Evening star., 1953-10-11
Art News
Govurni Show
At National
By Florence S. Berrymon

living IN one uelo, Wu11e MS
real love is for another. Brit
ish master Of portraiture
Gainsborough, who delighted
in painting landscapes, and
French photographer Daumier,
who preferred social commen-
tary in oils, are two Of many.
Another is Gavarni, an exhibi-
ton of whose water Colors
and Drawings opened last
Sunday at the National Gal
lery of Art, to remain through
November /. It presents the
less familiar achievements Of
this French artist, better
known for his Autographs.
Forty-four of the SO works
on view are loans from the
Walters Art Gallery Of Balti-
more, the others from the Ros-
enwald collection, National
Gallery. This is the first en-
gagement for the Gavarni
show, which will have 10 9TH
ers in the next year, on a ma
tional circuit arranged by the
Smithsonian Institution, Trav-
cling Exhibition Service. A
catalogue with six illustrations
and biographical and critical
.foreword by Marvin c. Ross,
chief curator of art, Los An
geles County Museum, is avail
able (25 cents).
Gavarni, whose real name
was Guillaume Sulpice Cheva-
lier, took as his brush name
that of a beautiful PyreneeS
valley (Gavarnie). Born in
Paris in 1904, he served an
apprenticeship in an engine
factory, Sketching mechanical
plans. The medium of lithog-
raphy, dating from the decade
before his birth, became pop
ular as Gavarni entered his
third decade, and he became
one of its great eXponents, Ia
ter going on to woodcuts,
drawings and several hundred
water colors.
France and England
The works in the current
show represent mainly two
phases of Gavarni's artistic
development, the first his So
journs in England in the late
1840s, the second, after his re-
turn to France 1851, lasting
until his death in 1866. The
water colors of his English pc
.riod are in an elaborate tech
nique with brilliant highlights,
almost like that of oil paint
Ing" says Mr.. Ross. "The Bar
maid" here reproduced, be-
longs to that phase. Later he
simplif1ed his method, achieved
colors of -brilliance, delicacy
and unequaled luminosity.
After his return to France,
he perfected his water color
technique and reached the
peak of his powers. In his last
year, he was engaged in paint
ing 1.-The Twelve Months" a
charming series, seven of
which are included in the
show.
Supplementing the special
Gavarni exhibition at the Ma
tional Gallery is a group OF 55
French 10Th century prints
from the RosenWald collection,
representing Delacroix, Geri-
cault, Chasseriau, Barge, Isa-
hey and others, including some
of Gavarni's Autographs.
Workshop Fovorites
The Workshop Center of the
Arts, 1900 New Hampshire
avenue NV, whose fall class
es began last Monday, opened
September 27 an exhibition OF
painting and sculpture honor
ing Washington artists who in
earlier years contributed work
to aid the center's building
fund. It will remain through
next Friday. It is open to the
public this afternoon from 3
to 6, tomorrow through Friday,
from to S.
Eighty works by nearly 40
artists fill exhibition galleries
on first and second floors.
Each artist was invited to pre-
sent two works: One recent,
the other a favorite of the
artist from any previous pc
riod. In most cases, I suspect,
the artists favorite is the pub
lies preference of the pain
shown.
In some instances, the lay
visitor may well wonder why
an artist who at one period
created something so engag-
ing, should subsequently have
abandoned it to experiment
with bleak and unintelligible
productions. The explanation
of that is that many artists
have a horror of sinking into
q rut, turning a success into
a formula, or falling out of
step with progress"
Recent Works
A few of the artists show
only recent works. Perhaps
they are the happiest, COM
pletely satisfied with their
latest performances. This
whole intriguing subject of
artists successive periods, ia
vorite works and frequent ex-
cursions down untrodden paths
deserves detailed consideration
which, alas. cannot be given
when so many exhibitions bid
for attention and space.
ArtiStcS foyoritnS which uyern