Evening star., 1940-05-12
BY FLORENCE S. BERGMAN.

Leila Mechlin, art critic of The
Star. has been elected fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts. The honor
for it is a distinct honor-came to
her earlier this year, but with char
acteristic reticence she said nothing
about it and her friends and asso-
ciates on The Star learned of it only
recently. The Royal Society of Arts
is one of the oldest and most illus
trious in Great Britain. But from its
earliest years it has had American
members. Benjamin Franklin was
the first eminent American affiliated
with the Royal Society of Arts and
he took an active part as chairman
of the Committee of Colonies and
Trade, established in 1761.
Miss Mechlin in the opinion of her
friends richly deserves the honor of
membership in the society, as she
has throughout her professional
career devoted herself to the further
ance of the arts, which is one Of the
society's aims. incidentally, few
women have been elected to its
membership during its long life, a
fact which gives added significance
to Miss Mechlin's election. The
honor is also shared to some extent
by Washington, for Miss Mechlin is
a native Of this city, which has
always been her home. She was
educated in Washington's public
schools and studied art at the Cor
coran School of Art.
Miss Mechlin became art critic of
The Star in 1900 and has written
and edited the art page continuously
since that year. She has from the
outset been the champion Of good
painting in the best meaning of the
phrase: The initial inspiration of
beauty, whether of form or spirit,
and careful and sure craftsmanship.
Her courageous insistence upon
standards of subject, execution and
meaning of painting (or other
work of arD has classed her by
some as conservative. In these
days the term conservative" some
times carries with it subjection Of
opprobrium. But Miss Mechlin has
never Joined stampedes to band
wagons. At the risk of being iso-
lated when some new movement
gains swarms of adherents, she
studies it dispassionately. The value
of her judicious appraisals is evil
denced by the frequency with which
they are quoted in other publica-
tions (such as the influential Art
Digest).
Established Magazine.
Miss Mechlin was one of the small
group Of art lovers and patrons Of
art which organized the American
Federation Of Arts here in Washing
ton in 1909, and the same year she
established its monthly publication,
the American Magazine of Art,
which was first called art and
Progress. She was editor of this
monthly until 1891. She was secre-
tary of the federation from 1912 to
1888. e In its first score of years,
under her guidance, this organiza-
ton became nationally influential.
She established the system Of trav-
cling exhibitions and circulating
illustrated lectures on art, and the
widespread imitation. of these serv-
ices by other organizations bears
witness to their Importance.
She was director of the interna-
tional art competition and exhibition
held in connection with the tenth
Olympiad in Los Angeles In 1882.
This was an enormous undertaking,
involving 1900 exhibits from IS ma
tions, all Of which dealt with sports.
The competing artists were equally
honored with the athletes, as all
prizes were awarded in the stadium,
with impressive ceremony.
Since 1888 Miss Mechlin has been,
at various times, director Of South
ern Projects, established by the
American Federation of Arts; ad-
visory director Of the Telfair Acade-
my Museum, Savannah, Ca, and
the Mint Museum of Art in Char
lotte. N. c. Tin the founding Of which,
incidentally, she had q major role)
and advisor on art to the University
Of North Carolina as well as the
University of Virginia. She has
written on art for various maya
zines, in Great Britain as well Is the
United States, and contributes arti-
cles on art to Funk & Wagnaus'
International Year Book, the Ency-
clopedia Britannica, the American
Dictionary of Biography and others.
She is an honorary member Of the
American National Committee on
Engraving, and is on the Advisory
Committee Of the American Society
OF Print Collectors. As secretary Of
the Washington Society of Fine Arts
since 1907, she has brought to Wash
ington each season outstanding
lectures on all branches Of art. In
other ways besides lectures, the So
ciety Of Fine Arts encourages Ap-
probation Of art, music and Htera.