Evening star., 1955-03-13
By Florence S. Berrymon

thorities tell me that this, in
its present condition, is the
third best painting in the
show, I still will not be- able to
believe them.
A Privote World ...
John Hultberg's f1rst-prize-
winning $4,000 yellow Sky"
is skillfully executed. But it is
the artists private world.
empty for most of us. The sky
extends across q somber land
scape, filled with solidly
painted forms, some Of them
= evocative, but most of them
not recognizable.
Ivan Albright, winner of the
second Clark prize of $500
for his painting, "Tin," is a
mature artist, nearing so. and
technically a virtuoso. He has
won many important prizes.
Mr.. Albright is a magic
realist," able to project objects
and figures so lifelike that one
can almost feel them. But
what doubtless makes him per-
soma grata to the avant-garde
is his preoccupation with age
and decay. Those who remem-
ber his figure paintings will
recall that they usually depict
the old, the workWorn, the
hopeless, with multi-wrinkled
faces, rheumy eyes, gnarled
hands, bent and f1abby figures.
Tin" represents the equip
ment of a backwoods bear
trapper. and most of it should
be turned over to the metal
salvagers.
A Pleasant Surprise
Henry Niese's Window"
which received fourth prize
($50O, Is human and real
istic; it should prove to be the
popular favorite among the
winners. Full of golden light
and the feeling of spring in
. the pots and bowls of plants
just pushing up their fresh
green shoots. it surprises the
biennial visitor. Considering
the other winners, one wonders
how the jurors happened to
bestow any award on so en-
gaging a work.
Mr.. Albright's long success
with decay also affords a key
to the success of a number of
other artists in the oath bien-
nial, who are represented with
traditional or naturalistic
paintings. 1t is all right, in
advanced circles. for an artist
to paint with the technical
brilliance of so years ago, SO
long as he devotes this skill to
the down-at-the- heels. dull,
underprivileged and seamy side
of life. Here we find Desmond
O'Neill's gloomy Tenement
Upstairs" Arthur Thralls dull
brown telephone Booths"
Thomas Yerxa'S philadelphia
Nostalgia" in which tenement
dwellers are salvaging trash
beside a wall covered with a
peeling billposter, and Earl
Francis Hofman's "Profes-
sional Building" filled with
third-rate occupants. Less
meticulous in handling but still
naturalistic, are Joseph Kap-
lan's Interior" which looks as
if it had been decorated by the
Collier brothers, and Joseph
Solman's Room" This Is pre-
sumably the artists studio, of
which there were quite a few
views in his one-marr show at
the Phillips Gallery several
seasons ago. "The Room" is
still cluttered, and has some of
the same dilapidated furnish
ings.
The abstract expressionists
are here in force. In their
front rank is Willem De Koon-
ing, whose woman vi" is one
OF his series of out-sized paint
ings on this theme which he
began to exhibit two years ago.
Several were included in his
one-man show at the WASH
ington Workshop here last
spring. This latest one merely
confirms ones suspicion that
(subconsciously at least) he is
a misogynist. Woman VI" ap-
pears to be- the result of a
mortal combat, won by this
monstrous creature, not by the
artist.
Areo Artists Stond Out
At the risk of sounding pro-
vincially Chauvinistic, must
say that most of the Washing
ton area artists works in the
biennial stand out. Mimi Du
Bois Bottoms isle of Light"
is extremely effective in con-
veying the glow of lighted
buildings at night. Leonard
Maurer's Afternoon Train" is
colorful and suggestive of
travel through an ever-chang-
ing urban and rural landscape.
Alfred McAdams' abstract "Sao
Paulo" is carefully laid out
architecturally, and is enriched
with his characteristic ara
besques. Pietro Lazzari's large
Composition" combines a
woman's figure and the =" Roz-
inante" seen earlier in separate
treatments. "Gutted Struc-
ture," by George Bayliss, jr.,
is actually a colorful, forceful
pattern of red girders against
a blue background. Newcomers
to Washington, Sam Fischer
and Edmond Casarella. show
semi ana complete distractions,