Evening star., 1944-02-06
Bp Leila Mechlin.

llC w aolilllSpOlA w opCl Soloi SldD
will open its 43th annual exhibition
In the Corcoran Gallery of Art this
afternoon. This is always an event
of note, the works shown being pro-
verbally good and at the same time
rejecting current trends.
The first of this long series of
exhibitions was held in the Cosmos
Club December 7 to u, 1896. There
were So exhibitors from whom
came 100 water colors and "a draw
ings in black and white. Among
the latter we're contributions from
Will Chandlee, then cartoonist for
The Star; Charles Dana Gibson
and Phil May. E. H. Miller, illustra-
tor and painter, was also represented
in this section. Edgar Nye was
probably the Youngest exhibitor,
having but just graduated" from
the Corcoran School of Art, but
Everett Warner, now a National
Academician, could not have ad-
vanced much further toward dis
tinction at that time.
In fact, the majority of the ex-
hibitors we're then but starting out
on the high road to fame. Hobart
Nichols is now president of the Ma
tional Academy of Design. a height
which at that time must have SEEM
ed too bedizzying to the young
painter even for contemplation His
brother Spencer, and his friend,
Everett Warner. are both back in
Washington now, after years of abb
sence, doing camoufage work for
the Navy under their colleague,
Comdr. Charles Bittinger, who in
the 90s was studying abroad.
Off to Flying Start.
So much for the beginning. That
the new organization got off with
a flying start the catalogue now
proves, and that it consistently
maintained high standard is no less
a matter of reliable record During
the 48 years of the Water Color
Clubs existence great changes have
been made in the manner of ham
ding the medium.
Up to the 90s of the past century
water color meant colored drawing
Then a new method came into use
In Holland, knowledge of which was
spread to other countries by those
who at that time we're studying
under Dutch masters. Among these
was Richard NJ Brooke of this city,
later president of the Society of
Washington Artists, who did much
toward introducing painters and
collectors in the United States to the
works of the contemporary Dutch
painters. The method employed
was broader and stronger than that
formerly in Use and conveyed the
impression of greater independent
achievement - the gap between
water colors and oils was greatly
lessened.
Then came WinSlow Homer with
his bold, fortnight strokes. telling
his tale simply but clearly, and as it
had not been told heretofore. The
Corcoran Gallerys purchase of his
Hudson River-Logging" made a
profound impression on local water
colorists and again helped to turn
the stream into new channels.
Water colors of similar vigor and
IN different vein came a little later
from Sargent and Charles Carroll
Coleman, who in these later days
have been followed by such dis
tinguiehed water colorists as Shep-
ler, Oakley, Whorf, O'Hara and
others, Water color as a medium is
no longer the little sister of the
arts, suhservient to work in oils.
Corcoran GaNery's
Contribution.
Too much credit cannot be given
to those who have been leaders in
this field here, and the part the
Water Color Club has played in
presenting annual eX bitions
through the cooperation for many
years of the Corcoran Gallery of
Art, must never be forgotten.
The current showing will COM
prise SO paintings and SO drawings
and prints, the former occupying
the gallery of special exhibitions
and the latter cases in the upper
strium at the head of the main
stairs.
Prize WinnerS.
Two prizes and two honorable
mentions have been given. They
are as follows: first prize, $50, to
Herbert H. Scheffel for TOW Path;
second prize, s25, to Herbert J. Cute
for "Old Wood and Rocks; first
honorable mention to Chauncey F..
Ryder, for Farm at Cotton Hollow"
and second honorable mention to
Eugen Weisz for The Hill"
All four of these are strong paint
ings, each possessing individuality
and, to an extent, charm.
Neither the TOW Path" nor "Old
Wood and Rocks" has real beauty,
but they are exceedingly we'll rem
dered; Ryder's mountain cabin is
set forth with simplicity and dig
nifty reminiscent of some of Ho-
kusai's master wood cuts and is a
work of great loveliness, and Weisz's
wooded hillside, while perhaps less
assured, shows him also to be a
seeker for beauty and lover of the
outdoor world
The exhibition will be found a
little less colorful than usual, owing
in part to the scarcity of still life