Evening star., 1939-06-11

Ohio Flood Bureau of Relief"
Stag Party the last nude un-
utterably obscene. Perhaps most
horrible of all is The Death of
Gauguin" painted by Jerre Murry.
What can have induced our Ameri-
can painters to give themselves to
the transcription of things that
were so much better forgot? Ger
talnly there is no suggestion that
they have done so with remedial
purpose.
Few Portraits.
There are comparatively few por-
traits in this exhibition, partly. per-
haps, because the majority of per-
sons prefer to be painted as they
see themselves in the mirror rather
than rs they may appear to the
modern painter seeking that which
is purely psychological. There are
also very few paintings of flowers or
other still life.
Washington is neither very largely
or satisfactorily represented, MIC
OLAF Clkovsky shows a figure, Char
lotte From Virginia; Robert F.
Gates exhibits Ranch House" an
Oil painting; Richard Lahey sends
rather elaborate composition.
Summertime in Maine" group
on a piazza overlooking the sea;
Marjorie Phillips has to her credit
a landscape, open Roads" and
Eugen Weisz his Self Portrait" ;"
The last two the reviewer failed to
locate, which probably means that
they were among the 100 works
held in reserve to be exhibited in
the gallery of rotation made neces-
sary by the lack of adequate space
Prints Good.
OF the Graphic Arts Section of
this exhibition, much more that is
favorable can be said. Here the
balance is well maintained between
conservative and radical. and
among the former is a sufficiently
large and distinguished coterie to
assure continuation of the great
tradition representing highes t
ideals. Among these may be men
toned such etchers, lithographers
and engravers of eminence as John
Taylor Arms, Auerbach-Levy, Gus
tav Baumann, Frank w. Benson.
Samuel Chamberlain, Kerr Eby,
Sears Gallagher, Arthur Hall and
Frederick Hall, Thomas Handforth,
Arthur Heintzelman, Lester G..
Horribly, Alfred Hutty, Philip Kap-
pei. Martin Lewis, Robert Nisbet,
Abbo Ostrowsky. Roi Partridge,
Ernest D. Roth. CadWallader WASH
burn, Herman Webster. Stow Wen-
genroth. Thomas Mason. Charles
Woodbury. and Mahonri Young.
The modernlsts have been given
their fling, and freely, but every
branch Of print nt-making requires so
much technical skill that liberty in
this field is seldom misinterpreted as
license. Curiously enough, however,
the extension of print-making and
its popular acceptance is the one
real evidence today of greater de-
mocracy in art. The Washington
prlnt-makers represented are Phyl-
lis DeLappe, Olin DoWs, Richard
Lahey and Prentiss Taylor.
Sculpture Varied.
1t is less easy to judge the quality
OF the sculpture on view in the Con-
temporary Art Building at the
Worlds Fair than of the paintings
and prints. To some extent they
suffer by comparison with the works
seen t-of-doors and by the fact
that they are not homogeneous.
There are in the collection works
which go to both extremes, ultra
conservative and ultra radical. There
are distractions, absurd and other
wise; conceptions in the classical
mood and works in stone, rough
hewn, but with evident plastic con-
SclouSneSS. William H. Calfee and
Daniel Olney are the two Washing
ton sculptors represented, the former
by a cylindrical fountain and the
latter by seated figure. With them
in this present-day showing are
sculptors of such renown as Herbert
Adams, Paul Manship, Herman
MacNeil and Anna Hyatt Hunting
ton. There are also new names
catalogued of which more will un-
doubtedly be heard later.
At the time this exhibition was
opened, announcement was made
that a special fund had, or would
be, created to purchase outstanding
works which, at the conclusion of
the Fair, would be allocated to
different museums throughout the
country; a gesture of appreciation to
the artists, and with the intent of
extending the memory of the exhi-
bltion. These works are to be Sc
lected by the Governing Committee
and will reflect, it is said, the COM
prehensive character of the display.
No doubt the intention is sporting
and laudable, but why, one would
ask, perpetuate anything so bad or
encourage other productions along
these lines 1t is not benefting our
country either spiritually or econom-
ically, nor, in the words of the great
Democrat, Thomas Jefferson, can it
be increasing our reputation in the
eyes of the world.