Evening star., 1944-10-15
Works of 10Th Century Painter.Etcher
On Display at National Gallery

ton. The portrait of Cardinal Man
ming reproduced) is an outstand-
ing example. AS a matter of fact, a
portrait first interested Mr.. Adams
in Legros' work-that of Auguste
Rodin, included in the current ex-
hibition.
Most of these portraits are done In
etching and drypoint. Among them
are heads of Dalou, the sculptor;
Hector Berlioz, composer; G. F.
Watts, English painter and a self
portrait. There is also a beautiful
head of an old man, drawn with
silver point on pink coated paper.
The third category of Legros'
work in this collection comprises
figures, Biblical subjects and genre
inspired by old French folklore and
by such writers as La Fontaine and
Edgar Allen Poe. Death and the
Woodcutter" interested Legros to
the extent that he made five versions
of it, two of which are shown here.
There is rare drypoint. "The
Good Samaritan" and two versions
of THE Prodigal Son." one a small
drypoint, the other large etching.
Both interpretations of the last
mentioned theme are lofty. Many
of us probably have disliked the
Prodigal Son all our lives because
he seems to us the prototype of
the wastrel who eats his cake and
has it too, at the expense Of con-
scientious, dutiful people, Most
artists versions of this subject show
the son embraced by his joyful
father, thus stressing the ease with
which the son resumed his earlier
status. But Legros has emphasized
the overwhelming remorse of the
prodigal by representing him as
kneeling alone in the road, bowed
down with his sense of guilt. This
Interpretation arouses more sympa-
thy for the son than do those by
Forain and other artists. Legros'
little drypoint, earlier of his two
versions, is the more poetic; the
etching Qatest print shown in the
present exhibition), the richer char
acterization.
Legros' most famous plate, Death
of the Vagabond," is shown in an
excellent impression. Here is great
etching, austere and symbolic, with
a powerful impact. The diagonal
lines of the composition give it dra-
matte force. This print had its
inception with the dying fir tree.
Prints in existence indicate that
Legros first accompanied the tree
with woodcutters starting to chop
it down. Dissatisfied, he eliminated
these figures and replaced them
under the tree with a shepherdess
and youth, but they, too, were
discarded. Finally, the artist in
troduced the stark figure Of the
vagabond, lying almost at right
angles to the tree. This work was
complete and wholly satisfying,
both in composition and spiritual
significance.
David Keppel, curator of prints at
the National Gallery of Art, has
prepared an introduction to the
exhibition and a brief, informative
label for each exhibit, which adds
to its interest.
"The american Century"
Nearly 100 portrait sketches of
outstanding Americans in many
fields, by Emit Kaufman, are on
view in the foyer of the Natural
History Building, to remain through
october %. The artist conceived
the idea for this collection in 1899,
not long after she came to this
country from her native Czecho-
slovakia. Feeling that the United
States would have a decisive in
f1uence on the coming era of world
history, she undertook to make
record of the men and women who
are building what she calls "The
American Century"
The idea is stupendous but the
project is too large for one artist
to accomplish in so short time.
Considering the collection as q
whole, one regrets to note that the
subject interest is stronger than
the esthetic merit. Nevertheless, Mrs.
Kaufman deserves much credit for
her inspiration and industry, to say
nothing of the nervous energy re-
quired to meet and capture like
nesses Of SO many noted people ION
the wing" SO to speak. She had
to execute her portraits under diff
f1culties in many instances. She
Travelled around the country and
set up her easel wherever her SUBJ
ject of the moment happened to be
working.
| Men are the chief architects of
1.-THE American Century to Judge
from Mrs. Kaufman's subjects; only
ii Of the 90 portraits depict women.
As fairly large proportion OF the
80 now reside in washington, or
come here frequently, one can make
definite decisions for ones self, 1t
least as to the artists success In
achieving likenesses.
OF course, the question Of re-
semblance in portrait is strongly
controversial. TWO people can
study ; portrait Of : third and