Evening star., 1948-05-16
each, in oil, tempera and water
color, to . total Of 10 works on


color, to . total Of 18 works on
view. - ar
Mr.. Arts paintings interpret the
title much the most effectively. from
the visitors standpoint. as they de-
pict the Capitol, the Monument and
the White House and q panorama Of
many public buildings. Since these
subjects can all be checked by the
average persons own impressions,
his group Is truly washington i'm
pressions In q sense not applicable
to most of the others works. Mr..
Arlt's paintings are not academic,
nor do they approach picture post
cards in any way. They are free
interpretations, employing distor-
ton, satire and humor. No one who
has experienced" the famous
buildings they deal with can fall to
recognize them.
Margaret Appich's little tram
scription of the Church of the Cove
nant and st. Matthews, and one
other painting are the most con-
servative works in the show. It Is
disappointing that they lack vitality,
fail to measure up to work she has
shown recently at the Phillips
Memorial and Watkins Galleries.
Buffalo Bridge" by James Nc
Laughlin, is q real Washington i'm
done In q rather heavy
semi -impressionistic technique. Two
by him, similarly ham
died, also have q predominantly
cold, dry brown tonality, presenting
a contrast to Andrea Zerega's warm,
luscious red-brown paintings Of his
own neighborhood In Georgetown.
These are undeniably authentic (al-
though not generally familiar)
Washington impressions, and good
paintings, j.. So, Is his simplded
Football Huddle," which could just
as well represent any team from
Maine to California. ~,
Pietro Lazzari's two landscapes,
done in fiat areas Of raw color.
would also be fitting to many
places, as would Jacob Kainen's alb.
stractions of clock tower and
Late Afternoon" barely suggesting
the subjects, In high-keyed colors.
Helen Rennie. too, shows abstrac-
tions, one of them q telling capture
of a concert at the Library Of Con-
gress, with a pattern of black lines
of music stands, musicians and in
and q few washes Of
yellow and brown. It in
terests me to note that many who
work in modern idioms, seem to con-
slider the shape OF q violin nearly
perfect, for in countless abstract
paintings, they depict this musical
instrument In . naturalistic way.
This exhibit will remain through
May 81.
The Artist Explains
It Is generally assumed that art
speaks for itself. So long as 1t en-
ployed to a large extent, q language
(the visual aspect Of things under
stood by a large proportion Of the
lay population, interpreters were
not necessary. But since arts Ian
guage began to change into q sort
of Babel some so years ago, with
many dialects and idioms. and not
infrequently gibberish. interpreters
of art are kept as busy as are those
in the U. N. Assembly.
When artists themselves can use
words as well as spatial media, they
are their own best interpreters, as
has been proven on many occasions.
Artists Cooperative is giving a new
demonstration on q small scale In
its May exhibition through next
Saturday, 1.-THE Artist Explains" !"
In some instances the explanation
Is better than the work; in others
it seems to muddy the waters. But
in a good number Of cases the ex-
planation does enlighten the visitor
and puts him In . more sympathetic
mood. even though he may wonder
why the artist was inspired by sub
jects as dpll or depressing as some
of these.
Among those Il like best are
George Cress' Rocks and Trees" in
which he was trying to say some
thing about their essential character
and to combine their patterns; and
John Chapman Lewis Worcester.
in which the color and tone Of the
sky, he says, set the paintings mood.
Jack Perlmutter's Tenement at
Night" is more than adequately In
terpreted by free verse, In which
the artist sets forth not only visual
aspects, to be seen in his painting,