Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-09-23

nard Dixon gives true likeness of
certain parts of Nevada, California
and Arizona. Conrad Buff portrays
a particular spot in Agatha Peak,
Arizona almost abstract in its
starkness. Another Western scene
bound to arrest the beholder is
Frank Mechaus Tom Kenney
Comes Home" beautiful painting
in golden-brown tonality, Of a
cowboy -prospector and his horses
in a desolate landscape. The swirl
ing lines of horses and dead tree
branches give this painting rhythmic
movement. The horses are remi-
niscent of the strange, graceful
steeds in old Chinese paintings.
Beauty with tragic implicatins is
embodied in Alexandra Hogue's
Avalanche by Wind" epitomizing
the ravages of the dust bowl, the
dreadful results of mans careless
ness in permitting soil erosion.
Adolf Dehn and Joe Jones are
creators of happier scenes-the
former a fresh panoramic water
color "Threshing in Minnesota;
the latter a closeup of Wheat
Farmers" at work.
David Credentials handsome
Mist in the Mountains" and Russell
Cowles' russet-hued Autumn Wind"
paintings of places not specifically
identified, nevertheless carry a con-
viction of American spaciousness.
Religion and War
In view Of the fact that religion is
a major element in American life,
its near-absence in the Britannica
paintings is the collections chief de-
flciency, so far as its presentation of
the native scene is concerned. This
is not a legitimate complaint, of
course, since Britannica did not set
out to paint the national portrait. I"
Nevertheless, it is strange that CT
1875 paintings, only touch upon re-
ligion: Those by Salvador Dali, Dan
Lutz and Horace Pippin.
Dali's little blue Madonna, ex-
quisitely painted in his old-master
technique, carried no conviction OF
religious telling to this reviewer. The
Madonna has the appeal of an in
genue in a rather tattered gown.
Dan Lutz' The Golden Chariot" in
shimmering blues and violets, illum-
mated with flashes of orange, vel
low and white, expresses the artists
emotional reaction to Negro spirit
uals, he says. At any rate. it rings
true. So does Horace Pippin's Holy
Mountain" embodying this con-
temporary primitive painters Wis
ualization of Isaiah XII, verses clio.
Although large proportion of the
collection comprises paintings done
since World War II began, only eight
works touch upon it. and but one of
these connects it with our country:
Louis Bosa's War Bride" This is
festive scene, with a dash of
humor
This reviewers favorite of the war
paintings Is George Grosz' Wand
erer" (Which he says is the ever
lasting human spirit"D, plodding
doggedly through treacherous
swamp, as he leaves the holocaust
bahind and moves into the sunlight
of more hopeful future The most
graphic of the war paintings, which
needs no explanation, is Joseph
Hirschs "Guerillas," giving effective
and sympathetic aid to a mother
and baby.
Our space nears its end, with less
than third of these paintings men,
toned. Many other admirable works
deserve attention. Among them
Alexander Brooks Family Unit" a
typical aspect of the South, in
close color harmony; Charles Burch-
fields. House Corner in Spring,
Hobson Pittman's romantic Studio
Interior Charles Shelters crisply
handled winter Window" with its
excellent handling of whites; Flor
ence J. Bach's superbly painted
Marsh Mallows," and Aaron Boh-
rods Waiting for the $780," to
name but few of them.
Nor is. there space to mention
esthetic radicals, whose paintings in
this collection do not deal with the
American scene, but round out the
picture Of contemporary American
painting.
The Encyclopedia Britannica COL
lection will remain at the Corcoran
through October IA. 1t is eminently
worth seeing.