Evening star., 1948-07-04
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POleO and OterO
Shine for Venezuela
| At Two Exhibitions
By Florence 5. Berymon
Venezuelan artists are headlined
this week end, in honor Of the visit
to the United States, Of ROM
ulo Gallegos, President OF Venezuela,
who has spent these past three days
in Washington. Yesterday morning
ne opened at the Library Of Con-
gress, an exhibition Of paintings and
drawings by Hector Poleo. Last
Monday, the Pan American Union
opened an exhibition by Carlos
Otero, sponsored by DR.. Gonzalo
Carneva1i, Venezuelan Ambassador
to the United States. Today, Pres
ident Gallegos is leaving with Pres
ident Truman for Bolivar, Mo-,
where tomorrow he will present and
President Truman will accept, a
statue Of Simon Bolivar, the gift OF
Venezuela to our country.
Guggenheim Fellow
The exhibition by Hector Poleo is
his second one-man show in Wash
ington. In october. 1945, he was in
troduced with an excellent display
of his work at the Pan American
Union. The special exhibition now
at the Library of Congress, is in the
ground floor gallery, main building,
and will remain only. until next
Sunday.
Hector Poleo has been working in
the United States for the last four
years. He received Simon Gug-
genheim fellowship for 1918. He
has had one-man exhibitions in
New York and other cities besides
Washington, and is represented in
the permanent collections of the
Indianapolis and Chicago Art Insti-
tutes, the Museum Of Modern Art,
New York, and the San Francisco
Museum, as we'll as In the Museum
of Fine Arts, Caracas, Venezuela,
and Canada's National Gallery of
Art.
This young Venezuelan artist
began his art training in his child
hood: he entered the School of
Plastic Art in Caracas at the age OF
II. The Ministry Of Education
recognized his ability and sent him
to Mexico on scholarship. He
was the recipient of a silver medal
for painting at the Paris Interna-
tional Exposition, and other prizes
at art salons in his own country
during the early 1940s.
Those who saw Senor Poleo's ex-
hibition at the Pan American Union
in 1945 (reviewed in detail in these
columns) will recall that his paint
ings were traditional, beautifully
drawn and subdued in color. They
dealt largely with the people of his
own land. The melancholy at
mosphere which pervaded the show
and the closed eyes of many of the
subjects, were explained as conse-
quences Of the artists apprehension
over the threat of blindness, be-
cause Of an early eye injury.
X + X X
Venezuelan Iandscapist
Carlos Otero's paintings at the
Pan American Union through July
IA are in happier vein. impress
sionistic in handling. these works
sing of the beauty of coastal land
scape in the vicinity of La Guaira,
Venezuela, of Mt. Avila (of which
the artist is an outstanding inter-
prefer, of cream-and-rose stucco
houses in sunny village squares, of
Towering trees. of happy natives.
All but one of the % paintings de-
pict Venezuela. The exception is a
view of Notre Dame de Paris. A few
portraits and figure paintings indi-
cate that the artist can handle such
subjects with equal facility.
Senor Otero is a graduate of the
Caracas School of Plastic Arts, of
which he later became director. He
also studied at the National School
of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, Ar
gentina, and IA years in Paris. He
received prizes for his work in exhi-
bitions in France and Belgium. He
has also exhibited in Italy, Colombia
and Argentina as we'll as in his
own country. The current exhibi-
ton is his first one-man show in the
United States.
He has served as director of the
Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas
and was one of the founders of the
Salon de Independence.
This Is a beautiful exhibition, and
one the public will find pleasing.
Statue of Liberator
Bolivar, Mo-, largest of 10 cities
in the United States named for the
liberator of Venezuela, Bolivia, Co.
lombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru,
is celebrating this week end with
ceremonies to honor its namesake.
High point in three days Of festivals
will be the dedication tomorrow of
the statue of the hero, given by hiz
native Venezuela. July this year
AT c.~L