Evening star., 1939-05-18
Federation Discusses
Position Of the Arts
In American Life
Talks Made by Bruce
And Mrs. Read;
Banquet Tonight

The position of the arts in Amer
lean life was discussed at the after
noon session today of the of the 30th
annual convention of the American
Federation of Arts, meeting at the
Willard Hotel.
DR.. Frederick Paul Keppel, presi-
dent of the Carnegie Corp, presided
and led in discussion after speeches
by Edward Bruce, chief of the Sec
ton of Fine Arts, Procurement Di-
vision of the Treasury, and Mrs.
Helen Appleton Read, critic and
lecturer.
Sir Kenneth Clark, director of the
National Gallery, London. will be the
guest Of honor and chief speaker
at the federation's annual banquet
at 730 O'Clock tonight. The other
banquet speaker will be Maj. Gill
more D. Clarke, chairman of the
National Commission of Fine Arts.
This morning the convention held
its annual business session, with
Robert Woods Bliss, president, pre-
siding. Reports by officers were
heard and trustees elected.
Julian Berla Speaks.
At yesterdays sessions Julian Ber-
la, who designed several of the ex-
hibits in the Federal Building at
the San Francisco Worlds Fair, told
the organization that, as far as
much of the design technique en-
ployed in the fairs was concerned,
there was nothing very new.
Yesterdays sessions were devoted
entirely to consideration of the two
worlds fairs
Limiting himself to the subject of
design technique and not content,
yesterday Mr. Berla said:
Again examining the technique
upon which exhibits at the current
fairs are based, we find actually very
little new. Even the spectacular ex-
hibits in the perisphere in New
York are nothing more than a re-
hash of the marvellous moving side
walks. contained in the Columbian
Exposition of 1898, and an immense
diorama model, in itself an old ex-
hibits device.
Before expressing amazement at
supercoloSsal, chrome plated, light
splattered attractions let us make
sure they are not basically false
perspective theater sets of the Ital-
ian renaissance done in modern
dress"
Mr.. Berla pointed out that there
are exhibits at both fairs in which
new design technique is used, but
that they must be sought out.
Denies Art Is Dragged In."
Another speaker at the morning
session, Ernest PeiXotto, a member
of the Board of Design of the New
York Worlds Fair, branded as false
the contention that artists were
dragged into the fair to lend an air
of verisimilitude to an otherwise
purely commercial proposition and
were never given a chance Ito COM
pete with Mr.. Billy Rose" because
no one approached them frankly.
Mr.. PeiXotto referred specifically
of an article by Forbes Watson, a
federation member, in recent issue
of Art Magazine, which made this
charge.
Later in the day Dean Joseph
Hudnut of the Harvard Graduate
School of Design and a federation
trustee. presided over a session de-
voted to foreign contributions to the
New York Worlds Fair, with en-
phasis as to how buildings and ex-
hibitions reflect contemporary trends
abroad.
Join in Discussion.
Foreign architects and representa-
tives invited to be present joined in
the discussion.
Yesterday afternoon members and
delegates were guests of Mr.. Bliss,
federation president, and Mrs. Bliss
at their Georgetown home, Dunn
barton Oaks. Last night George
Hewitt Myers, first vice president of
the federation, and Mrs. Myers re-
ceived the convention at the Textile
Museum of the District of Columbia