Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-08
BY FLORENCE BERGMAN

The entertaining exhibition.
"sport In Art" Just opened at
the Corcoran Gallery Of Art.
presented by Sports Illustrated
Magazine and the American
Federation Of Arts. and CO.
sponsored In Washington BY
Julius Qarfinckel's, 10 esthet-
ically and dramatically COM
prehensive.
In the frst category, 1t Is
distinguished by the inclusion
Of some famous paintings such
a. Bellows exciting Dempsey
and Firpo" and several others;
oils and watercolors by Amer
lean old masters Winslow
Homer and Thomas Eakins,
both of whom painted sports
frequently and realistically;
paintings and graphic arts by
q few great masters of Europe,
among them Daumier with his
satirical "Bathers" and Goya
with dramatic glimpses Of the
bull fight; and works both
traditional and abstract, In
various media by recent and
contemporary American and
European artists of stature.
In the category Of theme,
the show is comprehensive to
the extent Of having 81 sports
represented according to the
census of Harold Kaese, who
wrote a sports review in a
Boston paper after seeing this
exhibition at the Museum OF
Fine Arts, first place on the
circuit). Representation In the
show has no relation to the
Importance Of the sport. how
ever. Only one work in the
show, the Corcoran's Fall
Practice" reproduced here last
Sunday, has football as its
subject, this representation
being equalled by the obscure
18th century sport Of owing.
and surpassed by "the great
sport Of jumping rope" as
Mr.. Kaese expressed 1t. with
two interpretations.
with Jaundiced Eyes
Furthermore, sports fans
who are not also esthetic radi-
Gals mot to imply that the
two are mutually exclusive)
are going to look with very
jaundiced eyes on some Of the
depictions of their favorite
sports. Such abstract paintings
as Elaine de Kooning's "Bas-
ketball Players. Titina Mas
selli's Boxers" and Abraham
Rattner's yellow Shore" are
going to leave sports realists
as cold as ice. There are many
other paintings and prints in
which esthetic triumphs over
visual accuracy.
But there are plenty Of en-
gaging 10Th century paintings
which depict the most minute
details, and plenty Of red
blooded. two-flsted and fact
ually accurate works by artists
regarded with respect from the
esthetic standpoint. to please
both sports experts and art
lovers.
AS an art lover with a feeble
knowledge of sports. / particu-
larly liked the following in adj
dition to the works by masters
mentioned in the second para
graph above: Alex Colviile's
1.-TWO PAGERS" stripped to es-
sentials: Jockeys Moonlight
Festival" by Jon Corbino, high
keyed figures In an overall
design on black; Lyonel
Feininger's Yacht Race; Will
liam Glackens' colorful I'M
pressionist "Bellport Regatta;
Leon Kroll's toneful Central
Park" (skating pond), Zoltan
Sepeshy's handsome After
noon Skiing" and Maurice
Vlaminck's beautiful blue
"Chatou. La Mutt, all of them
naturalistic; Helen Marshall's
"Fencer Resting" with its me-
diaeval suggestions; Sargent's
individualized Two Girls
Fishing; and Jack Leonard's
stunning "Ice Hockey. full of
vigorous action expressed In
diagonal lines and forms and
the vivid red, white and blue
color scheme.
Historic Documents
Still another aspect OF the
show offers O rich vein to mine
by people interested In art as
an historic document with ref
erence to places. customs and
costumes. The earliest paint
ing. for instance, David Teni-
ers' little nanel of himself and
his hunting dogs t17th CEN
tury) portrays the two breeds
with microscopic accuracy.
Many 10th century paintings
and prints include a wealth OF
details.
Certainly few shows appear
in the course Of q year that
offer as much fun to many
kinds Of taste as does sport
Ia ~ 1ula;nf. y,,;lI H. LAa~