Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1950-08-13
Washington ScuIptors

w
The Sculptors Group is showing
more than 80 works in stone,
metal, wood and plaster, in the
first area of the foyer. Ranging
from naturalistic to abstract, the
collection as a whole is nearer
traditional than modern character.
The jury of selection and award
was composed of Perry B. Colt,
curator CT sculpture, National Gal
lery of Art, and Richard Etting-
hansen, curator of Oriental art at
the Freer Gallery. They made
their selections from a total of II
entries.
A cash prize of $25 given by
George E. Muth was awarded to
Alexander Giampietro for his
Fragment" a woman'S head
(modern prof1le) in lithiutn. First
honorable mention went to
Brother Jude Giehl's hammered
silver Crucifix, an attenuated near
abstract figure of Christ. Second
honorable mention was bestowed
on a life-size portrait head Cur
mace" by Ruth Hatton Ancker,
comparative newcomer to Wash
ington from New York City, where
she studied under the eminent
sculptor Oronzio Maldarelli.
Besides his crucifix, Brother
Jude Giehl is showing a Madonna
and Child, an appealing group
in which the mass of stone is
dominant. One other religious
sculpture is Katherine B. Hobbs
Flight Into Egypt" drastically
simplified.
Jane Love. president of the
sculptorS group, and one Of its
most experimental members, is
showing three pieces, all simpli-
fed, but two of them are COM
paratively traditional. Her IVA
ter Hole" emphasizes the feline
quality of the leopard. Her "Smil-
ing Fish" is a near abstraction
of smoothly polished stone which
tempts the touch.
Hazel Van Matters abstract
Fan Dancer" in warm, golden
wood is clever and effective. Sarah
Silberman's Lady Godiva." a
bas-relief in wood, captures the
essence of the subject in more
traditional form. Prayer" by
Frank zee. is crude in handling.
and makes much of the circular
grain of the wood and the figures
pose.
In addition to Ruth Ancker's
mentioned portrait bust, there are
a number of others, most of them
life size. One of a man by Mabel
Perry Edwards received an award
at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Adella's head of a woman is
equally naturalistic. Antonio Cor
tizas' Sonia" and Dean Carriers
head of a girl are simplifled
and impersonal- Robin Brant's
"Huida" resembles a Neanderthal
man. More contemporary are
Clare Fontanini's marble head and
Minnie Barr Laughing Sisters"
Animal subjects lend variety to
the show: Florence Higgs' stone
hippo, Katherine Hobbs pair of
elephants, Lois La Notes too
naturalistic lead turtle fountain,
and Adella's monkeys, whose mar
blelike black eyes seem too OBJ
trusive.
A unique exhibit is Ernest
Laughlin's walking cane, a minia-
ture modernized totem pole anus
ingly carved. but which appears
too slender to sustain any weight.
Ceramic Art
The Kiln Clubs exhibition is
in two parts: The first, a COM
petitive show in four classes,
which was open to all potters in
the Washington area. Claire
Fontanini, head of Catholic Uni
versity's art department; Erwin
O. Christensen of the National
Gallery of Art, and John Butler,
Pennsylvania ceramist, composed
the jury of selection and awards.
They chose more than go items
by % ceramists of Washington,
Maryland and Virginia, and made
IL awards g cash, in ceramic
materials valued from $40 to $25
each) and 2 honorable mentions
in the various classes. The Kiln
Club made three awards by vote
of members at the opening re-
ception; names of winners had