Evening star., 1944-09-17

| I he Art
Paintings of Naval Me
Exhibition at Nationa
BY Florence S. Bergman.
Paintings of Naval Medicine, now
on exhibition at the National Gal
lery of Art, constitute q human, war
and medical document of absorbing
interest. The collection, numbering
100 paintings and drawings, Is the
work Of six American artists COM
missioned by Abbott Laboratories,
North Chicago, ILL.,, to record the
superb achievements of the United
States Navy's Medical Department.
1t will become part Of the perma-
nent record of this war, as it has
been given to the Government by
| ADDOtt LABORATORIES.
| The observer carries away from
the exhibition vivid impressions of
the complete dedication of medical
officers and hospital corpsmen; of
the fortitude and cheerfulness of
wounded servicemen, and of the
magnificent equipment provided for
every contingency. A visit to the
exhibition ought to hearten every
person who has q loved one in the
Navy or Marine Corps. for the show
as a whole commentaries the Ma
tion's recognition Of the incalcuI-
able value of every young mans life
and well-being.
About 10 pictures are on display,
each accompanied by an explana-
tory label. Naturally, subject mat
ter is the chief interest of these
works; they are primarily illustra-
tions, in which details have been
carefully studied and meticulously
transcribed by the artists. They
are story telling pictures whose
collective message Is an epic; yet
only few Of them, studied indi-
vidually. rise above the status Of
documents. Something In the nature
of war seems to initiate against its
transmutation into art. This casts
no reflection on the ability OF the
artists who drew or painted these
pictures. The fact that one can
count on one hand, great MASTER
pieces Of art dealing with some
aspect Of war, bears witness to the
lack Of affinity between war and art.
Symbolic Paintings
But some of the paintings and
drawings in the current exhibition
have that extra dividend. a touch
Of symbolism, or a suggestion that
the scene extends beyond the di-
mensions of the particular work, or
a hint of universality-something,
in short, that makes a work men,
orable.
Mercy Ship" by Joseph Hirsch is
outstanding. Depicting a small area
Of deck beneath the giant smoke
stack, tunnels, etc, Of the Navy
hospital ship U. S. S. Solace, paint
ed white in accordance with Geneva
Convention laws, 1t suggests the ben
eflcent power and magnitude of the
Navy. The size of the ships de-
tails dwarfs the wounded sailors
and marines sitting and lying on
the deck; they appear cheerful, re-
laxed and safe. The ship is silhou-
cited against storm clouds, with q
glimpse Of ocean and a patch or two
of blue sky.
Regarded as a whole. Kerr Eby's
works impressed the writer as the
best group. They are mostly large
crayon drawings, some of them
touched with water color, and they
are not so striking at first glance
as the brightly colored oil and
tempera paintings by the other
artists. But several of them, at
least, make a lasting impression.
The intent group of hospital corps
men around a marine casualty at
Tarawa in "Life-or Death?";; the
solicitousness of the able marine
helping his wounded comrade in
He Walks Who Can," and the i'm
plication Of q haven in vast space
in Priority Passengers" are ex-
amples in point. 'Ebb and Flow at
Tarawa" has q sharp contrast be-
tween the serene blue sky of half
the picture and the dun -colored fig
ures of the marines on the beach,
where life is being saved in the
midst of battle. Lift for the
Wounded" (reproduced) has q COM
position Of obvious balance, which
centers the spectators attention
upon the casualty, and suggests the
care and precision with which the
wounded are handled.
Senior Artist
Mr.. Eby is the senior artist in the
group, now in his mid Sos. He served
in World War with the 10th Engi-
neers IN France, and made many
sketches at Belleau Wood, Chateau
Thierry and elsewhere. Some of
these sketches were turned into
etchings, one Of the most memoir
able being Scout Planes at Dawn" !"
which seemed to epitomize the abys-
NAL loneliness of war.
1t IS probably no accident that
the most arresting works in the
show, those by Mr.. Eby and Mr..
Hirsch, were done at Guadalcanal,
Tarawa, Bougainville and other
places OF heroic memory, while the
paintings and drawings by David
Stone Martin, Irwin Holman, Carlos
Anderson and Julian Levi were the
results of assignments at q medical
corpsmen's training school and two
hospitals in this country Zone of
them the Naval Medical Center at
Bethesda).