Evening star., 1949-04-17
Rare Italian Engravings Are on Exhibition
AtNational Gallery; Hind Lecture Today

y;HindLecture Today
the U. s. N. r. He was q member
Of the National Geographic ex-
pedition to Canton Island, where
he painted the 1887 eclipse. He
painted various aspects Of the
atom bomb experiments at Bikini
in 1916, among them the now
famous mushroom cloud. which
is included in the show. There
is also q recent portrait Of Ad-
miral Nimitz. of whom Capt. Bit
finger has done still another
portrait. in an interior.
The public will doubtless be
particularly intrigued with one ex-
hibit, q painting Of a red-haired
girl. executed to illustrate the in
visible spectral differences Of
color. When it is viewed through
a red glass filter. the girl disap-
pears and is replaced by a white
horse.
Baltimore Daumier
Aaron Sopher is a social satirist
with penetrating observation. For
more than a decade, he has been
studying homo sapiens, more or
less in the raw, finding him an
uncouth sort of fellow, and show
ing him up by means Of an ex-
pressive pen line and effective
touches Of color. Mr.. Sopher can
get q quart Of ideas into q pint Of
space; 50 the visitor to his one
man show at United Nations Club
(through May q had better pause
before each of the IS little pen,
wash and watercolor drawings on
view. or he will miss some fun.
3, Born in Baltimore, Mr.. Sopher
has continued to reside there.
where he finds all the material he
needs for his art. He would do
just as well here in Washington.
or in TERRA del Fuego and points
in between: for he knows how to
use his eyes, and teaches us less
observant people to use ours. The
present show is almost entirely
the fruit Of observations In Balti-
more markets. The artists mental
attitude toward his subjects is
not simple receptivity. Some If
his drawings register amusement.
some derision, some contempt.
and some sympathy. and of
course, a complex Of one or more
Of these. For example. haggard.
overworked mothers with children
clinging to their skirts. as they
carry away their food purchases
are depicted with a different feel
ing toward them. than that with
which the artist Transcribed q
lively little incident of one woman
about to hit another over the head
with a sizable fish,
This Is a show one shouldn't
miss. by an artist whose work is
published in The New Yorker,
Golfers. and many other maga-
zines, and Is owned by museums
in O number of cities, including
the Phillips Memorial and Wat
kins galleries here.
Best Books of 1948
The art of the book is en-
phasized in the exhibition of Eff
ty Books of the Year" 1948.
which opened at the Library of
Congress on April S. to remain
through April %. simultaneously.
four Identical shows opened at the
public libraries of New York. Bos-
ton aud San Francisco. and Chi
cago's Newberry Library. After
this quintet Of inaugural displays
closes, they will travel around
the country for one year. under
auspices of the American Fedora
ton of Arts. A sixth duplicate
show opened April l in Sweden
and will 60 to London for the
summer.
Fifty Books of the Year" are
selected as the best designed,
printed and manufactured by q
jury appointed by the American
Institute Of Graphic Arts. A fea-
lture of this show is q series Of
panels illustrating the steps in the
production of Gen. Eisenhower's
Crusade in Europe" Doubleday
la Coz and Of Ching Ming
lShang Ho." q reproduction by the
Metropolitan Museum Of Art. New
York City. Of one Of its treasures.
10 Ming dynasty scroll.
It Ii not the literary merit OF
the book that determines its In