Evening star., 1948-11-28
French Artists Represented in Showing
Of Works in Crowninshield Memorial
By Florence S. Berrymon

The National Gallery of Art opened
last Sunday an exhibition of prints
and drawings. the title OF which,
Paris, the Favorable Climate" re-
fers to the congenial atmosphere
In which the artists worked. Pros
pective visitors to the show are not
TO expect views of Notre Dame, the
Arc de Triomphe, or any other
famous structures and scenes. One
will find, to be sure. glimpses Of
Paris, as well as of Versailles and
snvirons. But these are incidental.
The exhibition Of approximately
1850 items, by Bonnard, WILLARD.
Maurice Denis, Dunoyer de Segonzac
and Matisse was arranged in men,
DRY Of Frank Crowninshield of New
York, who died last year. He had
begun to collect Segonzac's work
in the late '20s, and, accord
ing to the artist, had the most
complete collection extant, Of his
etchings. The National Gallery OF
Art has recently received from Mrs.
Frederick j. Bradlee, Mrs. D. Percy
Morgan and Mr.. Caspar de Gers
dorff, the two nieces and nephew
of Mr.. Crowninshield, large collec-
ton of Segonzac's prints, drawings
and illustrated books, in memory OF
their uncle and in accordance with
his intentions.
Continuity Stressed
The National Gallery of Art points
out that the exhibition 'once again
calls to attention the continuity OF
certain aspects of French art"
Denis, Bonnard and Vuillard were
contemporaries, and adventurous
young artists in the nineties; they
belonged to "a group called the
"Nabis" among whose sources OF in
fiuence were the work of Gaugin,
japanese color prints, and colored
posters. A hint of the fat receding
planes OF japanese prints can be
seen In their color Autographs in
the current exhibition.
Denis IL Autographs, concerned
with women, are delicate in color,
poetic and mystic in mood. Vull-
lard's II Autographs are intimate
and domestic, depicting quiet In
teriors, informal studies Of people,
subtle in color. Bonnard's was the
greatest talent Of the three, with
his strong feeling for color and
design, and his sensitive line. Some
of his 20 prints in the show recall
Degas, others, the posters OF Tou-
louse.Lautrec. He shows intimate
elimpses Of Paris streets, preferring
people on the boulevards, old houses,
the theatre, ETC., rather than i'm
posing monuments Of architecture
and scenes of grandeur.
Sold at Auction
A number of the "a Matisse hth-
ographs and drawings in the ex-
hibition were in Frank Crownin-
shields collection, sold at auction
after his death and purchased by
Lessing j. Rosenwald for the Ma
tional Gallery. Most Of these items
were done in the twenties, and con-
stitute a markedly superior group to
the Matisse drawings shown at the
Phillips Memorial Gallery last
month.
Seeonzac, less than a generation
younger than the other four artists,
began to etch in 1919. after serving
In World War I, and studying briefly
with Laboureur. He was soon max
ing etchings for de luxe editions,
beginning with the war book. Les
Croix de Bois," by Roland Dorgeles,
issued in 1921. About so items by
Segonzac are in exhibition-etchings,
drypoints. drawings and books. in
Guiding the Georges" of Virgil, on
which Segonzac has been at work
since 1890, and which represents the
elimination of his career as an
etcher. These volumes were sent
from Paris especially for this ex-
hibition; this is their first showing
in the United States.
The exhibition will remain until
mid-January.
* II
Corcoran Annual and Salon
After seeing the third annual ex-
hibition by artists of Washington
and vicinity which opened last Sun
day at the Corcoran Gallery Of Art,
and the elephantine show of ire
fused works." I feel that the jury
is more entitled to sympathy than
condemnation. The 20 accepted
works, installed in one large gallery,
looked no better the second time
than they did the first time saw
them. (Although / did notice a