Evening star., 1939-01-29
By Leila Mechlin.

such as the Cosmos Club in the old
Dolly Madison House; in an impro-
vised gallery on Connecticut avenue
originally intended as a shop, and at
woodward g. Lothrop's; but for a
good many years now, in fact ever
since the present building was
erected, they have been Hospitality
housed in the Corcoran Gallery of
Art, where, yesterday, the latest
the 48th annual-opened.
Under the presidency of Richard
N. Brooke, and before the Corcoran
Gallery of Art established its biennial
exhibitions of contemporary Amer
lean painting the Society of Wesh-
ington Artists shows occupied the
old hemicycle (now the lecture halD
and assumed unusual importance
including the works of some of the
most distinguished painters in the
country. In fact it was the success
of these that led to the Inauguration
of the great 'Biennials" which have
become outstanding among the dis
plays of the years wherein they
occur. The Corcoran Gallery of Art
will hold its 18th Biennial Exhibi-
ton from the last of March to the
the early part of May this year;
hence the Society of Washington
Artists has limited its exhibition to
the work of members and such
others as may reside in nearby
Maryland and Virginia Considering
this limitation, and the probability
that many of the artists may be re-
serving works for submission. to the
jury of the Biennial Exhibition, the
high standard attained by the cur
rent display is quite remarkable.
Upon entering the gallery of
special exhibitions one is instantly
struck by the pleasing aspect OF the
works as whole, due in part to good
hanging, but more still to the color
full and positive quality OF the eX-
hibits. There is sufficient variety
in subject matter, to begin with
figures, portraits, landscapes, still
life, flowers, genre-and also in man.
ner of treatment. Furthermore, the
jury of selection has evidently per-
mitted a wide range in conviction,
for here, in surprisingly harmonious
assemblage, are to be found works
Wy u cI40 lSlCECildCllpS
representing the various present day
schools.
There Is great divergence of
opinion today in regard to what
constitutes merit in painting, for
which reason the burden of RESPONSE
bility is largely laid upon the public.
If one likes the unlovely works which
are the fruits of modernism, there is
no reason why one should not have
them, but the same liberty of choice
must be accorded those who prefer
to maintain the standards of the
past and are chiefly moved by the
representation of some phase or
phases of beauty.
There is, of course, a tendency to-
day to set aside all standards and
to base all criticism on personal
preference, but this leaves one on the
shifting sands of doubt and uncer-
tainty. The standards of the past
were not set up by individuals, but by
the consensus of opinion of the
studious and informed through many
generations, and it is on this founda-
ton that the criteria of merits have
been found to rest Liking has a
way of changing with the fashion
OF the day, but good art holds its
own down the ages. 1t is a good
thing to know what one likes, but
better still to be aware of why one
likes it. The opportunity for such
inquiry and discovery is afforded by
such exhibitions as that now under
discussion.
OF the figure paintings in this
collection of contemporary local
work most outstanding, in the opin-
ion of the writer, is portrait of
little boy by Gladys Nelson Smith
Of this city. 1t shows him seated
on chair near doorway through
through room into which the sun
light seems to pour. The child, at
whose feet is a drum, is admirably
painted and we'll placed. There is
in this canvas no sense of effort
. It has dignity, grace and finish, but
1t is vital and atmospheric at the
same time. BY the Hanging Com
mittee it was very properly accorded
one Of the places of honor, midway
of the long east wall.
Opposite is to be seen Alexan-
der Clayton's three-quarter- length,
seated portrait of Mrs Rudolf Kud-
Itch, sound, academic piece of
work with much to commend it, but
not as spirited as some of the can
vases he has produced. The straight
and narrow path" seems indeed to
lie within the broad path which
leads to destruction, and to step
over on either side is, therefore,
equally disastrous. Margaret Moffat
Yard in her portrait of her husband,
William S. Tyler, has produced a
forceful work and achieved an ex-
cellent likeness, but has perhaps left
it just little too much in the rough
in her desire for strength and SIM
plicity.
On the other hand, Charles Bit
fingers portrait of Mrs. Hodgson is
in its looseness of treatment and
daring rather surprising for one so
conservative and highly technically
trained as is he. In color scheme
it is excellent and in pose good, but
In treatment little casual. There
is no sounder painter than Charles
Bittinger. president of the Society
of Washington Artists, but even he
= cannot apparently be in the midst
OF the present-day changing world
and be unaffected by current con-
fusion.
Equally surprising is a small figure
painting by Richard Lahey, en-
titled Sketch of Angie" which like
wise hangs on the west wall and is
found to be full of subtlety and
charm. angie" is a little girl in a
long, simple frock, standing beside
a mantel and near an open house
door. On her head is a blue ribbon
and touch of the same color in a