipient Of a degree,
and have been licensed by the State to
practice. In athletics the receipt Of
a fee-monetary return-strictly de-
fines the dividing line between anna
teur and professional. But in art there
seems to be no such regulations or
boundary. No one ever actually grad
yates In art; no artist ever ceases to
be a student. Also some artists do not
sell their pictures, much as they may
desire to do so, whereas others may,
entirely regardless Of the merit Of
their production. In the arts Of paint
ing and Of music the term professional
is therefore generally understood to
indicate one who devotes the major
portion Of his or her time to painting
or to playing, and regards it as life
work, but there Is this diderence--the
musical artist to secure an audience
must have attained to technical pro-
flciency whereas the painter may ex-
hibit when and wherever opportunity
offers.
There is next to no distinction to be
made between the works in this exhi-
bition contributed by professionals and
those accredited to students, either in
character or proficiency. They all,
almost without exception. show the
stamp Of the Phillips Gallery Art
School and witness to . complete de-
partlre from old ideals and standards.
Whether it is q good departure or not,
only time Will tell. At such range it
Il impossible to determine whether
here are the seeds Of progress Or the
- AAnM~