Evening star., 1940-03-17


ter. The Armory Show in New York
In 1913 was regarded as a joke by
the public, but as the works of the
Post impressionists were more and
more lauded, credulity and confusion
increased until the myth Of a new
and better art became established as
a verify.
Furthermore, beneath the surface
there is in all this art the proverbial
grain Of truth. Cubism, sanely prac-
ticed, helped to restore the structure
which impressionism had swept aside
and lost; the so-called non-objective
art of today. while not traditional, is
founded on knowledge Of geometric
forms which are basic; simplfication
as practiced by certain leaders of the
new movement is as old as art itself;
but none Of these things include In
their scope distortion or mystifying
abstraction, nor can they make of
surreahsnA anything more than q
very bad dream. Such are the prod
uct of the disordered mind. INTEL
ligible expression is the fruit Of clear
thinking-meutal confusion merely
muddics the srre4An.
The abstract paintings by Mrs.
Munroe are excellent examples Of
this perplexing new art. Certain
forms which she uses are readily
recognizable and her color is high
keyed and pleasant, but the result
Is confused; there Is no design as
that word is understood, nor is there
SPECIFIC meaning. Augustus Tack's
abstract paintings, made some years
ago for the Phillips Gallery, are Of a
very different sort-combinations of
color which abstractly suggest beau
ty found In nature, the sea, the sky,
mountains and rivers, and yet are
none Of these things-and thus en-
hven imagination and give delight.
Lemons and crooked jars, apples and
unacceptable still life can hardly
be expected to function In this way,
even when, as in Mrs. Munroe's
paintings, they are crossed and re-
crossed by transparent rays resem-
bling diminutive searchlights, geo.
metrically shaped. That Mrs. Nun.
roe can paint realistically IS evi-
denced by the still life composition
hung at the end Of the north wall
which is exceptionally good, both In
color and execution. Obviously her
distractions must therefore be along
the line of experimentation. But
why? Presumably with other alb
stractionists, she is endeavoring to
follow in the steps of Cezanne-but
the fact is that his path was not In
this direction. His obsession was
form, solidarity, q desire to be rid
of formulas and to be himself; he
tried with all his might to abstract
the spirit from what he saw and give
it visual expression. Sadly enough,
he never, to his own satisfaction,
succeeded. yet SO sure was he Of the
star that he followed that he always
held tenaciously to his quest. The
Phillips Gallery owns not only his
self-portrait, which is revealing, but
also his landscape "Sainte- Victoire,"
one Of the greatest of his works.
It is not Cezanne, but Picasso and
Braque, whom those who produce
abstract paintings today are follow
ing.
Stronger In Color.
This can be realized more fully
in the exhibition of projects exc
cuted in the Phillips Gallery School
under Mr.. Knaths which occupy the
second of the print rooms. Stronger
In color than the paintings by Mrs.
Munroe, they are simpler In COM
position and perhaps bit more OBJ
vious. The objects represented are
quite recognizable, but very distorted
-as, for instance, a violin broken
In the middle, q mandolin very
crooked and roughly drawn. Posi-
bly, these works have q certain style,
but they have no individuality-and
certainly no beauty. What, there
fore, Is their meaning or excuse?
And yet Knaths is well schooled and,
at his best, a very competent paint
er. Writing of Mr.. Knaths eight
years. ago Mr.. Phillips told Of the
influence of Matisse and Braque on
his work, but declared him "too SIM
pie and sincere q man, and too much
an individual to be easily dated and
classified"
"He must, I fear" he continued,
''be more startling in order to make
much Of an impression on this age
when subtle and sensuous qualities
are overlooked. I expect great work
from him. We shall see." Is
this the explanation? At that time
Knaths had just painted his excel
lent Cock and Glove" IN the Phillips
collection; later he did portrait Of
Mrs. Phillips which was shown In
one Of the Corcoran biennials. Has
he now become more startling to
keep up with the times, and Is this
what is reflected In the work Of his
students?
The hand-colored etchints by
Rouault are quite . different matter.
One finds them ON the staircase wall
and In the first Of the Phillips CAL
lery print rooms-gay In color and