Evening star., 1945-07-22

ne DdtJie against ClFllldnS Is
equally as intense in meaning and
symbolism as is that fought on the
battlefield, and can be in some in
stances more touching" Alexander
p. Russo says In the catalogue Of his
present exhibition at the Whyte Gal
lery, to remain through July 81.
This sentence from his long per-
sonal statement might be regarded
as the keynote of the show, the
larger part of which depicts bomb
devastation of London. Sicily and
Normandy. Thirteen of the ~ paint
ings on view were done in London,
whittier Mr.. Russo went In Novem-
Der, 1943. He had enlisted in the
United States Naval Reserve in 1912,
when only 20 years old. Despite his
youth, he had already enjoyed a
brief career as a free-lance Illus
traitor. ~ s%
Js After completing boot training, he
painted mural for the regimental
headquarters at the Great Lakes
Naval Training Station. Subse-
quently transferred to the United
States Navy Recruiting Bureau at
White Plains, N. Y, he made posters
and illustrations for the bureaus
programs. Early In 1943 he was
assigned to the Amphibious Forces,
Atlantic Fleet, and made shore-line
sketches for use by assault troops.
He took part in the initial landings
in Sicily; in the present show are
several paintings Of that invasion,
including one of the few oils, which
indicates that badly bombed Sicily
remains more colorful than devas-
tated London.
Judging from the dates on his
London paintings. Mr.. Russo must
have been there OH and on for six
months. He made sketches mostly
in water color and tempera, because,
he says, the unpleasant regularity
Of enemy air raids" prevented his
attempting many large paintings.
These appear to be good repre-
sentations of war-torn London; yet,
like most documentary paintings,
they suffer from such extraneous
circumstances as followed earlier ex-
hibitions Of similar subject matter.
-Four years ago this month the Ma
tional Gallery opened here the Lon
don Fireman Artists Exhibition,
which set forth the dreadful events
of December, 1910. The impact of
that show cannot be repeated. Nor
is it entirely because 1t was large
group affair; 1t would be unjust to
compare one-man show with an
exhibition by many artists. The fact
is that the London firemen's exhi-
bition, being the unique first-hand
record of terrifying destruction on a
scale unknown to the world before
that year, dealt us a shock to which,
In emotional elf-defense, we have
since become Injured.
Nevertheless, Mr.. Russo's exhibi-
ton deserves q visit, because 1t con-
tains some good painting. London
Blackout," for instance, little
water color Of a street on q moon
less night, peopled with a few ig-
ures with tiny searchlights, is an
admirable study In blacks. The
manner in which the artist has han
died tones Of black Is well worth
studying. One feels that this Is
exactly the way a black-out street
at night would appear to most
people.
A carefully finished group of six
water colors and wash drawings de-
picting incidents OF the Normandy
invasion was lent by the ONCE OF
Public Relations. United States Navy
Department, of which 1t. Comdr.
Robert l.. Parsons Is officer in charge
Of the combat art section, where
Mr.. Russo has been on temporary
duty for the past seven months.