Evening star., 1940-11-26
BY LEILA MECHLIN,
The Stars Art Critic


If the 1,499 exhibitions held
throughout the country in celebra-
ton of National Art Week are no
better than that set forth under
official auspices here in the Depart
mental Auditorium the probabilities
are that the project, so elaborately
and carefully planned, to create a
market for works by contemporary
American artists, will prove not
merely failure, but boomerang,
turning the public from such art
rather than to it.
No pains have been spared to dis
play the works shown in this central
exhibition to the best advantage,
nor has money to this end been
withheld. All the seats in the audi
torium have been removed, and the
floor space Of this large hall made,
through the erection of partitions,
into a series of very suitable gal
leries. In these are shown oil paint
ings, water colors and prints, with
scattering of sculpture and an al
cove or two given over to craft work
and interior decoration. This ag-
gregation constitutes the major por-
ton of the show, but is reinforced
by section of sculpture occupying
the foyer of the auditorium building,
and section of handicrafts which
fills the handsome assembly room
at the rear For the opening, foliage
and Towering plants in profusion
enhanced effect and lent a gala i'm
preston. In short, everything was
done that imaginably could have
been done to place art before the
people with distinction and dignity
The terrible pity of it is that the
art does not measure up to the trib-
ute paid, with the exception, let us
quickly add, Of the crafts which
are splendidly represented.
The avowed purpose of National
Art Week is to help struggling young
artists secure recognition and to
manifest to the public not only the
desirability of ownership but its
possibilities. The works are priced
sufficiently low to accommodate the
oiciidCiCoV Pulo sc.
Most Works by Known Artists.
But in this central exhibition,
made up of works from all over the
United States and the District. the
majority of the paintings are by
artists who have long since found
their market and made names for
themselves, and the prices for oils
range in many instances from $3.50
to $500. For water colors they are
$50 to $3.50. Under these circum-
stances the deep rather than the
shallow purse is required.
To be sure there are bargains to
be discovered and claimed-one or
two prints are to be had as low as
$2.75, but these are the exception.
There Is, however, something
much more serious the matter with
this exhibition, and that is the char
acter of the works. 1t will be i'm
possible to build up an art market
that will insure the artists economic
independence until desire for pos
| session is felt on the part Of the
public
And here is where the artists con-
tributing to this exhibition have
fallen down utterly.
No sane, normal person could con-
template with equanimity, much less
pleasure, the thought of taking the
majority of the paintings into their
homes and living with them, not
merely because Of the way they are
painted-which is painful enough
but because of the hideousness of
what they present. This is no ex-
aggeration. They literally fill the
visitor with dismay. Instead of
pictures which interpret beauty in
nature and character In life we find
here transeriptions of the forlorn
and the ugly, the vulgar and de-
graded What can have turned so
many of our successful painters in
this direction? 1t is hard to say.
Paintings Criticized.
To be sure, a great master can re-
veal beauty in: almost anything, be-
cause he himself finds 1t there, but
he must first have learned to COM
mand his medium before he can at
tain these heights. These painters
for the most part are not master