Evening star., 1954-05-09
Art News
Primitive Art
On Exhibition
By Florence S. Berrymon

lectures about possible his
torical aspects, have been given
In The Stars news columns.
But the main factors that
make the gift acceptable to
the National Gallery rather
than to historical societies
collections are the paintings
esthetic aspects and their de-
served place In the history Of
American art.
In his introduction to the
catalogue John Walker. chief
curator Of the National CAL
lery. comments on Americans
ubiquitous passion for paint
ing and their unceasing COM
missions, from earliest times,
Of portraits Of themselves, their
possessions. their way Of life.
their memorials.
The Less Sophisticated
Patronage was divided" Che
says) between the more So
phiSticated artists (often
trained in Europe) and the
more naive painter, usually
self-taught and now frequent
ly no longer remembered by
name" These gifted artisans
Established . native style :.
uniquely different from that
Of any European school"
The primitive painters ma
jor objective was to make q
realistic image Of the person
portrayed, or other subject de-
picted. Furthermore. the prim-
tive artist had an intuitive
feeling for design. And with
his craftSman's knowledge Of
materials. he often produced a
portrait that was also q work
of decorative charm: and his
colors in many instances are
freSher and brighter today
than the colors of some artists
of great technical facility who
disregarded the chemical prop
critics Of paints (Reynolds and
Sargent, for example.)
The primitive artists flair
for pattern is admirably DEM
onstrated in the portrait of
Catharine Hendrickson (illus-
trated). painted in ITO. The
strong face of the young wom-
an, full of individuality and
shrewdness, is Startlinely real
iStic against the decorative
background Of her gown. high
embroidered headdress, and
landscape with trees, birds and
flowers, the whole reminiscent
Of a Gothic tapestry.
In "The Deer Hunt" painted
1850. there is an assymetrical
balance in the avenue Of trees
and sky with fleecy clouds, and
what appears to be a rhythmic
dance Of deer and hounds, and
the hunters shooting from
either side.
MeticuIous DetoiI
Much Of the decorative ef-
feet Of these American primi-
tive paintings is due to the
colorful dresses, the artists
meticulous rendering of de-
tails, and the way views, seen
through windows beyond some
subjects, enliven and balance
the composition.
whether accidentally or
deliberately, these early
Americans who posed for their
portraits S seld d o m h a. d idle
hands. To consider a few of
them: A bright-eyed baby in
a blue gown and rose bootees
clutches q rattle; the little
Burnish sisters hold flowers
and toy woolly lamb; Miss
Van Allen Gin one of the shows
earliest portraits, 1720, attrib-
uted to Pieter Vanderlyn) is
holding a cabbage rose and
toying with her belt tassel;
middle-aged Alice Slade is
twisting a yard or so Of lace in
both hands.
A number of paintings in
the show are more than primi-
tives, a little less than sophis-
ticated. Perhaps the best OF
these Is the family group by
Ralph E. w. Earl.
One thing to keep in mind
about these early American
primitive artists is that they
were genuinely so. Grandma
Moses and certain other artists
are genuine primitiveS today.
But the circumstances which
produced authentic primitives
are giving way before the
spread Of knowledge and train
ing. Any artist who remains
q primitive by sheer will power