Evening star., 1949-04-24

the first compreh enstpe exhibition
serve particular mention. The
beautiful Virgin and Child" In
the rare first state. and the majes-
tic Risen Christ Between Saints
Andrew and Longinus." one Of the
finest known examples of the sub
ject, still having the delicate
shading which Is worn away in
most impressions now extant. are
but two Of the IL prints by this
master in the show.
The two Campagnolas. Jacopo
de- Barberi and few others are
all well represented. hope to
review one or two facets Of this
superb exhibition in more detail
before 1t closes June 10.
Strictly Modern Subjects
Everett Warner has little re-
gard for the "tiresome statistical
material which 1t is customary to
use at the time of an exhibit"
Since the impressive list Of his
awards, paintings in museum col
lections and other data occupies
several inches Of fine print in
Who's Who in American Art"
refer the reader to that publica-
ton. A one-man show by Mr..
Warner will open this afternoon
at the Arts Club. In a letter to
his friend Charles Bittinger. he
has much Of interest to say about
his own work and modern
painting.
MY ambition is to paint strictly
modern subjects with the same
sense Of reality that the old
masters gave to their work; but
there is often a wide gap between
what one wishes to do and what
one actually succeeds in doing.
The present low estate Of tradi-
tional painting may stem from
this circumstance-that academic
art Is not academic enough"
Long before the famous Armory
show (1o13) Mr.. Warner had been
painting Brooklyn Bridge. modern
skyscrapers. ocean-going steamers
and railroad trains. II continued
my interest In this exciting
world" he said, during the years
when the 'moderns' found sig
nificance only in rickety tables
on which were grouped mando-
Inns, alleged apples and assorted
crockery.
"I admire much WORK that Is
extremely modernistic. and all !
ask is that others grant me the
privilege Of working in different
manner. If I choose to do so. Like
most artists I have always main
tanned that I painted to please
myself, but in common with all
the rest, have hoped that some
one else would be pleased. no mat
ter how limited the audience
might be. With greater expert
ence, i have come to realize that
il the artist is the only one
pleased. he is just a social para
site"
MIR. Warner has long had .
home In Westmoreland. N. H.
A year ago, he painted . curtain
for the town hall there. ITO
he truly functional" he said,
1T would have to be strong
on the one element to which
the local people could all
respond-reality. So though u
tried to make 1t Is decorative as
possible, the primary purpose was
to make 1t authentic recog-
nizable portrait of our town. So
many people nowadays are paint
ing for Fifty-seventh street-it is
time something was painted for
Route 63." He concluded. Some
one has said that truth Is
stranger than fiction. and 1t is
also more beautiful should like
to add that 1t is infinitely more
difficult."
Poetry and Painting
The Whyte Gallery could not
have chosen a theme better suited
to modern painting than Poetry.
which is the inspiration Of this
months exhibition there. For o.
poem with It's formal structure,
is bigger than its subject matter.
Just as modern painting tand In
deed, much earlier art) Is some
thing other than a representation
of nature. Consequently. in re-
cent years, a number Of scholars
have compared traditional or
Irepresentational art to prose. and
formal art to poetry.
Those Of US who prefer ideas
to forms, become impatient with
having to pull down the scaf1oid-
ing Of structure In . poem IN
order to get at the thought which
inspired it. And we are likely to
be the same people who prefer
traditional art to modern art.
At the Whyte Gallery are more
than 20 works In oil. watercolor.
pen and wash, by Is artists who
regularly exhibit there. and .
newcomer, Robin Bond. . young
Englishman who Is now director
Of education at the Institute for
Contemporary Arts. The poets
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