Evening star., 1939-11-05
Arts Section
OfTreasurv
Represented
& States Awards
Make Up Great
Feature Here
Bv Leila MechIin.

BY Leila MechIin.
A little over five years ago, on
October is. 1884, painting and
sculpture section" of the Procure
ment Division of the Treasury De-
partment was officially set up to
carry on, in a measure, the work Or
ganized by the p. w. A. p, but upon
broader and somewhat different
lines. Whereas the P. w. A. P. was
in large part relief measure, the
activities of the section were, by the
order of establishment, to be regu-
lated solely by merit inherent in
the works of art procured. The OBJ
jectives named were: Cd To secure
suitable art of the best quality for
the establishment of public build
ings; 20 to stimulate the develop
ment of art in this country by re-
warding outstanding talent, and 90
so far as consistent with a high
standard Of merit, to employ local
artists. Arrangements were made
whereby l per cent of the cost of
all new public buildings would auto
matically become available for the
cost of mural paintings and sculp-
ture to be placed therein.
At the end of four years-that is,
on October 13, 1938-the section of
painting and sculpture was renamed
section of fine arts and made per-
manent division of the Treasury
Department. During those four
years, the section, of which. from the
beginning, Edward Bruce had been,
and still remains, chief, held nearly
100 open competitions in which
1924 artists competing submitted
more than 10000 sketches; 375 con-
tracts with artists had been COM
pleted at cost of $537,154, and ap-
proximately the same number and
amount were under commission and
obligated. Within the last year this
work has gone on with equal vigor,
assuming even greater strength and
Importance until it has now come to
be reckoned one of the most vital
forces in the development of Ameri-
can art.
This being the case, the exhibition
Of designs for mural paintings and
studies for sculpture to be placed in
public buildings throughout the
United States. which opened under
the auspices of the Section of Fine
Arts of the Treasury Department in
the Corcoran Gallery of Art last
Thursday, cannot fail to be found of
great interest and be regarded as of
utmost importance.
To this exhibition the Corcoran
Gallery of Art has graciously sur
rendered all its galleries given over
as rule to the exhibition of paint
ings by American artists, beginning
with the hemicycle and including all
the east and south tiers, as well as
the atrium.
Sculpture Display.
In the hemicycle are displayed
works in sculpture, designed for the
United States Government Building
at the New York Worlds Fair, for
foreign buildings In the Court of
Nations and for the Garden Court,
of which models there are 46, includ-
ing that of Louis Slobodkin's Young
Lincoln" now in bronze, which is
to be given permanent placement in
the Interior Department, partly in
compensation for the ruthless de-
struction of the enlargement in
plaster after installation as a foun-
tain figure in Garden Court. The
installation of these sculpture
models, for which credit is due to
Charles M. Goodman, is unique and
delightful-a feature of the eXhibi-
tion not soon to be forgotten
In the little adjacent gallery are
paintings by Indian artists for cafe
terra and recreation room in the In
terror Department and for a post
office in Oklahoma.
Galleries g., 63, 81 and 65 are
given over to designs entered in the
''48 States competition, announced
last June, and in which 1,470 sub
missions were made. In gallery Sc
to the south are seen the winning
designs in the st. Louis Post Office
competition, as well as a selection of
other designs submitted therefor;
while In the atrium, designated as
the central gallery" are designs
and cartoons for commissions al
ready fulfilled for murals in Federal
buildings. In the last, hang two very
large and very handsome cartoons,
one at the north end by Peter Hurd,
entitled "Eastbound Mail Stage"
which Is 26 feet long by about IL
feet high, mural for the post Office
in Dallas; the other by Thomas Lea,
a portion of design for the court
house In Ell Paso, two figures, a man
and woman, more than life size,
classical in treatment and pro-
foundly moving. Here also may be
seen an admirable series of designs,
small scale in color, by Clifford Beal
for the post Office in Allentown, Pa,
and q superbly drawn design Of
fruit-"Products of Missouri"-by
James McCreary for the post ONCE
at Monet. Mo.
Winning Designs.
OF special Importance IN this ex-
hibition are the 48 winning designs
for the 48 States competition. They
are shown in the center gallery of
the east tier, with q cartoon in color
by Henry Varnun Poor of the jury
Of award, as a focal center With
Mr.. Poor on this jury were Maurice
Sterne, Edgar Miller and Olin Dows.
AS usual the prize winners for the
most part seem to the outsider less
pleasing and worthy than the less
fortunate runnersup. Be that as it
may, Washingtonians must take
pride in the fact that four Of the
awards went to artists Of this city
two to William E. Chalfee, one to
Alexander Clayton and one to Rich
ard Kenah. Also 1t may be appro-
priately mentioned here that among
the runnersup, to whom future COM
missions are assured because of the
quality Of their work, were Auriel
Bessemer, Mitchell Jameson. Mar
garet c. Gates, Marjorie Phillips and
po,11 Ar1f