Evening star., 1941-04-27

same IlIlS, IL Will aSdooAiA0 'oSA
ingtonians with the trend OF paint
ing in the British Isles at the time
the war broke out Unfortunately,
because of other engagements, the
collection will remain on view only
until the middle of this week.
To this showing, the main gallery
on the second floor and the two
small galleries nearby, as well as
the adjacent hallway, have been
given over. 1t is not, taken all in
all, a great collection, or one calcu-
lated to call forth special aCmlra-
ton. but it does throw a Sidelight on
the present state Of art, and 1t in
-cludes a few works of notable in
terest and merit.
Stately Portraits.
The reputation of the British
School of painting has rested to a
great extent upon the works of 18th
century artists. The very mention
of British painting calls up in ones
mind the stately portraits of lords
and ladies by Reynolds, Romney,
Gainsborough, Lawrence and Rae
burn. as well as landscapes by Con-
stable and Turner; or, passing from
these, we'll into the 18th century, the
outstanding contribution made by
that small group composed OF RoS-
.setti, Hunt, Millais and Burne-Jones,
who styled themselves a "Pre-Ra-
phaelite Brotherhood" There was no
very great painting being done when
Whistler took up his residence in
London, nor for some years there
after but early in the present CEN
tury there arose a modern school
, which seemed to have new fresh
ness, vigor and much promise. The
sources of inspiration seemed wide
spread, for the same qualities were
found in the works of painters of
Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh and
London. There were among these
such painters as Orpen, Lavery,
Shannon, Gutherie, Hornet, Angus
tus John and Laura Knight, to men
ton only few. The war of 1914-18
was thought to afford certain oppor-
tunitieS to artists by way of official
commissions, but at the same time
1t smothered the spirit of joyous ex-
pression-material things rather
than those of the spirit absorbed
attention.
For some years before the present
war began, the world at large had
been internationaliZed by the air.
plane, the telegraph and telephone
; and the radio. Peoples of different
lands and tongues we're unified
without being harmonized, and un-
derstanding was set up on the basis
of what was, to a great extent,
superficial. When, in the late Dos,
Andre Seigfried wrote America
Comes of Age" he said, America
: has no national art and does not
: even feel the need of one" No
country today has a national art.
q The British paintings in the cur
rent exhibition might just as well
have been produced by painters of
any other nation-for instance, our
own. They evidence the same trends,
; the same lack of discipline, the
same insensibility to beauty, as do
the works of many of the painters
on this side of the ocean. 1t must
be a world sickness. In which con-
nection, remark should be made of
the fact that, strangely enough, the
malady has not yet affected the
print makers, of whom Britain has
an exceptionally large quota who
are greatly gifted.
Outstanding Exceptions.
No general statement ever can be
entirely fair or inclusive, therefore,
with haste, it should be noted that
in the current display are some out
standing exceptions to the rule.
There is large representation of
paintings by Walter Sickert which
includes the engaging double eques-