Evening star., 1941-05-11

former, "Cnance Meeting, py Mar
Fishermans Daughter, No. g." by
Arthur William Heintzelman.
Mr.. Lewis has been for years one
of our outstanding American print
makers. He has specialized in the
transcription of scenes in New York,
particularly in night scenes, into
which category Chance Meeting"
falls. John Taylor Arms, president
of the Society of American Etchers,
declares it to be one of the artists
finest prints, which is saying a good
deal, and describes 1t as follows:
"a bit of dark street, bordered by
shop fronts, awnings, signs, a news
stand and illuminated by brilliant
light emanating from the nearest
window and casting long shadows on
the pavement. The focal point of
interest-the figure of young girl,
most beautifully and expressively
drawn, leaning half carelessly, half
expectantly, against the stand, arms
extended, head up. with alert pro-
file, young body bent in a lovely
swinging curve. Playing in her
Juliet and sharing the emphasis of
the picture with her, Romeo walks
toward her, feigning carelessness,
but not too careless, hand in pocket,
sleeves rolled up and shirt open at
the neck, the curve of his brightly
illumined form opposing that Of her
shadowed one, yet pulling the two
together pictorially and dramatically.
Repeating the motive, with just
enough emphasis, yet no conflict,
another young couple stands at the
distant corner. A simple scene
enough, and one that is nightly en-
acted hundred times on the streets
of the great city, yet transformed
for us into symbol, a spiritual ex-
perience, by the observation, under
standing, and great skill in picture
making, of the artist"
Spiritual Implication.
We have heard much of late OF
the American Scene" and we have
been shown many pictures of the
seamy side of American life, especi-
ally that which is most horrifying-
ly sordid and vulgar. Many of the
paintings and prints which have
made their way into exhibitions have
concerned themselves with life in
our great cities and have, supposedly,
found their origin in the same
sources from which Mr.. Lewis has
drawn inspiration. But with what
difference! Whosoever Mr.. Lewis
portrays has not merely material
being but spiritual implication.
Working girls walking up one of the
avenues of New York, on a rainy
afternoon, are endowed with
gprightliness which, with them, is
the badge of courage; toilers emerg-
ing from a subway have, despite the
weariment of the end of day, dig
nifty which goes with self-respecting
labor; a woman on the rooftop of a
tenement house, gazing at the night
sky, tells of the power of the spirit
to soar to unknown heights despite
of surroundings. These sub
jects, so replete with significance,
are never tinged by sentimentality.
They invariably ring true, and
broaden our conception of the in
herent nobility of those with whom,
in passing, we now and then touch
hands. To quote Mr.. Arms again,
THE sidewalks Of New York never
had kindlier, more understanding,
graphic interpreter than Martin
Lewis nor a more Skillful one, and
his work constitutes a valuable his
torical as well as artistic record"
1t is all this and more.
The Portuguese Fisherman's
Daughter" is no less notable. An
exceptionally large copper plate,
approximately 9 by II inches, it
shows a girl of or 4 years of age
seated in a wooden armchair, her
chubby hands folded in her lap, her
baby face sadly grave, her big dark
eyes turned to the left with solemn
inquiry. What thoughts are passing
through the child-mind? What vi
sion has she of the future? Time and
again, one may surprise such look
on a child's face, but rarely has 1t
been so graphically interpreted. Once
before, MIR. HeintZelman etched this
same girl-hence the mo. q follow
ing the superscription. The second
work is by no means a copy of the
first, but a new and even more far
seeing Interpretation. The chair is
changed; the pose is not the same;
the expression is altered-but 1t Is
the same little girl with new mystic
ries of childhood made manifest.
Likened to Rembrandt.
Mr.. Heintzelman is one of the
foremost modern etchers of people.
In the truest sense of the word, his
etchings and drypoints are portraits,
but rarely if ever, have they been
done to order, or primarily to pre-
serve likeness. 1t is with character
and the soul that he has concerned
himself-and his best works are of
simple folk, the very aged and the
very young.
BY some critics, he has been
likened to Rembrandt, and un-
doubtedly he has been Influenced
by the works of this greatest of
all masters, but never has this
etcher of today surrendered his own
personality. His little etching en-
- k,,l L.,