Evening star., 1948-02-22
A\rt
La Tausca Display
In Two Parts Opens
AtCorcoran Gallery
By Florence S. Berrymon

| Oy TiVT0uSe >. USttyWou
Washingtonians have been af.
forded, in the past few weeks, two
major opportunities to become &C.
quainted with industry's patronage
Of art. Pepsi-Cola Co.'s fourth an.
nuaI exhibition, at the Corcorar
Gallery of Art, will close tomorrow
Heller -Deltah Co.'S third annual La
Tausca art competition, circulated
by the American federation Of Arts
is now on view at United Nations
Club. Comprising more than 60
paintings (mostly oils),, 1t will be
shown in two parts because Of space
limitations. The first section, which
includes the i've prize winners, will
remain through next Friday. when
section two will be hung, to remain
through March 7.
La Tausca competitions stated
purpose is ITO stimulate the best
expression Of American art without
restrictions as to subject or treat
ment." Although In its first annual,
Heller -Deltah invited artists to enter
paintings on the theme, woman
With Pearls" the. second and third
competitions have been unrestricted,
with. generous prize awards; and
every artist represented Except the
prize winners and those whose works
are sold is paid 500 rental fee to
cover exhibition Of his painting for
one year.
Many Are Abstractions.
Heller r-Deltah left its competition
to those presumably well qualified
to organize it. A panel Of eight
artists and three museum directors
compiled an invitation list Of more
than 90 painters, who in turn Sc
lected by ballot from their own
number the jury of award. COM
posed Of five prominent artists, who
after their selection became in
eligible for prizes.
There is probably no foolproof
Jury system, and this arrangement
certainly seems fair, with q saving
distribution Of responsibility. Con-
sequently it is disappointing that
the exhibition as a whole is not
better. 1t will appeal much more
to the avant garde than to the pub
lic. About half of the show Is alb
stract or semiabstract, and many OF
the remaining works, while COM
nrehensible to the layman, are ex-
perimental.
The prize awards could be bones
Of contention. Nicholas Vasilieff
was given first prize Of 5000 for a
large still life Of a lopsided black
table on which are precariously
poised a badly painted bowl OF fruit
and flowers, a platter of fish and
half a lemon Cor grapefruit). The
background is a beautiful light blue,
and there are harmonious areas OF
other colors in the objects. But
these merits are not sufficient to
justify the prize.
Davis Work Wins $1,000.
Second prize of $4,000 went to
Stuart Davis for his abstraction,
Lawn and Sky, 1884," in which
the motivation Is discernible in q
pattern Of shapes in bright colors.
Charles Howard, another abstrac-
zionist, won third prize Of 81 900 for
"The Ancestral Mitre," which I'M
presses me as technically superior to
Mr.. Davis work. Everett Spruce OF
Austin, Tex, won fourth, prize OF
$500 for his expressionistic Desert
at Night" in a low key with pre-
dominantly horizontal planes broken
by upreaching cacti and other
forms conveying a feeling of peace
full barrenness. Yasuo Kuniyoshi's
fifth prize winner, This Is My Play
ground" has a subtle color scheme
typical Of him, but in interest, 1t Is
far behind his figure paintings seen
here in large group shows In the
past few years.
Those responsible for hanging the
current section at United Nations
Club have done a good job, juxta-
posing works which harmonic or
complement each other. Raphael
Soyer's beautiful "Yadida Hindu
Dancer" with its delicate rose and
olive green color scheme has a. con-
spicuous place over the mirror in the
tearoom. Sharply defined paintings
by Robert Gwathmey CChildren
Dancing') and Gregorio Prestopino
c'Railroad Center"D are at the other
end Of this room. and elsewhere are
Ben Shahn's underprivileged, be-
reaved BOY" in melancholy con-
temptation, and Mitchell Siporin's
"Carousel' stranded in a rocky set
ting as in a nightmare. Loren Mac
Iver's abstraction Mica" with its
cool gray-green tonality, suggests
Rock Greek with slowly moving
water.
Marjorie Phillips is the only
Washington artist represented, and
she has one of the most pleasing
works, "The Glade" a simple COM
position of trees and grass in sew
eral green's. Audrey Buller's ex-
quisitely painted Three Morning
GIories" vyo,1ld doubtless be a strong