Evening star., 1949-03-27
and q decorative high-keyed color

and . decorative high-keyed color
scheme.
Third and fifth honorable men
tions went to the two most tradi-
tional paintings Of the eight:
Nikolai Cikovsky's Spring Mel
ody" and Martin Jackson's "Har-
Dor in the Night" respectively.
Mr.. Cikovsky's young woman with
a mandolin is part OF a beautiful
lavishly varied color scheme. in
volving her dress. the wall. vase Of
flowers, bowl of fruit. table and
other objects, skilfully arranged.
Mr.. Jackson's harbor scene is a
romantic, moonlit nocturne.
Few Extremes
There are not many extremes in
this biennial. The more than so
paintings I roughly classified as
TRADITIONAL included only few
works in sharp-focus naturalism,
such as Luigi Lucioni's portrait Of
his sister, Robert Sloan's Negro
Soldier" Zsissly's large. cheerful
landscape, Summer in Maine.
with blades of grass. pebbles and
shingles on distant roofs easily
discerned. and a few others.
Among the modern" paintings
there are very few non-objective
items. One of the most satisfying
(to me- of these is I. Rice Pereira's
"Duograph" In most Of the alb
stractions the layman can identify
at least some of the points Of de-
parture, as in Lyonel Feininger's
Yacht Race" its spare, clean
lines conveying the inner signifi-
canoe Of the theme.
1t seems to me that the chief
cause for regret in this biennial
is its small size. This IS an ad-
vantage for visitors. being easy on
the eyes. brain and feet. But it
means so much to artists to be
represented in such important ma
tional shows as this. that one re-
grets another hundred paintings
were mot hung. The biennial was
partly juried, partly invited. 1t
is gratifying that IA Washington
area artists are represented. I
hope to review this little group in
detail during the six weeks of the
biennial's duration.
Variety of Subject Matter
. Despite it's size, it has extraordi-
nary variety and considerable
technical accomplishment. Prac-
tically every subject-category is
represented. There are admirable
landscapes by Clifford Beal, Clar-
ence Carter, Leon Kroll, Antonio
MARITIME. Hobart Nichols, Ogden
Pleissner and Ferdinand Warren
(of President Truman's home
town. Georg Grosz. outstanding
German satirist after World
War I, who came to the United
States in 1888, turns out serene
landscapes at intervals. such as
the beautiful opalescent Dunes"
In this show.
Portraits and figures are lively
and individual. John Carroll's
rapt little girl in "Christmas"
ought to get a lot Of popular
votes; furthermore, the painting
has much more than mere popular
appeal. Sueo Serisawa's little girl
on hobby horse is a winsome
capture Of childhood in another
idiom. Quite different from both
is Karl Weston's young girl read
ing against wildly colorful cush-
ions. Robert Brackman's Lam
enting Nude Jerry Farnsworths
Nude Over the City," Grigory
Gluckmann's lusciously painted
girls in "Conf1dants." Robert |
Philips large Patio Royale. New
Orleans" Eugene Speicher's con-
ventional portrait Of a young
woman. Andrew Wyeth's Karl"
in a very odd setting. are all
competent performances. Edward
Melcarth's "Sleepers" appears to
be part of mural.
Satire is vicious in William
Choppers Dynasty" sneering in
Jack Levine's "The Last King"
good -natured in Lester Rondell's
"Rockport," and turns to social
comedy in Caro- Blanchard's
."Knock at the Door,"
A few beautifully executed ex-
amples of fantasy and surrealism
include "The Monument" by
Henry Koerner, young anti-Nazi
German artist whose tragic recent
past and successful shows in New