Evening star., 1955-05-22
AND EXHIBITIONS
The John Marin Show
Must for Art Lovers
BY FLORENCE s. BERGMAN

~ RAOAsE4NNE
The John Marin Memorial
Exhibition, which opened last
Sunday at the Phillips Gal
lery to remain through June,
is a must" for every art lover.
More than 120 oils, water
colors. drawings and etchings
provide q survey Of so years
Of his work. It is a collabo-
rative achievement by six
American museums, including
the Phillips.
This is an exciting display.
Marin loved the subjects he
painted and he re-created
them with exuberance. He did
not paint naturalistic images
Of what he saw, but the thrill
they aroused in him. and the
enthusiasm they inspired.
Since the major subjects were
those which many Of US have
also seen and responded to,
1t will surely be the experience
of many visitors to this ex-
hibition to feel again the ex-
citement they felt when in the
presence Of the original sub
jects.
Looking at Marin's paint
ings, one senses again the
surge of New York City, its
soaring skyscrapers, crowds,
flash Of night signs, busy har-
Dor. New England's noun
tains, the Adirondacks, the
Southwest; the circus and
other subjects inspired him.
But most of all Marin loved
the Maine coast, the restless
ocean and myriad islands
which are celebrated in many
of these paintings, along with
graceful schooners in full sail,
lobster boats and other craft.
They are painted turbulently,
as if the sea stirred the artist
to q frenzy Of enthusiasm.
A Law Unto Himself
It seems incorrect to call
Marin a modern" painter.
because the term is associated
with all the contemporary idi-
oms that have appeared in
American painting since the
Armory show in 1913. Marin
was painting in an expression
istic way long before that
his own individual way. AS
American dis Winslow Homer
and the subjects that inspired
him, Marin was a law unto
himself from the beginning.
He seems to have been insu-
lated against outside influ-
ence.
In the late 1940s and early
sos, Marin's work became more
abstract. His "Trees in Au-
tum Foliage" appear to ex-
plode into deep red. Another
landscape he titled Move
ment: Sea or Mountain-As
You Will"
A superb catalogue is avail
able ($1.50 with many illus
trations in color and half
tone, and essays by Duncan
Phillips, william Carlos Will
liams. Dorothy Norman. Mac
Kinley Helm and Frederick
s. Wight, and many quotations
by Marin. himself. These give
so vivid and complete a pic
ture Of the man and his
achievement. that anything
the rest of us may say, seems
superfluous.
FenCeIS
Helen Marshall is intro
duced to Washington in a solo
exhibition at the Fantasy Gal
lery, 1865 Connecticut avenue.
through May. Although born
and educated in the United
States, she lived for two dec
ades in Europe. where she OBJ
tanned most of her art train
ing. She now resides in New
York City.
Most of her IA paintings and
drawings depict fencers, but
the graceful, relaxed figures.
resting or occupied with ordi-
nary pursuits, were her chief
interest, for none in these
studies are engaged with the
foil or sword. Oil paintings
and pen drawings are beauti-
fully executed in a natural
istic style, with subdued color
schemes, mostly grays, blues
and light brown. The artists