Evening star., 1938-12-25
STUDIES OF MADONNA AND CHILD
Prints Have Conspicuous Place in Annual Exhibition bv Local
Water Color Club-Decoraon of Elihu Root Hall Notable
for Nerit-Work of Children Christmas Theme

Olu, anu YET, strangely enough, IN
these later days no painter has
arisen to transcribe it as did those of
the centuries long since gone when
the art of painting was young and
the feeling for religion almost ele-
mental. Painting was in its glory
in that period which followed the
building of the Gothic cathedrals,
when it was called into existence by
the need of transmitting to people,
who could not read, the message of
Christianity. The painters in those
days gave of their best with kind
of holy zeal, and there is in their
works calm simplicity which now
cannot be recaptured. Duerer and
Rembrandt both drew inspiration
from the Bible narratives, but even
in their day art had become some
what self conscious and the COM
plexity of life, which has swept the
world today into a maelstrom, had
begun to grip mankind
George De Forest Brush and Alb
bott H. Thayer both tried to recover
some of the old feeling, Brush by
painting modern Madonnas with
his wife and children as models, and
did at times approach the Italian
ideal, while Thayer in his Virgin
series gave the theme new aspect
and glorif1ed young womanhood
magniflcently, but that was all
Bourdelle in his statue of THE
Virgin of Alsace.' lent by the Phillips
Memorial Gallery to the current ex-
hibition in the Museum of Modern
Art Gallery of Washington, approx
mated more nearly the feeling of the
renaissance painters and sculptors
than has perhaps any other of our
day, reverting to peasant ideals and
giving them simple expression,
gravely employing art to great end
Much of the nobility and beauty
of the paintings of the Madonna
and Christ, together with other
Christian themes, has been pre-
served for us and made available
through the art of contemporary
engravers on metal and on wood
Timothy Cole gave a lifetime to
Interpreting through the medium of
wood engraving (Which he and
Henry Wolf developed beyond what
had been thought its utmost po-
tentialities) the works of the masters
ITO be found in galleries abroad and
in this country; likewise S. Arlent
Edwards, but lately deceased. rem
dered a similar service through his
mezzotint engravings, which not in
frequently were printed in color. One
of the most famous of Mr. Ed
wards plates is free transcription
of The Virgin" taken from the
painting of Virgin and Child" by
Botticelli, in the National Gallery,
London, in which the feeling of the
original is fully preserved.
There may still be second renais-
sance of painting. Art slumbers
sometimes through centuries and
reawakens with renewed vitality
We cannot 60 back, but ahead.
Fortunate are we, however. to have
still, for our delectation and delight,
so many of the works by which the
masters of the past commemorated
the birth of the Christ Child, which
occurred over 1900 years ago in the
little town of Bethlehem.
It is an interesting thought that
in Florence, where so many of the
loveliest of the madonnas were pro-
duced, centuries ago, the spirit which
brought them forth is still abroad
at Christmastide. christmas" said
Bishop Perry of Rhode Island, in a
letter written from there some years
ago to friends in this country, "is
at home in Florence. The love OF
the beautiful which inspired the
builders of the city, as it fills the
hearts of Florentines today, sur
rounds the street corners and homes
with something of the glory which
once illumined the stable at Bethle-
hem. On Christmas Eve it is pos
sible, as perhaps at no other time,
to find the secret of such beauty in
certain blending of harmony, sim
plicity and reverence. = = Ever
child in the city knows where beat
ty is enshrined and where life's
complete satisfaction is to be found
May it not be that by the coming
of so many of these precious works
of art to our city we, too, may learn
the secret, and our lives, as well as
our art, be immeasurably enriched.
Surely Christmas should be no less
at home" in Washington than IN
FlorencA