Evening star., 1939-10-22

Takes New
Form Here
Committee Formed
To Study Future
Advancement
Bv Leila Mechlin.

If not for ali time, here in Washing
ton, was the Conference on Inter-
American Relations in the Field of
Art, held in the Department of
. State, under the auspices OF the Di-
vision of Cultural Relations, on We'd
nesday and Thursday, October II
and IL.
The invitations to this conference
were signed and sent out by the
Secretary of State, ana the number
Of acceptances was surpris ~sgly
large. That the ratio of favorable
responses was greater than antici-
pated was evidenced by the fact
that, at the opening of the confer
ence, and practically through the
four sessions, not only were all the
seats in the conference room filled,
but even standing room was at a
premium. The conferees, of whom
there were more than 100, came
from all parts of the United States,
as far west as California, as far
north as Minnesota and as far south
as Texas, with. obviously, the East
ern Seaboard we'll to the fore. This
representation covered those promi-
nent In museum management and
direction, heads Of art departments
of some of our leading colleges and
universities, teachers, artists, crafts
men, designers. architects and crit
les. That all these recognized the
call of the Secretary of State as a
command and came gladly, showed
gratifying desire for cooperation
with the Government, and deep in
terest in the subject under consid-
Grafton.
The Secretary of State, Cordell
Hull, was, on account of absence
from the city, unable to attend the
opening, but came in during the aft
ernoon and made a welcoming ad-
dress in which he indicated the i'm
portance of establishing cultural re-
lations with our sister republics of
Latin America, and the place of art
as factor therein An address along
somewhat similar lines, was made
by Adolf A. Berle. jr, Assistant Sec
retary of State, the same morning,
at which session Dr. Ben NJ. Cher
rington, chief of the Division of
. Cultural Relations. presided At the
last session, DR.. Cherrington's as
sistant, Mr.. Thompson, occupied the
chair; thus, the Department of
State assumed full responsibility
and exercised leadership-which, in
itself, was deeply significant.
Questions at Meeting.
The questions under discussion at
this conference were What Can
Other American Republics Best
Contribute to the United States?'
and What Can the United States
Best Contribute to the Other Ameri-
can Republics?' the former being
answered in a measure and along
general lines by Mrs. Concha Rom
ero James, daughter of a former
minister from Mexico, and now her.
self chief of the Division of 1ntellec-
tual Cooperation of the Pan-Ameri-
can Union, and the latter by Holger
Cahill, director, Federal Arts Prof.
ect. w. P. A., assisted by Rene
dHarnoncourt, one-time resident OF
Mexico City and now connected with
the Indian Office here. Thus
touched off, interest spread rapidly
and many suggestions were made
from the floor as to ways and means
and material.
That these were not all in ac-
cord was to be expected, and the
very diversity of viewpoints brought
forth bespoke catholicity of ap-
proach and conviction. Most sur
prising was it to learn how much
interchange there is at present, or
in prospect, between the United
States and the South and Central
American Republics, in the way OF
exhibitions, students, professors and
practicing artists.
An exhibition of the contemporary
art of Argentina is to be held in the
Virginia Museum, Richmond, in
January; great collection of the
art of the Latin American nations
is to be shown in March in the
Museum of Los Angeles; magnif1-
cent collection of Peruvian art has
been brought to this country by Mrs
F. B. Freyer of Denver and exhibit
ed here; Congress has appropriated
$4,000 to support nine exchange
professorships and three scholar
ships in Latin American countries
that have ratified the agreement as
set forth in treaty signed at
Beunos Aires to which the United
States is a party.
A vast amount of informative
material on the art of the Latin
American countries is now made
available through the Hispanic
Foundation in the Library of Con-
gress-which, incidentally, is rapid
ly increasing its archives of pic
torial photographs extensively COW
ering the art field The Museum OF
Modern Art is making available to
our southern neighbors material
assembled in its great film library
And so it goes. Besides which, the
war now cutting us off from Europe
the stream not only of travel but OF
student research is turned south
ward in this hemisphere. Instead
of sending its Fellows to Rome
the American Academy in Rome is
sending them to South America, al
the present time, and other institu-
tions are doing the same.
Favor Living Artists.
When it came to the discussion oi
what material to send to our neigh.
boring Republics, the greatest diver
sity of opinion developed. AS evi.
dencing the highest culture Of these
United States. DR.. Valentiner
director the Detroit Art Institute
suggested an exhibition of master
pieces of art in private collections
but the cry, for the most part, wa.
for the work of living American art.
ists-works which, it was said, woulc
show life in America today. Also
stress was repeatedly laid on com
mercial and so-called practical
arts, rather than on those purely
esthetic-painting. sculpture and tn
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