Evening star., 1938-11-13

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especially pleasing in color and
handling Of light; Mr.. Mattson's in
richness of tone and breadth of
handling.
Guy Pene Du Bois, who has ex-
hibited in the Corcoran Biennials
time and again, is represented in this
exhibition by a painting, Morning,
Paris Cafe" and Morris Kantor by
one entitled THE Skyrocket." Both
are figure compositions-one in, the
other out Of doors, and neither gives
much opportunity for the observer
to think better of those representa-
tives of mankind mirrored in the
canvases.
George OKeefe, who has made an
enviable reputation for herself by
her paintings of flowers. greatly
exaggerated in size and simplifled,
is numbered among the landscape
painters in this showing. her con-
tribution being The Mountain
New Mexico" study in contours Of
red earth, presumably seen from q
great height looking down-an i'm
pressive but not a lovely theme, nor
one very convincingly handled.
There are still others well known
included In the catalogue-Charles
Burchfield by winter Twilight"
Ernest Fiene by "Nocturne-34th
Street." Edward Hopper by a city
picture. THE Circle Theater," and
Charles Sheeler by River Rouge
Plant All of these men are realists,
capable of very vivid representative
painting, each in turn has won
medals and honors; to all, the lay
world, and that world still dearer to
the professional, which is composed
of his fellow workers, have looked
for superior achievement-but after
a brilliant debut none has made
further advance. In that sense their
presence here is disappointing.
It should not be thought for
moment that the painters whose
works are shown in this exhibition
are untried or unacclaimed. Each
has made place for himself and
won favor. There is a great cry
concerning lack of patronage of con-
temporary American artists, but the
fact is that never has so much been
done to encourage those who ad-
venture in this field as is being done
here and now today. The opportuni-
ties for display are innumerable;
what Mrs. Trollope once called "the
newspaper lungs of the country
breathe forth unstinted praise: mu-
seums, to save their face or please
their supporters, buy; and if the
walls of American homes are not
overhung with them it Is because
the decorators object or because
the owners purses are slender. These
present-day prophets, who, Incl
dentally, seem to have the power
to record but not to prophesy, are
by no means without honor in their
own country; witness. the purchases
made by the Whitney Museum of
American Art, selections from which
constitute this current exhibition:
the purchase fund set up for the
Museum of Modern Art, New York,
by Mrs. Rockefeller, the acquisitions
made by the Metropolitan Museum
of Art and other similar institutions
and, for single example, the fact
that in private ownership in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, there are over 400
paintings by Grant Wood-a native
son. This being the case, there is
no reason for leniency of judgment,
or patronage, save on the sound
basis of admiration and desire. That
in certain instances there is Just
cause for such bestowal cannot be
denied. but the gift must rest in
variably with the giver.
The Arts Club Shows Paintings
By American Artists From the
MidtoWn Gallery, Ne,D York.
The current exhibition at the
Arts Club of Washington, which
opened last Sunday and will con-
tinue to the 18th of this month,
in a measure supplements the ex-
hibition set forth by the Museum
OF Modern Art. Washington GAL
lery, the painters exhibiting be-
ing somewhat of the same cult but
by no means identical. Obviously,
the Arts Club is interested not
merely in the result, but in the
means by which the result is at
tanned; in other words, the tech
nical side of art is here rightly
given special emphasis. The II
paintings which occupy the walls
of the Arts Club gallery at the
present time were all lent by the
Midtown Galleries of New York and
are works in oil, some of which,
through exhibition and reproduc-
ton, are fairly well known through
out the country.
There are three examples in the
collection of paintings by Waldo
Pierce, a native of the State of
Maine, but one who has studied and
travelled much abroad; and two or
three examples by Isabel Bishop,
who is equally well known. Among
the three former, the most en-
gaging is painting of the artsist's
two little sons, pictured out-of doors
playing on wind instruments, one q
mouth organ and the other q trum-
pet, for which reason the canvas
10 entitled Concert Chsmpetre."
Isabel Bishop u perhaps ut her best