Evening star., 1938-05-29
NOTABLE ART YEAR CLOSING
Swedish Exhibition Feature Attracted Much Attention.
While Showing of Works and Lectures Have Contributed
to Local Appreciation
Bv Leila Mechlin.

By Leila Mechlin.
THE great tercentenary exhibition Of
- Swedish arts and crafts, which
has attracted 80 much attention in the
Corcoran Gallery Of Art during the
present month, ends this afternoon,
although it has not yet completed its
circuit, and with its closing the cur
rent season is practically terminated
Activities Of minor importance will,
however, continue through the summer
months and permanent collections re-
main on view. It has been an uncom-
monty busy season ard one unusually
full Of outstanding events. Most
memorable is the fact that during
this season Of 1938-3s the erection
Of the National Gallery Of Art, made
possible by the gifts Of the late An
drew w. Mellon, was begun. and the
establishment and erection Of Smith
sonian Gallery to house the national
collection Of fine arts, authorized by
Congress. The latter. like the former,
will be built through private benef1-
cence, but administered from public
funds. An art gallery, as well as q
museum, have been established as an
integral part Of the new Department
Of the Interior. Under the patronage
Of a group Of local art lovers WASH
ington Gallery Of the Museum of Mod
ern Art has been set up and series
OF five notable exhibitions held. The
elaborate series Of mural paintings
commissioned, by the Painting and
Sculpture Section of the Procurement
Division of the Treasury Department,
for the Post Office Department and
the Department of Justice buildings,
has been completed. The Pennell be-
quest for the purchase Of contempo-
rary prints for the national print col
lection Of the Library Of Congress has
become available and first purchases
Hereunder been made.
Among especially notable exhibitions
held, mention may be made Of that OF
historic portraits in commemoration
Of the framing Of the Constitution OF
the United States and Of sculpture by
Anna Hyatt Huntington, both in the
Corcoran Gallery Of Art, and an ex-
hibition Of portraits, of varying peri
ods, from many lands, held in the
Phillips Memorial Gallery. Courses of
lectures on art have been given, and
we'll attended, by authoritative speak
ers at Dumbarton Oaks, the Phillips
Memorial Gallery, the Corcoran Gal
lery of Art, and under the auspices OF
the Washington Society of the Fine
Arts. In short, interest in the arts
in Washington seems to be marching
with physical growth, and the future
seems full of promise.
Indians of Guatemala and
Merico Depicted by Eben
ConainS in Striking Manner.
ON TUESDAY OF last week, despite
~ the hteness of the season, a spe-
cial exhibition of notable interest
opened in the Corcoran Gallery OF
Art. This consists of drawings IN
colored crayon of Indians Of Guate-
mala and Mexico, the work OF Eben
F. Comins of this city. These were
made by Mr.. Comins in Guatemala
and Mexico during the summers OF
1885 and 1887 and are intensive por-
traits, in many instances of rare types,
that the artist hunted out and studied
with the utmost care. There are II
Of Guatemalans and nine Mexicans,
each one OF which is replete with
character. Some are single heads,
others are in groups. The most i'm
portant Of the whole set. the artist
himself feels, is that entitled "Three
Men from ATTAIN" which strikingly
represents In a group natives OF pure
Indian blood from Huehuetenango,
the far-of and little Travelled noun
tain country of Guatemala. Undoubt-
sdly this is an excellent piece of COM
position and admirably rendered, but
The fact is that all these drawings are
exceptionally well done, strong but
sensitive, interpretative as well as
exact, and withal very vital.
With these drawings, to give local
color and suggestion of environment,
Mr.. Comins is showing few speci-
mems of weavings and embroideries
chat he collected in Guatemala and
Mexico through the aid of his sitters
and other friendly natives. One Of
these comes from the pueblo of
Ixchtitan. In pattern as well as color
they are most engaging.
Writing of Guatemala and Mexico,
Mr.. Comins says: There are no more
beautiful countries to visit than these.
Few lands can show SO completely
the effects of nature as she continu-
ally gives birth to beauty. Hidden
beneath her surface black fires burn,
ever ready to replenish creative forces.
Our first views show great fields OF
horizontal green's patched with golden
yellows, which soon aspire to larger
areas Of vertical and jagged red,
orange and purple, climbing higher
scales, finally bursting into blues that
sharpen into binding whites. A world
Of color! Yet we find ourselves turn
ing to the earth, the near earth, to see
what this massive substance means
to these people. Prosaically called
dirt but dirt 1t is not. Never before
did I realize the nobility of mother
earth and what she means to
primitive man. This element, COM
bined with sun and rain, gives them
their food, their daily bread To
these people no wasteful luxury Is
permitted. If one Of these forces is
withheld the result is-famine, death.
It is no wonder, then, that these SIM
pie natives worship mother earth, for
she means to them plenty-lifes* ="
They are born on the earth, live on
1t, are the color of it, receive their
food from it; and finally, when death
comes, are given back to their mother
for perpetual life."
The dominant tone of these portrait
drawings is brown, but they are en-
riched by the colorful costumes. So
deeply has Mr.. Comins become in
terested In the study Of the Indians
of the Americas that he sails about
T,,pa II for Peril and Bolivia where