Evening star., 1941-01-05


while only about or inches in
height, is as full of life as is his
Bacchante in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York. OBJ
viously, this is a sketch, but re-
tanned therein is the impetus which
induced creation-the spirit of the
creator. MacMonnies, it will be re-
membered, came to fame when he
designed and modelled the Colum-
bian Fountain for the Columbian
Exposition at Chicago in 1893. He
did later the statue of Shakespeare
which is in the Library of Congress
and the equestrian statue of Gen.
Mcclellan, at Connecticut avenue
and Columbia road. His master
piece, however, is the statue of
Nathan Hale in City Hall Square,
New York. which is one of the finest
memorials ever erected to an Ameri-
can hero.
John Gregory, also an Academy
in Rome man. who did the sculp-
tured panels on the facade of the
Folger Shakespeare Memorial Lii
brary, is represented in this collec-
ton by a reduction Of his we'll
known winged figure, "Philomena."
Sculptor at His Best.
A. Phimister Proctor, who did the
buffalos on @ Street Bridge and
the panthers on Piney Branch
Bridge, is here at his best in "Prowl-
,~ cta
stepping forward warily with mus
cles slipping under easy control be-
meath his skin. Another of our
well-known animal sculptors, F. G.
H. Roth, has to his credit, rather
amusingly, two little pigs-the
Lucky One" and the "Unlucky
One" an unusual pair.
From Robert Aitkin, sculptor of
the Samuel Gompers Memorial in
this city, have come three works, a
"Naiad," a "Bacchus" and pair
of book-ends. There are book
ends also by Harriet Frishmuth, one
of the beSt-knoWn women sculptors,
who is represented in our leading
museums as we'll as IN private COL
lections such as this.
The Corcoran Gallery is fortunate
in owning a portrait head in wax
of Pavlova by Malvina Hoffman.
Now it comes into the possession,
through the Parmelee bequest, Of
a second portrait of this great dane
er, by the same artist. but in terra
cotta-a bust less than half life
size, sympathetically rendered and
very personal.
Charming, indeed, is the figure of
a girl-child holding a shell in her
upstretched hand, modelled by Janet
Scudder with firmness of touch and
great artistic cunning, such as dis
tinguished almost everything she
ever did, whether in low relief or
the round. No one knew better
than she how to finish a work with
out loss of spirit and animation.
Her death last summer, of pneu-
monia, is much to be lamented.
A torso. we'll modelled by F. w.
Allen of Boston; head of wom-
an, Athena" by R. H. Recchia Of
Rockport, Mass, and a portrait of
the late c. c. Glover, modelled in
low relief by Carl Nose, once in
structor ir sculpture at the Cor
coran Scht u of Art, complete the
list of sculptures in the Parmelee
bequest, with but one exception,
which is, however, so out of the
ordinary that it is almost unbe-
lievable. Simply listed as "Bust
Give size) of. an italian Madonna"
1t is accredited to Jacob Epstein,
the greatest extremist among all
the modern sculptors. But this is
a work italian in feeling, tradition
al and, above all, with fine surface
texture. In so much, it belongs to
the past, but in expression and feel
ing, it is of today-intensely dra-
matte, unquiet, emotional. The
mouth is open and the impression
created is that, momentarily, words
may fall from the lips. 1t is boldly
done, but with imposing strength
and conviction. There is no sig
nature and, as yet, no certainty of
o'oAASeoAoh OlllCl Ulldll Illc llSGlIlK.
The man who did the bust of Ram
say Macdonald which the Corco-
ran Gallery is so fortunate as to
own may have done this italian
Madonna" before he adopted his
present technique, but to give 1t to
the sculptor of Adam" or "Rima"
or Christ" produced and exhibited
in London to the horror of many.
would be diff1cult-and vet they are
one and the same. Certainly. the
attrlbution can be verified, and, If
correct, this piece will, indeed, have
extraordinary interest.
American Masters
Drawings Are Exhibited
This Week at Corcoran.
Through next Sunday the Cor
coran Gallery of Art is showing
special exhibition of drawings by
American artists which is not only
interesting in itself but as giving
indication of the skill attained as
= . L., .lv~