Evening star., 1947-02-16
Crosby Gallery
ToClose After
Lazarri Show
By Florence S. Berrymon

|LaZarr1 Show
|, |. By Florence S. Berymon
4 The Crosby Gallery of Modern
Art has just opened its final ex-
hibition, paintings, polychromes,
sculpture and drawings by Pietro
Lazzari. The show will remain
through March 5.
Mrs. Crosby will close the gallery
after this exhibition, and will give
all her time to editing and publish
ing art books and portfolios, the
field in which she was active before
the war in Paris. She will keep a
permanent home in Washington,
but will spend some of her time
abroad. She says she has greatly
enjoyed the shows at the Crosby
Gallery, and has made many good
friends among artists and Washing
ton art lovers; but has found no
tangible support in the way of sales
or orders for her efforts on behalf
of modern art.
This is a problem for all sponsors
Of the work OF living artists, whether
dealers galleries, art clubs, art as
sociations, or other groups or indi-
viduals. The public in large num-
bers visits art exhibitions, and pre-
sumably derives pleasure from them,
Just as from concerts, theaters and
lectures. But whereas musicians, ac-
1aotr,rarsc y~nNnSvyo fnac ond
salaries, and writer's receipts from
sales, for the products of their
talents, the painter and sculptor
provide free entertainment out of
all proportion to. the material sup
port they obtain from sales.
To present all the facets Of this
problem would require a book. To
mention but two: People who have
few dollars to spend on concert
or play, may not have ten times
the amount Cat a given time) to
purchase an original watercolor.
And the radical nature Of much
contemporary spatial art makes it
unintelligible and hence undesirable
to the great majority of the public.
Museum memberships, admission
fees for art exhibitions, and various
other solutions are tried from time
to time. Certain developments Of
the past few years encourage one
to hope that there will be some i'm
provement in rewarding the artist
for the entertainment value Of his
work, apart from sales.
LasSari Well Knosvn Here
Pietro Lazzari has been g. Wash
ington resident for four years, and
his work is well known here. He
has had several one-man shows in
the Crosby Gallery, Public Library
and elsewhere, and has exhibited
regularly with groups. He grew up
in Rome, served in the Italian Army
in World War I. came to the United
States in 1925, and is now an Amer
ican citizen. He is an instructor
in art at American University.
Mr.. Lazzari is tireless expert
menter whose work has become in
creasingly abstract. The present
exhibition, largely of recent work,
includes a number of large panels
in polychrome cement Zone of them
being a portrait of Mrs. Crosby
oil paintings, cement sculpture and
drawings, many of which are shown
in a portfolio.
He Is haunted by horses, He de-
rived his original inspiration from
Greek and Roman sculpture, but
has travelled far from these sources.
He interprets his subjects freely,
ranging, for instance, from round
ed, weighty representation of the
animals as in Burning Survival"
to distractions in which he youch-
safes only shead or hoof tangled
in an intricate pattern of thread
like lines. Questioned about his
pre- occupation with the animal, he
said:
Horses signify freedom and
beauty; in which I see the way OF
iGeralion in the troubled world of
today"
Although he has worked for 10
years in polychrome cement, he con-
tinues to blaze new trails in its use.
Several Of his most recent works on
exhibition are plaques of rich COL
ors merging with one another, ac
complished when the cement is
liquid. These plaques are finished
with wax, like domestic Pompeiian
muralS.
Contrasts at the Smithsonian
Lithographs by Adolph Dehn, on
view in the Division of Graphic Arts,
Smithsonian Building, represent sew
eral aspects of his talents. Ten of
the "a prints are naturalistic. land
scapes, in which he has ranged
from SnoW-covered mountains to
jungle nights, and from Missouri
farm to New York's Central Park,
all done with a skillful command of
the medium.
Social satire Is another string to
his bow. Half a dozen prints are
acid comments on gossiping old
women, overstuffed dowagers and
their stringy daughters, night-club
entertainment, and other familiar
characters in the kaleidoscope
American scene.
There are a few semiabstractions,
such as Ballet" in which motion is
emphasized, and ITO My Valen-
tine" calculated to bewilder rather
than reassure recipient.
The fourth category of Mr. Dehn's
work is fantasy of a nightmarish
character. His Musician" saving
on his violin and surrounded by
beasts, that would do credit to
Hieronymus Bosch; Mad Night on
Schulzs Farm" and a number of
others involving caricatured human
beings and incredible imaginary
animals, in some cases seemed to
me obscure in meaning.
But there is ample evidence in the
exhibition that this Minnesota art
ist deserves the extensive recogni-
tion that has come to him in the
past decade.