Evening star., 1947-07-13


own, comprise the subject matter
of block prints by Emma Bormann,
on view in the Division Of Graphic
Arts, United States National Mu-
scum, In the Smithsonian Building
through July n. These prints are
unusually large and striking, and
constitute retrospective of more
than 10 years. Sixteen OF the 80
are in two or more colors.
DR.. Bormann, native of Vienna,
Austria (born 1880. studied there
and later taught etching and
lithography in the Graphische
Lehrwerkstaetten from 1918 through
1921. She had received . Phi. D. in
anthropology from the University Of
Vienna in 1917 and subsequently
taught and lectured there. She is
now in Shanghai, where she was
stranded without resources during
the war. Through the Austrian
Legation she is endeavoring to come
to the United States.
That she knows sections Of our
country rather well from earlier
years is apparent from several
handsome prints in this exhibition.
She has captured the breath-taking
skyline of New York from the East
River, and another view of the
metropolis in print around two by
two and a half feet in dimensions
New York's washington Bridge at
night. wearing a necklace of lights.
is truly lovely. Another successful
nocturne Is of the United States
Capitol, printed in gray and dark
blue. There are color prints OF
Chicago,s outer drive, done in 1886,
and of its Mather Tower Pitts
fbugh Evening" in color is q sur
fprising glimpse of beauty most of
us do not associate with that manu-
featuring city. Cherry Street, Mil,
waukee," likewise interprets pic
turesquely a group of industrial
structures on the water front. !
Glimpses- aef famous cities of
Europe. depicted presumably before
the war, include a panoramic view
Of Paris from the tower Of Notre
Dame; also the Ste. Chapelle: Char
tres, the interior Of st. Marks in
Venice and the exterior Of Prague's
St. Nicholas; Stockholm's water
front with little salboats in fresh
color, Salzburg (my favorite of the
whole collection), Constantinople
and a deep blue Austrian lake. Her
color print of the Roman Forum
and one of the Vienna Opera, in
cluded in the current show, won
honorable mention at the I'd Inter-
national OF Woodcuts held In War
saw 10 years ago.
DR.. Bormann works in an impress
sionistic technique, emphasizing
tone and atmosphere. She cuts
both wood and linoleum blocks.
gouging out dots and areas of many
shapes and sizes, which add up to
impressive compositions. She sees
her subjects in a big way, and gets
a feeling of breadth and spacious
ness in her prints.
She Is represented IN many i'm
portant permanent collections: The
Albertina in Vienna, the British
Museum, our own Library Of Con-
gress, Art Institute of Chicago and
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York City, to mention but few.
X \ \ =
Washington Artist at Library
John c. Rogers work is doubtless
familiar to many Washington gal
lery visitors, as he has exhibited in
group shows at the Corcoran, Whyte
and Phillips Memorial Galleries, the
National Museum and the Arts
Club. as well as the Public Library
of Alexandria and the Baltimore
Museum, not to mention more re-
mote places He was awarded the
Landscape Clubs honorable men
ton in drawing at its 1947 annual.
His one-man show at the Central
Public Library through this month
comprises % works in various media,
block prints, woodcuts, drawings in
crayon, pen and wash, pencil, water
color, dry brush and combinations
of some of them. His work Is mod.
ern in its simplified forms, more pro-
nounced in the prints than in the
drawings. Largely self-taught, he
had q short term Of study in eve
ming classes at the Corcoran School
of Art under Burtis Baker and
Eugen Weisz. He spent II months
with the Army Air Forces as pho
toerapher and staff artist and was